Born 01 - Born

from my face and let the breeze sway me on my perch.
    I wish for a second that I could fly away into the white clouds that look the way they always have. It's like they don't know the world has ended, and they don't need to make shapes for us anymore. There is no us. I look past the farmhouse and watch as everything moves, just as it should. No one has followed me. I climb down, tired and eager for my own bed.
    When my feet touch the ground again I look at Leo, whose gentle yellow eyes confirm my findings. We are alone. I drop to my knees and greet him as he bounds toward me. The large timber wolf licks my face and lifts his massive paw up to hug me. I hugged him so often when he was a baby that one day he hugged back. He's done it ever since.
    He nuzzles me softly and nips at my arms. I rub his huge soft ears and stand. I pat him gently on his huge grey head.
    "Ready?" I ask.
    I pick up the heavy pack and adjust to it being on my back again. The walk home will take the entire day if I can manage to keep a solid pace. Leo starts the walk home by heading past the old broken oak tree. Our meeting place.

Chapter Two

    I sit by the fire zoning out in the flames as Leo sits and presses against me. Suddenly his ears perk up. My aching feet twinge, begging me not to follow through with my instincts and stand. I watch Leo. His hackles rise. He makes no sound. I believe it to be a survival instinct that he has picked up from me. He never announces himself with a growl like a dog. Instead, he hides in the shadow, waiting for his prey to make a move. He creeps to the door of the old cabin. I pick up the rifle with the scope and silencer I stole from a military base. I creep along low, just as Leo does.
    We sit in the dark, waiting for a noise or a movement. I never turn the lanterns on. I rarely use fuel for anything. If anything is here, it's followed the smell of my smoke.
    Suddenly, in the dark of my cabin lit only by the glow of the fire, there is a sound.
    The sound at my door is worse than anything I've ever heard. This category includes women being dragged into trucks while their children scream on the side of the road, abandoned. Worse than listening to the infected eating people who are still alive. Worse than the sound clothing makes when greedy fingers tear it.
    It is a knock.
    A simple yet slightly quiet knock. A timid knock.
    It feels as though the person knocking is afraid to knock, but has no choice in the matter. It's like their failing bravery can only muster this tiny pathetic little tap.
    In the same breath that it is pathetic, the knock is also more frightening than anything I've ever encountered.
    It might as well have been one of the infected, clawing at the door and making the high pitch moans they make. Either way, it means I've been discovered. It makes my stomach hurt like it used to before I found the cabin. Nothing has ever made a sound outside my door, except Leo. I don’t know what to do.
    Leo looks at me. He too seems confused by the weak little knock at our cabin door. The very cabin where I found Leo outside whining and scared of everything in the world, just as I was. The cabin where we sat together hiding, hoping, praying, that we would be left alone.
    I stand still, frozen and holding my gun, trembling.
    Leo slinks into the shadows of the coat and boot closet. I slide up against the wall and take my breaths slowly.
    I don’t move. I watch Leo's yellow eyes. They are hypnotic the way they never move. They relax me with the way they wait, focused and calm.
    I nod at him, which makes him crouch lower, ready.
    I put the chain lock on, making no noise just like I've practiced.
    I put my hand to the knob.
    I step back slowly and position my gun.
    I put my finger on the trigger.
    Commanding my hand not to shake, I turn the knob of the door and open it silently.
    I've positioned one foot behind the door, in case whoever it is decides to kick the door open.
    In the tiny crack of the door I see two eyes, blue eyes. They belong to a girl, younger than me. She's maybe fifteen but no older. She has dark hair and a gaunt face. Tears clump her black lashes together, which makes the pleading look she gives me tremendously convincing.
    "I-I-I'm s-s-sor-ry pu-pu-pu-lease d-d-d-on't hurt m-m-e." Her lips tremble. She is shaking in fear. She sniffles and I close the door, clicking the lock. My stomach sinks. I know I'm in for the fight of my life.
    She is bait. If ever I've seen bait, she is it.
    Leo cocks