Day 51

Ann and Dean insist that we give Lauren a proper burial. It was first thing in the morning when they requested Josh, McKay and my help to dig a grave for her and I accepted reluctantly. Or rather, mostly because there was little else to do with the body. All other times one that had been with us had died we needed to leave. But not this time.

It takes the better part of the day to dig the grave and as we do so, in our fenced in back yard we listen for signs or sounds of others out there. There is an odd melancholy in the air that bites at our backs as we dig this grave that seemed to represent a final resting place for all of those that had died. For Ray and Jacob, Crystal and Clive and Chad, and even for the man who I had accidentally killed a lifetime ago. None were buried, and now that I think on it, more than half were killed by me. Some, like Ray, it was a mercy. A blessing. I prevented him from a long and painful death. But what of the others? I don't know. What I do know is that I will never be rid of the dreams and that I will always remember each and every one of them.

The sheets that Lauren is buried are bloody and so Josh and I handle them, along with lowering the body into the ground. Charlotte makes everyone where a mask and no one declines, although I can tell some are annoyed by the idea.

As the sun sets Dean and Ann say a few words about their friend and I catch Dawn cry, and I soon come to find that I am crying too, because there is some measure of peace in this ceremony for all those that have died. And for all those that have died and returned again as something different.

We bury her into the night and slowly file back into the house where it is safe. Each finding their own place to sleep, Dawn and I with our kids, and we all sleep, receiving the rest needed for tomorrow. Finally we will be on our way south, to Saint George.