Chapter 7.4

"Hey," Neil pulled back to look into Rosemarie’s eyes. "It's going to be okay."

Aware that she was probably stressing out the dying man, she wiped her face and nodded.

“I'm sorry,” she looked at Mark. “I didn't mean to lose my cool.”

He smiled a brittle smile as he reached out and touched her foot. “Sorry for the trouble.”

“It's no trouble,” she lied.

He pulled his hand back to rest across his chest. 

Chapter 7.3

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” said Randy gruffly.

Rosemarie winced at the pain as Randy’s fingers clamped on her arm. “Get off,” she jerked away.

His eyes had a wild anger that caused a vein at his temple to poke out. “Are you trying to get us all killed? Are you that much of a fucking bleeding heart?”

The venom in his voice caught her off guard and she struggled to respond.

“I’m not-”

Chapter 7.2

Georgi stopped the truck and jumped out. She reached in and pulled Alex out quickly.

“Alex, grab some snacks and go into the treehouse,” she ordered.

She went into the cabin, came out with a gun and followed Alex to the treehouse.

Neil and Rosemarie dragged the stranger out of the truck. She ran into the cabin to get a blanket and the first aid kit. Laying the guy on the blanket, she started cleaning and bandaging his wounds.

“We were attacked,” the man said. He looked like he was holding back tears. “My family….”

Chapter 7: Life Lessons

Riding in the back of the truck was a freaking scary experience for Rosemarie. Randy was standing in the back on guard with his shotgun, and at his feet three more they found at Levi’s.

Rosemarie was having mini heart attacks at every bump.

She thumped on the top of the truck and yelled, “Could you slow it down a little?”

Georgi gave her a thumbs up and slowed.

Oh bless her compassion, thought Rosemarie

“Slowing down is a bad idea,” said Randy as he scanned the road. He was twitching at every bend, as if a monster was going to jump out of the woods at any moment.

Chapter 6.3

Rosemarie, Alex, and Georgi ventured into the house. They were quiet as they entered the door. The silence fell like a heavy blanket on them. Rosemarie imagined that she smelled disinfectant. She shook herself.

“Momma,” said Alex.

“Yes, sweetie?” Georgi asked.

“I am hungry,” she said.

“I will make something since it took so long to get here,” Georgi said as she put down her bag and started making a quick lunch.

Chapter 6.2

After breakfast, they emptied the bags and backpacks they were taking to Levi’s house.

Rosemarie walked up looking pissed. “My car is out of gas,” She narrowed her eyes at Randy. “And it stinks.”

Georgi let out an exasperated sigh as she stared at her husband. “All the gas? Really? We just refilled it.”

Randy looked away and scowled into the woods.

“What about the other car?” said Neil.

Chapter 6: Trip to Levi's

Sunlight streamed into Georgi’s eyes. She was confused for a few minutes, before realizing that she had slept in the treehouse. Quickly sitting up, she stretched and looked around for her daughter. Alex was still asleep curled up like a little angel among her blankets.

“Wake up sweetie,” Georgi said, brushing hair out of Alex’s face.

Her big brown eyes fluttered open for a second before closing again. She wasn’t quick at waking up. She needed a little time to will herself out of bed.

Chapter 5.5

Randy scarfed down his second bowl of food then headed back to the cabin.

“Is Daddy still sick?” Alex asked as she watched him stumble back to the cabin.

“In more ways than one,” Rosemarie grumbled.

“Yeah, sweetie,” Georgi said. “He’s going to sleep until his stomach feels better.”

“Will he need medicine?” Alex asked.

Chapter 5.4

Georgi was peering into a big pot when they walked up.

“Hope you like Surprise Soup,” she said.

“What’s the surprise?” ask Neil.

Georgi handed Neil a bowl.

“It isn’t soup,” said Alex with a giggle.

Neil looked into the bowl at the spaghetti and smiled.

“Got you!” Alex giggled.

Chapter 5.3

Georgi was eyeing Neil up and down like she was trying to figure out what to do with him.

“Thanks for bringing him back,” she said finally.

“You’re welcome,” replied Neil.

There was another pause of silence that was, again, broken by drunken noises coming from the cabin.

“Where are my manners?” said Georgi. “Would you like a drink or something to eat? I was about to make some dinner.”

Neil smiled. “That would be great.”

Chapter 5.2

Georgi kept Rosemarie busy with repairs and moving supplies. Despite her workload, all Rosemarie could think about was Randy’s drunken joyride to kill zombies.  

As the day wore on, there was still no sign of him.

“I hope he gets eaten,” Rosemarie grumbled to Murphy. “That’ll teach him.”

Murphy wagged his tail in what she believed was agreement.

She heard Georgi snickering behind her. “Let’s get cleaned up and eat dinner,” Georgie said, grabbing some towels out of one of the bags. “We’ll try out the new clothesline after we finish.”

Chapter 5: What Drug In The Cat

Sometime in the dead of night, the sound of tires spinning rocks into the cabin woke Rosemarie from a dream.  

“What the hell?” she said before her brain could register there was a nine year old in the room.

“Stay here, baby.” Georgi said before unzipping her tent.

Grabbing her flashlight, Rosemarie climbed out of her tent. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know.” Georgi moved to a long plastic case with her keys in hand and grabbed the lock. “Give me some light.”

Rosemarie shined the light on the gun case as Georgi unlocked it and pulled out a rifle.

Chapter 4.3

The night was pretty uneventful. Especially when compared to what they had been through the day before. Through the cracks between the logs, they could see fireflies dancing out in the woods . The crickets’ songs were punctuated with Murphy’s occasional barks and growls.

“That girl needs to control her dog,” whispered Randy.

“She is doin’ the best she can. Murphy isn’t used to the noises yet,” Georgi whispered back.

“If he doesn’t get use to them soon, he’ll have to go,” Randy hissed.

Chapter 4.2

After Georgi had some time to calm down and think, she still didn’t believe that zombies were real. At least not the way Randy made them out to be.

She could believe it was caused by a  new drug that was hitting the streets. She could even believe that it was some sort of virus that attacks the brain making people aggressive and lose body functions. But she couldn’t believe in the dead reanimating and trying to eat brains.

She had to get it together. Whatever was going on, plague or dead coming back to life, she had to keep her  head on straight.

Chapter 4: Panic

As they drove up their hidden drive, Rosemarie could see the treehouse in the dimming light. Randy had cleared away some of the overgrowth to allow the cars to be pulled up to the cabin.

She cleared her throat. "Could we...um...not tell Randy about..."

"Yeah," Georgi agreed. "Alex, can you keep that to yourself for a little bit?"

The little head nodded. "Was that man okay?"

"Um...he had something wrong with his head. Something that might make him dangerous. We need to be really careful outside. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am." she answered.

Chapter 3.4

Georgi turned onto the gravel drive of a two story farmhouse. There were no cars in sight and the front door was wide open. The women exchanged glances.

Rosemarie rolled down the window and called, “Hello!”

No one answered. They sat in the car for a moment.

“Should we get out?” Georgi asked.

Rosemarie scanned the surroundings before answering, “I suppose we could take a look.”

“Alex, stay in the car with Murphy,” Georgi said.

Chapter 3.3

“That's my car,” Rosemarie said as it dawned on her. “That's my stuff!”

Georgi stopped the car and Rosemarie hopped out.

“What the fuck are you doing? The Zombies could still be here!” Randy yelled after her.

“Shut it, crazy. This is vandals not zombies,” Rosemarie snapped.

“Then why wasn’t anything stolen?” he threw up his hands. “Because zombies don’t eat food!”

Chapter 3.2

With Randy's driving, they reached the station in record time. He parked the car at the pump and left the engine running as he got out.

“Stay here,” he said, walking gun first toward the door.

He moved as if he was expecting something to jump out on him, as he crept into the gas station. A few minutes later he walked out, then continued around the building.

“All clear,” he said in a loud whisper.

Georgi reached over and turned off the ignition.

The gas station was open, but no one was in sight. Peering in the garage of the station, they could see an old car with it’s hood up, but no mechanic.

Chapter 3: Run Away!

Settling in on that first night wasn’t an easy task. Murphy whined and barked at noises outside the cabin while Randy hissed at Rosemarie to keep him quiet. At some point, he decided to go outside and stay on guard. The rest of the group tried to get some sleep. But between sleeping on the ground, the heat, and the nervous pup, it was difficult.

Rosemarie had to get up to use the outhouse and discovered that her fear of spiders increased with the dark. On her way back, she heard rustling in the woods and high tailed it back inside.

Chapter 2.5

Rosemarie would've rather been cooking in her own home, on a proper stove in the air conditioning. And she could definitely do without the spiders and the dust. But all in all, dinner was pretty good.

Randy paced outside eating his dinner, muttering between bites. Rosemarie knew from Georgi that this was one of his habits. It scared the neighbors, and now that she was witnessing it, she understood why.

When he finished cleaning his plate and scaring the wildlife, he came back inside. “We need to barricade ourselves in better,” he said.

Chapter 2.4

Georgi put down the notebook then pulled out a small camp stove and set it up just outside the cabin door.

"Looks like we didn't forget all the pots," Rosemarie said, pulling a small saucepan out of the supplies.

She pulled shiny red plastic plates and utensils from a bag. “It's not the fanciest, but it'll do."

“I, for one, am thankful we have anything to eat, much less something to eat on,” Rosemarie said.

Chapter 2.3

Rosemarie and Georgi unloaded the rest of the stuff from the car. Alex was in charge of making sure Murphy didn’t run off after a rabbit.

The women unpacked the car and sprawled the bulk of their luggage across the front porch. Finding an opportunity to take a break from the heat, they decided to explore the cabin. They felt instant relief as they entered.

Georgi stopped just inside the door to allow her eyes time to adjust to the light. It had been years since she had entered this place. Tiny streams of sunlight poured through the cracks around the boarded up windows. Dust motes danced through the air landing on cobweb coated piles of stored junk.

Chapter 2.2

As they neared the winding back roads, Rosemarie's car began to slow.

“What the hell,” Randy hissed.

“She must be out of gas,” she sighed.

Randy slowed and pulled over. He jumped out with his hand on the gun, like he was ready for high noon. “What is the problem,” he demanded.

“Out of fu….” Rosemarie’s eyes darted to Alex. “Out of gas, finally.”

Randy glared at Rosemarie; the patch of red on his neck darkening the angrier he got.

“Come on, Alex, we’d better go help,” Georgi said.

The girl sighed, put down her game, and climbed out.

“We need to take stuff out to make room for Rosemarie and Murphy,” Georgi opened the trunk.

Chapter 2: Making Camp

Georgi looked back through the window to see Rosemarie keeping up with them. Streams of cars were heading towards Mississippi and she wondered if they were doing the right thing.

“They think they'll be safer there,” Randy grumbled under his breath.

Maybe they would have been better off not leaving with Randy. She was having second thoughts, just like she did when she married him. He had asked her to marry him while he was drunk. Despite a little voice warning her not to, said yes. She'd even thought of running off right before the wedding, but she didn't.

Now every time he went into paranoid pack-rat mode or a drinking binge she’d think back to the moment she missed. And like then she wasn’t listening to the warning.

They say love is blind. Love might be a little stupid, she thought.

Chapter 1.3

Rosemarie slammed on the brakes. The man froze in the middle of the road. His tall, thin body shuddered at the sound of her tires screeching. He waited for a few breaths his eyes darting around before approaching the car. Brushing his hair out of his face, he inched closer and leaned down to her window.

“Hey!” he said. “You guys going to Tuscaloosa?”

She heard Georgi’s car stop before she answered. “Kind of,” she said through the window. “We’re headed to a place several miles outside of there.”

She heard a car door slam.

“Tuscaloosa is in bad shape. Steer clear of there,” He warned.

Randy cocked his gun and walked toward the man. “Have you been bitten?” he said, aiming the gun at his head.

The man threw up his arms and backed away. “Woah! Take it easy!”

Chapter 1.2

Rosemarie was frantically throwing random stuff from her apartment into her car when they pulled up.

Georgi immediately got out and headed for the nearest box. Her nine year old, Alexis, followed.

“Are these boxes ready to go?” Georgi asked.

Rosemarie looked around. “I think so. Alex, grab those pillows.”

The girl nodded. She wrapped her little arms around a pile of pillows and began to waddle with them out the door.

“Uh, can I make a suggestion?” Randy said as he peered down at the heaps of stuff.  

Rosemarie suppressed a groan. “Yeah, sure.” You’re going to anyway.

“You should leave your school books. They’re heavy, take up space, and are pretty much useless,” he said.

“Look, this is a few hundred dollars worth of books. I’m not leaving them here to be looted,” Rosemarie growled, unable to hide her agitation. 
“We’re not moving to another apartment. We’re leaving to survive,” he said irritably. 
He continued to argue with her as Georgi and Alex carried stuff out.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

The first reported case of the virus was just another blip on the local news. It was reported as a simple case of assault. A man attacked another man outside of the Piggly Wiggly, viciously clawing and biting him as he was putting his cart in the return. The attacker was arrested and later transferred to a hospital for psychological evaluation.

Rosemarie and Georgiana didn’t really pay any attention to this report. They had more important things going on. Mainly, preparing for their finals. The best friends were working on finishing their junior year in Landscape Architecture. To say they were too exhausted to care about a brawl in a grocery store parking lot, would have been an understatement.

It wasn’t until a few days later that either of them noticed the series of attacks mounting up. Well, technically it wasn’t one of them, it was Georgina’s husband.

He read about the first attack with some interest. Immediately he started pestering Georgi about there being an outbreak. She ignored him as she usually did when he started spouting off his paranoid conspiracy theories.

A Rewrite

Dear readers,

As we continue with the development of our story, we have discovered that the first person perspective will hinder future story progression. Due to this, we have decided to change perspective from first person to third. You may notice that chapters 1-3 have already been changed and all subsequent posts will be written in third person.

We believe these changes will enhance the story greatly.

Thank you for your continued support,

Ambling and Freckled Chick

From the notebook of Georgiana: Copper pipe & Plexiglas