Two Birds, One Bite

Barry is a tall, stocky, older man with dark hair that turns to grey at the top of his head. His blue eyes were gentle and I wondered how he ended up being friends with someone like Vick.

"I hear Vick's known the two of you for years," Barry spoke as we walked through the doorway of the rustic farmhouse. "You ended up as neighbors, is that right?"

"Sure is." I responded with a smile, "grew up around Vick's nephew and later on we bought the house next to his. Couldn't ask for a better neighbor."

Barry smiled as we entered the large, clean cut kitchen. The countertops were a shiny white and the backsplash was a white subway tile, the walls a cool grey. A woman stood in middle of the kitchen and her brown eyes immediately met mine.

"Dad, who is this?" She eyeballed Kara and I skeptically. "You know we don't have much room for us let alone —"

"Christie, c'mon. We had the privilege of preparation. What would that be if we didn't help the other people who are living through this Hell?"

The woman stomped out of the kitchen. I take it that's his daughter.

"Sorry about that," Barry apologized sincerely. "She doesn't mean to come off as rude. Just can't figure out a way to speak the truth without spitting knives."

"We get it, really." Kara assured softly, "I'd be skeptical, too. Thank you, Barry. For everything."

Barry smiled warmly. "Hopefully someday we can all go back to normal, eh?"

I doubt that. I lost Rotis, my younger brother, my best friend — and my girlfriend had to put him down. I shuddered as it all came back to me.

Barry directed Kara and I to move our stuff into one of the upstairs guest rooms. My body began to shake as the images of Rotis and Sky filled my mind. I hated that I had to remember him with a knife sticking out of the side of his head.

"I'm sorry, Jake." Kara spoke into the darkness as we now lay in the unfamiliar queen sized bed. "I hated to have to do that to your brother. I wish things could've been different."

Tears streamed down my face but the darkness kept them hidden.

"You did what you had to do, Kara. I had to hurt Sky when she changed, too. The only way we live through this is doing whatever it takes until the government figures shit out."

"But are they really going to figure it out?" Kara questioned warily. "What if they don't? What if we're trapped going from place to place until the virus catches up with us?"

"You can't think like that. We can get through this no matter which way the wind takes us — as long as we're together."

Maybe I was just bullshitting myself and Kara. I'm not even sure if things are going to go back to the way they were before — it seems that there's way more infected people than there are healthy ones. Not to mention all of the lives we've lost since then.

When I was sure Kara was sleeping, I headed downstairs with the pack of cigarettes that was once my guilty pleasure. I exited onto the front porch and was met with a chilly breeze as I stood over the banister and lit the cigarette I pulled out of the pack.

Sleep is not an option.

"You probably shouldn't be out here," an unfamiliar woman's voice chimed as she walked onto the porch I stood on. "If any infected ones see you, they'll be banging on our doors in no time."

The woman looked extremely similar to Christie, Barry's oldest daughter, except this woman seemed a lot younger — around my age.

"Didn't want to smoke in the house. Proper etiquette," I met her gaze. "Sorry about that."

"Here. I'll show you where I go to smoke."

I followed her through the home and upstairs to yet another bedroom. She slowly lifted the window on the far wall to reveal an overhang on the roof. She nodded for me to follow as she snuck through the opening and onto the roof overhang.

"You — want me to go through here?" I asked skeptically as I eyeballed her through the window.

"It's safe. Promise."

Moments later, we were sitting on the roof with our legs dangling off as we puffed clouds of cigarette smoke up to the dark, star filled night sky.

"Courtney," she introduced herself, leaning over to shake my hand. "You?"

"Jake." I reluctantly accepted her handshake. "How old are you, Courtney?"

"Twenty four."

I was right. She's a year younger than I am.

"Your Barry's daughter, right?"

"Sure am." she took a drag of the cigarette before adding, "I'm just not as much of an asshole as he is."

"Doesn't seem like an asshole," I politely argued. "He let Kara and I in when he didn't have to."

"That's only because he thinks the world is ending and in his mind, he has to make up for everything he's done before he dies or he's going to Hell, too."

Well, either way he's okay by me.

"So you just come up here to hang out, huh?" I questioned bleakly. "Never mind the fact zombies are roaming around?"

"Always used to. Why stop now?" She smiled as she flicked the ash of her cigarette over the edge of the roof. "Discovered this hangout when I was a teenager looking for a place to smoke some weed — brings back some nostalgia being up here."

Courtney gazed around as she admired her surroundings. The moonlight illuminated her face and her long, wavy dark hair that was held up by a ponytail. The love in her eyes was prevalent as she reminisced.

For just a moment, I wished I could find beauty in my surroundings the way she did.

_

The morning sun shined through the window above me and my eyes fluttered open. For a moment, I forgot where I was. I must've fallen asleep.

As soon as I exited the room, Vick was standing there. His firm expression told me something wasn't right.

"Looks like we got some errands we gotta run, kid."

"Huh?" I rubbed my eyes before returning my gaze back to Vick. "Where are we going?"

"Barry's grandkid got sick. No way in hell I'm lettin' him go out there — he took us in," Vick explained hawkishly. "So we're going to head out and see if we can find some antibiotics."

You're fucking kidding me, right?

"Vick, no offense but —"

"I won't take no for an answer. That man helped us. You gonna send your girlfriend out instead?"

My lips pressed firmly as I began to internally panic. I remembered the day at the lover's retreat — the chaos that ensued right in front of our eyes from the front row seats on the balcony above.

"Just the two of us?"

"No. Christie's coming along with her boyfriend, Alex."

Christie. That was the woman that made the comment about them not having enough room for two more heads. Alex must be the blonde guy I've seen working around the farm — he's also never spoken a word to me or even glanced in my direction.

"It'll be alright, kiddo. You know old man Vick knows his shit. We'll grab the military vests before we go."

I furrowed my brows as I walked away and prepared for departure. A feeling of dread washed over me as I drew the conclusion that today would be the day I die.

After I informed Kara of what was going on, she became panicked that she'd have nobody familiar around her while we're gone. I told her that Courtney seemed alright and I knew they'd get along.

Now we travel the streets in the direction of the city.

"Do not use your guns." Christie advised hawkishly, "use the weapons we gave you. Guns only draw more."

"Where exactly are we going?" I inquired warily. "Anything too deep in the city is dangerous."

"My kid is sick. I'll go wherever I need to go if it means helping him get better," she snipped harshly. "The pharmacy should have what we need."

Since the virus hit, I have a hard time being out here. Nothing is right — there's nobody anywhere and if there is somebody, they're not human anymore. They loitered on the streets just waiting for their next victim. I couldn't help but compare it to before when there were people everywhere — happy, healthy, living beings.

"What does the boy need?" Vick questioned. "We need an idea of what we have to grab."

"You'll be outside keeping watch. Milo is sick." Christie became rather offended, "he just needs some cough medicine."

Why did she get so harsh? It could benefit her if she let the group know what he needs.

"In and out. Christie and I know where to go. We just need someone to keep an eye while we ravage the shelves." Alex finally spoke as he drove. "If you guys see anything or any zombies approach, call for us."

We entered the parking lot and my heart dropped to my stomach. There were already infected people banging on the other side of the front doors. They were waiting for us.

"We're going to have to let them out and take them down first." Vick suggested as he stared into the glass at the fiends who banged on the other side. "It's the only way."

"Alright. We shatter the glass and get ready to fight." Christie agreed before approaching the glass doors with her sledge hammer.

3...2...1!

Crssshh!

Infected people flowed from the pharmacy and I stepped back as I prepared to swing with my aluminum bat in my hands.

Rrrghh!

A woman with long, blonde, curly hair shuffled my way with her dead eyes set on me. I swung the bat and bashed her head in before another man approached and I slugged him, too. I began to feel out of breath by the third round.

Whack!

I knocked the zombie down but my bat flew out of my hands and landed feet away on the pavement. When I turned my gaze, I realized that Alex was attempting to fight off an infected person but he was losing the fight. The zombie sunk his infected teeth into the soft skin on Alex's chest.

"No! Alex!" Christie cried.

My mouth opened in shock as I witnessed Alex get bit.

Rrrgghhh!

I was knocked over by another zombie and I fell to the ground with him on top of me. I fought and fought but he had me pinned and his teeth continued to get closer and closer to my chest until he succeeded, leaving his bloody teeth marks in my light grey shirt.

Whack!

He flew off of me as a brute force slammed against the zombie's head. Vick now gazed down at me, clearly worried at the bite mark in my shirt. I lifted the shirt to reveal that the vest had stopped the zombie's teeth from penetrating my skin.

"You got lucky, didn't you?" He offered his hand. "You won't next time. Be more careful, kid."

"Alex, no." Christie pled as she bent down over him. He lay on the ground below her. "Please, you can't leave me and Milo."

"I have no choice now, Christie. I can already feel myself changing." He spoke in a hushed tone, "c'mon, we have to get Milo's medicine before I change."

Christie turned to me before acknowledging the bite mark on my shirt.

"You were bit, too?"

"No. I mean, yes but it didn't make contact with my skin. I have a vest on underneath."

"You guys had vests and didn't offer Alex or I any type of help?" She hissed, "Alex is going to die because of you! You assholes!"

I was aware that Christie was now yelling at me but I was completely overtaken by the fact I had just survived because of the vests we stopped to grab on the road. I survived a fight with literal death.

"We only had two, Chris. I'm sorry." Vick sobered, "maybe we can do something. We have to get him back to your dad —"

"That's if we make it back to the goddamn farm in time!"

Her voice drew a few more zombies and to my surprise, as they shuffled our way, Christie approached them and took them down with ease all by herself. Though her personality was a bit standoffish, I think she handles the infected ones better than any of us.

After collecting what we need, we departed back to City Country where Barry and the others are. Alex turned pale quickly and his heart beat slowed by the minute. He'll be one of them any minute now.

"Alex, take some of the antibiotics we got for Milo." Christie advised firmly as she now drove and Alex occupied the passenger seat. "Maybe they'll help."

"I can't, Christie. That's for Milo. He needs it."

"If it'll help Milo, it'll help you."

My eyebrows raised in curiosity but my curiosity quickly died down when Alex fell weaker and quit talking.

When we made it back to Barry's, everything was a rush from there on out. We had to carry Alex into the house and the expression on Barry's face when we told him what happened was an expression I wouldn't soon forget. Milo lost a dad once and now he would lose another all over again at the age of ten.

"It's a shame, what happened to Alex," Barry spoke in a somber voice. "Took me years to get used to having him around but he was startin' to grow on me."

"I'm sorry, Barry." I apologized wholeheartedly. "I wish we could've done more."

I believe we could've done more.

"That's alright, son. It's not your job to protect everybody. Don't know what to do with him now."

"Bury him before he changes, Barry." Vick advised firmly, "or else you'll be putting a bullet in his head and you'll never be able to picture him as a human again."

"Make a grave?" Barry questioned with slight shock in his voice, "bury him on my property?"

"What else are you going to do?"

I listened intently as they went back and forth and I silently sided with Vick. Alex needs to be buried before he changes and puts everybody else in danger.

When I headed upstairs, I was met by Kara who quickly noticed something was wrong. I explained to her what happened though it made me feel as if I was throwing salt on the wound when I talk about it.

"You have to be glad you survived," Kara examined the bloody teeth marks on my shirt. "If we didn't stop for those vests, you would've been done, too."

"Hey, kiddo," Vick walked in, meeting my gaze immediately. "I'm sorry about what happened today. I hate that I brought you out there and you damn near died because of it."

"Don't worry about me," I objected in a low tone. "I'm sorry for what happened to Alex. He had kids, man. He had a family. I guess we couldn't do more — we only had two vests."

"No, it was my fault." Vick argued, "we had three vests, Jake. I saved it for Kara."

He saved that vest for Kara instead of offering it to Christie or Alex. He made a choice and there was no way I could hold it against him — that choice ensured that Kara would have protection. When I walked out of the room, I reluctantly headed down to Christie's room.

"I'm sorry, Christie. For what happened to Alex," I spoke somberly as I entered through the doorway. "I wish we could've done more."

"No," Christie stood up from her bed where her child lay also. "I'm sorry. I brought us out there for no fucking reason."

"What?"

"Alex turned because he was bit. I thought fucking antibiotics would stop Milo from turning into one of them but I see now. There is no cure for this goddamned disease."

That's why she wouldn't tell us what was wrong with Milo. He was bit too and she thought that it would stop him from turning if she could find antibiotics quick enough.

"Milo is changing," she spoke once more as tears rolled down her freckled face. "The medicine just prolonged it but his body is shutting down now. He's not going to be himself for much longer and I failed as a mother."

"You didn't fail as a mother. Nobody can protect anybody from this cruel virus, Christie. I lost my brother because he didn't believe that his girlfriend was changing into one of them," I explained in a hushed tone. "There's only one way to stop it from hurting anybody else."

It's sad but true.

Tonight Christie would bury her child and her boyfriend.