Joshua Johnson - 29:16:04:59

Moving to the sidewalk provided more shelter. Several trees grew parallel to the road along both sides of the street. They had blossomed with a full canopy, shielding most of the sunlight from above.

Up ahead I noticed someone crouching behind one of those trees about a stone’s throw from where we stood. It was difficult to make out who it was with the sun looming directly in front of us. I brought our group to a halt and held up a finger to my mouth. The others acknowledged my direction and crouched down, trying to hide themselves among the foliage.

I snuck up with my shotgun pointed directly at the back of whoever waited by that tree.

“Kelly?” I blurted out on accident as I got close enough to recognize the person. I failed to remove the shotgun from my shoulder, however, keeping it trained on the girl as if she was a stranger.

The comment startled the girl. She swung around, twisting an old six shooter directly at the middle of my forehead. She had madness set in those lines around her mouth and I saw my life flash before my eyes. At least everything I remembered from the last couple years.

“Whoa, easy now,” I said, holding up my hands with the shotgun barrel pointed towards the sky. I felt my heart thunder in my chest.

“Damn it, Jackson! Fucking damn it dude! That’s a real fucking good way to get yourself killed!” Kelly whispered in teeth-grating anger. She shook and didn’t immediately lower her gun. Her blue eyes sparkled even in the shade of the trees. Kelly was slender and young. She lived by herself, a loner, and her fiery mouth didn’t exactly bring many friendships into her life, but she survived. And there was that one time she saved my life, even pulled out the bullet that Frank buried in my shoulder. She’d had my respect, if not my friendship, ever since.

“Kelly…?” I asked. That crazed look didn’t dissipate. She kept the gun steady near my head. Her ragged breaths didn’t ease off and her twitching finger remained dangerously close to the trigger. Kelly hardly seemed present.

“Focus, Kelly…” I said.

“Just two seconds, damn it. Just two mother living fucks of a second, please!” she exploded.

I obeyed the command while keeping my hands skyward. The shotgun began to wavier in my hand, the weight enough to keep me biting my lip to try and keep it steady.

“Okay,” she said. She finally lowered her piece and I was allowed to do the same, much to my arm’s delight. Kelly stood and shouldered herself against the tree as she looked back down the street. “I was outside when the shit started. Saw the muzzle flashes. It definitely came from inside that damn house, man, the fucking Palmers place. Can you believe that shit?!”

She held the gun steady in her hand and a wave of tranquility suddenly overtook her. I could feel it too, this strange surge. The tension evaporated from her body and her breathing slowed. Kelly found some weird energy to lower her adrenaline. Everyone in this city truly did underestimate this girl. If they could just get past the tough exterior and harsh words then they could see her spirit. It was there, buried, allowing her to be whoever she needed to be.

“How many shots you got?” I asked. Kelly’s six shooter was chipped and missing the aim, not worth its weight in a real firefight. I doubted the firing pin even pulled back, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. I would only receive a tongue lashing for it anyway.

“Just two,” she hissed.

“Just two…” I squeezed the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache start to grow. A sudden bout of nausea circled my stomach and a grogginess set in.

She wouldn’t be much help with only two shots.

“So be it,” I said. “Mind taking up the rear?”

A gun was still a gun. Even an unloaded gun would make a person react, the sight alone making people duck for cover. A slightly chipped, partially loaded gun with a crazy girl holding it could make the world bend.

“Sure thing Jackson,” Kelly moved to the back of the group, joining the chunky red head and his sister. She didn’t exactly get along with those two, but she was more focused.

“Really?” Ricky asked when Kelly joined them.

“I’ll pull your eyes out fat boy,” Kelly replied.

I glared at the both of them.

“Sorry Jack,” Kelly apologized. I knew for a fact I am the only one she’d ever apologized to. Even the fat boy was surprised to hear the words slip from her throat.

I waved for the rest to follow as I once again found myself leading a group down the cracked earth. It was strangely quiet, even more than usual. The scraping of our shoes on the pavement was the only sound that broke the overbearing silence. A sense of dread settled over me as the big house came into view. I didn’t know about the rest of the group, if they felt the same way. Ricky was huffing and puffing and wheezing just a bit. Kyle twitched with expectation while Jamie was silent as the day itself, and Kelly raged on in silence.

The Palmers’ house was maybe the nicest one on the block. Time and weather had yellowed its white exterior. We approached the intact porch with a swing and two rocking chairs where I remembered the eldest Palmer playing games with the children. They were trying to pass the time, trying to make this miserable world a little more bearable. Part of the roof had fallen in before they moved in, but the place was so big they never used that part of the house anyway. A very broken door sat on the hinges, begging to fall off, but that had always been there.

Something that hadn’t always been there, however, was a trail of blood. It started near the doorway and led back inside.

Ricky held his breath. Jamie stared at the ground. Kyle scanned the windows, trying to see something, and I could do nothing but feel an absolutely terrifying emptiness harden in my core. We didn’t move, could hardly function. We just watched in stunned silence, wishing things were different. Yet the house remained still, and weirdly inviting. We had a need to know what happened.

“You guys stay put. Kyle, on me,” I commanded with a scratch in my throat. The other three had to be left out of this; they would only get in the way. The brother and sister couldn’t handle this situation, and the fiery one might try to kill a shadow with that itchy trigger finger and end up taking one of us out. Kyle would have to back me up. Him and only him.

“That’s stupid, Jackson, I’m fucking coming!” Kelly whispered violently. I knew she’d be the only one to object. Pride stormed inside her. She wouldn’t back down from this, and that’s why finding her balance was key. Even with her ever-present passion she still had sense. One doesn’t live long without it.

“I need you outside. You can cover the entrance in case someone comes out. Stay here, Kelly. Anything happens, you can come running in, yes?” I asked.

Kelly fumed, her face reddening with rage. She swore under her breath, but didn’t argue. She shifted her weight, and walked to a broken-down automobile that was rusting in the daylight. She knelt behind it, keeping the gun at her side. The other two followed without a word. They would guard the outside.

“Shit,” Kyle said.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Where did that come from?” Kyle pointed up. I followed his arm. The sky had darkened. It was brilliantly clear just moments ago, yet now I was watching a thunderhead break nearby. It crept up on us. A few droplets began flying down. Soon enough we were caught in a complete downpour.

“Let’s get this done,” I said as I led the way into the house that become so different in this pouring rain. Kyle followed silently behind as we crossed the brink into the silent home. Inside, there was a complete and utter stillness. No children’s laughter, no sound of Peter’s tough love coursing through the air. Only an overwhelming sense of dread and terror filled the atmosphere. As I stood in the entryway, the blood that lingered near the door didn’t move like I thought it had. Instead it just remained pooled, but wet, recently spilled.