Lake Yixa

by Harper, Cameron

  "Shoot it!" Jeremy said, backing away from it, while still swinging the bat the best he could. He hit it in the side, but it shrugged off the blow and continued its weird clawing and hissing attack.

  Sarah pointed the gun at it and pulled the trigger. Nothing. She tried again. Still nothing happened. Jeremy looked at her.

  "You don't know how to use a gun, do you?"

  "Um, no, not really," she said with a half-smile. Jeremy hit the raccoon, this time in the side of its head. It staggered to one side and fell over. Jeremy wasted no time in finishing it off. He looked down at the poor creature, sighed, and turned to Sarah.

  "Sorry, I only found it when I got here," she said. Jeremy didn't look amused with her. Sarah felt a hard lump form in her throat. She had pointed it at him and felt bad about that. He walked over and pointed to a small switch on the gun.

  "That is the safety. Flip it to turn it off."

  "Thanks," Sarah replied. Jeremy smiled back at her. "You wouldn't happen to know how to load it, would you?" she added.

  He looked at her with a face that made her feel embarrassed.

  "Did you just try and shoot it empty?" he asked.

  "I don't know."

  "Mind if I take a look at it?" he asked. Sarah didn't even hesitate. He knew she didn't know how to work it. If he wanted to kill her or hurt her, he could have by now.

  Jeremy double checked the safety and pulled back the bolt action. He could see a few rounds in it.

  "Well, the good news is there are rounds in it," Jeremy replied as he started to pop the rounds out. They both heard another hiss. A second raccoon was standing by the edge of the forest. Jeremy pushed the last round into the chamber, aimed, and fired.

  Sarah jumped at the loud sound of it going off. The raccoon fell over dead. It was a clean shot to the head from what Sarah could tell.

  "So are you a hunter?" Sarah asked, looking at him.

  "No, I hate killing animals," he said. He flipped the safety on and handed back the gun and then the ammo. He left her standing there while he got a shovel from the shed and began to bury the two animals.

  Sarah returned to the house and put the rifle above the door. The two kids were sitting on the couch, looking over the back of it at the door. She gave them a small smile.

  "Everything is okay. Your dad will be in soon," Sarah said before going into the bedroom. She grabbed the backpack by the door and sat down with it on the bed. She pulled out the two boxes of ammo and matched the bullets up. The box read 308 win. She smiled at it. She was happy she knew which ammo was for the rifle even if she didn't know how to load or shoot it. At least if she was out looking for supplies and came across a box of it, she would know what she found.

  A soft knock came from the door, followed by Jeremy's voice.

  "Sarah? Can I come in?" he asked.

  "Yeah."

  "I wanted to talk to you about the rifle," he said, standing in the doorway.

  "Oh," was all she said.

  "I want to teach you how to use it. With all that has happened in the world, you will need to know."

  "Sure," she said with a smile and then added, "We only have a half empty box of ammo though."

  "Well, I guess your aim is going to be shit. But at least you will know how to load it, clean it, and fire it."

  "What about after dinner? You can show me how to clean it," she asked like a little kid.

  "Sure," Jeremy replied and then turned and left. Sarah’s head began to hurt, and she lay down in bed for a few hours.

  When she finally got up and went out into the living room, Jeremy was making dinner.

  "What's for dinner?" Sarah asked.

  "Corn—not the creamed kind," he said with a smile before adding, "And green beans."

  "So you caught on about the creamed corn," she said sheepishly. She had done her best to make sure the Bakers had been eating the corn.

  "Yeah."

  She pulled out a bowl for each of them and set them around the table. Soon Jeremy started to dish out food to each bowl.

  "Matt, Zoe, dinner time," he said as he set the pot on the stove. Sarah sat down across from Jeremy, the kids taking up the other spots.

  "Sarah, do you mind if we say grace?" Jeremy asked. Sarah took a moment to reply. She had never heard them say grace before. Sarah wasn't much for religion herself. She was sure some people saw the end of the world as God’s doing, but she would just say it was mankind's own fault.

  "Sure," she finally said.

  Jeremy then said grace and made the proper hand signs before saying amen. They ate in silence for a while. Sarah was wondering if there was a God when Jeremy snapped her out of her thoughts.

  "Huh? What?" Sarah said.

  "I said I think we should think about moving on," Jeremy said. Sarah stopped mid spoonful, the feeling of déjà vu washing over her. A lump formed in her throat.

  "Why?" was all she could get out.

  "All the houses in the area had been looted for any type of food, and it would take half a day at least to get anywhere else. Plus, we are just going to have to keep going farther from the house every time we go to find supplies." Sarah knew Jeremy had a point. When she was making her way here, she had found very little. She knew this day would come; she just hoped she would have been here longer, but adding three more mouths made things run out much faster.

  "Yeah."

  "Do you think we should leave tomorrow? Or the next day?" he asked, looking at her.

  "So soon?" she said, setting down her spoon and looking at him.

  "Well, I don't think we should wait until the food runs out. We probably have four days’ worth left."

  "Oh," Sarah said before adding, "Can we leave in two days?"

  "Sure," Jeremy said.

  "Thanks," Sarah replied. She thought about the short time she spent getting to know Liam. Sarah decided that later tonight she would look through his bedroom for a few more photos. She wished she had more time to get to know Liam.

  The kids finished their dinner first and returned to the living room to play. Jeremy was second and followed soon after to join them. Sarah was last. She said good night and headed into the bedroom.

  Sarah took the small photo of Liam and his family and lay down on the bed, looking at the photo in the candlelight. Liam's wife was very pretty. Huh, she kind of has the same eyes as my grandmother, Sarah thought. She looked at the small boy between them. That's when her eye caught sight of the small object the boy was holding. She sat up and moved closer to the candle. What is it? she asked herself as she stared at it. It was a toy of some kind. It looked like an elephant, maybe. An elephant like the one she had as a child. It was her brother's stuffed animal. Her grandmother had given it to her when she was young.

  A knock from the door startled her, and she dropped the photo. Jeremy’s voice came from the other side, asking if she wanted to clean the rifle.

  Sarah spent the rest of the evening with Jeremy, learning how to clean the gun. She let the photo and the elephant slip from her mind. The next day, Jeremy worked on the bike and rigged up a way to carry more things. Sarah spent the day carefully looking through Liam's house. He had another pack, a bedroll, and a sleeping bag.

  She also went through the rest of the food and made sure they were all good to eat. The kids even helped out, filling up the water bottles from the back rain barrel that was now half empty.

  Jeremy made sure always to keep an eye out and listen for any noises. He finished up a small two-wheeled cart that he hooked to the bike. It looked homemade for sure, but it would work.

  They awoke early the next morning and ate their meals, not talking a lot. The night before, they had decided to head toward the west, away from Moosetan. The towns would be larger, and they hoped to find a refugee camp. Sarah wasn't too thrilled about the idea. She still didn't like the idea of meeting other survivors, but Jeremy had reassured her that it would be okay and he wouldn't risk the lives of his kids or her.

  "Let's get the stuff
packed up and get going," Jeremy said. Sarah nodded and finished up her little bit of food. It was a good thing they were leaving. Even with the stuff she had packed, there wasn't much food left. Hopefully they would find some before running out.

  Sarah picked up a few blankets and a bag of canned goods and followed after Jeremy, who already had his hands full of things. After he put his stuff on the cart, she handed her stuff over before returning inside. It only took two trips to get everything. Most of it was blankets and pillows. The backpacks were only half full, so Sarah had taken a few things of Liam's to remember him by: the family photo, a cigar box with a few metals, and other random wartime things.

  "Tux," Sarah said as she sat down on the bed. "I'm sorry, but we are going to be leaving. It will be just you. I will leave the food for you out and a window open just enough for you to get out when you want." Tux just sat there looking at her, making her feel bad for leaving him behind, but she didn't think it was possible to travel with a cat and without a cage. She patted him one last time and got up.

  Sarah locked the front door and put the key back where she had found it. She walked over to where Jeremy was standing with Matt and Zoe.

  "Ready?"

  "Yeah," Sarah said, looking at the small house she had grown to call home.

  Jeremy and the kids started down the small drive. She took one last look and started to follow. They were almost out of view of the house when Tux came running up.

  "Go home, Tux," Sarah said, but Tux didn't listen. He jumped on top of the cart and sat down next to Zoe.

  "I don't think he is going to stay here alone," Jeremy said.

  "Give me a few minutes," Sarah said as she jogged back to the house. She returned a few minutes later with the cat food in hand.

  They made it to the road and followed it west, away from town. They set up camp each night and made a large fire, not caring if someone saw it. They were more worried about the wild animals that could have been turned. They took turns keeping watch, sleeping for a few hours and then waking the other person up.

  Tux turned out to be rather helpful. His hair would stand on end, his tail would get puffy, and he'd hiss any time a rabid animal came around. They had to fend off at least three over the two days they spent out on the mountain roads.

  They didn't come across anyone while they traveled. There were no cars and never any houses. They saw a few roads that would branch off, and Jeremy would take the bike without the cart and see if there was anything to search. Most the time the road just went on for ages. He’d turn around after about an hour of riding.

  Sarah would stay with the kids and hide off of the road. She’d have Matt read softly to Zoe while she kept an eye out. They had never run into problems. On the third day, they found themselves only twenty miles from a town. Sarah was happy to finally hear a town wasn't far out. The town sat in a valley below the mountain road they had been following.

  The town was much larger than Moosetan and, while it looked like half of it burned to the ground, the other half looked somewhat okay. They could see tiny dots standing around that made Sarah’s stomach drop, and Jeremy let out a groan. Zombies—hundreds of them. There looked to be no easy way around the town if they wanted to skip it, but they had no choice but to stop and look for supplies. They had eaten their last can of food the night before, and all of them were hungry.

  They were about a mile from the town when they came across a small park overlooking the town. They made camp at it and cleared the few zombies that stood around. A car sat in the parking lot. It didn't have food or any other supplies, but it would be okay to sleep in for the kids.

  Jeremy stayed with the kids as Sarah went and gathered a bit of firewood. When she returned, Jeremy had set up the blankets in a tent-like fashion over part of the car.

  "I will go into town tomorrow," Jeremy said. Sarah looked over at him. She had learned a lot about him. He had met his wife on a train on a random trip to go see Seattle. He had been a software engineer for one of the biggest companies in the Northwest.

  "Okay," she said. She let him take lead on most things now.

  "I will check a few of the outer houses and slowly work my way in. We may be here a few days."

  "That's fine." Sarah had withdrawn into herself since leaving Liam's house. She sometimes wished she would have been killed too. Even though Jeremy tried his best to make her feel better and ask questions about her, she’d just change the subject to him, the kids, or any topic to avoid talking about her.

  The sun was low and on the far end of the valley, its golden rays flooding the valley and washing over the town. It is beautiful, Sarah thought. If it wasn't for the zombies she could see, she would be happy to stare at it for hours, but the sight of the Dead moving about sickened her. Sarah tried not to think about all the lives lost and now gone, and who they were before it happened—husbands, wives, friends, and coworkers. Why did so many have to die? she asked herself daily. Why did Liam have to die? Not even by a zombie but some asshole with a gun.

  Every day a little part of her would get angry, and she’d clench her teeth. She’d do her best to fight it back, but she knew sooner or later the anger would take her.

  After they made a fire, Jeremy went to a couple of the outer houses. He returned just after dark.

  "It's not a lot," he said as he sat down next to the fire. He opened up a small cloth bag and pulled out the two cans of food and tossed them to Sarah. Sarah checked the date in the firelight.

  "Still good and beef stew," Sarah said aloud. "Two cans of it. That's a great find."

  "I also found this." Jeremy held up a revolver. "It even had fifteen rounds with it."

  "Wow," was all Sarah said.

  "Yep. I think this town is going to be good for us."

  Sarah opened one of the cans, and the small group ate it before it was even fully warmed. They all agreed they would find more food in town. Sarah made the second can of stew. After they finished, Jeremy put the kids in the car for the night to sleep. Tux climbed into the car with them and curled up next to Zoe and across from Sarah.

  "You can have the rifle back," Jeremy said as he started to clean the revolver in his lap. Sarah had let Jeremy use the rifle most of the time. He was a much better shot than her. Even though she had gotten better, he still knew what he was doing.

  "All right."

  "I'm more of a handgun person. I had a small collection of them before they got stolen."

  "That sucks," Sarah said before adding, "I collected books."

  "Oh? Like rare old ones or just whatever you liked?"

  "Mostly what books I enjoyed," she said, looking down at the one in her hand. "I had a few out-of-print ones, but I don't think they were worth anything."

  The two of them talked about nothing for a few hours before turning in for the night. Sarah took first watch, and Jeremy slept in the passenger's seat.

  Sarah looked up at the night sky. It was clear of any clouds. She used to love looking at the stars. At one point, she heard a few sounds in the bushes, but nothing ever came of it; though, it still put her on edge. Soon, it was Jeremy’s turn to keep watch, and she woke him. He smiled and got out of the car.

  Sarah fell asleep quickly. The soft car seat was the best thing she had slept on since leaving Liam's.

  The morning came quickly, and Jeremy was already up playing a game with the kids. The sun had fallen right onto Sarah, warming her up while she had been sleeping.

  "You let me sleep in?" Sarah asked as she got out of the car.

  "Yeah, figured you needed it," Jeremy said. "Plus, with the sun coming down on the seat, it looked really nice. Didn't want it to go to waste."

  "Thanks."

  "If you don't mind watching the kids again, I'm going to see if I can find us some breakfast."

  "Do you want me to go?" Sarah asked.

  "You sure?" Jeremy asked, looking at her.

  "Yeah. I have done it before," Sarah said. She hadn't talked about her time in Moosetan with Lia
m other than they lived at the library and then made it to the boat.

  "If you're okay with it, sure, you can go."

  "All right," Sarah said, picking up the canvas bag and her axe.

  "I marked the two houses I went to with an X," Jeremy said as Sarah turned and started down the road.

  It didn't take long before Sarah saw a house. There in the driveway were sticks making an X. As she moved on, she saw another house. This one, too, had an X. The next house she saw was much closer to town than the previous two. She could see a small group of zombies milling about by it. She hunched down and moved into the field beside the house.

  The tall grass hid her from sight, and she was able to move to the house that sat on the far end of the field. It was a bit farther from town and only had a couple of zombies. She made it to the edge of the grass next to the driveway and moved toward a car sitting there.

  Sarah could make out two bodies in the front seat of the car as she got closer. She looked inside. The male was face first on steering wheel. It looked like someone had shot him in the back of the head. A woman sat next to him. She, too, had a wound, but it was on the side of her face. Sarah looked into the backseat and saw a third male, who had a gunshot wound to the side of the head. Sarah wiped the window with her sleeve and saw a few boxes. She could make out what seemed to be family albums, clothing, and other things people would take if they were trying to flee a natural disaster.

  Sarah and her grandmother had to flee a wildfire once when she was a kid. She remembered packing all the sentimental things in the car. The fire never made it to the house, and that was the day her grandmother had given her the stuffed elephant.

  Sarah wiped the window again, hoping to see more. The bodies did make her sick, but she had to make sure that there wasn't anything they could use. She spotted a small handgun in the man's lap. He had been wearing shorts and with decomposition. Things looked like a mess. The handgun didn't look to be in good shape.

  She turned and moved toward the back of the car. She would let Jeremy know about the gun and let him figure out if it was worth it. A zombie stood close to the front door, and Sarah looked around for any others. Seeing it was clear of zombies, she decided to take it out using her axe. Sarah started moving forward slowly.