Through The Fire

Chapter Five - Part 1

"Are you kidding? Stop Lottie!" Ace grabs me by the arm and turns me towards him, almost making me lose my balance. "I understand that maybe you're angry and confused, but you can't walk out facing certain death." His gaze is fixed on mine. I can tell from his expression that he's angry at me and is processing the situation quickly. "If you haven't noticed, the Zombies no longer follow the rules they had self-imposed. They now kill during the day, turn humans without realizing it, and enter houses even if they are inhabited because the humans don't come out anymore. How do you think they killed your father? He was in here, sure to be safe, and instead they came in, against all principles and killed him," he yells at me.

I swallow back the tears. Until now I didn't want to think about it, but Ace is right, they had entered the house, something they never do, and they had killed him, to quench their bloodlust.

I swallow. "I've never had these problems. If I want to go out, I go out. I don't have anything to lose anyway." I resume my path towards the door. He follows me without saying anything. He has understood by now that fighting with me is a lost cause.

We go outdoors. A cold wind has risen and it hits us with all its force, knocking us back a step. He puts his hands on my shoulders to keep me from bumping into his strong body. The sun is still high, warming my skin, but there's not a soul around. The world can change fast, and this invasion is proof of that.

In the two days I've been gone, everything has changed, starting with the Zombies' behaviors.

The night was their territory, and I could understand that, they needed a time to go out too, to eat, and that was what curfews were for, to stay safe and sheltered. But to take over the day is too much, they can't do that. I can't accept it.

As I walk down the street, I can see, from the big glass windows in the buildings, shadows inside moving back and forth. People are all holed up in the higher floors, the lower ones have been abandoned. Sadness and despair can be picked up in that darkness.

We walk for a while without a destination. We didn't run but I can feel my lungs burning. I don't care, because it's good to feel something other than sadness.

We are about to turn a corner when I suddenly stop. Ace bumps into me. The question comes out of my mouth like it has its own will. "Where is he?"

Ace pretends not to understand. "What?"

"You know what. I want to know where you buried my dad." I tried to resist, to put it off as long as I could, but it's stronger than me, I need to know where my father was buried.

"In the cemetery." It's not very far from where we are now, by foot it will be twenty minutes or so.

"Let's go there," and I start walking towards Oakland Cemetery.

With the sun up high we have time to go and, most likely, return still in daylight.

"There will come a day when I can understand you," he whispers to himself, a few steps behind me, but I ignore him.

We walk for two miles before the gates of Atlanta's huge main cemetery appear in front of us.

From here on I let Ace guide me. I immediately notice where my father was buried because of the fresh loose dirt. I lengthen my stride and stop there in front. I didn't bring any flowers with me, and the only thing I can do is contemplate this improvised grave and think of all the good things he had done in his life. Maybe the words "he was a good man" don't apply to everyone, but I know that for my father it's the truth. Ace walks alongside me without saying anything, and looks at the pit he himself had dug and then filled in.

It's a long time before I awaken from my retrospection and turn to face him.

"I want to thank you. I don't think I've done it properly. Thank you for saving me, and especially for burying my father." He smiles.

"You're welcome Lottie." I throw a playful punch on his arm and turn around with shining eyes.

"Come on now. I want to walk a bit more before it gets dark."

"Wait." He bars my way, intimating me to be quiet.

"What is it now? We're in a cemetery," I ask, looking around, trying to see what he noticed.

"First, don't you think the cemetery is the perfect place for a Zombie to hide in? And second, I heard a noise, and I really hope it was just a squirrel." He carefully peers through the graves behind me, then pushes me to the ground and immediately follows me onto the uncultivated grass.

"What is it?" I look into his face for answers.

"It wasn't squirrels." That's all he says. "On the bright side, they didn't see us, if we're careful and smart, we'll get out of this alive." He leans over to see where they are. "They're going in that direction." He points opposite to where I was planning to go. "Start walking slowly and head down toward Centennial Olympic Park. Use the gravestones to hide from their view, I'll be right behind you. When you get to the trees run, and don't stop. Remember, I'm always behind you watching your back."

I follow his instructions perfectly. I walk low and try to hide as best I can with the headstones. As soon as I get to some low trees at the edge of the cemetery I start running.

Hi Books Lovers,

do you like this getting-a-chapter-every-week thing? I would really like to know what you think of the story this far so let me know in the comments. The book will be out on Amazon and barnes and noble on March 29th.

If you'd like to know more about the story, get some sneak peak and other stuff, come check my account on instagram, I have a whole section dedicated to TTF. You can find me as Miriam_meandbooks. I also have a tiktok account under the same name, andddd I've created an account exactly for the book called ttf.theparanormalromance

I try to be active on socials so to give more info on the book. Stay tuned for the next chapter in a weeks and, if you'd like, add the book to your Goodreads library :)

Miriam