A week passed. Things with Callie and Anna cooled down. Most of the time Callie ignored Anna whenever she spoke, especially if she was speaking directly to her. Anna tried though, she tried really hard to impress Callie and catch her good side but, Callie would just kind of look at her shrug.
As we pulled up to the home Anna seemed fidgety and nervous. She kept looking between Callie and Josh.
We pulled over onto the side of the road, next to our target home. This one was supposed to be a good scavenge, it was large, fancy home with a pool.
As we climbed out and started doing our gear-up, Josh was the first to break the silence. "Okay Callie, there is going to be a change in plans for once. Anna is going to be doing the rounds with you. She is just determined to work with you and all this good shit so just work together like adults." He said, receiving a smile from Anna.
Callie eyes Anna suspiciously but ended up sighing and walking a few steps ahead of her to her spot that was always over to the side in the front of the home.
"Okay, that means Patrick you're with me and Jordan and Haley are together." Josh added.
We all nodded and took our positions around the house. I felt uneasy as I stood in the driveway, next to the overgrown yard, it needed to be raked badly, and everything was so quiet. It was hard to believe that it had almost been a year since civilization fell.
Josh did the count, Patrick did the breaking of the door and no Zombies came out this time. We were in and, Jordan and I took to the left, going through the dining room, clearing it and onto the bedrooms. Josh and Patrick went to the right towards the kitchen and Callie and Anna went down the middle through the living room and what-not.
A few minutes passed, we could hear clears and we shouted our own as we checked the Bedrooms. Just as I opened my mouth to clear the guest bathroom, I heard gunshots, a scream and then loud yelling. It was Anna.
"Help! Help! Oh my God someone! Callie!"
I immediately ran out of the room and almost slammed into Jordan. My mind flew into auto-mode and I ran through the living room, past Anna who was freaking out and pointing towards the back doors where the patio before gated entrance to the pool was. I stopped just outside the doors and immediately saw a male zombie in swimming trunks laying still on the patio floor, two bullet holes in his nasty, sagging face. Beside him, walking away and through the doors, into the house, was Callie who looked confused, angry and calm all at once.
"What the fuck happened?!" Jordan yelled to Callie before I had the chance.
Callie looked right at Anna. In return, Anna kept bawling and apologizing.
"I'm sorry Callie, I didn't know! I didn't see! I'm so sorry. I let you down! I'm Sorry!" Anna's eyes were red and running, along with her nose. She turned her head and almost pressed her face into Patrick's welcoming chest but paused when she saw Jordan's face.
I looked up to see him angrier then I'd ever seen him in my life. "Anna, you almost got your partner killed! You're carless, what if it was Haley instead, or Patrick, or Me? Dammit, pay fucking attention this isn't a game!" He took a deep breath and turned back to Callie who surprisingly didn't say anything, she just kept staring at Anna.
"Come on; let's clean some of this off of you." Jordan lowered his voice and gently grabbed Callie's arm. She was covered in rancid brown liquid all over her neck and chest.
Patrick's face was red. He took a step in front of the utterly shocked Anna. "Hey, it's not her fault!" He began, trying to be her protector but, only provoked Jordan more.
"It is her fault, so shut up! I don't know how this happened but it shouldn't have. I heard her yell clear for all of their rooms. You always have your partners back and you know it so drop your knight in shining armor bullshit, Patrick." Jordan yelled back and dropped Callie's arm before taking a few steps towards our large and muscly friend.
Patrick opened his mouth to yell back but, Josh placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Stop, both of you. Patrick, he's right. It was Anna's fault, she has to take responsibility." Josh looked over to Anna who was staring wide-eyed at Jordan, turned to look up at Josh.
"But it will not happen again." His voice was hard and serious. He waited for Anna to nod before he turned look at me. "Help Callie clean up in the bathroom before we load up any supplies." He said and walked off towards the kitchen. "Jordan with me, Patrick and Anna are partnered from here on."
The rest of the day Callie was silent. I tried asking her about what happened but all she did was shrug and give me really short answers.
"She said it was clear, it wasn't clear."
It hurt to see one of my best friends like that. Callie was usually so full of life. She was hilarious and always ready for and always ready for anything with her large signature smile but, lately she'd been drained, quiet and angry ever since Anna showed up. I hated it, I hated everything. I hated how so much had to change, I hated that one of my best friends had to change with it.
Se that's the thing about this world, this new infected Earth. It made things too easy to hate. It made the mind too easy to twist and bend; it made too much room for apathy, this new land full of pestilence. Yeah, that was a good name for this new Earth, Pestilence. Welcome, all, young and mighty, weak and twisted. Welcome to Pestilence, the land of death and hunger. Where the good die young and whatever doesn't kill you just fucks you up. Yeah, whatever didn't kill your body killed your humanity, welcome.