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The best I could do for the time being was hope that things would be better when Elmyra gave us our jobs. Maybe we’d get more food or a better place to sleep. If nothing else, we would be out of this stall, and we’d have a much better chance of finding a way to improve our circumstances.
So we waited, watching the spiders build webs in the corner, and Kimber re-telling the story of Shrek.
Whenever I closed my eyes, I dreamt of food and mangled bodies. Once I woke up salivating after having a nightmare that I was eating all of the zombies, tearing into their decadent flesh with my teeth.
After three days, the morning arrived when Elmyra returned, greeting us with her usual warm smile. “The free ride is over, and it’s time to get to work.”
“When do we eat?” Kimber asked.
“You’ve got different jobs, but both of you will eat after you get cleaned up, since you smell something fierce,” Elmyra said with a little chuckle. “You’ll be around for a while, so I suppose it’s time to hear your names. What do you want me to call you?”
“My name is Kimber Maric.”
“Harlow Smith.”
“Kimber, you’ll be out in the fields with my son Wyatt, and Harlow, you’ll be in the main house with me,” Elmyra instructed us, and she motioned to a young man that waited off to the side of the stall, leaning against the open door.
“You’re splitting us up?” Kimber asked, and she’d already moved closer to me in a defensive stance.
“Different work requires different skills, and I don’t think this little flower would last in the fields with you,” Elmyra said it with a wink, and she pointed at me on little flower. “But don’t get all weepy eyed. You’ll see each other again. Now come on. We’ve got much to do.”
Elmyra motioned for me to follow her, and Wyatt stepped between Kimber and I. He looked older than Bly but younger than Waylon, and his shoulders were broader than both of them. It seemed unlikely that Kimber and I could overpower him, even if we weren’t weakened from malnutrition.
Without any other reasonable option, we went our separate ways peacefully. I gave Kimber one last look over my shoulder. I wanted to memorize every feature of her beautiful face, the way her short red hair was wonderfully wild and fell across her forehead, even the way she walked, shoulders back with defiant steps.
Why had Kimber been chosen for the field work, while I was sent to the house like a “little flower?” Was it simply because she was stronger, while I looked frail? Or was it that she was more disobedient, while I seemed compliant?
But I didn’t let myself think too much on that. I needed to pay attention to my surroundings and get the lay of the land if I wanted to escape.
The location and scale made it difficult to get a full scope of the ranch. It was low in a valley, with mountains surrounding us in the distance. Buildings filled up most of my eyesight – barns, stables, machinery sheds. I couldn’t even count how many there were, because some were hidden behind overgrown brush or abandoned farm equipment.
Gravel roads and dirt trails wound through all the buildings, and we passed quite close to some of them. One looked like it had once been a cattle barn, but it had been converted to hold zombies. They stuck their arms through the slats, reaching out for me and Elmyra, but she paid them no mind and kept walking onward.
I wanted to ask Elmyra what the hell was going on here, because I couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to keep so many zombies. But I didn’t think she would answer, and I was afraid it would only anger her.
Until I had eaten and gotten cleaned up, I was going to bite my tongue and do all I could to ingratiate myself to her.
We headed away from the loud buildings full of zombies and their putrid stench, and I could see a huge farmhouse sitting on a hill.
It would’ve been picturesque if it wasn’t on a zombie farm. In the front yard was a jungle gym with a slide and a rope swing hanging from a tree. The bleak backdrop of early spring, with a gray sky and the surrounding trees still bare, added an ominous vibe. It was a sprawling home, with probably ten or more bedrooms, and a grand porch that wrapped around the whole thing.
Once we got closer to the house, I realized that it wasn’t nearly as nice as I’d originally thought. Still expansive, but exterior paint was chipping, the wood floor of the porch was weathered and warped, and several of the windows were boarded up.
“The house has seen brighter days, but our home has fared much better than most,” Elmyra said, as if reading my thoughts. “With some more time, and help from others like you, we’ll revive this place back to its former glory.”
“I am happy to help,” I replied. “Your home looks like it has a rich history.”
Elmyra paused then, looking admiringly up at the house, and she let out a contented sigh. “It does. It’s so rare to find someone who sees that anymore.”
We climbed the porch, and the floorboards creaked underneath my feet. As soon as we passed through the front door, I was hit by the normalcy of it all. Memories from childhood washed over me, of winter holidays spent visiting my aunt’s cozy house in the country. It was the scent of a woodburning stove and warm fresh bread and cinnamon candles.
Despite the size – the wide hallways and grand rooms – and the darkness of the drawn shades, it was astonishingly homy. In the entry way, there was a painting of the cattle ranch in its heyday, and the rest of the décor seemed to tilt towards a rustic live-laugh-love type. Doilies on antique furniture and horseshoes hanging above it. Wooden hearts on the wall decorated with small handprints, presumably those of Elmyra’s children or maybe her grandchildren.
I peeked around as much as I could, but Elmyra walked quickly. She led me through winding corridors to a small bathroom at the back of the house, right off the kitchen. It had a sink and a wash basin, and a towel and clothes had been left on the toilet.
“Clean yourself up, and I’ll get you something to eat,” Elmyra commanded.
The water from the tap smelled funny, and it stayed cool even when I let it run. But I hardly cared at first. I dunked my mouth right under the faucet and gulped it down.
