Back upstairs Anna was sitting on a couch alone. Will and Shaun weren’t in the house, he saw them through a window outside the front door, talking about something.
“Why aren’t you listening to them?” It was only after he asked that he noticed the look on Anna’s face.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her face red. “When I came upstairs, they were talking about moving out, but stopped when they saw me and went outside. I figured if I followed them it’d be too obvious and I was afraid they’d catch me if I listened by the door.”
Ronnie hugged his daughter.
“It’s okay sweetheart, you did good.”
“Damn it dad, mom’s dead! How can you sit there and say everything’s okay? That monster killed him, and we’re not doing anything about it.”
“I know honey, I know exactly how you feel. We let him and his friend into our home and he destroyed everything. But the rest of the group looks up to him, and we need to stick together if we’re going to have any shot at surviving. I’ll make sure he gets what’s coming to him, I can promise you that. But now isn’t that time for that.”
“Whatever.” Anna got up and walked back down the stairs.
Ronnie looked up at the door, and walked to it. He pressed his ear to the side, but couldn’t hear anything. So, he summed up his courage and went inside.
Shaun was sitting by the door alone, smoking a homemade cigarette. He looked up at Ronnie with a questioning look.
“What’d you want?”
“Where’d our precious savior go?” Ronnie asked.
“If you’re asking about Jesus then he ain’t here. If you’re asking about Will then he went ahead.”
“He just leaved us?”
“No, he’s scouting ahead. Searching for more cabins, maybe some deer or something.”
“Why’d he go alone? Kinda dangerous don’t you think?”
“He said he can handle himself, and that you pansies would need protection.”
Pansies, Ronnie pondered. Is that what he thought of us?
Will stalked through the woods quietly. He stopped, and looked up at the dense canopy above him. It was a lot different than seeing the sun scorching himself and his men. There weren’t many trees in the desert, and he admitted to himself that he missed those damn camels.
He was almost taken back to that place when he heard a scream ahead of him. Will ran to the sound, forgetting about being silent and stealthy.
As he drew closer, he could hear the grunts and distinctive sounds of zombies being shot in the head.
It all happened so fast, his instincts took over and the rest of him merely watched.
He remembered a hill, and looking down it to see a single hunting stand occupied by two people. Someone was shooting at a horde of zombies below, and the other was hanging over the edge not moving.
The zombies tried to reach out for the one hanging over, a woman, but the second person, a man, shot any zombie that tried to come over. The man was only shooting at the ones that got close to the body, carefully aiming shots at their heads. He figured the man was out of ammo.
Before Will realized it, he was standing in front of the ladder with his hands up and standing in a pile of the newly dead undead. Blood was splattered all over his clothes and he was missing his rifle.
“What do you want?” The man in the stand asked.
“I notice your friend… isn’t with us anymore.” He also noticed that it was a woman.
“She’s… she’s my wife. We were just trying to pass through the woods and make it to the city when those things got us. They came from everywhere. After they… they got her I managed to drag her up here. I was almost out of ammo, and now I am.” The man sped up as he told his story.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You can come with me if you want, got a whole group of survivors.”
“No, there’s no point.” The man rolled over, and for the first time Will saw a large hole in the man’s chest. “We saw a house and went inside. Thought it was empty, it wasn’t.”
“Come one, we can help you.”
“Nothing can help me now. I’ve lost too much blood and my one reason for staying alive is gone. There’s no point now.” The man looked at the pistol in Will’s hand.
“Oh no, that’s not going to happen.” He put his pistol away.
“Please, please. I just need one bullet. Put yourself in my position.”
Will thought about it. He’d been in the man’s position before, and he’s seen worse. He took out his pistol, and ejected a single bullet, placing it in his hand.
“You gotta tell me your name first.”
The man looked at him for a moment, and said “David.”
Will nodded and held the bullet up. The man took it, and placed it in his gun.
“I’d like to be alone for this, please.”
“Of course.” Will turned his back and walked away. The man didn’t say another word. He climbed back over the hill, heading home and stopped. He turned around and thought about going back, but continued ahead.
Will never did hear a gunshot.
Anna came down the stairs and saw Kim sitting in the room alone, holding her head down.
“Where’d Boyd go?”
“Oh, he went upstairs shortly after your father.” Kim replied, not looking up.
Anna walked over to Winston and put her hand on his forehead. “He looks good,” she said.
“Yeah, he actually looks like
