Now though I swore that they would pay, the zombies and the rest of Deacons crew. I would hunt them down and kill as many of them as possible.
I asked that the children be buried together so that they would not be alone, out of my trousers pocket I pulled Cameron’s favorite toy, a red sports car and Poppy’s small pink teddy bear. Taking deeps breaths to try to calm the sobs, I staggered to my feet and dropped their toys in with them along with the flowers.
“See you soon kids” I whispered, my heart was broken in three, my chest felt like it was being ripped open, I didn’t think the pain could get any worse. I closed my eyes wanting to block out the world, needing to be alone in my grief. The tears kept falling, seemingly never-ending.
A strong hand grabbed my left arm, Will was helping me to stay on my feet. A small hand slipped into mine and squeezed it, I smelled the scent of vanilla and knew that it was Nia who stood on the other side of me.
The Captain finished his speech for the children and gave a nod and Will let go of me. He and Adam picked up the shovels they had placed in the ground and started to fill in the graves. Thud. Thud, Thud as the dirt hit the bodies below.
My legs gave way again, my strength gone, days of no sleep, the pain and hurt, all coming together at once to take me down. Nia collapsed with me and I sobbed into her shoulder. My tears soaking into her top. She hugged me and stroked my hair, pulling me into her, l felt the warmth of her body, the hard contours of it from months of starving and being on the run. “I’m sorry George, so so sorry” she kept repeating over and over.
Images of Kelly and I dancing at our wedding came back to me, our first dance, her body pressed against mine. She was softer and rounder than Nia but she was four months pregnant with poppy at the time. I remember the love that surrounded us that day, how happy we both were and how her smile had made my life so much brighter.
Shame enveloped me, I had chosen to help save the lives of strangers instead of getting back to my family sooner. If I wasn’t lying in a sleeping bag with another woman, then maybe my wife and children would still be here.
“No!!” I screamed, scaring Nia and pushing her away. I jumped to my feet, staggering backwards, seeing the fear in Nia’s eyes almost floored me again but this time my legs held me. I turned and ran as fast as I could. I ignored the calls of my friends, blocked out their worried voices. I can’t remember how I got back to my room, the next thing I do remember was closing and locking the door behind me, spinning in circles looking at the plain white walls but that’s all I could see was the faces of my children, of Kelly crying out to me to help them.
I sat on my bed and reached for the faded green duffle bag underneath, it contained the bottle of whisky that was supposed to be for Deacon but was now mine, I opened it and took a deep long pull. I savored the flavor, the burn as it ran down my throat.
I lay back, the mattress was thin and hard beneath the rough grey covers, hearing the cries of my kids over and over. Tears soaked my pillow, my chest and ribs hurt from sobbing so hard. I continued to drink until eventually I cried myself into a drunken stupor, and passed out, fully dressed.
When I woke up it was the following morning. The rest of the day I alternated between finishing the bottle of whisky and sleeping. It was the only thing that could make the pain lesser. Although the nightmares had started to invade my sleep. Where I was forced to watch as my family got eaten as Deacon held me so that I couldn’t move to help them. I woke up two days after the funeral, empty bottle by my side, still wearing the same clothes.
My mouth was dry, and my head was throbbing, it hurt and there was a loud banging. I rolled over and tried to sit up. I realised that the banging was coming from my door and not inside of my head.
“George? I’m sorry man we need you, there’s been a breach.” Billy’s panicked voice came through the door.
That cleared up my head, I was out of bed and grabbing my gun off a small table next to my bed, that and the red hard plastic chair were the only other pieces of furniture in here. I kept my clothes in the duffle bag, ready to leave at any moment.
I grabbed the jug of water off the table and filled a glass, my hands shook so badly that I spilled lots of the precious liquid over the table and onto the floor. I downed the glass in one not caring that it was now stale and ran to my door. Flinging it open and startling Billy, who jumped backwards. He wore a military uniform, I made a note to ask him about it later. I noticed his hair had been shaved close too and he now held himself with an air of confidence.
He quickly recovered, “It’s the side gate over at the sister compound. A few dozen have broken through” Billy filled me in whilst walking away, knowing I would follow.
We walked briskly down the grey painted concrete corridors, people were moving about quickly but there was no panic, I took that as a
