Undead Rises

The sun seeped through the trees and made everything start to glow. It reminded me of the orange flames that burned the world to the ground. The sound of screams and buildings turning into rubble. The fear and panic that seeped its way into everyone’s soul. For a moment, I relived through those memories of fire and chaos before finally pushing them away.

Today was another day. I had to find a way to be grateful for that fact.

With a sigh, I pulled myself into a sitting position and stretched, hoping to get the ache out of my back. Sleeping on the ground was slowly becoming easier. Tobias’ soft snores filled our peaceful surroundings, drowning out the soft chirps of birds and insects. My brother knew how to ruin a perfect scenery, and it did not bother him one bit. He had never been an outdoor person.

I walked over to him and kicked the bag out from under his head, causing the back of his head to hit the ground. “What?” he yelled sitting up, clearly confused but ready for any danger. “Good morning, Sunshine.” I smiled down at him with a smile. Tobias shook his head and slowly got up, clearly annoyed at his rude awakening.

“Seriously Cora? Couldn’t you have woken me up like a normal person would?” he asked, stretching his hands over his head before bending down and shouldering his dark brown tattered backpack. “Where’s the fun in that?” I asked before walking to the trees that surrounded us, slowly unwinding the wire we used as a layer of protection. Attached to the wire, were several empty cans that made a loud clanking sound if something were to walk into the wire.

It acted as an alarm if we were surrounded by the undead in our sleep. It was nowhere near high walls and barbed wire, but it was the best thing that we had.

When the wire was down and packed away, we started to walk. We had been doing this for several weeks, trying to make it back to our hometown.

Before everything went to shit, Tobias and I were doing our annual sibling trip. So, we had no idea if our friends or our parents were even still alive. We wanted to go back to our hometown in case they were there, waiting for us but I doubted it. It was Tobias who had more hope and faith towards our friends still being in town, he didn’t want to believe in the possibility that his girlfriend was most likely dead.

My brother wasn’t looking for the logic in this, which he usually did, and it made me worry about him. However, I promised myself that no matter what we found in our hometown, I’d be there for him.

“Cora?” his groggy deep voice pulled me out of my thoughts, I looked over at my brother whose eyebrows were furrowed in concern. “Sorry, lost in thought.” I sighed as we continued to track through the woods. Usually when I got too quiet, he’d check up on me, no matter how I had treated him.

“There should be a highway a mile up. If we stick next to it, we should be home tomorrow afternoon.” he mumbled, glancing down at the map in his hands but focused on me. Always a concerned big brother. Even with the worry in his voice, I noticed the tinge of excitement and hope in there as well.

The sound of a snapping twig sliced through the woods like a blade cutting through steel, there was something behind us. Silence filled the air around us, as we waited for another sound. Nothing came. “Run.” Tobias whispered before grabbing my hand and running.

Tobias was much taller than I was, so it was difficult to keep up with him. My legs burned and my lungs ached as we ran, but we weren’t watching where we were going. We were just desperate to get away from whatever was behind us.

Tobias’ foot got caught on tree roots that peeked out of the ground before falling down a steep hill, dragging me with him.

I felt the rocks and sticks scratch me, as sand turned to a cloud of dust on my way down the hill. When we reached the bottom, I had hit the ground so hard that for a moment I couldn’t breathe, I gasped for air. After a few seconds, my lungs remembered how to inhale and exhale again. “Cora? Are you okay?” I heard Tobias groan, clearly in pain as well. I nodded even though I knew he couldn’t see. “Yea, just winded. What about you?” I asked him as I slowly pulled myself to a sitting position, my body reluctantly to do so.

“Tobias?”

Turning my head to look over at my brother, I saw his eyes were closed. Forcing myself to stand despite the pain, I walked over to him and got to my knees beside him. “Tobias, wake up. Tobias!” I felt the lump in my throat form and the sting behind my eyes, but before I started to panic, I took a breath. I felt his pulse and it was still strong, he probably just hit his head on the way down. Sighing in relief I sat back and looked at him, I didn’t know what I’d do if I ever lost him.

“Is he okay?” I heard a voice ask from up the hill. Startled, I stood in front of my brother, ready to protect him. I watched as a woman slowly walked down the hill, careful not to fall. The woman had long midnight black hair pulled into a bun, revealing her undercut. She had a tattoo just barely peeking out from her back, almost touching the edge of her collar bone. The woman was wearing black pants, a red flannel shirt and a leather jacket that looked baggy on her. That’s when I noticed the gun strapped to her thigh and the shotgun on her back.

When she reached the bottom, she faced me. I couldn’t help but notice the small scar just under her left eye. The woman had not reached for her weapon, but her hand was dangerously close to the handle of the gun strapped to her thigh.

“Are you aware that you’re on my property?” she asked as she took a step closer, she had an evident southern accent. I noticed her beautiful green eyes; it was the color of pine trees in summer. She was clearly a beautiful woman, but I didn’t know if she was a good person.

“Look, I’m sorry for trespassing, but we’re just passing through. I’m not looking for trouble, I just want to wait until he wakes up and we’ll leave.” I spoke firmly and confidently; I didn’t want to sound weak or desperate to the woman in front of me. For a moment, she doesn’t say anything but watch me. Her eyes, studying me.

“Well, looks like his gonna be out for a bit. I have a cabin, not too far from here, y’all can stay for the night and you can wait for sleeping beauty to wake up. Then you can be on your way tomorrow mornin’.” she explained, crossing her arms and leaning against the tree. This action allowed me to understand that she did not view us as a threat, and that was good.

“Why are you offering to help us?” I asked her, feeling myself become less hostile. The woman shrugged before walking closer to my, both of us towered over my brother’s unconscious body. “Y’all look like you’ve been through hell. And if you wanted to kill me, you would’ve already tried.” she smirked before looking down at Tobias. “Tried? What makes you think we wouldn’t have succeeded?” It was exactly the right thing to ask when someone was offering you shelter, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking it.

“I’m not an easy person to kill, darlin’. By the way, I’m Aria. Aria Smith.” She stated confidently before putting her hand out, I shook her hand firmly. “My name is Cora Henderson. And sleeping beauty is Tobias.” I said pointing to my brother. Aria nodded her head. “Let’s go.” was all she said before grabbing one of my brothers’ arms and throwing it over her shoulders, she grunted. I grabbed his other arm and walked with Aria. Tobias’ feet dragged on the forest floor and his head hanged forward.

After a few minutes of slow waling, a small wooden cabin was hidden amongst the trees, and we were walking towards it.

“Do you live here?” I asked Aria, even though it had sounded like a dumb question. “Yeah, didn’t live here before all the shit hit the fan though. Found it a few weeks ago, been here since then.” she replied as we dragged my brother over the small wooden staircase leading to the porch. The wood creaked and groaned beneath our combined weight.

“Where did you live? Before the cabin, I mean.” It was strange, the questions that kept popping up in my mind wouldn’t stop coming out of my mouth.

“Well, I used to move around a lot. But, before the cabin, I was in Kansas.” Aria grunted as she opened the door to the cabin, using her foot to close it behind her once we entered. Slowly we moved towards one of the brown leather couches and dropped my brother on it. I took off his shoes and made sure nothing was broken.

Once I knew he was in good health, I stood tall and took a breath of relief.

My eyes left my brother and scanned the interior of the cabin. It clearly used to belong to a hunter. There were stuffed animals nailed to the walls and on almost every coffee table. As well as several guns mounted above the fireplace. “This place is...cozy?” it came put sounding more like a question than a compliment. The number of stuffed animals was kind of creepy. “Would you believe me if I told you that I burnt most of it?” Aria asked as she opened and cabinet, pulling out a bottle of water.

“Maybe, can I get one of those?” I asked gesturing to the bottle of water on the counter. This was Aria’s home and while I waited for my brother to wake up, I didn’t want to overstep. She nodded before grabbing one and gently tossed it to me, I caught it. Slowly my legs started to move, allowing me to study the room while I sipped on the water.

“Cora? I gotta ask you something. I’m not a trusting person, so how do I know you’re not gonna rob me blind in the middle of the night?” Aria questioned me as she pulled herself to sit on the counter from the kitchen. She allowed her legs to hang freely, as she leaned forward and watched me. Despite her kindness, she was weary, and so was I. Tobias and I had learnt the hard way from trusting a stranger.

Without saying a word, I walked up to her and hopped onto the counter beside her. I shrugged before speaking, “You don’t. I could tell you all the reassurances you want to hear, but how would you know if I was telling the truth or not?” I turned to look at the woman I had met only a few minutes ago, and she was already looking at me. I sighed before I spoke again. “All I can say is that...I’m grateful you offered to let us stay the night. My brother means the world to me, and I try to protect him but it’s not like I can carry his body very far distances by myself. Thank you.”

“You are most welcome Cora.” Aria smirked before jumping down and drinking the rest of the water that was in her bottle. “Well, I’m gonna go see if I can get us something for dinner. Don’t rob me, Cora Henderson.” she teased before grabbing a rifle and heading towards the door. “No promises.” I called out, she didn’t say anything after that.

The cabin became quiet when I could no longer heard Aria’s footsteps. Jumping down from the counter, I decided to snoop around. Usually, it wasn’t very acceptable to snoop in a stranger’s home, but we weren’t living in normal circumstances.

I crept deeper in the cabin. I found two rooms and a bathroom. One of the bedrooms looked abandoned, and unlived in. While the other was messy, with an un-made bed, and it was clearly lived in. Stepping into Aria’s room, I allowed my eyes to scan everything and allowed my hands to touch nothing. I didn’t know how aware this woman was with her placement of things.

My eyes landed on a map, laying on the floor. Without thinking, I grabbed the map and studied it. There were red markings and trails. The map led from the cabin all the way to Texas, and it was pretty far away. The sound of footsteps caught my attention. With panic in my chest, I dropped the map, and I made my way to the bathroom, just as the front door opened.

My heart was beating rapidly in my chest as I calmly walked out of the bathroom. Aria’s shoulders relaxed when she noticed me. “So, what’s for dinner?” I asked her, walking towards the main room. Aria held up a rabbit and looked at me, I felt my stomach growl at the sight of the dead rabbit. Some part of me felt sick for seeing the rabbit, the other part of me was too hungry to care.

“Something that’s definitely not vegan.”