After the World Ended

It's been two months since we fled Muldoon and high tailed in to the mountains. We found my grandpa's cabin in its utmost isolation. I have no clue why Gramps would build a three story mansion in the middle of a forest high in the mountains, but he was a heavy drinker and maybe not all there. Regardless it probably saved our lives. There are five bedrooms. Josh's parents, Vicky and Steve, share a room on the second floor. Josh and his five year old sister Lily share a room just across the hall from them. Kelianne's parents, Miranda and Ivan, share a room also on the second floor. Kelianne and I share the only room on the third floor. One room remains unoccupied, waiting for my mother.

We've created a system to keep the peace and make gathering resources as efficient as possible. Essentially we kids have no say in this democracy and will stay in our rooms while the adults 'handle things'. Since my parents aren't present I'm treated as more of an adult, much to the chagrin of Kelianne and Josh.

Since I know how to keep the generator and water systems running that's my job. Just constant attention to the machinery. Steve and Ivan go deer hunting for meat, and occasionally fishing if they don't shoot anything. Miranda and Vicky forage for herbs and berries. Luckily someone grabbed a book on edible plants from the boutique. Lily Josh and Kelianne are left with cooking and cleaning since they aren't allowed to leave the cabin.

But I've been sneaking Josh and Keli out at night to show them how to make sure the generators work and how to fix them if anything goes wrong. They don't know why I'm teaching them this information, but it's an opportunity to do something so they listen. I'm teaching them because I'm not going to stick around the cabin much longer, I can't sit around with my ducks in a row while my mom is out there.

Dead or alive I have to find her.

I've waited two months to make sure everything at the cabin has set into a stable routine, I need to know my friends and their families will be safe while I'm gone, and if I never return. I've made sure of that, they won't need me anymore.

...

The night I leave I write a long letter to every individual at the house, thanking them and apologizing for my vanishing act. I can't tell Josh my plans, he'll try to stop me from leaving. But I know Keli won't tell, she's my best friend and I have to say goodbye. I gently wake her, her blue eyes open and she looks up at me in confusion. I quietly tell her I'm leaving to look for my mom.

She doesn't even try to talk me out of it, she simply gets out of bed and helps me pack my stuff. I'm only taking one suitcase with a few changes of clothes. She acts like my mom, making sure I have a jacket and socks. I take a small first aid kit and one of the handheld water purifiers. Keli wraps up a few pounds of salted meat and bread. I shove my memorabilia in my backpack and take the suitcase out to my truck which sits, unmoved, by the back of the cabin.

Without thinking I take Niko with me. It's stupid, she's a cat and I know she's much safer at the cabin, but I can't bear to be all alone. I hold my locket as I start the car, praying the rev of the engine doesn't wake everyone inside. No lights turn on so i know I'm in the clear. Kelianne stands on the porch and waves goodbye to me as I drive off. I glance at Niko who is sound asleep on a quilt in the passenger seat.

"Let's go find mom," I whisper to her calico figure.

I had to pull over around 3 am to sleep. I was fighting fatigue and didn't want to fall asleep at the wheel. I crawled into the back seats of the truck and tried to get comfortable, easier said than done. Eventually I opened the suitcase to get a quilt when my fingers brushed again something metallic. A gun.

Keli must have slipped it into my bag when I wasn't looking. I found several boxes of ammo, over five hundred rounds. Count on best friends to have your back. I didn't want to take a gun because I knew they might need it, but Keli knew I might need one as well. I think I slept a little sounder knowing it was there. And Niko cuddled up to me, purring softly in my ear.

Dawn light woke be up at 6 am. I drove the rest of the way to Muldoon. My little town that I'd spent the last seven years in was burned. Most of the houses in the neighborhoods were unharmed. But the hospital, fire and police stations, grocery stores, and the cinema, were all ashes. Hundreds of infected wandered the streets. I had never seen so many, and it was terrifying. They crowded around the truck and pounded against the metal as I tried to drive through the crowd.

Some were covered in blood, some were burned, some had missing limbs. The smell was overwhelmingly foul. Niko wedged herself under the seat, terrified of the banging they were making. Her yellow eyes were wide as saucers and she let out hisses every few minutes. I was so stupid to take a cat with me on my mission.

Looking closer at the infected I could tell something was immensely wrong. Their eyes had no soul, it was like they were dead. I knew no vaccine on earth could undo what had happened to these people. I lowered my foot on the gas pedal and broke free of the crowd. I didn't know were to begin looking for my mom, and there was no way in hell I was getting out of the truck.

I supposed I had better start scanning the crowds of infected for a sign of her face - although that had my stomach churning. What would I do if she was infected? I pretty much just sat in the truck and glanced at every passing thing. Then something walked past my truck, or rather, someone.

They were covered in blood and had organs draped around their shoulders, but they were very much not infected. Their eyes were wide and scared as they moved invisibly through the sea of people. I rolled down the window of my truck an inch.

"You!" I shouted. The person froze and looked around wildly, spinning slightly as they searched for the source of my voice. A few infected walked closer to the person, snarling as they scoped him out. He kept moving, pretending to be as infected as they were. I turned the key in the ignition and revved the engine, distracting the infected so the man could escape.

Just before the crowd became too dense to drive through I slammed on the gas and peeled out of there. I searched the streets but I saw no sign of the man. I looked through he review mirror at the crowd of infected slowly following my truck. I looked back out the front windshield and screamed. The man was right in front of my truck. I had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting him.

I quickly rolled down my window some more.

"Hello! Hi, my name is Brontë," I introduced myself since I didn't know what else to say. The man didn't respond. He merely wiped the blood off of his face and took off his poncho which was covered in blood. Underneath the bloody poncho was clean clothes. Without a word he stashed the poncho by a mailbox and opened the passenger door to my truck. I stared at him, dumbfounded. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Drive," he commanded. I obliged and slowly inched the truck along.

"That's a neat trick, with the blood," I commented.

"It's a disguise so the dead do not recognize you are alive," he shrugged. It was the most he had said so far, and I had a feeling the most he'd say for awhile.

"They're not really dead though, only infected."

He looked at me like I was crazy.

"Have you been under a rock?" he asked with light humor.

"Close. You know more about...the dead.. than I do. Can you explain?"

"A human gets bitten, they get infected, they die. They come back."

"So they die, and then they reanimate as one of those things?" I was incredulous. He nodded.

"If anyone dies they will come back as a biter, a bite just ensures you will die. To kill the dead you must destroy the brain."

"I'm looking for my mom. Her name is Josie, Josie Birch. She looks a lot like me, auburn hair, green eyes, lots of freckles."

"This is a small town, if your mom is dead you'll see her wandering around sooner or later," he said bluntly. I winced.

"So you don't know where she is then?"

His gaze softened and he shook his head.

"Well, were do you need a lift to?" I changed the subject.

"I have nowhere to be, I might hang around if that's alright."

I didn't know whether to allow him to hitchhike with me of to kick him out of the car. Niko made that decision for me as she revealed herself from her hiding place and curled up on his lap. He stroked her scruff softly, smiling down at the cat fondly.

"That's Niko," I introduced. "What's your name?"

"Atticus."

"Is the last name Finch?" I jibed. He didn't laugh.

"Funny how we are both name after literary figures. I'm named after an author (Horse) and you're named after a fictional character."

By the look Atticus was giving me I took it he didn't find it very funny at all. I drove for a few minutes before I parked in someones driveway. We watched the herd of dead pass by us slowly. No one them had my mothers signature auburn bob and green eyes. I allowed myself a tinge of relief. But she could still be dead. Or she could be alive and safe somewhere, looking for me as desperately as I am looking for her.