“Okay,” Liz responded, nodding. The trust in her eyes was palpable.
“Let’s get going,” Raven said. She wiped the blood from her axe on the side of the bed.
They walked quietly down the stairs Raven in front now, peering around for anything out of place. The living room appeared untouched and they snuck to the front door. Raven motioned for Liz to stand behind her and opened the door a crack. Seeing nothing but darkness and trees beyond the clearing, they walked outside. Raven had her axe in one hand and held Liz’s fingers with the other. They crept along the side of the cabin, sticking close to the wall. She felt Liz hesitate when the man’s body came into view. He lay broken and twisted on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Raven tried not to think about the fact that he must’ve been alive for a while after he hit the ground for his body to pump out that much blood. She imagined the official cause of death would be exsanguination. Not that there will be anyone left to see, Raven thought. She stepped over his body and tugged Liz along. They rounded the corner of the cabin and the truck came into view.
“What the fuck?” Raven spat.
The bed was still packed and covered with a new black tarp but the cab was empty. She glanced around desperately, looking for any sign of Henry or Rocky and saw nothing.
“W-where did they go?” Liz questioned fearfully.
“I don’t know,” Raven answered mechanically. “Come on, hurry,” she practically dragged Liz toward the truck.
Raven had the sudden feeling that they were being watched. Feeling a tingle down her spine, she wrenched open the passenger door and Liz hopped inside. Walking around the front of the truck, Raven peered into the surrounding woods. Seeing nothing, she climbed in behind the wheel. The key was still in the ignition and Raven, with a prayer to her grandfather who had tried to teach her how to drive, roared the engine to life.
“Okay,” Raven spoke. “Here goes nothing.” She put the truck into gear. It lurched forward and stalled immediately. “Shit.”
Liz laughed quietly. “You don’t know how to drive do you?” she inquired, smiling slightly.
The corner of Raven’s lip twitched. “Nope,” she said. “But I get the feeling I’m about to learn.”
She started the engine again and pressed the clutch, shifting into first then released the clutch. The truck didn’t stall and she lurched forward again.
“Gently,” Liz encouraged.
Raven turned in the clearing and onto the road. “Not too bad,” she said, shifting into second gear and gaining speed.
“Where are we going?” Liz asked, looking out of the window.
“To the Mom and Pop,” Raven responded. “My brother knows that’s where we were planning on going next.” She glanced at Liz then back to the road. The girl stared out of the window, face impassive. “You can find some jeans and shoes there that fit you better than those giant slippers.” Raven tried to make a joke out of it but failed. Liz’s expression didn’t change.
“What if they’re not there?” she asked in a tremulous voice.
“Then we’ll wait,” Raven responded. Carefully downshifting as she’d watched Henry do a thousand times, she slowed for a bend in the road.
The Mom and Pop wasn’t more than five miles away. She knew Henry and Rocky could traverse that distance without much effort. Her brother and her dog were both in good shape. Raven tried to block out visions of them being eaten alive by the wandering undead, but it was impossible. She took a deep breath and drove, glad that she remembered the way. The trees were still damp from the weeks of rain and they dripped onto the truck, making it seem like the rain had never stopped. Raven could smell the moisture in the air. She drove down into the dell and hoped her brother would be waiting there.
Henry
Henry sat in the truck and watched the men approach. There were two of them, sneaking through the trees and creeping across the clearing in which the cabin sat. Their feet left boot impressions in the soft ground, damp as it was from the constant rain. Moisture dripped from the trees with peaceful sounds, but Henry felt anything but.
“Motherfuckers,” Henry spat vehemently.
Rocky growled and Henry shushed him, petting the dog’s back.
“We’ve got to let Raven do her thing. She’ll take one out then we can get the other.”
He waited and watched in pained silence as a man in a wet slicker pulled himself atop the balcony. It was dark but the moon was high and Henry could make out the hood of the man’s parka as it fell back from his face. The stranger stood in silhouette on the balcony and Henry could see a straight nose and the top of one very large ear. The man looked around and slammed something into the window, shattering it. Henry couldn’t tell what he used to break the glass but it looked long and heavy.
Continuing to watch, biting the inner part of his cheek and keeping Rocky calm, Henry glanced around for the second man. He found him quickly, crouching against the cabin’s wall and staring raptly into the trees.
“What are you looking at?” Henry murmured, sinking down lower inside the truck.
The men hadn’t even glanced at the truck when they entered the clearing, completely focused on the cabin. Henry had parked by the evergreen trees when they came back from their last run. The truck sat just behind the encircling trunks, partially obscured but
