Zomb-Pocalypse 4

Chapter Six

I stare at Silas for a moment, trying to gauge if he's messing with me or not, but his face isn't giving anything away. Finally I decide that I don't care if he's being serious or not. "Forget it." I tell him, turning and walking away to sit down on the stump of an old rotten tree. I've had about all the excitement I can take for one day.

Silas doesn't argue and instead hunkers down and starts cutting open the stomach right there in the snow. I swivel on my perch and stare off into the forest. I know it's crazy to be averse to a little blood and guts these days, but I'll avoid it when I can. Dad offers to help Silas, but Silas doesn't need him yet, and we're assigned to set up camp instead.

"Silas. Where's the tent?" I ask, wrinkling my forehead in confusion.

Silas looks up at me, his hands coated in blood up to his wrists and nods towards the blue tarp lying on the ground, discarded in my search of a tent.

I follow his gaze and shake my head. "That's not a tent." I tell him, as if he doesn't already know that.

"It's what we have." He tells me with a shrug and my heart dips into my stomach.

"You didn't bring a tent?" I demand, my voice going shrill with panic and both Dad and Silas wince. I try and reign it in a little and take a deep breath instead.

"Did you want to carry the extra weight of canvas and tent poles?" Silas asks his attention back on the moose and I let out an annoyed huff.

"Yes!" I tell him and he actually laughs.

"You could barely carry what you already had." He points out and I flush. Just because he's right doesn't mean I'm going to agree with him.

"Why don't you tell us how to set it up?" My Dad says interrupting our argument and playing the peace maker. He sounds tired and looks even worse and I feel like a jerk.

"What do you want me to do?" I ask woodenly and Silas motions towards the woods, using the bloody knife as a pointer.

"We're gonna need fire wood" He tells me. "A lot of it-we don't want to be out looking for more after dark." I bite back my annoyance at never being able to shake being stuck on fire wood duty and instead just accept my fate. Complaining won't do me any good, and it definitely won't keep us warm tonight.

"Don't go too far." My Dad tells me and I nod. Dropping my pack on the ground and grabbing the small axe that's hanging off the carabiner clip on my pack.

Behind me I can hear Silas instructing my Dad on how to set up the tarp. I roll my eyes, I'm not holding my breath it's going to provide any kind of protection or safety. Thank God the zombies are frozen or I'd be having a panic attack right now. I just hope I'm not a popsicle in the morning, or murdered by another homicidal moose.

I take Dads advice and don't go too far from our make shift camp. Thinking about the moose that charged me earlier keeps me from straying too far- plus there's only so far I'm willing to carry an armful of wood.

It doesn't look like this place has ever been touched by humans before, I don't know if that's true or not, but there is a ton of deadfall just laying around that looks like it's been here a while and I'm grateful I won't have to look too hard.

I carry my first armload of wood back and see Dad has the tarp spread out on the ground and is dragging over a large log. I drop the wood and rush to give him a hand.

"He casts me a grateful look as we half-carry, half-drag the log on top of the tarp. "Thanks Jane." Dad says, his breath puffing loudly and I nod.