Abby’s started to breathe heavily as she watched the scene unfold. She wanted to help, but she was afraid. She did not know how to help or what to do. She could hear them talking, however she could not understand what they were saying. The man with the red shirt had pulled the women to her feet and pushed her towards the truck. He was touching her breast and trying to kiss her, until she spat in his face. He punched her, causing her to fall to the road again.
Abby looked back into the room she was in then back outside. People were coming out of the yellow house now. It was a small group of men and women. They had bags of food and other things, laughing and talking. One tall dark man with a bald head walked up to the other three men and shoved the man with the red shirt away from the woman. Abby thought he was going to help, until he shot the woman in the head. Abby let out a cry and then pushed herself onto the wall, covering her mouth. She closed her eyes and shook.
After a minute, Abby glanced back out the window and saw that the group was in a circle. They were discussing something. The tall dark man was clearly the leader as all were looking at him. The man that had been tormenting the woman was glaring at the tall dark man. Thunder roared in the sky, and Abby looked at the dark clouds. It was starting to rain again. When she looked back down, the group of people was separating. They were going towards the houses around them. The man in the red shirt with the knife was walking towards the house she was in with the man holding the bat.
Abby stumbled backwards falling onto the floor. She let out a cry when her leg smashed onto the floor. She cursed and hoped no one had heard her. She pulled herself back up, ignoring the burning in her wound and the spinning in her head. She moved back towards the bed and turned the lantern off then shoved it in her bag. She took one of the towels out then put the pads in and looked inside. It was a lot of supplies, but she needed these things. She zipped the backpack up and put it on and looked around the room.
Fear swam in her dull blue eyes as she tried to figure out how she was going to escape. She was shaking so badly that she was scared she would faint. Thunder was roaring in the sky again as rain started to pick up outside. She moved as fast as she could with her hockey stick under her left arm. When she was in the hallway, she heard the sound of the door opening and the two men stepping inside. One was laughing.
“Damn look at this place.” One blurted out.
Abby heard them moving around through the downstairs, while her heart started to race. Tears filled her eyes as she tried to think of something. She looked towards the direction of the stairs and then at the bathroom and back into the room she had been in. She looked at the workout room and stared at it when she heard someone on the stairs. She hurried to the workout room and shut the door behind her, locking it.
The room looked brighter than all the others with the yellow paint and positive quotes plastered all over the walls. Abby found herself looking at them and reading them. One of them stood out above all the rest. It was a pink positive that just said Even in the worst failure there is light for a new beginning. She heard banging coming from another room, and she twisted to look at the door.
She hit a treadmill and almost screamed. Instead she turned towards it and looked around. She was not sure what she was searching for, but she needed a way out. Finally she spotted two large windows. She went to them. The roof was slightly slopped outside but not too bad. It was a horrible idea, but it was the only option she had. She was sure she would have the same fate as the woman outside.
Abby opened the windows as slowly as she could to not make any sound. The windows opened outward, and she looked at the gray clouds and rain. Cold wind rushed in and hit her face. It felt good on her hot skin. She shivered and started to question this idea until someone tried to open the door. She froze and looked back. Her eyes dilated as her heart started racing, and her skin started crawling like ants were on her. It took everything she had in her to pull herself up on the window and out of it as fast as she could. She groaned and moaned; and when her wound hit the window, she cried out. Someone was banging on the door now.
When she was on the roof, she slipped some and lost her hockey stick. It slid down the roof and fell onto the ground below. Cursing, Abby managed to shut the window before the man on the other side broke in. She laid flat on the roof feeling as if she were about to slide off. She stayed quiet and closed her eyes, waiting for the man to open the window and kill her. She shivered in the cold as the rain slowly drizzled onto her face. She heard strange voices and a door slam. She waited a few seconds before looking back into the window and saw that the door was shut. She could hear the two men trashing the other rooms inside.
Abby rolled onto her back and looked up into the sky. Rain poured lightly onto her face. Thunder sang in the sky as laughter filled Abby’s ears. She was not sure of what she was supposed to do now. She just wanted to lay there in her pain forever. Instead she looked to her right and saw a large house and then to her left where there was a one story house. She looked at the back yard and at all of the children’s toys. Then the sound of glass shattering shook her. Something flew from one of the windows next door. Abby heard the sound of cars on the road. They must be stealing from every house in the neighborhood.
Abby laid there on the roof in the cold rain, breathing heavily in a fetal position. Then something queer entered her ears. A faint moaning sound was twirling with the wind with a disgusting smell. It was coming from behind her. She shifted slowly trying not to slip on the slopped roof. When she turned, she listened and narrowed her eyes. Growling filled the air now and her eyes widened. She could see the road in front of the large house where the herd of undead moved fast down the road. She had never seen so many.
Abby pulled herself back towards the window. Then she stopped when she heard the men still inside. She looked at the road. The undead were starting to disappear from her view. They had to of heard the gunfire. She heard some faint screams and shouts in the distance and then gunfire. The group must have seen the herd coming. Abby waited, until she was sure the men had left the house. She heard shouts and a door slam as she started to pull herself back towards the window. Her hand slipped, and the roof started to move under her. She let out a scream as she tumbled down the roof and over it.
The world around her was spinning as she fell off the roof. Abby felt her body hit something rough but not hard. It was an overgrown bush that caught her fall, but she was thrown from it. Her body hit the wet grass hard, and she felt something crack inside. She screamed and rolled in the muddy grass. She covered her face and blacked out for a moment. Her eyes opened to see a tennis ball in front of her face. She squeezed mud through her fingers and took shallow breaths. She could hear screaming coming from somewhere around her.
Abby noticed her hockey stick was behind the tennis ball. That was when she realized she had survived the fall. She let out a sad laugh. She struggled to push herself up to pull herself to the hockey stick. When she got to it, she stood whimpering. She was covered in mud now, and her wound was burning.
Abby stood there frozen in fear as she saw one of the undead staring at her from a window inside the house she had just been in. Her heart dropped into her stomach. It stared at her with dark hollow eyes and a rotting face. She did not move, but she could tell he knew she was there. Its dead eyes blinked and stared upwards at the rainy sky. It looked highly confused as it walked away without even taking a second glance at Abby. She looked to her left at the large house and then to the right at the smaller house and then in front of her.
Abby needed to hide as soon as possible. She started towards the smaller house, because it had just a hedge as a fence instead of the other house which had a large wooden one. She pulled her way through the hedge. She could feel something inside her swelling and ache with each footstep. On the other side, Abby took a second to stare at the children’s toys all around the yard. They looked so sad in the yard. Lightning sent her moving faster. She hurried to a sliding glass door on the small house.
She looked inside, and it was dark. Rain was starting to pour harder above her, and she was starting to feel nauseous. Abby could hear the undead moaning and growling on the street in front of the house. She reached for the door handle on the glass door, though it would not open. She cursed and jerked at it a few times. She cried out and started to shake badly. She just wanted inside. She wanted out of the cold and just wanted the world to stop.
Without warning, the glass door opened. Inside was a child with a small round face and oversized clothes, staring at her from dark eyes. For a moment, Abby could not stop staring at the little boy who had a strange look in his eyes. Wind blew into the small kitchen, and he stepped back waving his hands at Abby. She was not sure what she was supposed to do.
“Please close the door,” He grumbled with a small voice. Abby snapped out of her trance and hurried inside then shut the door. She turned to the boy and looked at him. He looked suspicious. His dark eyes narrowed, and he was now walking towards a small wooden table that had toys and dirty food bowls. It smelt like rotting food and dirty clothes inside. The boy’s face was dirty, and his clothes looked as if they had not been changed in some time. It did not take her long to figure out that the other foul smell in the room was not just coming from the rot around the house but from him too.
“I saw you.” He uttered.
He was clinching his fingers around his clothes and moving back and forth on his feet. He eyed her then looked at her feet, frowning. Abby looked down and realized she was not wearing any shoes. Her feet were covered in mud, and her toes were numb. She had not noticed before until now. The aches and pains in her body had not let anything else cross her mind. Now her feet felt very cold, and all the pain in her body hit her. Her head spun, and she grabbed a chair to help her balance herself.
“Out there on the road alone…” He continued, “You… not with them?” He asked hesitating.
“No.” Abby finally answered after a long pause. She was not sure if she should move or what. She just stood there awkwardly. The boy shook his head unsure, but then he gave her a small smile. He noticed her clothes and pressed his lips together.
“My mommy may have some clothes.” He pointed out.
Abby tugged at her clothes and frowned. Then the boy took off into a dark hallway, leaving her alone. Abby looked around the room at the mess the boy had created and knew that his mommy was not there. The boy returned quickly and stared at her with an odd look. He looked back down the hall then at her frowning.
“Are you coming?” He asked sadly.
“Oh… yes.” Abby answered quietly. She followed the little boy slowly, dragging her cold feet. Her armpit was starting to hurt from the hockey stick. Through the rain and thunder, Abby could still hear the groaning of the undead outside. She glanced into a living room that had a large bay window. It had a blanket over it; but when lighting flashed outside, she could see dozens of them walking.
She followed him to a small room at the end of the hall. It smelt badly inside, and it was dirty. Clothes and trash were everywhere. Abby could see what looked like clothes the boy used to wipe with in the corner of the room. She turned her gaze from it trying not to judge. He was just a child. He was probably not even ten. He did not know any better. The boy was looking through piles of clothes on a large bed with green blankets when he pulled out a large shirt.
There was a battery powered lantern glowing brightly behind him. He walked over to her and lifted it towards her. It had holes in it, and Abby could smell the strong unwashed odor coming off of it. Abby forced a smile but waved her hand at him. He looked down sadly and squeezed the shirt in his dirty little fingers.
“Mommy never let me wear her clothes, but I think she is okay with it now. She hasn’t told me no… so it is okay.” He sniffed. Abby nodded her head and looked around the room. She still did not see anyone, but a new smell was drifting through the air now. Abby was afraid of what it was coming from.
“Do you have towels I could use?” She asked kindly. He looked up at her and then around and back at her with a smile. He hurried out of the room, dropping the shirt. Abby gave the room a long look. She could tell the boy had been alone for a very long time. When she walked out into the hall, she saw another light. The boy came walking from the living room with a small lamp. He was grinning at her.
“You shake it when the battery is low, and it comes back on!” He almost shouted in delight. Abby looked around, her eyes staring into the darkness all around them. She knew those things were out there and that they had to be quiet. The boy opened a door that was across from them; and when he did, Abby smelt something horrible. Her head spun, stomach twisted in knots, and the taste of bile was in the back of her throat. She wanted him to shut the door, and she almost shut him inside when she saw something behind him.
Her mouth dropped open as she swallowed vomit. The boy was digging through dirty clothes on the ground as the light flickered on the tub wall behind him. There was a woman’s rotting body lying in the tub. Her head was turned towards the door with her mouth opened. She had been there for a long time. Her skin had rotted away. Abby shook, whimpering a little bit as she turned her head away. She could hear the boy talking to the woman, and Abby realized that she was his mother. She had been his mother. The boy came out of the bathroom, shutting the door, holding some old towels, smiling.
Abby leaned against the wall trying to breathe. It felt as if her wound was on fire now, and her body was shaking violently on the inside. The boy did not seem to notice she was in pain. He tapped on her side and lifted the towels up towards her with a smile. She felt faint and then waved him away again. His face was full of hurt, and she saw tears swell in his little eyes. She closed her eyes and tried not to breathe. When she opened her eyes, the boy was still standing there sadly; so she reached over and took the first towel in his hands.
It smelt moldy, but Abby dried herself with it. They walked back into the kitchen, and Abby sat down in a wobbly chair next to the table. The boy put the lamp next to them on the table and sat down too. She put her backpack on the table and dabbed the towel on herself. She was cold, but her blood was boiling inside. She was sweating too, and her mouth was dry. The pain in her leg was getting worse. She opened her backpack and took out the ibuprofen and a bottle of water. She took three of them and drank deep. She closed the bottle and looked at it. It was still half full. The boy watched her with wide eyes. He sat next to her and moved some colors towards her.
She shook her head and forced a smile. She felt very uncomfortable and awkward, sitting there with the strange little boy. His hair was long and matted with what she hoped was just dirt. His skin was very pale and dry. His teeth looked blackish, and his eyes were dull and lifeless. However, he looked cheerful that she was there. He licked his lips and grabbed something from the table and started to eat it. It was some kind of gummy fruit snack. Abby eyed the cabinets in the kitchen and noticed they all were empty. She looked around and saw empty cans of food and boxes. She wondered if he had run out of food.
“You’re alone?” Abby asked breaking the silences.
“No mommy is here…” The boy paused and acted as if he remembered something then said, “Oh sorry you want to meet her?”
“No.” Abby choked. The boy looked down, swallowing hard. He looked scared and sad. Abby felt guilty and pitied the boy. Rain poured hard outside as thunder and lightning went on and on. The boy seemed to not even notice; but when they heard growling close outside, the boy started to shake.
“Will you stay?” The boy asked, clutching his colors in his hands. Abby pressed her lips together and looked around. The house was disgusting, and she knew if she stayed there she would surely get sick. She was surprised the boy was still alive, though he did look very sickly and thin. She felt her heart beating hard in her chest, causing her to panic. She tried to keep her mind off of it and the pain cutting through her body. She put her right hand on the table and looked at her broken finger. It was numb now.
“What if you come with me?” She suggested. She did not want to have a child with her when she was not even sure if she could take care of herself. Nevertheless, the thought of leaving him in this trash made her feel very guilty. But the burden of having a child with her… made her stomach turn in knots. She waited for him to answer as he played with his colors.
“Can mommy go?” He asked, licking his lips again. Abby wrinkled her nose and looked away from him with sadness in her eyes. The heat in her body was getting to her. She knew she would faint soon.
“I don’t think so…” Abby answered slowly and carefully. The boy looked at her for a long time as if he was trying to figure out why and then something changed in his eyes. It was as if he knew why his mother could not come. The boy started to eat more of the fruit snacks, sniffling. Abby swallowed hard, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell forward. She caught herself in her hands and started to breathe heavy. The boy finally noticed that something was wrong with her and slid some fruit snacks towards her. She gazed at him and whispered, “Thank you.”
Abby looked around trying to find somewhere she could lay down. She did not dare to sleep in the bedroom he had brought her into. She did not want to sleep anywhere in this house. However, she knew she would not be able to leave the house until the rain stopped and the hoard outside was gone. Plus, she knew if she stood for too long she would pass out. She needed a bed nonetheless. She looked at the boy, gritting her teeth.
“Do you have a sofa I can lay down on?” She asked, her voice getting weaker. The boy grinned and hopped up from his chair and waved at her to follow. She grabbed her backpack and followed him slowly. She took each step slower than the last. The room was starting to spin. He took her into the living room that was not as dirty as the rest of the house. The sofa only had some books and a blanket on it. He patted the sofa and grinned. She wondered if this was where he had been sleeping.
The Amour series (Book 1): The Embers of Amour Page 5