Redemption

Chapter Ten

            Ten

          When night falls we find ourselves in a large, log home. The furniture is all cozy and plus, and everything is made out of expensive looking wood. With the cold seeping its way into the night we pile a bunch of quilts in the living room and lock the doors.

            For dinner we eat cold cans of soup found in the pantry and keep the other things we’ve found in our backpacks. Not much was left in the three other houses we searched, but we took what we could find.

            “Why don’t you wash up?” I suggest, scraping the bottom of my can for the bits of noodle that broke off. “It will make you feel better and I’ll get you some clean clothes.”

            Gwen agrees and heads up the winding staircase to the second floor. With the living room so open with high ceilings I can watch her walk past the railing and head into the guest bathroom. I make a mental note to take a shower on one of the warmer days before it gets too cold. When winter comes I can’t expect myself to get under the cold water, and drying off and getting warm afterwards seems nearly impossible.

            I lay clothes out for Gwen on the guest bed. When she returns downstairs, the sleeves on the red shirt hang baggily past her fingertips and the fabric droops off of her thin frame, but she looks clean. The pants stop a few inches short above her feet, but it’s the best we can do for now. We’ll have to find better winter clothes for the both of us and I wonder if I’ll have to brave the snow before I reach the military base.

            With her hair slicked back, I pat the space of blankets in front of me and signal for her to come over. Tentatively she sits in front of me, facing the wooden wall with its large fireplace shooting heat out at us. I built a small fire, hoping the smoke will be invisible in the night sky to anyone who might be watching. Regardless, with the curtains drawn and most of the windows already boarded and the doorways locked, it would be hard for anyone to get inside.

            “Let me brush you hair.” Gwen seems more and more like a child to me, especially now as I run a hairbrush from the bedroom upstairs through her tangled locks. The gesture seems familiar to me, like I’ve done it before a thousand times.

            I wonder if this is what it was like to have my younger sister, whose name I still cannot remember. My heart hurts a little inside me when I think of her and instantly my mind goes to the little boy whose name I also did not know.

            “My parents left,” Gwen says quietly, catching me off guard. Her words seem out of place as they echo throughout the large house. “They were bitten while going to check on one of the other neighbors and share food. So they came back to say goodbye to me through the crack in the doorway and left, trying to put as much distance between me and them as possible.”

            She look down at her lap and I continue stroking her hair even though I’ve gotten all the knots out. The movement feels comforting, both to her and I, her damp strands cascading evenly down her back.

            “I’m so sorry to hear that,” I offer gently.

            Gwen looks over her shoulder at me though her eyes don’t quite meet mine. “What about you?” she wonders. “What’s your story?”

            I bite my tongue to keep from saying anything before I’ve thought it through. My words could quickly lead to my intentions of where to go, and I barely know Gwen, yet I feel protective of her. I decide not to tell her everything just yet. Then maybe, when I find a band of survivors that can take care of her, I’ll tell her the truth then.