Final Hours

Chapter Twenty One

"Okay I think I have everything." Chris said, throwing a bag of tools over his shoulder. I nodded, taking the handgun out of my bag and sliding it into my jeans. I tucked my shirt behind it and followed him down the stairs.
"Hey, be careful." I turned, being met with Eric who was sitting up on the couch. I smiled with a slight nod and turned back to Chris who was already walking towards the wooded barn. I quickened my pace and followed behind him as we walked together towards the woods.
"I'm gonna grab the extra wood." Chris said, turning to sneak behind the trees. I nodded and sat on the grass, taking the time to actually admire the land around us. It was serene if it wasn't for the fact there were living dead people roaming the woods.

A twig snapped and I whirled around pulling my knife out.
"Jesus Christ don't sneak up on people." I exclaimed in a loud whisper. Chris chuckled and dropped the logs and sticks.
"My apologies." He added with a sly smile setting one of the logs on top of the tree stump. He picked up the axe and lifted it above his head, splitting the log in two.

I moved back to get away from the splintering wood, and pushed my back against the wooden fence. He continued on with the next log, and the log after that.
It was hot outside, hotter than normal, It made me reminisce on old days when I could go down to the beach with my friends or swim in the nearby lakes with my family.

I stood up and walked through the gate behind Chris, the pen that held the animals was large but it crossed into the woods. It wasn't the safest place but that's what this wall was for, patching up, and raising any fence that caused a problem. So far we had one horse to worry about and I felt awful keeping it cooped up in the tiny stables.

Pushing the draping branches out of my face I turned once more to make sure Chris was still busy chopping wood. I followed the fence line through the trees to get a rough estimate of how much wood I'd need. It was a surprisingly large area of land for such a small amount of horses, I'm sure when it's kept up it's a nice place to ride. But the tree line alone made it nearly impossible to traverse safely. The fences kept going as I traced it with my hand, finally I came across a section that was completely knocked down.

I'm sure this had to be the epicenter of the problem. I turned around to retrace my steps. It was a pretty king walk back up and there was a slight incline in the ground that I hadn't noticed earlier. I finally made it back to the front of the tree line when Chris whirled around.

"Jesus Christ Jennifer where did you go!" He yelled, running over to me, dropping the axe he had clenched in his hand. "What happened to sticking together, this was the whole reason you're out here." He added in an annoyed tone.
"I'm fine, I'm fine...I was figuring out how much wood we'd need." I responded, pulling away from him.
"If I wanted someone walking away every five seconds I would've brought Henry...I should've brought Henry." Chris shook his head as he turned around sharply, grabbing a stack of wood and the axe and pushed past me.

"Hey!" I yelled after him pushing through the tree branches as he kept walking. "Hey stop! What is your problem!" I snapped, pulling his arm so it forced him to stop walking down the hill.
"I don't want to worry about you Jennifer, not after everything that's happened." He snapped back in a quieter tone then mine.
"Worry about me! I'm perfectly fine Christian all I did was walk down a hill, dear god." I huffed, throwing my hands up in defeat.
"Without telling me Jennifer that's the big problem." He retaliated trying to walk past me again. I held tight to his wrist so he couldn't leave.
"Ever since this whole apocalypse thing happened you've been treating me like a child! I'm five years younger then you, for once just trust me!" I yelled, I could feel myself getting emotional now. I'd felt like we were drifting apart lately and I couldn't handle losing him and our parents in the short amount of time.

He paused and looked at me for a moment, I couldn't read his expression but I don't think he wanted me to. I looked to the side sharply, blinking the tears away and dabbing under my eyes. When I looked up he had an obvious aura of defeat.
"Chris I-..." I tried to start, he looked back up at me as I noticed movement behind him. "Move!" I yelled pushing his arm to the side and struggling with the sheath of my knife. It was caught on something and I could barely get it out. It finally flung out and I fumbled with the knife in my grasp as I pushed the walker back with my other hand.

Before I could do anything Chris had already landed the axe in the walkers head. I took a step back to breathe and looked down at the sheath to figure out the problem. There was nothing wrong with it though, it must have been anxiety causing me to mess up.
"Are you ok?" Chris asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. He bent down and pulled the axe out of the walkers head.
"Yes...I think I'm fine." I said examining my knife.
Chris turned to walk down the hill as another walker slammed against the fence beside me grabbing my arm.

I jumped and twisted with a Yelp as I ripped away from it. Losing my footing I tried to plant myself as I fell onto my shoulder and rolled down the hill. I felt my knife dig into my arm deeply as I continued falling down the hill, the twigs and rocks also cutting into my skin. I grabbed at leaves and dirt trying to stop myself but to no avail. Finally I slammed against the fence at the bottom of the hill, near the opening.

Barely conscious I lifted my hand weakly to the knife that was stuck in my arm, the air had been knocked out of my lungs as I pulled at it. But I was sadly too weak to do anything. I dropped my arm back down and laid defeated as Chris slid down next to me.

"Oh my god!" He yelled, sliding his hands under my back and legs and lifting me up. "How the hell did you manage this." He huffed defeatedly running up the hill. He made it to the top as he ran full speed towards the house. I felt the searing pain in my arm as Christian burst through the door with his shoulder.

I groaned as he went to lay me on the floor.
"Jennifer!" Eric yelled sitting up straight and jumping off the couch. He rushed down over to me just barely holding an arm on his own wound. He helped Christian lift me onto the couch, noticing the knife in my arm.

"We really gotta get rid of this thing...it stabs more people then it does walkers." Eric said, putting pressure on my arm as he pulled out the knife.
"Ok what do we need to do?" Christian asked standing up from his kneeled position.
"Water...or alcohol on a rag, and...and ice and thread for stitches." I said looking at my arm, Eric's hand was clasped tight around the wound and I could see the little red peeking through his fingers.

Christian nodded, walking into the kitchen and grabbing everything plus the extras left over from last time.

"How did this happen?" Eric asked, picking his hand up and switching it with his other hand. He swiped his hand across his shirt leaving a red stain behind.
"Walkers...a hill...and a hunting knife." I responded weakly turning my head to face him, I weakly smiled sarcastically.
"You amaze me sometimes." He said laughing as Christian walked into the room. He handed Eric the wet rag, he dropped it against my arm and I winced pulling my arm back.
"Agh! You actually found alcohol." I squirmed as Eric slowly and gently placed the rag back on my arm. I shut my eyes tight and took a deep breath as he held it tight against my arm.
"Alright...who's doing stitches?" Christian asked, looking between a very concerned Eric and himself.