Blood and Snow

"Good morning, Mom and Dad." I smiled as I greeted the day the same way I have for the past twelve years. My siblings vaguely remember our parents, or just not at all. I looked at the group. Everyone was groomed, in fresh clothes and for the first time in a long time there were smiles on everyone's faces. They were chatting excitedly about our new, temporary home. I enjoyed the comfortable night but every moment we stay here, the further we get from the the lost part of out group. I kissed each of my siblings good morning, all of them looked so good and clean. Dan was in the corner of the room surveying over all of our group.

"Good morning Uncle Dan!" I called out to him and he smiled and nodded. We were supposed to stay in the store that we were currently in, but I had other plans. This place was huge, there was bound to be a back door. There were endless possibilities of things that we might have missed and this place needed to be rummaged through. Foraging was my favorite part. You never knew what treasures you would find among the hundreds of stores that were in this place. I wanted to look for things we might need like food, and medical supplies. There was an endless amount of things that could be made into weapons or to fix the ones we already have. I walked through the many isles. There were towels, pillows, blankets, washcloths. I passed the toy section and worked my way to the back of the store. I looked around for my escape route. I traveled along outside walls, nodding politely to the people I passed as I made my way to find the exit. After nearly twenty minutes of circling I found my target, the 'Employees Only' door.

I crept through the door and shut it silently. It was a small stock room, but I didn't have time to snoop. Dan would soon notice my absence. I was not supposed to wander alone, but I was on a mission that they would send an unnecessary amount of people to do. After all, it was easier for me to get away if I didn't have 6 other people to worry about. I ran through the first door I saw. It brought me to a corridor with doors as far as the eye could see. The hall was lit by sky lights. The hall was dank, dirty and had not been occupied in years, even the floor was covered in dust, my foot prints reminiscent of prints in snow. The sunlight filled the room, giving it a much more pleasant feel. I walked from door to door, trying to find an unlocked door.

The first door opened, it was a small candle shop. I grabbed several candle sticks and some candle holders. The holders were long, thin, metal and heavy. They would prove to be good blunt objects to use in a pinch. I also grabbed some small glass candle holders. They don't have much use other then throwing them for a distraction. I added matches and copious amounts of lighters to my pickings and exited the shop. The next store held little prospects, molded cookies and spoiled coffee. I exited the cafe with only a few knives and a box of band-aids that I found in a closet. I entered the hallway again and found a reason to find a new store, I could hear multiple footsteps running my way.

"Snow!" My uncles voice thundered. I ran faster, jiggling the handles of the doors. I could hear his voice screaming my name in search of me. I got nearly to the end of the hall when finally a door popped open. I quickly locked the door behind me and breathlessly laughed at myself. I didn't mean to worry anyone, but sometimes I needed to do things on my own. I sat in the chair, it was red and shiny grey. The sign above the mirror read 'Haircuts,
15 dollars and up!' So, this was a salon? I opened some of the drawers and found a pair of scissors and looked at myself in the mirror. For years I had grown out my hair, it now hung past my knees, most of it was a knotted mess, now hanging in thick black dreadlocks. I pulled my hair out of its normal bun and looked at myself in the mirror. It was weird how I seemed to end up in front of mirrors lately. I put the scissors in my pocket and looked out at the rest of the room. The place was pretty dark, not lit by the glass ceiling and sky lights. I looked at some of the make up in the drawers, some of it was spoiled but the lipstick and powdered makeups were fine.

"Snow where are you? Are you okay?" Voices were too close for comfort. I grabbed the picture books and makeup and packed it tight in my bag. I heard the familiar sound of dogs footsteps. They would find me sooner or later anyway. Micca was able to find me no matter how hard I tried to covered my trail. I opened the door and 6 guns were raised into my face, Dan dropped his and pulled me into a tight hug. He didn't yell like he usually did. He held me, his body shaking. Something was very wrong. I looked at him, the tears in his eyes.

"What happened? Who is it!?"

"Patrick and Diana,-" Before he could finish I took off down the corridor. I slammed my body into the door to the store that we stayed in, the door flying open and I started running again. I knocked over racks and display cases in my wake but I didn't care. I jumped over a small table. I followed the halls but I was always cut off by another shelf. My mind was coming up with all sorts of horrible things that could have happened. What had happened? I was gone for minutes, hours?

Micca was right next to me dodging the obstacles more elegantly than myself. I turned down a hall and was greeted by a dead face. Before it even had the chance I tackled it to the ground. His nails dug into my arms while my hands gripped his skull. I plunged my fingers into his eye sockets, my fingers sloshed in the fluid and gel that made up his eyes. I straddled his body with my legs with a vice like grip, then yanked on his head until his head, spine and all was separated from his body. I stood up and began kicking the body, wishing that he could feel the pain that I was trying to inflict.

I dropped to my knees again, tears running down my face as I picked up his head and started slamming it of the floor. I could feel the skull shattering in my hand, the bone digging into my skin. I didn't care, I wasn't even afraid of infection. It was a fact of life and it was not something I feared. I felt strong arms lift me off of the ground, I threw what was left of the head and let Dan hold me. My heart was crashing inside of my ribs cage, the rhythm was uneven.

"How bad? How bad are they?" I needed to know. Some sort of detail to let me know if they were hurt, bitten or worse. They were young, I taught them the basics on how to protect themselves, but it wasn't enough. He didn't speak and that annoyed me. The longer he held me the angrier I got. Soon I was shaking, but it wasn't with grief. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a trail of blood, leading down a large walkway. Dan was trying to restrain me, holding me in place but I had other plans. I was desperate. I reached down into the waist of my pants and pulled out my knife. I held it against him and whispered in his ear.

"Drop me, now." I pushed the tip of the blade into his side. He let go and I ran towards the growing group. I pushed through the people, knife still in hand. At first I was met by resistance, but once they saw the knife in my hand, there was a wide distance around me. I broke through the crowd, immediately falling to my knees. They were laying there face first on a comforter. They were soaked in blood. I was too late. I covered my face with my hands, tears flowing freely. I rolled over Diana and the breath caught in my throat. Beautiful, smart, delicate Diana was no more. She was pale, turning blue as the blood drained from the gash in his throat. The whole was gaping, tubes, veins and muscle exposed. She was 13, just barely had her foot in the door of this crazy life.

I wiped the still wet blood from her face with the bottom of my skirt. Her eyes were open, flattened, shes been dead about an hour. I pushed over Patrick and nearly fainted. His face was gone, most everything eaten down to the bone. His eyes were eaten and the bones of his face had teeth marks in them. I dropped the knife and covered my face with shaking hands. They were my siblings, I raised them from babies. I coddled them and now they were gone. I closed my eyes and let the tears, the sobs, let everything go. I felt hands rubbing my back, trying to sooth. I looked up and Simon was looking down on me, tears in his eyes. He opened his arms and I pulled him onto my lap, burying his face into his curls. He was tall, taller that me, but I still sat him on my lap like he was still a child. They were all still my babies and they always will be, would be.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry, I'll never leave you again." I looked up and he was looking at Winnie. Simon was a child of few words, never really spoke unless necessary, but just by his face I could read him like a book. I walked over to where she was sitting and crouched beside her.

"Let me see it." She offered me her hand. The bite was shallow, looked more like the teeth scrapped her skin. I kissed her hand, holding her too my chest. I knew what this meant. This was it, my little family was all but extinguished. I kissed the top of her head like I did to all of the kids growing up when they were sick, scared or sad. I wished I could take the pain away.

"It's all going to be okay princess. I'll fix this, i'll make it better."

"You can't fix this, Snow. I'm bitten, its okay. I'll be with Patrick, Diana, Mom and Dad."

"Winnie, Mom isn't-"

"Snow! It's been years, you are the only mom I've ever known and all I've ever needed. I love you. Don't be sad, i'm not scared." I kissed her forehead and stood up. She was 16, so smart for her age. Those were big words. She wasnt afraid of death, but in the end werent we all? I often thought those words but I never spoke them out loud because I knew they were a lie. I left her with Simon and joined the others, they were discussing what to do. I walked in and threw my knife on the floor, effectively getting the attention of the group.

"I'll take her to a shop and stay with her until she turns. There is not if, and's, or buts."

"You will stay in there three days, if she hasn't changed yet, than she can join back with us." I was about to protest but Dan covered my mouth and gave me his sternest look. The group mumble in displeasure, but did not speak up against Dan's words.

"Let her join back, are you kidding me?" I called after Dan as he walked away.

"There are things you don't know about your family. If she doesn't turn in three days, she will be fine."

"What are you talking about? That is impossible. That would mean..." I grasped his arm and he turned to face me. His eyes were glassy and his face was pained. He was feeling the weight of everything just as much as I was. He pulled my hand off and looked me sternly in the eyes, under the weight of his stare I flinched away.

"Immunity, it exists and hopefully it is genetic." He stormed off, left me in my spot to be baffled by what I thought was impossible. I was given a pack. It had food water and a gun with 2 bullets. The gun wasn't necessary. Winnie and I walked into the salon together, the door being locked behind us. We were silent at first, she looked at herself in the mirror. She played with her long blond hair and made faces in the mirror. She was calm, relaxed, until she saw the reflection of her bite. Her mood immediately fell and she began to tear up.

"It happened so fast. They wanted us go and look at all the shops and forage. The next thing I know zombies come pouring out of the perfume store. Someone came in last night and the door wasn't securely shut. Dozens of them got in. They were everywhere. Diana and Patrick were one of the first to go. They decided to hide instead of fight. They are dead because they were cowards. I fought Snow, I tried so hard. The only reason I got bit is because I killed the zombie that killed Diana and my knife got stuck. The one on Patrick tried to get me. When I pulled the blade out my hand got cut on his teeth. We had 20 people at the beginning of the week, now we have 9. We are dropping like flies. Just promise me something?" I nodded not knowing what to say to her. "Keep Simon safe."

"I tried to protect all of you, Winnie! You four were my life! I'm so sorry I failed you. I failed all three of you. I can't fix what I've done. I can't change the damage that has already been dealt." I looked at my hands, they were covered in shallow scrapes that the skull had created. They still burned from the peroxide that Dan had poured on my hands. I held on to a shallow hope that maybe id still be come infected and maybe Winnie wouldn't be the only corpse they'd find in three days time.

Winnie sat on the floor next to were I sat leaned on me. We were silent for most of the first day. The only indication of change was the position and amount of light coming from under the doors.

"Its weird I fell fine." She looked at her hand and I showed a flashlight over the wound. Instead of festering like what is expected, it was healing and beginning a healthy layer of scabs.

"You may be the luckiest girl in the world right now, Baby Girl." I hugged her as tightly as I could. Maybe there was hope, maybe there was such thing as immunity. I handed her a slice of bread with some peanut butter and she ate it in few quick bites. Truth be told I was hungry as well but we had to save food as I took two bites out of my own bread and put the rest away for later.

Something woke me from my sleep that night. Winnie laid on the floor across the floor, her breathing was loud and she was letting out a quiet moan. My hands shook as tightened my grip on both the gun and my flashlight. I focused on her and slowly walked closer. Each foot step taking an eternity.

"Winnie, baby? Are you okay?" I knelt beside her and began stroking her hair. "Winnie,"

Her eyes shot open but it wasn't the blue eyes of my sister, it was was the milky white of the dead. My head spun and I immediately jumped away.

"No, no. I'm so sorry. I love you, Baby Girl." I let out a half choked sob as I raised my gun. She opened her eyes and began to sit up.

"What is wrong, Snow?" I screamed and threw the gun. I dropped to my knees and hugged her. She was still alive. I wrapped my arms around her. I shined the light back in her face and she stared at me with bright white eyes. She had the eyes of the dead but she was still alive. I kissed her face.

"Nothing is wrong, go back to bed." Eventually she fell back asleep but I couldn't. Was that normal? I had never seen anyone turn before, usually we killed them before they had the chance. Maybe she was still going to change, maybe she was going to be alright. I didn't like living life based on a maybe.