Chapter 2

Day 4

I was feeling claustrophobic. The "safe house" was hardly a house and I didn't feel safe at all. It was basically a smallish room with two shelves crammed with food and medical crap. There were only 2 beds with a single blanket and pillow for each, the old man and his wife slept on one of them while I slept with the little girl. The little boy switched between us. I stayed silent most of the time, I talked a little, only to state my name and so that they knew I wasn't a mute. But I mostly let my scowls and middle finger do the talking.

I wasn't being necessarily rude. I didn't flip off little ones (Kegan and Megan) just Noah, the old man. He was a total douche. He was an alcoholic and a slight crack user, and I had no idea where he got all of it. Anyways, whenever he was drunk or high he would say some crude things like "hey Avery nice…" or "guess what I named my…" it's a fill in the blank kind of thing because he would say many things involving those sentences. It's actually a good thing they didn't arm us with weapons or Noah would be so dead… well I think I would laugh. I felt bad for Betsy (the old woman) and their grandkids, neither of them should be around that pig, but I guess it was also Betsy's own fault for staying with him. So, naturally, I was going to confront her about it.

Noah was passed out in the corner, as usual, and I saw this as my golden opportunity since Kegan and Megan were fast asleep "Hey Betsy?" I asked, my voice hoarse from not using it all that much
"oh, well finally Avery Evangeline Dalton speaks to me at last. What an honor" Betsy joked

I smirked "yeah, so savor it while you can. I have a question for you" the words sounded harsh and I mentally cringed.

"I have a question for you to, have you always been this bitter?"

"Wow, and I thought old ladies were supposed to be kind and understanding" I retorted

Betsy sighed and sat down a few feet away from me on the cold, hard concrete wall "I'm only 62, anyways, what's your question?"

She was only 62? Her eyes were droopy, her mouth sagged at the corners in a permanent frown, her face beat a dried up desert bed by a mile, and all of her sagged with grief and sadness. I immediately regretted being so rude. She was married to a drunkard, she had two hyper ass grandkids, and to top it all off, we were in the middle of the freaking zombie apocalypse. I mentally chided myself, time to start acting like the old, wise me

"Why… How… Um…" asking her how she could stand Noah would definitely snap my newfound law to be like the old goody-goody me "How can you stand…" I jerked my head to the corner where Noah laid unconscious "him?"

Snap, there went that.

Betsy gave a sad smile "he didn't used to be like this, he was happy before… well, and I believe in him. I believe that one day he will come to his senses" yeah, when he's dead, I thought. Betsy stopped and clutched her chest

"Oh God you're not having a heart attack are you?"

She chuckled "no, it's just… it's so hard to think about my Lucy, it was after her death that Noah turned to drugs and alcohol. Lucy died in a car accident, well, it wasn't the actual accident that killed her, it was the zombie that ate her through her broken windshield"

"Oh, I'm so sorry" was all I could say. I hated those words, people said them to me every time a family member died "I'm so sorry about your father, it's a huge loss" or "I'm so sorry about your mother, she was a great beauty" and then "I'm so sorry about Greg, he was destined to go far in life" but my favorite had to be "I'm so sorry, I understand just how hard it is" I listened to those forsaken words over and over until I thought I was going to go insane, but I would just stand there politely and say thank you through clenched teeth, and my nails would dig into my palms and I would bite my cheek until it would bleed. Because no one understood, even though they all swore they did. They say at first it's tough, but then you start to forget, and soon you act like they never even existed. But I never wanted to feel that way, and I never would because every day I felt like I was falling into a deep hole that never ended, my soul would break bit by bit and I would be overcome with so much grief it was unbearable. No one knew what it was like to lose a loved one each day of the week. Anya, dad, Greg, mom…

"I get where your coming from." I said quietly "I lost my family in a week"

Betsy gasped "all of 'em?"

"My brother, my mum, dad, and my baby sister, Anya. Who actually wasn't killed, just kidnapped" I said

"Oh you poor thing, that must have been so awful to lose all of them in such a short period of time"

I nodded sadly, I refused to cry, because that was a sign of weakness "it was"

We sat there in silence for a long time, and then she said "So, you were born in England"

I nodded again "yes. Where are you from?"

She smiled at me "I'm from Texas"

"Oh, I have always wanted to visit ye old Texan" I said stupidly

Betsy just laughed "its Texas"

I gave a weak half smile "is it pretty over there?"

She stared at the other wall, obviously a thousand miles away in thought "Beautiful. Texas is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave"

I paused "See, I thought that was a part of the USA National anthem not Texas's own personal saying"

Betsy smiled "It should be. I love it over there"

I lowered my head and she immediately understood that the conversation was over

"Have a nice night, Avery" she said softly. Then she went over and slept next to her grandkids. I twirled my hair around my finger and thought. Then I gave a small smile. She understood, even if it was just a little, she understood all of the pain, the grief, she knew what I was like to feel like your forever falling...

You never know how good you have it until it's gone