“I’m going to go lay down for a moment. Please eat as much as you want,” she said and waved Ethan back to his chair when he started to rise. She’d had more frequent episodes of falling asleep since all this insanity had started. She thought that stress was a big trigger. She just needed her world to calm for a minute or two and let her catch her breath and also not be so damned terrified. With Ethan, he brought that sense of calm in the middle of the storm. She smiled as she climbed the stairs.
The children were at the old tire swing that hung from a massive moss-covered oak in the front yard. Reggie thought the children were trying to play, but it was difficult and too soon, their tragedies so raw. Shay was sitting in the tire and Lauren was pushing her, her pale face wan. Shay’s eyes watched Zahara, who stood near, guarding the children like a mother hen or mother wolf, he thought. Mike and Luke had sticks and were drawing in the dirt by the tree. There was no laughter and Reggie hoped that one day, the children could find their joy again. His heart squeezed as he thought of his boys. He turned back around and thrust the shovel into the dirt once more. He was digging the grave for Rose’s uncle while Ethan and Xander were loading the other bodies into the back of the Chevy. He’d taken over for Ethan so Ethan could help Xander. They had talked about it and decided to take the bodies and dump them some miles from the house and property. Xander and he had gone out earlier and brought back the bodies from the woods and from behind the barn. Trying to bury all the bodies would be an enormous backbreaking task.
“There are bodies at the adjoining property and I’d like to gather them as well,” Xander had explained after breakfast.
There were flies starting to buzz over the dead and Reggie was just as glad not to dig a larger grave. Rose and Zahara had wrapped Richard in a sheet shroud. Trying to build a coffin would take time and they wanted to put her uncle to rest quickly. Reggie hadn’t buried his wife or his boys. He’d burned them to ash and his eyes teared up for a moment. Would the hurt ever ease? Would he ever heal? He turned when Mike came over and yanked on his shirt. The wide blue eyes looked up trustingly and his heart squeezed. Maybe he would heal or at least part of him.
Ž
The Chevy bumped over the dirt road and the bodies in the back shifted. Ethan looked back and Xander lifted a questioning eyebrow.
“They’re still dead and haven’t fallen out,” Ethan said, a slight grin on his face.
“Good, I really don’t want to deal with them more than I have to. I also want to rinse out the back of my truck when we get back. Zombies stink to hell and back,” he grouched. That did bring a laugh from Ethan.
“You’re in a good mood,” Xander said, slowing down. Ahead of them were two zombies. A woman and a child and the smile left his face.
“I was until now. I’ll shoot and then we can load them into the back. We’re going to have to drive a bit farther, these things are going to stink once the rotting really sets in,” Ethan said, raising his weapon. There was the soft pftt, pftt and both zombies hit the ground. Xander pulled up beside them and they got out. The woman was slender build and wasn’t too bad to put into the bed of the truck, the child was perhaps nine and more decomposed. Xander put on the rubber gloves he’d taken from the ambulance and he and Ethan put the child into the bed gently. An arm fell off and he picked it up and placed it beside the body.
“This really sucks,” Ethan said, getting back into the truck.
Neither man spoke as Xander pulled away. He sped up, wanting to dump his load of grisly things. Twenty minutes later Xander saw a good spot to place the bodies. It looked like a gravel quarry and there were several deep pits.
“Let’s put the bodies there. If we come across more zombies, we can put them in there as well. It looks like a pretty good dumping place. I’ll let Reggie know about it,” Xander said.
“I’m gonna stay here, with Rose,” Ethan blurted and Xander looked over and tried not to smile.
“I kind of thought you might.” Backing the truck up to the pit, Xander turned off the engine and got out.
“You don’t seem surprised,” Ethan said, coming around and lowered the tailgate.
“I saw how you looked at Rose at the hospital. Doesn’t take a lot of guesswork to see how you feel about her and I’m actually glad, because she’s going to need a lot of help on that farm and I think that having you there with her will make her feel safe. I also noticed that she was eyeing you as well this morning,” Xander said, grunting as he slid the bodies forward. Ethan helped and they swung the bodies into the hole like sacks of grain.
“Really, she was looking at me?” Ethan asked with hope
