Born 01 - Born

pouts. "Can we make me a bow maybe?"
    I nod excitedly. We haven’t had much to talk about.
    I take the bow and arrow. I pull back and sight in the dying man. His body trembles slightly. His skin has chew marks. The infected will eat anything.
    "Hold it steady. Sight in what you want to shoot and then take a deep breath." I exhale and release the arrow. We are close enough that it makes a slicing sound as it enters his temple. "Always exhale when you release." I grimace as I see the arrow sticking out of his bleeding head.
    "Wow."
    I nod. "Yeah, it took a lot of practice."
    "Sweet frigging God."
    I turn. "What?"
    Jake is standing behind us. "You guys do realize that's a person you just shot. These were all people."
    Anna scoffs. "They're infected, Jake. They're not like you or me or even the city people."
    I frown. "City people?"
    Jake looks down at the grass.
    Anna looks at me. "We saw it. We went close enough to see it."
    "Electricity? Running water?"
    She nods. "Everything. No cars but a subway and houses and pretty big buildings. It's on the edge of the desert."
    I feel sickened by asking the question but I ask anyway. "What about the farms?"
    She shivers. "Up and running still. I think the babies go to the city after they're born."
    Jake sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He appears to be bothered by the conversation.
    "He's military."
    "What?" I look at Anna who is pointing at the dead man with the arrow sticking out of his temple.
    I look at his boots and shake my head. "We need to be far away. Now."
    We don’t talk. We leave the arrows sticking out of the faces of the people on the ground. I never take the arrows from the infected. We walk across the small field and into the forest on the other side.
    I watch Leo the entire walk. It stops me from watching Jake. Leo is the best warning system. Jake is a distraction.

Chapter Six

    The farmhouse sits quiet, just like I hoped it would. I've never come back to it so quickly. It serves our purpose the best, though. It has the longest, most off-the-beaten-track driveway of the four, and it's the closest to my cabin.
    We peel off our soaking wet clothes. My wound burns from the cold river water and the exertion of wading through the river for such a long ways.
    I have done it before, but it's not my favorite way to get to the house. I've been followed before. I don’t know if we were followed today but I can't chance it.
    I can't help but steal a glance at Jake as he pulls his wet shirt off and drops his jeans on the floor. His wound is bright purple. The brand new scar that's developing is lumpy and ugly. I see a fresh bit of blood. I point. “What happened?”
    He shrugs. “I cut it in the river on a branch. It’ll heal.”
    I shake my head. "It's bigger than I thought it would be."
    I pull my pants off and notice for the first time he has drawings of dinner rolls on his boxers.
    I raise an eyebrow.
    He laughs. "Buttered buns."
    "I don’t get it."
    "That's because you were nine when the world went crazy."
    I feel my face blushing, realizing it's obviously something filthy. "You were only eleven," I say out of spite.
    He laughs. "I was, but my older brother was sixteen. So that makes me more like fifteen when it happened."
    I stop smiling, but he doesn’t stop talking.
    "Will was a bad kid. Our dad used to get so mad at him. He had a magazine collection that could shock a whore."
    I flinch at the word. I know what it means and I know how it works but I've never physically heard anyone say it. The conversation feels wrong suddenly.
    "One time he was dating this girl Angela and he…"
    "Jake."
    I look back at Anna who is making a distasteful face. "Dirty Will stories in your underwear is creepy, dude."
    I smile. Jake blushes. He looks at me through his bangs.
    "Where is your brother?" I don’t want to ask but I know I have to.
    Anna answers from behind me, "We hope dead."
    I nod. I leave it at that. I know that feeling.
    Jake's face is haunted. I swear I see guilt but I leave it.
    I feel weird being in the house with other people, not just because it's one of my havens but also because I am never with other people. Ever.
    My leg aches. I know I won't sleep. I look at Anna. "You guys sleep first. Me and Leo will take first watch."
    Jake frowns. "Why don’t we all just sleep. There is no way anyone followed us, Emma."
    I want to slap him. It is irrational, but his survival skills leave a lot to be desired.
    Instead, I turn and walk away. Anna has