Savannah's Only Zombie (Book 2): A New Darkness by Josh Vasquez Page B

up I guess.”
    The clouds began to part and the storm, which raged
on just minutes before, now seemed to vanish as quickly as it appeared.
    “Hey.”
    Jeremy looked over at Josh.
    “Don’t tell my wife about this.”

Chapter
Ten
     
    CJ watched the dark clouds pass from a distance.
They didn’t seem to be headed his way, but whichever way they were headed was
in for some serious rain. The air had grown cool with the passing storm and he
rubbed the chill from his arms.
    I should get a coat, he thought.
    He was sitting on a small flat part of the roof.
He discovered it the other day and had made it his lookout perch. It was
located near the highest point of the house, giving him a clear view of the
surrounding area. The .30-06 sat next to him, ready in case anything unfriendly
popped out from the wood line. The fact that no dead had wandered onto the
property both comforted him and worried him.
    Are we really that far out into the country?
    He had never really thought about the location
of their cabin. Most of the rides here, he was either playing on his phone or
listening to music. And on his most recent ride here, his mind was elsewhere.
Everyone’s was.
    Things were still off. His mom had still yet to
speak. His grandparents for the most part seemed to avoid his Dad. And his Dad.
His Dad seemed to busy himself with every chore, trying to avoid the silence.
CJ was there and knew it was not his Dad’s fault. He did everything he could to
protect them. CJ had watched as his Dad ran out of ammunition and proceeded to
cave in zombies’ skulls with his pistol. It all just happened so quickly. No
one saw the half-corpse crawl from underneath the car and grab his sister’s
ankle. Too quick.
    And just like that, she was gone.
    His sister’s absence had created an emotional
hole in his family’s psyche. He sat and wondered if they would ever be back to
normal.
    CJ looked towards the driveway. His Dad, and the
man and woman were walking back from working on the fence. CJ tried to remember
their names, but nothing seemed to come to mind. The guy seemed alright, a
little goofy at times, but normal. The girl on the other hand, CJ was unsure on
how to read her. He could tell that the wheels were constantly turning in her
head, despite how she tried to hide it. He recognized it because he was the
same way.
    As they passed by him into the house, she
glanced up at him and flashed him a quick smile.
    She’s pretty too, he thought.
     
    ***
     
    “Man, I am sore,” Chris said, as he sat down on
the bed.
    Amy was lying down on the opposite end, her back
to him. She had a pillow clenched up to her chest. She had been crying.
    Chris turned to look at his wife and frowned.
She had been taking Hailey’s death hard.
    She’s at least moving around on her own now, he thought.
    For the first few days, she seemed to be stuck
in some sort of catatonic state, only moving with the help from others. It
wasn’t until the day before Josh arrived that she started moseying around the
house. She would eat, but not much. Chris worried about her. His wife was
normally very out-going and sociable. He’d never seen her like this before.
    But, they have never seen hurt like this before.
    Even his own heart ached for the loss of his
daughter, his little girl. Hailey had Chris wrapped around her tiny fingers
from the day she was born. She was her daddy’s princess. What he would give for
a hug from her right now.
    He felt tears welling up in the corners of his
own eyes and quickly clenched them shut, forcing them to retreat.
    He had not cried since the day they lost her.
    The day he lost her.
    If he had just been quicker. If he had just paid
more attention to the situation. She would still be here.
    CJ tried his best to convince his father that
there was nothing he could have done different, it all happened so fast.
    God bless that boy.
    Chris immediately felt guilty for not spending
more time with CJ. It wasn’t as if he was trying to avoid his son,