The teenager follows me, despite our disagreements. We’re making great progress, but have no idea if we’re anywhere close to my home. All I know is we’re far away from fire, and our silence is keeping the zombies away.
The sun is setting. The infected trees glow yellow with the warm rays of summer. A deer, quiet like us, wanders across our path. The buck stares, nods his antlers up and down, and continues on without a worry.
“You know, the State could give you a better one,” Chuck whispers.
“A better what?” I ask, rolling my eyes. The kid won’t shut up about this damn group. I don’t blame him, really. He’d have yellow eyes and an appetite for flesh if it weren’t for their care.
“A better fake leg,” he says as I stop to tighten. “They have a healthcare system set up and everything.”
“They’re so confident their new government works that they don’t ask folks to join. They just smash their way in, waste bullets, and steal your resources. That’s not something I can stand behind,” I say.
We grow quiet again. The trail goes up a hill and the hill has a road. I know this road. My eyes water.
“Follow me. I know where we can camp,” I say, pulling Chuck up to the asphalt from the dirt.
“I’m glad you know where we are. It’s getting too dark for you to be out here unvaccinated,” Chuck says, twiddling his numb thumbs.
We stop at the entrance of where I used to work. Chuck tilts his helmet. Maybe he’s remembering me from before the shit hit the fan. He was so much younger though, and has been through a lot since.
“What is this place?” he asks.
“An old sanctuary.”
I open the door, ready to run. Nothing comes out at us. Pictures painted with little fingers litter the tan walls. I light a candle I took from the church, so we can see more clearly in its flickering brightness.
Together, we break the snack machine open in the teacher’s lounge. The stale chips and flat pop aren’t as delicious as my last meal, but it is a meal nonetheless. As we eat, a small shadow stretches into the doorway from the hall.
“Miss Feltz,” a scratched, small voice calls out to me. Chuck breaks a wooden flagpole in half and passes me the sharper piece.”It’s Lisa.”
“Lisa!”
She comes into the light. I come closer to hug her, but she puts her hands out.
“I’m sick and,” she coughs. “Almost gone.”
“No, we can help you, little girl!” exclaims Chuck. He stands up and prepares to run with her to the State, I’m sure.
“No,” she shakes her veiny head. “The State people like you already came and took the healthier ones to the Factory. I feel it in my mouth, and it–” she coughs again. “It feels fuzzy.”
“Oh, baby,” I say, kneeling. She sits down, sweating dirty water from her pores. One is is whiter than the other.
“I’m about to become one of the monsters. As soon as I do, stab me with that.” Her little index finger points to my stake. “Once I’m gone, go find Mama at a place called the Church. That place hasn’t been found by those State people yet. You’ll be safe from the Factory there.”
Chuck and I look at one another. The flickering light doesn’t hide the tears running down my cheeks. He pulls me aside and whispers, “I’ll do it, when it’s time.”
We wait with her. She teaches us everything she knows, everything I missed, and what we must do to save my friends. Her eyes are yellow and full of green tears. Her pale skin purples from her clogging blood. Her words become growls.
Chuck takes her away from me. He doesn’t come back for a long time. I doze off, waiting, dehydrated from crying. When Chuck returns, I open one eye. He’s in tears.
“I couldn’t do it,” he says. “We’ll take her with us.”