Chapter Ten : A New Face..

The teenager was an average looking kid on the verge of becoming an adult. With over grown blond hair that kept falling into his grey eyes and dirty cloths that suited him well. He looked almost as though he had modeled his current look after Kurt Cobain, right down to the dirty jeans and sneakers, all he lacked was the stubble. Instead he had red acne covering his chin and spotted across his face. For a long minute Ethan just stared at him dumbfounded. What was he doing in the kitchen of their shop? He thoughts went immediately to the guns that were stashed away in the roof under their bedding. It didn't look like he had found them, his eyes kept going to the guns on their hips, like he was waiting for them to draw them as if he were in some kind of western. After about a minute of sizing each other up he made a polite attempt at a farewell and excused himself. Ethan stood aside to let him pass. It wasn't until the stranger was in the shop that he realized they had blocked the entrance with the car. He paused pondering it for a second before looking back at them.

"I don't suppose you could move that for me?" He sounded half like he was joking but underneath the politeness Ethan could sense frustration and fear. The atmosphere was electric with tension, it almost felt like they had trapped a tiger and now they weren't sure what to do with it.

"What's your name first?" Ava interjected forcefully.

"Samuel." He tried to look bored and disinterested but didn't pull it off very well.

"Have you got somewhere to go?" Ava pushed further.

"Not really... " He trailed off

"You could always stay here for a bit." Ava offered quickly, he stopped and looked back over the pair for a long second.

"When you came in were there many zombies about?" Samuel questioned, the look on his face betraying his needs more than he cared for. It was clear to Ethan that he didn't want to go, but he didn't want to seem desperate either. It made him think of himself and his feelings towards joining up with a group.

"Come up and see." Ethan offered up at last, motioning to the room again causing Samuel to give him a questioning look. Ava's smile might have had something to do with his going along with them, maybe he would have came anyway but regardless it was all together they made the climb into the roof space and over to the hole that had been their sniping position. From there they had a good view of the feast that was happening down the road. Samuel stood watching silently as, what were once human beings tore into the three carcasses.

"So that's what the shots were." He said as much to himself as to Ethan. "Why did you shoot them?"

"We needed to distract the rest of them." Ava said coming to Ethan's defense, hoping that this guy wasn't going to get all zombie rights about it like the strange man.

"Sorry about that." He apologized. "I didn't think there was anyone in here."

It took Ethan a moment to catch on to what he was apologizing for, then it struck him, the reason the zombies were crowded around the shop was because of him. Still he was too tired to care, his leg hurt and was starting to swell a little. He really wanted to sit for a bit and use the scope on one of the rifles to get a better look at the feeding pack.

While Ava chatted casually to their new acquaintance, he loaded a shell into the rifle and sat taking aim at different targets while listening in. They talked about recent history and what he was planning to do next. Ethan meanwhile scanned faces looking for the one face he hoped never to see again. If he did he would have to make a hard choice and one he wasn't sure he would ever be ready to make. Samuel talked a lot once he got started, telling how he been roaming the streets finding whatever he could to survive, out running any zombie he happened upon, finding a hiding spots to rest in. From what he was saying he didn't have any kind of plan. At least they had some idea about what they would do and what their ultimate goal was, Ethan thought to himself.

"Sam, you might want to block your ears." Ethan piped up when he could get a word in. Ava blocked her ears in anticipation, Sam following her lead did the same.

The shot was clean, the bullet passing through the head of the largest man in the group blowing a large hole out the back covering the people behind him in spray. He went rigid and collapsed like something suddenly turned into wood, the other zombies meanwhile looked on, still consuming the diminishing corpses. Sam got up to look at the result of the shot, he was suitably impressed at the kill and sat watching as the others began to tear into the newly motionless corpse.

"So you are what? ... Zombie hunters?" Samuel asked almost tongue in cheek.

"Nope." Ethan replied casually.

"Why shoot one then?" Sam pushed.

"They were running out of food." Ethan shot back, he was getting sick of the conversation, Ava didn't feel the need to question everything he did. Why did this guy.

"So what? Are you feeding them now?" He leveled it like an accusation. "Wouldn't that attract more here?"

The remark annoyed Ethan as he lowered the gun

"They will fill up and loose interest." His voice raised in retaliation. "And yes I am trying to attract them. I'm looking for someone, not that you would know. If you want to spend your days running and hiding that's fine, but don't expect to come here and lecture me about it." His face scabs cracked with his outburst, everything hurt and he didn't t need this right now. He left Sam to crawl away onto his mattress, carefully laying the gun beside himself he lay back. The trip had been a lot on his still healing body and he needed a rest.

It was later that evening after an afternoon of rest that Samuel apologized to Ethan, he came across genuine and humble. Ethan was sorry too, being in pain was wearing him down and Samuel didn't deserve the serving he had gave him. From then on Samuel showed a respect of the younger boy that Ethan wasn't used to from boys older. Quite often Ethan caught Ava smiling at him over the next couple of days, even thought he wasn't feeling very good it always warmed him. After three days of resting eating and talking it was almost as though they were three old friends. Samuel had gone to a school across town, when the quarantine had started he had been home alone with his parents interstate. After a few days his food had run low and he had ventured out to get more. Since then he had been scavenging from shops and homes he found vacant, he relied in his fitness to outrun his would be pursuers. In truth he didn't have a place to go or a clue on what he was going to do. Having no experience with the infected he didn't really have an opinion on that either. It was almost a blessing to have someone with no baggage around and with it he bought a strange humor that Ethan was starting to appreciate. The truth was that they couldn't stay here forever and they would need all the people they could trust if they were planning to start again somewhere else. They spent much of their time writing lists of things they would need and places they might go, the rest of their time was spent playing cards by candlelight. On the fourth day pretty much everyone was sick of sitting around, the roof space which used to feel cosy was now feeling cramped and even the shop held little in the way of entertainment. Ethan felt bad about using supplies that they would probably value more later, like the candles, surely they would need them in the future and using them now seemed such a waste. The truth was they needed a place to go, somewhere that they could start building things up and improving on things. The shop was starting to run down and it wasn't about to get any better. So it was by candlelight that night, they decided to take a drive in the morning to scout for a new place to set up a more permanent residence.

They rose early in the morning as the sun rays winked at them on the horizon. Ethan had used the rife to survey the street first thing, there were quite a few wandering dead, many of them looked worse for wear. He hadn't seen a lot of the healthy (if that were possible) zombies of late and he wondered silently if they were starting to die out. The thought of cities full of corpses and only a few people left alive on earth scared him more than the dead walking. Maybe he was used to seeing them about now that the shock was gone, they were just another obstacle, a part of everyday life. Ava ate cereal for breakfast while the boys both skipped and packed snacks instead. They took a box of shells for the hand guns, enough pistols for each of them, a rifle and the menacing looking shotgun that was still hidden away in the boot of the car. It had been a tough decision to give Samuel a gun, they had talked about it quietly when he went down into the shop for food. It made sense that they each carry one, however there was also the trust factor. His humor had warmed Ethan up a bit in his favor and Ava wasn't totally against it. They had kept the remainder of the weapons hidden under her mattress since his arrival. They also had concerns about anyone else moving in while they were away. It seemed not many people had survived, at least around this suburb anyway. The whole thing was a waste of breath because neither of them had any idea on what they could do about it. Ethan wasn't about to let Ava out alone with someone they had only known for a few days and she wasn't about to stay behind and so it was decided, they would all go together. Top of the list of things to find was somewhere with power, since it had gone out no one had showered or eaten hot food. Once they were all packed ready to leave the question came up about where to go. The plan had seemed solid but nobody had thought of an actual place where the power might still be on. Some large companies and hospitals had back up power but it was hardly the kind of place they were likely to set up camp. They were driving towards the outskirts of the city taking the most direct route when Samuel who was sitting in the passenger seat suddenly cried stop. Ethan was thrown forward unexpectedly as Ava braked hard, pulling to the curb as she pulled up.

"That house back there." Sam said excitedly. "It has solar panels on the roof." Ethan craned his head trying to see what he was talking about. The house was large with a stone and wrought iron fence around it, traditional roses filled the front yard. The section of road they were on had houses on one side only, adjacent was paddocks. The zombies had been thinning out as they got further away from suburbs and more into rural lands. Looking back along the stretch of road, there was only one staggering corpse in the distance.

"Do you suppose they have power?" Ethan asked not sure if it was a stupid question or not.

"I don't think solar works like that." Ava replied looking at the front fence. Samuel however had his hopes up. It looks perfect he beamed, he had the door open and was standing on the pavement before anyone else could say anything more.

"Well there's no harm in checking I guess." Ava said getting out from behind the wheel.

Standing in front of the gates leading up to the garage Ethan got a good feeling about it. The yard was secure and the house looked well kept, the garage roller door sealed the back from any unwanted intruders and under the solar panels the roof was constructed of tiles. It would be easy to remove some and make a lookout. The gate made a screaming protest as they swung it open and headed to the front door. It was unlocked, opening freely when Ethan turned the handle, he have Ava a backwards glance silently asking of she was coming.

"I'll stay with the car." She called up the drive at him.

So the two boys drew their pistols and entered the house. Quietly Sam reached for the light switch, flicking it several times as though might magically work on the fifth try.

"No power." Ethan pointed out needlessly.

They didn't need light to see that further down the hallway was a corpse. At first it looked like a dark patch, but as their eyes grew more accustomed to the gloom they could make out the vague shape of a human. The bulk of it had been spread out, it was smeared from wall to wall, extending down the passageway like a well trodden trail. Ethan froze as the hair on his neck stood up on end. There was something very wrong with this picture, he couldn't figure out what but it chilled him, making him want to leave. The smell that wafted past them sucked by the open door, was not like anything he was familiar with and it made his face bunch involuntary which only made him wince once more with pain. Somewhere off in one of the rooms something moved around. Samuel had already started backing away and ethan began to worry he might get shot in the back if something did come at them. He signaled with his free hand for Sam to get out, while backing up himself. A small creature ran from the end room, agilely jumping the corpse and running towards him. Raising his gun he stopped moving, heart racing and breathing on hold. The beast stopped a few meters away from him turning on the spot like a snake coiling itsself. The cat decided he was too big for prey and gave him a venomous look. Ethan kept his gun up and started to back up again while the animal arched, making a hissing face but no noise escaped its mouth. It danced sideways, tail arched like a venomous cobra, blood covering its face and matting its fur. Further down the hallway another appeared, lingering at the back watching the action from a distance. As he reached the door Ethan braved a backwards glance, Sam was gone. Stepping over the threshold Ethan closed the door shutting the dead inside.

"Your not scared of cats are you?" He mocked Sam as he strolled back down the drive.

Samuel was by the footpath gun still drawn, looking shaken and a little concerned as he watched Ethan emerge unscathed. Ethan paused, Ava was across the road staring out into the paddock. As Sam said something that Ethan didn't quite make out, he realized something was wrong too and turned to look at what it was. Whatever it was that had Ava so mesmerized it scared the hell out of Ethan, his heart lept and he broke into a sprint out of the gate and across the road. Ava startled as he thundered up behind her and relief flooded over him as he realized she was ok.

"Look!" She said pointing out into the paddock and the three of them stood on the roadside looking for a long time.

In the paddock a herd of dead cattle roamed.