“Good, kill every motherfu…kill anything that isn’t human or doesn’t belong,” Zahara said and went into the house. The screen door slammed behind her.
Ethan’s heart was in his throat as he carried Rose in his arms. It just couldn’t end this way. She was such a wonderful woman and he’d not even gotten to know her. She was weeping in his arms and there was blood on her. He took her to the kitchen and switched on the light. He was shaking when he sat her at the table.
He looked over his shoulder at her as he went to the large sink and grabbed the dishtowel and ran it under water. He drew in a deep breath and blew it out forcefully. He needed to focus; Rose needed him to be steady. Squeezing the towel out, he came back to her. Her eyes were large on her face, she was in shock.
“How bad?” Zahara asked and he was glad that she’d lost the sardonic tone that was usually present.
“Not sure, I’m gonna clean her up and see what we have,” Ethan said and was surprised at how calm he sounded. He glanced down at his hands and they were steady. He tilted Rose’s face up and began to wipe the blood. There were no bite marks there. Her neck was a different story, there were long thin nail marks down her neck where her uncle had clawed at her. She winced when he began to wash them.
“There should be betadine packs and other sterile cleaning supplies in the ambulance,” Rose said, her voice shaking badly.
“Got it,” Zahara said and disappeared.
“Is she gonna be okay?” Lauren asked from the doorway, her face pale and her blonde hair wild about her head. Shay was holding onto the older girl, their hands entwined.
“I think so. I hope so,” Ethan said as he wiped again. There was a lot of dirt on her neck as well, maybe from when her uncle had been trying to crawl under the gate to the cow’s stall. He let out a shuddering sigh as Zahara rushed back in and opened one of the betadine packs. She smeared it on Rose’s neck and it appeared even more ghastly. Rose sat quietly as he and Zahara worked on her. He took wipes and began to wash the betadine from her neck and took paper towels to wipe her down, getting most of the brownish liquid off.
“You’ve got several gouges down your neck from your uncle’s nails but there are no bites,” Ethan said and sat in the chair across from her abruptly. His legs going weak and now his hands were shaking badly. He looked into her light gray eyes and saw her fear and uncertainty.
“Do you think I’ll turn into…into one of them?” she asked.
“I don’t think so. There’s no bites. And there was a lot of dirt on his fingernails. I cleaned dirt out of there but I think no saliva or blood got into the wounds.” He picked up a tube of antibiotic ointment and gently coated the wounds.
Zahara nodded and turned as Xander walked into the kitchen, his eyebrows raised in silent question.
“We think she’ll be okay. There aren’t any bites on her. Her uncle only scratched her and he had a lot of dirt and filth on his nails. If anything, she might get an infection from cow shit,” Zahara said.
“I’m really sorry Rose, for your loss. It’s too late now, but in the morning, I’ll dig a grave for your uncle,” Xander said softly.
“Thank you, thank you so much. Bless his heart, my poor uncle. He was such a sweet man,” Rose said and her voice choked with emotion.
“I’m sorry too,” Zahara said softly.
“There were a couple more zombies outside behind the barn and I put them down. I’ll get rid of them tomorrow as well. After we get the kids settled, I’m going to go out and do a walkabout and see if there are any more within the vicinity. With the kids here, I want to make sure that they’re safe,” Xander said.
“I’ll go with,” Zahara said and both looked over to Shay and Lauren.
“Let me see about fixing these kids something to eat and then we can get them cleaned up and put to bed,” Rose said and started to get up.
“You sit still and catch your breath, I can fix something,” Xander said.
“I’ll go get some things for Shay and get her into the bath.” Zahara walked by and took Shay by the hand. Lauren stood leaning against the kitchen opening and Reggie came up from behind, the twins in tow and a pail of milk in hand.
“Watered and fed the animals, looks like they’d not had anything for a day. Nothing serious. Your cow is happy now. How are you doing?” he asked as he set the milk on the table.
“Thank you, Reggie. I know Lulabell is very happy. I think I’ll be alright. No bites, just scratches. I guess we’ll just keep a watch over me,” Rose said, her voice heavy with fatigue.
“Mom and Dad turned into those zombie things after about four hours,” Lauren said in a dead voice and they all turned to look at her.
Her face was so pale that her eyes looked like dark splotches in her face. Her fingers were knotted together and the knuckles white from gripping so hard. Ethan thought that the child was hanging on by a thread. He could not imagine watching his parents’ attack and then transform into something like the zombies. It was hard for him, a grown man, to accept this reality and he was a man of the world.
“Then I guess we wait and see,” Rose said softly and smiled. She started to get up but Ethan tried to stop her.
“I’m alright, Ethan. Let
