"About a month," Alex threw in.

"That's none of your business," Sarah said.

"Well now," Kermit laughed. "I think I've touched on a sore subject. I didn't mean no harm." He finished his coffee and headed for the door. "Why don't ya'll follow me to the creek so I can fill up my bottles and hightail it back home. I don't want to keep the family waiting."

"Sounds great," Alex said.

Kermit tipped his hat to Candy and she blushed. He left the Winnebago and got into his truck.

"I don't trust him," Sarah said, as she started the vehicle. "Something isn't right."

"I think he's hot," Candy smiled. "Do you think he has a girlfriend?"

"He's a little too old for you," Joelle scolded.

Candy pouted.

"I think he's fine. He doesn't seem threatening at all," Alex said. "But I do trust Sarah's judgment and think we should keep an eye on him just in case. Don't tell him where we're going. All he needs to know is that we're just passing through."

The Ford truck roared past them.

Sarah was forced to turn the Winnebago around. She drove onto the field, sunk halfway into a ditch, and managed to get back onto the road.

They followed Kermit for about three miles. He drove like a madman, speeding down the country road, and taking curves so fast he could've tipped over. Sarah struggled to keep up. She took the curves slowly and tried to pick up speed when the road straightened out. He finally stopped along a lonely stretch of road surrounded by naked trees. By then, a thin layer of snow covered the ground; the sky remained chalk white, promising more bad weather to come.

Kermit got out of his truck and reached into the back. He withdrew four large empty jugs.

Sarah turned the Winnebago's engine off and handed Joelle the keys. Alex waited for her by the door but she waved him away.

"Stay here with Joelle. Candy and I are going with him," she ordered.

Candy's face brightened. She slipped on Joelle's thick wool coat and ran for the door.

Alex wore a pained expression.

"I need you here," Sarah said. "You can wait outside if you want. If something goes wrong I need your marksmanship."

Alex nodded. He left the Winnebago and went around the back to the ladder. Moments later, they heard him clump across the roof.

Kermit was calling for them to come outside. He apparently didn't see Alex on top of the Winnebago or just didn't care.

Candy checked herself in the mirror. She tucked in her shirt and pulled it down far enough to expose some cleavage before venturing outside.

"How's my hair?" she asked Sarah.

"It's fine," Sarah said. She went to Alex's bunk and withdrew a baseball bat from beneath his sheets. "Take this with you."

Candy took the bat and heaved it with both hands.

"How did you know he had that under there?" Joelle asked.

"I searched through his things. Don't give me that look. I wanted to know more about him."

Kermit beat on the side of the Winnebago. "Let's move it."

Sarah pushed Candy in front of her. "Keep him distracted," she told the girl, and then addressed Joelle. "Blow his truck up if we don't return within thirty minutes."

Joelle laughed. "You're so funny, Sarah."

"I mean it," she said.

Sarah and Candy went outside to greet Kermit. Candy immediately grabbed two of the jugs out of his hands and smiled.

"Thanks, little lady," Kermit said.

"I'm not little. I'm sixteen. How old are you?" Candy pestered.

"Twenty nine," Kermit replied.

"That's not too old. You're only fourteen years older than me," she grinned.

"Yeah, well, we best get a move on," he said. He led them away from the road and into the woods. "The creek's not far from here."

Sarah looked over her shoulder and spotted Alex looking through his rifle scope at her. She waved to him and went deeper into the forest.

There was no clear cut path to Beaver Creek. Kermit hopped over fallen logs and continued through the woods until the Winnebago was out of sight. Candy followed his every move and hit him with a barrage of questions about his favorite color to the last book he read. Kermit's replies were always polite but curt. His favorite color was yellow and he didn't read books. Sarah kept her hands in her jacket pocket, one around her pistol, and the other curled into a tight fist to fend off the cold.

"I thought you said this creek was close by," Sarah said.

"It is," Kermit answered. "It's just a hop, skip, and a jump away."

"Where did you come from again?" Sarah pressed.

"I grew up in Texas, but I've lived here for a little while now. I call this place home. Folks around here think I'm a native," he said, and leaned in close to Candy. "Don't let anybody in on my secret though, okay?" He winked at her, and Candy giggled.

"Hey, is that the creek?" Sarah asked and pointed to a tiny stream no longer than her arm.

"That's just one of the run offs. We're getting closer," he said.

They followed him as he quickened his pace along the tiny tributary. Sarah couldn't tell which way they had come from. An unsettling feeling began to make itself known, but she didn't halt their progress or even call attention to the fact that they were at least a mile away from the Winnebago because the stream continued to increase in size.

Kermit led them further and as they traveled they could hear the rush of water in the distance.

Sarah found herself smiling as she walked in the woods. "The last time I was near a running stream was when I went white water rafting," she said.

"You like rafting too?" Kermit said, excited.

"Yeah, I used to go with my father in the summer time," she said.

Candy gave her an evil look. She dropped one of the jugs and wrapped one arm around Kermit. Sarah sighed, rolled her eyes, and picked up the jug. Kermit and Candy walked side by side. He didn't seem to mind.

"I'd like to go rafting sometime," Candy said. "Could you show me how?"

"Well, sure darling, but not now. It's too cold outside. We wouldn't want you to freeze."

As they continued to travel, the real stream came into view. It was at least ten feet across and came from a little gully at the base of two tall hills.

Candy let go of Kermit's arm and immediately started filling her jug with the cold, running water. Kermit knelt down beside her and did the same. They filled the jugs quickly and set them aside, then started on the others.

Sarah put down a jug next to them and scanned the perimeter. The sound of the stream was loud enough to drown out any sound of an approaching zombie or any trap Kermit had planned for them. She looked back and forth, peering through the dense layers of naked trees and snow fall. Then, she saw something. Across the stream and moving at a slow but steady pace were two zombies headed in their direction. One was male and wore coveralls. The other was a woman with long blond hair down to her waist. Both wore the same vacant expression and Sarah could see their mouths moving but couldn't hear their hungry moans.

She drew her gun and took aim at them.

Kermit looked and saw the zombies.

"Don't worry about them," he said. "They won't bother us."

Sarah kept the gun focused on the two zombies.

"I don't take chances," she said.

Kermit filled the last jug of water. "Suit yourself."

The zombies shambled closer. They got to the edge of the bank and stretched out their arms, as if they could reach their elusive prey.

Candy backed away. She tugged on Kermit's wool jacket, but he didn't move a muscle.

"Come on," Candy said. "Why don't you take us back now?"

He shrugged her off, and finished filling the last jug full of water.

"What the hell are ya'll so scared about? They can't reach us."

The two zombies crept forward and landed in the stream. They immediately lost their footing and were swept away by the current.

Sarah lowered her gun and watched as the zombies were dragged away.

"I told ya'll," Kermit said, "you've got nothing to worry about."

They divided the water jugs and Kermit led the way back to the road.

Sarah looked at the water in the containers and thought of the zombies falling into the stream; she made up her mind right then that she wasn't going to eat or drink anything Kermit provided; little did she know that single action would be her saving grace.

Chapter 23.

Sarah got behind the wheel of the Winnebago and followed Kermit's truck. Alex sat in the passenger's seat with his rifle between his legs.

"I got worried when I couldn't see you any more," Alex said.

Sarah said nothing. She drove faster, trying to keep up with the truck.

"I still don't trust him," she said. "When we get to this place I want you to stay close to me."

"I will," he affirmed.

"I think Joelle should stay here, just as a precaution," Sarah said.

Joelle lifted her head from a bowl of tomato soup decorated with Cheese Nips.

"I heard that," she said, "and that's fine by me. I mean, I don't want to meet new people or even leave this roving cesspool on wheels. Just exclude me from everything," she huffed.

"Thanks Joelle, I knew you'd understand," Sarah said.

"Bitch," Joelle muttered.

As they continued on, the road grew even more curvy and treacherous. Sarah was forced to slow the Winnebago down to around 30 mph and Kermit finally eased on his gas pedal, allowing them to catch up. Houses became fewer and farther in between and they hadn't spotted any zombies for over an hour.

"Are you sure he knows where he's going?" Alex asked. "All I see is endless fields of dead corn and wheat that's not harvested."

"He's your friend, not mine. I don't trust the guy one bit. If it were up to me we'd turn around before we ran out of gas and head where we were supposed to be going."

Alex nodded in agreement. "That's not a bad idea."

"Don't worry about him," Joelle said. "If he's up to no good I'll put a stop to him."

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do while I was gone?" She asked, bemused.

Joelle raised her hand. "I solemnly swear I was up to no good."

Candy snickered. She rocked back and forth in her chair. "Are you a Harry Potter fan?"

"Of course," Joelle said. "I do have a young daughter you know."

"Where is she?" Candy asked.

"She's with the people we're meeting up north. You'll love her. She's a few years younger than you are and full of spunk."

"What's her name?"