Odis's Story

Author's Note: Here it is, part one of the contest story.

Odis’s Story, Part 1

A city wide evacuation was called for a mere two days ago. Since then everyone still alive either left the city or died, only to return and feast on the living left behind. Those who managed to evade the walking dead have no other option than to hole up somewhere and just hope they won’t be discovered.

A group of six such survivors did just that. In the dark of night they hide away at the back of a small bookstore. Safe, however, they are not. The moonlight shows dark shadows passing the store’s front windows. They move slowly and the only sounds they seem to be able to make are unnatural groans and growls.

They scare little Esteban. His mother urges him to be as silent as possible and just hold on to his cap real tight.

She says this in Spanish. Her brother explained that she’s not very proficient in English. Odis finds it difficult to communicate with her, but luckily Manny can translate for him.

“How are we gettin’ out of ‘ere?” His wife asks, keeping her voice down the best she can while comforting their daughter.

“I don’ know, Kyra! I’m thinkin’!” Odis urges her, the pressure of the situation and the responsibility his wife put on him are getting to him.

“Dad, ya can do this.” Vanessa says. This little encouragement from his little girl is enough motivation for him to keep on going.

Manny scoots over to them. He does so carefully, trying not to let the walking dead spot him. “Mr. Harris, Maria can’t keep Esteban quiet forever. Those… things are gonna hear us!”

Odis gets to thinking. There has to be an emergency fire exit or something, but won’t that set off an alarm? It’d be stupid to even try and cross the street anyways. The dead stick close together.

“Wait, maybe there’s a way ta got on the roof!” Odis exclaims, looking up at the ceiling as if he can just find a hole to climb up into.

“An’ then we just hope across buildings? That ain’t safe!” Kyra objects. Odis loves her with all his heart but he feels like she doesn’t always trust him.

Before he can say anything Manny intervenes: “Lady, you have to trust your husband right now. I’d rather fall to my death than be eaten!” They only met each other a couple of hours ago but Odis feels like Manny got him all figured out already.

“Mom, we have ta do this!” Vanessa says as she looks up at her mother, pleading her case with her eyes. Kyra never could say no to those beautiful brown eyes. She nods in agreement.
The two men sneak into the storage room to see if there’s a way up on the roof.

“Mr. Harris-“

“Call me Odis.” Odis interrupts. “Ya let me call ya Manny, after all.”

“Okay, Odis, are you sure this is a good idea?”

Odis sighs and shakes his head. “Ain’t the safest, but it’ our best bet right now.” Odis looks around the storage room. Hundreds if not thousands of books stacked on very high shelves. Odis thinks there’s no way anyone could have gotten the top shelf ones without some sort of ladder. If they find one, they could use it to climb out of one of the windows. Odis is heavy, but they look big enough for him to fit through.

“Over here!” Manny says. He is pointing at a metal ladder, one of those extendable ones. Odis almost does a happy dance before realizing again in how much shit they are. Manny goes to get their respective families. Odis extends the ladder to one of the windows. Manny returned with their families in a heartbeat.

“We goin’ up on this thing?!” Kyra protests. “That don’t look stable!”

Maria says something in Spanish to Manny. Odis guesses she’s saying the same as his wife.

“Ladies, this is our only way out!” He says as he lowers his arms, suggesting they should lower their voices before the dead ones hear them. “Manny, do ya want ta go first?”

Manny nods. “Por favor…” Maria says sadly as she grabs Manny’s shoulder and shakes her head. “Maria, voy a estar bien.” Manny responds, slowly moving her hand off of his shoulder. Odis understood that one. He tells her he’s going to be fine.

Odis holds the ladder while Manny climbs it. It’s awfully creaky and it arches under Manny’s weight. Maria whimpers and prays as he climbs it. He reaches the window. He opens it up and sticks his torso out of it. The roof is close enough for him to grab a hold of its ledge. He pulls himself out and as soon as he can he uses his feet to push himself up.

Maria goes next, letting Esteban go before her. Odis tells her good luck. With a thick, trembling accent she replies “thank you”. For some reason he can’t explain, it makes Odis feel happy.

They climb slowly. As soon as they reach the window, Manny’s hand reaches down and Esteban grabs it. It’s a good thing this roof is flat, Odis thinks to himself, or else this would not have been easy. Manny manages to pull Esteban up and then gives his sister a hand.

It is now Vanessa’s turn. She’s scared of heights. Kyra lovingly rubs her daughter’s back, shushing her and telling her that her parents are there for her. Now Odis remembers why he loves this woman so much again.
With these words of encouragement Vanessa starts her climb. She stops every time the ladder wiggles a little, but her mother’s encouraging cheers keep her going. She reaches the top and Manny helps her up.

Kyra goes next. She kisses Odis before she begins. “Might be the last time we can do this.”

“It won’ be, honey. I promise.” Odis reassures her.

She smiles at him before turning around to climb the ladder. Even after all her protests, she climbs the ladder quickly. Once again, Manny helps her up. It is now Odis’s turn and there’s no one left to hold the ladder for him. “I know what I was gettin’ myself into.” Odis whispers to himself before stepping foot on the ladder.

He goes very slowly, stopping at nearly every creak to prevent the ladder from falling. He makes it to the top, though. He can barely squeeze his wide stomach through the open window. With Manny’s help he manages to get outside and on to the roof.

The unnatural moans resound through Macon’s dark night, the only thing lighting the streets being moonlight. The group decides to stay on the roof for the night. It’s too dangerous to start jumping from building to building when they can’t see the distance, nor what’s down on the street, well enough.

Manny reaches for his pockets. “Here, we can share these.” He says as he reveals two hands full of candy and chocolate bars.

Odis lays down with his wife to his right and his daughter to his left after finishing his food. The situation might seem bad now, but he is confident that matters will soon be resolved and they can go back to the way life once was. But he’s not one to take chances, so first thing in the morning they are going to find a more secure place where they can hole up until this all blows over.

Awesome start, I do like the way this is going. And I definitely enjoy the dynamics betweeen both families. Odis was the perfect choice for a backstory. Looking forward to more.

2nd operational security.

Are you talking about OTIS from the show?

Are you talking about OTIS from the show?

You'd know who this story was about if you read a whole new world.

Odis’s Story, Part 2

Morning has broken. Odis’s rubs his eyes as sunlight wakes him up. He notices someone standing near the edge of the roof, looking out over the now devoid of life city of Macon.

“What’re ya thinkin’?” Odis asks in a whisper tone, trying not to wake up the others.

“Oh.” Manny answers. He’s absent-minded. “I was just thinking about our plan. Jumping from roof to roof, it’s dangerous.”

“No argument ‘ere. It’ gotta be done, though.”

Manny nods. “So, I think we should make our way to that clothing store down the road. They seem to be less dense over there.”

“That ain’t too far away. Should be easy enough.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Both men wake up their respective families. Vanessa is scared and doesn’t want to leave the roof. Odis tells her they have no other choice. There’s not enough food to just wait it out. Kyra promises to be by her side all the way. Vanessa wipes the tears out of her eyes and nods nervously.

Manny picks Esteban up, takes a couple of steps back and runs. He jumps over the ledge and makes it to the other building. He stumbles when he lands but doesn’t fall. Maria sighs relieved. Odis pats her comforting on her shoulder and tells her “go”. She understands him.

She takes a couple of steps back like her brother and jumps. She makes it too, but doesn’t manage to land on her feet. She loser her balance, falling on the roof. Manny is besides his sister almost immediately. She gets back up on her feet with his help.

Vanessa is up next. Her parents cheer her on. This gives her the courage to take the jump. She takes it and makes it. Odis secretly lets out a sigh of relief. He did believe in his daughter, but if she notices his reaction she might not think that’s the case.

“We jump at three, aight honey?” Odis asks his wife.

Kyra nods. “Yes. I love you, baby.”

Odis smiles sheepishly. “I love ya, too. One, two, three!”

They both run and jump. Kyra makes it easily, but Odis’s weight causes him to barely make it to the edge. He’s dangerously close to falling off, but Manny grabs his hand and pulls him on the roof. Vanessa hugs her father like she’s never done before.

“Be mo’ careful, dad!” She tells him.

Odis chuckles. He’s been so preoccupied with keeping his family safe that he didn’t pay much attention to himself, almost causing him to fall prey to a group of walking dead people down in the alley below.

The group now knows the ropes and easily makes it to the clothing store at the end of the street.

“Do ya see any dead people, Mr. Gonzales?” Vanessa asks Manny.

“No, not in our direct vicinity. And you can call me Manny, Vanessa.” He says as he winks at her.

“So, what now?” Kyra asks her husband who’s still taking in the environment.

Odis spots a station wagon in the middle of the street, not too far from where they are now. He’s sure he sees a keychain still sticking out of the keyhole of the car door.

“There!” He gestures to the station wagon. “We get as fast as we can, take that car ‘n’ leave! It’ still got its keys stuck in the door!”

Manny squints as he takes a closer look at the station wagon. “Yes, you’re right! I can see it, too!” He turns around and tells Maria their escape plan in Spanish. She is both happy and terrified at the same time. She doesn’t like the idea of running through “los monstrous” with Esteban.

“We doin’ this?” Odis asks his family.

“It’s dangerous.” Kyra responds. After a while she continues. “But we ain’t got no other choice. We ‘ave ta make a run for it.”

“I can do this, dad.” Vanessa says. She’s collected herself and is standing up straight. Odis is proud of his little girl.

“Manny, y’all ready?”

Manny replies positively. The group wastes no time. They climb down a drainage pipe onto the street. Kyra is the last one to descend from the drainage pipe. Moments before she touches the ground the rest has already turned around, ready to head to the car. They are stopped by Kyra’s terrifying screams.

Odis is horrified by what he sees when he turns around to look at his wife. A dead man with no legs biting down on his wife’s ankle, only letting go after ripping out her Achilles heel.

Odis rushes to her aid, having to listen to both his wife and his daughter’s terrified screams. He picks Kyra up from the ground before the walker can get another bite out of her. He runs to the car with his crying wife in his arms and his weeping daughter in tow. The sound attracts the walkers in the street.

“Come on, hurry!” Manny yells at them. He’s waving the car keys of the station wagon in the air, proving Odis was right.

Odis opens the car’s back door and lays his wife down on the back seat. He sits down next to her. Vanessa tries to join them, but Odis stops her.

“Hon, go ‘n’ sit with Manny at tha front!”

“But…!”

“Jus’ go!” Her father’s anger makes Vanessa cry more, but she doesn’t have the luxury of time to let him know what she thinks. Walkers are approaching the car and they are close. She gets in the car next to Manny and he punches the gas pedal. The car departs with screaming tires.

Odis looks at his wife’s wound. It’s ugly. Her bones and muscle are exposed and the entire Achilles heel is just gone. He didn’t want Vanessa to see this.

Kyra tries to get back up by pushing herself up with her hands on the seat. Odis assists her, carefully holding her wounded leg so she doesn’t strain herself. Once she’s up, she lets herself fall on Odis’s shoulder. She grabs his hand and he holds hers tight.

Kyra looks him in the eye and smiles. “We made it, baby. Ya did good. I know I didn’ say I it, but I knew ya could do it.”

“Thanks, baby. I know it hurts, jus’… try ta sleep, okay? Don’ you worry, I’ma get ya the help ya need. Ya will be all fine.”

Poor Kyra

I thought it was a great entry I was on the edge of my seat as each person jumped the roof. Great wrting TG. It's sad knowing Kyra is going to turn and the others don't know it yet.

Wow, period the end . That was very good.

Great addition to the stories

Odis’s Story, Part 3

Manny drove the injured Kyra and both their families to a free clinic he always went, due to him not being able to afford health insurance. Regardless of it being a free clinic, the personnel is very professional and experienced. Either way, the hospital is too far away for the kind of wound Kyra has.

The exterior of the free clinic worries Odis. There are many dead bodies, all lying neatly in a row with a hole right between the eyes, bullet holes in the walls covered in dried up blood. A firefight went down here. He’s not even sure whether anyone is left.

Manny holds the glass door open as Odis carries his wife inside in a rush.

“Where the hell is everyone?!” Odis screams, barely hiding the panic in his voice.

Manny looks around the clinic waiting room. There’s blood all over the walls and even more bullet holes than outside. There are no bodies to be seen anywhere, but trails and streaks of blood leading to the front door, suggesting all the bodies have been carried outside.

Manny calls out for the doctors. “Dr. Stevens? Dr. Muller?!”

Odis starts getting nervous as time goes by without answer. Kyra is starting to lose her consciousness. Odis notices her grip weakening. He hastily puts his hand underneath his wife’s head.

“Oh my god, honey! Ya’re burnin’ up!”

“Dad, wha’s wrong?!” Vanessa starts breathing fast.

Odis looks at his daughter and smiles at her, albeit doubtful. “Mom’s jus’ got a fever, baby! Don’ worry, we jus’ gon’ need to find ‘er some medicine!”

The sudden sound of something falling interrupts the moment. It’s coming from the hallway where the exam rooms are.

Maria backs up, holding Manny in her arms. “Monstruos!

Manny picks up a chair opens the door very slowly. His heart is racing. He can feel it pounding in his neck. He counts down in his head. Reaching one, he pushes the door open with all his strength.

“Eeek!” He hears as soon as he swings the door open. A woman wearing a doctor’s coat falls down on her back, covering her face with her arms.

“Dr. Muller?” Manny asks as he holds the chair by its legs above his left shoulder.

The woman removes her hands from her face. “M-Mr. Gonzales?” She says as her face lights up. She jumps to her feet and hugs her. Manny embraces her with his free arm.

“Brenda, what happened here? All those dead-“

Brenda lets go of Manny, only holding him firmly by his shoulders. “Oh G-God, it was h-h-horrible! The army, they c-came in and shot everyone! Every p-patient, every sick p-person!”

“But why?!”

“I-it had to with the walking corpses!”

Kyra’s condition is worsening. She’s been out of conscious for a long stretch of time now. Odis worries. “My wife needs ya help!” He yells to Brenda.

Brenda snaps out of her panicked state by Odis’s cry for help. She dashes over to Odis and starts to examine Kyra. She is shocked at her wounds.

“She m-must’ve lost a lot of blood!” She exclaims. “Quick, take her to exam room 1!”

Odis runs after Brenda, through the doors from where she came. Brenda then holds the first door on the left open and tells Odis to put Kyra down on the table.

“You gotta l-leave us now!” She orders him after he has laid her down.

“B-but…”

“W-what’s your name?” Brenda asks, straight-forward.

“Odis. I’m… My name is Odis.”

Brenda looks him straight in the eyes. “Odis, you have to t-trust me!”

Manny enters the room. “Come on, Odis. Let the doctor do her work.” He says as he lightly pulls Odis back by the shoulder. He takes him to the waiting room. He gestures at Vanessa, sitting in a chair with her face buried in her hands. “She needs you.”

On his way over to her, Odis grabs a chair and positions it next to her. He sits down.

“Mom’s gonna be jus’ fine, Vanessa. She’s a good doc, right Manny?”

Manny nods and smiles. “The best.”

Hours pass. Odis gets impatient. How long does it take to treat a bite wound? There has to be something else wrong with her, something they can’t see. He understands the bleeding needs to be stopped and the wound cleaned and covered up, but does it really have to take this long?

Maria and Manny are playing with Esteban. They found some toys behind the counter for him to play with. Little dinosaur toys, Esteban’s favorite. It relieves some tension.

Odis jumps out of his chair when the exam room door opens. His excitement drops as he sees the look on Brenda’s face.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, his voice trembling.

Brenda looks down. “S-she’s stable, but…”

“But what?!” Vanessa cries.

“I d-did everything I could! Everything I should! S-stopped the bleed, disinfected and bandaged the a-affected area and gave her a-antibiotics against the fever!”

Odis collects himself. “But what’s wrong?” He asks sternly.

Brenda looks up and blankly stares at Odis and Vanessa. “B-but the fever’s not going down! It keeps getting higher and higher! I-I’ve seen this before. I-I’m really s-sorry, Odis. She’s dying.”

Odis can’t believe what he’s hearing. His wife was fine just a few hours ago. Vanessa bursts out in tears. Maria sits her down and holds her. Esteban offers her his dinosaur toy, but Vanessa doesn’t notice.

“Your w-wife… She has w-whatever turns people into… those things.” Brenda looks back down again. “E-Every patient who came her with these symptoms died and t-turned. Every. Single. One.”

Odis picks away his tears. “Can I jus’ say goodbye?”

“Sure.” Brenda replies. She holds the door to the hallway open for him. Manny pats him on the back. Odis asks if Vanessa wants to come along to say goodbye, but she doesn’t want to. She says she’s afraid. Odis doesn’t like it, but he respects her wishes. It’s not easy for any of them, after all.

There she is. His wife, barely breathing lying on an operating table. Her breaths are raspy and hard. She’s sweating profusely all over her body. Her lips are dried up and crusty.

Odis leans over her. All he can do is weep. He’s got no words for what has happened. He doesn’t even recognize his once beautiful wife anymore.

She is barely able to hold his hand. They stay in this position for a while, both not keeping track of time until Odis notices his wife’s grip weakening. She lets go of him and her hand falls down on the table. She’s gone.

Odis has no tears left. The emotions he feels at this moment are mixed. His wife is no longer suffering, but he lost the love of his life and his daughter lost her mother.

As he stands there, he feels as if he forgot something but he doesn’t know what. He realizes it when, out of nowhere, his wife seems to be breathing again.

He looks back down at her and she leaps at him, gnawing at his face. He desperately screams for help.

The door flies open. Manny swings a chair at Kyra, causing her to roll off of Odis. “It’s in the brain!” Brenda yells. “Y-you have to destroy the brain!”

Manny hesitates as he sees Kyra getting back on her feet and limping towards him. He grabs an IV-stand and smashes her over the head with it. She hits her head on the table and then falls on her back to the ground.

Manny prepares himself for what he has to do. He tightens his grip on the stand and raises it above Kyra head. He brings it down on her face with all his strength. Kyra’s face is broken and disfigured, but she’s still twitching.

Manny sighs. “Dios, perdóname.” He says and raises the stand again. The sound of crushing bone repulses him and sends shivers down everyone’s spine. Kyra stopped moving.

He wipes the sweat off his forehead. He turns to face Odis. “I’m sorry.”

Even though we knew Kyra was going to turn that was still really sad

I enjoyed the introduction of Brenda. I look forward to seeing where they go from here and how they deal with the revelation that being bit turns you. I loved it keep em coming

Great read TG, good job.