Colony Z: The Complete Collection (Vols. 1-4) (9 page)

When everyone left her alone in the camp, Judith Marie tried to remain calm. She tried not to cry. But her childish emotions got the better of her, and she sat on the ground and wept. She did not have her brother’s bravery to roam, and she did not have a friend. Judith Marie was completely alone.

But she was not really alone. For, when the company
frantically ran off in search of the boy, the dead that had been tracking their prey found a perfect opportunity. Their midnight snack sat on the ground in defeat, waiting for them to take her.

The situation could not have been more perfect.

There were only five or six of them tracking the others. They did not need many to feast on humans. In this part of the woods, the zombies lived sparsely. They were more independent than the other packs. This child would be enough hunting to last them several days. But they felt like having a little more tonight. They felt like waiting for someone to come for her.

Then they would have two humans instead of one.

They got their wish and more when Owen ran into the camp frantically, with Michael in one arm. Three humans.

Owen scooped his crying daughter up and held them both to his chest.

“Don’t either of you ever get out of my sight again, do you understand me? I don’t care if I’m not looking. You stay right where I can see you. I promise, I’ll never lose you again.” Owen was sobbing into his children’s arms.

In the normal world, Owen would have been too young to deal with these kinds of things. But he had new ingrown fatherly instincts, and he feared more for his children than for anything or anyone else. His wife had not crossed his mind until just now, when the children were found and safe.

But she was only on his mind for a split second. Because, out of the corner of his eye, Owen saw the lurking creatures begin to approach.

“Not now,” He moaned, hiding his children against his chest. “Not now, God. Not now that I have them.”

But the zombies continued. Owen had no weapons, no way to fight them. And, with two children in his arms, he couldn’t exactly push them away either.

Owen turned and did the only thing he could think to do. He began to run. The children cried against his chest from fear, but he did not stop. He ran and ran, praying to run into someone from his clan that had a gun. But he found no one.

“Someone, please, help us!” He cried. But no one came.

Owen knew now that Eric had been right. They should never have come into the woods tonight. And now they would all perish…perish because of him. Because he was a terrible leader.

Because he had no right to tell them what to do. Maybe the island wasn’t a good plan either. Maybe everything Owen had ever thought was a lie.

But it didn’t matter now, as he ran on and on through the woods, the zombies at his heels. Another zombie-myth busted. The devils sure could run when they wanted something. And they wanted the three humans that now ran in front of them. Oh, they wanted them badly.

“Someone! Anyone! Hannah, James, Eric, someone help!”

Owen didn’t even hear himself yelling now. He was running out of breath. He would fall from exhaustion soon enough, and they would have them. Have them all.

They were within range to reach out a grab him. And, finally, one did. The tug sent the unbalanced Owen tumbling to the ground. He pushed his children out of the way so he wouldn’t land on them and hurt them. Thankfully, neither was harmed.

But they were on top of them. They would have them now, fall or not.

Suddenly, the shots went off. The creatures began to fall one by one. First, the three above Owen. Next, the two above Michael. And then, the biggest one over Judith Marie was hit.

But this one did not fall.

The gun pulled. The gun clicked. Nothing came out again. The shooter had run out of ammunition.

The zombie reached its head down, opened its mouth, and bit down on the three-year-old’s arm. She screamed in pain and flailed around, trying to get away. Owen stood and ran at the creature, howling. He tackled it and they went flying together. When they landed, Owen took his knife out of its sheath and stabbed it over and over and over.

Michael, who watched the horror unfold in front of his eyes, thought his father would never stop. The blood and gore from the dead’s body was soaking his father’s shirt. But he didn’t seem to care.

“Daddy?” Michael said quietly. “Daddy?”

Still nothing.

“OWEN!”

Owen snapped out of his trance at the sound of his Eric’s voice. He ran to Judith Marie and bent down next to the unconscious girl.

“No, no, no…” He kept whispering over and over.

Owen took his shirt off, ripped it, and wrapped it around his daughter’s arm. Tears streamed down his face. She was alive, yes. But she had been bitten. And bitten badly. At her age…at her size…it wouldn’t take long…

No. He couldn’t even think it. She would be fine. She would live.

She
had
to live.

Owen pulled her into his arms and stood. Michael was shivering. Eric walked to him and scooped the poor boy up. He had been through a lot that night. It was time he got some rest.

“How badly was she bitten, Owen?” Eric asked softly, gingerly.

Owen could not answer. He could only look at Eric with the most vulnerable, heart-wrenching face any man could use to look at another man. Eric knew. It was bad. Very bad.

This was when Hannah and the rest of the clan arrived from their search party. At first, Hannah screamed of joy when she saw Michael. But her face went from happiness to terror in a matter of seconds when she saw her daughter lying unconscious in her father’s arms with a bloody bandage wrapped around her arm.

“What happened to my baby?”
She cried.
“What happened to her?”

The rest of the colony stood silently while Owen continued to cry.

“She was bitten.” Eric said.

And that was it.

Hannah and Owen stood crying in each other’s arms while the rest looked at the ground in sorrow. Even James lowered his head, for even he knew what this would mean.

Even he knew what would have to be done.

Morning had come. But the camp had not changed in its silence. The night had come and gone and, with it, so had the lightness of the traveling.

Hannah and Owen sat with their children away from the rest of the clan. They didn’t speak to them and they didn’t speak to one another, though they assumed everyone was giving them time to decide what to do.

Judith Marie had not awoken yet. They were both terrified of what would happen when she did.

Michael sat impatiently squirming in his father’s arms. Though he was scared for his sister, he didn’t understand she would die. And he wanted to see the girl from the night before. He wanted to go play with his friend.

“I want to play with Eva.”

“Why don’t you go play with Eric, sweetie? I’m sure he’d like that.”

“…but I want to play with Eva.”

“Not right now, baby. Go play with Eric or Aaron.”

“…okay, Mommy.”

And he left it at that.

“Who’s Eva?” Hannah asked her husband quietly.

“She’s a girl he met in the woods last night.”

“There were people in the woods?” Hannah spoke up, and looked at her husband. “Where are they? Maybe they can help us.”

“They can’t help us, Hannah. They can’t.”

“Why not?
Damnit, our daughter needs treatment…”

“Our daughter can’t be treated.”

“Don’t say that!”
Hannah slapped Owen across the face with as much power as she could manage. Then she stood and stormed off, Judith Marie closed in her arms.

She would live. She had to live. She had to be okay.

Owen sat for a moment, the stinging feeling setting in. He was sure there was a handprint on his face. But he stood and followed his wife anyway.

“Hannah, we need to figure out what to do.”

“This is your fault. If we had just stayed on the highway, everything would have been fine! But you just had to come into the woods and see what you could see, didn’t you, you coward? You didn’t want to stay in the open? That’s fine, you win, because now our daughter is paying for it!”

This time, it was Owen who slapped Hannah across the face, though not nearly as hard as she had hit him.

“…I thought I was doing the right thing, Hannah.”

“Do you still think you’re doing the right thing?”

“…Hannah, I want our daughter to live.”

“…I do too.”

“Then what do we do about this?”             

It was quiet for quite some time after that. Hannah fell into Owen’s arms, their daughter between them, warm with sleep. Hannah sobbed and Owen held her, comforting her for the first time in what seemed forever. He was really trying to make her feel better. He really did care. Funny how they were a family only when tragedy struck and they had no choice.

“I won’t kill her, Owen.” Hannah said tearfully against his shirt.

“I won’t either.”

“…what if she’s infected? What will we do?”

“She’s not infected, Hannah.”

“But what if…”

“She’s not infected, Hannah. It’s not going to happen.”

Owen continued to hold his wife. They sat back against a tree and he pulled her close to him, rocking her and the baby. Judith Marie yawned sleepily in her mother’s arms, but she did not awaken. If she was to become infected, it would happen within the next day or so. It always happened quickly with the young ones. There was less for the virus to attack, less for it to overcome.

If she was immune, like Owen seemed to be, she would never contract the disease. She would wake up and be completely fine, minus the bite-marks. She would be one of the lucky ones, like her father. She would have the ability to be less afraid than everyone else of the infected creatures.

But Owen had a feeling that this would not be the case. Difficult as it was, Owen had the strong feeling that he was losing her. That her soul was slipping away. And, sometimes, there’s just no bringing someone back from something like that.

And Owen knew in his heart that this was one of those times.

“Owen, I need to talk to you.” Eric stepped into the clearing where the three sat together.

Owen stood and reluctantly followed Eric. They walked farther away than Owen had expected. All Eric was going to do was tell him it was useless. Tell him to give up. And Owen knew that himself. Though coming to terms with it would prove much harder than knowing it.

“Owen, you can’t hold her like that. You or Hannah. You two can’t be that close to her. She’s infected. You’ll get infected too.”

He had not expected this.

“She’s my daughter.”

“I know she is, Owen.”

“I’m not going to leave her until I know she’s infected. And so far, she hasn’t given me any signs that she is.”

“Isn’t her bleeding arm and the fact that she was bitten by a zombie enough? Now listen, she may not be awake yet. But when she is, you’re going to be able to tell that she’s been bitten. She’s going to be sick, Owen. And we can’t lose the two of you to death.”

“I’m immune.”

“You
think
you’re immune. Thinking you’re immune is still no reason to go jumping in death’s face. I’m not saying you have to put her on the ground and walk away. I’m saying you need a carrier or a backpack or something for her. But her skin can’t be touching yours.”

“Do any of us look like we have a spare carrier, Eric? No, damnit. I’m going to hold her. I’m immune and, even if I’m not, I don’t care anymore.”

“But you’ll at least tell Hannah to let her go?”

“I can’t make her do anything. But I will try, yes.”

As Owen crossed to his wife, he knew the conversation they were about to have would be a difficult one to word.

“Hannah…give me Judith Marie.”

“Why?” Hannah pulled her closer. “You’re going to hurt her.”

“Like hell I am,” Owen said. “I’m not hurting anyone. But you need to let her go before she gets you infected.”

“…I don’t want to let her go. She’s my child. It feels wrong not to hold her when she’s hurt like this. I can’t do it.”

“Darling, I’ll hold her, do you understand? I’ll take care of her. She’s my daughter too. I’m not going to let anything hurt her, okay? But I’m immune to the disease and you’re not, and I won’t be having either of us getting sick and then getting Michael sick too.”

At the mention of her other child, Hannah gave up the argument and handed Judith Marie to her husband carefully. The child looked more pale than usual but, other than that, there was nothing to suggest that there was a raging battle going on within her, deciding whether she would awaken as the beautiful, innocent daughter they knew or the decaying, human-flesh-eating infection they knew may be inevitable.

“I’m going to get Michael,” Hannah whispered. “I don’t want him to be a burden on the others.”

Owen nodded in agreement as Hannah swept away. Eric looked at him from the trees and gave him an encouraging smile of approval. But it felt like a smirk and Owen felt like the worst father on the planet Earth. Letting one child be bitten, and losing another in the same night…he wasn’t getting many brownie points for being a good father today.

And he could live with that, as long as he got to keep his children. That’s all he wanted, all he asked. Just let him keep his children. Just let her live.

Please let her live.

Owen looked down at the small, fragile baby in his arms. He knew he would die before he killed her himself, and he knew Hannah would never dream of harming her children. No. Nothing was going to happen to Judith Marie. Not if he could do anything to stop it. Not if he could wave a magic wand and make it disappear.

No. Nothing was going to happen to Judith Marie.