I scavenged the closet in the master bedroom. Bingo. I found a pair of work boots that were slightly heavy but they'd do for now.
When I headed back to the woods, I ran into a group of zombies. In order to avoid them, I bobbed and weaved through the trees with the mud slowing me down a tad. I let out heavy breaths as a wave of exhaustion hit my body. I can't remember the last time I slept.
I have to find them fast.
"Face it. They're all dead."
The sound of a familiar voice caused me to turn around. My gaze met the blue eyes I could never forget.
Kara.
"We're all dead, Jake. You're dead. The ones roaming aren't the monsters. We are."
I knew deep down in my heart that it wasn't really her. Am I going crazy? Did I die?
"I'm sorry I let you down, Kara." I sobered, falling to my knees into the mud. "I wish it would've been me. It should've been me!"
"Come here." She opened her arms invitingly, coming closer to me as she trudged through the mud. "Come with me."
With that, I reached out in response with tears in my eyes.
Bang!
My eyes opened and the zombie was on top of me, now lifeless. I rolled the dead woman off of me and shifted my gaze to the source of the shot.
"What the hell are you doing, man?" Haze approached with an angry scowl on his tan face. "Trying to Kill yourself? Shouldn't you be back at the shelter?"
I opened my eyes in shock as I attempted to figure out if Haze was real.
"Hello? Where's Christie?"
I shook my head. "She's back at the shelter. They took her and told me to come find you guys. When I went to the meeting rock, you weren't there."
"Group of zombies came through. Couldn't stay," he explained between pauses. "I lost track of the rest of them when we got attacked by the dead. You better hope Christie is alright."
"I don't think they'd hurt her." I stated firmly, "Tabitha said that people are a resource. Seemed pretty insistent on us staying there."
"We'll heads towards town and keep an eye out for the others on the way. All my supplies are with Nista and we need food and water, maybe a car to help us get around quicker."
I examined Haze.
"You aren't worried?"
He turned to me with furrowed brows. "About what?"
"Nista."
"That woman," he paused as a slight smile appeared across his face. "She's tough. Tougher than you and me. I wouldn't have made it this far without her."
"Are you guys —"
"No," he immediately interrupted. "There's a ten year age difference between her and I. She'd never want to be with a forty year old man. Not even during the end of the world would I be good enough for her."
Grrrghhhh...
A group of several zombies approached us from several feet away.
"We'd better get going." Haze concluded as he trudged through the mud that was similar to quicksand. "It'll be night soon."
How could we get separated so easily? I've realized splitting up has never done us any good. At least Haze found me.
We entered town and it seemed somewhat empty. As we shuffled through the abandoned streets, we had to maneuver around cars with zombies still in them, seatbelt on and all. Dust was beginning to layer on the paint of the cars and I wondered how long it's really been.
Seven months? Eight?
"Shit! Get down!" Haze barked in a hushed voice, ducking behind the abandoned car.
I did the same in response.
As I lay on the cement beside the car, I peeked through the underneath. There were two men dressed in all black pacing back and forth. One held what seemed to be a shotgun. The other held a handgun.
Zombies approached Haze and I from behind. Just as one gripped him, Haze fired off a shot that pierced through the skull of the dead man attacking him. The shot gave away our location and the two men rushed over as they called out demands.
"Drop your weapons!"
"Get the hell down!"
I turned to Haze. He was already set on his decision.
Bang!
He shot the man with the shotgun in his head and sent him falling to the ground. The other man began to let off shots and Haze responded by popping off rounds of his own. We ducked behind the car quickly. As the unfamiliar man aimed at Haze, I was setting my sights on him.
Bang!
He fell to the ground with a bullet wound in his chest.
Haze signaled to approach the man that lay on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. As we approached him, Haze's face turned pale and his expression said he was going to get sick. He stared down at the man as silent moments passed. Finally, he spoke.
"Mac?"
My heart dropped.
"I thought — Mac was dead." My sentence came out broken.
Haze turned to me. "I thought so, too. I never found him, though. I just — I didn't think it was possible for anyone to make it out of that alive. He never made it back so I thought —"
After moments of silence, he continued. "He must've found others. I acted quick because I thought they were going to try to hurt us —"
"I understand, Haze. I get it."
The sound of a faint growl escaped Mac's lips as he lay on the bloody pavement. He opened his eyes to reveal cloudy, soulless eyes.
Haze lifted his gun and aligned the sight before sending off one last shot.
"I'm sorry, brother."
_
Daylight was soon upon us. Haze and I spent the first part of the day scavenging for food and water in town. We found a couple twenty-four packs of waters but in order to transport them, we were using a shopping cart that made quite some noise.
"Nista, where are you?" Haze muttered as he stared at the cloudy sky and let out a sigh. "We're going to have to find a vehicle. Maybe a truck or something that has a lot of space in the back."
We didn't find a truck but we stumbled upon a white work van with an assortment of plumbing supplies in the back. After pulling the owner out and taking the keys, we dumped the plumbing supplies out on the side of the road and emptied our shopping cart.
As we traveled in the van, I spoke.
"Are you going to tell Nista?"
"Tell her what? That I killed the friend I thought was dead? No." He responded, "she thought he was dead already. We'll leave it at that."
Really? I wondered if he purposely left Mac out here to die. I examined Haze and tried to picture him doing that.
Bang! Pop! Bang!
Explosive colors lit up the sky in the distance and I don't remember ever being so happy to see fireworks. I repeated three words to myself as Haze and I began to head in the direction of the bangs.
Follow the fireworks.
"Does that mean they're in trouble?" I questioned, a slight panic pulsing through me.
"No. She could be just trying to help us find them." He responded calmly, "she knows that I have no sense of direction."
Grrrgghh... rgghhh..
Zombies slammed on the side of the van as we traveled through the city. I still had a hard time accepting that the human race was eliminated but I'm coming to terms with the end of the world. The expression on Haze's face when he killed his friend told it all.
The world we knew before is gone.
"If the noise attracts the zombies, they're going to be searching for the others too." I realized as my heart dropped.
"Nista knows better. We usually set the fireworks off about a mile south of the actual location. She probably went off on her own to set 'em off," he explained. "Unless they're trapped."
Shit.
We approached the area that Haze claimed Nista would be. He put the van in park and we exited the vehicle as we scanned our surroundings.
A small bar, a grocery store and a pet store were among the many buildings around us.
"The bar." Haze stated as he walked assertively toward the building.
The glass in the front doors were broken and it was a sign someone had entered. Fresh blood stained the glass. Haze reached down, touching the blood before rubbing it between his fingers.
"Yep. It's fresh."
"Goddamn it," I examined the shards of glass beneath my feet. "I promised Barry I would watch out for his daughters. If they get hurt, I'll never forgive myself."
"It doesn't mean it was them." Haze was lying to himself and me. "Could've been anyone."
He crept the door open slowly. The bell above us chimed and the place was completely silent. The only sounds that could be heard were our footsteps.
They're not here.
I stepped on something and immediately backed up before bending down to grab it. My stomach dropped and my eyes widened. I turned to Haze as my whole body began to shake.
"Are these Nista's fireworks?"