Walking in the middle of a road is strange, even in the midst of the recent horrors. My head keeps telling me to get out of the road, to stay on the shoulder. But then my gut says to stay the course, that those things could jump out at us at any moment. They’ve done it through both of our encounters with them so far. It's unnerving to say the least, but it's what my mind keeps going back to these past minutes. Even if the trees have thinned out a bit as we approach the town.

  There’s a sign that marks our arrival, one of those old ones with the town name on them and some kind of floral design around the edges. It reads “Belfry Creek, gateway to the heavens.” though the letters are worn, and the Y is missing completely leaving only a faint marking behind. Nadia reads it aloud as we pass by, though it’s not needed. We all see it, heads and eyes tracking it as it falls behind us.

  I’m getting cold, my fingertips going numb. Frost nipping at my ear tips as each of my steps begin crunching into the thin soft layer of snow blanketing the road. The rest of the group seems to be feeling the same. A quick look around shows Merlin hunching up and pulling the hood of his jacket up. Nadia’s handing Hazel a pair of gloves from her pocket and Rylan is huddled up against his mother. Jonah’s still next to me, every so often he shivers or breathes into his hands before rubbing them together.

  Just as I’m looking around though, through the slight fog of the descending snow, I see a road sign. A large blue one with bold white letters and an arrow pointing to the right. When we’re all close enough to read it, an overwhelming sense of relief fills my head. The sign mentions a visitor center just half a mile down the road. No one speaks, just a few nods and we’ve already changed course. Warmth, or at least shelter, is within reach. I’m hungry, tired, cold, and all around miserable.

  ---

  Wind whips around us as the visitor center comes into view, a small building built like a wooden lodge. Though still hazy through the snow the parking lot has naught but two cars parked in it. No light shines from the windows and nothing can be heard from out here. I can only hope that it’s empty.

  Desperate to be out of the snow, fur already beginning to soak through. We all walk up the front steps and stand beneath the porch’s roof. While the rest of the group starts shaking the snow from themselves I step off to the side to look through the windows. The sun has already begun inching its way toward the horizon leaving the inside somewhat dark. Nothing catches my eye immediately or screams danger, just an old empty visitor’s center. I pad back across the old porch just in time to stop Merlin from opening the door. My hand shoots to his wrist, grabbing it and causing him to look up at me in shock. His hackles raise and ears fold back. Our eyes lock meeting each other’s glare for just a moment before calming down.

  “Sorry, just- just wait a second. Please,” I say, pulling my hand from his wrist so he can let go of the door handle. Satisfied that he won’t do anything else I continue, “There- there could be more sick people inside,” I finish by holding up my crowbar to emphasize my point.

  “Fucking-” Merlin says under his breath, stepping backwards from the door. Hand clenching around the heavy wrench I gave him earlier. I turn around, everyone else is looking at me. It takes a good second of silence before someone, Jonah, speaks.

  “Well we can’t stay out here any longer, shit uh- I’ll- I can stay out here with the kids while you all go inside?” His tone poses the sentence more like a suggestion than fact, though I don’t bother to offer otherwise. Neither does anyone else it seems. Sharing a nod of confirmation to Tara, who holds up her gun, I breathe in deep and reach for the doors. Grabbing a hold of the left door I swing it open while Merlin does so on the right.

  A slight tremble runs through my body, it's dark inside, though thankfully not too dark to see just yet. Taking the lead brings me across the threshold first, my eyes darting around for any sign of movement. Wind billows and screams across the exterior, mixing in with the old wooden creaking. I hear Merlin and Tara follow behind me without a word.

  The building looks to be mostly one large main room, only two bathrooms to my right and a door behind a reception desk across the way shows otherwise. Continuing forward leads me past a few exhibits and art pieces until I reach the far wall. It’s almost floor to ceiling with windows. A wooden stand sits a bit away from the wall with a sign atop it reading “A view of awe for the woeful and the weary.” Looking out the windows however, shows only a faint silhouette in the middle of falling snow. A mountain jutting up towards the sky, edges hazy and faint, but there nonetheless. You can see it on the horizon back home, but even with the storm blocking most of it I can tell the view is much better from here. Turning from the sign, Merlin motions me over to his new spot behind the desk.

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  “You ready? Tara and Nadia already checked the bathrooms,” He whispers to me, raising his wrench up in preparation. With a nod, I grip my crowbar and steel myself. Hoping this time for a better scene than when we did this at the border checkpoint.

  The cat swings the door open, the sound of it pivoting on its hinges and hitting the adjacent wall echoing through the room before us. The waning light from the windows doesn’t reach much. I don’t step forward, my gut twists and turns at the idea of going inside. Eyes sweeping back and forth across what little I can see, looking for something, anything useful.

  That’s when I see it, a light switch just across the room almost swallowed by the clawing dark. Saved only by its position directly across from the door. I turn to Merlin and point it out, hoping he can find it as well. He takes a second but nods in understanding. I watch, nerves alight in worry, as he pushes forward. My sense of concern beats out my fear as I follow in behind.

  Flipping the switch on allows us to see the rest of the room, and despite the second of blindness from the sudden light, we see that it’s empty. Well empty in the cannibalistic dying ill people sense. Otherwise the room seems to be your average back office. A desk, couch, filing cabinets, water dispenser, fridge, microwave, and a shit ton of boxes. An odd amount really, maybe because there’s not much need for an office in such a small visitor’s center. Otherwise it seems safe enough for now.

  ---

  Getting out of the snow is a blessing during what has been the cherry on top of the shittiest month of my life. Everybody is looking a bit better, Merlin most of all given his lighter jacket. We’re all cooped up in the back office, Jonah wants us to keep away from the windows. Says he’s worried that passing infected people could see us if we’re out there. Added bonus is that it's easier to warm up with us all close to each other.

  Even while hunched up on an office chair in the corner of the room, I can still hear the howling of the wind outside. The kids are on the couch sitting quietly and leaning against each other. Jonah and Tara are whispering about something near the door. Nadia and Merlin are looking through the boxes, it seems to be just a bunch of papers.

  My stomach growls and only now do I realize just how fucked we might be. Snowed in and missing most of our stuff, including any food we had. I sure hope whoever was here last forgot to grab their lunch from the fridge. And it seems they did as when I throw open the door of the yellowed white appliance, there’s one of those unopened boxed lunches you’re supposed to throw in the microwave, some yogurts, and a can of soda. Though I’m let down quite quick as I read the boxed lunch. EXTRA Spicy chicken and potatoes it reads.

  “Você só precisa comer mais comida apimentada, rapaz,” I say under my breath after a second of disappointment.

  “What’s that mean?” Merlin asks while leaning forward to look into the fridge as well.

  “Nothing much, it’s something like ‘you just need to eat more spicy food.’ It’s something my grandma would say often when we visited her in Brazil. She was a big fan of spice, and well, I’m not. Never could handle it well,” I respond, holding out the boxed lunch for him to look at.

  “Opposite of me then, I love spicy food. Nadia’s learned not to steal from my plate when we go out to eat,” He says while turning the box around to read the back. I grab one of the yogurt cups before closing the fridge which Merlin takes as a sign to pad over to the microwave. There’s a box of plastic cutlery next to it so at least I don’t have to use the foil cover as a spoon.

  The microwave beeps a few times, filling the relative silence of the room with its familiar hum. Merlin is fixated on the food spinning around inside, eyes wide and face close to the glass while his tail waves back and forth. It’s adorable and… comforting. His deep ocean blue eyes captivate me even more than they did earlier in the day. I find myself just sort of staring at him and thinking of the Brazilian coast. Everything just sort of fades out a bit, my head filling with memories of my grandma’s house. The salt tinged breeze of the little coastal town she lived in.

  My eyes water a bit, but I don’t cry. I’ve shed too many tears the past two weeks amidst the death of both my mother and father, murdering a man, and just every other fucked up thing. Instead I stand there, like an idiot, staring down at a beautiful cat with dark black fur with the sweetest eyes I’ve seen. It takes him a moment before he notices me, plastic spoon in hand, staring at him.

  “You uh- okay Bruno?” He asks. I shake my head.

  “No, not really. But I’m alive and not alone,” My response makes his brow furrow.

  “Yeah I- I get that. At least we’re all together. I can’t imagine being alone in all this,” The microwave beeps a few times in a row, the food chicken is done. “We could all do with a bit of food and sleep right now,” He adds, reaching up to pat me on the arm before walking across the room. I watch him offer some of the food to Jonah and his family before sitting back down in my chair.

  The yogurt is berry flavored. I like berry flavor, it's one of my favorites. It doesn’t do much to fill me up but at least it's something. Beats laying in a snow drift on the side of the road, still hungry and cold.

  *I got inspiration for the name Belfry Creek by looking around on google maps for random towns.

  PS: Since this chapter took a while I'll go ahead and let y'all know that I will never go on a real hiatus or abandon this or any of my works without saying so beforehand (unless I physically can't of course). Just know that even if it takes a day, a week, month, or more I'm still working on it!