Chapter 9

"Hold the gun like this." My father says, adjusting my hands to hold the gun properly. "Alright, now remember, don't ever put your finger on the trigger unless you plan to fire the gun." He says. I nod. "Thanks dad." I hold the gun up and aim at the can of Dr. Pepper.

When I have the shot line up, I move my finger to the trigger and fire. The can makes a clanging noise as it falls the ground with a bullet through the center. "Good job!" My father exclaims.

I turn towards him but his face is ripped to shreds. His eyeball his hanging out. He groans and moves towards me. I fall to the ground in terror and aim the gun at him. He falls to the ground next to me and I scream.

"Farah!" Grace shouts. My eyes burst open and I scream. Grace rushes to me and wraps her arms around me. I blink as everything comes back to me. I see I am in a bed covered in blankets with a wet rag on my forehead. "W-Whats going on?" I ask.

She sobs into my shoulder. "Did somebody die?" I ask, confused as to why she's so upset. "You idiot!" She shouts and throws a weak punch into my shoulder. I wince. "Eesh. Calm down and tell me whats going on." I say, grabbing her shoulders.

The door opens and TJ bolts in with Mike following right behind her. I look at TJ and see she has a large bruise on her chin and her nose is taped and bandaged. The odd thing was her usually forest green eyes were bloodshot and she had bags beneath them. Her shoulders sagged as if she didn't have the energy to hold them up.

She looked not only exhausted but…. Worried? What was she worried about? I ignore it and look at Grace. "How long?" I ask. "A week." She says. I groan. "Don't worry, Mike made breakfast and-" I cut her off. "Its not that. I haven't had a shower in two weeks. I must smell like a pile of horse shit." I say, embarrassed.

They all laugh at me and file out of the room. "Hey TJ." I say. She looks at me. "You should sleep. I may smell like a pile of horse shit but you look like one." She laughs and shakes her head. "Alright." Then she walks away.

I look down at my hands and unwrap the bandages, pleasantly surprised to the scars. I unwrapped the bandage on my stomach to find more scars. Happy that my wounds were finally healed, I slowly stood.

I noticed immediately that my body was sweaty and I felt weak. I grabbed the bundle of clothes for the third time and went to the bathroom. After a nice, warm shower, I brushed my hair with the hair brush I found in a drawer and went downstairs, feeling like a whole new person.

I see TJ, Mike, and Grace at the table eating pancakes and eggs and realized something. I trusted them all, including TJ. They were my family now. I smiled at the thought. I walked over to the table with the smile still on my face and I sat down. I grabbed a plate and loaded it with pancakes, eggs, and syrup.

We all laughed and conversed with each other while we ate and when we were all finished, I cleared my throat. "Thank you for breakfast Mike." I say. "Actually, TJ made breakfast. Turns out, she's better in the kitchen than me." Mike replies. I look at TJ and smile, "Thanks for breakfast TJ." I say. "No problem!" She replies with a wide smile.

I sigh and my smile fades. "Alright, lets get down to business. As much as I would love to stay here, we need to go my house." I say and stand. Mike sighs. "Why do we need to go to your house again? Why can't we just stay here?" He asks.

I looked down at him. "We need to find Alice. I won't leave my sister behind." I said. Not again. Mike stands, refusing to look in my eyes. "Were staying here." He says. "What?" I asks, barely above a whisper as I realize whats happening. "You can go Farah. But were staying here." He said. I look at Grace and TJ but neither would look in my eyes.

"Okay then." I say. As I'm about to pass TJ, who' still seated, I place a hand on her shoulder and whisper, "I trusted you." I see a hurt look in her eyes as I continue past her. I grab the gun off the living room table and the pack of cigarettes and lighter. I pop a cigarette into my mouth and light it. "Good luck." I say as I walk out the door, leaving them behind.

I sneak down the street, making slow progress to my house. I ran across a few infected on the way but dispatched them quickly, the same way I dispatched my infected cousin. When I arrived at my house, I gulped.

I tossed the cigarette to the ground and approached the door. I typed the code into the keypad and the door unlocked. I pushed it open and closed it behind me as I look around my house, seeing a small layer of dust had already gathered.

I walked to the living room where pictures were seated on the fire place. There was one of dad and mom holding Alice before mom died. Next to it was one of dad, Alice, and I when we were younger and the next was taken two months ago by my dad of Alice and I.

I opened each of the cases of took the photos out of them, stuffing them into my pocket. I scan the room before I head upstairs to my room. I look around and see everything is just how I left it but I'm not fooled. I go to my nightstand and open the top drawer, grabbing the large case that just barely fit inside.

I set the case on my bed and take the top drawer out of my nightstand. I set the drawer on my bed and sit down beside the items. I opened the case first to reveal my twin, nine millimeter guns, my pocket knife, my extra, already loaded magazine, my black light, my brown leather double shoulder gun holster, my case of bullets, and my multi-tool.

I took off the clothes I had gotten from my cousins house and changed into my jeans and blue colts shirt. I put the gun I had gotten from my cousins house on my nightstand and sat down on my bed.

I grabbed my guns from the case and popped their magazines. I loaded the magazines with bullets and double checked that my guns were on safety before setting them down. I stood and put on my brown leather double shoulder holster and put my guns into their holsters. I put the extra magazines in the little leather holders for them. Three for each.

I grabbed my black leather jacket from my closet and put it on, covering up the guns. I put my black light in my back pocket along with my pocket knife. Using the multi tool, I turn towards the drawer and open the secret bottom and smiled at the note beneath.

I read the note and immediately froze. I drop the note and let it fall slowly to the ground. My hands tremble as I feel tears running down my cheeks. I curled myself into a ball, which is quite difficult to do with two guns strapped to your chest, and I cried.

I couldn't remember the last time I had cried more than a few tears. The note she had left me lay still on the floor, engraved into my memory. After what seemed like a forever of crying, I stopped. I assessed my situation as I rebuilt the walls that surrounded my heart.

I blocked my emotions from bursting through and used my head instead of my heart. I stood, wiped the tears away, and left. I went to my fathers room and grabbed a duffle bag. I packed up clothes, medicine, and food.

I made sure to add some survival tools from my father room as well. I went downstairs and as I was about to leave, I looked at the picture of my father when he was in the marines. The picture showed him in his formal marines uniform with the american flag behind him as he saluted towards the camera.

I looked away from the photo and left the house. I took a step outside and took a deep breath. I began walking down the street, unsure of my destination or what I'll do next. In the distance, I hear rumbling. Out of nowhere, I see a familiar face. "Hey kid!" Samuel shouts with a wide smile on his face.

He's riding passenger in a military jeep with a horde of infected following behind. "Hop on!" Samuel shouts. As the jeep approaches, I hop on and sit in the back seat. "Hey kiddo, where's Ray and Alice?" He asked, referring to my father and sister. My father served alongside Samuel before my dad got an honorable discharge from the marines.

My dad and Samuel were best friends so my dad made Samuel Alice and I's godfather. "Dead." I answer. Samuel's face goes from cheerful to upset. He reaches back and places a hand on my shoulder. "Alright kid. I'll take care of you." He said.

With the horde of infected following behind us as the jeep moved at a slow pace, we drove off to wherever my new home would be.