A Candle in the Dark

He’d saved her. But she didn’t want to seem totally helpless, so she’d said he didn’t need to. Then he made a joke. If anything, it made her like him even more.

“Stop it, Astrid,” she said to herself in a hushed voice, walking along the aisles of the grocery store. “Get yourself together.”

They were doing one more check of the store to make sure they hadn’t missed anything they needed. When Maddie and Ezra were satisfied, they all climbed back into the Jeep. The trunk was piled precariously high with everything they’d managed to get, including the dog food Astrid found on the bottom shelf in the storage room at the back of the store. She wasn’t sure if Monroe would eat it or not, because the German Shepherd had become accustomed to human food over the last month. But it was worth a shot.

On the drive back to the camp, they passed several of the creatures. Astrid stared out the window in wonder as they stumbled in the grass, indifferent of the Jeep rumbling past. The sound made a few lift their heads, but they dropped when the creature realized that it could not attack a moving vehicle with much success.

Maddie asked Ezra about somebody named Eden, and he started to complain about a guy named Javier. Astrid felt like she shouldn’t have been listening, because it seemed like a very personal conversation, but she couldn’t help but be curious about these new people. Whoever Javier was, Ezra didn’t seem to like him all that much, and Javier was trying to get close to Ezra’s sister, Eden. It seemed like such a petty thing to be angry about, in Astrid’s opinion, considering there were flesh-eating monsters lurking in the shadows. Astrid wondered if maybe these people, living in the safety of their camp and not worrying about death at every moment, had forgotten about the real problem in this brave new world.

A group of people came to help them unload the supplies. It was mostly food, but there were medical supplies and extra gasoline. Emily was elated when Maddie handed her the matches she’d found. It would make building a fire for meals much easier.

Astrid stepped back once everything had been put in it’s place and found herself sitting by the fire pit. It had been crackling when she arrived, but it was just a black pile of dying embers now. She couldn’t help but think about how it reminded her of what had happened to the planet. Still alive, but just hanging on through the cracks in the darkness.

Her fingers found Monroe’s fur, like they always did when she was thinking. The dog moved to rest her head on Astrid’s knee, her eyes drifting shut but her ears remaining alert. There was a shift in movement to her right and Astrid looked over, seeing the girl that was eating lunch with Ezra. She had beautiful, long hair and a near perfect complexion. Astrid wasn’t surprised that she got a lot of male attention. Pretty things were rare in times like these. The girl smiled at Astrid, reaching a hand over for Monroe to sniff.

“I’m Eden,” she said. Her voice was feminine, like a bell.

“Astrid.”

“What’s the name of this one?” Eden asked, her green eyes on the German Shepherd.

“Monroe.”

“Nice name,” Eden commented. She smiled at the dog. “Now, I don’t mean this in a rude way, but you look like you could use a bath.”

Astrid’s eyebrows shot up. “Is there water nearby?”

Eden nodded. “There’s a river, just past those trees. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Once Astrid had grabbed a change of clothes from her backpack, she followed Eden outside the boundaries of the clearing and into the trees. She hadn’t brought her crossbow along, but her knife hung at her belt and her gun was safely tucked in underneath her shirt. Astrid didn’t know why, but she didn’t want the others to know she carried it. It would make her seem more dangerous to them, and Astrid did not want to appear like a potential threat just when she was beginning to feel comfortable.

“We’ve got a few hours before nightfall, and it’s never safe to be outside the camp when the darkness hits. Out here in the country, it gets pitch black real quick.”

Astrid felt the desire to remind Eden that she’d been traveling alone for most of this ordeal, but allowed the younger girl to rattle of rules regardless. It was better to know them, so she wouldn’t accidentally break one without realizing it.

She heard the water before she saw it. In her time traveling from Colorado, Astrid had only come across the occasional stream or creek. Never a full blown river. Monroe leapt into the water almost immediately, swimming about in the fresh water and drinking it at the same time.

“I’ll turn around so you can, um, get in.” Eden said somewhat awkwardly, putting her back to Astrid.

The redhead glanced at the water before stripping out of her clothes. Then she slowly made her way in, goosebumps rising on her bare skin when the cold water swallowed it. Once she was in to her neck, she called out to Eden to turn around. There was no one around, and Astrid didn’t particularly care if Eden saw anything. They were both girls, and this wasn’t exactly an ordinary situation.

“It’s nice, right?”

“Amazing,” Astrid replied with chattering teeth. She shut her eyes and held her breath, submerging completely.