Encounters by Stewart Felkel Page A

before. His finger tightened on the trigger when he spotted more motion out of the corner of his eye. Two more zombies were chasing the first. Her head whipped around when she heard them and she tried to pick up her pace.
    “She isn’t turned” he exclaimed.
    Quickly he shifted his aim to the lead zombie. It was gaining on her. She was panting and beginning to stumble. He centered his crosshairs and fired. The shot echoed through the woods and the zombie collapsed. The girl froze in her tracks at the sound head whipping from side to side. That was almost her undoing. The other zombie was almost on her when he dropped it too. Quickly he scurried down the ladder to the ground and hurried towards her.
    She nervously watched his approach half crouched. Her chest was heaving and she shifted her weight away from him as he got close. He slung his rifle back over his shoulder and held up his hands before him.
    “I’m not going to hurt you” he said.
    She stared at him warily. “How do I know I can trust you?”
    “Well, I did just save you” he replied. She didn’t answer him immediately. “Where are you from?”
    “Texas” she finally replied. “I’m from Texas.”
    “What’s your name Texas?”
    “Cassie” she finally choked out.
    “Well Cassie, I’m Tim. Where are you headed?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
    “I have a cabin nearby. It’s safe. If you want you can stay the night there. You’re the first survivor I’ve seen in a long time.”
    She looked him up and down, her breath steaming in front of her, for several long minutes before nodding her head. He jerked his head the direction of his cabin and started walking. She fell in beside him and he slowed to let her match pace. When they reached his cabin she looked up the ladder and groaned involuntarily.
    “Don’t worry” he said. “It’s not that bad and once we get up there we’ll be safe from any zombies that wander by.”
    “That’s what you think” she replied before starting to climb.
    He wanted to ask what she meant but instead he shimmied up the ladder behind her. She clambered onto the deck and walked straight inside without stopping. She turned around slowly examining the room as he came in.
    “What kind of place is this?”
    “It was a small resort before everything happened. People would come here to elope or celebrate anniversaries.”
    Cassie glanced to the corner at the giant heart shaped tub. “I hope you don’t have any expectations here.”
    He felt his face go flushed and stuttered out “of course not!”
    “Good. Now where do I sleep?”
    “You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
    “You don’t snore do you?”
    “If I do” he said with a small lopsided grin “no one has been around to complain. I’m starving are you hungry.”
    Her stomach grumbled in reply. She sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her face.
    “Do you want to take a bath while I cook?”
    “And let you get a free peep show? I don’t think so. There’s not even a curtain around that tub. I thought you said that you weren’t expecting anything?”
    “Whoa, whoa, whoa! I just asked. If you’d like a bath I can hang a blanket up for a privacy curtain.”
    She stared at him for a long minute before agreeing. He hung a blanket and started cooking while splashing and contented sighs came from behind the makeshift curtain. Twenty minutes later he called out that the food was ready. He heard the tub begin to drain and as he was setting the table Cassie came out drying her hair with a towel.
    “This is the first time I’ve felt human in weeks. Thank you for the bath and rescuing me. I’m sorry I’ve seemed a little ungrateful. Things haven’t been good for awhile and trusting a stranger isn’t exactly easy.”
    “No worries” he replied. “Now are you ready to eat?” In reply she grabbed her spoon and started digging in.
    “How long have you been hiding in this tree house?”
    He stopped for a second