"Push Trudie... push..." I heard Jenny shout and we all waited in anticipation as Trudie pushed and screamed.
"What's happening?" I asked as I saw Jenny's face redden with strain.
"I can see the baby's bottom much more now... the baby looks small... but we need the baby out now... we need to get it out now or it will be too late!" She screamed urgently as she waved her bloodied gloved hands in the air.
Trudie's contractions started again and she pushed harder.
"Come on Trudie... push the baby out now... come on... push... push." Jenny shouted loudly.
I watched Trudie's face strain as she seemed to push even harder this time. Her scrunched up face was redder and she was drenched in more sweat than before. Suddenly, she fainted. I tried to pat her cheeks, but she was completely out of it. Her feeble body was still and her face had suddenly turned pale. I was frightened for her. The bed was drenched in blood. It seeped out of her like nothing I had ever seen. It had started to make me feel sick.
"Jenny... she's fainted..." I shouted feeling my heartbeat quicken at the sight of Trudie's weakened body sprawled out on the bed.
I looked over at Jenny as she pulled the baby out and held it up, cutting the cord away. She then rocked the baby up and down. She tried to get the baby to cry, but no sound came from it's small mouth.
"Well... it's a girl... but she's not crying or opening her eyes." She said in a croaky, sad voice.
She placed the baby on the edge of the bed and tried to check for a pulse. I could see her check it over and over again. The silence was unbearable I thought, as we waited.
"Give her to me." Janice said as she took the small baby and rocked her up and down. To me, the baby looked no more than six pounds in weight. She was tiny with skinny legs and arms, but beautiful and delicate.
I watched as Janice did everything. She tickled the baby's feet, rocked her up and down and then, she patted her bottom. Nothing came. No cries were coming.
I feared the worst. I wanted the baby to make it as I stared at Trudie's poor body who I felt may not have succeeded. I saw Janice wipe the baby's face and it's mouth and then a loud shrilling cry echoed outwards. I smiled and sighed breathlessly with relief. In fact, we were all relieved.
The only thing now was to watch over Trudie. I hoped she would be fine. I looked at the small baby's face with a wisp of dark hair on it's head and I thought how beautiful and innocent she looked. It was such a shame that she had been born into today's terrible world.
25. Lydia Brown - The Countryside
We were asked to stay a bit longer with Trudie's family at the farm. Two weeks had gone by and we were still here. Tim thought it was safer for us to stay and he had stated that we needed to rest before embarking on another long journey. Although, Wales wasn't that far from here, it was still more than an hour away. We were all getting on so well that we just got comfy and didn't want to leave. Days went into a couple of weeks and it became a way of life on the farm. Even the kids were happy to be here.
We had said we wanted to stay longer, because Christmas was nearly upon us. We didn't want to be travelling during that time and find ourselves on the road fighting our way just to get to Wales. In my opinion, we had found the countryside. John had told us that their farm was called Grimsby Farm and it had once been opened to the public where children had come to see the chickens, sheep, goats, cows, horses and more. It was situated near other farms, but they were no longer running and no one lived there anymore. Most of the animals here had since been long gone except for the horses and cows. John, Aiden and Tim had raided the other farms where they had found more livestock and food to keep us all going.
We wanted to spend Christmas here and Jenny and John were glad of the company, so I told Tim and the others that we should stay. Everyone was pleased including the kids. Rebecca, Molly and Sean felt like they had more freedom again. It was still dangerous for them to wander off, but at least they could wander outside sometimes with John's son, Danny, who was now quite friendly with them.
Tim and Aiden had helped John to put up some fences to keep us all safe. It had turned out to be a great idea, because we hadn't seen a single dead person get past it since they had been put up. Well... not yet anyway I thought.
Of course, nothing lasted. The biters always found a way to find us. Sometimes, we wouldn't see them for days and then suddenly, they were coming from the trees towards the house. We were always on a look out for them, even at night, but the fence was keeping them outside and away from us these days. Whoever kept watch would always make sure they killed them with a bow and arrow machine that Aiden had found sitting in the barn. In fact, Aiden had found two of them and now he had adopted one of them as his own. We had long since realised that killing them quietly was the key to keeping the ugly creatures away.
After Trudie had given birth on that first day of December, I had watched over her as she slowly started to recover. She had just been so tired that a
