Episode 8

"Psst. Hey, Dale."

Dale slowly opened his eyes and saw his brother looking at him. Bella was curled up against his chest, and her head was on his arm.

"What?" he whispered, and Terry gave him a knowing look.

"You might want to vacate the premises before dear old Dad shows up. He's a military guy, you know."

Dale sighed, looking at Bella, and scooted back. He didn't realize how close to the edge he was and rolled down the windshield, off the hood, and onto the ground.

"That was graceful," snickered Terry, helping his brother up, and Dale brushed himself off.

He covered Bella with the sleeping bag and walked away with Terry.

"So, my baby brother is sweet on the new girl," laughed Terry, and Dale scoffed.

"I'm not sweet on her. I was just being nice," he snapped, and Terry raised his hands.

"Not complaining. You do you. Just don't get us kicked out of here," he said, and Dale looked at his brother oddly.

"Why would they kick us out? We pull our own weight," he scoffed and walked away.

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Abraham slowly opened his eyes and looked around the tent. He sighed in relief but then realized Megan and Charlie were gone, and so were his clothes. There was a folded pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and a pair of old sneakers at the end of the cot, and Abraham wiped his face, sitting up. He dressed, slipped on the sneakers, and left the tent. The other families around the campsite smiled at him as he walked through, and he nodded, smiling back.

Megan filled water jugs with boiled water and smiled when she saw her husband.

"Morning," she said.

"Morning," said Abraham, scratching his head and looking around.

"Did you sleep well?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, best damn sleep I've had in days."

Megan raised an eyebrow, smiling and biting her bottom lip, and Abraham chuckled.

"Have you seen Bell this morning?"

"Yeah. She was still sleeping when I got up."

Abraham nodded and sighed.

"Well, I guess I better go get her up," he said, and Megan scoffed.

"Leave her alone and let her sleep. As drunk as she was, she probably needed it," she said, boiling more water.

"But Bell's the only one who can make the coffee perfect."

Megan's eyebrows rose.

"Coffee? You have coffee?"

Abraham nodded and blew a breath shaking his head.

"Yeah, we do. We raided a few stores, the police station, and the hospital. Bell knew exactly what to do. You should have seen her. She said this was something out of her comic books, and she has been right about everything. She killed Mr. Pitts. I mean, he was one of those things, but she stabbed him in the head like it was nothing, and she was the one who saved those people in the city. I just drove the box truck."

Megan's eyes widened, and Abraham sighed.

"And seeing Jason, her friends, people she knew turned into those monsters and thinking me and Charlie were monsters. No wonder why the kid smokes and drinks. Poor kid," she said, and Abraham looked at his wife with concern.

"When you guys talked last night, did she act like she was done with life?"

Megan shook her head.

"No, nothing like that. She is okay. Just needed to blow off some steam. I saw Dale and Terry trying to wake her up, and she chased them off."

Abraham smiled proudly.

"That's my girl," he said, heading toward the truck.

"Abraham!" Megan yelled, but he chuckled, ignoring her, and continued on his way.

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"Bell," Abraham said gently, rubbing her temple, and Bella made a face.

"Dad?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Go away and close the curtains. It's too bright."

Abraham chuckled and leaned against the truck.

"I would if I could, but you're kind of outside on the roof of my truck," he said, and Bella sighed.

"I know. I can hear the birds," she said, rolling on her stomach, and her hair fell around her face.

She rested her chin on her arm and looked at her father with one eye open.

"I don't like Steve anymore," she said, and her father looked at her in question.

"Why?"

"I have my suspicions. The way he's acting and what I found. I really think he wanted us out of the picture."

Abraham sighed and nodded.

"I have my suspicions too, but we can't prove anything," he said, and Bella gave him a stubborn look.

"Does it matter? Everything points to him. I hope I get the chance to shoot him in the face."

Abraham looked at his daughter in surprise, and she giggled.

"What? I'll wait till he turns into a zombie first," she said, and he laughed, shaking his head.

"Did you chase Dale away?" she asked, and he looked at his daughter oddly, shaking his head.

"Who's Dale?"

"The biker dude's brother. He brought me barb-b-qued squirrel, and it actually tasted good," she said, and her father chuckled.

"Barb-b-q squirrel? Hmm, I guess he gets a brownie point. He wanted to make sure you ate something."

Bella shrugged.

"I guess so."

"Did he try anything? You got pretty drunk last night."

She chuckled, shaking her head, and rested her cheek on her arm.

"No, Dad. He was actually a gentleman. I ate the squirrel, talked, looked at the stars, listened to some music, and I fell asleep. I guess he covered me up and went back to his trailer," she explained, playing with the zipper of the sleeping bag, and Abraham nodded.

"Okay," he said, and Bella looked at him oddly.

"Okay?"

Abraham nodded and blew a breath.

"Yeah, you're seventeen now and have a good head on your shoulders. I may not like the choices you make, but they are your choices," he said, and Bella scoffed.

"Is this you talking or Mom?"

Abraham gave his daughter a knowing look, and Bella laughed, climbing off the roof.

"So, you're being awfully nice to me. What do you want?" she asked, looking at her father suspiciously.

"Coffee? And I may have told your mom, and you know the smell will attract everyone in the camp."

"Well, I guess we will have to use a bigger pot. Start a fire," she said, and Abraham grinned.

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"Oh, my lord, what is that delicious smell?" asked Teresa, and Andy smelled the air.

"I know what that is. That's coffee," exclaimed Bonnie, jumping out of her camping chair and following the smell.

Teresa and Andy looked at each other and ran after her. Mike, Liam, and the other campers looked at them, and Liam held out his hand.

"Where's the fire?" he asked, and Andy grinned.

"Don't you smell that?" he asked, and Liam and Mike sniffed the air.

"Who has coffee?" he asked.

"The smell is coming from behind the box truck. Come on," said Bonnie.

Mike, Liam, Teresa, Andy, and Bonnie walked toward the box truck, and the other campers followed.