Day 56

It is mid afternoon when we find my uncles house. It looked familiar from the outside, but upon entering it we were sure. We searched the thing, Dean and McKay downstairs and Josh and Dan went  up. The rest of us looked through the remainder and out back. It was Josh who had found a note on the bathroom mirror.

We have gone to Moab to camp out in the La Sal's. 
There is some dry food and water downstairs. To find us, 
go to Gemini Bridges. We'll be near the big hole.

Good luck.

The letter is not addressed to anyone in particular but I assume it was for us. I can tell there is frustration from everyone. And I feel the same. We have been in this dead, empty city for three days only to find a note saying look elsewhere. It feels pointless. Dawn and Josh go down stairs to look into the food they had left while the rest of us go through the house, looking for anything that may be useful. It does not look like there were any zombie attacks in the house, and so, after Charlotte spends nearly an hour sanitizing many of the surfaces, she and the others remove their masks and breath freely.

There is no power, however, out back there is a grill with a tank of propane and Dawn and I prepare a meal for everyone. A hot meal, a type of vegetable soup made from dry vegetables and rice. It turns out to be pretty good. Dawn was always good at making soups.

We tell stories around the table. Stories of back home before all of this. Stories of crazy boyfriends and girlfriends. Of work and school and growing up. I told a story about how Chad and I had gotten into one physical fight that I can remember. It was back when the internet was just starting to take off. Still using dial-up Chad played a game while I came down stairs telling him I needed on to check my email. He did not and I turned the computer off. He punched me in the stomach then. He as so much stronger than I was. I told them how I was scared and so picked up a stool that was near the computer and hit him in the side with it, just before scrambling up stairs and away from any other harm.

We laughed. I laughed and for a moment there was a silence and it felt as though it was meant for Chad. No one indicated it as such, but it was known. He was a great older brother to all of us, and a great husband and father.

It was Dan who finally broke the silence. "I miss disc-golf," he said.

I smiled and agreed with him. We'd go, me and him, every weekend to UVU to play the course. That is, until they got rid of it in lieu of a new science building.

Suddenly Connor stands up on his chair and says, "I am Super Why!" holding his fists up in the air.

We all laugh, and Dawn asks him, "you miss Super Why?" A TV show meant to teach kids reading.

"Uh-huh," he says and smiles as we all continue to laugh. "I'm just kidding, mom."

"Are you being silly?" she asks.

"Yeah."

We continue talking, eating the warm soup and drinking soda's they had had down stairs. They were a bit warm but we didn't care. Some time soon after Josh and I went to each bedroom made sure everything was locked and secure. Checked the doors and dead bolted everything. When we got back we gave shifts for watch. Josh volunteered first, the Charlotte, Dawn, myself, Dan and then Ann. Dean got out of it for this night. Each would only have an hour of watch.

We continued to talk. Josh and I about science fiction books. Dan said that Anathem was the best sci-fi book written, and I defended Hyperion. Others spoke of life before all of this and we each without noticing it began to smile and forget the world in which we now lived. We remembered the simplicity of living only months ago, and yearned for it to return.

We went to bed that night laughing at a story Dawn told about her room mates and a cat. I held Dawn that night and felt happy, as if, I was finally accepting this new life style we all were forced into. Coping with it and coming to a subtle realization that there will never be anything different.