grabbed her as she passed a large tree. They pulled her to the side as someone held her from behind. She brought her elbows back hard hitting whoever had grabbed her in the stomach. She turned pointing her rifle ready to fire. It was Holiday. He was bent over gasping for air with his hands now resting on his knees.
“Shhh.” Holiday attempted to make Destiny quiet by shushing her. He was barely able to bring his one hand away from his knee long enough to bring his finger in front of his mouth. The sack of their weapons sat on his feet.
“Holiday, I am so sor-” she began to apologize but was cut off.
“Where are you ya fucking little bitch!” Corporal shouted. He had come into the forest after her and he was angry.
“Over there.” Holiday managed to say as he pointed to the side of a house near the edge of the small forest. “Go.” He said pushing her slightly. Without hesitation Destiny rushed toward the building. The second she hit the building her eyes searched for a way inside. She noticed there were more houses beside it. She walked around the corner still searching for a way in. She finally found a small door that was wide open.
“Here.” She said quietly. She turned around expecting to see Holiday behind her but he wasn’t there. She walked back to the corner cautiously. “Holiday.” She whispered. He was not that far behind her, and should have been there by now.
Suddenly Holiday emerged from around the corner bumping into her and nearly dropped the sack of empty guns. Startled she screamed slightly.
“There you are!” The Corporal screamed as he spotted them from inside the forest.
“Go.” Holiday said pushing her once more. As they entered the building Holiday looked around outside. The house was part of a small subdivision located just on the outskirts of Chicago. When they got inside he shut the door and crouched to not be seen by the top half of the window.
Holiday and Destiny were in a kitchen. All the cupboards were empty and left wide open. The tile floor was cracked in several spots and dried blood stained parts of it. A shadow walked by the door . Holiday froze solid. Outside the Corporal was walking by - Holiday could hear him clicking his revolver as he reloaded it. The door handle on the door Holiday was against turned slowly. He pressed his weight against it as the Corporal tried to push it open quietly. It wouldn’t budge; Holiday was making sure it wouldn’t. All the Corporal had to do was kick it to know Holiday was blocking it. Holiday assumed he wouldn’t because this part of the city looked pretty destroyed and was likely not ‘claimed’ by the Corporal and his followers yet.
After a few seconds the Corporal’s shadow slowly moved away to Holiday’s relief. Destiny was already in the next room ; a hallway leading upstairs attached to the front door. It reminded Holiday of David’s home back in Lone Tree. He slowly crawled on his hands and knees into the next room. Destiny crouched beside a small window near a table, watching outside.
“He is across the street now.” She whispered to Holiday as he crawled up beside her. “Did you see David outside anywhere?” she asked. Holiday shook his head no. “We will find him.” Destiny continued. “I have to.”
Outside the Corporal looked for any signs of where the group had gone to. A zombie appeared around the corner of one of the buildings and immediately jogged toward him. The Corporal raised his revolver and fired without any sign of fear. If he showed any emotion at all when he saw a zombie it was boredom that it was over so fast. Destiny and Holiday watched from inside and he stood in the middle of the small city street looking all around him.
“He is going to continue to be a problem.” Holiday said.
“Why did Sam want to go back? Then she didn’t?” Destiny asked confused.
“Who knows,” Holiday said shrugging. Behind him a zombie silently crawled along the floor toward him. “She is probably
Learning to Kill: Stories