We all helped the woman into the garage and got her acquainted with her new area. I think telling everyone about the phone call I had with Thomas should be after he calls me back, which should be in about an hour and a half. The woman graciously accepted everything we gave her. Paisley fought tooth and nail to remain inside the garage with her mum, everyone objected- even her mum- no matter what, the little girl was dedicated to staying by her side. I don't blame her, I would do anything to just look at my mum again.
    Maya and I pull Paisley off to the side while Rebecca converses with the guys. Maya talks to her first and says,
    "If anything worsens with your mum I want you to scream bloody murder and run to come get us."
    "We will be right inside the cabin, in the living room." I say after Maya.
    "Ok." Paisley replies, clearly not sensing the predicament she's put all of us- including herself- in.
    Maya rounded up the guys and we all left the garage, with Keith closing the door after all of us. We all seemed to feel guilty about leaving Rebecca and Paisley in there, except Nathan. He didn't say anything to Rebecca or Paisley while we were there, he seemed oddly quiet about this whole situation. It dawned on me how different Keith and Nathan were, personality wise of course. Once we were all inside the cabin again, Brent suggested figuring out the sleeping arrangements.
    Maya suggested that Brent and her share her room so that Keith and Nathan can both have the living room. There was only a couch and loveseat which means they would have to fight over who got the bigger sleeping space. Thankfully, I could still have the loft to myself I would have found it quite odd to share it with anyone other than Maya.
~~~
    I looked at my phone anxiously, awaiting Thomas to call me back. It was currently a bit after 7:45. He should have called about 15 minutes ago.
    Everyone had dispersed to their assigned spots around the cabin, Maya and Brent in her room with Keith and Nathan in the living room. Keith had been sitting alone out on the porch with Maya's old antenna radio, listening for any news. I had heard Nathan fiddling with the tele about a half hour ago, probably trying to see if anything besides static would pop up. I hadn't heard from Brent nor Maya since 7. It was odd how the tele and radios were out, except the recording of the man from McDonalds repeating on every station, but I was thankful that the power wasn't out.
I look out the window by my bed to see the sun starting to set, shining off the trailer of Brent's semi. The wind was breezing through my cracked window and it was delightfully crisp, like the wind in London. I moved back over to my bed and decided to lay down, contemplating whether or not to call him. I am determined not to because he may be in a meeting and didn't have time to call me. I go to google and type in Wisconsin Disease Outbreak, it starts to load. Then, the No Connection page pops up and I glance at my service bar, its gone.
~~~
    I plug my phone back into the charger and glance at the clock for the 100th time in the past 4 hours, it read: 11:17. For the first time in months, I found myself dreading sleep. The same question kept running through my mind, what if he calls. I threw my covers off in a fit of frustration and put on a sweatshirt, the house was beginning to cool down since the sun had set and without the warm cocoon of my blankets I would be chilly. Then I proceeded to pad down the stairs and quickly through the living room and into the kitchen. The lights were all off except for the one above the sink, it's golden light spilling onto the floor. I go to the fridge and open it to grab a bottle of water.
    "Hello." I hear a male voice call out and I jump up, causing my bottled water to drop onto the ground. I whip my head around towards the voice, half-expecting to see the boogey-man I had always thought lived under my bed. There, in the corner of the kitchen was Nathan sitting on top of the last counter with his legs dangling off.
    "What're you doin' up so late?" Nathan asks.
    "Couldn't sleep." I reply shortly.
    I pick up my water bottle and shut the fridge door and pull out a chair from the dining room table for myself to sit in. Once sitting down I take a closer inspection of Nathan, his boots were still on and they had a bit of mud on them and his baseball cap was lying next to him on the counter. He digs into his pocket and pulls out a silver flask with a design of a bull, he unscrews the cap and takes a long swig of whatever is in it. He extends his flask towards me, as an offering. I shake my head in response and he shrugs then takes another swig.
    "So what'd ya think of this apocalypse?" He adds with forced sarcasm.
    "I don't want to think of this as an apocalypse." I reply.
    "Well that's what it is." He replies with a smirk.
    "What are you drinking?" I ask curiously and a bit worried that he thinks a time like this is perfect to get drunk.
    "Whiskey." He says, "If you'd had a sip you'd know what kind."
    "I'd rather not."
    We both sat there in the kitchen, letting the silence swallow up the awkwardness. With Nathan continuously taking large sips of his whiskey and myself nursing the now lukewarm water. I have to admit, being around Nathan and not talking about anything was actually quite soothing and serene. It was about 20 minutes before he finally said something.
    "So did your boyfriend ever call 'ya back?" He says with a slight chuckle, almost mocking-like.
    "How'd you know he was supposed to?" I ask slightly creeped out.
    "I could hear your loud ass voice all 'tha way from downstairs." He says and laughs, showing off his perfectly straight, white teeth.
    "Firstly, it's none of your business and secondly, no he didn't." I say very matter-of-factly.
    "I don't think you'll be hearin' from him for awhile. The phone lines are down accordin' to the radio. It's recording changed about an hour ago to a new person and message."
    I look at him puzzled and horrified. What if I never hear or see from Thomas or Charlotte ever again? Nathan shifts position on the counter and takes one final drink from his flask and hops off. He moves to the other side of the kitchen and turns on the radio Keith had had in the porch earlier. He switches it on and a different male voice fills the room, this one is more straggly and desperate.
    "-All hospitals are still open to any survivors, there is medical supplies, food, and military presence. Any one with any infected wounds must be shot on sight, the only way to stop them is to end the brain. Do not try and reckon with them because they will kill you, even loved ones. This may be the last message from me, may god help this country and the people within it." The man says and the message begins to start over again.
    I look at Nathan and we lock eye contact, his eyes are glazed over with his face emotionless. He must've heard this message countless times so it mustn't have an effect on him anymore. I run my hands through my hair and my mind goes blank, I don't know what to think of at this moment.
    "This cabin is secluded and we have everything we could need to live off of for awhile, we have a real chance of livin' here." Nathan says and a hint of desperation shows. "The only problem I see is that woman, she's 'gonna turn int'a one of them."
    "We can't kill her, she's still a person." I say a bit frightened at his remark.
    "She might kill one of us." He says and his brows knit together on his forehead.
    At that moment, a high-pitched scream rips through the house. Nathan and I both look at each other and the same thing crosses our mind, the garage. I start running outside and Nathan follows closely behind me after stopping by his truck and pulling out rifle. He pops in a couple shells and runs in front of me towards the garage. The door swings open and Paislee comes running outside her face streaked with tears. I hear a low, strangled groan come from inside the garage. I open my arms and move towards Paislee, she practically leaps into my arms and weeps. I look at Nathan and I can tell my face looks terrified. He gives me a silent order to stay here. Just before he is at the door, Maya,Brent, and Keith all come running outside. I hand Paislee over to Maya and I follow Nathan. Keith shoots me a look like he doesn't want me to go, but I ultimately go. Keith had followed closely behind me and I glanced back and saw Brent and Maya coddling Paislee.
    Nathan was already in the garage by the time something had flung itself at him and tackled him onto the ground. Keith and I frantically rush to his aid, Nathan was holding it off of him as it was snapping at his neck. The figure was thrashing and clawing at him, Nathan's gun had been strewn to the side of the garage, near the makeshift bed. Keith was trying to pry it off Nathan while I ran over to grab the gun. I looked around and noticed; Rebecca was nowhere to be seen. I pick up the gun and rush over to Nathan, Keith had the thing pinned down. I gave the gun back to Nathan and I looked at the creature closely, it was Rebecca. Except, Rebecca's skin was ashen and covered in gashes and her arm wound's bandage was torn off to show it pussing and bleeding out maroon blood. Keith was clearly frazzled by the situation he was in and continued to hold down Rebecca as she clawed at him. Nathan got back up and dusted himself off and clicked off the safety of the gun and aimed it at her.
    "NO!" I scream in horror, "It's Rebecca!"
    "I don't give a damn! This bitch tried to kill me!" Nathan yells back at me.
    He pulls the trigger and it seems like time slowed down, I felt as though I could see the bullet move from the barrel and straight into the forehead of Rebecca. Time started back up and I saw Keith jump back from the now-still Rebecca. Nathan looked at both of us still emotionless. Keith looked at him, seemingly angry. I blink trying to take in the sight around me and my knees just go out. I fall to the floor, but no tears fall out of my eyes for Rebecca, I just feel numb. Nathan killed this woman, Paislee's mum. He doesn't even seem to feel bad about it.
    I can hear Keith and Nathan arguing in the background but it just seems to all mush together. I stare at Rebecca's lifeless zombie-like corpse, what if there was a cure then we could've saved her. I don't want to think these hopeless thoughts because the truth is, there is no cure. The other truth was that Nathan was right to kill Rebecca, but I don't want to think that that is the world we've come to.
    I must have been sitting next to her corpse for at least five minutes because Keith came up next to me and put one of his hands on my shoulder and sighed. He didn't say anything nor did I, we just sat there quietly thinking about what had happened.
    Finally after sitting there with Keith, I just got up and walked out of the garage. Maya must've taken Paislee inside because I couldn't see them in the yard. Brent and Nathan were both talking, each of them carrying a shovel. They both looked at me and stopped talking, they stood there awkwardly as I went up and grabbed a shovel that was leaning next to them. All of their mouths were hanging wide open as I walked towards the edge of the woods and started to dig.
    "This grave isn't going to dig itself." I say forcing myself to try and lighten the mood.
    They all followed me, including Keith who had emerged from the garage, and started to dig with me.
~~~
    It took us about an hour for all four of us to dig a six foot deep hole, long enough to comfortably fit Rebecca in it. I was sent inside to fetch sheets to wrap Rebecca in, I return with a set. Nathan and Brent had covered up Rebecca and carried her out to the grave. Keith had put together two sticks to make a cross which served as a make-shift tombstone. They both crouched down on opposite sides of the grave and slowly lowered her in. Keith stuck the wooden cross into the head of the grave and went inside, I'm assuming to fetch Maya and Paislee.
    They returned not but a couple of minutes later and Paislee's face was streaked with fresh tears. Maya's also showed a couple of her own tears. They both walked over solemnly, Paislee fell to the ground at the foot of the grave. Her wails and cries breaking all our hearts, even Nathan's, his face was contorted into sadness and his eyes were even watering. Maya sat next to Paislee and they watched as we all put shovel fulls of dirt over Rebecca. I look down at the grave and see myself at my own parent's funerals.   
    I was wearing a black satin dress with a upward-curved neckline. My hair had been put up by Maya and we were both standing in between my parent's graves. She was holding my shoulders as I stood there blankly, unable to comprehend what happened. People were giving their sympathy and prayers to Thomas who was holding Charlotte. I hadn't had said a word to anyone that day, or for the past two days, I had been mute with grief. They had said directly in their will to not have an open casket, the last time I'd seen them was in the hospital as their bodies were either hooked up to wires or carried out on a gurnee.
    I'm knocked out of my memory by Nathan resting a hand on my shoulder, signalling it was all done and time to say our good-byes. Keith had been the one to say a few words for Paislee about Rebecca.
    "I know we hadn't known her much, but she has already touched our lives in more ways than one. She was such a caring, mothering, and all around good person to all of us. We will forever be grateful to have met this wonderful woman and all we have experienced with 'er. Her memory sha'll never be forgotten in our minds, even in such tough times we must honor 'er and thank 'er for everythin' she has done for other people. We all wish you a pleasant journey to heaven and that God may treat you as caring and understanding as you did to us." Keith says and drops the final shovel full of dirt onto the grave.
    Paislee starts to cry more, and punch the ground. Spiralling into a mini tantrum, Maya holds on to her, but she flails out of Maya's arms and runs into the woods and Nathan immediately follows after her. Maya looks at me utterly confused and shocked, but I waste no time running after Nathan blindly into the woods.
    The only light revealing my path was the moon and everything was oddly silent. The only thing I could hear was crunching leaves or twigs. Suddenly, I hear Nathan call out Paislee's name and faster crunching ensues. I pick up my own pace in an effort to catch up, but I blindly trip over a root of a tree. My knees hit the ground and I can feel the dirt smudge off onto my pants, I recover quickly and brush off my knees. I continue chasing after the sounds of Nathan or Paislee until I find myself in a clearing and see Nathan grabbing Paislee. The trees' leaves were gradually growing back and what leaves there were, the moon was reflecting off of. Nathan's face was stern and cold as he turned Paislee around and looks at her. I come up next to Nathan and my face softens at the look on her face, it's streaked with tears and a few scratch marks from running through branches.
    "What the hell were you thinking!" Nathan yells at her, but Paislee remains mute and a few stray tears fall down her face.
    Nathan's hard glaze softens and I can see regret in his eyes for yelling at the child. He pulls Paislee into a hug and the small girl cries into his shoulder. I look around at the clearing and can see the branches move slightly with the light breeze. The ground was cold and had a bit of frost on it and the moss on the trees was as green as I'd ever seen. The only sound I could hear was the sniffling coming from Paislee. Nathan abruptly got up and Paislee broke away, I went to Paislee and picked her up. It was odd carrying a child that wasn't Charlotte, but hell it wasn't like I'd even touched her since my parents' deaths.
    "We need to get back, we don't know who is out in these woods." Nathan says calmly and starts walking into the forest, I'm assuming back to the cabin.
~~~
    The walk back to the cabin wasn't but maybe 3-4 minutes, Paislee sure was a fast runner for being so little.
    I walk back through the screen door, with Paislee still attached to me, and lock the door to the kitchen behind me. Everyone was in their designated rooms so I walked upstairs and tucked Paislee into my bed. Her little body was cold from being outside without a coat so I grabbed a blanket from the tiny closet in my room and laid it across her. Paislee hadn't said a word since it happened and I empathized for her. I know how hard it is to lose a parent so abruptly, it uplifts your entire world and flips it on its axis. Paislee closed her eyes and turned onto her side, a few more silent tears falling out. A couple minutes later the little girl was sound asleep and I decided to sit in the chair that was in the corner of the room.
I looked at the nightstand and see my phone, I anxiously leap it and check to see if there were any missed calls. None, and the no signal sign was still present. I lightly put my phone back down and return to the chair.
    I can feel the tears threatening to spill out of my eyes that would cause me to want to close myself back up and hide in the sheets again, but I want to be done crying. I'm tired of letting everyone else do everything around me because that's not who I am. I need to be present in this cabin and that last phone call will not be the last I hear of Thomas. I will find him no matter what it takes and the grieving Anna has had her time, it's time for the strong Anna to step out into the spotlight.