Let's Do Lunch

The sun was shining, birds were singing, and there was a slight breeze in the air. Seeing each other again had happened completely out of the blue, and with nothing better to do, the old friends decided to grab lunch. It was peaceful in the mall food court. The lack of other people made it easy for them to talk without any distractions.

“So, how ya’ been?” Sedona asked before taking a swig of her flat Coke. Bronx swallowed the huge bite of his burger before answering with,

“I’ve been good. You?”

“Ya know, same old, same old. Just trying to survive this crazy world.” Bronx lifted his bottle of water with,

“I’ll drink to that, sister.” A beat of silence passed as the two munched on their food.

“How’s Sierra and the kids?” The question was punctuated by Sedona not so sneakily taking some fries from Bronx’s tray. He pretended not to notice, just like when they were kids. Some things apparently never change. Pulling the heart shaped locket from under his shirt, Bronx flipped it open to show Sedona the most recent picture of his wife and children,

“Sierra is good, she’s actually in charge of the base while I’m out. Savannah has lost almost all of her baby teeth and Austin can finally speak in full sentences!”

“Austin can talk? Last time I saw him, he was trying to drown himself with all the drool he produced. Stop making me feel old, dude.” The fluorescent light above them continued to flicker, illuminating Sedona’s stunned face for a few seconds before flickering out again. She stared at the locket for another minute, obviously trying to memorize the picture presented to her, before returning it back to her friend. Bronx knew that look, he had spent hours on the road memorizing the picture too, not knowing when, or if, he would return home. After another bite of burger, Bronx responded with,

“Exactly how I feel! What about those wacky siblings of yours?” Sedona propped her foot onto what remained of the other chair at their table and presented her own picture from the secret pocket in her boot. She unfolded the picture and handed it over to Bronx saying,

“Oh, prepare to feel super old. Eugene’s wife just had their third kid. Florence just got promoted to commander of her battalion and Berlin has finally finished his medical training. Sydney and Hudson are still slapping scrap metal together, with a lot less explosions now. And get this…” Sedona was always one for dramatic pauses, so Bronx humored her with a hum of extra interest. “Carson’s getting married!” Now it was Bronx’s turn to feel old, not that the picture helped alleviate that feeling. He remembered when he and his nine siblings would play with the kids down the road. Granted they were the only two families in the town, so playing together was a must. Now though, they were all thriving in this cruel world. It was bittersweet thinking back to their shared childhood and remembering the circumstances that had driven everyone apart twelve years ago. Despite the bright smile, he could see the pure exhaustion that lingered behind Sedona’s one good eye. Bronx assumed that he looked just as exhausted, but refused to focus on it. The past two decades had been hard on everyone, but the two old friends were glad to hear some happy news for once.

“So, I take it you’re headed to the wedding then?”

“You are correct, but what about you mister “Hero of the NorthEast Sector”? What brings you all the way back here?” Bronx took a swig of his water, contemplating whether or not he should tell Sedona about his mission. She looked at him expectantly as the seconds ticked by, the only sound being the hum of the flickering light. With a sigh, he shrugged his shoulders and answered with,

“Stuff.”

“Fine, keep your secrets. But as punishment for that lame answer, I get the rest of your fries.”

“You’ve been the only one eating my fries!” Their laughter echoed in the abandoned and dilapidated food court, the sound stopping them dead in their tracks. They could hear movement and snarling in the distance, growing louder with each passing second. Sedona took a final slurp of her Coke before grabbing the rifle propped against her chair, Bronx did the same with the pistol on his hip. Their chairs made a horrendous scraping noise as they pushed themselves away from the table.

“Stand back to back. Can’t risk any of them escaping.” He couldn’t see her face, but he could hear the smirk as Sedona challenged him with,

“Whoever kills the most zombies gets the last of the fries.”

“Good, I’ve been wondering how my fries actually taste.”

“Keep wondering, old man,” was the last thing spoken before the zombies flooded into the food court and gunshots rang out.