Determined To Live by C. M. Wright Page B

then Mel's
room. I find a change of warm clothes and stuff them into my shirt to
free my hands. Then I gather everything we will need, placing it all
close to the back door.
    Going back to the
living room, I sit in a chair - bought more for looks than comfort -
that is placed next to a front window. As I watch for my family, I
smile listening to Mel's side of the conversation. After a few more
minutes, I tell Mel to bring me the phone, and she does -
reluctantly. She says "Goodbye" and "See you soon!"
to her parents, and then hands me my phone.
    "Mr. and Mrs.
Hunter, can you text me your address and directions to get to your
house to this number?"
    They tell me they
will, then I ask, "How many zombies do you think are there?"
    Mr. Hunter answers,
"I would say at least fifty or sixty."
    I groan and rub my
face with my free hand. "Alright. We'll be there as soon as we
can."
    "Ok. Thank
you. Thank you so much for everything, but especially for Mel.
Please, Ana, please keep her safe," he begs me.
    "You bet your
ass I will." I pause and then, "Mr. Hunter?"
    "Yes?"
    "The
name is Aunt Ana."
    He chuckles. "So
I hear. See you soon?"
    "Yep. Bye."
And we disconnect.
    Mel
is so excited that it takes me a few times to get her to change
clothes. Once I firmly tell her to get changed now ,
she does in a hurry. But
she never stops her happy chatter and I don't blame her a bit.
    I take a hurried
glance out the window and my heart races when I see headlights of a
vehicle turn into the drive. I search for the other vehicles, knowing
they wouldn't have sent only one since I told them about the zombies,
but there's no more following it. Plus, it hasn't been long enough
for my family to get here.
    Thankful I'd shut
all the lights off, but still not sure if whoever it is can see me
through the window, I duck down and whisper for Mel to get down and
get over beside me. As we wait for the car to pass by us and head
towards the back, Mel doesn't say a word. A horrible sharp sense of
danger, and an intense feeling of needing to run and hide, has me
panting in fear.
    Something's so not right!
    "Mel, stay
down, stay quiet, and follow me." She nods, her eyes wide as she
senses my fear. I quickly silence my phone and shove it into one of
my pockets, snag the loops of the duffel bag, and still on my knees,
push everything in front of me as I make my way to the bedroom with
the broken window. Mel brings my crutches.
    I can hear the bang
of a gun going off outside as we both are crawling inside the room.
When I turn back to shut and lock the door, my eyes flash to the big
ass armoire blocking the window.
    Damn it!
    I forgot about
that.
    Even if there
are zombies outside, an escape route would still be nice.
    But before I can
try to move it, I hear the back door crash open. I grab Melody and
push her towards the armoire. After removing the vases and mirror, I
help her inside the cabinet and assure her it'll be alright but to be
very, very quiet. I see a pad and pen lying on the nightstand nearby
and grab them. Then I pull out my phone and frantically write down
her address, her name, and "help her" on it. I also write,
"Tell my boys I love them." Ripping the paper off the pad,
I fold it and shove it into Mel's pocket.
    "Baby, listen
to me. If anything happens to me, stay in here. No matter what! My
family will be the next people to come here, and when they do, give
them this." - I can
only pray my family IS the next to come. There's nothing more I can
do. - "I love you. Now
stay inside and keep quiet."
    She nods as I shut
the doors of the armoire. I shove the duffel bag and crutches under
the bed and pull the sheet and comforter down to hide them. Then I
crawl as fast as I can to the closet. I have just enough time to get
inside the closet and pull the door until it's closed all but a
crack, when the bedroom door bursts open with a hard kick and slams
against the back wall.
    Jake stands in the
doorway. The man with the huge body loaded with muscles. The