Brushing her bangs out of her eyes, she gazed at the morning sky. Her mama used to say a pink sunrise was a good omen. Looked like today was going to be a good day.

Eliza dug her hands into the dirt, pulling some carrots that had been regrown from the tops about a dozen times. Her mama always said good people had a talent for bringing dead plants back to life. That plants fed off your soul as much as they fed off the earth. Before the outbreak, people always gave Eliza dying plants as presents, because she was the best in town at bringing back the dead.

Eliza looked over her garden, green and thriving, and knew that her people could feed themselves, and anyone else that came by.
Some of the survivors talked about the Black Summer, how so many people starved. She wished they would have found their camp instead. They had enough food to feed an army. Always had. They could feed themselves, and anyone else that came by.

Not that anyone ever did, these days.

The sign on the gate needed re-painting, "Information, Seeds, and Food, No Guns Allowed." only the e's were fading, which was strange, but strange had become pretty relative due to that whole living dead thing. The re-painting wasn't particularly important, considering they were 980 meters up a mountain surrounded by walls and traps with a steep winding trail in between their camp and civilization, but she liked the monotony of painting. She especially liked painting signs, imagining someone she knew would recognize her handwriting and come to the camp to see her.

The very large dog walking beside her huffed angrily and turned towards the livestock enclosure. Eliza heard a low, unnatural snarling as she headed towards her rabbits.

"Goddamn apocalypse. Not another outbreak." She sighed and piked one of the rabbits and dragged it out with her steel bar, and threw it towards Bones who dug right in, snarling. She threw a second cage over the other newly Z'd rabbit. There were tests to be done. No point wasting a captured Z, right?

She patted Bones neck as he ambled back over to her, careful to avoid touching his head. "You're a good boy, aren't ya? Keeping me safe." All the other rabbits were healthy and happy. The town could definitely have meat tonight. She wished she could preserve it, instead of eating everything live. She used to love preserving fresh kills.

As she walked towards the makeshift town center, ravens circled overhead. They were tame now, and smarter than their dogs. Seems the living has to stick together, regardless of species. They were calm that day, which meant no Z's were trying to breach the perimeter.

"Eliza!" She heard Amy before she saw her round the corner. "They might be sending a group down the mountain to try and make radio contact! One of the outsiders said there's still NSA presence, and they broadcast on every frequency."

Eliza blinked. "That's great."

"Aren't you excited? Maybe… maybe we could get some help up here. Finally get a group down to the ocean, get some more salt. We're only good for another year." Amy grinned, breathless.

"A year is a pretty long time." Eliza thought about how much salt they consume, how much they had saved and scavenged.

"I think I'm going to volunteer."

"What!?" Bones jumped at Eliza's shrieking, so she patted his neck. "That's ridiculous. We have everything we need up here. Eventually they'll find a way to fix the phone line, or maybe we'll find a hotspot, you don't need to-"

"I'm going."

"You could die Amy. Why risk it?" Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes, she couldn't lose anyone else. Death, carnage, teeth and Z's everywhere, her breath hitched.

"Maybe our mom's still alive down there."