I take the time to give the crawl space more than the cursory glance I did when Silas stuffed me down here. It's definitely creepy, probably only three and a half feet tall in any place, I can't do more than kneel, but it's massive in other ways and spans the entire length of the house. I carefully shine the light in all four corners, but thankfully there's nothing down here but spiders and cardboard boxes labeled Christmas. "I never thought I'd see the day I would be grateful for a room full of spiders." I say to myself, and my voice sounds so weird and out of place down here. "And now I'm talking to myself!" I huff before I realize that I just did it again and I bite my lip.
Maybe Silas was right- I really do talk too much...
I sit cross legged on the cement to take some of the pressure off my knees, as I glance around trying to think of my next move. I'm pretty sure it's still the middle of the night, so I'm trapped here until sunrise at least. I decide to stay in my crawl space and wait it out. I remember hearing smashing glass when the men broke in, so it's safe to assume that the house is no longer secure against zombies. My creepy crawl space is looking safer by the minute! Four solid walls made of wood and the only entrance is hidden above my head, a zombie would never be able to figure it out, and so far the people that took Silas missed it too.
I reach over and pull Silas' backpack towards me, I already know the pathetic contents of my own. Zero food, low ammo, basically nothing much to help me survive- even all my matches were ruined when I jumped in the river.
Silas's backpack is as empty of food as my own, but he has other stuff. I pull out a couple extra knives, and a laminated map of Illinois. He doesn't have the location of the cabin highlighted, in case the map fell into the wrong hands, but I know it by heart. I set the map down after staring at it longingly for a moment. I can't help but wonder what Abby is doing right now- I really wish she was here with me, even though I know its selfish because Abby would hate it.
I pull out the photo album that I discovered when Silas, Dad and I took that trip up the mountain and I took down the moose. It makes my heart ache a little, that was before my Mom and everyone else got sick. I pat the plastic cover fondly, but I don't open it as I set it to the side with the knives and map. I'm here alone, and that's terrifying enough, I don't want to be inviting any ghosts.
I pull out a small tightly folded square that looks like shiny aluminum foil, and can't help but smile a little at Silas' forethought. I shake the mylar emergency blanket out and am surprised that it's as big as it is. I wrap it around my body and continue to dig.
Silas has rope, hooks, a sling shot and a bunch of smooth metal balls for shooting, matches, that he was smart enough to put inside a waterproof bag with a couple extra lighters, half a bottle of water and not a whole lot else.
My adrenaline is flagging by the time I replace everything, so I pull the crinkly blanket up around my head like a cocoon and lay back, forcing myself not to think about the spiders. I didn't think I'd be able to fall asleep after everything that happened, but my body has other ideas.
I wake up with the blanket stuck to my face, my mouth dry and for a minute, the intense darkness has me confused. I grope for the flashlight, panicking for a second when I don't immediately find it. My fingers grasp it finally though and I breath a sigh of relief when the light goes on. It's still black down here, and I have no idea how long I've been asleep, or if it's even morning. I sit up and peel the tinfoil blanket off my face where my sweat must have acted like some sort of binding agent. I wince a little as it comes off, taking a few hairs with it and reach for the half bottle of water that I left out. I'm so hungry that my first instinct is to chug the whole thing, but I don't have another bottle, so I limit myself to half, and my stomach growls angrily when I set it back down and twist the lid on.
