CRIMES UNDID

  Josie felt like a small boat set adrift as she stared out amongst the sea of faces.  The cold, dead eyes of the crowd stared back at her, their faces completely devoid of expression or emotion.  She scanned the crowd hoping to find the one face she so desperately wanted to see, Nathaniel the man she loved.

  When she was sent to the small island a little over a year ago, this had definitely not been the future she had envisioned for herself.  She had of course heard the rumors about the evil and sinister things that took place one the island, but had always thought they were just stories meant to frighted children.  She had been given no choice about coming.  She was forcibly uprooted from her home and everything she had ever known at the tender age of fourteen, made to come to this nightmare on earth.

  The mistress of the island, Rebecca Godson, was a very powerful Bokor.  She was feared and hated by all who knew her or at least by those who were still in the land of the living and still had the luxury of free will.

  The villages of the minuscule, little islands surrounding the Island of the Dead, as it was known, willingly gave the demonic woman anything she wanted to keep her happy and away from their doorsteps.  They did not even flinch when she had demanded that a young woman be sent to her, with Josie being an orphan, and with no other family to help her, she had been quickly chosen for the task.  Oh, they were all to ready to be rid of what they considered a burden to the village.

  So now, she stood tied to a rough wooden post with ropes tied excruciatingly tight around her wrists and ankles.  She searched the crowd again, knowing that Nathaniel had to be among the small army of zombies surrounding her.  He had to be here, because there was no way that he was going to allow her to be burned alive.  He would save her!  Wouldn't he?

  Josie held tightly to that dream, but she knew that was all it was, just a childish dream.  She knew he was not coming and even now, he was safely tucked away in the monstrous mansion that took up a huge spot in the center of the island.  He had been the one to cause all of the anguish that was about to befall her and he did not even have the guts to come and watch what his lust had caused.

  The first few months after her arrival it had not been too bad, not good exactly, but definitely not what she had expected.  But then again she really did not have any expectations.  She knew nothing about the island and the stories she had heard were always too horrific to believe.  Poor, ignorant villagers that just did not understand and eccentric and rich woman only wove stories she had thought out of fear.

  She had believed before she came to the island that someone could not really raise the dead and make them into a slave.  They say hindsight is 20/20, truer words have never been spoken.

  Josie began sobbing softly as she came to accept her fate, it would be futile to do any less.  There was no way she could free herself and other than Rebecca, who was most certainly not going to allow her freedom, and Nathaniel, who was too much of a coward to ever cross his wife.  She was as they say up a certain creek without a paddle.  The zombies who creating a tight circle all around her, were just mindless dolls.  They would not or rather could not help her.  Rebecca was their mistress and the only one who could make them so much as life a finger.  Josie felt sorry for the poor souls and had often wondered if they were still human inside and the horror that would cause to someone to be completely aware of everything, but with no control over it.  She sincerely prayed they were not, because that was a life she would not wish on anyone.  Life was a term she used very loosely, since other than merely existing these creatures had no life.  They could do absolutely nothing unless Rebecca ordered them to.  Even now they simply stood and stared at her, their unblinking eyes never wavering and not a single movement in the crowd, not so much as a simple shifting of weight.  If there was anything left that made them human it certainly did not show.

  Josie heard a shuffling noise coming from her right; she turned her head and saw the zombies slowly stepping to either side parting down the middle to open a wide path for their mistress to pass.  As she passed each row, they shuffled back into place, to rebuild the wall of bodies at her back.  Josie had never realized that there were so many zombies on the island and it this was all or just a small portion.  They were standing shoulder to shoulder and twenty deep.  She had been strapped in front of them long enough to count heads and assuming they were the same depth all around there had to be at least 200.  They were arranged like steps, the shortest in front and each row behind a few inches taller.  Other than the slack faces, they looked perfectly normal.  From a distance, no one would be able to decipher that anything was amiss, but it only took looking into their eyes to know that no one was home.

  Rebecca slowly walked around Josie stopping before her.  If you did not know what she was capable of, you would not find her intimidating in the least.  She was a small, frail looking woman, standing less that five foot and weighing maybe eighty pounds soaking wet.  She looked pale and fragile.  She reminded Josie of a delicate porcelain doll.  She looked to be maybe fifteen of sixteen at best, pale blonde hair pulled back in a bun at the nape of her slender neck, revealing a lovely heart shaped face with pale grey eyes and the perfect pink bow of her mouth.  She was wearing a beautiful red dress, her favorite color, red the color of blood.  The dress was some sort of gauzy material that hang loosely and seemed to float around her body.  She was completely nude underneath and the see-through material was leaving little to the imagination.  Her small, tight breasts pressed and strained against the front of the dress demanding to be noticed.  Josie could see her entire pale body outlined all the way down to the dark triangle between her legs.  She stood barefoot as usual, in fact, Josie had never found a single pair of shoes in the year she had worked in the house as Rebecca and Nathaniel's maid, small red toenails peeked from beneath the hem of her flowing gown. 

  She raised her perfectly manicured hands under her chin, placing her palms together so that it appeared she was praying.  She slowly closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and screamed, wordlessly long and loud.  The zombies joined in the chorus.  In a matter of a few seconds which had felt like hours, silence once again wrapped around them.  Josie's ears were ringing and suddenly she had a pounding headache.  Rebecca opened her eyes; slowly lowered her head and looked at her, a smile spreading across her face.  Josie had never known a simple smile could send chills and fear racing through her body.

"You have betrayed me."  Rebecca said, her voice sounding distant and hollow.

"I didn't mean for it to happen.  Please I'll do anything!"  Josie wailed, a fresh set of tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm sure you didn't child, Nathaniel is quite persuasive when he finds something or rather someone he wants."  Rebecca replied, her voice sounding almost kind.

"But no matter."  Her tone instantly turning to ice.

"What are you going to do to me?"  Josie asked, feeling all too certain she knew the answer.

"That all depends on you, my dear."

"I don't understand!"  Josie yelled, panic rising in her voice.

"All will be revealed in due time."  Rebecca said while reaching into her pocket.  She pulled her hand free and had it gripped tightly into a fist.  She smiled devilishly at Josie and slowly opened her hand, held it palm up in front of her mouth and blew.  Josie saw nothing in her hand, but then something hit her square in the face, something thick and sticky.  She could not see, could not hear, and could not breathe.  She started to panic, twisting in her restraints to try to free her hands so that she could wipe the foul substance away.  She could feel the ropes cutting deeply into her flesh, but she continued to thrash and buck until suddenly she felt numb, it felt as if all of her energy had been drained from her and then the darkness enveloped her.  She felt as if were as light as a feather inside her body.  She felt lighter and lighter.  "I'm dying." She thought or at least she had thought she had only thought it until an answer came from very close to her face.

"Not yet and maybe not ever."  Someone replied.  That was the last thing she remembered.

  She awoke lying in a strange room.  She sat up and looked around.  The room, if it could even be called a room, was maybe 5x6, with the small cot she sat upon taking up over half the space.  There were no windows or doors that she could see.

"Where the hell am I?"  She whispered aloud to the empty room.

  Her mind felt like it was shrouded in a dense fog.  She desperately tried to remember how or why she was in the claustrophobic little room.

"Okay, just retrace your steps.  THINK!"

"I remember getting up this morning."  However, truthfully she had no idea how long she had been in the room, minutes, hours, or days.

"Concentrate on what you remember."  She said to herself in a reassuring tone.

"I remember getting up this morning and getting dressed.  I went downstairs to make breakfast and took it up to Nathaniel and Rebecca.  I placed the tray on the small dining table by the bay window in their bedroom.  I opened the drapes and woke them."

  Her mind began to fly feverishly over the details of the day.  She remembered going back downstairs and doing the needed chores.  She had begun getting items together for lunch.  She had done all the sweeping and dusting.  She remembered being summoned up to get the breakfast dishes.  She took them down and had boiled water so that she could wash them.  While she was putting the dishes away, Rebecca and Nathaniel had came downstairs and told her that they would not be home until dinnertime so she did not have to worry about making lunch.  She had put up the food she had taken out for lunch and went upstairs to do the cleaning.  She remembered she had worked late into the afternoon, cleaning all the furniture, sweeping all the floors and then polishing them.  She remembered stripping the master and mistress' bed and sending the bedclothes down the laundry shoot that led to the basement washroom.  She had remade the bed with fresh linens and had gathered their dirty garments and sent them down the shoot.

  She remembered walking down the narrow straircase that led to the basement.  She had gathered all the dirty items and placed them closer to washing machine. She remembered the feeling of awe she got whenever she used the electric washing machine.  Before when she had been at home in her village, she had never even dreamed that such things existed and every time she had to do laundry she was thankful for the machine.  She had had enough bloody knuckles in her life.

  She had pulled the hose that was attached to a spigot coming out of the stone wall over to the machine and hooked it up and turned on the water.  As the machine began to fill, she had flipped the switch to activate the agitator and carefully measured the detergent and poured it into the machine.  She loved how the frothy bubble quickly formed accompanied by the fragrant, floral smell that permeated the air.  She had loaded the machine and had sat down on the small bench that was against the wall facing the machine.  She remembered taking the small hourglass from her pocket and sitting it beside her ont he bench.  When all the sand had ran through, she flipped the switch to off the agitator and to turn on the wringer.  She had fished the clothes out piece by piece and had run them through the wringer, where they dropped into the waiting basket.  She remembered draining the machine and rinsing it it before refilling it with fresh water, so that she could rinse the soap from the clothes.  After she had finished washing and rinsing the first load, she had began a second and while they going she had began to hang the clothes on the line, which was attached to a small wheel and then went outside via a foot wide opening in the wall that ran from top to bottom.  She could hang clothes without ever having to step outside.  She had been singing some silly song to herself and did not hear the basement door open, soon strong hands were gripping her shoulders and a very hot mouth was making soft wet lines up and down her neck.  She could remember the elation she had felt by being with Nathaniel, but also the paralyzing fear of Rebecca catching them.

  Try as she might she could not forget the sweet lies he had whispered to her while they made love.  The words had dripped thick and sweet as honey from his lips.  He had vowed his undying love to her, vowed to take her away where they could finally be together and the biggest lie of all, that he would protect her and had sworn he would never allow any harm to befall her.  Pretty words that they were, that was all they were, pretty words tolds to a young, naive girl.

  Her memories took a dark turn as she remembered the loud explosion as the door leading to the basement was blown to splinters.  She could still feel the icy wind that grew colder and stronger with each step Rebecca had taken to close the distance between them.  She could stll she the unnerving look of calm that was on her face.

  The wind had built and built until it felt like someone had let loose a tornado in the room.  Josie had been thrown back against the wall, hitting her head.  She remembered blinking her eyes and shaking her head trying to clear the cobwebs.  She remembered being able to see the magic in the room.  A soft blue glow, she had searched frantically for Nathaniel praying silently that he was okay.  he had been more that okay considering that the magic was not touching him.  It flowed around him like water sliding around a small stone in a stream.  She could have sworn that she had heard moans and sobbing mixed in with the roaring wind.  The wind had slowly died down as Rebecca had absorbed the soft blue glow back into herself.

  Josie's memories began to become faded around the edges.  She had only small fragments to try to ream information.  She could vaguely remember hearing hushed arguing going on, but everything had seemed so surreal she could not be sure that she had not only dreamt it.

  The next more vivid memory was of her coming to and being tied to the post flanked on all sides by zombies.  She remembered Rebecca being there, but for the life of her, she could not even remember if she had spoken to her.  She thought she recalled her blowing into her face and once again, she was not sure if it had happened or not.

  Josie was amazed that light began to fill the room.  It seemed to be coming from what looked to be a glowing orb.  She stood up on the cot for a closer inspection.  She held her hand out toward the object and found it cool to the touch; it was not attached to anything she could see, it appeared to be floating in mid-air.  She leaned back against the wall behind the bed and slowly slid down to sitting position.  She pulled her knees up to her chest, laid her forehead down upon them and began to cry, over and over the sobs racking her body.  She cried and cried until she felt exhaustion and anger seep in.  She threw her head back and screamed as loudly as she could, repeatedly as fast as she could draw breathe.

  The wall in front of her opened and in stepped her most favorite person in the world, Nathaniel.

"I am here to help you, but you must keep your voice down."  He whispered.

  He walked over, sat down on the edge of the cot, and tried to take her hand.  She quickly drew it back and slapped him as hard as she could muster across the face.

"I guess I deserved that."  He said, while rubbing his reddened cheek.

"You guess?"

"I deserved it, but I came to take you away from here just like I promised."

"How do I know I can trust you?"  Josie asked with skepticism flowing like venom from her mouth.

"Well I guess you don't, but would you really rather stay here and take your chances?"

"Good point, let's get the hell out of here."

"Follow me."  He said.

  He led them down a wide tunnel.  The air was sour and smelled of mildew.  She took slow, shallow breathes through her mouth, which made it worse, since now it felt like she was eating the disgusting smell.  On either side of the walls, lit torches hang about every ten feet.  Nathaniel looked back at her and smiled.

"Stay close to me, stay in the middle of the hall, don't let go of my hand and no matter what you hear DO NOT turn around."  He instructed her.

"What could I possibly hear down here?"  She asked.

"You don't want to know and you most certainly don't want to see, because the things that lurk down here are things that once seen they can never be unseen." He replied sternly.

  They continued on, walking in total silence for what felt like days.  They were not making much progress since she was so weak and needed to stop frequently to rest.  After the the third stop, Nathaniel knelt down in front of her giving her his back.

"Hop on."  He said.

"I can walk, thank you very much."

"Maybe so but we can't afford to loose anymore time.  H-O-P O-N!"

  Josie realized he was right, if they were to escape, they had to put as much distance between themselves and the dungeon as possible.  She jumped onto his back and as much as she hated to admit it to herself, it felt wonderful to be so close to him.  With the quickened pace, now that she didn't have to stop so often, they seemed to be gaining a lot of ground.  Nathaniel walked and carried Josie farther and farther down the tunnel and after awhile had to stop and rest himself.  He lowered her gently to the ground and pulled out a wine sac that had been tied to his belt and offered it to her.  She grabbed it greedily and began slurping the wine so fast that she was spilling more on herself than she was getting into her mouth.  Nathaniel reached out for the wind and she begrudgingly handed it back over.  He tilted his head back and drank slowly and deeply.  While watching the spill of his raven colored hair fall down his back and the long line of his tan neck working while swallowing, she began to feel things low in her body tighten.  How could she possibly be thinking about these things at a time like this?

"What's wrong?"  He asked.

"Oh, uhh, nothing." She hastily replied.

"Well we need to get moving again.  Are you up for it?"

"I think I'm okay now, I'll try walking on my own."

"Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Yes, I need to build my strength back up."  Josie hoped he had not seen her staring at him.  She could not understand why her mind and heart could betray her like this.  This man threw her on the chopping block to save his own neck without so much as a second thought.  He allowed Rebecca to place the blame squarely on her shoulders.  She knew she deserved some of the blame, but she would have never initiated the affair.  Nathaniel had ceaselessly pursued her from the moment she had walked through the door.  She had ignored all his advances for several months, but finally as they say, she could not fight the feeling any longer.  She had hated sneaking around behind Rebecca's back, but believed Nathaniel that he would tell her when the time was right and then they could leave and be together.  Oh no, he never told Rebecca any of that, he allowed her to belive that Josie had been the one chasing him.  Even now, she could not be certain that he was not just leading her to Rebecca, but she desperately wanted to trust him and believe that he would not betray her again.

  As they continued to go deeper into the tunnel, Josie could hear water dripping down the wall and felt an occasional drop from the ceiling.  The smell was a little fresher.  They came to the end of the line so to speak, because they had come to a dead end.

"Now what?"  She asked.

"I want to make sure you're ready." He said sternly.

"Ready for what?"

"There are things on the other side of this wall, the things I told you about.  Do you remember what I told you?"

"Hold your hand, stay in the middle of the hallway, and don't look back no matter what."  She said sarcastically.  "I'm not an idiot you know;  I do have the ability to follow simple directions."

"I didn't mean it like that and you damn well know it!  I want us to get out of here safely, so can the sarcasm and remember what I told you."  He said, anger flaring in his voice.

"I'm sorry."  Josie whispered so low she wasn't even sure he had heard until he answered.

"It's fine, you have every right to be angry with me."

  Nathaniel placed his hand on the wall in front of them and spoke in some strange foreign tongue and like magic.  A door appeared.  Josie gasped.  "How did you do that?"

" I'll explain it to you later when we have more time to talk."  He said while opening the door and hastily dragging her through.

  The hallway that stretched out before them looked more like a prison, with cells built into the walls on either side.  A strand of electric bulbs hung down the center causing shadows to fall over the cells.  Josie saw shadows moving in the cells.  The smell in the tunnel was nothing compared to this, it smelled like decaying bodies that had been left in the heat too long.  The smell coated her nose and mouth.  She gagged and placed the back of her hand under her nose, but it did little to relive the stinging burn the rancid aroma was causing.  She said a silent prayer thanking god that she had not eaten the day before, as she felt the bile building in the back of her throat.  Nathaniel pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and tied it around her head covering her nose and mouth, there was a faint mint smell on it and she began to feel much better and could barely smell anything else.

"Thank you."

"Not a problem."  He said and then smiled at her.  He pulled out a second cloth and tied it around his face.  He turned around to face up the hallway and reached out behind him for her hand.  She placed her hand in his and felt like a giddy schoolgirl.  He always made her feel so safe and with her hand in his, she knew they would make it out of this alive and whole.

  He began walking very slowly and very straightly up the center of the hallway.  Josie heard sobs and moans coming from the cells, but they were too dark to be able to make out anyone in them.  She heard a shuffling noise coming from behind her; it sounded quite away back, but was closing in quickly.  She continued walking, the shuffling becoming faster and closer.  An invisble hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder, she screamed and ran into Nathaniel knocking him off balance, leaving them in a heap on the floor.  She started to sit up to allow him to rise, then all the lights in the hallway started going out one by one starting at each end and working their way to the center.  They were left sitting in almost total darkness, the only light left was hanging directly over they heads, but it was dimming and looked ready to blow at any second.  She quickly scooted back to allow Nathaniel up.

"Stay down and don't move."  He told her.

  It sounded like a good idea to her, because she did not know if she could make herself walk through the darkness.  Nathaniel reached up and thumped the naked bulb above them and its light grew bright and steady again.  Josie let out a breathe she didn't even realize she had been holding.

"I'm going to try to get the lights back on, just stay here and watch me as I walk up the hall, and don't look back."

"Okay, please hurry."  She said shakily.

"Calm down, just remember what I told you, you'll ve fine."

"All right."

  Josie watched as he began walking forward, quickly darkness closed around him and she could barely make out the outline of his white shirt.  Then a second light came on with his standing illuminated underneath it.

"This happens a lot , don't worry.  The water wreaks havoc on the wiring."  He explained.

  She watched as he continued and then another light came on and he stepped into the darkness again.  She could not make him out anymore.  She tried to remember how much further it was to the end of the hall, but had no idea.  The moans coming from the cells seemed louder now that she was not moving.  Then from somewhere behind she heard someone call her name.  She caught herself before she turned to see who was calling.  The voice came again and she froze, she knew that voice.  It was her little brother, but he had gone missing in the jungle and was presumed dead long before she was sent to the island.

"Josie help me.  Josie I'm cold.  Please come get me."  The voice begged.

"Michael."  She whispered.  She could picture his sweet little face and chubby little arms reaching up for her to pick him up.  He had been like a shadow attached to her after their parents were killed while fishing, a storm had came out of nowhere and capsized the small fishing boat.  There had been no survivors.  She felt panic rise in her, what if it was him, what if he had not died they had never been able to find a body, what if that bitch had her baby brother locked up in this dungeon doing god knows what to him.

"Michael, is that you?"  Josie called out.

"It's me; help me I can't get out.  Please before she comes back."  He begged.

"Where are you?"

"I'm in one of the cell; I'm not sure which one."

"Keep talking, I'll find you."

"What do I say?"  He asked in that uncertain little boy's voice that she had always loved and had believed would never hear again.

"Just keep saying my name sweetie; just say my name over and over."

"Okay." He began chanting her name.  She knew he was somewhere behind her, but was unsure how to proceed.  Nathaniel had told her not to turn back.  "Wait, that's it he said not to look back."  Josie whispered under her breath.

  She stood up and started walking very slowly backwards toward the calling of her brother's voice.  She prayed she could find him and that she would not bump into whatever had grabbed her earlier.  She concentrated on each step and quickly she was in front of the cell.

"Hold on Michael, I'm here.  Let me see if I can get a light on."

  She stood up on tiptoes and reached up her hand only finding emptiness.  She began swinging her arm in a circle; she smacked the glass bulb and it flared to life, too bright for her eyes after so long in the dark.  She blinked her eyes rapidly trying to force them to focus and finally the spots cleared.  She turned and sitting in the cell was indeed her baby brother, what was left of him.  He was so thin she barely recognized him.  He crawled over tho her and placed his small, bony hands through the bars.  Josie took his hand gently afraid she would break it.

"Josie, I knew you would come and get me."  He said between sobs.

"Of course, I always find you don't I?"  She said thinking about how much he had loved to play hide and seek, but she was not going to tell him that she had given up hope on ever finding him this time.  After he disappeared, she had searched relentlessly for months, over every inch of the forest, but had not been able to find a single clue.

"Josie!"  Nathaniel yelled.

"I'm here."

  Nathaniel came walking backward down the hallway toward her voice and almost tripped over her before catching himself.

"I told you to stay put."

"I couldn't, she has my little brother."  Josie replied.

"Oh my god, I never knew she had children down here."  Nathaniel said with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Why are there cells down here?"  Josie asked.

"They are feeding rooms."  Nathaniel said.

"What does that mean?"  Josie snapped.

"It means that she keeps people in here to feed her zombies, they have to eat at least twice a day to stay preserved and under her control."

"She feeds people to the zombies.  No, even she couldn't be that evil."  Josie said and then looked back at her brother and quickly changed her mind.

"If she feeds people to the zombies why does she starve the almost to death first."  She asked while looking at her painfully thin brother.

"She didn't starve me, she gave me lots to eat, but I knew from the others that she was just trying to fatten me up like the hogs daddy used to raise, so I refused to eat."  Michael said puffing out his small chest.

"How do we get him out?"  Josie asked Nathaniel.

"I have a key to all the cells.  I'm the one who has to come down everyday and clean up the mess."  Nathaniel said suddenly looking very old.  He began to weep.  "I didn't want to, but she would have killed me or worse gave me to them for their next meal."

  Josie patted his shoulder.  "It's okay, I don't blame you.  I blame that sadistic bitch." 

  Nathaniel opened the cell and gently lifted the small boy out, the three of them quickly made their way to the door at the end of the hall.  Nathaniel handed Michael to Josie so that he could find the right key to unlock the door.  After a few tries he hit paydirt.  He unlocked the door; they bolted out and quickly shut the door.  They were finally outside.

"Quickly this way the beach is just a little further."  Nathaniel said and began walking down the worn path.

"Wait."  Josie said.  "Are there any more people down there?"

"No, the moans you heard were the zombies waiting for their meal, no one else will be brought in until morning.  That's how I was able to get away long enough to rescue you.  I told her I was going downstairs to clean before the new batch arrived."

"Where is she?"  Josie asked.

"She was just getting ready for bed, when I came down.  That was hours ago.  Why?" 

  She handed Michael back to Nathaniel.  "Take him down to the beach; I'll meet you there in a little while."

"What are you talking about?  We have to go now it's almost dawn, she'll be up soon, and then she'll know we're gone."  Nathaniel said pleadingly.

"I know that's why I have to hurry."  She said as she began creeping around the side of the house.

  She heard Nathaniel walking away through the overgrown grass and prayed that he did as she asked.  She crept around until she came to the small door that led into the kitchen and went in.  She rummaged through the cabinets before she found what she was looking for.  The small can of kerosene, they kept for the lanterns when the power went out.  She dug out the small box of matches from the drawer beside the stove.  She grabbed the can, slid the matches in her pocket, and began to make her ascent up the stairs.

  She slowly opened the bedroom door and could see the small woman still tucked in for the night, apparently sleeping soundly.  She walked to the side of the bed and stared down at true evil.  This woman had caused so much pain and for what?  She raised the can and tried to unscrew the lid as silently as possible.  She removed the lid and lifted the can, but before she could begin to pour, she felt a knife pressed into her groin.  She looked down to see Rebecca staring up at her smiling sweetly.

"Now just what do you think you are doing in my bedroom?  It's not breakfast time yet."  Rebecca said coldly.

  Josie felt a calm wash over her;  she threw the can of kerosene onto the bed, where it quickly began to leak its contents.  Rebecca drove the knife up at the exact moment that Josie threw herself back.  She felt the blade bite deep into the flesh of her upper thigh.  Luckily, she had moved in time or it would have been much worse.  Rebecca sprang from the bed and threw herself on top of Josie, clawing at her face and screaming like a banshee.  Josie fought to grab her wrists.  They rolled over and over.  She caught a glimpse of something shiny under the bed.  She managed to get free and scuttled quickly to get to the knife.  Rebecca grabbed her by the ankles and began to pull her back with enough strength that she thought her legs were going to be ripped from her body.  Rebecca lost her grip on one of her ankles and Josie drew her knee up and kicked out hitting her in the chest sending her flying.  She lurched forward again,  grabbed the knife, and quickly rolled to her back.  Rebecca stood looming over her.  Josie kicked out again connecting with her knee and bending it back with a loud crack.  She jumped to her feet.  Rebecca lay crumpled on the floor like a broken doll, screaming.

"Do you really think you can get out of here alive?"  Rebecca asked in her usual ice filled tone.

"Yeah I do."  Josie replied and with that, she drove the knife through the other woman's throat.  She ripped it out and began stabbing her repeatedly in the chest until her arms burned from the effort.  She sat back on her butt and tried to remember how to breathe past her burning lungs.  She looked at Rebecca, her chest looked like raw meat and her head lolled to the side, her eyes staring flatly at nothing. 

  Josie stood up and walked back over to the bed, and pulled the matches from her pocket.  "There's just one thing you forgot.  I'm not one of your fucking zombies, bitch!"  She struck the match and tossed it onto the bed, which quickly flamed up.  She turned and walked from the house down to the beach, never looking back.

  When she came to the water, she stripped off all her clothes and dove into the cold surf, swimming to the bottom, kicking off she swam up to the surface.  She waded into more shallow water and scrubbed away the blood and thicker things that clung to her body.  She walked out of the the water and she felt as though she had been baptized herself in fire, blood, and water.  She had never felt so alive in her entire life.

  She walked over to where Nathaniel and Michael sat waiting for her.  Nathaniel stood and removed his shirt and handing it to her.  She quickly slipped it on and buttoned it up;  luckily, he was several inches taller, so the shirt hit her about mid-thigh.

"Is it finally over?"  Nathaniel asked in a childlike voice filled with fear.

  Josie looked back toward the house and could see the flames and smoke rising above the tree line.

"Yeah, it's finally over."

  They got into the small fishing boat that Rebecca had taken from on the villages and set sail.

"Where should we go?"  Nathaniel asked.

"Wherever we want, as long as I have you and Michael anywhere will be perfect." 

  They sailed into the horizon just as the sun was rising.  Josie thought that fit, since this new day was also the start of a new life.