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

others sang along; the song must
have been familiar to them all. When it was over, Josh smiled and sat his
guitar down.
    “I think that’s enough for today. Let’s eat some
lunch.”
    Everyone stood and slowly wandered off. They all
seemed to be off in their own worlds. It had been an emotional service for the
family. Jeremy was fixing to turn and leave when he felt a hand touch his
shoulder.
    It was Laura.
    “Was it as bad as you thought it was gonna be?”
She asked.
    “Haha, no, no it wasn’t,” he answered.
    “Good. I hope we didn’t scare you off with all
the crying. We’re an emotional family.”
    “It’s fine. I understand completely. Not sure if
Josh told you, but I lost my mother the day things started. I tried to save her
and lost her in the process.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that Jeremy.”
    Jeremy appreciated the sincerity in her voice.
    “How are you doing with that?” She followed up.
    She was the first one to ask him that.
    How am I doing with it? He thought.
    “Well,” he started. “I really haven’t had much
time to think about it. I don’t know. Not much I can do about it, y’know?”
    She smiled.
    “No, there’s not.”
    Josh made his way over.
    “Hey, what’d you think?”
    “It was cool man. Didn’t know you could sing
like that?” Jeremy said.
    “Yeah, me neither. I just opened my mouth and
that came out!”
    Jeremy chuckled.
    So goofy.
    “Hey c’mon, let’s go grab some food. I have a
Sunday-afternoon nap waiting on me!” Josh said, beginning to walk towards the
house.
    He placed his hand on the small of Laura’s back
and pulled her in close to him.
    Jeremy followed them up the back stairs into the
house. But when he got to the door, he paused and looked back towards the wood
line. He scanned back and forth for a moment. He couldn’t place his finger on
it, but he felt like they were being watched.

Chapter
Twelve
     
    CJ woke up early the next morning. The sun was
just beginning to peek over the trees. After staring at the ceiling for several
minutes, he decided to get up. He passed through the living room quietly.
Jeremy was still asleep on the couch; his mouth was hanging open. CJ tried to
muffle his chuckling as he got dressed.
    Once in the kitchen, CJ grabbed a few granola
bars and stuffed them into the pockets of the fleece pullover he was wearing.
He wasn’t hungry now, but he might be later and he didn’t want to have to make
his way down from the roof just for a snack. He grabbed his rifle from the gun
rack near the door, made sure it was loaded, and slung it over his shoulder.
    From there he made his way upstairs and cracked
the door to his parent’s bedroom. They were both still asleep. Just as
stealthily as he moved downstairs, he crossed their room to the window. He went
to open the window and as he did, it let out a noisy creak. Wincing, he looked
over to his parents.
    Still asleep.
    I’ll need to find some WD-40 to take care of
that later, he
thought.
    He opened the window the rest of the way and
climbed out onto the roof, sliding the window back down behind him.
    It was much colder today than it was the day
before.
    Is it December yet?
    He couldn’t remember. He knew what day it was,
but the calendar date was something he had not kept up with.
    He climbed the slope of the roof up to the “his”
spot, his rifle bouncing against his back. Once there, he sat the rifle down
next to him and sat cross-legged.
    The orange and red of the sunrise was beautiful
against the still, cloudless blue sky. It made him think of the time he and his
Aunt Laura went to the beach on Tybee Island to watch the sun come up.
    But the vibrant light show did not distract him
from why he came up here.
    His eyes scanned the property and the tree line.
    No threats.
    No zombies.
    He felt himself relax.
    Did he expect there to be anything out there? A
part of him told himself not to worry, not to be afraid.
    I am not afraid, he reassured himself. Just
cautious.
    It was not fear