red hill - jamie mcguire

Sometimes I catch glimpses of shufflers in the fields. They’re not that fast, and not that smart. Getting
caught off guard is how they get you. That, or getting caught in a big group of them like on the
highway.”
“By Shallot”
Scarlet nodded.
“We’ve been staying there. In Shallot. They were all on the highway, but now they’re in town.”
“You sure about that”
“Someone ran their car into the gas station. Blew up. Drew them all back in.”
Scarlet’s eyebrows pulled in, and she closed her eyes. “Was it a white Tahoe”
“Huh”
“The car that hit the station. Was it a white Tahoe”
“No. Is that what your ex drives”
Scarlet opened her eyes and sighed.
“So they’re with him.”
After a short pause, Scarlet rested her elbows on her knees. “I hope so. Andrew picked them up
from school. By the time I got off work and everything went to shit, they were in Anderson.”
I waited, watching her eyes search the darkness for something.
“I tried to get to them,” she said. Her breath caught sharply. “I snuck into town. They weren’t
home. The town was overrun. I didn’t know what to do.” Her voice broke, and she covered her mouth
with a trembling hand. “So I left them a message to come here. I’m not sure it was the right
decision . . . to leave. Did I abandon them”
“I saw you,” I said. Scarlet’s head jerked up to meet my eyes. “In that Jeep. I saw you heading
toward Fairview on the highway. You got past them”
“Past who” Scarlet asked.
“The kids with the guns. On the bridge.”
“Yeah,” she said quietly, looking down. “I got past them.”
“You’re lucky,” I said. “We were stuck under the overpass. They opened fire on everyone.”
Scarlet offered a small, tired smile. “I guess you were lucky, too.”
“Who shot at you” A deep voice said. I turned to see Joey standing in the dark kitchen.
“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me,” Scarlet said, blowing out a quick breath.
“Men—kids, actually—at the Anderson bridge had guns, shooting at anyone trying to get in,” I
said, watching Joey sit on the carpet next to me.
“Good thing we ran out of gas. We were headed to Anderson. Dana’s dad lived there.”
“Small world,” Scarlet said, her smile fading.
Joey sighed. “Even smaller now.”
We sat in silence for a while, listening to the thunder rumble and the lightning crack across the sky.
The sky opened up and rain poured down, drenching the farmhouse until it moved slowly toward
Shallot and then Fairview. I thought of the dead ones, if they even noticed the storm, and of the small
children in Shallot with the milky eyes that just a few days ago might have been terrified of thunder
and lightning. They were now ambling outside, impervious to the rain, the wind, and the monsters