Relationships Were Hard Enough Before The Zombie Apocalypse

When the watchtower bell rang, Tommy dropped the seedling he had been holding and gripped Lydia's arm. "Don't go, Mama."

Lydia righted Tommy's seedling and finished planting her own. She swept her three-year-old into her arms and nuzzled his soft cheek.

"Are you scared?" she asked him.

"Uh-huh, I'm scared and I want you to stay with me."

Lydia carried Tommy to the base of the watchtower. "Daddy will keep you safe while I'm out," she reassured him.

"But I'm scared for you, Mama!"

"I'm impressed, Sprout," Lydia told him. "That was a complicated bit of communication."

"Uh-huh, I'm a good talker," Tommy said.

Their whole band of survivors gathered at the watchtower--fifteen adults and four children total. Gabe put his arm around Lydia and kissed her forehead. She kissed his cheek in return.

"What's the alarm?" Gabe asked.

"You said to keep an eye on the Whitfords' place," Brad answered from the lowest watchtower platform. "Potential survivors. Well, there's eight corpses scratching at the old barn door. They can't get in, but they definitely want to."

"Hi, Daddy," Tommy said.

"Hi Sprout," Brad responded. "Are you ready to come up here with me?"

Tommy clung to Lydia. She covered his face in kisses. "Daddy wants a turn playing with you," she said. "I have to go do some work with Gabe."

Gabe patted Tommy's arm. "I'll bring her back safe," he promised.

"You should all stay," Tommy insisted. He pointed at Lydia and Gabe in turn: "You and you should both stay. Everybody should stay."

"I love staying with you, Tommy," Lydia said, "So I will come back to you. But right now, it's important that I do some work with Gabe."

Gabe caressed Lydia's cheek. "I'll go get our gear."

Lydia carried Tommy to the watchtower ladder. He clung to her.

Brad scowled. "I don't like you going out there."

"You don't get a say," Lydia said flatly.

"Tommy needs us both," Brad insisted.

"Tommy needs our merry band to be as well-equipped as possible," Lydia replied. "We all do. There could be survivors in that barn. Or livestock! Gabe and I can handle eight corpses."

"I don't like it," Brad repeated.

"Do you really want a conversation about what we like and don't like?" Lydia asked him. "You want to talk about our feelings?"

Brad's eyes narrowed. His jaw clenched. "I don't."

Lydia refrained from making a snide remark about failed marriage counseling.

"I'm good at talking about feelings," Tommy said.

Brad and Lydia both softened up.

"Yes you are," Brad said. "Come here, Sprout. I'd like your help up on the watchtower!"

Lydia handed Tommy up to Brad. "I'll see you soon," she promised. "Have fun with Daddy."

"Bye-bye, Mama," Tommy said. "Have fun working!"

The phrase hit Lydia in the gut. Tommy used to say it every morning when she dropped him off at daycare, back before corpses attacked the living and society collapsed.

She blew her son a kiss and joined Gabe at the front gate.

Gabe held out her leather jacket for her. "Brad still behaving?" he asked.

Lydia donned the jacket and tied back her long hair. "The marriage ended a year before the world did, and he still wants control over me."

Gabe pulled her into a loving hug. "If the cons of having him around ever outweigh the pros…" He didn't finish the sentence.

"He's a dick," Lydia shrugged. "But he still contributes to the group's survival. And besides, he's good with Tommy."

"Okay," Gabe said. He kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said with a smile. Lydia kissed him, then disengaged from his embrace. She picked up two spears from their rack beside the gate and handed one to Gabe. "Let's go kill some dead people."

A year ago (and it felt like a lifetime), Lydia would have loved to walk on such a perfect April afternoon. Trees with freshly opened leaves swayed in the gentle wind. Birds sang, insects buzzed, and squirrels rummaged through the undergrowth.

Under current circumstances, peace never seemed to last long.

The first corpse they encountered swung from a tree branch by a noose. It had been a teen girl with fashionably ripped jeans and an oversized tee shirt. At first, it swayed idly. When it saw Gabe and Lydia approach, it stared at them with empty eyes, reaching feebly for them. Lydia could clearly see the bite marks on its left arm which had infected it.

"Poor girl," Gabe said. He positioned his spear and neatly pierced the corpse's temple, ending its undead suffering.

Lydia pointed out the small step ladder at the base of the tree. "She knew she was doomed," Lydia said. "She tried to beat the infection to the punch."

"That's what I would do," Gabe said.

"Same."

They made their way to the Whitfords' place without further incident. All windows on the ground floor of the old farmhouse had been boarded up, but the front door remained completely open.

"I want to check that out after, if we can," Lydia told Gabe.

"Definitely. But first…"

They crossed the unkempt lawn, passing an empty rabbit hutch and a broken chicken coop. Gabe suddenly grabbed Lydia's arm and she froze in place.

"Watch your step," he said.

She looked down. She had almost stepped on the bloated dead body of an old man. Extensive bite wounds covered his neck and shoulders, and a kitchen knife protruded from his temple.

"Mr Whitford. He was taken care of," Lydia remarked. She retrieved the knife and wiped it clean on the old man's shirt.

"Hopefully, this means there are survivors," Gabe replied.

Lydia and Gabe continued their way around the back of the farmhouse. Brad had been right: eight walking corpses pawed feebly at the old barn door.

In one smooth motion, Lydia and Gabe each speared a corpse in the head. Their targets dropped immediately to the ground. The movement caught the attention of the remaining six. Two more went down before they had a chance to move.

The corpse of a middle-aged woman shambled forward as Lydia repositioned her spear. It caught the spearhead in the gut and pressed forward, its jagged fingernails reaching towards Lydia.

"Damn," Lydia said, struggling with the stuck spear.

"Be right there," Gabe said as he took down his third corpse.

"I've got it," Lydia responded. She swept the end of the spear hard to the left, forcing the corpse to turn sideways. She stabbed it in the temple with her new knife and watched it drop.

Lydia had just enough time to pull her spear out of the body before the last corpse reached out for her. She readied herself to finish it off, but Gabe's spear got there before hers could.

They smiled at each other.

"We're a good team," Gabe said.

"I think so too." They kissed. Then Lydia knocked on the barn door. "Is anyone in there? We're alive."

"For real?" a woman's voice responded from inside. "Hold on!"

There were the scraping sounds of heavy objects being moved. Lydia guessed there had been a makeshift barricade. After a moment, the door opened and a woman looked at them.

She and Lydia locked eyes.

"Oh my god," the woman said.

Lydia laughed.

The woman tried to hush her. "Those things will hear you!"

"They're deaf," Lydia reassured her. "High fevers destroy cochlea. The bits in the ear that make us hear."

"Oh," the woman said. Then, "Lydia. Oh my god."

"You know each other?" Gabe asked.

"You've heard me mention Stephanie before," Lydia told him.

"Oh," Gabe said. It was the kind of "oh" that spoke volumes.

Stephanie stammered, "I… I don't know what to say."

Lydia nodded knowingly.

Gabe put his arm around Lydia's shoulders and caressed her with his thumb. "What do you want to do, Honey?"

"Exactly what we came here to do, Love," Lydia responded. She turned back to Stephanie. "Gabe and I have been establishing a homestead over at the Recreation Complex. Nineteen people, four are kids. We've got food, but we could use another set of hands to help out."

"Wow," Stephanie said.

"Brad and Tommy are there," Lydia added.

"Oh my god," Stephanie said again. "Lydia. I'm so sorry. I swear, it was only once. I didn't mean to--"

Lydia held up a hand. "Stop, please. It isn't your fault that Brad and I had a bad marriage."

Stephanie's lip quivered. "It's my fault he cheated."

"You played a role, yeah," Lydia agreed. "But it's Brad's fault he cheated."

A moment passed in awkward silence.

Then Lydia heard some clucking. "You have chickens?" she asked.

"I found them when I got here two days ago," Stephanie said. "Three of the hens lay eggs. There's a goat, too. They've all been eating this huge bag of grain."

Stephanie showed Lydia and Gabe into the barn. The three of them located a large wheelbarrow and loaded it with supplies for the animals. Then they plundered the farmhouse for canned goods and first aid equipment.

Before they left, Lydia found a permanent marker and wrote on the front door: "Homestead @ RecPlex, 3 miles SE."

The sunset blazed orange and pink as the three of them reached the front gate. Tommy and the other children rushed to them, all positively enchanted by the goat and chickens. Several of the adults came to help unload supplies.

"Mama, are you sad?" Tommy asked.

Lydia knelt down. "I was a little, but seeing you cheered me up," she said.

Tommy hugged her and kissed her cheek. "The goat's name is Goatie and she's my new friend!"

"Okay, Sprout," Lydia said with a smile. She turned to Gabe. "Did you hear that?"

"Goatie it is," Gabe agreed. "Best goat name ever."

Lydia saw Brad notice Stephanie. He pinched himself and winced.

"Hi," Stephanie said to him.

"Oh my god," Brad said.

"That was my response too," Stephanie said.

"It's a small world, even at the end," Lydia said.