and those matching bandanas; they're guards. This must be their patrol."
I curl into a ball next to the bush I am beside and she follows, doing the same.
"Don't move till I say it's okay. No matter what," I whisper into the warm silence.
The bushes hide her and the gun. I tuck my hands behind my back, holding my knives. I let my face go slack.
I lie there and wait. If they're any good at their job, they’ll find me. If they're really good they'll just shoot me dead. It's what I would do. But after seeing the training on the other guards, I have hope I'll be alive and well within minutes of them both being dead.
The voices get louder, "Oh I know. I heard she was at the farms. It's sad but we all have to do our part." She sounds cold and detached.
The other lady doesn’t sound the same. She sounds upset, "She was seventeen. It isn’t right. I don’t give a shit what anyone says, she was too young."
The other lady's voice grows tense, "Well, when you are in ear shot of the others you better sing a different tune, Linda."
"I will."
They're almost on top of me. I relax my breath and play possum.
"Oh my God—look. It's a girl." One of them rushes at me. It's the distant sounding one. Her hands are warm when they touch my arms.
"She might be infected, Luce. Masks."
"She isn’t infected, no fever. She's sick; look at her. She's pale."
I take a breath and open my eyes.
The cold lady has dark hair and soft brown eyes. She smiles, "You okay?"
I nod and swallow.
"You been bit?"
I shake my head but I'm covered in brownish-green blood. I look like I'm carrying the infection.
"Can you get up?" she asks. The other lady watches me with sharp, steel-blue eyes and holds her gun on me.
As I get up, I move my hands fast. I slice the first lady across the throat and grab and spin her. The other woman fires but she shoots her friend in the back. I toss her friend aside and kick her legs out from under her. When she goes down, I stab into her heart hard. I pull the gun away and her bandana. I tie it around my throat the way they have it. I take the one with blue eyes and drag her into the bush. Looking around, I pull her shirt off. I rip mine off and pull on hers. We take their boots and pants too. It's against my rules, but I need clean clothes and we both need better boots. They aren’t amazing but they're better than the crap Vincent gave me.
"Get up," I whisper.
We rifle through the pockets and find the card that is the door key.
"Put the bandana on the way she has it."
We drag them both into the bushes and grab their guns. A truck comes along with men and women in it.
"HALT!" a man shouts, just as we leave the two dead naked women.
We stop.
He narrows his eyes, "You fire a shot?"
I shake my head.
"You hear a shot?"
I turn and point back the way I came, "No. We just came from there and a truck was driving by. It had a fan belt that was making a squeal. We didn’t hear anything but that."
He looks that way and nods.
I'm trembling inside. Anna is completely silent.
"Eyes and ears open, both of you," he points forward. The people in the truck drive on. I'm sucking air, like I've held it for a year. I think I've peed my pants a little. I look down at the small wet spot and shake my head, "Damn, new pants too."
Anna looks and smirks a little, "You having an issue?"
I fight a grin, "Yeah. Whatever they did to me is like my monthly situation combined with no bladder control."
She shakes her head, "We gotta get home."
"Okay, next part we act casual like this is our patrol," I nod up ahead.
We walk along the side of the building and I see it. It's across the wide road.
UMINA
There is no one. I take a breath and try to control my heartbeat. I feel like running in the other direction, when I take the first step to cross the street. The pavement here looks like before. The windows aren't stained with blood and dirty hands of the infected like everywhere else is. It looks like the infected have never been here
I curl into a ball next to the bush I am beside and she follows, doing the same.
"Don't move till I say it's okay. No matter what," I whisper into the warm silence.
The bushes hide her and the gun. I tuck my hands behind my back, holding my knives. I let my face go slack.
I lie there and wait. If they're any good at their job, they’ll find me. If they're really good they'll just shoot me dead. It's what I would do. But after seeing the training on the other guards, I have hope I'll be alive and well within minutes of them both being dead.
The voices get louder, "Oh I know. I heard she was at the farms. It's sad but we all have to do our part." She sounds cold and detached.
The other lady doesn’t sound the same. She sounds upset, "She was seventeen. It isn’t right. I don’t give a shit what anyone says, she was too young."
The other lady's voice grows tense, "Well, when you are in ear shot of the others you better sing a different tune, Linda."
"I will."
They're almost on top of me. I relax my breath and play possum.
"Oh my God—look. It's a girl." One of them rushes at me. It's the distant sounding one. Her hands are warm when they touch my arms.
"She might be infected, Luce. Masks."
"She isn’t infected, no fever. She's sick; look at her. She's pale."
I take a breath and open my eyes.
The cold lady has dark hair and soft brown eyes. She smiles, "You okay?"
I nod and swallow.
"You been bit?"
I shake my head but I'm covered in brownish-green blood. I look like I'm carrying the infection.
"Can you get up?" she asks. The other lady watches me with sharp, steel-blue eyes and holds her gun on me.
As I get up, I move my hands fast. I slice the first lady across the throat and grab and spin her. The other woman fires but she shoots her friend in the back. I toss her friend aside and kick her legs out from under her. When she goes down, I stab into her heart hard. I pull the gun away and her bandana. I tie it around my throat the way they have it. I take the one with blue eyes and drag her into the bush. Looking around, I pull her shirt off. I rip mine off and pull on hers. We take their boots and pants too. It's against my rules, but I need clean clothes and we both need better boots. They aren’t amazing but they're better than the crap Vincent gave me.
"Get up," I whisper.
We rifle through the pockets and find the card that is the door key.
"Put the bandana on the way she has it."
We drag them both into the bushes and grab their guns. A truck comes along with men and women in it.
"HALT!" a man shouts, just as we leave the two dead naked women.
We stop.
He narrows his eyes, "You fire a shot?"
I shake my head.
"You hear a shot?"
I turn and point back the way I came, "No. We just came from there and a truck was driving by. It had a fan belt that was making a squeal. We didn’t hear anything but that."
He looks that way and nods.
I'm trembling inside. Anna is completely silent.
"Eyes and ears open, both of you," he points forward. The people in the truck drive on. I'm sucking air, like I've held it for a year. I think I've peed my pants a little. I look down at the small wet spot and shake my head, "Damn, new pants too."
Anna looks and smirks a little, "You having an issue?"
I fight a grin, "Yeah. Whatever they did to me is like my monthly situation combined with no bladder control."
She shakes her head, "We gotta get home."
"Okay, next part we act casual like this is our patrol," I nod up ahead.
We walk along the side of the building and I see it. It's across the wide road.
UMINA
There is no one. I take a breath and try to control my heartbeat. I feel like running in the other direction, when I take the first step to cross the street. The pavement here looks like before. The windows aren't stained with blood and dirty hands of the infected like everywhere else is. It looks like the infected have never been here
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