Day 45

Heber is nothing like any of the cities we'd encountered. As we near the city we start to see them and Dawn begins to silently weep. Zombies are everywhere. Loitering, on the streets and in parks and buildings--everywhere. The city was in ruin, much like Salt Lake City. As we drove through the zombies, most came towards the car and banged on windows and doors. Some jumped up on the hood and tried braking the glass. I drive quickly through them, noticeably running over some. We eventually turn off of Main St. and travel up 500.

There are less zombies here and I pick up speed. down the road to get to Dawn's parents house. There are few zombies around and josh and I quickly dispose of them with our blades, not wanting to alert more to our location.

Josh and Charlotte stay outside while Dawn runs inside. I carry Seeley, and Connor runs in after Dawn. The house is dark from little direct sunlight in the early morning. It is cold and empty and gives an eerie presence, a foreboding that creeps through my skin and bones. The house had always been so warm, even in the Summer it was often times hotter inside than out and I feel myself missing that feeling of coziness--that warmth that would always be found in the walls.

We check each of the rooms but there is no sign of anyone. No sign of a struggle, and also no sign that they ever packed to leave. Both cars are in the garage as well. Dawn is obviously upset and I am not sure how to comfort her. And so, while holding Seeley, and her holding Connor, I hold her in their music room among the piano and couch and shelves.

"McKay's violin case is gone," she says suddenly, referring to her brother, who played violin.

"What?" I say, not sure what she means.

"It's gone. Why would it be gone?"

"You think he is still alive, somewhere?"

"He has to be. And if he is, maybe everyone else is."

There is a call from the front. It is Charlotte, "Uh, guys!? You may want to get out here."

We run out and see some thirty zombies walking towards our Hummer from different directions. Charlotte and Josh have obviously already killed a few. I run in front of Dawn, holding Seeley and place him in the car. Dawn does the same but then grabs the keys on the seat, puts them in her pocket and locks the doors to the Hummer. I reach in my bag and hand her a pistol, grabbing one for me as well and pulling out my machete.

We four stand in a semi circle, ready to fight off the oncoming horde of zombies. All at once, they are fully upon us and I fire several shots, and sever zombies fall. After my ammo is out I hold my machete ready, crouching slightly. I can already see Josh swinging his blade furiously, moving away from us to avoid any injury he could give us. I do the same as I hear a chainsaw start up off in the distance. However, I am forced to ignore it. I look over at Dawn. She has her arm over her mouth and nose, having obviously lost her mask while fighting and is still firing rounds at anything that gets close to the car and our children. I swing at the head of a zombie and watch as it rolls away towards Charlotte. She is tackled and I can see her frantically kicking to get the thing off.

I run over to her and kick the zombie off hard. I then stab my blade through its skull.

"Thanks," she says, replacing her mask with one in a side pocket.

"You have another?" I ask, pointing to Dawn. She hands me one and I run it over to Dawn who puts it on. To my left I see a zombie appear and I spin to see a chainsaw blade rip through its body, spraying blood which Dawn and I move out of the way of. The saw then moves up and rips the zombie in half from the torso up. It falls over and there is McKay, with a paint-ball mask and goggles covering his face. There is something different about him. He is not the fifteen year old I knew only months ago, but much more older, and not by choice. I smile and Dawn runs to hug him.

I quickly turn and start in on the remaining zombies. They scream that scream and I see, out of the corner of my eye, Josh slice one clean in half, stopping the scream abruptly. I hear McKay's chain saw rev up again and can hear it making its way through bodies. More and more begin coming, until we are forced back into the house. Josh and Dawn grab the kids as we hold the zombies off and finally we are in the house, bracing the doors with anything we can reach.

We were trapped in the house with zombies all around us, with McKay, alive.