ZombiePalooza - Anthology

#TeamInsidesAndEntrails Pt. II - @tamoja's "Rena"

She could hear Uncle Matt telling her the story. Back when he realized she'd have to take over the animals. Back when she still waited at the window for something to come to the rescue.

Hoisting the pointy shovel with two hands, she grunts as she scoops up the leftover juicy bits from the trough. The grinding of the metal shovel on the metal bottom makes her cringe, and she scolds herself for letting the feed get low. How was it possible there's no one at all to boss her around and tell her what to do, and yet she always had a job that needs to be done! It doesn't seem fair really.

At least it fills the bucket. That was the important bit. Getting them fed in the morning, keeping them calm all day, and that meant they wouldn't be making noise and kicking at the gate. She felt bad when they did that. They just wanted to be free to roam the world.

She puts the bucket in the wagon and rolls it back toward the pen, making sure to miss the puddles. She doesn't want to be stuck with a wagon full of leftover bits. Compost! That's the word she'd been looking for. Compost.

They line up by the fencing when they hear the wagons wheels. Like dogs, coming when a bag crinkled in the kitchen, each one keening their morning sounds. She'd say they were starving, but they were always like that. She could fill the wagon ten times a day and they'd still act like they'd never eaten a bite in their lives.

"Morning Mary. Don't look at me like that. You don't need the boots anymore. Your feet don't mind getting wet or injured, remember?"

"Peter, you're supposed to let the ladies go first. We talk about this every single time. You're never going to get a proper girlfriend if you keep fighting them like that!"

Rena sometimes felt ill watching them eat. But not today. Today she enjoys it. The sun sits still behind the tree line and she isn't unbearably hot yet. Jasper isn't at the pile. That's probably why she feels better about it. She scans the yard, and doesn't see him. Perhaps he was sulking because she hadn't given him a treat this morning. Sometimes she pacified him with a treat from her pocket or the house. Just a little something to make him have a good side and ease the wiggling in her gut his wandering eyes left.

When it got down to scraps and the arguing started building, she turns and walks away. She doesn't like watching this part. Last week, Peter lost a bit of his cheek over a funny-shaped lump of some organ or another. Seeing him chew now was interesting, but watching Jasper yank off part of his face was not. The sound of skin ripping left a mark. You wouldn't think it was loud, but it was. Perhaps it's because their skin is hard. Whatever it is, she didn't like to see them fight.

Walking to the end of the drive with the wagon is pleasant. Trees rustle and the light filtering through almost makes her feel like she's getting a private show from God. It's silly. Everyone knew God died in the first wave, but it's fun to imagine he didn't. That like her, he somehow didn't get sick, or hurt, or rounded up by the hunters and was just living his God-life, waiting for things to get back to normal.

Bobby Carter's bike is still there by the mailbox. No one stole anything anymore, so if there was a positive about not having people around, that was one. And the silence. It is so quiet without people. It is maddening at first. She remembered waking up at night and screaming at the top of her lungs just to hear things. Even the birds were quiet in the beginning. Or maybe they weren't. Maybe without the noise of cars and lawnmowers and radios and televisions, her ears just stopped working for a while.

Her feet pedaled her to the cafe. NO SERVICE-POWER OUT. She liked the sign. It was hand written, maybe by the boy who used to mop the floors there. Or the woman with the scarf on her head that used to hand mum the coffee and collect the dollars, stuffing them into the cash register. Either way, it was homemade. Mom always used to say the best gifts were, but Rena didn't believe it in the before. Now she did. Looking at that sign, she did.