Read Online Order of the Dead by Guy James - Free Book Online

they’d gotten a
thorough cleaning in the shower. The air was too cold for this time of year,
and a chill kept wandering in uninvited. The house was old, and the unwanted nip
was a reminder that some winter-proofing still needed to be done.
    It was nice to have a fire, but it
would have been nicer not to have one right now. They needed to save their
timber for the winter.
    The kitchen was a long, dimly-lit
rectangle, and the glint of the living room’s fire lent a wavering glow to its
threshold, where the brunt of Alan’s pacing was concentrated. Deeper in the
kitchen, the shadows won out for control of the rectangle’s middle portion,
until the faint light from a singular and improbably small bulb at the kitchen’s
end showed its stubborn force, keeping the shadows back. That was where Senna
was, in that lighted alcove, opening and closing cupboards and jars, mixing
dried foods together, and pouring water.
    Alan thought of how near the town
entrance was. Theirs was the closest house to the gate. It made sense, as they
were the most experienced at dealing with zombies, the ones that the others
would look to if something went wrong.
    The house had been a fixer-upper, that
was for sure. Alan remembered how much fun it had been to get the dilapidated
structure out from under its state of disrepair into a condition that was
inhabitable. In those days, busy as Senna and he were in reviving the house and
cultivating the farmland that belonged to it, he’d been able, at times, to
forget that his life was anything other than that of a normal, small-town
farmer, perhaps even one who was living before the apocalypse.
    So there was a very tall fence
encircling their property, so what?
    The work had helped restore much of
his mind, which he hadn’t realized was beginning to lapse during his time with
the rec-crews. Even his nightmares had ebbed and settled into a predictable
rotation that made the nighttime livable.
    Making the place their own had been
therapeutic for Senna as well. She liked that they’d lain claim to the best
arable land in the town on account of the fact that the rest of the people in
New Crozet wanted nothing to do with living so close to the perimeter. Besides
taking pride in the perceived danger of her property, she discovered a deep
love for planting crops and growing her own food.
    It gave her a feeling of being
connected to the land that she hadn’t experienced before. She ate what she
grew, and she traded what she couldn’t or didn’t want to eat for goods that the
other townspeople produced, and the things the traders brought.
    She’d been obstinate about the plot of
land, too, having told Alan where they’d be living. Remembering that still made
her smile. She wouldn’t have taken no for an answer, but she also knew that he wouldn’t
deny her the indulgence of choosing their home.
    Since they’d met, he’d been so kind
and sweet that she sometimes thought he’d move the world for her if he could,
and, on occasion, she was sure that he did.
    They regularly went out at night for
walks around the perimeter, saying hello to Corks as they made their way around
the town. On nights like tonight, when they went to the perimeter with one of
the children and went through the exercise that they’d gone through with
Rosemary, they usually didn’t go out again.
    Senna thought of Corks. She worried
about him from time to time because he often appeared distraught and uneasy,
and he’d seemed especially troubled tonight, but that was understandable given
the practice session with Rosemary. She wondered if she and Alan should break
routine and go for their walk so they could see if Corks was alright.
    “Did Corks seem off to you tonight?”
Senna asked.
    Alan shrugged. “No, I don’t think so.
Why?”
    “I don’t know, he just seemed more
nervous than usual.”
    “You think we should go check on him?”
    “No,” Senna said, but thinking maybe
they should. “It was probably because of Rosemary, and