The In-Betweener (Between Life and Death Book 1) by Christy Ann

Author:Christy, Ann [Christy, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: post-apocalyptic science fiction, undead, post-apocalyptic fiction, literary horror, women science fiction, zombie, horror, strong female leads, zombies, coming of age, action and adventure, zombie horror
Published: 2015-01-30T16:00:00+00:00

Today - Blue Slushies

Usually, I try not to look at the car more than I have to. When I come to do maintenance on it, I sort of let my eyes slide over the things that made it ours. The little dent where I hit it with my bike, the stain on the driver’s seat where my mom dropped an entire blue slushie into her lap, the stickers on the back of her and me in cartoonishly simple outlines.

No, I don’t like to look at those things anymore. They bring memories. The way she squealed when the icy mass hit her lap and how she bounced around until we pulled over. The way we laughed when she got out, shedding chunks of blue ice into the gutter as she danced around.

I’m surprised to find that I’m smiling. That’s a first. I can’t remember a single time in the past year when I’ve thought of something like that from a more normal time and not cried. I like this new feeling. It’s not happy so much as not completely sad. It’s a mixture of missing her, loving her, being sad that she’s gone, and being grateful for that day. It’s good. I think that’s how it’s supposed to be.

I really, really hope I get more chances to feel that way.

With that sobering thought, I’m suddenly cognizant of everything I still need to do. I’m burning daylight and will need to be on the road as soon as first light. And I’d sure like to get some sleep so I can be at my most aware when I do leave.

Since I don’t have to worry about gassing anyone to death with the fumes, I set up the little emergency generator in the office furniture warehouse where I keep the car. It’s not a regular generator, but one meant just for our car. It even has a matching paint job, the same silvery-blue as the car. Except the car’s paint is pretty faded now. My mom liked to be prepared for anything and given her love of camping, this thing was a must. It was sort of a big joke between us that we had to pack a gas can when camping just for our electric car.

I’ve been driving the car around the complex just enough to keep the tires supple and the batteries in good working order. I use it to listen for radio transmissions, but there are never any to hear, just endless dead air. I pipe my music-player songs through it very quietly once in a while, but I can usually only handle a song or two before it gets depressing. I can’t help but wonder if whoever sang each song is dead or staggering around gnawing on metal. That train of thought generally makes it a lot harder to enjoy the music.

The car doesn’t let me down. The charge is still good, holding fine and only in need of a top-off. I leave the generator to do its job and go get the next thing on my list.

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