Born 01 - Born

pale yellow blouse.

Chapter Five

    Leo whines. He never whines much, but he senses it. I can't look back. The sickening feeling that is creeping around inside of me grows with every step I take. The cabin is a parent, a hug, a haven. It's the only thing I have from before. Turning my back on it feels like cutting myself. Every step I take is a betrayal of my soul.
    "We'll come back, Emma."
    I look over at her. I want to scratch her eyes out and roast her flesh over a spit. My face expresses this. I know because she winces when she meets my eyes. But I like her. The two weeks we spent in the cabin were nice. Even when Jake and I were both hurt, it was like being part of something again.
    Leo rubs against my side. His back comes up to my hipbones. I rest my fingers in his coat. I grip the fur, as if holding onto him will ground me and I will get back a semblance of my safety.
    Fingers brush my arm and then squeeze. I'm pulled back into an embrace. I want to fight against it but the warmth overwhelms me. I can’t fight my tears and Jake, so I let him hug me.
    "Emma, we will come back one day. We didn’t hide all that food for nothing. It and the wood and the supplies will be here when we come back."
    I push his body away from mine and crane my neck to look up into his bright blue eyes. "Don't you see? We can never come back. This is always going to be a place that’s watched. They won't stop until we're all working the farms."
    His eyes grow passionate. "We erased all of the signs of life. Give it time. Not that many places have a functioning well, Emma. We can't afford to just ignore it."
    I want to push him away but a funny thing is happening to me when he says ‘we’ all the time. It's just like in the books I found in my Granny's closet. He makes me swoon and shiver simultaneously, but then he frustrates me. The romance novels were right.
    I shake my head and tear from his grip. "Look, we need to get going."
    The path down the mountain isn't my favorite hike, but today I feel distracted. I walk quickly, listening to the forest song. It speaks of happiness and peace. Leo seems content. His sloppy wolf face is a great indicator of what's what in the forest.
    "Anna, remember the second house Dad hid us at?"
    She ignores him. I wish I could.
    "I think it was near here. Remember it had the pool and we swam in it to get clean?"
    I glance at her. Her jaw is set.
    He looks oblivious. "God, then we found that pantry full of food. Cherry pie filling on toast made on the barbeque was my favorite."
    I imagine the cherry pie filling for a half a second but catch a glimpse of Leo in my peripheral. He's crouched with his hackles up. He stalks into the long grass.
    I imitate him and crouch low. Anna follows along, not from watching me but from seeing Leo. Her eyes haven’t left him.
    "What?"
    I groan, "Get down." He ducks along with us, but he's too large to actually hide in the grass.
    I raise an eyebrow at Anna who rolls her eyes. It makes me snicker. I've never actually snickered before.
    "How are you still alive?" I whisper.
    She laughs quietly. "Luck. Not even kidding."
    I glance back at a red-faced Jake and smile.
    "Nice to see you have an actual personality, Em."
    I stick my tongue out at him until I hear it.
    The high moan.
    I feel my eyes close in fear and disappointment. One of us is going to die. Whoever can't run fast enough will die.
    Leo looks back at me for a second. I see the worry. I nod. He creeps forward along the grass. I lick my finger and put it in the wind. The breeze is behind us and carrying our smell down the hill. They are the survivors that don't seem to die. We are screwed. They hunt like an animal.
    Anna licks her lips. I can see worry and fear crossing her face like clouds moving in the sky. Her heartbeat is pounding in her neck. I can watch it increase. She looks around and points to the trees behind us.
    I shake my head. Climbing only puts you in a tree surrounded by the infected. I look for another option, and my brain flexes under the strain.
    "The river," I whisper.
    Jake looks at me, unconvinced. "How far?"
    "A mile."
    "Emma, your leg and mine won't make it outrunning the infected for a whole mile."
    I know he is right. I know this to be a truth but I don’t have anything else.
    I pull one of my guns from my sack and pass it to him. I look into his blue eyes, "Don't shoot unless you have to. Don't shoot me or yourself either."
    Anna takes the rifle with the scope, which she has grown