Solo Sonatas and Red Lipstick

Ezra tries to remember a song while dealing with a world gone wrong.

The gentle breeze made a soft woosh sound as it passed Ezra’s face. The path was lined with tall trees with vibrant green leaves and basked in the soft light of the rising sun. Between the road and the trees were tall grass mixed with wildflowers. He wasn’t great at identifying all of them, but he could pick out a few that were edible. The blue sky was mostly clear, but a few random clouds slowly moved across the sky. It was looking like it was going to be a great day and hopefully they would be able to get some miles behind them. The last few days had been miserable and made travel impossible. He never wanted to feel like he was in the oven, but that’s what it felt like. His body seemed to sweat out any water the second after he drank it. The air had a foul smell he thought he had learned to ignore, but the heat had amplified it. The plan to keep going was abandoned because either of them having a heat stroke wouldn’t be great. Greg was the one who really helped him understand it made sense to bunker down until the heat wave had ended.

They found a good place to pitch their tent, right by a small stream nestled in the woods. Its clear waters weaved its way through tall grasses and along one side was a small embankment. They quietly climbed down and both let out a sigh of relief when they got in the water. It was so cold and absolutely soothing. He made sure to keep an eye out, because one didn't want to get too relaxed. They spent the next two days at that camp. It was hard to move on and it was the closest he had felt normal in a long time. Even his nightmares had taken a break from tormenting him, but he knew it was time to move on. It wouldn’t be summer forever and they had to reach their destination before the frost.

They usually walked in silence. It was safer of course, but sometimes it was hard not to talk about what they’ve seen. Ezra had never been much of a talker and he found comfort in the silence. They had been traveling with each for the last month, but it felt longer. They really don't have a goal in mind at first and just keep moving forward since they both had no plan. They had bumped into another group that mentioned a sanctuary in North Dakota. They were in Kansas so it meant walking the whole way. They had an old school map and picked out a path and made sure to avoid any major cities. This did add some extra miles but the shortcut wasn’t worth the risk.

Snap!

Ezra took a short breath and stopped. He turned to the sound and then looked over at Greg. He had heard it too. Sounds traveled further than they used to. He was pretty unaware about how much white noise there was until it was gone. The bushes by the trees seemed to tremble for a minute. His hand shook as he reached for his backpack. He held his breath without even realizing it and let it go when he knew they were in the clear. They continued to walk, but every once and while he looked back to make sure.

The road started being littered with cars in varying states of decay. It had only been two years, but he could see how nature was taking back the land. They could look for supplies, but it looked like that was done and quite a while ago. It was also risky and they had discovered stash of mres and water purifying tablets. The person who had originally owned them had faced a terrible fate. His half eaten body was laid out next to what was left of one of his legs. He must have fallen asleep by the tree and was caught unaware? The idea of waking up to being eaten alive was someone Ezra didn’t want to imagine but at the same time wouldn’t leave his mind either. He found a good chain next to him with a locket. When he opened it he found a picture of a woman in a wedding dress and a young girl with curly brown hair. They didn't have anything to bury him, but he found an old tarp and laid it over him. Maybe one day people would have the luxury of being properly buried.

They had passed ten cars when the amount had started getting thicker. The sides of the road's grass was higher than normal so it wasn’t any safer. It was easy to miss something or someone crawling on the ground. Ezra had found out that just because something couldn't run anymore didn't mean it wasn’t dangerous. They crept between cars being mindful of broken or open windows. Ezra peeked in a few and instantly regretted it. He could see a few bodies in one but most of them were skeletons with some hair and clothes hanging onto bone. The worst was the one with the baby car seat.

Greg turned and pointed ahead and that's when he saw it. Up ahead crawling from under a red truck was one of those things. They used to be people, but now they were ravenous monsters that just wanted to consume flesh. It crawled, dragging behind what was left of its body. Its eyes were sunken in its sockets and the flesh on its skull was pulled taut enough to shape out bone structure beneath. Its shirt was in tatters and if it had been wearing pants they were long gone, because it was missing its lower half. It reached its hand out still trying to catch a meal. Greg walked up and took a knife from his belt and stabbed in its head. He was surprised it was still moving. He walked past it and noticed the shirt was still partially on, it was red and it looked like it had flowers on it. Oddly enough it made him think about his mom. When he was young she would play records in their living room. He would be laying on the plush orange carpet coloring pictures. His mom always wore a red apron when cleaning. She would go around and dance while picking up the house. Her favorite song was called Solo Sonatas and something. What is the name of the song? He paused for a moment when he heard a crash and looked up. Up ahead Greg was on the ground and one of those things was on top of him. He had had his arm up and it was biting where he added duct tape for protection. He raced forward with his heart in his throat, but his body as if he was in a dream. The thing lunged towards Greg’s face and he got there in time to kick it in the side of the head. The things head whipped to the side. He grabbed his knife for his belt and plunged it into the things skull. It stopped moving and collapsed. Ezra helped get it off Greg and helped him up.

“I thought it was the end. This was it. They would have finally got me. I guess there’s still some fight left in me. You know after I lost Jenny and the baby I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go on, but this shows me for some reason I do,” his words came out quickly but in a whisper.

His face was still paler than normal and his brow was furrowed. “We need to get away from these cars as quickly as possible. It seems there’s a few of those things left and they're still dangerous,” Ezra whispered.


They moved at a quicker pace, but Ezra’s mind kept going back to when he was a kid. The damn song kept playing on repeat in his brain. It was weird to think of such a simple time and if anyone would ever have a moment like that again. Was the song Solo Sonatas and Lipstick? His mom had played that song for months and even years later would occasionally get out the record and play it. She would dance every time she heard it. When Evelyn, his only daughter, got older she also loved to dance just like Grandma. They would visit her in the nursing home and sometimes he would play that song and the two of them would dance. Then an image of Evelyn came into his mind. The last he saw of her as she was ripped in two while screaming, “Mommy! Daddy! Help me!” It happened so fast and they didn’t know how to deal with the things back then. He called them things but really they were zombies, the living dead as you could call them. Even if they had turned into monsters at one point these things had been mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters with lives, hopes and dreams. His wife was bitten by their neighbor as they were trying to get into the car. She later on attacked their son. He had pulled over, but it was too late and she had bitten off half their son’s face. It had all gone so wrong so fast. He had pulled over to stop Megan and that’s when Evelyn had got out of the car and started running. His wife thought it was extreme, but he had brought a gun. He took it out and shot her in the head. He didn’t know it would be so loud in the car and his ears instantly started ringing. There were brains splattered all over the window of their car. Brian stared up at nothing. His body convulsing from shock? Blood loss? Ezra didn't know he pulled his son out of the car to realize his throat had been bitten. He pushed his hand on the wound, but blood squirted out from underneath his hand. His eyes still looked up and he realized he wasn’t looking at anything in particular. He was dying. Then with one final shudder the life drained out of his eyes. Ezra took the gun and shot him in the head before he turned into one of those things. Then he thought of Evelyn and looked up and couldn't find her.

She had run off out of shock, fear who knew why. To a six year old seeing her mom attack her little brother was terrifying. He had followed where he had seen her go. They were in a neighborhood that had been evacuated and what was left isn't alive anymore, but they were ravenous. She had gone to a small playground nestled between some houses. She must have been trying to hide in a tunnel because when he caught up that’s what he saw. Three of those things, two children and one adult dragging her out. Those things usually fought over people like two kids who didn't want to share a toy. He couldn’t make it in time and they destroyed her. He started screaming. One immediately stopped and ran towards him and it took two shots but he got it. He only had a few bullets in his pocket. The other two were so occupied with their meal they ignored him. He only needed two more. He reloaded and looked down at what was left of his daughter. For some reason they had ignored her face and her eyes stared up in shock. Then her eyes clouded over and she gasped. What was left of her body started writing in her own blood and guts. He didn’t hesitate and shot her too. Then he looked and saw more coming. He ran until he got into the car and started driving.

That was two years ago and had just been moving since. He had been with a bigger group, but they split up and then his small camp was attacked. Mostly everyone died and he ended up on his own until he bumped into Greg.

They had passed the cars and had walked onto an exit. This was more a small road and the chances of another road block would be slim.

When night came they set up a small camp and set up a few alarms around it. Strings with bells were easy ones to do. Those things were always quiet even when they were eating you.

They couldn’t risk a fire so they ate their MRE’s, beef stew tonight. Not the best but it was better than starving.

“Greg, do you remember a song from a long time ago? My mom used to love it, but I can’t remember the name. It was Solo Sonatas and Red something” Ezra asked.

“You know I kinda remember that song. That was old even when I was a kid,” Greg said then started humming the melody.

“That is it. You do remember it, but do you know the full name?”Ezra asked.

“Crap. It's been so long since I even thought about that. Sorry. I wonder if I will ever be able to listen to music again?” Greg added with a bit of hope in his voice.

Ezra nodded and they continued in silence. He wondered too if things would ever go back to normal. He still had hope they would make it to the sanctuary and when they did maybe someone would remember the name of the song.