Liz pulled away and looked Raven in the eye. “Do you promise?” she asked, bottom lip trembling.
“We promise,” Raven said. Henry nodded his agreement, patting Liz on her back reassuringly.
Liz nodded. “Can,” she began, taking the sweatpants and sweater from her lap. “Can I take a shower?”
Raven realized for the first time just how dirty Liz was. She had mud matted in her hair and her skin was dusty with dirt and ash.
“Oh,” Raven said. “I’m so sorry. Of course, just follow me upstairs. I’ll show you how to use it.” She looked back at Liz and smiled. “The tap sticks funny.” Raven tripped on the table leg and had to catch herself against the counter.
Henry was making a funny face, pursing his lips together and grinning at the same time.
“You look like a fucking monkey!” Raven exclaimed then clamped her hand over her mouth.
Liz peered at her comically. “The world has kind of ended,” she spoke, losing some of her shyness. “I don’t think cussing is that big of a deal anymore.”
Raven walked up the stairs, followed closely by Liz. The sound of Henry’s laughter echoed through the cabin.
Riley and Zach
“See, I told you,” Riley spoke, elbowing his cousin in the ribs. “There are people living there.” Riley wiped his nose on his sleeve, snotting up the wool of his coat.
“I see ‘em,” Zach responded, pulling his beanie down over bright red hair.
Zach was tall with pale, freckled skin. Riley had black hair and dark eyes, and skin the color of coffee with a little cream. They were cousins by marriage and had grown up together. As kids they’d been inseparable and they stayed that way into adulthood, working at the same gun shop, living in the same apartment complex and camping together. That last was fortuitous as that was how they ended up out here when the shit hit the fan.
The two men were well armed and knew how to survive in the woods, but they were tired of roughing it every night, taking turns to keep watch for the undead.
They lay on the ground at the top of a small rise, concealed within a blackberry bush. Riley plucked a berry off and popped it into his mouth. He chewed it and swallowed.
“Too sweet,” he murmured and focused his binoculars on the small cabin in the clearing. It was two stories and had no windows on the ground floor, but smoke rose from the chimney and that meant someone was there.
It was getting colder every day and Riley had decided it was time for a change. Zach could only agree. They’d stumbled on this cabin the day before and decided to watch and wait.
The two men had approached the cabin from the south, where the land was low and they did not see Henry’s truck parked out back. If they had they might’ve taken their prize and left.
“What do you want to do?” Zach asked. He wanted to go home but that was out of the question, not after what he’d had to do to his wife and their unborn baby. She had been in the last few weeks of her pregnancy, big as a house but glowing and happy. Kristen’s face flashed through his mind and he shut it out. He didn’t want to see. Zach gripped the stock of his rifle so he did not have to relive the way her bones broke beneath his hands.
“We wait until night then attack,” Riley answered. His voice was hungry. Riley had always been violent, striking out at his girlfriend for the littlest things. He’d gotten kicked out of high school for hitting a teacher then expelled from the continuation school for bringing a live grenade to class. Riley had never returned to school after that.
Zach had gotten into some fights as a kid but none that he’d instigated. He would defend himself without hesitation but he wasn’t a bully. Though without Riley he wouldn’t have had to so many times over the years.
“How are we going to get inside?” Zach asked, focusing on the pertinent. That had always carried him through Riley’s crazy schemes in the past. “We could just pick them off,” he suggested, touching the barrel of his rifle lightly.
“No,” he answered. “The noise will attract the crazed. You remembered what happened last time.” Riley scowled.
Zach grunted. He remembered all right. They’d shot one in the head and had to flee from six that appeared out of nowhere, drawn by the sound of gunfire. They’d barely escaped.
Riley shifted on the ground, readjusting his rifle on his back. “They have a dog so we’ll have to watch that but I think we can break in while they sleep and take them out one by one.” He patted the hilt of his hunting knife. His rainproof jacket swished with the movement.
Zach nodded. A small part of him thought they should just move on. There had to be more unoccupied cabins up here in the mountains. Why couldn’t they just pick one of those? He wouldn’t say anything like that to Riley though. Zach didn’t want to be branded a pussy.
The rain intensified, soaking them in a sudden deluge. Zach cursed and pulled the hood of his camouflage slicker further down his face. Water ran down it and dripped off the tip of his nose, plopping onto the sodden ground. Zach wished vehemently for a dry day, just one damn day when it did not rain. He didn’t remember it raining so much in years.
“Figures,” he whispered. “The freakin’ apocalypse would happen this year.”
His words were lost to the wind and rain. It dumped from the heavens, soaking the ground and covering the trees and shrubbery with clear, cold droplets.
They settled in to wait and
