JUNIPER. [dixon]

1 | HUNT GONE WRONG

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THIN WHITE SHEETS COVERED THE SLEEPING BRUNETTE AS SHE TOSSED AND TURNED WITH A FROWN ON HER FACE. Memories resurfaced in her dreams― flashes of blood and carnage and death appearing as screams of her loved ones echoed inside her head. In her dream-memory, Juniper is terrified and her heart is pounding; tears sting her blue eyes as she screams along with her family. Grabbing onto her seven-year old daughter, she hefts Bailey into her arms and clutches her against her chest as she runs blindly into the woods. "Don't look back," she tells the little girl, reaching one hand up to press Bailey's face against the crook of her neck. "Baby, don't look back."

As a guttural scream tears through the air behind her, Juniper couldn't help but look back herself. The sight she was met with horrified her: all of the blood and the flesh dripping from rotted teeth, the mangled body of―

"JUNE!"

The woman jolts out of her restless sleep at the sudden shout of her name finally waking her. Her chest rises and falls rapidly as she takes quick, deep breaths. A cold sweat covers her body, making the sheet stick to her skin as she blinks until her vision isn't so blurry anymore. To the left of her bed stood a girl of only seventeen, her stringy blonde hair pulled into a side ponytail that draped over her shoulder. "It was only a dream, June," the girl tells her softly.

Juniper fights back the urge to sob as she sits up and swings her legs over the edge of the bed, turning away from her. "No, it wasn't," she mumbled, too softly for her to hear.

"What?"

"Nothing," she spoke louder. Releasing a deep sigh, she stood up and grabbed some clothes from her drawer. "I'm fine, Beth. Where's Bailey?"

"Outside with Maggie, drinkin' lemonade on the porch," Beth answered.

Juniper nodded, muttering that she was going to take a shower before retreating down the hallway to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, June set her fresh set of clothes on the towel rack before grabbing either side of the sink and taking a deep, slow breath. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, grimacing at the soft dark circles beneath her cerulean eyes. Her chestnut-colored hair was all mussed up from how much she had tossed and turned. Streaks of golden-brown stuck out beneath the fluorescent lighting of the bathroom, proof of how much time Juniper had been spending in the sun.

Here on the farm, there wasn't very much to do other than help with the chores, play with her daughter outside, or sit and play cards or board games. More often than not, though, Juniper was usually outside in the sun. The Greene farm was like her family's safe haven, a little corner of the world that hadn't been touched by the death and doom that had spread across the lands like wildfire. Sitting outside and watching the peacefulness of the farm, June often tried to convince herself that life was back to normal; that dead people weren't coming back to life and eating those that were alive.