Live Another Day by Baileigh Higgins (finding audrey .txt) 📕

Things had changed since Ke Tau's attack, and not for the better. Each person in camp was expected to participate in a rolling schedule of guard duty, repairs, food production and storage, cooking, cleaning, and weapons training. It was grueling and made worse by the strict rationing of food and water. Bathing was now restricted to a quick wash once a week, and lunch was scrapped for all but the children and breastfeeding women. Even the lights were shut off at nine each night except for the inner walls.

“I wish this thing with Ke Tau would come to an end now,” she grumbled. Kabelo twitched at the name but remained silent. “At least then I'd be rid of you.”

He didn't look at her, and she wondered how much he understood. Instead, he shot a meaningful glance at her still half-full plate. After several such pointed looks, she pushed the food across and watched as he dug in with gusto. At least someone's enjoying that crap.

After swallowing the last of her water, she got to her feet and walked toward the window to gaze into the night. At first, she saw nothing but rain and darkness. When her eyes adjusted, she could make out the various buckets and containers that dotted the grounds. Earlier, there had been a rush as they all scrambled to put the things outside in a bid to catch the precious liquid.

Some, like her and a reluctant Kabelo, had even washed in the rain. But after dinner, things had quieted down, and people either sought their beds or took up their watch for the night. Now, all was quiet.

Or so she thought until several running figures caught her attention. Flashlights bobbed up and down, illuminating the spectacle, and her senses came to full alert. “What the hell?”

Lightning forked across the sky and struck the ground a few meters away in a spray of sparks. The brilliant glow threw the outlines of the buildings into sharp relief while the crack threatened to burst her eardrums. Behind her, a plate fell and shattered. She whirled to find a terrified Kabelo huddling underneath the table while a concerned Elise hurried over to comfort him.

She strode over. “Elise, something is going on outside.”

Elise glanced up from the sobbing Kabelo with a worried frown. “Is it serious?”

“I don't know. I just saw people running.” She looked from the seemingly incapacitated Kabelo to Elise. “Someone needs to go look.”

Elise nodded. “You go. I'll watch him.”

Lisa hesitated.

“Go!” Elise insisted. “I promise I won't let him out of my sight for a second. Besides, I'm not alone. What's the worse he can do?”

Lisa looked from her to Kabelo and the others before slipping her flashlight and knife from her belt. She never went anywhere without them and the gun that rode on the other side in its holster. “I'll be back soon.”

“Be careful.”

Lisa jogged to the door and opened it to a deluge of water. The muted roar of rain falling on the roofs grew louder, drowning out all other sounds. Her flashlight cast a feeble glow into the deep, and she lunged forward in a run, following the direction she'd seen the others go. Within seconds, she was soaked to the skin, her ponytail plastered to her back and her feet slipping in ankle deep mud.

Her gait carried her to the smaller gate in their inner stone walls that led to the back fields. The gate was open, and cold fear spurted through her veins. What's going on?

Then she spotted the agile figure of Abe who kept watch and ran toward him. “Abe!”

At her second try, he heard her and turned. “Lisa?”

She could barely hear him as she stumbled to a stop in front of him. “What's happening?”

“I don't know. There's trouble at the game farm. A fence is down, and the infected got in.”

“What?” Disbelief reigned for a brief second before she swore. “Shit. I'd better get over there.”

He nodded. “Max and Breytenbach are already there. I have to stay here and guard the gate.

She clapped him on the shoulder and shot through the opening into the fields outside their inner sanctum. She sprinted toward the fenced off game reserve that took up a corner of the land they occupied.

Her mind whirled as she tried to make sense of Abe's words. How could a fence be down? They were checked daily, and the reserve's fences were stronger than most. Add to that the moat that encircled the entire area, and it was impossible for infected to get through.

That's what we thought when Ke Tau attacked and look what happened. They plowed right over the moat and our defenses like they were nothing, a small voice cautioned in the back of her head. So was all our labor and preparations of the past month for nothing then? Building up the walls and fences, deepening the moat, putting blockades up further out in the fields and roads.

Despair dragged at her limbs, but she refused to let it slow her. Her feet crunched over the gravel road that led to the reserve. In the distance, she saw the gate. It was closed and guarded by two people. Phillip and Abraham.

Phillip turned to face her when she ran up. His lean face appeared cadaver like in the light of the lantern he held, the eyes sunken deep into his skull. His tall, thin body resembled a scarecrow, and her mind flashed toward the image of the grim reaper. Next to him, Abraham seemed frail and ancient, his spirit on the verge of flying free.

She grabbed hold of her superstitious fears and cried, “Where's the breach?”

“It's over there on the eastern side,” he replied, pointing to the place in question.

“Open up!” Rainwater ran in runnels down her cheeks, and she blinked furiously.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “There's infected in there. They got through somehow.”

“Yes, let me in.”

Without questioning her further, he opened the gates and let