Chapter 8

Bring Them Down

I woke up to hear Xavier tinkering downstairs. I sighed as I tried to get myself fully awake, breathing in Annie's scent. I looked over at her; her face was almost angelic. I woke her up by kissing her forehead. She kissed me back, and we just lay there for a second. I brushed her hair with one hand, sliding it down her face, feeling the warmth of her skin. I had the other hand draped delicately around her. She smiled up at me, and I forgot everything else. It was just her and I.

Unfortunately, we had to get up at some point. Eventually I gave her one more kiss, and then we went to go see what Xavier was doing. He had set up a lab with a microscope and some assorted petri dishes and beakers of chemicals. Some of it he had taken with him, and the rest was already there, left over from my uncle. The smell was awful, but he seemed to know what he was doing.

"So what have you figured out so far?" I asked him once I had settled in among the equipment. "Any luck with finding something that can stop all this?"

"Kinda," He replied. "Based on various reports from before things completely fell apart, I've come to the conclusion that the disease thrives best in fluids; blood, cerebro-spinal fluid, etcetera. So my first conclusion was to starve it of it's transmission method."

"So you would treat it with diuretics?"

"What are those?" Annie asked.

"They make the body expel fluid faster. But of course that's not feasible because the body needs those fluids. The other thing I figured out about the disease is that, based on the extreme fever and, in later stages, the cannibalistic tendencies, it most likely targets the amygdala. That part of the brain regulates both body temperature and emotions like anger. So if it over-stimulates that area, that would explain the symptoms."

"So, you would treat it with antipyretics, like Tylenol, and mood stabilizers, like lithium and Depakote?" I concluded.

"Exactly," He said. "Although I don't have much on hand… I found some Tylenol in the medicine cabinet, and there was some lithium in this chemistry set, but there isn't much, and it's not in the best condition."

I nodded. "Next time we're in town, we can get you some supplies." I looked over to Annie. "You wanna go get some breakfast?" She nodded, and we walked over to the house, holding hands.

Once we were inside, the inevitable questions came. "Are you two together now?" Alex asked. I looked over at Annie, and she shrugged. We hadn't really discussed the details of our relationship; we just kind of had one.

"I guess so," I replied.

As always, Angie had the most interesting comment. "Make sure you don't have sex," she said, "Or you'll get pregnant and die." We all stared at her, waiting for an explanation. "Pregnant people are slow," she said, "so they get eaten first. So if you get pregnant, you die." I shook my head, but despite the implications of her macabre humor I grinned a bit.

About halfway into the meal, Julia stood up. "Guys, I don't mean to freak anyone out, but there's a walker out there." Everyone got up, instantly tense. We all went over to the window, looking out to see a single zombie walking up towards the farmhouse.

Arya grabbed her sword. "Aaliyah, Chris, and Tim, come with me. We'll handle it." They all got up and grabbed their weapons. As they walked out the door, we all turned to watch.

Their small group slowly approached the walker. At Arya's command, they split up, surrounding it. It turned it's head this way and that, trying to track them all. It's jaw was working, clenching and releasing, and we could tell it was most likely growling at them. Then Arya moved in and hacked at it's neck. The sword went part of the way through then stuck. Annie shifted nervously as the zombie closed in on her.

Before it got too close, Chris moved in with her axe and chopped into the thing's head. It fell to the ground, and as it did Arya was able to wrench her sword free. Arya pointed at Tim and Aaliyah, then at the fallen zombie. They nodded and started dragging it towards the stream that ran under the driveway. As they did, Arya and Chris headed inside.

"Hopefully the stream will wash away the scent, if it doesn't wash away the body entirely," Arya said.

"Do you think it followed you guys here from the town?" Julia asked "We haven't seen many other walkers since we got here. I could have just been a matter of time, but…"

I shifted in place. Had we led the zombies here? We had been really careful not to, but still… "We should start patrolling our borders. I hope to God we didn't bring this upon us, but just in case something does happen, we should be ready. Besides, it'll keep us occupied. Any objections?" Nobody seemed to be against the decision, so Angie and Clayton were set up to be the first ones on patrol duty.

Annie and I spent a lot of time on patrol as well. It wasn't too bad. It kept us occupied, and it gave us a chance to spend time together. Still, it was nervous work. Every time something moved out in the forest, it set us on edge. There was no way of knowing when the next attack would come, or whether or not we had caused the last one. In a place we had thought to be safe, it was a grim reminder of how dangerous things still were.

A few days later, I had an idea. About a mile away there was a park known as Sky Meadows. It used to be a farm like my Uncle's, but then it had been bought by the state and made into a place where people could go hiking and stargazing. Annie and I volunteered to scout it out as a possible safe haven.

We got in pretty easily. Not many people had been headed to the park before the fall, and those who had had most likely moved out to the more wild parts of the park, out near the mountains. We only saw a few walkers, and we disposed of them quickly.

Once we were in, we went to the old farmhouse that had been repurposed to be the camp office when the state had bought the property. It was dark and silent inside. The only light came from the rays of the setting sun filtering through the windows, like liquid fire pouring across tables and desks. We searched the ground floor, and then the upper floors. The whole place was deserted. As night fell, we laid out our sleeping bags so that we could lie next to each other.

I held her close, speaking to her softly. "This is all I've ever wanted, you know. To just be with someone I love, completely at peace with the world. That's how you make me feel, Annie. Despite all this, you make me feel like everything is going to be ok. You have no idea how much I wish that we could just lie here forever, safe in each other's arms." I kissed her lightly on the lips. "I love you. With each passing moment, I love you more than the last."

"I love you, too," She said. Even though I had heard her say it before, I still became almost overwhelmed with joy when she said it. Then we lay there, just loving each other, drifting off to sleep.