With the way this kitchen was shaped, she was completely blocking me by standing right in the middle of the floor. I couldn't edge around her without touching her, and I didn't want to find out what would happen if I did brush up against her. I had spent enough time freak-watching that I knew they all didn't react the same way. Some just let themselves be jostled around, but others would snap and bite at those that ran into them. I wasn't really looking forward to finding out what type of freak this one was.
I could take the chance that she was docile and just push her aside. On the other hand, if she wasn't docile, then I would be in a difficult position if she attacked. I would be too close to counterattack, and at too awkward of an angle to block. If I chose to kill her, she would smell the whole place up as she was rotting.
Softly, I exhaled. The sound was enough to cause a reaction in the freak. As if my exhalation was a cue, she started swaying back and forth, her body rocking to an unheard tempo. Her mouth started working, opening up slightly only to close back down again but never closing all the way. She looked like a fish. That was disconcerting to say the least.
I was still trying to decide what my best option would be when she took a shambling step toward me. My body reacted as if I was spring loaded, my mind only processing action with no time to think things through. I stepped forward, dropping the drawer and unsheathing my Bowie knife all in one smooth motion. I fully intended to stab upward, my target being the soft flesh where her chin met her neck, and then drive the blade into her brain.
I didn't count on the freak reacting to my attack. Hissing, she rushed forward to meet me as her arms came up. That startled me, fear blooming in my gut because this was different. Normally the freaks didn't react when I attacked them, but this one did. Her movement threw off my aim and the blade sliced into her cheek and was pushed backward to cut into her scalp. The sharp knife separated the skin from her skull, and her ear just flapped there, no longer connected to her head.
She didn't seem to notice.
Fresh warm blood squirted out onto my hand and spewed across the refrigerator, cabinets, and counter tops. She came at me again. Her red eyes still locked onto mine and her mouth continued to make that gnawing motion as she tried to lodge her teeth into any part of me. Flashbacks from before I was bitten raged into my mind then. This was the first time I'd been full-on attacked by one of these freaks since the change.
I grabbed her by the neck with my free hand and was able to stab her in the stomach a few times, doing my best to ignore her hands that were clawing at my face. She was able to get a few good swipes at me, and it forced me backwards to the sink. The blood that was pooling on the tile floor had created a slick mess, and she slipped as she advanced.
She fell hard. These creatures were no longer graceful. Her head lashed out like a whip to the side, cracking against the cabinet on her way down. She collapsed to her stomach, obviously dazed by the blow to her head. I wasted no time using this to my advantage. Stepping on her back to pin her to the floor, I stabbed the blade into her neck and held her in place.
She struggled against me, and for a while I didn't think I would be able to hold her. Slowly, her struggles died down as the pool of blood beneath her grew. She was dying, even though she couldn't feel it. Finally, she lay still.
Panting, I righted myself and leaned against the cabinets. I knew that face-eaters were generally stronger than when they were human, and this fight had zapped all of my strength. As my eyes took in all the gore splattered around me, on me, I knew this was a particularly sloppy kill. I had let myself get caught completely off guard, and still had no idea what her motivation for attack had been. It had all happened so fast. I had no idea if she was just reacting to my attack, wanting a quick bite to eat, or was going into a frenzy.
Did she frenzy?
More questions and worries instantly plagued my mind. What if my immunity was wearing off? What if the freaks were evolving into something else? If I became a target again, I was in one of the worst places I could possibly be. I swallowed hard, finding that my resolve to leave this place was absolute now. I just had to get a few things together and get back on the road as soon as possible.
"Bitch." I said out loud, surprised at how raspy my voice sounded. It felt appropriate. The blood was soaking up into her rust colored dress, making the scene look even more macabre. She looked like she was shrouded in blood. I wiped my knife off on a clean patch of fabric, and grabbed my pack. There was no point saving the contents of the drawer. I left it all where it had scattered as the blood pooled around it.
I grumbled to myself, deciding to go through the rest of the house quickly to see if I could find anything useful. I decided not to sheath my knife. I got caught off guard once today, I wasn't about to let it happen again. No more surprises.
Creeping slowly down the hallway after clearing the living room, I almost let myself pass by the first closed door. I remembered what was in that room.
The first time I was in this house, when I opened the door to that room and saw the crib and the little bones, I had immediately shut the door and moved on. Maybe that creeper had been in there and that was how I had missed her? Even still, I had shut the nursery room door then and it was still shut now.
My breathing was still uneven from the fight, and I felt my heartbeat speed up again as I gripped the door knob. I closed my eyes, counted to ten, and listened. Nothing.
But I couldn't do it.
I looked down at my fingers curled around the knob, and I let go. The door would stay shut.
Moving on to the second bedroom, which had been turned into a sewing room, I grumbled again at myself for being sloppy. I figured living here for so long was starting to have its effects on me, and I would be a sitting duck out there if I didn't get it together.
After I made sure there was nothing else lurking about in the sewing room, I went on to grab some needles, thread and a few swatches of fabric. I had never learned how to sew, but this stuff might prove valuable for trades. I quickly riffled through the dresser drawers and found a couple pair of scissors, another very useful tool that would come in handy.
Suddenly, a stereo blared to life somewhere in the house and lights flickered on. My stomach did flip-flops as it took a second for my addled mind to grasp what had just happened.
The electricity was pulsing through the neighborhood again, as it did almost daily. There were no radio stations anymore, so this freak had been listening to a god-awful CD when the world went to hell. This would not have been the last thing I'd have wanted to hear on my way out. I absolutely hated the song that was playing. I had my own little stash of CD's back at the house for the few hours out of the day I was able to listen. This one would be staying here, not even worthy of trading.
Grumbling about the timing of it all, I gave the room one last look. Satisfied with my find, I moved on to clear the master bedroom. There were plenty of clothes here I could find some use for, but with the supercenter so close, I would pass this up for new stuff. Bringing items into settlements that still had tags on them could sometimes prove to be a huge bonus.
Three years ago, I would have thought I hit the jackpot, but now I knew there were places like this all over. Guarded by freaks, it was difficult and deadly for others to scavenge, but wide open for me. I was always able to stock up on fairly good gear whenever I needed to, and hadn't been truly desperate in a long while. The thought nagged at me that my good fortune might be coming to an end as I considered what had happened with the freak in the kitchen.
I paused, standing there in the bedroom replaying the quick fight in my mind. Had she really jumped at me as a reaction to my attack, or was she already attacking before I moved? I couldn't remember for sure. Even though the memory was still fresh, it had happened so quickly. Everything was getting jammed together in my head and it was making me second guess what I thought happened. These freaks didn't have the greatest of response times unless they were frenzied. It was easy for me to out maneuver
them, but her quick reaction had me baffled.
How? I thought to myself, bewildered by this new event.
I chewed on my bottom lip in contemplation, staring back towards the kitchen. Suddenly, an overwhelming urge to be back in my own house, and away from this freak, forced my feet to move. I grabbed the books I'd come for and decided I wouldn't be coming back here. I had to push her body out of the way to get to the back door. When she moaned, I jumped. I guess she wasn't quite dead yet.
I threw my pack over my shoulder, the weight bogging me down. The trepidation inside me was growing as I opened the door to the two freaks that stood in the backyard, half expecting them to rush me. There was no change in their behavior. They continued to stand there and stare at nothing, much the same as they had been doing when I first passed them.
I decided to leave the back door open and let the birds have the body at least. It would help with the rotting process anyway. Making my way back to my house wasn't easy with the books. Books were heavy, and I knew I wouldn't be able to travel easily with them on foot when I left. As long as I had made the correct adjustments to that new SUV I'd pushed into the garage, I wouldn't have to worry about that for a while.
Even packing the truck full, there would still be a lot I'd have to leave behind, even some of the books. That thought made me sad because I loved them. I read so many of them myself, I didn't want to part with even one, but that wasn't practical.
There were other things that I was reluctant to leave behind. Creature comforts mostly. If I wasn't so nervous about staying here, this neighborhood would be able to sustain me for years. Even as it occurred to me, I knew that thought was a ridiculous notion. I wouldn't find any answers here.
Making my way back to my house, I remained nervous and jumpy each time I found myself close to a face-eater. I really was expecting another attack, but I managed to make it back without incident. Once I was safely behind my locked doors, the threat seemed to diminish in my mind.
I trudged up the stairs to one of the bedrooms I used as storage, and let the pack slide from my shoulders to thump on the floor. I was exhausted.
Turning, I caught my reflection in the mirror and groaned at myself. I was a bloody mess, nearly covered from head to toe. There was even a long scratch down my cheek where the freak had caught me with her claws. I rolled my eyes at my reflection as I left the room.
I made my way back down the stairs, testing the hall light just to make sure the electricity was still on. Some days it would last for a few hours, and other days it would only flash on for a few minutes. I had begun to notice that there were more and more days when it didn't come on at all. I wouldn't be surprised if there came a day when it never came back on.
I had turned off all the lights, and unplugged all the appliances not long after I had moved in here. I was getting tired of jumping every time the electronics roared to life. The only two things I left hooked up was a light in my bedroom and the fancy electric hot water heater.
I always showered in the downstairs bathroom because of the huge window that would let in plenty of light if the electricity shut off mid shower. That had actually happened more than once. At least the water kept flowing for a little bit.
Letting the water run for about a minute, I watched as the steam pooled overhead. Stripping off my soiled clothes and tossing them to the floor, I was going to let myself enjoy this. I set my knife down in easy reach, just in case, before stepping into the cascading water.
I had plenty of shampoo and conditioner, as that is one of the necessities I had stocked up on over the past few months. I even had plenty of different fragrances to choose from when it came to body wash.
The suds washed all the blood and dirt away, and I watched it disappear as it swirled down the drain. For a very brief moment, standing there under the streaming hot water, the smell of lavender enveloping me, I allowed myself to feel safe and at home again.
CHAPTER 2
JOSS
It was early afternoon when I decided to wander off to the barn. I was hoping to avoid Jeremy for a while, knowing he was going to make me work again, but I wanted just a little time for myself. The calluses on my hands were already cracked and bleeding from this morning, and they felt like they were burning. He was just so determined about turning this place into a working farm and, at the moment, I just didn't care.
Instead, I retreated to the back of the barn, out of view from the house, and pulled out my carving knife along with a piece of wood. Seth had taught me how to carve shapes into the wood, but my carvings never seemed to turn out as pretty as his did. He told me to keep trying and someday I would be the best in the world.
Before I got started, I set out a little wooden panther that Seth had carved for me a long time ago. It was one of the few things I had left of him, and I cherished it. It was all the company I wanted out here.
A couple times, I had even tried carving my own likeness of the panther, but it never turned out even close to what Seth had given me. I just abandoned the whole idea of trying and decided it was better to make my own things. I was just getting started on the figure of a girl with wild hair when I heard Jeremy's voice calling me to the house.
"Kevin! Becky!" He bellowed. "Joss!"
I groaned, not wanting to move. For a second, I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the splintered wood of the barn wall and just listened to world. The breeze carried voices from one of the nearby houses, along with the sounds of barking dogs.
Sighing, I finally pulled myself to my feet. Reluctantly, I gathered all my things and placed them back in the proper pockets. I knew I had a responsibility to help this small community thrive, so I answered Jeremy's call. He would be assigning the afternoon tasks.
This farm ain't gonna rebuild itself, ya'll hear? His voice clattered around in my head. He said it all the time, and I knew he would say it again today. He was waiting for us at the porch, and I saw that Becky was already standing there with him.
Becky was just a few years older than me, but not as old as Ali. She had long, straight blond hair and sky blue eyes where Ali had wavy red curls and bright green eyes. She was very petite too, where Ali was strong and fierce.
It wasn't fair to compare her to Ali, I knew that. I still caught myself doing it from time to time without even thinking about it. Ali had been like a big sister to me, and Becky was just so... distant.
Becky had never been mean or cross with me, but she had never really been nice to me either. It seemed like I was nothing more than a stranger that just so happened to be living under the same roof as she was.
Kevin, on the other hand, was more my age and was the one that had reached out to me when Ali left. He seemed like a nice guy, talking to me and trying to drag me into his games, but I felt more comfortable being left alone. I wanted my time to remember Seth and Ali. These people never knew Seth and didn't know Ali well enough to help me keep their memories. I chose to cherish them on my own.
Kevin ran up from around the back of the house, a shovel in his hand. It looked like he was already working on a project that I didn't care to know about. Seeing the shovel in his hands made me wince as I glanced down at my own damaged palms.
Looking back up to Jeremy, a round man who had the same blue tint to his eyes that Becky had, I waited for him to dole out our assignments. I was hoping mine didn't involve helping Kevin with the shoveling, or using the axe. That's how I'd gotten these stupid blisters in the first place.
Jeremy gave another version of the same speech he repeated every day. My mind drifted to other thoughts as his deep voice droned on, but I knew the gist of what he was saying.
We are a family and a community.
With our hard work, times are changing for the better.
We need to prepare for the colder months ahead, winter is coming.
"This farm ain't gonna rebuild itself." He grumbled at the end, and I snapped back to attention. I shared a quick glance with Kevin to see that he looked as bored as I f
elt. When he started to smirk, I looked away, hoping Jeremy wouldn't notice. I knew he'd give Kevin a piece of his mind if he caught him. The last thing I wanted to do was have Jeremy think I was disrespecting him.
The moment passed, and Jeremy didn't seem to notice or care. He sent Becky back to the house to help his wife Mary, whom he commonly referred to as 'Mother.' Between the two of them, they kept our clothes washed, the food cooked, and the house clean.
Sometimes it felt like I was in one of those old-timey movies that my granddad liked to watch. I didn't figure that would have gone over well at my house, at least what I could remember of it anyway. My dad cooked just as much as my mom did, while Seth and I did a lot of the cleaning. I didn't know why that had to change just because the world was all shot to hell now. Also, the thought of them trying to get Ali in the kitchen made me laugh.
Jeremy was talking about a storage project with Kevin before he sent him back around the house. Then he turned his gaze to me, and I shifted nervously, almost feeling guilty over my own thoughts.
Even though he seemed gruff, I knew it was only because the situation was so dire. I truly respected Jeremy and what he was accomplishing here. In fact, I was quite grateful that he and Mary had taken me in when they did, even though I knew I didn't show it very well. I was too quiet and sullen for their tastes and it felt like Jeremy didn't know what to make of me at times.
Mary, on the other hand, had more patience with me. She would let me have the space that I so desperately wanted, although she always wanted me close to the house. She would not have liked me going out back behind the barn without telling anyone.
As Jeremy's eyes scrutinized me, I swallowed hard and took a chance, turning my sore hands out to him. My palms were up so he could see the cracked and bleeding calluses. He pursed his lips together and tapped his finger against his chin.
The Phoenix Curse (Book 1): After Page 3
