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Chapter two
“Mysisterdoesn’tdolove.” Matty’s words echoed in my head as I peeked around the corner of the house to ensure there weren’t any zombies to sneak up behind me. Finding the area empty, I sprinted over to the gate to secure it so more zombies didn’t find their way in as I killed the ones that had. I tried not to feel hurt by his statement, even if it wasn’t entirely incorrect. I just hoped he knew that while I didn’t “do love," I loved him with every cell in my body. I hope he didn’t doubt that.
My sprint to the gate caught the attention of a couple of the closest zombies, and they had changed course and were coming my way. I pulled out my knife and ran towards them, stabbing one and then the other in the head. Two down; who knows how many are left. Everyone had their name for them. Some called them walkers from some comic book turned-TV show from the pre-apocalypse era. Some were poetic and called them the undead. I called them zombies because I didn’t see the point in getting creative with what to call the monsters of the world; well, the reanimated monsters, anyway.
There were far worse monsters out there than zombies, like humans. At least with zombies, I could easily identify and know their motives. I planted three arrows in the heads of the trio headed toward my pasture where the horses were grazing and continued to creep around the house towards the chicken coop and barn. The animals housed within had started making a fuss, so I needed to be quick before the zombies broke in and slaughtered them.
The zombies weren’t terribly bright or fast, but in numbers, they were like a plague, and I still didn’t know how many had gotten in the yard. I heard movement behind me and already had my knife out and was swinging it around when a hand shot out and grabbed my arm before I could make contact. Caleb looked at me wide-eyed as his eyes darted to the knife inches from his face.
“It’s just us,” he whispered in alarm. “We wanted to come help since we’re the reason they’re here in the first place.”
I nodded and lowered my knife, tucking it back into its sheath. “Sorry, but you really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. That’s how you get dead,” I admonished.
“Noted,” Caleb said, relaxing. He gave me a blinding smile, which slowly faded as I stared at him awkwardly. He looked like an angel with blond hair and blue twinkling eyes, which was strange for the apocalypse. How can he look that good when the dead come back to life and try to eat you? I looked at his two friends standing behind him, staring at me. They, too, were attractive, but I wasn’t paying attention when they were introduced.
“Who are you two again?” I asked.
“I’m Boone," the tall, dark-haired man answered. He had green eyes, and I recognized his voice as saying he was falling in love with me.
“And I’m Pike,” The dark-skinned man added. His coffee-colored skin had several scars that added to his allure. Except for his eyes, this guy looked like he belonged in the apocalypse. His dark brown eyes were entirely too kind.
“Right. Caleb. Boone. Pike. Got it. Boone, go right. Pike, go left. Caleb, with me. If they get into my chicken coop or barn, I’m screwed.” I turned my back on them and continued across the lawn, trusting they could handle themselves. I took in the scene in front of me. Five zombies were loitering around the barn, bumping into it as they tried to get to the cows and goats. I could hear panicking inside. They were safe for now, so I turned my attention to the chicken coop, which was far less secure.
The coop had about eight zombies surrounding it, and the chicken wire was starting to give as my chickens flew around, freaking out. Once Boone and Pike were in place, I shot an arrow through the head of the zombie who had managed to get his arm through a hole in the fencing, then whistled. “Hey!” I said, trying to get their attention on me and off of the chickens. It worked, maybe a little too well, as it also drew the attention of the ones around the barn.
The three men moved in while I stayed put and dropped zombies with my arrows until I was out. I had managed to down six of them while Pike and Caleb handled the other two. We moved in on the other zombies who had their sights set on Boone and worked as a team to take them down quickly. I double-checked my chickens, who were still in a tizzy, then checked the barn's perimeter for signs that a zombie had made it in. Everything looked fine, so I could relax, knowing my animals were out of immediate danger.
“Ok, let’s check the rest of the property. Stay in pairs. I don’t care who comes with me,” I said.
“Called it!” Boone said louder than necessary. The other men glared at him as he came over to me. He went to put his arm around my shoulders casually but pulled back when I flinched at the impending touch. “We aren’t going to hurt you.I’mnot going to hurt you. In time, you’ll see that,” he said somberly.
“I doubt you will be here long enough for that, but thank you for not touching me anyway. Let’s go.” He quickly fell into step with me as we searched the rest of the property to ensure we didn’t miss any zombies.
“So you raised Matty on your own?” Boone asked conversationally.
“Basically, yeah. I mean, I had help, if you could call it that, which I am choosing to do since I paid for it with my body. We stayed with that couple for seven years, and then when Matty was eight, I realized we had to leave if I was going to protect him from those monsters, so we left and found this place. That was about ten years ago.” I said it matter-of-factly, like a series of facts I was reciting.
“It must have been difficult to be on your own and raising a child,” Boone responded as we looked behind a shed closer to the fence line.
“Not really. Sure, there were challenges, but by then, I had learned as many skills as possible, and I knew that no matter what we faced out here, it was infinitely better than what we would have faced had we stayed. What about you?” I asked, changing the subject as we stopped by the horse paddock and waited for old Sampson to plod over to me.
“We were in a foster home together when all of this started. We holed up there for a while until the food ran out then we had to venture out into the new world and find our way. There used to be more of us, but they didn’t make it. Survival of the fittest, I guess. Now we’ve just been trying to find a defendable place we can settle down and call our own,” he replied. I heard the sadness in his voice when he mentioned his other foster siblings. The idea of losing Matty was too terrifying to think about.
Sampson finally made it over to us, and I stroked his head as he nuzzled my neck and then started to chew on the strands of hair that had escaped the bun. “I can’t imagine losing Matty,” I said, surprised at myself for voicing that thought.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Boone admitted. “The only thing that has kept us going is each other. Then Gray stepped in that damn gopher hole, and I thought we would lose him too. Thank you for helping him.” I looked at Boone and the sincerity on his face and nodded. I opened the gate and led Sampson out by his halter, making sure I had a firm grip. He wasn’t one to shy, but I wasn't taking any chances with zombies in the vicinity and strewn across the yard.
The other horses came trotting over at the sound of the gate opening. While content in their pasture, every animal wanted freedom—even people. My mind drifted to Matty while I led Sampson through the gate, and Boone shut it behind him before the other horses could escape. “Thanks,” I said.
“We make a good team,” he replied with a twinkling smile. I rolled my eyes at him and made a noncommittal sound in my throat as I began leading Sampson toward the house.
“So, what happened to your parents, if you don’t mind me asking?” Boone asked as he fell in step with me. I froze for half a second before I continued walking.
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not discuss my parents.” There wasn’t much to discuss, but admitting that our father chose death over us was embarrassing.
“Ok,” he responded easily. He’d probably go to Matty, but I didn’t care as long asIdidn’t have to discuss them. As we approached the house, I saw Matty in the yard collecting bodies and tossing them on a sheet of metal we used as a sled to haul the zombies to the burn pit.
“Why are you outside?” I said in a panic. “I didn’t give the all-clear yet. What if we hadn’t gotten them all yet?” I said in a panic. Matty rolled his eyes at me as he took Sampson from me and hooked him up to the sled.
