Lake Yixa
Page 9
Sarah didn't move, her eyes never leaving the spot where Zoe’s hand used to be. Jeremy continued to smash at the doors with everything he had.
The shattering of glass behind Sarah snapped her back. She turned and saw the large horde of zombies breaking down the front door. She got to her feet and put her hand on Jeremy’s shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" Jeremy shouted, spinning around to face Sarah. Rage filled his eyes. His breathing was heavy. Sarah stepped back, away from him.
"We have to go," she said. Jeremy didn't reply. He just continued to look at her. The look in his eyes frightened her. "They are breaking in," she said, pointing to the front door. Still, Jeremy said nothing. "You still have Matt. You can't die here, too," she said as she started to move down the hallway toward the door they had come in from. Sarah reached the doorway and took one last look at Jeremy. He was on his knees in front of the door, not moving.
Sarah ran as fast as she could back to the camp. She found Matt crying in the backseat.
"Is Zoe okay?" he asked when he saw Sarah open the car door. Sarah stopped and looked at him, not sure what to say. She grabbed the camping pack she had been using and set it on the hood of the car.
"Um," was all that came out of her mouth. Sarah retrieved the bag of canned food and took four out of the eleven cans, along with the bag of rice. Sarah stuffed them into her bag and then grabbed the remainder of cat food and set that on the hood with her pack. She moved to the trunk of the car where the box of seeds had been set down. Sarah started to pull the seed packs out and tossed them into her bag as well. Sarah closed the bag and set it next to the back wheel of the car, along with the cat food.
"Your dad should be here soon," Sarah finally said as she paced back and forth by the fire. Matt curled up inside the backseat and continued to cry. Come on, Jeremy. Don't you do this to Matt. Don't do this to me, she thought to herself. Time seemed to go by slowly. The sun climbed the sky and began to make its journey downward toward the horizon.
Sarah was sitting on a stump by the fire when the sounds of rustling bushes made her stand up, axe in hand. Jeremy stepped through, covered in blood. Sarah looked at him. He did not return the look to her. He started to strip down, throwing the bloody clothes onto the ground. Sarah didn't wait any longer. She moved over to her pack and put it on, slinging the rifle over her shoulder and carrying the axe in one hand. Sarah snapped her finger once, and Tux came out from under the car. Sarah picked up the cat food bag, turned and started back the way they had come.
Sarah made it back to Liam's faster than she thought she would. Sarah didn't stop very much because she wanted to put as much space between her and that town as she could. Sarah tried not to think about Jeremy and Matt. She missed Matt, but she didn't want any more people to die. Plus, the way Jeremy had looked scared her.
She still had two cans of food and a bag of rice when she got back. She spent the next few days searching the woods around the house for berries and other plants she could eat. She found a few wild things to eat, and when she didn't, she made a tiny bit of the rice while saving the canned food as long as she could. She had read the back of each seed pack and planted the ones that would be best for the time of year.
It wasn't long before tiny plants started to come up through the ground. Sarah had also gone back and re-searched the house, adding a few cans of food and a box of oatmeal to her food supply. She had found Liam's friend, Frank’s house. She buried the family because she felt Liam would have done so if he had a chance.
They must have been canners. Sarah found a large amount of home-canned foods, along with a handgun. It was a revolver and was easy to load and clean. She made sure to carry it with her at all times now, along with the axe.
Sarah was sitting in the kitchen eating a bit of canned pears when a voice came from outside. She stood up and looked out one of the slits in a window. A man stood about ten yards from the front of the house. He was dressed in all camo. Sarah pulled the revolver from its holster and went outside.
"Hello?" the man said.
"Can I help you?" Sarah asked. She looked him over from head to toe. He was decked out in full camo and held a small handgun in his hand.
"Is there anyone else?" The man asked.
"Where are your friends?" Sarah asked. The man smiled.
"The girl from the boat," he said. Sarah didn't reply. They both stood there, not talking for a long moment. Time seemed to crawl as the gun came up. The loud pop of it being fired filled the air.
THE END