“Tyler, we can figure this out. I need you to stop where you are, and I’ll get help in here.”
“No. I didn’t mean to kill them.” Tyler lunged forward.
I spun away as his hand reached out and mine raised with my gun in hand.
His shin hit the fallen tree and his body lurched. Tyler’s body pitched forward. As he hit the ground the metal pushed through. He stopped moving as soon as he hit the ground. Blood ran out from underneath him.
“Are you okay, Faryn?” Brandi got in front of me as I walked back onto the highway. She looked around me. “Where’s the zombie?”
“Paramedics are dealing with him in the trees over there. He's dead.” I held the back of my forearm against my mouth for a moment. Nothing felt right inside me. He died in front of me just like she did months ago. Every time I saw someone die something changed in me. I hated this part. “His name was Tyler Moss. He was driving that brown Ford.”
The scene still looked like chaos, but emergency services had organized what was going on. The wounded were being taken care of a safe distance away. On one end were two black body bags.
“Which one of those is Cindy?”
“Cindy? Who is Cindy?”
My body felt heavy. I felt the tears in my eyes ready to fall. “Tyler Moss was driving in front of the flatbed truck. He saw Cindy Moss heading north in the Honda Civic and braked right in front…” I had to stop for a moment. I had to get myself tk calm down. “I think he was hoping the truck would either kill him or her.”
“Um, Faryn.” Brandi pulled down her face mask. “The owner and driver of the Civic was a sixty-eight-year-old man named Alton Warner. The passenger was his wife Helena. I don’t even think there was a Cindy involved in the accident.”
I turned around and looked back at the grove of trees. The zombie wanted the truck to kill him and then after it didn’t, tried to get me to. Now I had to go find Cindy Moss and tell her that he killed himself after killing two people he thought was her.
Ease Me
AW Clarke
Sometimes the world around us delivers things we cannot change. They are arduous and challenging. But we can be patient and strong and stay the course, for we will get through every challenge…as we find in this little intimate encounter between Reagan, a personal support worker and her fiancé Gavin. — Ease Me
Ease Me
“What a garbage day!”
The door collides with a crash behind me. I struggle to get my jacket off and show it no mercy as my right hand launches it to the ground instead of hanging it neatly in the closet like I normally do. I kick off my shoes with a huff and storm into the kitchen feeling my world shrink around me, the walls of reality closing in on me like a plastic bag being sucked of air between it and my skin.
“Hey sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
My fiancé instantly picks up on my temperament and steps into the kitchen from his office. He has the day off from his practice and quickly leaves his paperwork to check up on me.
“Reagan. Talk to me, sweetie. Are you alright?”
I stop and turn about, wanting to step into his arms and cry, but the world of anxiety sloshing about in my head has me fall into a nearby chair and cradle my head in my hands.
“I had a horrible day.”
Gavin pulls a chair up beside me and raises a warm hand to my shoulder.
“Baby, what happened? Was it work, friends or family?”
“Work.”
“Ahh work.” I catch Gavin’s slow nod as I raise my head.
“Yes. I’m telling you. I hate this goddam job!” I make two fists, unable to fleet the anxiety racing through me, and Gavin frowns as they tremble almost uncontrollably.
“No, you don’t. You love your job as a personal support worker.”
“Well, not today.”
“Well then vent away, sweetheart. I’m listening.”
For as long as we’ve dated, Gavin has always been a gentle soul. He’s come to know me so well that he can read me long before a single word leaves my lips. I don’t know if it’s his knowledge of the human body, being the city’s best chiropractor. Or it might just be the fact that he has this rare ability to peer into someone’s eyes and gauge their feelings so swiftly… Whatever it is, he’s been a blessing in my life.
Gavin is, among other things, my rock.
I open up when his eyes pierce mine, settling me with his presence.
“Well, since the world went amuck with what’s been going on, my client has been extra sour with me. He’s been frustrated with all the new protocols and today he blew up at me, telling me he just wanted to be left alone to die. I know Mr. Granze is frustrated… We all are… But he doesn’t have to yell at me like what I’m doing has no value!”
I feel my heart calm as Gavin takes my hands. He always lets me finish a few sentences before holding me. I know I’m a strange bird. My problem is, I hide my feelings deep down and can’t talk about them easily. So, when things reach the boiling point, I tremble and fall apart, much like now at the kitchen table.
But I feel the warm touch of his big hands on mine, and suddenly I can breathe a little calmer…speak a little more rationally.
“I just don’t think I can take it anymore.”
Gavin lifts my eyes with his and reads my desperation instantly. He follows with his own kind-hearted remedy.
“Well, what do you think would fix this problem? You know you’re an amazing worker, so clearly, the problem is not you.”
I sit pensively, trying to sort possible answers to my predicament. After a long quiet moment, I answer. “I think…maybe management should have a visit with him. Let him know that we are all working hard to get through this difficult time…and that he should be patient?”
I look to Gavin for his input and his eyes soften in approval. He nods slowly.
“I think you solved the problem on your own very well, sweetheart. Tomorrow morning you will email Mia in management and ask her to speak to him, so he knows you’re doing your best. I know you entered this field to help people, and I applaud your patience. Sadly, no one saw this coming and we all have to be patient until we see it through. How’s that sound?”
I let out a fractured breath, trying to dissipate the tension in my chest.
“Yes. That will be fine. You think it’s the right thing to do?”
Gavin runs a hand along my arm before giving it a reassuring tap.
“Whatever you decide is right for you will always be the right thing to do.”
My heart glows to a slow warmth and I lean in to hug him tight.
Gavin has a way with words that has always found a path to my soul. Even after accepting his marriage proposal not long ago, nothing he’s said to me ever gets old…
The goofy jokes that only I seem to find funny.
The thoughtful ideas that pop into his head make me enjoy how incredibly intelligent he is.
But most of all, I look at the little tattoo on my wrist as he holds my hand and instantly, I remember what I love most about Gavin. The little triangle tattoo represents the three things he shares with me every day that makes me melt and love him so hard.