Stories in a Lost World: Bridget (3 page)

While Kristy napped, Danielle and I played cards. Then we walked around outside and she showed me where she wants to plant a garden. I told her that a garden sounds like a good idea. Honestly, I think it does. Fresh food? Hell, yes. I'm sick of processed garbage.

When we were done with the garden talk, the two of us explored the rest of the property. Obviously we don't really know the property lines. Stuff like that is meaningless now. What we
could
do was explore the empty garage and walk around the house. We found a couple of bicycles outside. There's no sign of children inside, so I wonder if the people who lived here hand grandkids, maybe.

The house overlooks the road, but the row of trees in the front yard makes it hard to see unless you know what you're looking for. Maybe that will protect us, at least for a little while.

I hope it does.

March 26th

Kristy is still sick. She laid in bed all day with a fever. Danielle had some Tylenol in her bag, which seemed to help, but after talking about it, we decided that one of us should go try to find other things to help her. Maybe some anti-nausea medication or some drinks. She's not keeping water down. Maybe a soda or sports drink would help.

Danielle elected to stay behind, which was fine with me. I have had crazy cabin fever all week. I knew that I needed to get out. I took the shotgun and an empty backpack and decided to head down the road to see what other houses I could find. It's not like there was gonna be a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Not in Kansas.

The closest neighbor's house was about a half mile walk down the road. I got nervous when I approached, mostly because I really hate zombies. Even worse than that, though, is that the silence is deafening. I've heard that saying before. It only recently started making sense to me.

Each step of my shoes on the gravel sounded like a foghorn. Each step felt like it took forever. There were still crickets chirping and birds making noises, but none of that mattered to me. I had to constantly try to reassure myself that it was, in fact, crickets and birds. Not zombies.

Talking to myself just makes me feel crazier.

So I got to the house. No one in sight. Car in the driveway. I broke a window and waited, but nothing happened. No zombies came. I walked through the house quickly, not bothering to clear it, just trying to find as much as I could.

There was nothing of value in the kitchen. It was basically empty. The downstairs medicine cabinet had some Tylenol, which I grabbed, then decided to check the ones upstairs.

I went upstairs and checked the bathroom. I took a box of pads for Danielle. She'd be wanting those soon enough. There wasn't really anything else, so I left.

When I did, I noticed the car again, and decided to root around for the keys. Just in case. I hadn't driven a car since I got to college, but come on. It's not like it could hurt. I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen to me? I hit a zombie? It's not like there's anyone to give me a speeding ticket.

I found the keys and headed outside. I waited a second before I started the car. Yes, after all that, I suddenly felt a little nervous. I mean, here I was, about to steal someone's car. What if they were coming back for it?

I knew in my head that they were never coming back for it.

I knew it.

It still felt weird, but it was going to save me a lot of time. Not to mention the fact that now we could make trips into nearby towns if we needed to.

I drove the car to the next house down the road. This one was a little further from the others. It looked pretty beat up and I wondered if it had been abandoned
before
the apocalypse. It could have easily been. The paint was peeling and the porch was falling apart.

Still, I parked right out front, marched my ass to the front door, and knocked.

Nothing.

The front door was unlocked and I walked right in. The thing about living in the country that a lot of people don't realize is that locking your doors is typically unnecessary. Seriously. Almost everyone is armed, so almost no one is going to break in. I mean, why would they? That's
your
property.

I went right on inside and was instantly hit with the smell of death. No wonder the door was unlocked. It was everywhere. I didn't hear any undead, but I certainly smelled the
dead
. When I walked into the living room, I saw them.

It was a little family. The mom and two kids were sitting on the couch. They had each been shot. One clear shot to the forehead, that's all it took. Of course.

The dad was in a chair by himself, the gun still dangling from his hand.

I wanted to throw up, but I didn't.

It's hard to imagine what would bring someone to the edge of reason like that. It's hard to imagine what it would take to kill your entire family and yourself, but then, it's also hard to imagine the dead coming back to life.

Artovax was supposed to save us.

It wasn't supposed to make
this
happen. No one saw it coming. Well, no one but the preppers, but who knows what happened to all of them? They're probably holed up in bunkers somewhere. I don't know.

I searched the house and found antibiotics. There wasn't a full bottle, but half of one, which I figured should be good enough, right? I grabbed that, some fever reducers, the food that was left in the kitchen, then I loaded up the car and headed home.

Well, to my new home.

It still doesn't really feel like "home" yet, but at least Kristy has something to help her feel better.

March 27th

I'm so bored I just might shoot myself.

March 28th

Still bored.

March 29th

Kristy is feeling a lot better. Thank goodness. It was a long few days. Danielle and I knew that she wouldn't die, but it's still good to have our leader up and running around. Plus, now there's another person to play cards with.

When I read about zombie attacks and invasions and infections before the virus actually hit, it always seemed like people imagined you'd stay in this perfectly perfect little world. Like, you'd stay in your house, you'd fortify it, and you'd just live there defending hordes forever.

That's not really the way it is.

In a lot of ways, it's nothing like I imagined it would ever be.

For one, we rarely stay inside. We don't use the bathrooms because obviously there's no electricity, and we don't feel like stinking up the whole house. We also all smell horrible. We haven't found a creek nearby or a lake or anything to bathe in, so basically, we're gross as fuck.

Another difference is that we talk a lot and live our lives as normally as we can. We haven't seen zombies at the house yet. In some ways, it feels like maybe we imagined everything. In some ways, it feels like this is all just a bad dream.

Kristy wants to stay here, but I'm not so sure. We need to find water soon. Like, a legitimate water source. I was thinking that maybe one of the other farms nearby has a well. Maybe that would be a better choice than the house we're at. I seem to be the only one concerned about it though. Kristy keeps saying "things will work out."

I hate when people say that. It's such a copout.

March 30th

Kristy was feeling completely better today. This is good news for everyone. Hurray. No one else got sick, so I'm pretty sure she got a little virus or was just stressed. Not sure. All I know is that she was out of bed
all
day and not just part of it, so we decided to go to a little exploring.

I drove. No one has really said much, but there's this silent understanding that the car is mine. It's nice having something that belongs to me, especially after all this time. I feel like it's been years since I went shopping or bought new clothes just for me. I feel like it's an entire lifetime ago.

Anyway, we drove around for a bit and saw several houses. One of them had a face peeking out the window. No idea if the person was undead or alive. We didn't stop. Like I said before, people in the country tend to be armed. I don't feel like getting shot. Sometimes it's best to just keep moving along.

After a little while, we found a tiny little town. The sign outside said Altus. There wasn't a lot there, but we did see some survivors trying to build a fence or something. We didn't stop. We just kept driving. Best not to get too close to other survivors. Everyone has their own little cliques and groups and too often, outsides are considered a threat.