Cruel World(112)

Quinn watched the old man, shifting the AR-15 on its sling. Hilton stared at him for another beat and then broke out laughing.

“You’re too tense, sonny boy. I’m just f*ckin’ with ya. Stealin’s same as everything else in these days. Everything’s forgiven.” He tossed the butt of his cigarette away, not bothering to stamp it out. It smoldered on a floorboard, a razor line of smoke trailing from it.

“You’re probably right,” Quinn said, smiling. “We’ve been on the road awhile.”

“Well, you’re all welcome to stay as long as you need. Simply for the reason I don’t want those tall bastards coming down on my head again if you try to leave too soon.” Hilton barked another laugh and then motioned toward the rickety cot overturned in the corner. “Give me a hand so there’s somethin’ to sleep on down there, will ya?”

~

The day passed in a humid blur, the close air warming by ratcheting increments in the cellar. Hilton began to speak more and more as the hours went by, his mood improving so that he smiled most of the time when he talked. He had been a truck driver in his former life, years ago, he said. Never married, no kids. He belonged to the road until a bad back kept him from sitting for long periods of time. When he could no longer make a living driving truck, he came here to his father’s land and constructed the shack that sat above them. He said it was therapeutic to get away from the trappings of society. Raise his garden in the solace of each day and read in the evenings. He had no electricity, no running water, no indoor toilet, but he made do.

“Really, things didn’t change for me much when everything happened,” Hilton said, smoking another cigarette. “Walked into town one day a month ago, things were fine. Went back last week, everyone’s dead.”

“It really happened fast,” Alice said. She sat against the wall watching Ty play with an interlocking steel puzzle Hilton had given him earlier. The pieces slid together in a maze-like pattern. By turning and twisting them into the correct shape, they would come apart.

“I guess we really shoulda’ seen it all comin’,” Hilton said. “World was shit and just got worse as the years went by. Can’t keep takin’ line and not expect to get a hook in your hand eventually. Not that it was such a stretch, most people changin’ into monsters.” He gave Quinn a fleeting look and chewed on the cigarette that poked from his beard.

They passed around the last bottle of water from Quinn’s bag and shared two melted candy bars. In the evening, they heard the passage of several stilts through the woods beside the shack. Their calls were absent, but they could hear the snapping of branches, feel the heavy footfalls through the foundation. After the sounds faded away, Quinn approached Hilton who was arranging the dirty cot in a corner.

“I think we’ll have to stay another night, if it’s okay with you. I don’t think it would be safe enough today to travel any distance,” Quinn said.

“That’s more’n fine. Apologies about how I acted earlier. Wasn’t myself. Not used to guests,” Hilton said, straightening. “Got a feeling we should douse the lights early tonight, not make a spectacle of ourselves.”

“Sounds good. Thank you again,” Quinn said, putting out his hand. The older man shook it.

“No thanks needed. ‘Bout time I do some good deeds.” He grinned at Quinn, and there were two teeth missing from the top left side of his mouth. Quinn felt his upper lip curling. Hilton’s hand was clammy and cool, like something already dead, but his smile was genuine and radiated warmth.

Quinn made his way back to the opposite side of the room and sat down beside Ty who was still working on the puzzle.

“Getting anywhere with that, champ?”

“Maybe. I thought I had it figured out a little bit ago, but now I’m not sure.”

Quinn stared at Hilton who sat on the cot and flopped onto his back, closing his eyes with one last look around the room. The old man’s age spots gleamed with moisture. Quinn imagined them moving like black amoebas on the petri dish of Hilton’s scalp.

“Got it!” Ty exclaimed in a quiet voice. He held the two pieces of puzzle out in triumph.

“Great job, honey,” Alice said, stroking his hair. “We’ll have to find more of those for you. I’ve never seen one like that before.”

“Made it myself,” Hilton said, and they all glanced at him. Quinn had thought the man was sleeping. “You can have it if you want, little one.” He didn’t open his eyes.