Savannah's Only Zombie (Book 2): A New Darkness by Josh Vasquez

Josh said there would be a time for
rationing off food, but it seemed that time was not here yet. A part of Jeremy
told him to enjoy it, but another said he should not get too comfortable with
the abundance of food. There weren’t grocery stores anymore. They couldn’t just
pop in whenever they were out of maple syrup. Or pancake mix. Or milk. There
couldn’t be too much milk left and Jeremy hadn’t seen any cows wandering around
the place. Maybe they could “borrow” one from a nearby farm. If they could
figure out how to milk it, maybe they would have fresh milk, cream, and even
butter if they could figure that process as well.
    He took a bite. The still warm flavors of pancake,
chocolate, and maple syrup flooded his taste buds and sent his brain the
message to stop worrying and to send some more of what was on his fork.
    And so he did.
     
    ***
     
    Jeremy gave himself a quick glance in a mirror
before he walked out onto the back porch. He changed into some cleaner clothes,
but they were not anything special. He didn’t think to ask what he should wear.
Did normal church rules apply here? And what kind of church did they attend
before? Jeremy knew that not all churches had the same idea on what you should
wear. His mother’s church was more relaxed than it used to be. When he and his
father attended, men would either wear suits or at the very least a dress shirt
and tie. Women were not to wear pants. But then that pastor left and the one
who replaced him relaxed the dress code. His mother would still always wear
some floral pattern dress.
    “Out of habit,” she would say.
    Jeremy decided what he had on would have to do.
It wasn’t like he had much options. He walked outside and took breath of
relief. Nobody was wearing anything fancy. He made his way down the back steps
and walked over to where they were sitting. Several folding chairs were set up
underneath the big oak tree. Laura sat on a blanket on the ground. Josh was
standing next to her, his back to Jeremy. She motioned for Jeremy to come and
sit on the ground by her. Josh turned and smiled when he saw it was Jeremy.
    “I’m glad you came,” he said. “You can sit here
if you want.”
    “I think I’ll just stand.”
    Laura and Josh both nodded. Josh was holding an
acoustic guitar.
    “Are we singing or something?” Jeremy asked.
    “Maybe a song or two.”
    Jeremy didn’t know the words to any Christian
songs.
    “Don’t worry,” Josh added. “You don’t have to
sing along.”
    Jeremy gave a nervous smile.
    What have I gotten myself into? He wondered.
    Before he could answer his question, Josh’s
father-in-law stood and cleared his throat. The man had maybe spoken twenty
words since Jeremy and the others arrived. He bowed his head; everyone else
followed.
    “Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. A day
to stop and rest and worship you. A day to remember your goodness. A day to
remember your grace…”
    Jeremy watched on as the family prayed together.
He had bowed his head out of respect, but found it hard to close his eyes. He looked
around instead. The whole family seemed to be relaxed. Even Amy, who sat in one
of the folding chairs, with Opie in her lap. CJ was sitting next to his aunt,
every now and then, cracking open one eye. Jeremy laughed quietly to himself.
    Still keeping watch.
    CJ eventually made eye contact with Jeremy.
Jeremy smiled and closed his eyes. Pops was still praying. Now asking, “vision
in these dark and trying times.”
    That’s one way to put it, Jeremy thought.
    Dark and trying times.
    It was funny; none of them ever referred to it
as the end. How many of the televangelists screamed of the End Times and the
Apocalypse on the TV back home? They all said this was judgment and hell on
earth. Of course, they quickly followed that with a “send your donations here”-spiel.
But Josh’s family was different. None of them thought this was as bad it was
gonna get. Even with the loss of Hailey, there seemed to be