The Widow: An Undead Story

It has been years now since the neighborhood has been filled with families and the sounds of their little ones playing together in the streets. The world fell with the rise of the infection and the neighborhood with it. There was an evacuation not but a week after the initial start of local infections, offering to get those away before it could spread, but it was only weeks before the entire world was overrun.

Most of the locals travelled away from home, both during the evacuation in the beginning or shortly after when various survivors thought it was best to flee rather than staying put. There was however one survivor who chose to stay home. An older woman named Beth who refused to join the evacuation team still lives in her house, now several years later, protecting it from both the undead and unruly survivors. Although not many over the years, she has helped any who have stumbled her way. She has fed those in need and equipped the cold with required warm amenities.

Beth spends the majority of her days tending to her garden making sure all the needed fruits and veggies stay plentiful and thrive, and other days she hunts in the nearby woods for small animals she can cook at home. Grateful for her age, she simply knits and crochets quietly at home in her spare time listening to music on her old crank up record player, wildly unburdened by the lack of electricity. She did not lose the same world most of those who survived did, and fortunately is thriving in this new one.

She is isolated and distant enough from those who would truly bring and intend her any true harm. She lives a peaceful life, only having to take care of the nearby infected ever so rarely. Beth is both happy and content with the life she lives, in a way that is almost always lost on others who she has crossed paths with. It is not a sense of purpose that she shines but that of acceptance of where she is in life. There was a promise she made one day, and her one mission following the fall of the world was to hold to her word.

Years ago, long before the end of this world her wife laid in the bed in front of her, a vase with beautiful blue flowers to the left shine. Beth holds her wife’s hand. “It’s been a long road, and although my journey may be ending, yours has so much further to go baby. With all the life left in me I was nothing but joy for you, because you filled me up with so much. When I’m gone it deserves to all go someplace safe.” Beth’s wife places her hand against Beth’s chest. “I want you to smile everyday when I’m gone. I love you.”

“And I love you baby,” Beth says as she kisses her wife. She thinks back fondly on their love and all that the two shared. It is how she gets through these long days and the never ending end of the world. Her wife’s spirit has brought her joy and comfort in a world where such luxuries are barren. She unfortunately can only do so much in regards to sharing such joy with those she crosses paths with, she helps set them along for their journeys as much as she can. There will be a day where this story will eventually end but until then Beth gets to wake everyday to the beautiful home the two of them built together, the abundant garden they grew, and the memories filled inside. Above all, Beth is happy.