The Dead Zone (Book One)

Chapter 20

 Evie jumped to attention as footsteps clattered outside, peering out the window before getting to work on moving the furniture she'd stacked in front of the door. Bryson and Paige burst in, looking flushed like they'd run the whole way here, which they probably had.

 Paige bee-lined for Zach's motionless form, her hand going to his clammy forehead. She stripped her bag off, pulling out the coveted supplies. Their mission had been a success. 

 "Bryson, I need the gloves and sutures you got. And some cleanser and gauze."

 He rummaged through her pack, quickly handing her the supplies as he joined her, taking his brothers hand in his own, terrified at how cold it felt. He'd lost a lot of blood- hopefully not too much. With gloves on and ready, she removed the fabric from the wound, letting them each get a good look at it for the very first time.

  Bryson had seen them before, oversees, but he'd never treated on. They only showed you how to staunch the blood flow before they could transport you back to base.

  Paige didn't hesitate as she went to work, slowly pulling shards of metal that had once been a bullet out of his little brothers chest. He didn't groan until she began cleaning the wound, but she continued anyways, hands steady. 

 If he wakes up give him something to bite down on, and some pain killers."

She then began stitching the wound. A sweat broke out on Zach's forehead and he groaned again, obviously in pain. "Almost done sweetie." Paige soothed as she closed the wound, covering it with gauze before leaning back on her heels to admire her work. Bright red blood covered the gloves she wore, but surprisingly, it wasn't as much as Bryson would have thought. She'd done a good job.

 "Is he going to be okay?" Evie asked behind them, her voice shaking slightly. 

 "Yeah, he'll be fine. We'll just have to watch the wound when he wakes up so he doesn't reopen it. We also have to watch for infection." She tossed the bottle of antibiotics to Bryson. 

 "He needs to take one pill three times daily. One with each meal if possible."

"Are these safe to mix with painkillers?" He asked, examining the tiny bottle. 

 "Yep, it'll be fine." She turned her attention to Evie, who hovered on the sidelines, almost as if she wasn't welcome, or maybe thought she was intruding. 

 "Thanks for watching over him." Her slender shoulder rose in a shrug, before her arm fell awkwardly at her side, as if she didn't quite know what to do with it.

 "You don't have to thank me. I couldn't have left him even if I wanted to."

  Paige speculated for a second on what that could have meant, her mind flashing back to when she'd seen the two of them holding hands at Cedarville. Hmm...

 "So you guys are pretty good friends, then?"

 "Yeah. I can tell he's a really good guy. All of you are. Good people, I mean." She gave Paige a sheepish smile, which was returned easily. 

 "You don't seem so bad yourself."

 "Thanks. So, where exactly are you guys headed? I never thought to ask Zach."

 "We're not sure yet." Bryson spoke up, coming behind Paige to rest his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him, eyebrows raised questioningly at his lie. 

 "Oh. Well believe it or not, I have a destination in mind."

 "Really? Where might that be?" Paige asked, trying to make up for Bryson's not so friendly tone.

 "Lemuria," she said, her eyes lighting up like fireworks. 

 "It's run by the military." She continued, her eyes taking on a dreamy quality. "They have the whole city secured. Food, water, shelter. Safety. They've been sending out broadcasts for weeks over the emergency radios. That's where most of the people who go got trapped in Cedarville were heading."

 Bryson and Paige made eye contact then, not sure what to make of this. Neither of them had a portable radio so they hadn't heard the broadcasts.

"How do you know it wasn't sent from Cedarville? A hoax to lead people this way so they could capture them as they came down the highway?" Bryson asked, ever the skeptic. Paige had to agree with him, though. What Evie was saying seemed too good to be true.

 "I guess I never really thought of it like that." Evie admitted, her excitement dying out just a bit. "But imagine if it wasn't. Think of the safety we'd have there. You guys could get married, start a family where you wouldn't have to worry about zombies coming in and ruining everything. Behind those walls, you wouldn't have to board up your house, you wouldn't have to fight for your lives. You could be happy."

 These were dangerous words, Paige knew, and so was the hope that began to bubble in her chest of its own free will. Everything Evie had just said was exactly what she wanted. Sure, they could go to Bryson's cabin in the middle of nowhere; but how lonely did that sound? What Evie was speaking of... was a community. Friends, neighbors, and family. The future generations of the zombie apocalypse.

 "Don't you at least think it's worth some checking out?" She blurted, turning to face Bryson, her eyes pleading. She had to know if such a place could exist.

 He studied her, seeming to see right through her, a resigned glint appearing in his eyes. He knew just how dangerous hope was, too. Where there was hope, there was the threat of being let down. And we all knew that hurt like hell. 

 But without hope, what was there to live for, really? Hope is the drive that keeps you going. The light at the end of the tunnel. The promise of a second chance, when the world's turned its back on you.