Separated

by Michael Blue

  Pamela was thankful, and gave a flattered laugh. As she continued facing forward, her smile quickly faded as she looked down at the mane of the horse, continuing to think hard. Maria could tell something was wrong. It had been getting a lot worse; her worry for both her son and niece. She still hadn't been able to get over it. She understood it had been months and even though they were going on searches almost every week, they never found anything. She was beginning to lose faith, something that was so hard to keep its grasp on. So far, Pamela's grip seemed to the strongest she'd ever seen. While other's slipped and fell, she was slowly and willingly letting go.

  The plant was reentered by the two women once the doors were opened for them. They dismounted their horses as they were greeted by their fellow companions. Pamela dusted off the horse fur from her beige cowhide coat that kept her insanely warm from the crucial cold.

  Tommy walked over to Maria and gave his lovely lady a peck on the lips. He examined the horses and the food that hung off their saddles. He slapped the horses' hinds, petting them firmly,

  "Do I get one?" Maria joked profanely with her husband.

  Pamela and everyone else couldn't help but laugh at Maria's witty remark. Slowly after the small group broke apart, Pamela began to walk off but was stopped midway by Tommy.

  "Pam!" He called, walking towards her, "We heading out for search this evening?"

  Pamela readjusted herself by fully turning around,

  "Who's coming?"

  "It'll just be you, me and dear old Beau over there," Pamela turned over to look at who Beau was.

  He resembled a beer-obsessed redneck in his late fifties, leaning on the damn wall and smoking a cigarette. Before Pamela could even get a chance to reply, Beau spat and threw his cigarette to the ground. Stepping the light out of the cigarette, Beau walked closer to Pamela.

  "I ain't going nowhere," Beau rudely said.

  Everyone's attention was now turned to the three of them.

  "Hold on, now, I thought you agreed yesterday," Tommy replied in a defensive tone.

  "That was before I knew we already lost four men doing this lady a damn 'favor'," he said throwing his hands at her.

  Tommy walked beside Pamela and defended her.

  "Now look, Beau, those men agreed to put their life on the line..."

  "Oh is that so? They put their lives on the line before even knowing what they gettin' themselves into! Then what, huh?" He paused and glared at Pamela, "Broken families, widows, and orphans all for one lady?"

  Pamela and Tommy didn't know what to say as the geezer threw his fit. He paced back and forth each time he had something to say. He was upset, and Pamela understood why.

  "I'm sorry, lady, but meanwhile we're sacrificing the lives of other people, they could probably be doing it for nothing! You're just going to have to face the fact and realize that those kin of yours might not even be alive!"

  Immediately, Maria looked at Pamela; her demeanor faded more than ever. The blonde could tell she was being torn apart on the inside. She looked beaten up, and placed her head down in shame, accepting every word Beau said, but Maria wasn't accepting that.

  "Beau, stop it this instant," Maria demanded, stomping in from the sidelines.

  She had her index finger extended to his face.

  "Why should I!? Everyone else is talking about it!"

  Pamela glanced up at the couple of people who was out watching the little show. Very few of them turned their heads away in a painful and awkward manner. Maria and Tommy both groaned and rolled their eyes in disbelief.

  "Get your sorry ass inside, Beau. We don't need you..." Tommy said, sternly placing his hands on his hips.

  "Yeah, whatever..." Beau mumbled before slowly walking off.

  Pamela stood in place, and watched as angry Beau walked inside the power plant building, presumably going to the settlement.

  "Look, ignore him. It'll just be you and me this evening," Tommy said stepping in front of Pamela's view and placing his hands on her shoulders.

  "Yeah, Beau is a troubled drunk. I'll come too if that makes it any better," Maria added.

  Pamela looked up at the two and faintly shook her head.

  "It's okay..."

  Just as Tommy opened his mouth to object, Pamela walked off, turning her attention away from Tommy and Maria and continued to do her daily tasks. As they watched her remove some of the hung food on the horse, Maria looked over at Tommy, who stared at Pamela in remorse. Maria crossed her arms and shook her head in frustration and walked off.

  * * *

  Winter

  "Come on!" Joshua said, as he crawled through the bottom half of the broken glass doorway that led to the inside of a store.

  Erlina ran in after him, being careful as her boots crunched on the glass beneath her. She almost slipped, but Joshua managed to grab hold of her arm before she injured herself. Standing upright, they both halted immediately, hiding by the very sides of the doorway, Erlina on one side and Josh by the other. Breathing heavily, he peeked through the edge of where he stood and looked through to the outside that was blinded by the very blizzard they were in. He heard snarling and screaming and he saw about three Runners run past their location. Two stopped, not sure of their prey's whereabouts, but they eventually ran off with their pack.

  "That was really close," Erlina said as if she was holding her breath.

  "We can't say we're safe for now though," he said leaning off from the doorway. "Jeez, it's so cold," he said walking deeper into the store.

  Joshua placed his hands in the pockets of his navy pea coat. It was nice fitted, but it wasn't in the best condition. It has some small tears in it, and looked rather stained with dark spots, but it was just enough to keep him warm and cozy throughout the winter. He also managed to find himself some burgundy colored jeans during the autumn. From what he remembered, his last bottom had torn right open when he slipped near a sharp rock and managed to rip a hole that led right up to his thighs. Of course Erlina would never forget because she was the one dying of laughter when it happened. To protect his head, he wore the same little slouchy beanie.

  Erlina had on a dark green parka. It was fitted around her waist area, something she liked more. It stopped around her thighs, so it was long and warm enough. She wore her black jeans again this time. She liked switching back and forth. Her box braids still remained in her hair; half up, half down. But since they were hard to take care of, some of them were becoming loosened.

  Joshua toggled on the angle-head flashlights they found from corpses recently. He had it strapped to his backpack and began exploring the premises. Erlina did the same. They were pretty full from their last meal. Joshua wasn't the best cook when it came to gutting animals, but he knew some of the crucial things that had to be removed before eating them. He and Erlina had each eaten two deep cooked squirrels shortly before they were interrupted by the eight Runners that just coincidentally had to pop up. Erlina did most of the targeting when it came to capturing food. Her timing and aim with the bow was becoming so natural she could shoot with her eyes closed.

  "Hey! I found three pairs of socks," Joshua said picking up an opened pack on the floor.

  Reading the package, it was supposed to come with eight pairs, but it was better than nothing. Something Joshua was taught growing up; was to always double your socks in harsh cold weathers to prevent too much numbing and frostbite in your toes. It didn't prevent numbing, but it sure slowed it down. After a while, Joshua and Erlina doubled their socks, and placed the two remaining pairs in Erlina's shoulder bag since it was practically empty. As they thoroughly scavenged the rest of the store, they found nothing. They only found garbage and loose change that was worth nothing.

  As Erlina walked off a little more to do her own searching, she opened a dirty door that led into a restroom. As she curiously opened the faulty wooden door, a male Runner turned it's head and examined Erlina. It began running and charged at Erlina as she shuffled backwards. Loosing her nervous footing,
she tripped and fell backwards. The Runner attempted to land on top of her, but Joshua ran in from the side and grabbed the Runner by the hair, hammering its face into a stainless steel shelf nearby. As the, now blinded, Runner fell to it's knees to cry in pain, Joshua walked behind it and snapped it's neck in seconds before it alerted others.

  He quickly helped Erlina to his feet and wiped away some of the blood that got onto his hands. He held her close to him.

  "Let's get out of here..." Joshua said running to the doorway, making sure the coast was clear.

  * * *

  After a few minutes, the two were back to being outside and traveled back into the woods. However, they took a different route. Travelling the main roads in Colorado didn't seem to do them any well, only because you were in the open and most likely to come in contact with a crazy killer. They walked through the trees as if it were a maze and Erlina walked behind Joshua, following the footsteps he made in the snow. That's when she bumped into his shoulder for his sudden stop.

  "Erlina, look," Joshua told her.

  Looking up, Erlina saw a smile on Joshua's face, and as he scooted out of the way, there appeared to be an intact, two story cabin right in front of them. It wasn't all big, but it was decent looking, and it had a frozen lake behind it. Erlina, as well as her cousin, lit up. Continuing, they both entered through the front door. It wasn't locked, and the door knob was actually broken, which showed that people had broken in before. Pushing the door fully open, the first thing they noticed was the cleanliness of the room, and by cleanliness, they meant no spores. Everything else, however, wasn't in such a good shape. The couches in the joining room were a little torn and rather beat up and the place smelled like a farm. No doubt animals had been in an out of the place.

  "Ha, awesome, it's got a fireplace," Joshua said to himself.

  Erlina continued looking through the house and made her way into the kitchen. It looked like the only place so far that wasn't in a bad condition. She stopped as she heard a loud crunch underneath her feet. Taking a look, there appeared to be broken cups and plates on the floor. There were dirty shoe prints that marked the once clean tiles but it didn't make much a difference because Erlina's boots did the very same thing.

  Joshua and Erlina finally made their way upstairs. There appeared to be three bedrooms and one bathroom. The house was basically stripped clean; no sheets or pillows. There was nothing. The only thing that was left to be thankful for were the mattresses. Most importantly, there were shelves filled with books, and it was something Erlina definitely took interest in.

  As much as Erlina wanted to sleep in her own room, Joshua couldn't allow it. They had to sleep in the same room. If something happened, they needed to be together and they needed to protect each other. It wouldn't be the same if they were separated. Joshua chose the room that gave them the best viewing of the outside, just for lookout reasons. The atmosphere at the moment gave them peace at mind, and it was so relieving to be in a quiet place for once. There were no gunshots and there was no screaming, just the wonderful of peace and quiet. Backing up out of the room, they continued through the corridor to make their way back downstairs. However, Joshua smelt something so foul it completely took over his attention.

  "Do you smell that?" Joshua said making an upset face at his cousin.

  She nodded.

  "I think it's coming from there," Erlina pointed at the one door the two didn't open yet.

  Inching closer to the door, Joshua touched the doorknob. Before turning it, his eyes were caught by the bloody finger tips in the corner of the door. He turned over to Erlina who stood far behind. Joshua closed his eyes and exhaled before turning the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open. It creaked as it slowly swung, and right in front of Joshua and Erlina was a bloody corpse, on a bed, that only appeared to be a couple months old. Flies and maggots nested in the body and ate away at its flesh. There was a knife pierced into its skull. Joshua groaned while covering his nose with his forearm. The room reeked so bad his eyes began tearing, and reached back in to pull the door shut.

  * * *

  It had already been a couple of days or so and the snow had finally let down. Joshua and Erlina were still enjoying their short time in the cabin. This time they had to barricade the door because a Runner managed to find the cabin one night and came inside after realizing people were inside. Both Joshua and Erlina pinned it down and had to silently kill it. That afternoon, Joshua was in the bedroom with Erlina. They'd both gotten enough sleep to last them through the whole day, which was a major first. They were both speaking with each other and having a good time: something they hadn't had a chance to do in a very long time. They were making jokes and laughing.

  "Shh," Joshua shushed after chuckling himself, "Let's calm down before we have an Infected think he's invited to the party again."

  Erlina crackled at the joke, but did as she was told and simmered down the excitement. After a while, an awkward silence grew among the both of them. Using this bonding experience as an opportunity, Erlina brought up something pretty touchy.

  "I know you don't like me talking about it, but I think Aunty Pamela would've loved this place..." she said taking a bite out of a carrot.

  Joshua sighed,

  "Yeah..." he said resting his head on the side of the bed and straightening out one leg.

  "...and my dad," she added.

  She was only twelve, and she probably felt cursed having to live in a universe like this. She'd probably give anything up just to be happy and live a normal life. Joshua reached his hand over to her and placed his palm on her hand and patted it in an empathetic manner. He thought about how much she was holding in and realized that this was actually one of the few times she could express herself without ever having to wait for the "right time" to come again.

  "Yeah...I know he would've loved it."

  Erlina scooted over beside Joshua and rested her head on his shoulder. She began sniffling and took off her glasses to rub her tears away. Joshua raised his arm and wrapped Erlina tightly underneath.

  "I really hope Aunty Pamela's okay," her voice cracked.

  "Me too..."

  "You know, Aunty Pamela said as long you pray...things can happen and that they just take time, but I don't know how long I can wait..." Erlina said rubbing her button sized nose.

  "Hey..."

  Joshua sat up straight and removed his arm. Erlina sat erected and they looked at one another.

  "Look, you've got to believe we're going to find her. Even if it's ten years from now, we're going to. I know that's not what you want to hear, but we've got to keep an open mind in all of this, okay?"

  She turned away.

  "My mom is just as good at surviving as we are, and I can feel it in me that she's alive. I can feel it," he said placing his hand on his chest, "and the only way I can make it through this is with you, but you've got to promise me not to give up okay?"

  Erlina nodded.

  "Come here," he said standing up and pulling her into a full embracement.

  He cradled her in his arms as he rocked side to side with her. After a long hug, Erlina had calmed down. She thought of so much. Her dad, Juan, Aunty Pamela, and even the fear of losing her dear cousin; he was the closest thing to a brother she's ever had. She pulled away from him and rubbed her eyes free of tears. Walking back to where she sat, she picked up her glasses and placed them back upon her nose. Joshua nodded and she nodded back, giving her a signal that she'd be alright. Unfortunately, the two heard ruffling down stairs.

  "Shit!" Joshua said grabbing his handgun off the bed.

  Erlina, too, ran to grab her bow and quiver standing in the corner. Equipping themselves with each of their weapons, Joshua cautiously looked down at the porch from the upstairs window. Shoe prints in the snow made their way to the cabin from a different direction, and they didn't look staggered like an infected's would.

  "Infected?" Erlina asked,

  "No, I think it's someone from that group of guys we saw
back there; the ones talking about killing some girl?"

  Immediately, a large noise was heard downstairs. It sounded like furniture was being moved, and when Joshua thought hard on it, it was the small sofa that barricaded the front entrance. After that, he heard one voice: an older male. Unsure if he was alone, Joshua gave Erlina a signal to stand back. Couched very lowly by the stairs, he made his way down. Each step squeaked as he made his way and he tried his hardest to stay anonymous by standing still after each step. Finally, when he made it to the base floor, he crouched, hearing shuffling from the kitchen. He heard the cabinets being opened and thoroughly searched. Standing against the wall, Joshua peeked inside to see a large man whose back was turned. He had multiple weapons and was muttering things to himself. That's when Josh took the opportunity to show himself,

  "Leave!" He demanded sternly, walking out of the corner with his pistol pointed.

  The man turned around to see that it was young boy, much younger than he was. The man stood in place and looked at Joshua. His feelings were unknown at the moment. He didn't look scared nor angry, and Joshua didn't know what to expect. Slowly walking towards Joshua, he put both his hands up.

  "Wait, what are you doing?" Joshua said nervously.

  "I'm leaving, like you asked..." he said stopping in his footsteps.

  "O-Okay," Joshua stammered, "Just don't try anything funny. I'll plant a sucker right in your fucking face."

  The man walked even closer to Joshua and finally joined him in the joining room. He stopped. Joshua had both arms out and aimed the gun as professionally as he could. Joel saw this type of anticipation before and knew that the youngling didn't have the balls to pull the trigger in cold blood.

  "Shoot me..." he said.

  Immediately, the man knocked the gun free from Joshua's hand, nearly shooting the man as he pulled the trigger. The man tackled him, and bum rushed him into a window, breaking it on impact. Joshua shouted and groaned as the man began to easily overpower him. However, he wasn't going to go down easy. He grabbed Joshua by the throat, and squeezed incredibly hard. Joshua gagged for air and squirmed in his grip.