Watering the crops took a long time. My mother wasn't a natural gardener, we were able to find a few books on the subject and started our own little backyard garden. The main reason why everything took so long was because we had to do it in quiet or at least as quiet as would could. So the water would come out in a weak stream as to not make too much noise which could alarm any infected that might be nearby. The land had to be hoed by hand. As I would eventually learn an ordinary garden hoe could take out an infected if need be. One time a single infected got into the yard and lost its footing on the uneven ground allowing my mother to smack it in the back of the head with that said hoe. The memory of having to carry that body out of the yard is about as unpleasant as the actual action was. The body was heavy and also I was only twelve at the time. Ours hands and fingers slowly ripped the skin off of it with every step unleashing a new stage of stench. That smell we feared would only attract others. Looking back on it I think it was a combination of fear, frustration and sheer tiredness that lead to the big mistake. That mistake being lighting the body on fire and then that body lighting a nearby fence and tree on fire attracting the before mentioned others. There was no putting the body in a dumpster and lighting it on fire. The dumpster had been overfilled for a decade. We were both exhausted from working in the garden. We had to get rid of the body otherwise it would attract infected or just stink the place out. The moving of the heavy body had taken up what energy we had left. So in a "screw it" moment we poured a little gas on him and lit him on fire. I took off back towards the yard with a frightened thought chugging through my mind. Hurry water hurry! I pleaded to the water hose that was spraying into the bucket. Who cares about the noise when the whole neighborhood could go up in flames. By the time I got back into the alley the neighbors fence was completely charred. There were no neighbors living there but that's not the point. The bucket of water only seemed to upset the fire. It wasn't long until some infected rounded the corner and my mother and I ran back into the backyard. Even though two infected were banging at the fence the sight of the fully grown tree ablaze was more terrifying. Smoke started to rise above its branches, inviting more horror to join in. It wasn't the fence pounding that broke my death stare at that tree no that was the sound of gun shots. A pickup flew down the road beside our house. Not long after that, more bodies appear. Some of them were leaving a trail of blood behind them. Soiled, half-ripped clothes dangled from their skin. A few clickers were sprinkled into the mix. More gunshots went off as I made my way to the backdoor while the infected started to take apart the fence. Inside the dim lit house with the door shut I focused on the outside noise. Waiting to hear some part of the house give way eventually letting them all in. The image of the burning tree came back into my mind every time I blinked. The gunshots got closer and closer. At that point I wasn't sure what to be more afraid of the infected or the people with the guns? The noise stopped. Then a knock at the backdoor. "Anyone alive in there?" A male voice said from the other side of the door. My mother and I looked at each other unsure of what to do. "We're going to have to break down the door if there's no response" the man continued. Cracks started to appear as they began to bang on the door. "We're in here!" I said figuring they were going to break down the door and find us anyway. "How many of you are there?" asked the voice from outside. Hesitating for a moment I replied "Two, just two." I could see the look of worry all over my mother's face. "Are either one of you infected?" he said with a southern accent. "No we're not" I said. "Well can you open the door then?" After a couple of deep breathes I started opening the door. "It's okay" he says while I am turning the door knob. "We're Fireflies."
In the door came three men. All of them had a gun hanging from their hip. "Hey kid I'm Tommy what's your name?" I looked up at him and nervously responded back "um, Alex." A slight smile came across his face "well nice to meet you Alex and I'm guessing this is you mom?" She stood a few feet back with her arms crossed "Yes I'm Carol." Anxiety mounted as the uneasiness continued. "You don't have to be afraid of us, I'm David and this little pipsqueak here is Louis." Louis gave a little wave but didn't say anything. "So" Tommy continued "how old are you Alex?" I looked back at my mother "fourteen right?" She nodded her head "yes he is fourteen, just turned that a couple of months ago." David turned to Tommy and said "can you believe Mark took that truck and left us?" Tommy turned to David "hey how about you go outside and check around, make sure no infected are still hanging about." David walked out giving Louis a little push on the shoulder before leaving. "Don't worry ma'am, I'm not here to recruit your kid" said Tommy. "You two are lucky that we found you" he continued. "Yes thank you" she replied. "You all right Louis, have you had enough of the Fireflies yet?" he said making Louis smile. "Almost" Louis replied. "We're not supposed to say anything bad about the Fireflies but when other people aren't around, me and Louis here, well we" Tommy stopped. He scratched his head for a couple of seconds. "Take my advice kid, stay away from the Fireflies and the Military as long as you can." Silence replaced anxiety while the four of us stood there. "Well I guess you're staying here" he said. My mother shook her head yes. "Take care of your mother Alex." He stuck out his hand. It hung there for a while before I realize what he was doing. I noticed his Firefly pendant hanging from his neck. As I shook his hand he said "you stay safe." Louis stepped out of the doorway followed by Tommy. We made eye contact as he closed the back door.