What Walks Among Us (book one)

The Waiting Game

Sam, Adam, and Beck all took the deer out back to clean so that Abby wouldn't see the process. Which left Ben and I to entertain her, or well, mostly Ben. I mainly watched our surroundings, waiting for anyone else to show up, while he started reading where he left off last night. Lunch came and went, and I was starting to feel restless, just sitting around while I knew, or hoped, that my friends were still out there.

I busied myself mostly with going through the grab bags that we had. Beck had grabbed Chester's and I decided to let it be until tomorrow morning when we would be forced to move out, and then I would divide up stuff between bags, according to what would be useful to each person. After I had messed with the bags, I spent a lot of time practicing my aim with a box that I had found in the house.

A while before dinner time, the boys had finished with the deer, and washed up. Beck informed me that most of the meet was going to sit and marinade until the sun rose, at which point we'd cook it, and when it was all done cooking, we'd be leaving. Though some of the meat was going to be used for tonight's dinner.

Trish finally came out of the house around the same time that the boys finished, and she stayed well away from Abby, choosing to watch the woods on the other side of the house. When Abby asked about food, Adam jumped up and started cooking something. He and the others had skipped out on lunch because they were busy, and I guess he was pretty hungry by now.

I sat down next to Abby, taking the spot that Adam had just left, and pulled out the brush I had found in her bag. She saw it, and without a word turned so that her back was to me. I smiled softly, wondering how we had ended up with the single most understanding little girl in the whole apocalypse. After brushing out all the tangles that had managed to get in her hair, I leaned forward.

"Abby, did you want me to put your hair up or something?"

She was quiet and then she nodded, " like yours," she said, making me blush, and Beck across the log grin.

He looked at her kindly, "Kodi has the prettiest hair, doesn't she?" he asked, not caring that Sam had nearly just dropped his gun upon hearing it.

"What the heck?" he demanded, looking at me, and then Beck, "We all know my hair is the best, excuse me," he huffed and then lifted his chin as if hurt.

I grinned, "Sorry Sam," I started, and when he looked at me with an expression of happiness I couldn't help it, "I didn't mean to take away your title.. maybe next year," I finished it off with a wink and started working on Abby's hair.

Sam grumbled something about me being a brat, while Beck laughed, and proceeded to tease him until Sam said something about Becky and then Beck threw a dirt clump at him. They bickered some more, but I had tuned it out, focusing in on the braid I was trying to weave into Abby's hair.

When I finished she jumped up to go show Adam, and he gave her more appraisal than he did me when I had came in with the deer. I rubbed my hands against my thighs, getting ready to see if there wasn't something I could do to be productive when I heard it.

I grabbed my bow and slipped away from the group, not wanting to worry them if it was nothing. As I approached the noise, it sounded like something tripped and fell down, giving a grunt. The small crash had caught the attention of the people behind me. The silence that followed was filled with suspense, and maybe just a sprinkle of hope.

A growling noise, that was unmistakably zombie started up, a little to the right from where the crash had come. I turned my aim towards the noise, and when I saw the rotten face through the woods, I took the shot. It had seen me at the same time I'd spotted it, but it wasn't smart enough to dodge the arrow, instead it practically ran straight into it.