Decaying Hearts

Little Things

I dug my spoon into the bowl of beans scrunching my nose, grimacing with every bite I took.

"I wish I still had that polaroid camera to take a picture of your face right now," Issac teased, sitting in the folding chair beside me.

The heat of the day was beginning to lessen, as the sun started retreating behind the green tree line. The light evening breeze was refreshing against my sweaty skin. All of us sat around the campfire, where Carrie had heated up some canned beans. Birds and various insects sang in a beautiful chorus around us, bringing me a little bit of peace.

"The plan still stands. Issac, Jacob, and Mouse will scout out the abandoned military outpost in the morning," John addressed the group, nodding at the three of us.

John only wanted three of us to go and scout, in case raiders had already taken hold of the outpost. It would be easier for three of us to evade them rather than seven of us. Specifically the group of raiders that call themselves The Fallen Angels. Despite their tacky name, they were not people you wanted to cross paths with.

"Sounds good," Jacob affirmed, filling his bowl with beans from the pot that still sat over the open fire.

"Pass me the hot sauce," Carrie nudged John's arm, her gaze set on the bottle of hot sauce by his brown work boots.

"Any sign of raiders you all hightail it out of there. Those supplies aren't worth your lives," John said while passing the hot sauce to Carrie.

"Says who," Jerry mumbled, stuffing his face with beans.

Despite his asshole delivery was partially right. We needed more weapons, more ammo and guns to protect ourselves from any future raider attacks. Everyone here besides Lexi had a handgun, and Jacob also had a hunting rifle. That was it though. We used to have more, but they were lost in a previous raid carried out by the Fallen Angels. 

"I do," John glowered at Jerry.

"Asshole," I muttered under my breath, leaning back in my chair. My grip tightening on the plastic bowl in my hands.

"I want to scout with them," Lexi quietly interjected.

Jerry started chuckling to himself, earning a glare from everyone around the fire. Lexi shrank down into her chair, her eyes sparkling with humiliation while they fell to the fire.

"I'm sorry dear, it's going to just be them this time," Carrie softly hummed.

"I'll take watch tonight for you Jacob, so you can have a goodnight's rest before tomorrow," John nodded at Jacob.

A brief silence enveloped us all, as we continued eating. "Do you think there is anything left of the military?" Issac sheepishly asked, breaking the silence.

"There has to be," John optimistically stated. "If we can survive this long, they must have as well."

"If you think they are still operating, why hasn't this stuff been sorted?" Jacob pondered, throwing his plastic bowl into the fire.

"It will take time. They have no way to communicate with each other. It's hard to reassemble a country in the dark," John's eyes were beaming with hope.

"And if it's gone, if there's nothing left of the government or military then what?" Issac retorted, leaning forwards placing his elbows on his knees.

"The only thing we can do. We keep going," John said in a lower unconvincing voice, almost as if he didn't believe we could survive long term.

The rest of dinner was blanketed with a silence that held a mixture of opposing voiceless opinions. Not all of us shared John's optimism on things returning to normal, well I certainly didn't. It's been eight months since the infection spread, I think by now we'd start to see some sort of movement if the government was still active. The static filled government distributed broadcasts that buzzed across radio systems at six am every single day ceased a couple months into this mess, and has never been reanimated.

I stared up at the white ceiling from my uncomfortable mattress. The room was illuminated by the sweet smelling vanilla candle beside my bed. The dark gray tank top sticking to my body due to the heat bouncing around the camper. My mind far from this place, it visited a world that didn't exist any longer. A world where my family was alive. I was away on a trip four hours from home when the virus sprouted across the states. I rushed back, well as quickly as I could in what the world was festering into. When I got back home, it was too late. They were already gone. Bitten to be precise, but my father didn't want for my brother, mother, or himself to become one of those things. So he shot them both before turning the gun on himself.

Although the haunting picture of their dead bodies wasn't what I was thinking about. Rather the happy little things, images of us all eating dinner together nightly, how growing up every Saturday morning my parents would deep clean filling the house with their out of tune humming, the countless laughs and smiles we shared, my little brother's mischievous grin before he pulled a prank on one of us, all the things I'd never get to experience with them again. Things I wish I wouldn't have taken for granted before.

I bolted upright hearing the door handle jiggle. After another second the door creaked open revealing Issac. He peered over his shoulder before entering, closing the door behind him. I raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing?" I kept my voice low to not wake Jacob.

The lumpy mattress dipped as he sat on the edge of it, a smile plastered on his face. "I got you something," he whispered in a cheery voice.

My face contorted with intrigue, while he dug into his back pocket. My whole face lit up while he held out a snickers bar towards me. "I know they are your favorite," he beamed.

"Oh my god, thank you," I excitedly whispered, snatching the candy from his extended hand.

He lightly chucked at my reaction, the flickering yellow flame sparkled across his eyes. I eagerly ripped open the packaging on the candy bar. Stringy caramel oozed out, as I tore it in half. I held out half to him gesturing for him to take it.

"Always a sweetheart," he chuckled, his fingers briefly lingered over mine before completely taking the half.

I felt my cheeks heat up at his choice of words and prolonged contact. Brushing it off I brought the snickers to my mouth. A small moan left my mouth as I bit in, as the chocolate melted in my mouth. I haven't had one of these since the world fell apart. I leaned against the camper wall smiling like an idiot, at the taste of a candy bar.

Issac stared at me, a smile tugging at his lips. I brought my hand to my mouth. "What" I asked through chews.

"Nothing," he smirked, shaking his head.

"Do you think tomorrow will go smoothly?" I nervously questioned in between my bites.

"I hope so," he whispered, taking his first bite.

"You know I won't let anything happen to you right?" Issac added, his eyes unwaveringly pierced through mine. Causing me to squirm due to the intensity and heat circulating through me.

I slowly nodded before looking down at the white sheets under me, to avoid his heated stare.

"Good," he remarked, standing up. I lifted my eyes back to him. "Goodnight Odessa," he softly smiled before exiting the room.

I sat with my back against the wall, the sound of Isaac's quiet footsteps and chorus of crickets and katydids outside the camper filling my ears, as I attempted to process what just happened.