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Day 105

I'm exhausted. Even more so than I usually am. The house we're seeking shelter in smells so strongly of mildew I'm almost certain there's black mold. I stand to my feet and walk over to the boarded up window.

I run a finger over one of the loose nails and shake my head. Eli was supposed to fix this last night. Before I can even peek through the crack theres a loud bang that echoes throughout the house. The two boys who were previously sleeping jump to their feet.

"What was that?" Reed whispers. I shrug my shoulders and tip toe back to my spot in the corner of the room. I pick up my bags and sling them over my shoulder, along with my gun and water canister. I grab my axe last and make my way toward the cracked bedroom door trying to avoid the sound of crunching leaves beneath my feet.

When I finally make it to the door I lean my ear toward it to see if I can hear any other noises.

Sure enough, theres footsteps. Slow, dragged out foot steps.

"There's an eater down there. Not sure how many, but there's definitely one." I whisper to the boys.

"Damn, and I just finished boarding up the whole place. You know how long that took me?" Eli grumbles.

"Yeah. Too long apparently. They must have seen the fire from last night." Reed explains. I nod at him.

"I'll go first if you'd like. The stairs are noisy, but I think my shoes are lighter than any of yours so it shouldn't be too bad." I offer. I swing my axe up so that I'm gripping it with both hands. The boys shake their heads and I know they're going to tell me no.

"No shot. It'll hear you either way. I'll go, and you guys get my back. No guns Eli." I laugh at this, quietly of course. Eli's favorite weapon of choice was the rifle we stole back at a ranch in Nashville. Poor kid never gets to use it.

"Fine. Can we just go? I'm hungry." Eli mumbles while pushing past his brother. I roll my eyes at the two but mentally pat myself on the back for choosing to survive this new world with them.

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I wipe the black gook off the metal blade and pass the rag back to Reed. It was Eli's turn to drive, and I had to feed him from the can of beans sitting in my lap. The sound of the truck roared loudly in the deserted streets of Memphis but I knew we were safe from the monsters outside. I finally open the can with my switch blade, but manage to get the smallest cut on my thumb while doing so. You can no longer take a chance with exposed wounds even if they are as small as a paper cut, so I wrap it in a piece of fabric I tore from the bottom of my long shirt not too long ago.

"So what do we do when we get to California again?" The blonde asks. Eli knew exactly what we would be doing when we go to California, but he loved to hear me say the words airport, and safety as much as possible.

"We're taking a plane from the only operating airport to London. The only place safe from eaters. The only place my parents could be." I say while looking out the window. Reed hums from behind me. They felt bad for me. The only reason they let me run with them was because they said I had reminded them of their little sister who died the day the outbreak began. I take a spoonful of the sweet beans and reach over to feed it to Eli.

We still don't know what happened that day, or how people became zombies, but we're pretty sure it has something to do with contaminated rain from the prior hurricane.

"You never told us why your parents were in London." The eldest asks from the back. Eli hums while chewing his food beside me and I look away from them.

"Anniversary. My mother is from London, and they met while my father was vacationing with a few friends. He surprised her with plane tickets two days before the outbreak. She was so homesick. I've only been in contact with them once since then."