Perhaps I shouldn’t have said a few things, but once my mind gets going it’s hard to stop. I’ve been unable to forget that moment when I lost Bethany, and often replay it in my sleep. Sometimes I’m the one who gets bitten, other times it’s my wife. When I awake, I find more comfort in the nightmare than the cruel world around me.
No…I’ve gotta stop thinking like that...Must stay positive…I promised them…
Eventually I found myself trapped in the attic. The first floor became indefensible even though I had cleared it room-by-room several times before. Just when I’d catch my breath and stare at my unbroken skin in disbelief, fresh waves arrived. Quickly it became obvious that I had chosen the wrong house to defend, and no amount of fortifications would ever hold them off. Once the attic became unsafe, I found myself on the roof, where I’ve been ever since.
That dang roof! The wind and rain were unforgiving, making the night unbearable. Still I scraped by. Barely.
Zombies seldom made it to the roof, and when they did, it was fun throwing them off headfirst and watching their skulls splatter on the pavement. I was utterly exposed up there, and in time, I had no choice but to jump from roof to roof and spend quality time with the neighbors.
For the longest time I complained about the crappy job that the contractors did constructing our neighborhood. The houses were too close together, creating a fire hazard. Now I appreciated their incompetence. If necessary, I could light them up and make them fall like dominoes.
Zombies wandered from house to house and swarmed wherever they found warm flesh. Since there were only a few hundred, they tended to overrun one house at a time. By jumping from one house to the next, I could hide out for a while, raid it of vital supplies, catch a few winks of sleep, and move the next door over when things got dicey.
Searching for survivors was pointless. They were either dead or crazy or adamant about sticking it out alone. When the last one fell and I felt truly alone, I knew that it was only a matter of time before I blew this joint.
I searched every home hoping that I was wrong—every last one—but not a soul survived. I stuck it out for four months before the zombies overwhelmed Echo Springs and I had no choice but to set the block on fire and hightail it out of there.
The home I once cherished was now ash, the remnants of my family tucked neatly underneath. I’m glad it’s gone now; otherwise, I’d be tempted to go back. And going back meant death.
“You’re still with me, here in my heart.” I offered a shot of Corner Creek to the charcoal sky.
Somehow I’ll build a new life for us. Somehow.
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