Outbreak

Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Avi

"You think we're being overrun by...zombies?" Reyes looks at me incredulously, as if I have grown four heads and morphed into a vicious dog.

"She likes to read and once she has her mind set on something, she's never going back." Marlowe chuckles at me as I glare at her.

"Well, what do you think they are?" I growl, placing my hands on my hips and wait for her answer.

"I think they are poor people that got infected with something...Not zombies." She states, crossing her arms over her chest with a her lips turned upwards smugly like she has beat me. "There is no such thing as zombies, and the government will probably sort this whole thing out before we know it."

"I doubt that. In every book, movie and show I've watched and read, the government is the first to fall in these sorts of things."

"This isn't a movie."

"No, but it's our lives." I finish, my eyes burning with tears. "Why did this have to happen in our generation? Why now? We don't deserve this." I sob loudly as I fall into Marlowe's open arms.

"No one deserves this. But we have to make the best of our situation, and I've been thinking. You girls have nowhere to go, am I right?" Reyes glances at both of us.

I am taking in what he is saying, my tears slowly coming to a stop. "No. We're just looking for a safe place." I whisper hoarsely.

"You see, I may need a little help on the farm. If you decide to stay here, these tasks can be a sort of payment for you girls. I'll even let you sleep in the guest bedrooms and not the barn."

I look at Marlowe, disbelief coursing through my veins. I see that she has the same look as me, but there was something else: relief.

"We can get bacon?" I ask, praying the answer is yes.

"Well, not everyday because I have so many pigs, but of course."

"And beds?" Marlowe questions, hope and excitement filling those eyes that have braved too much of the evil in this world. "And showers? And food? And medicine?"

Her words spark something in me, a feeling I haven't felt for years, even before the collapse.

"Yes. Yes...And yes."

Marlowe and I erupt in a fit of laughter filled crying. Our tears are happy, and so are we.

For now.