Hope and Undead Elvis

chapter Thirty-Six

Hope and Josh





Boredom threatened to overwhelm Hope for the hours of her imprisonment. She'd tried to turn on the television, hoping there might be some kind of on-demand movies or games or anything to help pass the time, but the remote wasn't working, and nothing happened when she pushed the power button below the screen. The flat plastic expanse mocked her, like a darkened mirror that turned everything into shades of black.

She closed the door latch so nobody could enter the room without breaking it, and thought about drawing a bath, but the tub only provided a trickle of cold water. The sound of it splashing on the porcelain made her have to pee.

What would her life be like here if she stayed? She'd be well-cared-for, at least until her baby was born. That could happen in a week, or a month, but not any longer than that, she knew. Would Duce take away the baby right away? Was he going to feed her son himself and raise the boy as his own? The boy would live a life of comfort under Duce's watchful eyes. That couldn't be such a bad thing, compared to the hardships Hope's future would hold.

There was a knock at the door.

"Open up," said Josh's rough voice from outside. "I'll break it down if I have to."

Hope padded over to the door and unlatched it.

Josh entered the room with a tray.

"Don't hurt me again," Hope whimpered.

"Cooperate, and I won't have to. If I have to fight you again, I promise you that Duce will send in other men to do the same until you go into labor." He shut the door and set the tray down on the end of the bed.

"God, he'd really do that?" asked Hope.

"Yes," whispered Josh. "He's made no secret of it. There are a lot of men here who want to be rewarded for starting your delivery. A lot of them."

Hope shivered at the idea of a parade of rapists coming through her room. She was already a little afraid of sex, which was why she'd avoided it her entire life, and the possibility of a gang-rape made her feel lightheaded. "If I was going to have this baby that way, I'd want you to be the one," she said. "You've been really nice."

Josh blushed beneath his beard. "I'm not like this most of the time. Duce put me on the inventory assessment crew because I pay attention to detail and don't get swayed by emotional outbursts. The man is scary at how good he can identify people's strengths and weaknesses and exploit them."

"Why haven't you left before now?"

"Didn't have anywhere to go. Working for him kept me out of Down Below. Here, eat something. Keep your strength up." Josh uncovered the food tray to reveal a microwaved sandwich, thick with grease, a can of 7-Up, and a chocolate pudding cup. He held up the latter. "Last chocolate pudding in the world right here, I bet. This was in my own stash. I want you to have it."

Hope smiled at him and touched his hand. "Share it with me?"

"There's only one spoon," he said.

"It's okay. You've already raped me today. I think I don't have to worry about cooties from sharing a spoon."

Josh put his chin in his hands. "That's not even funny. I wouldn't ever do that. Ever. But they were going to send someone else to do it, and I couldn't let that happen. I pulled rank."

"I'm glad you did." Hope peeled back the foil cover from the cup and licked the fake chocolate from it. The artificial sweetness was far more prevalent then when she'd eaten them in the past, before the world ended. Nevertheless, it did taste good, and she ate it slowly, savoring every bite. She was careful to leave half of it for Josh.

"Duce is going to kill you after the baby's born," he said as he took the spoon from her. "I heard him discussing it with one of his other lieutenants. He's afraid of you."

Hope nodded. She had expected as much after her similar treatment at the convent. "Because I represent a threat to his power, right?"

"Something like that. I don't agree with that at all. I mean, Duce has done a lot of good things for people here. He's given them a place of safety."

"He's given them a place of slavery," said Hope. "Everyone in this building is beholden to him."

"I know. God, it's so hard to see the darkness when he's providing light."

Hope touched his hand. "There's a lot of darkness out there. I've seen it firsthand. And everywhere I've gone, it seems, the Righteous Flame is following after me."

"Who's that?"

"Bad, bad people. They're cannibals, driven by a religious zealot whose devotion is to burn the entire world. First I ran into them in a forest far away. I got past them, but then I wrecked my car. Woke up in a convent, of all places. The sisters there were just as bad, in their own way. They were trapped in their beliefs, and were letting one of their own murder them one by one to stretch out their food supplies."

"God, that's horrible!"

"Their leader wanted to take my baby for herself too. Before she could, I don't know, put me back into a coma again, the Righteous Flame attacked the convent. They…" She sniffled as she recalled the screams of the nuns as they were assaulted and eaten.

Josh squeezed her hand and said nothing.

"I escaped with one of the nuns. We found a safe place to stay, with a man who was a mechanic. He and the nun wound up falling in love. And get this. He was Muslim. A Muslim and a Christian loving each other without their religions getting in the way."

"Sometimes people fall in love. It doesn't make any sense, but they do."

"I know." Hope realized Josh was still holding her hand. She looked up at him. He blushed again and drew his hand back.

"Where are your friends now?"

"I don't know. Safe somewhere to the south, I hope. The Righteous Flame found me again and we had to split up. I didn't want my friends to risk themselves traveling with me when the most evil people left in the world were following me." She sighed. "Somehow, they found each other in this broken world. They're having a baby too. I envy them."

"Why?"

She laughed softly. "I didn't get to enjoy the process of making a baby, Josh. I'm still a virgin."

He blinked. "You're what?"

"I wasn't pregnant before the world ended, and then I was."

Josh's mouth hung open in pure shock. "So whose baby is it, then?"

"I don't know. He's mine. Someone once told me he's got a destiny, to fix the world." Hope took a bite of the sandwich. It was gummy and salty and she needed the 7-Up just to wash it down.

"That's a pretty powerful thing to lay on an unborn baby," said Josh. "Or his mother."

"I know."

"So now you're alone again."

"I have Fidel. He watches over me. And Undead Elvis in the basement. And even Margaret." She reached out and took his hand again. It was warm and rough, like he'd spent many years working with his hands. "And you, too."

"I'd… I'd really like to travel with you, if you'd let me."

Hope lowered her eyes. This man genuinely liked her, in spite of the mysterious baby in her belly, in spite of her stripper background, and even in spite of the dangerous zealots who seemed intent upon her destruction. It made her stomach feel all fluttery, like when her baby had been much smaller. He was being far more active than normal. "We'd like that," she said softly. "Here, want to feel?"

She guided Josh's hand to the curve of her belly. His eyes widened as he felt the baby kick at her side. "That's amazing," he whispered.

His eyes rolled up from staring at her stomach to meet hers, and she saw something in them she'd never seen before. She knew what lust looked like, for she'd seen it every night on the stage in the eyes of the men with their dollars folded in little tents at the edge of the platforms. She knew the look of disdain from club owners as they handed over compensation for shifts, never enough and never without strings attached. She even recognized anger and hatred, which had been the most common glances she saw in her life. But this look had never been directed at her. The closest she could approximate was when Nur had looked at Rae.

Was this love?

She couldn't tear her eyes away from his. Being lost in his eyes was a cliché phrase that belonged in a trashy romance novel, but for the first time in her life, Hope understood that the cliché was based in reality. She reached up to touch her hand to the side of his face. His beard was soft and tickled her palm. His hand came up as well, snaking around the back of her neck to twist his fingers into her hair.

He bent his head towards hers, and she tilted her chin up to welcome him.

A loud banging at the door made them both jump back like they'd scalded each other. "Hey, loverboy, you ain't getting' paid for pillow talk," called a rough voice. "Shoot your load and get the f*ck out. Duce's orders."

Josh stood. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "Lost track of the time."

"It's okay," said Hope. "I didn't mind at all." She held out her hand. "Help me up?"

He offered his hand to her and with a gentle tug, pulled her to her feet. "Be ready to go tomorrow morning. We'll get out of here. All of us."

Hope smiled at him. "That sounds lovely."

More banging at the door. "Hurry up, a*shole."

"I'm coming!" called Josh.

"Better be in her, dumbass."

"I'm sorry they're such a*sholes," he said to Hope.

"It's okay. You're not like them, and I appreciate that."

"'Til tomorrow, then."

Hope took his head in her hands, pulled him down to her, and kissed him. His arms encircled her and they stood that way for a moment, melded together, their entire worlds shrunk down to only each other.

Then, looking a little surprised and pleased, and a bit out of breath, Josh pulled away and opened the door. Hope watched him leave and then hugged herself since he wasn't there to do it for her. He'd tasted like chocolate pudding.

He'd tasted like love.