The string of fairy lights lay delicately draped across the tall oak tree, entwined in the leafy branches the exposed bulbs gracefully spiralled up to the top. Glowing white hot against the inky backdrop of the clear night sky. Sat underneath, in the bright light, Elizabeth Williams dressed in an expensive, yet tastefully elegant white dress moved her bare feet through the scratchy grass. She reached up to the edge of the picnic table, cluttered with the eaten remnants of the private meal for two, and carefully lifted down the metal wine cooler.
The overpriced yet delicious chilled bottle of French Chardonnay white wine sat perspiring in a bed of ice and much to Elizabeth?s delight it still held half a glass? worth of liquid. Pouring the wine she took a brief sip and her eyes looked up at the pale, full moon hanging in the sea of glittering stars above before falling to the warm glow from the yellow lights of the old mansion house, now the Hotel La Vin. The gentle hum of indecipherable chatter from the guests sat out on the patio, enjoying a drink in the pleasantly warm heat of the late evening reminded Elizabeth of the chirping sounds of insects to be found in the warmer climates of worlds.
A wide smile stretched across her lips as she lowered the glass, the fruitful aroma of the wine leaving her nostrils with it. A suited figure, absent jacket and bow tie, strode though the darkness towards her holding the fourth bottle of wine high like the trophy of a successful hunter.
?I don?t think my credit card will forgive me.? Michael grinned, shattering the gentle tranquillity of the tree.
?I wouldn?t worry about it, I?m sure given time it will recover.? Remarked Elizabeth taking another sip of wine. ?Besides it is our wedding night.?
Michael laughed gently, sitting down in the grass next to Elizabeth. They exchanged a brief but passionate kiss. Pouring himself a glass of wine Michael raised the glass to a toast.
?To a happy future.?
That night New England had been a perfect slice of heaven. Now it was a distant, fading memory.
Walking though the post apocalyptic streets Elizabeth watched the memory fade away to the rubble, and wreckage of the fallen world. The warm feeling it generated inside grew cold with the pain of loss. Elizabeth had never found out Michael?s fate but even if he was still alive, somewhere out there, what would she say?
I?m sorry but our daughter is dead.
It was then Elizabeth noticed the streaks of red and orange dominating the sky, the sun had descended behind the buildings and the last of the days light filtered through surrendering the city to the creeping dark of dusk. It was eerily quiet. Not even the dead stirred.
?We're here? Smiley announced coming to a halt.
Elizabeth could hear the faint trace of music carrying on the breeze. Apparently so could every one else.
?Get inside and follow me. I?ll take the lead.?
Gripping the M4 Carbine rifle tightly Elizabeth scanned the buildings for any watchful eyes but found none. She didn?t like this one bit. Then, like a flash, a dark blur appeared in the corner of her eye making Elizabeth jump and snap round weapon drawn. The dead body dropped on Smiley and Elizabeth?s eyes widened with fear as she raised what had just taken place. The red dot sight of the M4 rose to eye level. At this range the velocity of the rounds would travel though the dead body into Smiley and in all likely-hood kill him instantly but as the seconds passed Elizabeth realised that the dead body was just that, dead. She breathed out a deep sigh of relief.
"Maybe that's where all the zombies are going too...I think it's heavy metal that they're blaring..." Ethan said.
Elizabeth?s music tastes had never extended to heavy metal, say for one brief spell in high school when she tried to court a young a man by the name of Michael Summers. She much preferred classical music, or shamefully, on the odd occasion what ever trash graced the pop charts. Lately though she had taken to collecting old iPods and found a wide range of music appealing.
?We should get inside, and quickly.? Elizabeth called out.
