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.
Randy turned back. “We need to save the gas in case of an emergency.”
“Says the guy that used up all the gas in my car.” Rosemarie said under her breath.
“It isn’t that far of a walk.” Randy continued, ignoring her. “We could just go through the woods,”
“M-maybe Alex and I should stay here,” Georgi said
Rosemarie gave her a hard look. “You’re going to send me alone with these two?”
Georgi chewed on her lip. Fine. “Uh...Randy,” she said as she walked up next to him.
He glanced over at her, but didn’t say anything.
“When we were at Uncle Levi’s, a crazy man came out of the woods.”
“What kind of crazy man? A zombie?”
“Why does it always have to be a zombie?” asked Rosemarie.
“Because we're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse!” He snapped at Rosemarie.
“Calm down.” Georgi put a hand on his shoulder. “It was just one and he wasn't that fast.”
“One zombie I can deal with,” said Randy as he turned back to his wife. “You should have told me sooner. I could have gone over there and dealt with it already.”
Georgi shouldered her bags and looked at the ground.
“It’s fine,” he said before he rechecked the shotgun. “We’ll make do. Let’s go.”
“Come on Alex.” Georgi called up to her. “Time for another adventure and gardenin’ supplies.”
“Gardenin’?” said Alex, bounding down the steps, “Finally.”
She picked up a bag and trotted off towards the woods with Murphy close at her heels.
“Slow down girl,” her mother called after her.
She stopped and waited for the group to catch up.
Leaves crunched under every step as they made their way down what used to be a path to Levi’s house.
“What’s that?” asked Alex. She was pointing to a small shed.
“I don’t know,” said Rosemarie.
The shed looked as if it was partially built into the side of the hill. Vines and bushes almost obscured the door to the building. Rosemarie and Alex pulled them away to reveal a slightly open door.
Neil poked his head inside. “It smells damp,”
A tiny little stream came out of the front of it. Ferns and little water plants grew along it.
Randy peered in. “Looks like a storage shed with nothing in it.” He took a step back. “The floor is wet.”
Georgi pushed past Randy. Waiting for her eyes to adjust, she could smell damp earth and hear water dripping. It was colder in there than it was outside.
“I think this is the old spring house,” she said.
“What’s it used for?” asked Alex. She tried to peer past her mother into the tiny building.
“Well, it covers a spring. They used them to keep food cold.”
“Why not use a fridge?”
“Fridges didn’t always exist,” Georgi said smiling. “People lived without them.”
“This is awesome!” said Rosemarie. “Clean water this close to camp.”
Georgi pulled out her journal and started scribbling in it. She had an idea that might work to have the water from this spring piped to their cabin.
“Great find, Alex,” Georgi said and hugged her daughter. “We’ll, check it out more later. We need to get on down the road.”
While they were hiking through the woods, Rosemarie picked up random leaves along the path and put them in her notebook.
“Some of these look familiar. I'll look them up in my plant materials book when we get back.” she said.
“Shhh.” Randy hushed her. “Zombies are attracted to noise.”
She shot Georgi a look. Her friend shrugged.
As they walked closer to the house, Rosemarie hooked a leash on Murphy. They stopped at the treeline. Nothing moved in Levi’s yard except a few birds hopping around after bugs in the grass.
“Wait here,” Randy whispered.
He crept into the yard and stopped. He seemed to listen for something then moved on around the house. The others waited in the trees as he crept around each building and then entered the house. After a few minutes, he appeared in the yard.
“All clear,” he announced.
Everyone shouldered their bags and walked toward the house.
Everything seemed to be where they girls had left it. Levi’s grave was still there and undisturbed.
That was a blessing.
Neil stared at the fresh grave.
“We buried Georgi’s uncle,” said Rosemarie.
“I am sorry,” said Neil.
Georgi nodded and held back her tears. She had to be strong for Alex.
“We should get what we can and get out of here,” said Rosemarie, looking around.
“Agreed,” Georgi said.
“I think I will have a look in there,” said Neil, pointing to Levi’s workshop. “Might find some building materials.”
Randy walked around the yard watching the treeline and driveway as everyone else packed.
Rosemarie found a wheelbarrow in the yard and rolled it up to the backdoor. “We could use this to carry big stuff like one of those barrels for our shower,” said Rosemarie.
Georgi smiled. “That’d be perfect.”
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