From here, it was a straight shot to Louisville and then Fort Knox. She had a full tank, some supplies, and no one on her trail to stop. “I can do this. I have to. Louisville, here I come.”
Chapter 21 - Amy
Amy shifted in her seat as they got closer to the Robinson farm, impatient to get there. The longer it took, the more worried she grew about Alex. He hadn’t complained once, but she could see what the effort of driving cost him. It was evident in the stark lines around his mouth and the pallor of his cheeks. If only he weren’t so stubborn. I can drive. Not very well, but well enough to get us there.
It was cold so early in the morning, and overcast. It would probably rain later on. She wondered how long they had left before winter hit them with its full force. Usually, the worst weather lasted from December to February, but this season promised to come early, and it was the beginning of November already.
Ordinarily, Amy loved winter, and some of her favorite memories stemmed from the season. In the evenings, they’d get together in the living room, each snuggled up underneath a fluffy blanket with a cup of steaming hot cocoa. Her father would read his latest book while she and her mom watched their favorite shows on television. All while a pot of soup bubbled on the stove, ready to be eaten with homemade crusty bread and real butter. A real treat.
Now, Amy wasn’t so sure. Surviving during the warm months would be difficult enough, but winter could be a killer. She sighed. That didn’t matter now. They’d figure all of that out later. All that mattered now was getting Alex well again. I hope Mr. and Mrs. Robinson can help him. I really do.
“The turn-off is right ahead,” Alex said, drawing Amy away from her morbid thoughts.
She craned her head and spotted the sign Alex referred to. It showed the way to the Robinson farm, a two-mile-long dirt road to the gates of their property.
On either side of the track, rows of tall trees loomed large above them. To Amy, they looked stark and foreboding, their naked branches twisting up to the gray clouds that covered the sky. A shiver worked down her spine despite the warm jacket she wore, and she wished the journey was over already. Something was bothering her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Nerves. It must be nerves.
The dirt road wound through the woods for another mile before they reached the gates leading to the Robinson’s property. Amy frowned, and Alex came to an abrupt halt as they surveyed the wreckage of the once elegant, wrought-iron gates that swung inward at the push of a button. They’d been forced open, and the metal was bent and warped on the inner seam where the two gates met.
“This can’t be good,” Amy said, clutching her shotgun to her chest.
“No, it can’t,” Alex agreed.
“Look at that,” Amy said, pointing at the ground in front of them. The soil was churned up as if a hundred of pairs of feet had marched through it minutes before. “Those are prints. Footprints. And they’re fresh.”
“You’re right,” Alex said. “A whole lot of people came through here not long ago, and they must’ve forced open the gate.”
“People? Or zombies?” Amy asked.
Suddenly, she realized what had been bothering her all along. A nature lover, she was used to tracking animals in the wild, and her subconscious mind had spotted these prints from the moment they turned onto the track.
“It could be either. The Robinson’s are well off, and there are plenty of people who want what they have, but this…this was zombies. I’m sure of it,” Alex replied.
“How come?”
“Because they forced open the gates. Thieves would have climbed over.”
“So, what now?” Amy asked. “We can’t go back home. We need medicine for you.”
“It’s too risky. Ten to one, the zombies are still here, unless the Robinson’s managed to fight them off. But if that’s the case, why is the property still open and exposed?”
“Maybe they’re trapped and need our help,” Amy said.
“What can we do against a horde of the undead, Amy?” Alex asked.
“We can at least look,” Amy protested. “I mean, we’re safe inside the car.”
Alex stared ahead for a moment before nodding. “Fine. We can look, but at the first sign of trouble I’m getting us the hell out of here.”
“Deal,” Amy said.
Alex drove through the gates at a snail’s pace, the tires crunching on the gravel driveway that led to the house. Within seconds, it came into view — a grand, two-story mansion set on a vast swath of green lawn. The wrap-around porch commanded a panoramic view of the countryside around it, and Amy leaned forward in her seat with anticipation.
Within moments, her hopes of finding the Robinson’s alive and well were dashed. Mrs. Robinson’s award-winning rose bushes had been trampled to dust, the regal plants crushed into the earth beneath countless feet. The grounds were littered with corpses, and the front door hung loose on broken hinges. The lower level windows were all smashed, and blood stained the once pristine white walls. It was like something out of her worst nightmares.
Amy’s mouth dried up, and her heart was heavy in her chest. Tears pricked at her eyelids, but she dashed them away before Alex could see. She didn’t want him to think her weak. “It was zombies.”
Alex nodded, his face drawn. “They put up one helluva fight.”
Amy had nothing to say to that. What did it matter when they were all dead?
“We’d better go. There’s nothing here for us but death. Who knows where the rest of the horde is,” Alex said.
Amy swallowed hard on the bile that rose in her throat. She could guess where the infected were. They’d be after food. Fresh meat. “The stables.”
Alex glanced at her with a quizzical frown. “Stables?”
“At the back
