I went in to what should have been a nice dry space but I saw the water coming in from under the door that led to the side yard. I couldn’t believe how heavy the rain had gotten so fast that there was flooding. That never happened. Not in Arizona, at least that I’d ever heard of.
Ian shut the garage door. There was a small window in the side of the garage that let in a little light. Though with the weather, it was very dark in the garage. Ian turned on a lantern that was on the work station that we used at night.
“This is insane,” he said.
I nodded. “Indeed it is.”
“We can stay here for the night, sleep in the van.”
I nodded. “Hopefully it’ll be over by morning.”
“Should be. I just hope the car hasn’t floated away.” He said. He was joking but looking back at the water seeping in under the door; I felt it could be possible.
“You want to change first?” He asked.
I nodded. We both had extra clothes that we kept in the van so we would never need to pack to leave the safe haven.
I got in the van and shut the door. There were curtains in the van since it was made for being able to sleep in as the backseat folded out into a bed. The curtains were already pulled shut. It was very dark in the van but I was able to make out enough to get to my bag and get my clothes out.
Even though I was soaked to the bone and freezing the rain felt nice. Refreshing and cleansing. Bathing was hard to come by, which was awful in every way imaginable. To get a little bit of the dirt, grime, and sweat rinsed of my body was so pleasant.
I changed into a dry shirt and lounge pants. I got out of the van with my wet clothes in hand to hang over the work station to dry.
“We should change back into our clothes before heading back,” I said.
“It would be believable that we found someplace to pick up extra clothes,” Ian said.
I looked back at him without saying a word.
He laughed, “You’re right, Aaron wouldn’t think so.”
“No, he would somehow find it suspicious.”
“This is what happens when someone becomes consumed with power. Things that make sense, no longer make sense.”
“Well, Ian let’s be honest. He has good reason to be suspicious,” I pointed out.
Ian laughed, “Yeah, he does.”
With that, he got in the van to change.
I stood by the door listening to the rain outside. It hadn’t let up at all. It was still coming down hard. It was nice to listen too but it brought on so many different types of dangers. Or at least multiplied the ones that already existed.
Ian came out of the van. He put his wet clothes next to mine so they could also dry.
“I’m going to go in the van and get some rest,” I said.
Ian nodded. “Okay.”
I got back into the van. I laid down on the bed in the back, grabbing a blanket and wrapping myself in it.
I was so tired, I felt it in bones. Complete exhaustion ran through my veins. The exhaustion was a constant these days. When I would lie down to go to sleep every night, it felt like I had spent the whole day doing hard labor. As if I’d been moving heavy furniture or working construction all day. There were days that I had spent pushing myself to the max physically, that was true but it wasn’t every day. The exhaustion was from the constant stress of life. The everyday just trying to survive took its toll.
I laid my head down and was instantly asleep. I had weird dreams that involved the zombies and being executed at what looked like a stake.
I woke up after what felt like only fifteen minutes. I knew instantly it had been much longer. It was very dark in the van. It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.
I heard Ian snoring next to me on the other side of the bed.
I listened but didn’t hear the rain. It must’ve stopped.
I closed my eyes and was back asleep in no time. When I woke up again, it was morning and very bright. Light was shining in from the small window so strongly it was cutting through the curtains and brightened up the van.
Ian was still asleep. I got up and quietly went out the van door. I changed into the clothes I had on the day before. They were still a little damp but mostly dry.
I grabbed my knife off the work station and went out the side door into the yard. I shut the door behind me. The yard was a mess with small puddles and patches of mud. I slowly walked through the side yard to the back. The pool that was there was green and gross and had about six more inches of water than it should normally have.
I didn’t come into the back yard often and Ian and I had only ever done one walk through of the house to make sure it was clear. Once was all I could take. A family of four had lived in this house. A couple with their two young girls. The photos were heartbreaking enough. Seeing them happy and alive. We knew they didn’t make it, since when we did the sweep through the little girls almost attacked us. Their eyes lifeless, their skin grey and decaying. The mother was also turned. We
