Authors: Megan Berry
“Is everything
ready for tomorrow?” Barry asks my dad, and my ears perk up. Dad looks around
like he doesn’t want to discuss it here, but he does nod his head.
I watch my mother
glance over at my dad, worry etched into every line on her face. “I wish you
didn’t have to go,” she whispers, and I avert my eyes so they won’t know I’m
eavesdropping.
Dad gives her a
sad smile and brushes a finger over her cheek. “You will be safe here with Jane
and the girls. Ryan’s offered to stay and watch over them, but I’m afraid Barry
wants to take every other able body.” I glance over sharply at Ryan, but he
isn’t looking at me; he’s focused on his meal.
I feel an itch
that starts at the back of my neck, and I turn to find Silas watching me. My
stomach drops, and I’m suddenly not hungry. Ryan will be safe tomorrow, but
Silas and my dad will be going down the mountain, back into the fray. Without
asking, I already know that I am banned from even thinking about going on this
trip. I realize I’ve been staring at Silas, lost in contemplation, when I see
him look back down at his dinner, and I quickly look away.
My heart aches.
I’ve only just found my dad again, and now he’s leaving. If something happens
and they don’t come back, we will never know the details. I push my plate away
and stand up, offering my share to Sunny, who takes it with a wide grin on her
face. She’s lost a front tooth since we got to the cabin, and it’s utterly
adorable. I don’t head back to my room when I go upstairs, instead I detour to
the large window at the end of the hall that leads out onto the roof. Abby and
I used to sneak out here and watch the stars.
It’s nearly dark,
but at least up here I have nothing to fear. The air is cold and I feel it through
my jeans as I sit on the shingles and stare out over the rooftop. It used to be
relaxing, but now I can’t help wondering what is lurking down in the woods. I
hear a scuffling behind me and turn to find Abby climbing through the window.
“I’d almost forgotten
about this,” she says as she settles beside me, and we huddle together to keep
warm. “Are you okay?” she asks after a minute where neither of us say anything.
I think about faking it, but this is Abby. I shake my head.
“Not really,” my
voice breaks a little as my fears nearly overwhelm me. “I don’t want them to
go,” I say, and Abby grabs my hand and holds it. “Not alone,” I say, “not
without me.” Abby looks at me sharply.
“You can’t
seriously want to go down the mountain,” she squeaks in shock, and I nod.
“I don’t think any
of us want to go, but I can’t help feeling like…if I’m not there to help,
something terrible might happen to them.” I take a deep, shuddering breath. “I
have to go.” I can tell Abby wants to protest, probably wants to tie me up and
lock me in the closet so I can’t go, but she doesn’t say any of that.
“Your dad will
never let you go,” she says wisely, and I nod.
“I know.”
We sit together,
leaning on one another for warmth and strength until we hear my mom calling our
names. We scramble through the window, not wanting her to know about our secret
spot. She would probably board the window shut.
We reach the top
of the stairs just as she’s starting up the bottom step, and she startles at
our sudden appearance. “What were you girls up to?” she asks, and as one Abby
and I shrug.
“Just talking,” I
tell her. Even though she looks at us suspiciously, she has no proof of
anything so she finally nods.
“Why don’t you
girls head to bed early tonight? The boys are leaving first thing in the
morning and we should all be up to say goodbye.” Her lips purse and I know
exactly what she isn’t saying.
In case they never come back.
It’s probably only
seven, but it’s practically dark now and there is nothing else to do without
electricity. Sunny and Megan join us upstairs and none of us really say
anything as we get ready for bed. We are all thinking about the trip tomorrow.
Megan offered to go, but she was turned down—the funny thing is, with the
exception of Silas and Regg, she might actually be the next best shot.
Sunny crawls into
bed with me. I use the flashlight to read her a quick story, and she falls
asleep with my arm tucked under her head. I don’t mind though, it’s already
freezing and her extra body heat helps.
It doesn’t feel
like I’ve even fallen asleep, or maybe I did doze off, when a scream echoes
through the house and my eyes pop open. I sit upright in bed, accidentally
shaking Sunny. “What’s going on?” she whimpers, and I shake my head before
realizing that it is too dark for her to see.
“I don’t know,” I
tell her as I climb out of bed and reach for the pistol that I’ve hidden on the
top of the bookshelf, where Sunny won’t be able to easily find it.
Abby and Megan are
awake now too, and we all shudder when we hear the screams again. They are
definitely male, and whoever is screaming is in horrible pain.
“Who is that?”
Megan hisses in the darkness. No matter how hard I try and listen, I can’t
recognize the agonized shouts. It could be anyone I care about: my dad, Silas,
Ryan, or even Sergeant Regg.
“Do you think they
got into the house?” Abby asks. “The zombies,” she clarifies, though none of us
need any clarification. Her question makes Sunny start to cry. Abby apologizes
and gives the little girl a hug.
I pace back and
forth with my gun in my shaking hands. I don’t know what is on the other side
of that door, but the screams sound close—definitely upstairs with us.
“Do you still have
a gun?” I ask Megan, and I hear the click of her weapon in response. “Okay.” I
take a deep breath and slowly release it as I grab the flashlight off the shelf
and click it on. “Stay here with Abby and Sunny and shoot anything dead that
tries to come through this door,” I instruct her. In the flashlight glow, I see
that her eyes are focused and sharp as she gives a curt nod.
“You can’t go out
there,” Abby protests as I reach for the door knob, but Megan answers for me.
“Someone has to go
see what’s happening, we can’t depend on anyone outside this room because we
don’t know who is still alive…” she trails off. I swallow as I yank the door
open and emerge into the freezing cold hallway.
I shine my light
back and forth, praying that I haven’t just thrust myself out into the middle
of a zombie horde roaming the hall. Nothing looks disturbed. I hear the scream
again, though now it’s really more of a gurgling plead for mercy, and my eyes
narrow in on its source. I get a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach when
I recognize the room belonging to Natalie and Hank.
I take one
tentative step forward, but stop when I hear pounding footsteps coming up the
stairs. I whirl around as my parents and Barry reach the top step. They are all
still human, so I lower the light from their eyes and my gun from their faces.
“Are you okay?” my
mother shrieks. She should really be quieter, but panic has set in and I know
there is no point reasoning with her.
I nod. “I am.” The
hallway is silent now, and I know nobody else knows where to look. “It came
from Hank and Natalie’s room.” I tell them, and all three of them wince.
Pregnant Natalie—this can’t be good.
Barry is the first
one to recover as he strides to the door and knocks loudly. “Everything alright
in there?” he demands, and we all wait with baited breath to hear a response.
The angry moan of a zombie answers us back, and then we hear the terrible sound
of fingernails scratching against the wood of the door. Even Barry takes a step
backwards.
“They’ve turned,”
he says unnecessarily, and my mom starts to cry. Megan pokes her head out of
the room and I point towards the door, the look on my face telling her
everything she needs to know. Megan blinks a couple of times and then ducks
back into the room, and I almost wish I had stayed there too.
The moan of a
flesh eater comes again, and my dad turns towards me. “Please take your mother
and get out of here,” he begs me, and I nod, surprising him. I grab Mom’s hand
and pull her into my bedroom, making sure to knock and announce myself first—I
don’t want Megan accidentally shooting us in the face.
I sit with my mom
as she struggles to stay strong for our sakes. Megan, Abby, and I are all doing
the same thing for Sunny. After a few moments, we hear the door being broken in
and then two quick gun shots. There is a bunch of shouting between Barry and my
dad, and then the rapid firing of a pistol until it clicks empty. It doesn’t
last longer than a minute, and then there is absolute silence. I pull my hand
from my mom’s and stand up. “Jane, don’t,” Mom warns me, but I ignore her.
“I’m just going to
peek out and make sure they’re okay,” I tell her as I ease the door open and
peer out into the hall. I see Dad and then Barry emerge from the room, and I
run to my dad and embrace him. He’s pale and shaking and I squeeze him tighter,
trying to give him an anchor.
“Stay away, Jane,
you don’t want to see it,” Dad warns me, and I nod. I’ve already seen too much
carnage, and I’m sure I will not escape this life without seeing a bunch more.
There is no reason to go looking for it unnecessarily.
A pounding from
downstairs makes me jump, and my dad squeezes me even closer. “I suspect that’s
the boys, and they’ve heard the gun shots,” Barry says, sounding like he
doesn’t have a care in the world as he takes off down the stairs to let them
in.
“Keep your mom in
the room with you, would you?” Dad asks as he reluctantly pulls away and pushes
me towards the bedroom door. I give a nod and watch as he takes off down the
stairs before I leave the doorway and creep forward to crouch at the top of the
stairs to eavesdrop down below. Ryan, Silas, and the Sergeant are standing in
the living room with my dad and Barry.
“How did this
happen?” Regg demands, running his hand through his short brush cut in
agitation.
“It looks like
Natalie was the first one to turn and she ate Hank alive,” my dad informs them
quietly, so quietly that I have to strain my ears to hear. I bite back my
frustration at the softness of his voice. This is pretty sexist, the women
being confined to their rooms while the men gather below and take care of us.
“How did she turn
though?” Ryan asks in confusion, and I am wondering the same thing.
“She must’ve been
bitten or scratched today when they ran into that zombie outside,” Silas says,
and it makes sense. I feel my heart sink. I can’t believe Natalie didn’t tell
anyone, although I guess I can see where she wouldn’t want a bunch of strangers
to put her down, especially with a baby to think about. Maybe she thought she
would be able to fight the virus off. Now that I think about it, Natalie and
Hank hadn’t come down for supper—Hank must’ve been covering for her. I shake my
head. Natalie and the baby were a tragedy, but Hank didn’t have to die too.
“We should take
advantage of this and make an early start,” Barry interrupts, drawing
everyone’s eye to him.
I watch Sergeant
Regg check the watch on his wrist. “It’ll still be dark for a good bit yet,” he
protests, and Barry nods.
“It will, but dawn
should be breaking by the time we reach the bottom of the mountain. We have the
opportunity to bug out quicker, have more daylight to gather supplies, and get
back sooner.” He pauses and looks at each man in turn. “Will any of you be able
to get back to sleep tonight anyway?” he challenges them, and even I shake my
head.
“What about the
bodies?” Silas asks, and Barry nods towards Ryan.
“This one is
staying back to guard the women. He can pick one of them to help him clear out
the room.”
“What happened to
the baby?” Ryan asks a few minutes after Barry turns away and begins to make
plans with my dad and Silas.
Barry turns around
with a sigh, like he wishes Ryan hadn’t asked that question. “Once the mother
was gone, we could see it squirming around underneath her skin—it looked like
her belly was possessed,” Barry says, making the hairs on the back of my neck
stand up.
“You couldn’t save
it?” Ryan demands, and Barry and my dad both shake their heads.
“It was obvious
the baby turned when the mother did,” my dad manages to choke out.
“How could you
possibly know that?” Silas asks, and I watch my dad grow even paler.
“We could hear it
growling through the womb and see it trying to claw its way out,” Barry says,
his words painting an image I will never be able to forget. “I emptied my
bullets into her belly, and that was the end of it,” Barry says, his voice firm
and final. No one in the room asks anymore questions.
Barry turns back
to Silas and my dad, and I see Ryan glance up to the top of the stairs. I have
to quickly duck out of the way so he won’t see me. I decide to head back into
the room and wait with everyone else. My eye catches the doorway that leads
into the carnage as I walk back, and I feel my stomach churn. Maybe my parents
are right—there is some stuff I just shouldn’t know.
My mom has calmed
down and is sitting on the bed, talking quietly with Megan and Abby. Sunny has
somehow managed to fall back asleep. “What’s going on out there?” Mom asks when
I creep in. The room is dark, but they’ve left the flashlight on for a little
bit of light.
“It sounds like
they are going to leave pretty soon,” I confide in them, and my mom gets to her
feet.
“What?” she
demands. “But it’s still the middle of the night!”
“Barry says if
they leave now they will reach the bottom of the mountain by sunrise and will
be home sooner,” I tell her, even though technically I’m not supposed to be
privy to any of this.
My mom deflates.
It’s like she wants to protest but knows it’s not a bad idea. “I guess we
should go say goodbye then,” she says hollowly, and I nod as I watch them all
file out.
“I’ll be right
there,” I tell them. Abby gives me a funny look, but I purposely ignore it. I
sit on my bed and really try to think about what I’m going to do. On one hand,
I should probably stay and do as my parents tell me—I know that is what both of
them want—but I just don’t think I can. To them I will always be their little
girl, someone they want to protect and keep safe, but it’s a new world and
keeping me hidden away doesn’t guarantee my safety. Ryan will be safe enough
here at the cabin, and I am so thankful for that, but what about my dad… and Silas.
I will be worried sick about them the entire time they are gone, and if
anything happens to them, I know I will always wonder if I could have changed
the outcome.
“Damn it,” I
mutter to myself as I stand up, having made my decision, and grab a pen and paper
from Abby’s desk.
Mom,
I’m so sorry but I couldn’t stay. I have to
make sure Dad will be alright. I love you, please don’t come looking for me. I
will be back tonight with everyone else.
Jane
I stare at the paper and feel my stomach twist with anxiety. I am not
sure what my parents will do to me for disobeying. Can I even be grounded in
the zombie apocalypse? What would they possibly take away from me that hasn’t
already been taken away by the zombies? Whatever they decide to do, I know it
won’t be good. I steel my nerve and grab my backpack. It’s loaded with supplies
and is ready to go in case we ever need to bug out quickly—Silas made sure I
kept it packed and ready. I’m already wearing my coat. It’s so cold at night
that it isn’t suspicious. I slip it off and throw an extra sweater on
underneath, and then I slip out of the room. I have my gun tucked away, and my
knife in my backpack.
I go straight down
the hallway to the window that leads out onto the roof and creep towards the
edge, dropping my backpack into a clump of bushes, and then I take off running
to join the others. “There you are,” Dad says, forcing a smile when he sees me
coming down the stairs. “I thought you’d fallen asleep again,” he teases, and I
give him a half-assed attempt at a smile. Like anyone, except for Sunny, could
sleep around here tonight.
“Nope,” I tell him
as I give him a tight hug.
“Everything will
be alright, sweetie,” Dad tells me, and I nod.
“I know it will,”
I tell him, and I pray that will be the truth.
I look over at
Ryan, who is standing towards the back with Abby and Megan, and I make my way
towards him.
“I feel like crap
staying behind while they are out there risking their lives,” he admits the
second I get close enough to hear him. I nod. I know this has to be hard for
him, but he probably volunteered to stay behind to protect me.
“You’re making the
right decision,” I tell him and give him a big hug. He doesn’t know it right
now, but I’m also saying goodbye to him. “Protecting our home is just as
important as going out to find supplies for it,” I murmur as I move away. It’s
good advice and I wish that I could take it, but Ryan doesn’t have family going
out there today—I do.
I come up beside
my mom and wrap her in a huge hug. “Dad will be okay,” I promise her, and she
sends me a wan smile that I know she is just putting on for show.
“Of course he
will,” she tells me fiercely, and I plant a kiss on her cheek.
“I love you, Mom,”
I tell her, and she finally looks at me.
“I love you too,
Janey,” she says as she gives my arm a final squeeze before moving forward to
give my dad another hug goodbye. I look around; no one is watching me, so I
take the opportunity to slip away. I stroll casually to the kitchen until I’m
out of sight, and then I run as fast as I can to the back door. My hands are
shaking with adrenaline and they fumble the lock my first try, but I get it
with the second twist. I make sure to carefully turn the knob to lock it behind
me, and then I’m running in the darkness. It’s pitch black, but I know my way
like the back of my hand. I just have to hope that I don’t run into anything
lurking around out here. I race around the side of the house as quietly as I
can, stopping to grab my backpack from the bush.
I see the truck we
drove up here in is running, warming its engine in the cold morning, as well as
two other vehicles. They must each be taking a vehicle so they can bring back
the most amount of stuff. There is still one more car, but it isn’t running and
I know they are probably leaving it for the others, in case they need to escape
quickly.
I jog over to the
F-150 and try the back door. It’s unlocked and I climb in, just about having a
stroke when the interior light comes on. I quickly shut the door as hard as I
dare and throw myself down onto the floor, staring up at the light and cursing
its existence. My heart beats erratically until the light finally starts to
fade and finally goes out completely. I let out a sigh of relief and then lay
back and wait, shifting uncomfortably. I should’ve taken my backpack off first,
but I didn’t. Now I’m laying here like a turtle flipped over on its shell, and
it is not comfortable.
I wiggle, trying
to find a better spot, and almost consider getting up to remove my backpack,
but I hear the crunch of shoes on gravel and that gets my heart beating like
crazy again. I close my eyes and pray it’s Silas, and that he doesn’t have
anything he needs to put in the backseat. I can’t have him discovering me until
it’s too late to turn around. The sound of footsteps gets louder and my crazy
brain suddenly thinks of something else—what if it isn’t Silas at all? What if
it’s a zombie?
I shake my head in
the dark; I’m being ridiculous. If it’s a zombie, I’m relatively safe inside
the truck, unless it’s a horde, and so high up on the mountains that is just as
unlikely. The door opens, and I have to resist the urge to let out a squeak as
my adrenaline kicks into overdrive. I hold my breath and stare at the back of
the seats as the light comes on, making spots of light blur my vision. I slam
my eyes shut and command myself not to move. I hear rustling, like a backpack
being thrown into the passenger seat, and then the door is slammed shut and the
light slowly fades again.
I feel better when
the cab is bathed in darkness again—but not much better. I hear Silas rolling
the window down, and then the cold air is rushing in as he leans out and talks
to somebody.
“I’ll just follow
you then,” Silas shouts across the driveway. I hear someone, maybe Barry, reply
with a grunt of agreement. The sound of engines revving and tires crunching on
the rocky, uneven driveway is all I can hear. Silas rolls his window up, puts
the truck in drive, and we’re off. This is it, I’ve pulled it off, and it’s too
late to turn back now.
It’s slow going
down the mountain in the darkness—and super bumpy. Almost immediately, my back
starts to ache from the uncomfortable way I’m laying, thanks to my backpack.
Every pothole we hit makes me want to groan, but I keep my mouth shut. Having
Silas mistakenly shoot me because he thinks I’m a zombie moaning and groaning
back here, is at the very bottom of my bucket list.
I almost give
myself up to Silas about a hundred times, but I chicken out at the last minute.
The terrain is so rough and bumpy, and to make it worse, the heat vent is
blowing directly on me. It’s blistering hot, and soon I’m a disgusting ball of
sweat beneath all my layers. At one point, Silas opens his window a bit and I
get the tiniest glimpse of cool air, but he still leaves the heat cranked. It
makes me want to jump up and scream at him to turn it off! God, why doesn’t he
lower the heat? He has to be just as hot as I am.
I lose track of
time, but it feels like a year has passed. Finally, Silas steps on the brakes
far more aggressively than necessary, making me roll forward and smack against
the front seat. I hold my breath, hoping he didn’t feel it. “Alright, Blondie.
You can come out now.” His voice rings through the cab and I freeze, not sure
if I should give up my position or not. “Oh come on, I know you’re there,” he
says with a chuckle as the truck turns a corner and takes off at a much
smoother gait. We must’ve reached the main road at the bottom of the mountain.
I glance out the window and see that it’s still dark, but the first few streaks
of light are starting to pierce the gloom. “Jane?” Silas calls again. I let out
the deep breath I’ve been holding and start to sit up.
“How long have you
known?” I ask as I scramble into the backseat and shuck off my backpack and
coat to finally gain some sweet relief. Silas starts to laugh.
“I knew from the
beginning,” he admits, casting me an evil smile in the rear-view mirror. “Why
do you think I made sure to hit every pothole on the way down that godforsaken
mountain?” It’s too much. I reach out and slap him on the arm, making him laugh
harder.