INFECTION 2.0

~ NINETEEN ~

The sunlight through the living room window told Car that it was afternoon, but as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and listened to the sounds of the water running in the shower he wasn’t sure if he had really slept at all. With a big yawn, he forced himself to get to his feet. He would have liked to have slept away the rest of the afternoon, and all night too, but if he decided to go that route he should probably do so at home.

He looked around the kitchen for a moment. In one of the cupboards, he found a handful of coffee cups though he didn’t see a coffee pot anywhere. Disappointed he filled one with water. Outside the afternoon was warm and pleasant. He stood on the porch with the sun shining on him. His car was parked on the concrete apron in front of the little garage. Sometime during the day a couple of folks from the station had brought Karen’s car to the house and left it parked on the street. All the houses he could see looked similar in size and style. All seemed to be on about the same size lot, each with a happy little green yard in front. A few houses down three children were kicking a ball back and forth. At another place, he could see a man drinking a beer and tending a small barbeque grill. What a wonderful neighborhood, Lockley thought, it seemed so far away from the disastrous morning.

Karen stepped beside him and took the cup from his hand. She replaced it with a cup of coffee, “It’s instant,” she said quietly.

Lockley smiled and took a sip. It’s hot too, he thought.

“I thought you left without telling me.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” he paused, watching her out of the corner of his eye. “How are you?”

She nodded her head up and down slowly. When she spoke he barely heard the word, “Scared.”

Car waited silently to see if she was going to offer more.

“Every time I close my eyes I see that man, the others, some part of what happened.”

He set the cup down on the handrail that went around the little porch then gave the woman a hug. She let him, finding comfort in being held against his broad chest. They stood like that for a few minutes.

“Car? Would you stay with me tonight?”