Finding Hope In A World That Has Little

5: The Risks We Take

The Lorelei family headed out from John's neighborhood once daybreak hit, letting them have something to eat and pack up any keepsakes they wanted with them from his house.

With Hope swaddled to her body as usual, and that insanely heavy backpack on her back. The kids still weren't thrilled to leave the security of a house, but Lorelei knew they couldn't stay forever.

If it wasn't being overrun by dead or possibly raided by other people, they would run out of food eventually. If anyone did decide to go through the house they would be surprised with half a loaf of bread, spoiled milk, and a few slices of cheese at their disposal. The city was the worst place to be at the beginning of an outbreak.

Not only would there be dead everywhere because of people that couldn't escape, there would be people that might be dangerous. She didn't want to think that they were all dangerous and untrustworthy, but she wouldn't know until she actually encountered them.

She and the kids wandered down the street, farther into downtown. Everything was way more damaged and crumbled at this point. A building was literally in ruins, like it was burned down and nobody was there to stop it. Emily was more alarmed at that, so her head hid into Lorelei's shirt as they went past the decrepit structure. All to ashes.

"Mommy, can I hold your knife now?" Said little Chris, not as fazed by the destruction. Honestly, Lorelei would rather tell him and not give him the knife. At least not right away. "Okay, I need you to listen first. Are you listening?" She was serious, firm, knives were dangerous. But they were survival now.

Chris nodded his head, his attention fully on Lorelei. They stopped and she lead them out of the road, into the small grassy area. She crouched down in front of him and her hand was placed on his shoulder, "I need you to know that knives are not toys. They are for protecting yourself and others. Only use them in dangerous situations." She showed him the knife, and he looked down at it. His hand reaching over, "Okay... I got it. Don't play with it. " Emily seemed to not be thrilled by the talk of knives as she cowered away behind her mom.

Chris was a little kid at heart, but he seemed more capable of handling a knife than his sister. She might get there one day, everyone processed differently. He tilted his head, "How do I use it to kill zombies?" Lorelei stood up and looked around for a zombie or two, "I'll show you, and then you can try." She headed towards what looked like a grocery store, Dillons.

Outside the entrance there was a zombie stuck in a shopping cart, unable to move or get out. There was a second one wandering around near the side of the store, so she went for that one first. Chris followed right behind, curiously. She sighed, "So, most zombies will be way bigger than you. They will try to get you, they don't care if you're big or small." She needed to demonstrate it, so she let the zombie come to them. This was also something new for her to try.

She ducked down as the zombie lunged with its mouth and teeth. Going for its knees, she stabbed it in the knee cap. Then kicked it, and thankfully it fell to its knees, "For dealing with them, you'll want to use your size to your advantage. Get them on your level. Want to do the honors?" She didn't like that she had to show him how to kill, he should be able to have a better life than this. But she would still try her best to give him and Emily a good life, the only difference was that survival got in the mix.

"Sure mom!" While the zombie was down, she took the knife out of the knee and handed it to her son by the wooden part. He took it, looking at the dead thing. Then he lifted the knife and pierced through, right between the eye balls. The zombie collapsed to the ground. He cheered and Lorelei got the knife back in her grasp. She smiled warmly, "Good job Chris! Now we just need to find you a knife on your own!" She grew serious after a moment, "I'm trusting that you will be careful, and safe with it, and I know you're just a kid. You can always say no if you change your mind."