Love is Dead

Chapter Four: The Old Farmhouse

"Alright, we're almost there." The bearded-man, who Margot had learned went by Gunner, had said.

The four of them had walked for less than half an hour, with Ayumi and Gunner in the front, leading them to the farm they were staying at, while Margot and Fallon followed a fair distance behind. Fallon became paler the further they walked, which Margot didn't think was possible considering how pale she already was.

"Are you doing okay?" Margot asked her. "If you need to stop–"

"I'm fine, alright?" Fallon grumbled, unconvincingly.

They continued on past a large, empty field to a large farmhouse. It was two stories tall, with large windows in the front that would have been beautiful, had they not been boarded up. There was a nice wrap-around porch and a barn sat behind the house, the red paint fading. The wood creaked as they walked up the steps, and Margot half expected them to break.

Gunner knocked four times on the door, then they waited. There was the sound of wood dragging against wood, before the door was opened. There was a woman on the other side of the door. Her skin was a medium brown, and her dark brown coily hair was tied back in a bun. She wore a large green jacket, which almost hid her baby-bump.

"Who's this?" The pregnant woman asked as she looked towards Margot and Fallon.

"Just some people Gunner shot." Ayumi said, sliding past the woman to get inside.

Gunner crossed his arms. "I only shot one of 'em."

"Oh!" The woman immediately pulled Fallon inside after seeing her wound. "El, get the med kit."

"Don't touch me," Fallon said, pulling away from her.

Margot and Gunner followed them inside. Another man stood by the door. He was a bit on the shorter side, and wore glasses with one of the lenses cracked. He had light brown hair that was a bit messy and was almost long enough to reach his chin. After everyone was inside, he closed the door and pushed a large cabinet in front of it to barricade it.

The house seemed quite cozy, despite looking a bit run-down. The front door led into a large living room, with two couches on either side of a coffee table. In the back, there was a large kitchen with an island counter in the center, and a boarded up back door. There was a room beside that with a fancy yet old-looking sign that read 'Bathroom,' so it was safe to guess what that room was.

"What happened?" The man with glasses asked in a monotone voice, looking towards Fallon.

"Ayumi said that Gunner shot her." The pregnant woman replied.

"It was an accident," Gunner said in defense. "She looked like a zombie."

Fallon spun around and flipped him the finger as the pregnant woman dragged her away, following the man with glasses into another room and down some steps into what seemed like a garage.

"Hey Jackie? Did either of you cook anything up while we were gone?" Ayumi asked as she plopped herself down on one of the couches.

"Ah, crap." The pregnant woman, Jackie, said as she reentered the room. "Yeah, some of that deer from earlier. You hungry?"

She was looking at Margot now. And she was so hungry, considering the last thing she ate was that can of peaches the night before. "Oh, um, yeah I am. Could I–"

Jackie turned towards the kitchen. "Have some? Of course, hun."

"I'll help you with that." Gunner said, setting his backpack and rifle on one of the couches before following her into the kitchen.

With nothing to do but wait, Margot found herself wandering over to the couches, taking a seat across from Ayumi. She took off her bag and held it in her lap so that there would still be room for the others to sit down. She could see the door that Fallon had gone through with that man across the room. Should she have left her alone? Fallon could have been right about these people, they could secretly be cannibals for all they knew. What if he was hurting her?