Page 5 of Claimed By Ruin

I finished my section of the fence, then walked along the rest, looking out towards the pasture, always alert, waiting for a zombie, a straggler, the next threat to come.

Same as I did this morning, when I spotted him.

I was at my favorite spot, the top of the world. It had been my place long before Jack, but like everything else, I couldn’t help but think of him whenever I was there. I was sure it was happening again. I was halfway convinced I’d conjured him with my imagination when I saw him walk out of the tree line.

Because it couldn’t have been anyone else.

Even in the predawn morning, those strides were unmistakable. Jack, taking up space, walking like he owned a world that we both knew belonged to the dead.

I finally lost it.

That was my first thought, the realization that finally, after everything, I had come apart at the seams.

I remembered how I’d laughed, the sound light, almost joyful.

Scary.

Remembered how quickly I’d shut it off.

My baby needed me, which meant I couldn’t fall apart.

I stopped walking and gripped the wire cutters tight again, the metal solid against my palm, the new calluses there stinging with the pressure.

Jack was here.

I couldn’t fall apart.

And besides, he would be useful.

I didn’t like that, didn’t want to admit it, but knew that denial was a luxury I couldn’t afford.

What Jack had done to me didn’t matter.

My feelings about him mattered even less.

I just needed to make sure I remembered that.

TWO

Jack

“So walk me through security,” I said, stopping to glance over at Miles.

The sun was higher now, and the early morning stillness had given way to a low hum of activity. Sounds you’d expect on a farm, Elliot sawing wood in the distance, a woman I didn’t recognize throwing slop to the pigs. Normal at first glance, but it was too quiet, too restrained. Even the animals’ grunts and huffs were muted.

“We have guards set up on each corner, and we run on rotating four-hour shifts,” he said. “We have obstacles in the pasture, and we’ve put early warning devices outside the main farm. So far they only go about a mile out, but we’re working on it.”

He gestured, and I followed, taking in the rusted equipment that was turned over and placed at odd angles to make a straight path impossible. Posts buried in the ground with rusted barbed wire between them, high enough to trip and slice. It wouldn’t stop a group of those things, but it would slow them down.

Crude and low tech, but effective.

“So how was I able to just walk up to the door?” I asked.

The kid frowned and shook his head like he was five times his age. “That’s the question, right? I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know. You gonna tell me?”

“No. Think it through. Tell me what you come up with. Still, you did a good job, kid,” I said.

He shook his head. “No, this was all Ms. Newman’s idea.”