Hope and Undead Elvis - By Ian Thomas Healy Page 0,27
think it might be gone now, though."
Hope waved toward the broken bridge.
"Perhaps I'll see if I can find it. It sounds like a nice place to rest."
Undead Elvis checked the tuning on the ukulele and began to play a cheerful little tune, humming along in his rich baritone.
A bleating sound made Hope whirl, afraid one of those black birds might have found them. Instead, some animal the size of a dog blundered down a sand pile toward them, a gray shadow in the early morning light.
Hope pulled out her pistol again. "What the hell is that?"
The animal made the bleating noise again. It sounded like a baby's cry.
"It's a sheep," said Undead Elvis.
"A lamb," said Ash. "Sheep are larger."
"Okay, so what's it doing here?"
"Being our brekky, if you'll pull that trigger, Miss." Ash tossed aside a small hunk of apple core.
"Shoot it? But… I never…" Hope stopped when she realized she had; she'd shot the man who'd killed Gabe.
"Apples are nice, but a nice hunk of protein, nicely seasoned… Don't that sound good?"
Hope's belly gurgled. Her pregnant body agreed with Ash's sentiment. She needed protein for her baby-to-be. "Okay." She raised the gun, squeezed her eyes shut, and pulled the trigger.
Something blocked her from firing the pistol. She opened her eyes and saw Undead Elvis standing with his finger interposed between the hammer and firing pin. "Not like that, Li'l lady. Respect your target enough to look at him in his final moments."
"How are we even going to cook it?" Hope's stomach was turning somersaults in anticipation of a substantial meal.
"I've got a little propane grill in a saddlebag," said Ash. "As I said, I've been traveling a long time, and the durn thing come in handy a lot. Know what I'm' sayin'? Also got salt… pepper…"
Hope squeezed the trigger. The gun's deafening report echoed through the canyon for what seemed like eternity.
The lamb fell over and its blood made a dark stain on the lightening road. Ash took a large knife from a saddlebag. Hope couldn't watch while he and Undead Elvis butchered the animal. She went and sat in The Way to watch the sun rise. She wondered if it was rising on the other side of the bridge too, or if it still hadn't moved from overhead. Did that mean there were two suns? Or two Earths and they'd crossed a bridge between them? The idea made Hope's head hurt. All she knew was that the world had broken, and her child was destined to fix it somehow. She realized with a start that she'd been rubbing her belly with a gentle soothing motion. It comforted her.
The sizzle of cooking meat drifted past The Way and saliva flooded Hope's mouth so hard she had to spit to keep from choking on it. She climbed out of The Way and went over to the grill that was producing such a delicious odor.
Ash and Elvis had tossed the offal into the sand and buried it out of consideration for her. It was easier for her to look at the skinned and cut apart lamb, because she could think of it as something from a grocery store meat counter.
Except… Ash held a bloody lump out to her. She recoiled. "Jesus, Ash!"
He looked pained. "It's the heart. You killed the beast, it's your right."
Creeping horror threatened to overwhelm Hope. "To eat?!"
"Yes."
Her gorge rose, but she had nothing to vomit except bitter bile, which she spat to one side. "Ugh. Get rid of it. Please."
"Mind if I burn it?"
"Anything, just so I don't have to see it any longer."
Ash used the blade of his knife to lift the edge of the grill upon which sizzled lamb steaks and dropped the heart down into the flames. It hissed and smoked, adding a strange but satisfying scent to the air.
Hope watched the smoke swirl up into the sky, now more blue than black. She could see the orange of clouds along the eastern horizon. "What's it like east of here, Ash? Does this desert run on forever?"
He speared a steak with his knife, set it on a camp plate, and passed it to her. She closed her eyes and inhaled the heady, complex smell of the grilled lamb.
"There's forest further to the east. Food and water in it."
"People?"
Ash loaded a plate with meat and offered it to Undead Elvis, who declined. "I'm fine, friend."
"Where are y'all headed?" Ash took a bite of meat and fanned at his mouth from the heat.