Zombie Rock

Sunday Bloody Sunday

I must've fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing I knew, my mother was shaking my shoulder. I lurched into a sitting position, nearly bumping Lilly, who was still sleeping next to me. In the early morning light, I could see how dirty we all were.

“What's wrong?” I kept my voice low, but I could hear the anxiety in it.

Mom shook her head and some of the tension dissipated. “I just want to talk to you.”

We quietly moved away from the group, staying close enough to see the others but far enough away so that we wouldn't wake them.

“What's up?” Now that I knew there wasn't another mob coming, I was curious as to why she’d woken me. I hoped she wasn't about to open up to me about her and Kieran. I was so not awake enough for that.

“We should leave.”

Okay, didn't expect that. “What are you talking about? We’re in the middle of taking back Osborne. We can’t leave now.”

Mom's words came slowly, but I could tell she'd practiced them. “Listen to me for a minute, Jack. Now that we're Zombies, we can take advantage of all of those programs in the city. We can have our old lives back.”

Even if I hadn't been able to see it in her eyes, I would've known what was prompting the sudden desire to flee. I kept my voice as gentle as possible. “I know you're scared, Mom, and I know it's because you don't want to lose me, but I’m in too deep. These are my friends and I care about them. I can't just leave them to suffer. Besides,” I said, “Osborne is our home too…we can’t just let Garret have it.”

I could tell she wasn’t convinced, but she let it go and didn’t bring it up again.

We let everyone sleep through most of the morning and gathered around noon to discuss the next step. This part, I believed, would be the hardest. We needed to return to Shantytown to salvage whatever food and weapons we could find. However, this also meant seeing the dead bodies of those who didn't make it. I wasn't sure how bad the fire had been, but there was a good chance that some of the bodies would still be recognizable. Aside from that obvious trauma, we’d also have to decide what to do with the bodies. If we were going to take on Garret, we would need our strength. I seriously doubted there would be enough food to spend another day out here and still be able to fight. We’d have to decide if we should expend the energy to bury the dead or leave them.

It was decided that the entire group would go back to Shantytown, but the majority would wait in the surrounding woods. I would take a team and scavenge what we could. Then, we’d take whatever fuel we could find and soak everything…including the bodies. When we lit the match, this time, we'd burn the place to the ground. It would be our statement against being segregated, as well as honoring the ones who'd lost their lives.

“Alright, who’s coming with me?” I said, looking at the crowd of dirty faces.

Kieran immediately stepped forward. “I’m coming.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You need to be here with the group, keeping them safe. Please, I’m asking as a favor.”

He nodded, and I was pretty sure he understood what I was getting at, because he glanced over at Mom.

Lilly wanted to come, but her dad vetoed that before I could say anything. I was glad he did, because I really didn't want her coming. The sheriff volunteered, of course, and I was happy about that. Then, Rob and Isaac stepped up, but Steven, Jon, and Kevin apologized and said they couldn’t face going back. I understood. I’d feel the same if Mom had been killed in the attack. I thought that was it, but then two other adults I didn't know stepped forward. I ended up with a group of five—plus me.