The rain poured down sideways, making it difficult for the windshield wipers to keep up. Joy held onto the covered basket in her lap tightly as Emma glanced at her. A pothole made the glass inside the basket shake, causing Emma to glance at Joy in fear.
"Did I break them?" She asked.
Joy glanced underneath the blanket and then shook her head, "no, they look okay to me."
The two had decided to sneak out before dawn with the help of two of their other members, Audrey Karp and Sam Martin. Things had started smoothly. Joy got to see cardinals, blue jays, and even an American woodcock. But then some of the other members decided to be cocks.
It started subtly. Drake Peters refused to shake the hands of a partially undead person. Iris Hilton backed away from the children, who moved forward for a hug. Joy just thought maybe they were unsure. She should never have been so trusting.
Maybe the neatly built wooden homes distracted her? Paige said they had scrapped a bunch of materials from a nearby neighborhood.
The food supply disappeared from the village's storage hut on the third day. Joy went out with Paige, and they found what remained on the banks of a creek.
"They want to see if we will eat them," Paige hissed on the banks. "Those fuckin' idiots."
At that point, Fernie and Emma considered taking the group back. Joy convinced them not to. She had Jim's note in his bag. He, along with the RFUPD, wanted to gather more blood samples. Jim thought that if they could find more results that imitated Tim, Paige, or himself, it could convince more of the council members of their humanity.
"We can't stay much longer," Emma hissed to her three nights before beside a campfire. "They are trying to start a fight out here. If one of them dies, this whole thing will be for nothing."
Joy nodded. "I know, but we need to gather samples."
Emma shook her head. "They will destroy them."
"Not if they don't know about them."
Emma leaned back and then glanced over at Fernie. He had Drake and Iris's undivided attention. After a few moments, Amir Ebeid, Omar's choice, and Matthew Philips, Tanya's choice, joined them.
Amir glanced over and raised his water to them. "Salud," he called across the fire.
They raised their glasses in response and smiled. Joy almost liked him.
Amir worked as a doctor on the north side of Houston. His openness to the research, combined with Fernie's innate ability to entertain people, worked to their advantage.
Joy spent the following morning teaching Audrey and Sam how to take blood samples. They did not bother to ask Farah or Lin for help. Those two seemed more concerned with making sure no one decided to kill anyone else. They stood as two slim, raven-haired bodyguards who pretended to be unaware of what was happening.
Instead, they moved from person to person and made sure no one was discovered or interrupted the process. A subtle security detail that Joy thanked Joanna and Phil for. Joy wouldn't have been surprised if the two had hidden somewhere along the tree permitter to make sure no one tried to kill Emma or herself during their midnight getaway.
The getaway probably wouldn't have been needed if the undead hadn't arrived. Not the groaning, walking with arms straight out, moaning for brains undead. These were walking and talking, discussing the trade of scrap for squirrel meat, types of undead.
Iris almost fainted at the sight of them. Well, once she realized what they were. Initially, she wanted to chat Tim up, thinking he liked living on the edge of society.
YOU ARE READING
Red Eyes
Science FictionDevyn Palmer never really fit into her family. Her grandmother and father were pillars when resettling the living in Houston while battling the undead. Her brother became one of the top protectors at the age of sixteen. While, Devyn sat in a rese...
