crossed my arms. “You are part of my family now and we will all need food soon. We need to figure out our next raid and how we are going to do it.” I said. Claire looked up and smiled at me. “Thank you.” She said in a soft voice. I took her hand and looked over at Dennis. “Are you willing to help us on the raid Dennis? There is a chance you can get hurt or worse.” I said. He nodded and I looked back at Claire. “You stay here with the kids. Don’t worry; we will get rid of the zombies at the gate.” I assured her. I walked over to my desk, picked up a shotgun, and handed it to Dennis. “Give her your hand gun.” I said. He nodded and handed her the gun. After we worked out the plan, Claire took her kids into the office and they locked the door. I ran over to the combine and jumped into the cab. I started it up and watched Ricky open up the large garage door with a push of a button. I grabbed the large control stick and the heavy machine started to slowly move foreword. I passed the office and maneuvered it outside. Ricky and Dennis started pushing the dead tractor to the side and I slowly pulled the combine closer. Dennis jumped onto the working tractor and drove it away from the gate. I started up the blades on the front of the combine and Ricky tied a rope onto the gate and walked to the side. He looked up at me and I quickly nodded. Ricky pulled the rope and the gate rolled to the side. I drove the combine through the gate and the front blades started hitting the attacking zombies. Body parts started to fly into the air and blood covered the windshield. I kept it moving steady and I could hear the tearing of flesh and the sounds of bones crushing under the heavy turning blades. I could not see past the blood and kept rolling for a while. “We are clear!” Ricky yelled up to me. I turned off the combine and climbed out to look at the horror I had created. Several zombie heads were still moving their mouths and biting at the air. I ran to the back and noticed the massive pile of body parts and the river of blood. I gagged at the heavy smell of decay that hung in the air. I could not hold it back anymore; I bent over and started puking at my feet. I noticed I was puking onto a zombie head and my vomit was pouring into his moving mouth. I backed away in disgust, pulled out my handgun, and shot it between the eyes. Ricky and Dennis ran up and started patting my back. “Are you alright.” Ricky asked. I shook my head and stood there for a moment to gather my composer. I looked at Ricky and nodded. “I’m alright. The smell and sight got to me.” I explained. Dennis gagged and shook his head. “I know what you mean, let’s get back inside.” He said. We all ran back in the shop and sat down on the cool concrete floor and I worked on catching my breath. Claire opened the office door and slowly walked up to us. I looked up and noticed she had a look of concern on her face and her arms crossed. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall. “We killed them, but now there is one hell of a mess.” I said in a slight daze. She walked over and knelt down. “Here.” She said. I opened my eyes and noticed she was holding out a sports drink. I took it from her hand and started to drink away the sour taste in my mouth. She sat down in front of me and crossed her legs. “The girls wanted me to ask you something.” I reached over and handed Ricky the sports drink. “What is it?” I asked curiously. I did not have much experience with kids in the other life, but I had always loved being around them. Every time I would see a kid staring at me, I would do something goofy and make them laugh. I had always dreamed of having a wife and kids; you know the old