Day 27

We need time for everyone to rest. My leg is still aching badly and constantly, Josh's stomach needs to heal significantly, and everyone else obviously need to rest. There are beds in the hospital and plenty of blankets and some food. We can lock all of the doors and it is easy for one or two people to keep guard at any given time. This morning we decide to stay for several days. I can tell Dawn is anxious to get going, but knows that this is for the best. I can tell that doubt in her family being alive is creeping in, and I try to get rid of it daily, explaining how they could easily have made it to the foothills and survive up there. I don't know if it helps or if she believes me. I don't know if I believe me.

Chad and Charlotte leave to go get more supplies, hoping to get a propane stove so we can have a hot meal in this cold. Dawn, at the last moment goes with them as well. She puts a new sanitation mask over her mouth and nose, grabs a small pistol from the back of the Hummer on her way out and runs to catch up with Chad and Charlotte, shouting an "I love you" as she leaves. I think she wanted to get out more than anything, which I can understand.

Seeley is still asleep and Connor is playing with some toys we were able to get from a nursery. Charlotte had found them and spent her night watch cleaning them with sanitation wipes. I think Connor opened up to her after that, wanting her to play with him the whole morning. She did for a while. At least until Chad woke up. And then they left.

I am sharpening my machete for the second time today, moving the stone smooth and rhythmically as I do so but then hear squeaking. Like that of a turning wheel. Connor hears it too and perks up as Josh rounds the corner pulling with him an upright piano.

"I found this and thought we could use some music." He looks at me and then the piano.

"I'm not that great," I reply, Connor is already pushing the keys as Josh takes the bench from the top where he had rested it. The sound wakes Seeley and Josh runs and grabs him from the room while I sit down on the bench with Connor on my lap, really getting into playing. After some time I lift him and set him on top of the piano. He kicks his legs and smiles excitedly and all of the chords resonate. I start to play one of the only songs I know how to play on piano, I'll Follow You Into the Dark, by Death Cab for Cutie. Josh bounces Seeley to the song and Connor kicks the piano, excitedly.

I play every song I know twice. Hallelujah, The Luckiest, Poisoned Oak. Josh sings along with some and I realize this is the first time I've ever really heard him sing. We forget where we are as we sing. We forget about the world and zombies and just enjoy singing. We forget the noise we are making.

There is a crash and I know a zombie just broke into the main lobby. Josh gives me Seeley and runs as fast as he can to the double doors that lead into the nursing area. He wedges his foot against the door. I grab Connor in my other arm and put them both under the nurses desk telling them not to move. My gun is resting on the counter and I grab it, moving to the window between the lobby and where an admittance nurse would sit. There is only one. I look out side and do not see any others. I put my rifle down and pull out my machete..

"There is only one, Josh," I say, looking at him. He understands. I wheel around the desk and stand right in front of the doors. Josh opens them and steps to the side. Before the zombie can react I plant the machete in its head. As it falls I tell Josh to get the boys and keep them under there while I get rid of the body. Josh goes around the desk and I can hear him talking to them softly and I grab the zombies feet and drag it out of the building and onto the sidewalk near the large window. I watch for other zombies but see none.

I get back and lock the double doors before closing them. Locking the first with a latch on the top and bottom, the second the same. I went around the counters and grabbed both of my boys.

"You guys OK," I ask, looking between them. Seeley is reaching for me and so I hold him. Connor, seeing me hold his brother says, "two boys," and reaches for me. I hold both of them, bouncing them up and down, making them laugh.

We don't play the piano anymore and Dawn, Chad and Charlotte return with large bags of supplies after the sun had set. There is a stove that Chad gets to work on, and meat. There was a freezer that, while off, had kept the meat frozen (for the most part). They bring cans of food and bags filled with clothes. It was a good thing Dawn went with them to bring all of this back. We explain about the piano and decide it best that it is not played. Josh wheels it away. Dawn worries about the boys but I assure her they are fine.

We eat that night better than we had in some time. A warm meal with meat and drink. I put the boys to bed. They are in the closest room to the nurses station, which is where Dawn and I sleep as well. Seeley has a makeshift crib, and Connor a cot. Some candles are lit and I desperately wish for a book or some form of entertainment as I settle in to take the first watch, leaning in the chair behind the glass admittance window.