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.