Arriving in the midst of theories and hypotheses, Sarah slowly lowered herself into a bright fuchsia camping chair with flimsy thin steel legs and the silent hopes it would carry her weight. Not noticing his departure, she was surprised when he returned offering her a plate of food and red plastic cup filled with water. She took the plate first and sat dumbfounded wondering what to do with the bottle in her hand before opting to set it down in the grass where it tilted at a precarious angle threatening to spill its contents. 

She wasn't hungry; she'd barely eaten anything since the incident. Everything looked and smelled unappetizing, but since he'd gone through the trouble, she tried. Holding the cup between her thighs, she forced herself to eat a potato chip. The seasoning powder was unevenly spread and it was drowning in salt. Sarah sighed as she picked up another one, but she tapped it against her plate as she listened to the circle talk about what was happening. 

Birds. Boats. None of them explained what had happened to her father. He'd been in a sterile environment since his release and hadn't left the house, hadn't left his own bed, since. If it was a disease as people were claiming then it would have effected her mother or herself, but it hadn't. She was fine. Her mother, though stricken with grief, had been healthy as well to the best of her knowledge.

Snapped to attention by the derogatory whispers, Sarah suddenly felt uncomfortable and unwelcome. Glancing through the loose strands of hair that hung in front of her face, she saw the woman glaring at her, blaming her for Johnny's rejection. Leaning over in her chair she whispered, “You could have gone.” Sarah didn't want her presence to dampen everyone else's evening as it appeared to be doing. 

Taking a stand, she sat her things in her chair. “I think I'm going to take a walk,” she told him, excusing herself for the moment to clear her head. But just as she turned to leave a blood-curdling scream emerged from the barn and the woman who'd been trying to entice Johnny earlier limped out covered in blood.