Free Lake Yixa by Cameron Harper Page B

into hours. The kids
had woken up in that time and eaten the remainder of the chili.
          Sarah had gone out
to the shed and found a few of the toys Liam had made and a box of blocks. She
brought them in for the kids to play with. As they played, she sat there going
over the events of that morning. Why did
I let him leave? I should have gone , she thought over and over. She was
dumb to believe he was a nice guy.
          She returned to
the door and opened it again. The sun was starting to set. Her gut twitched
with the thought that she was left with two kids to take care of. She turned to
look at them. Matt was moody but still a polite kid. Zoe was too cute for words
with her dimples in her checks and her long black hair. Sarah’s brain started
to hurt as she thought of everything.
          "Damn it,
where are you, Jeremy?" she said aloud, turning back to close the door. As
if on cue, Jeremy was riding up the driveway on a bike, a few small bags
strapped to it. H e smiled when he saw Sarah , but as
he came closer, his smile soon faded .
          "Sorry,"
Jeremy said as he pulled up to the door. "The nearest houses are not
really that close, it turns out." Matt and Zoe both heard his voice and
came running out.
          "Daddy!"
Zoe squealed and Matt shouted .
          "I'm just
glad you ’re back," Sarah said with a note of relief in her
voice.
          "Were the
kids bad?" he asked, looking down at the two of them hugging him.
          "No. I just
was getting worried that something happened to you," she replied.
          "Sarah read
to us," Zoe said. "She also found us toys!" She held up a wooden
train.
          "Oh, that's
really nice of her," he replied. "Can you guys let go of me now? I
need to get off this bike sometime before nightfall." The two of them
backed up, letting him off. He leaned the bike against the house and undid the
two bags.
          "There wasn't
really a whole lot of houses around this area. There are a few by the
coastline, but they had been looted already," he said as he moved by
Sarah. The two kids followed in behind him and returned to playing with the
wooden toys.
          "I found a
few cans of food and some other random things," Jeremy said as he set the
bags down on the table. He then took off a backpack. "I went to my house
and got some clothes for the kids and myself."
          Sarah was looking
at the cans of food, sorting them into two piles. Jeremy looked at her, not
sure what she was doing. Sarah looked up after the last can to see Jeremy
looking at her.
          "Was checking
the dates," she said.
          "Even if they
are past due, we could still eat them," Jeremy replied, looking at the two
piles. One was much smaller than the other.
          "It's not
that. Didn't you read or listen to anything that's been happening over the past
few months before all this happened?"
          "No,
what?" he asked, looking at her. Sarah told him everything she knew, which
wasn't a lot when it came right down to it. Jeremy wasn't sure why there were
zombies, but over-processed food did sound like a passable reason. He pack ed the bigger group of cans
into a bag and set it by the trash can.
          "Sorry,"
Sarah said, watching him.
          "It's all
right. Better safe than sorry, you know." Jeremy smiled softly and turned
to look at the kids. "I was wondering if tomorrow you would be okay with
keeping lookout at the lake. Kids need a bath, and I could use one too."
          Sarah didn't reply
right away, making Jeremy wonder if he said something wrong. When she finally
answered, it was just a single word.
          "Okay."
          "Thanks. I'm
going to put the bike in the shed." She watched as he went out the front
door.
          They spent the
rest of the night sitting around the fire. Jeremy played with the kids, building
castles out of blocks and continuing to read James and the Giant Peach to them. Sarah would listen