The Dead Walk Among Us

Chapter 3: Iris

It's been two weeks since we arrived. We are doing great. We help out by planting vegetables in the garden. I head into the kitchen. Jack is standing by the counter.

He turns around. "Look what Daniel brought us!"
   
A carton of eggs, a loaf of bread, and assorted fruit are sitting on the counter.
   
"That's great!"
   
Jack starts cooking some eggs.
  
Jade is sitting on the couch.
   
"Hey, Daniel also brought by our clothes," she says.
   
I take the basket by the front door and sort out the clothes. This place feels like home now. I sit on the couch with Jade. Jack comes out from the kitchen and places our plates on the coffee table in front of us. He made toast and scrambled eggs.
   
We eat, and then Jade and I go outside. Today we need to help scavenge food from nearby houses. We're headed out with ten others are headed out now.
   
As we drive, I see all kinds of animals.
   
"Do animals get infected?" I ask.
   
"They know not to hang around the dead but sometimes they do get infected," Daniel says.

The truck stops. There are five buildings ahead. One is a grocery store. The other four are houses. Jade and me go into the grocery store. We walk through the store, passing the registers.
   
I hear a child crying. I pull out my pistol.
I walk towards the sound with my gun ready. I see a woman behind the counter. She's holding a child who has a bite mark on his arm.
   
"Don't kill him!" the woman yells.
   
"I wasn't going to," I say.
   
"Those people from the fort killed my daughter and my husband, when they were bit. They were immune and they shot them! Don't take my son. He's immune, too. He'll be fine. Just leave...you can take some food but leave us some," the woman says frantically.
   
"I won't take your son," I say. "I'm not like that."
   
"You said the people from the fort? Did you mean the people from the safe house?" Jade asks.
   
"Yes, they don't care if a person is immune, they still kill them or take them away," the woman says.
   
Jade looks worried.
   
"Just don't tell them about the bite," I tell her. Jade starts getting the food while I sit with the woman.
   
"You said they take them. Where exactly do they take them?" I ask.
   
"I don't know...somewhere far away. Probably to be killed," she says. "No one knows where exactly they take them. I saw the bite mark on your friend's arm...you need to get out of there before they see it, too."
   
I don't want to leave, but if what this woman is saying is true, Jade is in danger. I need to protect Jade and Jack as much as I can. I'm the leader of our small group, and a leader is supposed to make sure everyone is safe.
   
"I understand. I'll figure something out," I say.
   
"Don't let them take someone else," the woman says.
   
"I won't, I promise," I say.
   
"Alright, I took most of the food here, but I did leave some for you," Jade says to the woman.
   
"Thank you. You two are the only kind people I've met in the last ten years," the woman says.
   
I get up. We walk out of the store. I see a horde running towards us.
   
"I'll get the others you start up that truck!" Jade says.
   
"Be fast!" I say.
   
I run to the truck. I look around for the keys. I look in the glove boxes and the center console. Jade gets in the passenger's seat. She hands me the keys.
   
"Everyone is in the truck! Drive now!" Jade says.
  
I hit the gas. I see the horde following in the rear view mirror.
   
"Faster!" Jade yells.
   
"I'm going a hundred miles per hour, if I go any faster I'll crash," I say.
   
"We need to get rid of some of those zombies," Jade says. She crawls into the back of the truck.
   
"I found a rifle!" she says.
   
"Use it then!" I yell. I hear gunfire.
   
The passenger's side door opens. A person with enlarged pupils gets in. He grabs my arm. I start swerve off the road, zigzagging from left to right. I punch the zombie in the face. I find a pistol on the ground. I grab it and shoot the zombie. I push the zombie out the open door.
   
"What was that?" Jade yells.
   
"A zombie got in. I had to shoot it," I say.
   
"You're not bit, right?" Jade asks.
   
"No, I'm fine," I say.
   
I finally drive to the safe house. I get out of the truck. We lost the horde a few miles ago. That horde had about five hundred zombies. That was a close call.