Chapter Five

My lungs were burning and sweat was pouring from every spot on my body. I was trying to catch my breath as I entered the field of the barn as the sun was beginning to sweat. I must've been running for hours. But, fortunately it worked, all the dead heads cleared out to chase me. I slowly walked across the field, a little scared to enter the barn to find the woman dead or something. Wishing I did not have to leave her alone. Although I didn't have an interest in helping them, I felt obligated now.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I entered the barn. There stood the man, looking up at the loft as the sounds of a wailing baby overtook my ears. The man's intestants were hanging out of his stomach and he was missing half of his face. These things went to town on him. Chunks of his thighs were gone as well. He was definitely fixated on the noise of the baby while I slowly walked up behind him. The smell of blood was in the air mixed with cow shit and hay. I was a little afraid to find the woman also dead, because the baby was screaming so loud. So, in my head I only had a little bit of time before she turned into one of these things. And I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if the baby doesn't survive this. Whatever drives me, my soft spot for children has almost got me killed more times than not. Reaching for my knife as I approached the man. And quickly grasping his shoulder and driving my knife into the back of his head. He made a gargling noise as his body dropped to the ground. Pulling my knife out of his head and turning my attention to the loft.

"Ma'am?" I whispered, trying not to draw any attention to me although the baby is screaming it's head off.

She didn't answer so I assumed she was dead. I quickly grabbed ahold of one of the cows and walked it over to the loft. Climbing on top of it and stood in an unstable manner on the back of the cow. I did the best I could to jump and I grabbed the edge of splintered wood from where the loft had been broken hours prior. Utilizing my upper body strength to pull myself up onto the loft. After about a minute of struggling I finally got my whole body onto the loft. I sat up and peered into the hay to see the woman holding onto the baby as it screamed. Her eyes were full of tears while she gripped tightly on her baby.

"I'm going to help you. I'll take you to my shelter."

She nodded yes while tears poured from her eyes. I noticed the umbilical cord was still attached to the baby so I calmly explained to her that I need to cut it and then we would need to move as fast as possible to the dam so that I can try and patch her up. Child birth is no joke man. And this woman laid here while her husband was mauled by geeks, in labor, that is physical and mental strength beyond my own capabilities. I couldn't even imagine. Immediately pulling open my pack I found a roll of ace bandage and a zip tie. My next move was grabbing my knife and severing the umbilical cord. Fastening the zip tie on the cord that was attached to the baby and then wrapping mom's mothering parts into the bandage like a diaper. I wrapped the baby which turned out ot be a girl in some small rags I had in the pack. Now, how the fuck do we get down?

Scanning the barn and noticing the ladder was in pieces on the ground. I then turned to her and said "I'll jump down. Then you pass the baby to me. And then you jump down. I will catch you."

She flashed a concerned look to which I said "We have to get home!" So, she reluctantly agreed to the plan before I tossed myself to the ground. I looked around, the night has almost completely submerged the land in darkness. Looking up to the loft the woman sat on the edge with the crying baby. I held my hands up to indicate that I was ready to catch her. She paused for a moment, which seemed like an eternity before dropping the baby into my arms. Looking around once more before gingerly placing the baby on the gorund behind me. She was still crying as the woman dropped herself into my arms. As I placed her onto the ground she noticed the body of the man she had been with. At the sight of him she began to scream and hyperventilate. I did my best to calm her down but it took a lot longer than I wanted it to. Screaming and growling came into ear shot as she scooped up her baby girl. "We have to go," I stated as we began to run out of the barn. Miraculously the baby had stopped fussing as we tried to navigate through the darkness

The sun had completed it's journey and no longer shined any kind of light. The earth was dark and the moon provided very little illumination. Terrain was definitely going to be a problem. Falling in the woods and hurting the new born was not an ideal situation. We had to stick to the roads. We moved as quickly and quietly as we possibly could when I heard footsteps running at us from behind. I quickly stopped and put my arm over the woman which caused her to drop down onto her knees. I came face to face with a flesh eater. He grabbed me, opened his mouth and attempted to sink his salavating mouth into my skin. But, as his mouth came towards me, the blade of my knife entered his temple and he fell to the ground at my feet. The second that thing grabbed me, I was already swinging with knife in hand. Bending over to pull my knife out of his head and then turning to the woman and helping her up onto her feet. She whimpered a little bit as we began to move again.

Sweat dripping and stinging my eyes as we jogged through the darkness. What seemed like a lifetime of running, we were finally home. The last mile or so the woman had slowed down significantly. Who could blame her though? Closing and locking the gate behind us and scurrying into the dam building where I turned the lights on. With tears and sweat dripping off of her face, the woman looked around my bunker in amazement before collapsing into my arms.

Carrying her to my bed and then fetching a more cozy towel for the baby who was now sleeping. I placed her in between some pillows before tending to her mother. Now, I'm not a doctor and I know next to nothing about childbirth but I do know that the placenta needs to be removed. What I did next makes me feel dirty because she was passed out but I'm trying to save this woman's life so I don't think she will mind. So, I removed her make shift diaper and removed the placenta. I also did my best with stitching. That I know a little more about because my father taught me when he had cut his arm during the first year of our survival. She woke up a couple times during the stitching process and passed right back out each time. No doubt in my mind, this shit had to hurt. I got her new bandages from the medical supply I had built up and wrapped her up.

She laid there peacefully but, I know for a fact she is going to be sore as fuck in the morning. I washed the baby in the sink and found a can of formula in the pantry. I remember the day my sister brought it in from one of her outings saying "You never know." There also happened to be a small 4 ounce bottle. So, I fed the baby. Made a small bed on the floor next to the bed and laid her down to sleep. And then I turned the lights off and exited the building with a pillow and a blanket. Walked up to the garden and laid right there in the grass, looking up at the stars. 

It feels weird to have someone here. But I can't help but feel optimistic for the future. New life. Maybe even one day society will return. Who knows? As exhausted as I was it took me forever to fall asleep that night. Hoping and praying that the woman and her baby were going to be okay.