by Mark Gordon
Chapter 62
A New Beginning
For the six survivors, life at 'Two Hills' became almost mundane in the months that followed. They had been forced together by extreme circumstances, but despite that, they found solace in each other’s company and developed a bond that was more like that of a family than a group of friends. As the days grew shorter and the nights grew colder they developed a daily routine that gave them a sense of normalcy and purpose - a reason to get up each morning and carry on. Each member of the group took it upon himself or herself to be responsible for chores around the farm, and in time their lives developed a rhythm and purpose that helped ease the pain of their individual losses.
Not surprisingly, the glue that bound them together, more than anything else, was Gabby. She adored farm life and thrived intellectually and emotionally, buoyed by the love she received from her new family. In turn, her optimism and spirit inspired them when they were down and forced everyone to be strong when it would have been so easy to quit on the world, and descend into some dark hole and slowly fade away. Matt, in particular, had found the going tough since the event, and had been through a second bout of depression that lasted almost a week, but with Gabby’s welfare to consider and his friends supporting him, he found a way through the darkness and soon his positive outlook resurfaced. On the whole, though, the mood at the farm was upbeat, which was extraordinary given the sickening events they had been through, and relationships either strengthened and turned passionate, or became comfortable and pleasant. After two nights in separate bedrooms, Dylan and Sally negotiated swaps with the others and began sleeping in the same room, which had the knock-on effect of hastening the embryonic association between Matt and Montana. Matt had suggested that Montana should share his bed in the name of convenience and safety, but they both knew that he had been attracted to her since they first met, and it was clear that Montana felt the same way. Their first night together was an experience that Matt would never forget, and with the warmth of her naked body beside him in the darkness, he felt that it might just be possible to live a life that was somehow fulfilling, despite the loss of his parents and the ever-present horror of the feeders.
Unlike the stability of life inside the fence at 'Two Hills', however, the world outside the farm was becoming more erratic and dangerous with each passing week. The number of travellers heading west had grown slightly each day, and whenever Matt and Dylan went into Millfield to find supplies, they encountered small groups of survivors, refuelling their vehicles or loading up on canned food, before resuming their journey west. Occasionally someone would ask about “the girl” and Matt would shrug his shoulders and deny any knowledge of Gabby before suggesting that it might be in their best interest to keep moving while it was safe. This was usually enough encouragement for the visitors to leave. But at least once a week, a more determined type of pilgrim would arrive directly at the farm and ask to see “the girl”, saying they were duty-bound to complete a personal pilgrimage based on a vision they’d had. The gate at 'Two Hills' remained closed to them, however, and they usually resumed their passage to the west without much fuss once they realised that there would be no further negotiations.
In the beginning, each time a traveller was encountered in Millfield, Matt would make a point of asking them why they were heading west, and each time their answers were similar - they’d had a dream in which they would find safety somewhere “to the west” and they felt compelled to make a pilgrimage in that direction. When Matt asked how they would know when they’d arrived at their destination, they would just shrug their shoulders and say something like, “We don’t know. We’ll just know when we get there.” After one of these typical conversations Matt turned to Dylan and asked, “Why aren’t we having the dreams?” Without hesitation, Dylan responded, “We don’t need to find sanctuary. We have Gabby.”
The one thing that the travellers confirmed beyond argument, though, was that the feeders were becoming more active. Whatever the reason for the earlier mass migration of the beasts, it was obvious that they were beginning to venture further afield once more, and were just as hungry for flesh as they had ever been. Matt, Dylan and Montana had made a few raids into town to wipe out nests of feeders, but the creatures were getting better at hiding, and after some wasted days when they had found no nests, they eventually gave up on the task. Stories of people attacked on the road after dark, however, were not unusual, and one man told Matt and Dylan about a group of six travellers who were attacked and devoured by a large group of feeders in Carswell while they slept. The most disturbing aspect of that story was that the victims had stopped in the town well and truly before dark, and had thought themselves safe on the second floor of a locked building. A lone traveller who stumbled upon the grisly scene discovered that the feeders had found a way into the building through a locked window on the third floor, which meant that they were becoming not only more agile, but also more adept at getting past basic security measures. After hearing about that incident, Matt and Dylan made a decision to strengthen the fence at the farm even further upon their return.
-
Late one afternoon, after the day’s work around the farm had been completed, Matt and Dylan were sitting on the front veranda as a light drizzle began to fall. The smoke from the fireplace was giving the cool evening air a pleasant earthy smell and they each had a home-brewed beer, from which they sipped contentedly. Dylan broke the silence with a loud belch. “That beer’s good.”
“Very good,” replied Matt.
“Dinner smells good, too.”
“Yep. Don’t forget it’s our turn to cook tomorrow.”
They looked at each other and replied simultaneously, “Barbecue!”
Their laughter rang out and was gradually lost into the falling rain, and they settled back into a comfortable silence. After a minute or so Dylan spoke, “Hey Matt, do you think we’re doing the right thing?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think it’s right to stay here at the farm? To just look after ourselves?”
Matt put his empty beer bottle on the floor and looked at Dylan. “I don’t think I understand the question. What do you mean?”
Dylan shook his head, almost unsure how to respond. “I don’t know man. We’re pretty comfortable now, and we don’t seem to be in any danger from the feeders, but is that fair? Shouldn't we be doing more? Like those people heading west? Helping to rebuild society or something? Lately I've been thinking about doing more.”
“We are contributing! We’re caring for Gabby and the girls aren’t we? And, besides, this is my home. I belong here. I don’t know how to answer you. I’m as happy as I could be, given what’s happened. What else do you think we could be doing?”
Dylan chugged the last dregs of his beer and placed the empty bottle on the timber floor, only to see it topple over and rolled off the edge of the porch. He looked at Matt and said, “You could come with me.”
“What? Go where with you? Out west? That would be crazy! We have no idea what we’d find out there!”
“Hey man, settle. It’s okay. I don’t want to go west.”
“Where then? Back to the city?”
“Not exactly.”
Matt stared at his friend, frustration etched on his face as he waited for an answer. The rain was heavier now and in the silence between Matt’s question and Dylan’s answer, a thousand raindrops pattered ominously on the tin roof of the farmhouse. Finally he looked at Matt with an expression that was something between a smile and challenge, “I want to go zombie hunting again; and I want you to come with me.”