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head.<br />
Barb located a plastic grocery sack, and I put a few boxes of bullets and five bottles of water<br />
inside, and then stuffed the 9mm in the waist of my pants. If someone were to tell me the day before<br />
that I would be doing anything close to this, I would have laughed them out of the office. I’d been<br />
hunting and shooting with Skeeter a handful of times, but owning a gun was not a priority for me, and I<br />
wasn’t opposed to gun control.<br />
Now that the undead had taken over the earth, I imagined any member of the NRA was doing better<br />
than most.<br />
Just as I hooked the handles of the sack in the crook of my elbow, the sound of salvation echoed<br />
through the church: a car horn.<br />
Scarlet<br />
MOST HOUSES WERE DARK, LETTING the streetlights cast ominous shadows over everything. The army<br />
was on patrol, and Tobin and I had to leap behind bushes or into the shadows once in a while,<br />
slowing down our pace. In addition Tobin’s inju<strong>red</strong> ankle slowed us down. I wonde<strong>red</strong> if anyone was<br />
still in their homes, or if the army had taken them all somewhere. That thought was pushed out by<br />
sheer will; that would mean my girls would be in a place nearly impossible to reach, with murderous<br />
armed guards.<br />
Refusing to believe that, I pulled Tobin along, pushing back when his limp forced more of his<br />
bodyweight on me. I tried to encourage him through the pain. His ankle was swollen, and getting more<br />
so by the minute. The walking wasn’t helping. He needed ibuprofen and an ice pack at the very least.<br />
“It’s not far now,” I said.<br />
Tobin had been holding his breath with each step for the last three or four blocks, but he didn’t<br />
complain.<br />
“You think she’s there” he said.<br />
“I hope so.”<br />
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s home. Is there a public shelter around here Maybe they were all<br />
moved there”<br />
“It’s possible. Maybe the hospital, or the elementary school. It has an old fallout shelter.”<br />
“She has a little boy, did I tell you that”<br />
I smiled up at him. “You said she was a single mom. What’s her name”<br />
“Tavia. And my nephew’s name is Tobin.”<br />
“Wow. Namesake.”<br />
“Yeah,” he said, beaming with pride even though his face was dripping with sweat. “He’s a good<br />
kid, too. Athletic. Polite. She’s done a helluva job. I don’t think I’ve ever told her that.”<br />
“You will,” I said, praying it was true.
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