Well, they say that if you cannot win, then retreat and come back stronger. There was no way we could have made it to the house alive. We had to figure out what to do next.

 Dan, I, and the elderly man moved ahead, trying to get rid of the undead following us. Since we left the field and entered the woods, we had to be careful of the hidden dangers in the woods.

The trees were swinging. It would’ve been an excellent day to admire the beautiful rhythmic songs of the trees. At least that’s what I thought.

There was no sound from birds in the forest. That could only mean one thing. It was dangerous.

Following behind the old man, I carried the boy on my back. He was a bit heavy, but that was the only solution. I didn’t want him running off again in the face of danger.

Old Kibali, as I called him, was so serious. He lifted his hand to signal I stop. I immediately stopped and listened as well. We could hear snarling sounds and rustling of the leaves which were coming our way.

Way ahead of us was a thick thicket. We could only try to fit in and wait to see what was going on.

Going over fast but making sure I didn’t startle whatever was coming, I helped the boy in first. It seemed someone had made the place sometime back. There were traces of human activity.

I was really thanks full for that person. It could be teenagers who made the spot for their hideout in the woods. I don’t know. If it was any other time, I would have cursed at their behavior.

It was well hidden

It was a thicket from the outside, but the inside was well organized. I was amazed. Boxes were covered on the ground, pierces of clothes on top of the boxes. The wall was also made from the boxes. It made it seem like a small roofed room. Which was way small for four or five people to sit.

With Dan inside, there was enough room for me and Old Kibali

I entered and followed Old Kibali. He immediately covered the thicket with a man-made door also made of the thicket. It was a fantastic camouflage 

Being vigilant, we looked outside to see how many they were and if we could take care of them

A whimpering sound was coming from behind me, and I turned to see. Dan was looking on the right side from where he was seated. He saw one infected looking at him

He was scared. I held his shoulders tightly to ensure I was there with him. He calmed down, but the infected was looking at him

“Shh. Come down. He is not seeing us. Don’t look. I am here with you. I’ll protect you” I hugged him, talking in a low tone to his ear

I don’t know if he heard me, but he calmed down

The infected looked for a while and then left dragging his feet

It was getting late. It would be better if they could just disappear all at once. It was not a safe place to rest at night

They were more active at night.

It was only 2 days since the outbreak, but it was getting worse

To me was two days, but it seemed to have started way before. The government thought it could handle it before it escalated. It seemed they miscalculated

Slowly the rustling sound became clear as they neared

There were around 10 infected all going in the same direction but scattered

One of the infected came to where we were and started sniffing around. It kept on going round and round, which attracted all the others

They all came overlooking around.

It was like we were attracting it over. Dan had his face under my armpit. It looked like the next minute, he would be one with me. His body was shaking out of fear.

I could only imagine my son was doing something similar. But the question was who had him

3 hours went by, but they were still lingering around. There was no way we could move forward or get out of the hideout.

The slightest noise and they look over. It was crazy. I was scared. No one knew how much I was frightened. I had to be strong on the surface, but my mind was running crazy.

If my husband was around, I would cling to him like Dan was doing to me

I guess that is an instinct next to human nature. We are all dependent on someone. Most of the time, it’s on someone we love

It was getting dark, and there was no way we could get out of there. Being squeezed together. We could only sleep there. Hoping that we could survive the night

It was cold. The boxes in the hideout were helpful.

Finding a better position for Dan to sleep, I fixed him up as much as possible to be warm.

He sleeps soundly at first but keeps on jolting awake once in a while. He seemed to be having a nightmare. We had biscuits with us, which helped a bit with hunger.

We could not light a fire or even our touches in fear of attracting their attention. Late at night, they seemed to be going away. Though I slept for a while, Mr. Kibali watching over us. I still could not sleep properly.

“Old Kibali, you could also get some sleep and let me watch over.” I tried for the tenth time to persuade him to let me take the watch for him to rest, but he didn’t let me

“No, young lady. I can handle it. I have done it before. In fact, I do miss it sometimes.” We talked for a while in hushed voices

With the old man around, I was sure we could make it

At around 3:00 am, we heard rapid footsteps in the woods with screams of kids. Listening carefully, it was familiar voices

Since the infected had left the area, we were able to peep out properly. Torches were heading our way with two women and kids

Old Kibali got out with his gun and ran towards them

“Hey Darling here, we are here, come over. “He called out to his wife

Mrs. Kibali was with teacher Monica and the kids

They rushed over, and I helped the kids get inside. It was crowded. They had to squeeze close together to at least fit everyone.

With everyone inside, they turned off the torches and kept quiet. The kids were sobbing.

The whimpering could not come down.

I had to soothe them. It was not easy.

“Calm down. Keep it low. They will find us if we make noises. Stop crying. We are safe here. Grandpa will protect us. You guys are big boys and girls. You can protect yourself when you are quiet.” I didn’t know what to say to calm them down