Kelly smiled for the first time that day and in that moment an ocean of memories flooded back to Martin. They had been high school sweethearts until they both left for college. The last time Martin had seen her was when she’d adopted one of Collin’s golden retriever puppies.
Collin continued to dab Mollies brow with a damp towel, pushing her hair back gently behind her ear. “We’re not leaving without Mollie and she can’t move like this.”
“Plus, if we did take her and we ran into any of the infected, we’d be screwed. No way we could outrun them while carrying her.” Martin pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh. “We’ll have to stay put for the night.”
Kelly looked anxious. “We’re going to need to fix this place up then. They get crazy at night. And the stronger ones come out too.”
As if on cue, a low deep howl echoed in the distance.
Chapter 9
“Like what? We’ve got some old bits of chip board in the garage downstairs we could use to board up the door.” Col lin stroked the end of his salt and pepper beard.
“That’ll only hold them back for a while. Their sense of smell is ridiculous.” Kelly fidgeted with her hair and flashed a look towards Mollie’s stationary figure. “We need to cover our smell.”
“With what?”
“The only thing I saw work when I was in the city was a dead infected. Petrol, paint or chemicals don’t cover us. But when the infected die, they seem to rapidly digest themselves. It gives off such an awful smell.” Kelly swallowed hard, as if forcing dow n a rising glob of sick.
With a surprising taint of venom in his voice, Collin roared: “You’re not touching her. She might not even be infected. She is just... sick.” Collin looked to Martin for help, but even he was unsure.
Martin walked towards the window and stared out at the fields below, in the distance the barn cast a long shadow as the sun got lower. “I shot one of them from the bunker. From in the bunker.” Martin glanced curiously at Collin. “I’m not sure what with though.”
“.50 Cal mounted turret. ”
Kelly’s eyes grew wide at that answer. “Wow.”
“But she isn’t dead. When I made my way over here she was crawling across the ground. But if we can get to her, we could use her.”
Kelly stood and Duke bolted up as well, eyes focused on Kelly. “Okay, let’s go. It’ll be dark soon and believe me, you don’t want to be stuck out there out night.”
**
Martin and Kelly stood at the threshold of the house, looking out onto the field.
Duke was sniffing around the hallway, taking a particular interest in the broken picture frame. Collin had given them his old hunting rifle and a few rounds which Martin had taken. Kelly had the cleaver in one hand and the Duke’s lead in the other.
Kelly squinted into the distance, craning her head forward slightly. “Where is she?”
“Over there somewhere, she was still moving when I left her a few hours ago.” Martin pointed vaguely towards the left side of the field.
“Duke should be able to sniff her out. When he starts going crazy, you’ll know she is near. Let’s hope there aren’t any more of them out there.”
They walked out the door and crossed the porch in three quick steps. Duke padded alongside them, ears pricked up and tail low.
“How have you been then?” Kelly tried to fill the silence that surrounded them, she’d always hated awkward silences.
Martin was looking ahead for any signs of movement, the gun was slung over his shoulder loosely. He took a second to consider his answer, lie or be honest. Honesty. “Shitty to be honest, Kel. That’s why I came back here. I lost my job on the force and then Karen left me.” Martin hesitated, he didn’t want to tell her he’d start drinking again.
Kelly forced out a smile. “Well, none of that matters at the moment. Until they find a cure, the only thing is survival.”
They’d been walking for a couple minutes now without seeing