Into the Badlands by Brian J. Jarrett Page A

ajar. Aside from one broken pane of glass the windows in the door were intact.
    He rapped three times on the door, then stepped back onto the porch, pistol ready. Zach had his pistol drawn, Jeremy held the machete. Ed heard nothing. He knocked again, this time a bit louder. Still he heard nothing from inside. If there were any deadwalkers in there they would almost definitely be stirring by now.
    Murderers and thieves, however, would not.
    He motioned for the boys to come forward. “Stay close,” he told them, and they carefully walked single file through the front door and into the farmhouse. Zach and Jeremy both glanced at the helpless girl lying on the stretcher, then they followed their father inside.
    The inside of the house was in good shape overall. It had been raided at some point, but since the roof and most of the windows were still intact the weather damage was minimal. Some of the wood floor was warped where water had blown in from the outside, but aside from that the place was still structurally sound.
    They checked every room, including the upstairs bedrooms, and the cellar, and found the house to be free of threats. There were three bedrooms in the house, all on the second floor. They could keep the girl there. Ed didn't like using the second floor but moving the beds would mean taking them apart, noisy work he didn’t want to undertake. The doorways were just too small to fit the beds through assembled.
    When they got back down to the stretcher Ed noticed the girl hadn't moved at all. He still felt it was very doubtful that she had contracted the virus, with all the sleeping. The virus created maniacs, not narcoleptics. Another twenty four hours and he'd know for sure.
    He knew they'd never get her up the inside steps on the stretcher, so he picked the girl up and tossed her over his shoulder. Being so thin she was light, but he doubted he could have carried her for a mile on his shoulders. He wasn't as strong as he used to be. None of them were.
    He carried her to the top of the steps and into the bedroom, with the boys following close behind, then placed her gently on the bed. The bed was still made; undisturbed for the past three years. He checked her forehead with the back of his hand. Although she was still very hot Ed noticed goosebumps on her skin. She was definitely feverish.
    He covered her with the blankets from the bed then took the boys back downstairs to check the kitchen faucets, which didn’t work. He peered through the windows above the sink and into the back yard; there he spied a lever-style water pump. He grabbed a pitcher from the kitchen and walked to the pump with the boys. Sometimes you're just lucky , he thought to himself.
    After almost five minutes of priming work the pump began producing clean water. Ed gave the boys a high-five then rinsed and filled the pitcher he’d brought with him. He sent Zach and Jeremy back inside to fetch more containers. They drank some of the water straight out of the well; Ed thought it might very well be some of the most refreshing water he'd ever tasted.
    They washed and filled as many containers as they could find, then they returned to the house. They brought a cup of water upstairs for the girl; she moaned and her eyes fluttered when Ed attempted to give her a drink. He managed to get a little down her before she closed her eyes again and went silent. He checked the girl's pulse. She was still alive, at least for the time being.

    Ed sat with the boys on the front porch of the farmhouse, watching the highway. Strings of abandoned cars littered the road. There was no movement aside from some birds searching the cold ground for food. The air was chilly; only the sound of the wind broke the silence.
    He wondered what he was going to do with the girl. She was very sick. Ed wasn't a doctor, but he guessed the fever was probably due to an infection. Viral or bacterial he couldn't be sure. Administering an antibiotic was the only course of action he