Tainted Grace by M. Lauryl Lewis Page B

She was becoming more and more useful as time went on, and along with it more and more likable.
    “Thanks, Susan,” said Emilie. “I suppose we should keep the path to the back door clear inside, huh?”
    “ Yeah, I think so,” replied Susan.
    “Zoe, let me lift the boxes ok?” said Emilie.
    I nodded. “Sure. Thanks.” I smiled and tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ear.
    “No need,” said Nathan, appearing behind us and startling us all. “I’ll get them.” I noticed for the first time that he had a very slight accent. Canadian, perhaps.
    “I’ll tackle these boxes with Susan if you ladies would like to start in on the Suburban. Sorry about the mess in there.”
    “Ok,” said Emilie as she grabbed me by the elbow and drug me toward the old SUV. “Thanks Nathan!” she called back as we got farther away.
    “I think they make a cute couple,” said Em.
    “I suppose so,” I replied.
    “What’s wrong, Zoe?” she inquired. “You seem so down.”
    “I guess I’m just sick of all the running, all the dying, and just all the crap in general.”
    “I think we all are. Abbey. She’s about the same age as Joey was,” she added. “It makes me wonder why some of us have made it this long, and others haven’t.”
    Joey was Emilie’s little brother. He died the night she found us. She had watched the zombies devour him and listened to his screams for help.
    We were at the Suburban now, and I reached out to open the back passenger door. “He wasn't kidding about the mess.”
    “Gross.”
    There were old clothes, dirty rags that looked like they might have been used to check oil levels, old food wrappers, and odds and ends of just weird little things strewn about.
    “Should we just pile it all up somewhere outside and leave it?” I asked.
    “Probably. I guess keep anything that looks usable, or personal?” suggested Emilie.
    “Right. I’ll tuck things under the seats.”
    “Let’s sort through it all, put stuff on the seats that we think we should keep, and pile the rest off in the brush,” suggested Emilie.
    I nodded. “’Kay. Sounds like a plan.”
    We set to work. The task was a welcome relief from the morning’s events. After a couple of minutes, we heard Susan call over to us.
    “We’re going back in for more boxes of stuff.”
    I gave her a “thumbs up” signal. She smiled back. I thought about how in time we might actually grow to like each other. Maybe.
    After several minutes, we had piled up a considerable amount of throw-outs that now sat off in the brush and had only a few things to tuck under the seats.
    “Maybe we should check with Nathan on all of it,” I said lazily. “I mean the things we set aside to keep.”
    “Probably.”
    “Did I hear my name?” asked Nathan as he came back from the house, a box tucked under his arm. He had added a heavy coat to his attire. It was red and black plaid, quilted, and a bit raggedy.
    “ Yes. Do you want to look through the stuff we picked out to keep?”
    “Nah. You girls can pick and choose. If it seems useful we should keep it, if not toss it.”
    “Ok,” said Em. “Great.”
    “Boggs and Gus are headed up with the last of what we’re bringing. Zoe, Boggs wants to know if you can go down and help bring Abbey up.” He set the box down in the back of the step van.
    “ Yes of course,” I answered. “Did you get all of her books?”
    Nathan nodded. “She only has four, the poor kid. If we come across any we should grab them for her. The kid loves reading.” He stretched and yawned. “Susan,” he called softly. “Do you want to ride in the SUV or the van?”
    Susan popped her head out the side door of the step van. “Can I ride in the Suburban? The van is starting to stink.”
    “Sure you can. I noticed the smell,” he said.
    “Must be the deer,” I mumbled. “Ok, I’ll be back with Abbey and Kelsey.” I turned and walked back into the house. Boggs and Gus were just reaching the front door, so I stepped