Dying to Live: Last Rites by Kim Paffenroth

Author:Kim Paffenroth [Paffenroth, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: End of the World, permuted press, postapocalyptic, Zombies, living dead, george romero, apocalypse, Armageddon, Lang:en, Dying To Live
Publisher: Permuted Press
Published: 2012-02-20T23:49:43+00:00

Chapter 22: Rachel

“How are you liking work?” Ken asked as they walked to the construction site.

“It’s great,” Rachel replied. “I love driving those little track loaders. It’s like playing in a sandbox all day. I’d do it for free. Well, I guess I sorta did, back home.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, not exactly. I mean, we didn’t have money. We just worked, and traded with people. I don’t know how it all evened out, exactly, but you did whatever you did for the city, and you picked up food and stuff from other people when you needed it, and you gave them stuff when they needed it.”

“No money? But how’d you know you’d worked enough, to get the stuff you wanted? Why would people work, if other people just gave them things? I don’t understand.”

“I guess it’s hard to explain, if you haven’t lived there. It’s not like here. There weren’t nearly as many different things. Just simple stuff. So I guess we didn’t have to keep track of it as much. And we didn’t work nearly as much, either. I’d work a little in the summer, and most of the rest of the year I’d just putter around and help other people out. I guess we were kinda lazy and spoiled.”

Ken laughed. “No, you’re fine. Will, too. You both work hard and you’re so honest and open.”

Rachel blushed to think of all the stuff she’d deliberately left out of their conversations.

“We’re glad you moved in.”

“Us too. It’s nice to have regular people around or I don’t know what we’d do in this city. We’d never be able to find our way around.”

“Oh, you’d manage. How’s Will?”

Oh God, another time when Rachel had to decide how much to tell the neighbors, no matter how nice they were. “He’s been kinda down the last couple days. I think he’s stressed about his job.” That’d probably be about enough to say, and true as far as it went.

“I don’t blame him,” Ken answered in his soothing, compassionate voice. “I’d be scared and nervous all day, out there with those things. I don’t know how he does it.”

Rachel felt bad she couldn’t really explain why her boyfriend was all depressed about the other guys in his group shooting dead people. She didn’t really understand it herself. It was different if you’d known the person, or even if the dead person were nice, like Truman. But to just see one of them, wandering around in a field, looking hungry and stupid—what was the big deal with putting one of them down?

“Well, he should be used to dead people. I wish he’d just snap out of it.” Rachel let a little more anger slip into her tone than she’d intended. She glanced at Ken. She didn’t want him to think she was a bitch. If she told him everything about Will’s attitudes, Ken would definitely see her point of view and not blame her for being pissed. But she kept it to herself. Letting people know

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