The First 30 Days (PUBLISHED)

Twenty-Seven - Day 14

The rain had been pounding the metal roof over our heads for over a day. At first, the sound had lulled me into the best sleep that I had had in weeks. But now, the constant drumming had started to wear on my nerves. Our already gloomy hide out was even darker, the rain clouds keeping the sun's light from even making it to the trees above. With no way to really get dry quickly, and no spare clothes, we all stayed indoors even more than usual. I was starting to feel trapped.

Wandering to the door that led outside, I fiddled with our makeshift fix. It did the job, but wasn't going to keep out anyone who was determined to get inside. Looking behind me, I found Shawn and Fallon playing cards at one of the round tables. The discovery of the well worn deck was giving them something to do to pass the time, but I'd never really liked card games. I was on my own. Suddenly unable to stay cooped up in the dark building for another second, I opened the door.

Outside, the rain still came down in wind driven sheets. The small overhang above the door kept the worst of it off of me as I stepped out. Leaving the interior was just what I had been needing, and I instantly felt lighter. I didn't even mind that I was already wet from the knees down, the wind carrying the rain to me despite the roof.

The entire world looked grey. The rain kept me from being able to see it clearly. The dense underbrush that marked the start of the forest appeared blurry, even though I knew that it wasn't all that far. Leaning back against the open door frame, I crossed my arms and settled in to watch the rain.

I had been standing there for several minutes, lulled into a semi trance by the repetitive sights and sounds of the storm, when movement in the distance caught my attention. Standing up straight, I focused on where I was sure something other than the rain had moved. I didn't have to wait long before I saw it again. Down the road, far enough away that I couldn't make out anything clearly, a distinctly human shape emerged from the gloom.

"Guys."

I kept my voice down and my eyes trained on the figure. They moved along slowly. I couldn't tell if it was a zombie or someone who was still alive.

My low level of worry ratcheted up to blatant alarm when three more figures took shape in the rain. "Guys!" I hissed louder and dared a look behind me to see if they had heard me this time. When Shawn looked up with alarm, I knew they had heard, and swung back around to watch the figures in the distance.

I backed back through the doorway, keeping my gaze locked on the four distant shapes, as Shawn appeared by my side. Raising an arm, I pointed, drawing his attention to what had alarmed me. We watched them draw slowly closer for a few seconds, before closing the door and securing it the best that we could.

"What is it?" Fallon asked.

"I don't know. Maybe people. Maybe zombies."

"Zombies, as in plural?" She looked at me with alarm.

"Yeah."

"How many?"

"I saw four." Shawn answered her as he began to drag one of the heavy tables toward the door. "We need to be ready. If they're zombies, our best bet is to stay quiet and hope they don't figure out that we are in here."

I cringed at the screech the table made against the floor. Moving to it, I grabbed one side and lifted. Shawn followed suit, and we carried the table the rest of the way to the door. We set it down up against the door. I didn't know if it would be any help, but it seemed better than doing nothing.

I couldn't see out of the high windows that this building had. Pulling a chair over, I used it to gain the needed height. Shawn and Fallon were already looking out another window. It took me a second to locate the figures because I was looking in the wrong area. They were much closer to the building than I would have figured. Silently, the three of us watched as they drew closer.

As the four figures turned off of the little back road and into the camp driveway, they finally were clear enough to start to make out details. I didn't think that they were zombies.

They moved like people. The one in the lead was taller and broad shouldered. Close behind him, two smaller figures huddled close together, and a tall thin figure was in the rear. All of them seemed to be doing their best to avoid the wind and rain, while moving steadily toward our building.

I practically held my breath, worried absurdly that they would somehow be able to hear my breathing. At the next window over, Shawn and Fallon both held completely still, warily watching the people approach. When the closest figure drew within a few feet of Shawn's jeep, he paused to look in through the windows. He appeared to say something to the people behind him, but I couldn't hear what it was over the roar of the rain on the roof. As one, the group looked back to the door of our building. They seemed to huddle closer together as they watched. I could only guess that they were probably looking for any signs of life, unsure if whoever drove the jeep would still be among the living.

After a long minute of staring, from both sides, the leader slowly began to walk toward the front door. Alarmed, I looked over to my companions. There were four of them, and only three of us. And our weapons consisted of a ball bat and two kitchen knives. If the newcomers wanted to cause us any trouble, we would have difficulty defending ourselves. Sharing a silent glance between us, I knew that the three of us were all thinking the same thing.

Another look outside told me that we were out of time. The man was nearly to the overhang. No one seemed to know what to do, and panicking a little, I yelled, "Stop!"

Fallon made a noise that I interpreted as distress, but my yell had the desired effect. The man came to a startled stop. Squinting through the rain, he looked around himself before focusing on the door again. One of the smaller figures came up to stand next to him, and she was finally close enough for me to see that it was a woman.

There was another long moment of silence while we all stared again. The people outside shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, no doubt soaked and freezing, and probably nervous to be standing out there while we watched them from in here. I started to feel a little bit bad for them.

They were people, just like us. I couldn't see any weapons, but that didn't mean much with the rain and gloom concealing the details from me. But the fact that there was a woman with the big man made me feel slightly better, even if that thought was a little ridiculous.

The woman next to the man was the first one to break our stalemate. "We don't want any trouble. We're just looking for a place to get out of the rain."

None of us knew what to do. I could see it plainly written on their faces. Shawn looked over to me, seemingly asking me what I thought we should do. Then I looked at Fallon. A couple of days ago, we hadn't known her, either. But she hadn't proven dangerous. In fact, she was the one who fixed the broken door. If we hadn't helped her, she would probably be dead by now.

If we stopped helping each other, humanity was as good as dead. We needed each other more than ever if any of us were going to survive the zombies. "I think we should let them in," I whispered.