The Walking Dead Forum: Edog - Viewing Profile - The Walking Dead Forum

When I go back through and edit this chapter I'll add a bit more towards the end.



Chapter 9
He opened his eyes. At first he thought that this was a walker, come to seal his doom. But after a few seconds in the darkness he realized that he didn’t smell wet, musty, rotting flesh mixed with swiss cheese, he didn’t see a pale bloody face shining in the moonlight. But he smelled a mix of fresh oranges and roses, and he saw Aleisha’s tan, smooth skin gleaming in the moonlight.

“Wha-“

“Shhhh. I just hate being alone during all this.” That was a good enough explanation for Brett. It had been a while since he had slept in a bed with a girl by his side. Whenever he was in that situation, he always felt as if all was right with the world, even in this fucked up reality. He fell back asleep with her warm body heat to keep him company.

When he woke back up hours later, His first thought was where was Bryce with that food bag. The first thing he did was roll over sluggishly and reach over Aleisha for his weapon, but he grasped nothing. He also noticed that the door to his room was wide open. Had Aleisha done something with it? She didn’t seem like the stealing type, though he had been proven wrong by women before. Lindsey was his girlfriend that he had all throughout college. He really thought she was going to be the one. Then, after graduation day the next morning she had left him and had taken his little metal safe with her. The bitch. He had been saving up all the money he made from working as a pizza delivery man, and tips. His parents paid for his college, so he was able to do that. He had made about ten an hour with tip and had probably upwards of 20,000 in the safe. His mother had warned him about keeping the money and not making a bank account, and that’s another reason why he decided to never doubt her again. It was just that he felt as rich as Scarface, and sometimes he would take out some wads of cash to just know that his hard work had paid off, literally.

So he slid on his pants, got on his shoes and socks and set out to solve this mystery. Brett asked Aleisha what Bryce’s room was again and got the information, along with the fact that she had indeed not taken it. He started in the direction of where Bryce was. Even if he did not know where it was, he could surely help him find it. Walking down the hallway, he started hearing shouts come from around the corner. Bryce’s voice was distinct and deep, but the other man’s he did not know. He started jogging down the hall, until he rounded the corner and came to a halt. Bryce was about fifteen feet away and poised, gun drawn and pointed at a man that was in between them. The man was a big man, about six foot one and 220 pounds in dark blue sweatpants and a white shirt. Brett was unable to see much of his face because his long frizzy hair was blocking most of it.

“No one is going to hurt you.” Bryce tried to convince him.

“Yes you are! You both are! You already killed my friends!” Now the man was frantically switching his aim from Bryce to Brett, but mostly Bryce, for he had his weapon.

“Nobody here has hurt your friends. Now just put the gun down.”

By this time, Aleisha had woken up, no doubt heard the noise too, and was by Brett’s side.

“Oh god.” She said in disbelief. Then she leaned in closer to Brett and whispered in his ear, “This is Henry. He has something known as Steroid psychoses. Doctors gave him steroids, steroids made him go nuts. Thinks everyone is out to get him. He was like this even before the world came to a-” Great Brett thought. Just what we needed.

“Hey, HEY! Stop plotting against me you bitch!”

“Henry?...Henry. This isn’t you, remember? Nothing bad will happen if you just put. Your gun. Down.”

Then the man started to cry. “Why do you want to kill me? At least tell me that.”

“We don’t. We’re all your friends here. No one will harm you.”

“Don’t you lie to me! I’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive. I’ll kill you all myself! I will!”

It seemed as if there was no reasoning with this guy. It was either he, or them. But Brett was helpless with his gun in the wrong hands, it was all up to Bryce. At the right moment.

Then Aleisha made the mistake of trying to slowly approach him. “I’m warning you!” He yelled, then shot at the ground in front of her. Then a much louder BOOM came from the room closest to the man and blood spattered on the wall behind him. Bryce let off two shots of his own as the bear like man went down, and the last shot came from Henry when he hit the ground, the bullet lodging in the ceiling. He coughed up blood, then was gone.

“Grandma!” Bryce shrieked as he ran to the room. Brett walked over to Henry, now leaking blood onto the floor, and knelt down to pick up his pistol. After doing so he looked over and could see Bryce helping up his grandma, with the shotgun on the ground beside her, smoke coming from the barrel. She was a skinny old woman with wrinkles invading her face as well as some liver spots.

“Holy shit grandma. You saved all our asses!”

“Well Tyrell he was up to no good. And I’ll be damned if my baby gets killed by a madman.”

“Yeah, thank you?...” Brett started.

“Alice. And your welcome young man. Hey baby, is that your friend Bobby? You know, the one that used to work with you at the factory? I always liked him”

“No grandma. This is a new friend.”

“Oh I’m so happy for you.” Then she whispered at Brett, “He always had trouble with that.” And smiled. Brett couldn’t help but laugh. And so did Aleisha. But their laughter was short lived. A few seconds later they heard a bang at one of the windows. Before they knew it there was a whole group of bangs coming from every which direction. Shit! Brett thought. He hadn’t even thought about the noise from the shots attracting the walkers.

“What do we do!?” pressed Aleisha.

As Brett thought for a moment Alice spoke up, “Who’s that? Are those the bad men from the TV they talked about? I haven’t seen them in person you know.”

“Grandma, whatever you do, do not get too close to them. They will try to bite you.”

“Bite? They can’t even fight like real men? What wimps.”

Brett didn’t even have time to laugh at Alice’s remarks now, his mind was racing too fast. Then, a glimmer of light, “Brett, give your gun to Aleisha. Then everyone follow me to the front door. Aleisha, I’ll take you up on that flight to Canada now.”

Aleisha looked nervous, she had probably never fired a gun. Then after Bryce handed her the shotgun, she walked by Brett’s side toward the front door. Alice was a bit slower, so Bryce and her were lagging ten feet behind. “Give me the shotgun, grandma. There ya go.”

As they walked around the corner and down the hall past rooms, the rooms with doors open was like a window into madness. As Brett walked, he would glance over to them routinely and could see the many walkers at each window, clawing their hands past the metal bars and scraping against the windows like nails on a chalkboard. The wounds from the dead left bloody smear marks and hand prints as they tried squeezing their faces between the bars and snarling after their food. Some windows started getting smashed, and this frightened Aleisha so she yelped the first few times it happened. Then the shards of broken glass still attached on the windows would slit the walker’s wrists as they reached their pale and overgrown fingernails inside the rooms.

“Why are they ruining this nice place?” They heard Alice say behind them.

“Come on Grandma, don’t worry about that.” And Bryce put his hand on her back to speed her up a little.

As they got closer and closer to the front doors, they could hear the banging against metal getting louder and louder. When they reached the door Aleisha suggested looking through the sliding peephole. Good thinking Brett thought, or else they wouldn’t know whether there was two out there, or thirty. So he took note and opened it up. He immediately was met with clenching jaws and pits of black for eyes. When he did this, it only seemed to rile them up, and they clawed and bashed at the door faster. He quickly surveyed the outside area, and could tell that maybe six were on door duty, while three more were in between them, and the car. So he closed it hurriedly, for fear of how many more it would attract.

“Ok guys. We need to do this fast, their gathering by the minute. If I remember correctly, this door opens outward, correct?”

“Correct.” Answered Aleisha.

“Ok, then Bryce and I will bust it open which will knock them back, giving us more room and time to start shooting. You two stay RIGHT behind us, k? Everyone get to the car as fast as you can. Get in the passenger side, I’ll have to circle around to get in the driver’s side.” Brett then took a deep breath, “Ready?”

“Grandma, did you understand all that he said?”

“Yes Tyrell, I’m no dummy.”

“I didn’t think you were grandma.”

Then Bryce and Brett got in position behind the double doors, Bryce on the left and Brett on the right. Aleisha got behind Brett, grabbing the back of his shirt at one point, While Alice was behind Bryce.

Brett gave out the orders, “Ok. One…two…Three!” The vaulted open the doors with tremendous force, slowed down by the walkers body weight. The bright sun blinded Brett, and for a second he couldn’t see the attackers. He heard Bryce’s shotgun go off, and wondered whether Bryce could see or whether he was just trying his luck and seeing if he would hit one. After his eyes cleared, Brett was taken by the first walker, right in front of him. The walker grabbed his arms and pulled him close for a nice snack. The gun in Brett’s hand was forced up into the walker’s chin. As Bryce let another round off, nearly decapitating the walker next to Brett, Brett pulled the trigger. Blood and chunks of brain matter bloomed out of the top of walker’s skull. After the two fell, he could see that his planned had worked otherwise, for the remaining four walkers were on the ground struggling to get back up. They must have been pushed back by the front few and fallen down the two stairs leading to the door.

“Come on!” He yelled to Aleisha and Alice.

As the walkers shakily started to get back to their feet, they were easy targets, and at close range. The two fired their guns next to each other like a firing squad, taking them out one by one. When Brett turned around to make sure Aleisha was still there, he noticed a flood of walkers starting to come around both sides of the penitentiary. Then another great big BOOM rang out. Brett spun around to see Bryce, shotgun stabilized on the roof of the car, shooting over it at a few walkers that had just made it into the compound. Brett Ran around towards the driver’s side, and blasted one that was almost touching the car. Aleisha already had her passenger seat door almost closed. Smart girl. Bryce’s shotgun didn’t work the way he had wanted it too the next time he pulled the trigger, for it had run out of shells. “Fuck!” he yelled in disbelief. Then, a scream escaped from behind Bryce. He turned around to see that his grandma had been snagged by a crawling zombie, just like Ashley. She was trying to smack it’s hand away and cursing at it. Only this time, Bryce was faster than Brett. He was on that thing in a split second. He started bashing its brains in with his shotgun. Each hit fell in unison with his words, “NOT! This TIME! You FUCKER!” After about three whacks, the walker lay limp. Damn.

Just like that Alice’s ankle was free, but there was no time for celebration. The flood was still pouring around the corners, and the closest walker was no more than ten yards away. So Bryce put his arm around his grandma’s shoulder and hurried her into the backseat. By the time Bryce tried to close the door a walker got his arm caught. So Bryce yelled at Brett to GO as he jabbed at the walker’s face with the butt of the shotgun, successfully making it fall backwards so Bryce could try and slam the door. When Brett pushed the gas all the way down, it looked as if Bryce would fall out, but he was just trying to reach the door handle, now wide open. He grasped onto it and slammed it shut just as another walker was about to reach in.

The Honda Civic sped down the driveway of the facility, as the walking dead longed after them, and a few of which got smashed under the car’s heavy tires that made a sickening squishy noise, like that of someone eating a mix of apples and tomatoes. When they turned onto the main road, Brett decided he needed to know where they were going. Aleisha answered at once that they would have to go to the town of (sorry I haven’t looked up the town yet), just one town over. She said she knew of a small airport there that would only have small planes at it.

Nobody talked for about a half of an hour after that. Because of the encounter they had just survived, but also because they were still alert, watching every shadow and tree as they blew in the wind, surveying the landscape, watching like hawks for the next foe in their way. But nothing ever came at them which caused them to stop. Nothing besides walkers trapped in cars and walkers shuffling down the street like they were caught in quicksand. Some, not able to shuffle, but wiggle on the pavement, too sluggish to get out of the way and forced to meet the Michelin man and be crushed to their demise.

Finally Brett broke the silence, “So…how come they never attack or eat others?”

“Hell yes man! I’ve been asking myself the same thing since we left Atlanta. Or even eat themselves. Hell, why not birds?” Bryce seemed really into this conversation. And Aleisha decided to throw her two cents in, saying that she saw on the news the day before things got really bad that they said that it possibly had something to do with your body heat.

“It makes sense.” She said. “Your warm, they eat you, you turn, your body gets cold then they couldn’t care less.”

“Yeah, think about all the gnarly half eaten ones we saw in the city, that we just saw. That makes total thanks. Thank you Aleisha for letting us know.”

“But what about animals, I mean we haven’t exactly seen wild packs of dogs everywhere yet. What gives?” Brett inquired.

“They said they will go after pets and whatever else they can get their undead mitts on. Dogs are too nice to get away from things that look like people, but I bet if we were to look in any of the houses or farm houses that we pass along the road, that there would be an emaciated cat inside or a dead one…They’re too agile and fast to be caught. And pigeons or squirrels? No WAY they get caught.”

“Good thing none of us had pets, huh?”

Then Bryce was punched lightly in the shoulder as punishment from his grandma, “How could you forget Pinky! She was with me for three years. Ran away when someone left the door open, I know she’s still out there. Ain’t no way that one of those biters got my Pinky...I know it.”

“Ok, grandma, he he. I won’t forget her again.”

“Ok baby.” She said with a half smile, and hugged him.

“But you know things like Gerbils and hamsters are screwed, right?” Before Brett even finished his sentence he was smiling. And Bryce appreciated the joke,

“Nice, man. Nice. The safest ones are the animals in the zoos!” Then the two of them erupted with laughter, even Aleisha had some chuckles of her own. Brett could see the walkers, all surrounding a lion’s cage, unable to get in. Or, if they had, it would be really interesting to see how many of them the lion could kill. Then he thought of how scary and how much of a killing machine a lion turned walker would be, and then he thought of what his parents must’ve looked like as walkers, so he decided to stop thinking on the subject. Though it was no easy task. Looking at Aleisha’s lovely face and figure made it a little easier for him.

“You want to keep your eyes on the road, right?” Brett was caught off guard looking at Aleisha.

“Uh y-yeah. That’s what I’m doing.”

She smiled enough for Brett to notice. “So umm does anyone know where this came from?...The walkers I mean.” Brett tried to keep the conversation going and the spotlight off him and Aleisha. “Cause you know I think it’s some sort of virus.”

“I don’t know man…Although I did see some fucked up shit on Discovery Channel one time. So this ant right, he’s just going along until it catches this bacteria. And over time it grows, grows all gnarly on the outside of it’s body. Soon after a while it started to control the ant, making it do weird stuff ants don’t do. There were even some bigger animals in the forest getting turned by this shit. So it could be a bacteria.”

Aleisha cleared her throat and said, “Yeah but has anyone seen a walker with bacteria growing on its head?”

“It’s possible” Brett added. “There are probably hundreds of bacteria that get inside you once your dead and cold. It could even be in your mouth.”

“Sugar that’s disgustin. Why watch programs like that. Sounds horrid.” Alice bickered at Bryce.

“Grandma, it was educational and interesting. It could be the cause of all this!”

“Don’t you raise your voice at me, Tyrell. I can still give you a whoopin.”

“Yes Grandma…”

Brett and Aleisha both looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“Right there! There it is!” Ashley pointed a finger at a sign that simply read “Airport 5 miles.” and bounced in her seat like a jumping bean. They went about three miles further and were met by a huge mess of cars. Brett tried to make out a pathway in his head, but just couldn’t see the light.

“Sorry guys, don’t think we’re going any farther in here. We’ll have to go on foot. It’s getting dark so I suggest we navigate this junk pile in the morning.”

“Yeah well, I shouldn’t try to fly sleep depraved, either.” Aleisha pointed out.

“Then it’s settled. Anyone want to pee first? We should do it now.”

Everyone had to go, and go they went without any problems. But Brett heard a disturbing noise in the still Georgia air. Everyone could. As soon as Brett got back in the car he turned around and warned, “We’re not alone guys.”

“We’re never alone anymore, man.”

“Good point, But I think we’re going to have a harder time tomorrow than we thought. You can hear the sound of them against a fence right? So they must be behind a fence. We should be good tonight.”

“Yeah well I ain’t sleepin. I’ll keep watch till the morning. If I hear or see anything I’ll say something.”

“Yeah but didn’t you here more of those nasty men ou-“

“Shh Shh grandma. Go to sleep. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I too couldn't put 2 and 2 together, so don't feel too bad. I mean she was only in 1 comic! Sheesh!

Chapter 8
He opened his eyes. He shot up in bed like he had awakened from a nightmare. How many shots did he hear? One? More? He Went across the hall into Bryce’s bedroom but he already was sitting up as well. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” Bryce asked.

“Yeah. Morgan.”

And that was all that needed to be said. The two gathered their weapons and made their way to the front door. Peering outside there weren’t many walkers at all. And looking towards Morgan’s house as much they could there were a only few aas well. But the few were now making their way towards his house, with two on his porch. He must have fired his gun for a good reason.

So Brett and Bryce stepped into the warm Georgia morning, and stayed low and quiet as they made their way to morgan’s. His front door was gathering walkers, with four now there. They decided it best to go around back and try the sliding glass door. All of these tract homes were modeled after each other, so Brett knew it was back there.

They slid the door open and it opened smoothly and without so much as a sound. “Morgan?”

“Hey man. We heard you shootin? You alright?” They both looked at each other and Bryce shrugged. They quietly searched the first floor, no one to be found. Then they made their way upstairs. Brett held up his hand and stopped. He mouthed the word “crying” to Bryce. It was coming from the same room in which they had been disgusted of the night before. They walked up to the door and Bryce leaned in to listen better.

“Morgan? We’re coming in buddy, ok? Don’t shoot now.” After Brett said his warning, Bryce creaked open the door slowly. Stepping into the room, they could see Morgan sitting against the wall on the floor below the window, head in his hands and rifle in his lap. Brett noticed something different about this room. There was no moaning or creaking from the beds moving.

“Shit…” Bryce remarked. Both Morgan’s wife and his son had holes through their forehead, turning them over to the eternal sleep that was their death. Brett knew that Morgan wouldn’t shoot unless he had a good reason, and he did: for his own sanity.

Morgan spoke in a quivery voice, “I had to do it. It’s like…Seeing you guys yesterday talked some sense into me. I haven’t seen anyone in so long, felt like years being alone with them, with nothing to do…going crazy.”

“It’s alright brotha, now they can rest. You did the right thing.”

“Ah shit. Then why doesn’t it feel that way?”

They were all quiet for a few minutes for Morgan’s sake. Then Brett spoke up, “Hey listen. We’re going to Douglas, going to head out as soon as we can. Could always use another guy, another gun to help out.”

“Sure, sure. Just let me gather myself and get some things together.”

“We’ll be right downstairs when your ready.” Brett and Bryce lingered around in the living room until Morgan came down, looking at pictures of what once was his family, and sitting on the white couch. Brett had always knew that he wanted to have a family. But it just looked like there weren’t that many women anywhere, let alone one who he would get along with that well. Coming to this realization made him miss Ashley all the more. He had only known her for a short while, but they were attracted to each other, and that’s a good start.

While Brett was sitting in his own self regret Morgan came downstairs with a blue gym bag and the rifle swung on his shoulder. He walked straight into the kitchen, opened the pantry. Brett was stunned with disbelief, it was stocked full of food! “Woah, how’d you get so lucky?”

“Not luck. Hard ass work. Looted Walmmart a couple days back. There was still a bunch of reserves left in the back. That…that was when Duane got bit.” Brett could tell he struck a nerve, so he said nothing more on the subject. When Morgan loaded up the food Brett could see a shotgun in the bag as well as a box of shells.

When he was done, Morgan offered Brett the bag. “I don’t get it. Aren’t you coming with?”

“I can’t go with you guys. I’m sorry, but there are too many memories here…I grew up in this house, so it would make sense that I stayed here to the end.”

But what about the food? And the shotgun?”

“There’s enough in there to last me a year. And as far as the shotgun. Well I’ve been just fine this far without it.” He smirked and patted the butt of his rifle.

“So your sure you want to do this?” Bryce asked.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

It was 11:30 when they left Fitzgerald, and Morgan made sure to cover them from the second story window with his rifle, though he didn’t need to use it.

They had guns, a decent amount of ammo, food, and gas in their car still. Brett desperately needed the break after learning of his parent’s death the day before. Brett just hoped Bryce’s grandma was still alive. That man is the type that would blow a casket. His mother always said that the ones to look out for were the ones that always seemed content. Then when they were pushed to their limits they would explode and let it all out. God he hoped his grandma was alright.

They talked all the way to Douglas, this time with the music turned mostly down. Bryce told him all about his past girlfriends, and his view on women. “If their dumb enough to reject you, you gotta let em go. But if they their special and they actually like you in return, you gotta treat them as so. But you also have to demand respect out of that woman. If you got both, your set.” Brett was entertained by his bantering, but he could tell he kept talking to try and keep Brett’s mind off his parents.

But when they neared Douglas, Bryce got really quiet, like he was aching to tell Brett something. “What is it? Ran out of girlfriends did ya?” Brett smiled but was met with Bryce’s serious face.

“…My grandma doesn’t live in an old folks home…”

“What? You mean we came her for no-“

“She’s in Douglas, just… just not in an old folks home. Now don’t freak out. But she lives in a psych ward?...About four years ago she got the alzheimer’s disease. Shortly after in the home she stabbed an orderly, said he was a man that raped her when she was little. She had never spoke of it before then. It probably wasn’t the man, he must’ve been twenty and she was sixty five. It’s a crazy disease man. They pleaded insanity and she was to spend time in a psychiatric ward instead of a prison. Though it might as well be a prison. Bars on all the windows and metal doors. They were barely let outside in a sort of closed in fence.

It was a lot to take in. All Brett could say at first was, “Wow,” Then he realized the reality of the situation, “Is she able to go out into the world with us?”

“Man that’s cold. And of course she could. The only thing is she thinks I’m my dead brother. And besides, she won’t have to come out in the world with us. Think about what I just said. Metal doors and barred windows? It’s probably untouched! And if it isn’t…we can clear all those fuckers out of there and make it our new home. We can finally relax from all this madness.”

That did sound like a good idea. Brett couldn’t argue with that. He agreed as they entered into Douglas. The city looked like the same old scene. Cars littered the street, with dead bodies and some walkers scattered about. But no problem, Brett could maneuver the streets, like he had in Fitzgerald.

Bryce directed Brett towards the ward. They passed a sign that read “Shady Oaks Rehabilitation Center” before climbing up a hill towards the large building. The place was just as Bryce had described. All the windows had metal bars, and there was a big barbwire fence surrounding the perimeter, with a gate that was open at the front.

The two pulled the car past the gate and killed the engine. It was quiet, with a light breeze pushing along the branches of the oaks that were around the premises. Bryce didn’t eve wait for the car to come to a full stop, before he was out the door and leaping up the stairs. When he got to the door, he tried it. Locked. So he started beating on it with the butt of his pistol, and kept calling out for his grandma. This went on for about ten seconds then Brett was by his side. He thought about telling him to give up, but he wouldn’t listen, it was too important. Then the sliding peephole slid open. A pair of young green eyes stared back at them. “Was anyone ever touched by those things?” her voice sounded beautiful and pleasant.

“No, we’re not bit. Is anyone else in there? Let us in!” Bryce spurted.

Then the eyes disappeared behind metal. A few seconds later the door opened, and a short girl with Brunette hair in a ponytail was there. She had a very narrow nose that Brett loved so very very much, and she revealed her big perfect smile and pearly white teeth when she opened the door and saw their two guns. She had the girl next door look thatgave the impression that she didn’t need make up to look hot. The type of girl you wanted to bring home to your mother.

While Brett was stargazing, Bryce was getting info about their new home. “ There’s a few other people inside, a few patients but I’m the only orderly, everyone basically left when it all started…just the ones that couldn’t handle the outside world stayed behind. Some because they were scared. Others because, well, they couldn’t understand or comprehend what was going on.”

“Is Edna here? Edna Grome?”

“Actually yes she is. Are you her son Jake?”

“No actually I’m Bryce but she thinks I’m Jake. Where is she?”

“I think she’s in her room reading right now.”

“Great. Which room?” Bryce had already pushed past her beauty and was walking further into the building.

“Uhh…115! Does he ever slow down?”

“what?” Brett was caught off guard by the question.

“Is he always so hyper?”

“No, but this little reunion has been a long time coming. He deserves it.”

“Ok. I’m glad you guys are here. With guns. Because I have a proposition for you two.”

“Shoot.”

“I’ve been volunteering here for years, but I’ve been learning how to fly over at the University. I also have a relative that lives in a remote area of Canada, outside of Alberta. I didn’t want to go out before but now with you guys we can have a shot. It could be a perfect place to ride all of this out. Its secluded, and in the winter the cold and snow will freeze the dead so they won’t be able to come after us. We just have to find an airport with a small sized plane to take us there. We’ll have to stop at a few places to fill up on gas though.”

Brett thought for a second, then said, “You’ve thought about this along time, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, since it all started. I’ve had a lot of time here to think. He’s the only relative I have left and so it would be great to stay with him.”

“I’m not sure. We had planned on staying here, and it seems like an alright place to hold out. I’ll think about it and put it to Bryce in the morning. He doesn’t need to be disturbed right now. Where can I sleep?”

“Room 109 hasn’t been used in a while. You can make yourself at home. I’ll be staying in the next room. Ya know, if you need anything.”

“K, sounds great. Well I think I’m going to to get to it. It’s been a long day. What was your name?”

“Aleisha”

“Well, goodnight Aleisha.”

By the time he told her his name and she said goodnight they had almost walked to their rooms. The room was pretty plain with a cot bed and a sink along with a mirror. Brett put took his pistol out of his pants pocket and put it on the dresser by his bed, and slept almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, even though the cot was really uncomfortable and springy. Neither Brett nor Bryce ha any idea what was still ahead of them.

Chapter 7
He opened his eyes. It was nice for a change, waking up on his own terms. It was about noon and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. If it not for his blood stained clothes, you would almost believe that it was just another hot Atlanta summer day with a cool breeze and that everything was right with the world. He glanced over at Bryce, although there was no Bryce. Just like that his peaceful summer day had turned into the heart pounding situation that was today. Brett looked at the back seat. The axe was gone too. Well shit. Just when he thought he found a good friend to take on this apocalypse with, he goes and takes off. Wait, where could Bryce have gone? They were in the middle of nowhere and there weren’t any other cars nearby. Brett spaced off for a few, trying to figure why or where’d he had gone. But he had to keep going. So he turned on the car, adjusted the air conditioning to the coldest it could be, and put the car in drive. Then WHAP! Something had hit the rear window. Brett checked the rearview mirror for the answer, and saw Bryce, tapping on the glass with the axe. WHAP WHAP WHAP! He stopped, and Bryce got in and tried to catch his breath, “What the hell man, you trying to leave me out here?”

“No, I thought you were trying to leave me.”

“Naw man. I went to take a piss, brought the axe along for protection. As soon as I heard the engine I sprinted back here from behind those oaks…I still got it! Not as fast as I was back when I won the title in high school, but I still got some juice left.”

“Glad to hear it too. I was going to have to start singing to myself without the radio and you.”

“Ahh so I’m talking your head off, no I see how it is, I see. Hey there any CDs in here?” Bryce started fidgeting with all the buttons and knobs of the civic until he found the play button for the CD player. The sound of Angus Young riffing the famous tune of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” filled the car. “Ahhhh shit. That’s what I’m talking about! Bill got some good taste!”

Brett wasn’t the biggest fan of classic rock. He had always liked the more settle songs, like those of Dave Matthews Band. But who doesn’t like AC/DC? He started bobbing his head along with Bryce, and singing the lyrics he knew. It turned out the whole CD was a classic rock mix, but it wasn’t all that bad. He sang the few songs he knew, and was relatively quiet for the ones he didn’t. Bryce, however, was in heaven. It seemed he had something new to live for, and it was classic rock. He knew every song, and even rocked out with his air guitar and even drummed sometimes as well. It was like this all the way to Fitzgerald. And it looks like Bill had filled the car up with gas recently. Obviously it hadn’t been driven in a while with that much still in it.

They rolled down all the windows and just enjoyed the simple pleasures in life. After all, it seemed that those were the only type you could enjoy now. This doesn’t mean that death ever left their site though. There were many cars in pileups with walkers inside clawing at the windows or outside walking about, but nothing Brett couldn’t easily go around: they never actually made any contact with the dead on their journey to Brett’s home.

nearing Brett’s neighborhood, there weren’t too many walkers, but the windows in the car were still down and they could sure hear them, so they turned down the music. Then, a gunshot echoed through their ears. They rounded a corner to see about twenty or twenty five walkers all shuffling towards one house. Brett stopped, and he could make out the long barrel of a rifle poking out one of the second story windows. Then, a black man poked out along side it. He noticed them, waved and then yelled, “Draw them away! Then come back around! We have more than enough room!”

By the time the man was done with his spiel, a few walkers had branched away from the group and started making their way towards them. Bryce simply put his hand out the window and touched his index finger and thumb together as if to say “okie dokie”.

“Ok man, turn around, but don’t go yet. You got to get their attention first. There you go. Give it a nice big rev first. Good! Now go, but keep it slow.”

Brett followed Bryce’s directions, and was actually surprised at how good they were. Hey was thinking of just taking off right away, but Bryce was right, got to lure them away first. Along with revving the engine he also laid into the horn a few times. Boy that sure did it. Now every walker in sight was lusting after the taste of their flesh. There were even a few coming at them from the front side of the car. They would come up to the front bumper, and Brett would keep going at the sluggish speed he was going. The walking dead were like bowling pins, first the one closest to the car bumper would fall, and knock into another, and yet another. There bodies were like mush under the weight off the heavy vehicle, Brett could feel their skulls pop under the tires. This continued for a few minutes, until Brett had driven back around the corner and down about forty yards. Then he decided it was enough space. He took off, taking a left, going down about a half mile then taking another left and then they were back on the road where the black man had been.

Approaching the house, only a walker or two lurked down the street slowly trying to catch up with the others that were after the car that wasn’t there now. Brett pulled into the driveway, and turned off the ignition. The black man swung open the front door, “Quick! Get inside. Now!” Brett and Bryce didn’t need to be told twice, they raced inside and as soon as they did the door was closed and locked. Brett barely got a look at the guy before he was down the hall and climbing the stairs. “Thanks for that, guys. We were in a real tough situation until you two came along.” The man said as he walked up the stairs like he was late for a meeting. Brett thought something was amiss, but the two followed after the man anyway. The man went into an upstairs bedroom, and as they approached cautiously, Brett could hear the man speaking to someone, “No no no, don’t struggle, you don’t want the bite wound getting any worse, do you?” As they about made it to the door, Brett’s eyes grew wide, for he knew that noise anywhere: it was a walker.

They walked into the bedroom to witness a very disturbing scene. There were two beds, with black walkers laying on them tied up. One was a little boy, about ten, and the other was a woman that was almost forty. Brett and Bryce just froze. When the man kneeling by the boy noticed them, he got up and introduced himself as Mogan, “...this is my son Duane, and my wife.” Then there was a moment of silence as the two thought about what to do. After a few seconds Brett decided to introduce himself as well,

“I’m B-brett and this is Bryce.”

When Brett pointed to Bryce he took it as his turn to talk, “Man, are you crazy? These people aren’t alive. All they want to do is kill! I am NOT staying here. Come on Brett, let’s go.”

“Look, I know what they are. I’ve tried to kill them many times, but I…I just couldn’t! So a few days ago I took them inside, and tied them up. I’m just hoping against hope that..someone will come up with the answer to this thing…and I’ll be able to talk to my boy again. Like I said you’re still welcome to stay here if you like. They aren’t going anywhere, but I understand if you don’t want to.”

Brett could understand his situation but was just shocked that he was still holding out to be rescued. They hadn’t seen a plane or helicopter in days. The skies were empty! But Brett just needed some information from Morgan first, not shelter for the night. “Morgan, did you know the Michaels from down the street a bit?”

“Yeah, nice people, Really involved in the community. Or was.”

“I’m one of their sons. Now think hard, have you seen my mom or dad around lately?”

Morgan thought for a few seconds, rubbing his goatee and through his very short hair, then his eyes got wide, “I think I have…but you’re not going to like this. Do you really want to know?”

What kind of stupid question was that? “Of course I do!”

“Your parents are dead Brett. I saw them out my window and…I put them down three days ago. You can check the side of the road across from the house. I always clear the bodies off to the side when it’s clear enough to go out…”

Brett’s heart stopped mid beat, then it came back on again. He could feel the adrenalin start flowing through him, like he had to do something. Without saying a word he turned around, ran down the stairs, undid the front door locks, and busted out the house. It was dusk, and across the street was a pile of corpses. A quick once over of the street proved that there was no walkers around, but he would have dove into the bodies looking for his parents even if there were a horde like there was earlier. As Brett frantically flipped over ripped up bodies and touching blood soaked clothes, Bryce came out of the house and cautiously kept surveillance on the surrounding neighborhood.

Brett then jumped up like he had seen a ghost, and covered his mouth. Then he leaned in closer to make sure, then turned around, unable to look anymore. His mom had an open neck wound with a hole made from Morgan’s rifle through her left eye. His dad had one in the forehead.

He fell to his knees on the sidewalk, and started crying. Bryce walked up by his side, put his hand on his shoulder and said in a low, caring voice, “It’s not safe out here man. Lets just go back inside.” And with that, Brett got up, wiped his tears, kept sobbing, and walked back inside with Bryce’s hand still on his shoulder and rubbing his back.

Back inside, Morgan apologized for shooting them. But Brett knew the situation. He knew it had to happen, and that he would never keep his parents tied to a bed like Morgan. Morgan was a nice guy, though. He even let them have a few 9MM pistols and a box of ammo to take with them in their travels. Apparently, he ran into a cop a few weeks back, and he had showed them the armory in the police station, and was rather generous with what was inside. He had a few shotguns, yet another pistol, and his hunting rifle which he had used to kill Brett’s parents.

It was now dark, and they decided they would sleep in Brett’s house a few houses down. They passed a few walkers on the way over, but they were too slow to do anything. The door was unlocked, which frightened Brett because his dad never left the door unlocked, especially if they went out. He had his new weapon ready. But, walking into the dining room and living room, the placed looked untouched! But the kitchen was a bit different story. The first thing that caught his eye were blood streaks about head height going along the high cabinets and along the wall leading to the half open sliding glass door, which also had some smears of blood on it. Brett walked over and closed and locked the sliding glass door. They checked every room in the house just in case, and it proved empty. So they decided to settle in. Brett took his own room, while Bryce took Josh’s room across the hall.

It was strange, lying in the same bed and in the same room that he was in all throughout childhood. Posters of music artists were on the walls as long as pictures of Brett enjoying better times with friends, and of course, his parents too.

Sorry this one took a little while. Had a little vacation!



Chapter 6
He opened his eyes. A pothole in the middle of the road had rocked the car and awakened him. He looked over at Bryce, and then down at Ashley. They had both fared better than he had and continued to dream of a place where dead bodies didn’t rise and feed on the living, where no doubt there wasn’t mass murder, brothers killing sisters, wives killing husbands, and sons killing fathers. The only place to see such a wonderful place like that was now miles away in a place that didn’t exist, inside their minds. He guessed that all that was possible if some scientist somewhere could figure out a cure for this disease, or if some other country came to their aid, if there was even another country that could do that.

He was worried about Ashley, but he could feel her subtle breathing as she leaned into him. Her bite wound was barely an open wound and had surely stopped bleeding by now. It wasn’t really bleeding when he had seen it when he scooped her up back in Atlanta. That was just a testament to how truly close he was to saving her from her dreadful fate, as the crawler would have surely tore a chunk out of her if he was there any later, and the fact that he couldn’t be there sooner ate away at him inside.

He looked up to have his eyes met by Alex’s, watching him and Ashley like a hawk. Alex then pointed at Ashley, then brought his hand up to his neck, and with his index finger pretended to slit his throat with it. All he could do without waking Bryce and Ashley was shake his head, eyes locked with Alex’s the whole way.

Then Brett heard a voice pipe up from the front seat. “Ahh, you’re awake. Good. I’m Ben and this is my wife Denise. And that charmer in front of you is Alex, our neighbor. And you three are?” Ben spoke with a very slow Savannah accent; the words just flowed out of his mouth like molasses. He also motioned towards his wife and Alex with his thumb.

“…Uhh this is Bryce and Ashley, and I’m Brett…Where are we headed right now? I don’t mean to be pushy, but I’m trying to go home to my parents, they’re in Fitzgerald.”

“Fitzgerald? I had a cousin from there.” Denise chimed in. Her accent was much like Ben’s, although when a woman spoke as slow as he did, it put a twist on it that can only be described as sexy. When she told him this she turned around so Brett could see the face that matched her voice. She had dark brown eyes and a tiny button nose with big red lips.

“Is she uhhh, alright? For now.” Ben asked.

“Yeah, she’s alright for now.” He glanced down to make sure Ashley was still asleep, and thanked god that she was. If she had heard them talking about her like this, she would be bawling like a baby in seconds. “I saw this happen to…someone a while back. It won’t be long…But you don’t have to worry about her, I’ll take care of it.” And with that, Ashley must have woken up.

“Take care of what?”

“uhh I uhh. nothing.” Brett was taken by surprise and was a horrible liar.

“It’s me, isn’t it? But you promised Brett! You promised you wouldn’t le-“

Alex interrupted, “Look toots, you’re a liability to us all, and I-“

“Stay out of this Alex! This isn’t helping.” Then Brett leaned down so He could whisper into a sniffling Ashley’s ear, “I will take care of it my way, not the way many people would. No one is going to kill you, and I aim to keep it that way.” Ashley wiped her nose, looked up at Brett with big watery eyes and eked out a,

“Thanks.” and forced a half smile.

After the exchange he could see Alex out of the corner of his eye just roll his eyes and look the other way in disgust. Brett knew it wasn’t much compensation. She was still going to die anyway you looked at it, but he owed her this much and no hillbilly named Alex or walker was going to change that.

Then Brett could feel Bryce stirring next to him, who quickly said, “There any food in here? I’m starving back here?” loud enough for the whole car to hear.

“Nuh uh, no way, we was just about to drop you guys off, wasn’t we Ben?” Alex shot back.

“Woah woah woah there, Alex calm down. These here folks are a part of our group now, our food is theirs. Bryce is it? There are some chips and other things along with water in the back there behind you. Just don’t pig out, we only took a few days worth when we left town.”

With that Bryce turned around and started digging in the back of the car. A few moments later he returned holding a few bags of chips and a water bottle in his hand. “Doritos, Tostitos, or Sun Chips?” He nudged Ashley, who was still buried in his shoulder, letting her know to choose the three’s food.

Still speaking in her small, small voice she said, “Sun Chips.”

Bryce tossed the Tostitos and Doritos behind him, keeping the Sun Chips and Dasani Water Bottle. Then he put the water between his knees and tore open the chips, then poured a considerable amount out before offering the rest to Brett and Ashley. He thanked Bryce before taking the bag and sticking it in Ashley’s face. As she reached into the bag to take out her first chip, Alex switched positions in his seat so that he had his arms crossed, over the back of it, staring at them, no doubt his seatbelt off, and said, “Ain’t that pointless? A waste of our food?”

Ticked off at the comment, Ben turned around and said, “Jesus, Alex! Have some respect, man!”

“What? I’m just sayin’, she’s gonna die anyway, why w-“

Brett took Ashley out from under his arms and had punched Alex right square in the nose. He fell back to the floor of the bus in between his row of seats and Ben and Denise’s. Trying to act tough, Alex got back up and blindly lunged at Brett, but Bryce was quick to step in with his axe and hit him with the backside of it in the forehead. He fell back into the small spot again, but this time he stayed there. Ben turned his head and yelled, “What the fuck is going on back there!?”

“Ya boy went crazy and attacked us.” Bryce then nodded at Brett as if to say I got your back.

“No…He hit me in the face with his axe! Quick Ben, shoot em’ with your six shooter! Do it now!” as Bryce and Brett started all yelling at each other and Alex at Ben, Ben tried to be heard over the uproar

“EVERBODY CALM THE FUCK DOWN!”

But it was no use. Everybody was chiming in, even Denise could be heard screaming at Alex that he was a crazy bastard; all the while Ashley just covered her ears and closed her eyes, trying to no avail to pretend that she was elsewhere.

About ten more seconds of the arguing and Denise shouted, “Oh shit honey look out!”

Brett turned his attention from Alex to the road just in time to see a single walker about halfway across the roadway. Ben started to swerve, but it was too late. They struck the thing doing about fifty miles per hour and it flung up on the windshield, smearing blood on it and cracking it in many places. The walker flew up and over the car just in time for everyone but Alex to see an assortment of cars blocking the road. This time Ben’s swerving proved a little helpful, for the bus only clipped the back of the grey Buick, not crashing head on with it. The group then watched in terror as they were spun backwards from the collision, before going over a ravine.

As this series of events unfolded, Brett bent Ashley over so that her head was between her knees, and he covered her with his torso and arms. That’s when the car started rolling down the hill. The first thing her noticed was Alex fly up into the roof of the car, then packages of food and water bottles flew around the car as pinballs would, except with the speed they were more like baseballs. Alex and the various edibles kept flying around the car like clothes in a washing machine’s spin cycle, until the car came to a stop, upside down, because a tall oak had stopped them.

Brett had only been in one car accident before. It was a very stupid accident that he was embarrassed to talk about with friends. It was an overcast day in October and He was on the way to the mall with his friend Daniel. Daniel was big for his age; about six foot three with red hair and freckles that littered his face. They had come to a red light as they both sang AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” The light was taking awhile so Brett took his attention off the road to watch Dan play a game on his phone. After a few minutes they were both really into the tiny screen. As Brett closed his eyes to yawn and stretch, he heard Dan yell “Green!”, and without thinking, he went! It wasn’t until he saw the car on path to collide with his that he realized, Dan was talking about the game he was playing, not the light. The crash left Brett fine and Dan with possibly some brain damage from hitting the side window. But in a crazy twist of fate, the crash may have saved Dan’s life, for while he got a MRI they discovered that he had a pretty big brain tumor. The doctor’s were easily able to take it out after seeing that he had it. It was sad to think that what was once his best friend was now most likely dead or undead…

Alex was nowhere to be found, and most of the window’s of the bus were either shattered or cracked. Packages of food and water bottles littered the ravine leading down to them. All of the passenger’s still inside were mostly ok besides cuts and bruises. Seat belts really did save lives, and they were all a testament to that. Bryce was the first one to undo his belt and fall to the ceiling, now the floor of the car. His face came up right next to Brett’s, still upside down. Bryce’s right eye was almost swollen shut. “wha…What?”

“Fucking water Bottle, hit me right in the eye man.”

Then Ashley started to sob. She was a real mess; she must’ve gotten hit by a bottle too, except somewhere around her mouth. Blood dripped from her lips, while her cheek and hair were stained with it. Neither Ben nor Denise stirred yet. Brett then reached up to press his belt release. He fell to the ceiling of the bus with a thud. Then he got below Ashley so he could catch her when she fell. After he told her to go ahead, she released herself, falling into his arms gently. She told him thanks, but he could hear in her voice that it sounded like all hope was lost.

Brett looked up to see Bryce find his axe trapped under their seat. Good thing it was there, or else they would be escaping with way worse than a bloody mouth and a black eye. Or they wouldn’t escape at all. Bryce then swiped the axe around the edges of the window in a clockwise motion to clear out the glass, and then proceeded to climb out of the car on his hands and knees. Brett and Ashley slowly followed, sure to be careful of any shards of glass left over. By the time Brett was done crawling out of the wreckage, Bryce was already at Ben’s side to help him free. He fell and let out a cry. When he turned over onto his stomach Brett could finally make out his face. He had a big bushy mustache with a mole on his left cheek and his eyes were pretty close together. Brett could also see the shard of glass sticking out from his lower back. There was blood slowly dripping down the glass. They could take it out, but then they’d have to be fast to wrap it up, and with what? Ben then answered his question as if he read his mind, “Quick! Somebody go to the back, there’s a first aid kit with some disinfectants and bandages in it. Oh god, phhhhhhew.”

He kept breathing deep breathes in and out and Bryce and Brett quickly started searching in and around the back of the car. Who knows where it could have flown from the car. Bryce started searching back in the car, as Brett started looking around it, as well as looking closely at the stream of food leading away from the car. It wasn’t long before he worked along to the backside of the bus and found a mangled bloody heap that was Alex strung out about ten feet from the bus. And about a foot away from him was the first aid box, open with all the items around it. “Hey I found it.” He said loud enough for Bryce to hear.

He found the disinfectant by a tree nearby, and the bandages were by Alex’s waste. As he bent down to pick the bandages up, Bryce came around the edge of the bus. When he got down on Alex’s level, he could hear Alex Breathing shallow, raspy breaths “Oh shit. He’s still alive.” Brett felt like he should do something but there really was nothing he could do, his body was bloody and mangled.

Bryce walked up behind him, “No shit. Man that’s fucked up, ya know?”

As Brett walked over to the oak to pick up the disinfectant, Bryce’s reassuring voice saying, “No no, don’t try to get up, just stay put. Dude, that’s really just going to hurt you more, Ahhh!” Brett spun around to see Bryce lying on the ground with his axe a few feet away, and Alex, desperately trying to crawl towards Bryce. The black pitiful eyes said it all. He was a walker. But he saw no bite on the guy. Strange.

Bryce could easily back away from the danger, and pick up his axe, ready to strike. Alex’s legs were so fucked up that he barely moved an inch, no matter how hard he tried. He scratched and clawed at the dirt below him until a jolt, then he was dead, and this time for good.

Bryce wiped his face of blood and yanked his axe from Alex’s head. They heard Ben yell from the other side of the car, “What’s going on over there!?”

“Your boy Alex was a walker.” Bryce said as they walked back to Ben, his wife already by his side.

“But Alex was never bit.”

“I wondered the same thing. I don’t know what it means, but it can’t be good…Hey, funny story. Brett and I were walking down the road the other day, and…”

“Owww! Shit! That hurts.” Bryce had pulled the sharp piece of glass out of his back in mid sentence, like he was pulling some little kid’s loose tooth. Then he frantically motioned for Brett to come over with the medical supplies. Bryce took the disinfectant and poured it on the wound. Ben just continued to grit his teeth as Bryce wrapped him up good and tight.

“There ya go buddy.”

With all this time and distractions, Brett had completely forgot about Ashley. He turned around to see her sitting up against the flipped over bus, to which she looked up at him and asked, “What now?”

Ben answered her question, “About five miles back I saw a sign for an RV park for five miles ahead, so we should be really close. We could search for food, weapons, and a car that works.”

“Great.” Brett replied. “Then that’s where we’ll head to. You two ok to move on your own?” he asked of Ashley and Ben. He knew that Ben would answer yes, for he had a back injury, not his legs. But he was surprised when Ashley said that she needed no help, got up on her feet, and was ready to go. Though she was coughing a lot, she seemed alright for the time being. She was also a bit pale in the face as well. But she seemed determined to fight this disease, fighting it with every step she took up the ravine towards the road.

The rest of the group followed close behind her up to the street. “It’s to the right.” Ben said. There were no walkers in sight, besides the one still crawling about that they had hit with the bus. Brett didn’t think anything of it, but Bryce ran over and ended its misery with a bash to the head with his axe.

“Why even bother?” Brett asked when he got back over to the group.

“For Ashley, man.”

“Ashley?”

“Remember the crawly fucker who got her? Well I hope I’m saving someone from the same fate.”

“Ahh.”

Brett looked ahead to Ashley, but she didn’t even flinch by what she had heard. She must be numb to it by now.

There was a sign not twenty feet ahead that read “Dirty Rascal RV Park”. Now something clicked for Brett. His family had stayed there once when they took their RV on a cross country road trip. He remembered that it was an excruciating trip, because he had gotten sun burnt the day before and had been peeling the whole ride, almost eight hours a day. Just horrible.

Ashley was about twenty feet ahead of the rest of them, and had just turned down the road to the RV park. About ten seconds later she let out a loud short chirp of a scream. Everyone in the group looked at each other and started sprinting to her aid. What now? Brett thought. Can’t we get a fucking break? They rounded the corner to see Ashley stopped dead in her tracks about ten feet ahead. About thirty feet in front of her was a rather large RV parked sideways so it was blocking the road. Standing on top of the vehicle was two men, both with hunting rifles with scopes on them, aimed directly at her. Once noticing the men, everyone stopped as well. Brett couldn’t clearly make out their faces, but he could see their clothes and he damn sure could hear their voices.

Both men were wearing camouflage pants and boots, with one wearing a wife beater and the other a camouflage t-shirt. The one of with the camo shirt looked down behind the RV and yelled, “Hey david! We got people here! Real live ones! What do we do?”

The other man was more stern, keeping his eyes and gun trained directly at Ashley. “What do you people want? If you were so much as scratched by those things you ain’t coming in here, that’s for damn sure.”

As if on cue, Ashley started coughing rather sporadically. About the third or fourth cough, little bits of blood started spraying out. She tried to cover it up with her hands, but it was no use, for the man in the wife beater had seen.

“Shit! That girl’s bit for sure! Should we shoot em’?” Both men now had their guns aimed at her, seeming ready to shoot. Brett remembered what Alex had said in the bus. Ben had a revolver, why wasn’t he using it. He pretended to clear his throat to get Ben’s attention, and then made a pistol with his hand behind his back, trying to coax him into whipping it out. Ben just shook his head, disagreeing with the idea.

The men on the RV argued about whether to shoot Ashley or not, “She could endanger the whole camp!” wife beater said.

“But one shot and you’ll draw those things onto us from around ten miles!” camo shirt replied. Just when it seemed wife beater was about to pull the trigger, a third man climbed on top of the RV, Wearing a dark red Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned with a black shirt underneath and blue jeans. He walked in between the two, put his hands on the barrels of the rifles, and gently pushed them down.

“We do not shoot guests. Live ones anyway. Who in your group is bitten?” He spoke with a calm and sophisticated voice, but was fiercer because of it. For no one had seemed calm since Brett woke up hung over in his bedroom.

“The girl in front, right there!” Wife beater said.

“Ahh. I see. Is this true?”

“Yes, she’s the only one too. I know we’re pretty banged up, but we’re not bitten.” Ben answered for the group.

“Mmhmm. The rest of you may come in, the girl, however, can not. The rest of you must first find a way to dispatch of her, there’s a roadside bathroom ten miles down. And I see you have an axe there. I’d recommend you use it.” The four of them looked at each other, and Ashley fell to the ground sobbing and coughing again.

Thinking on his feet, Brett yelled after the man they called David, for he was about to climb down from the RV, “Can we borrow a car to get there!? Look at her. You know she can’t walk that far…and if you don’t, we can just let her turn right there on the ground, and she’ll endanger your camp. And in case you think of simply killing us, we all have guns too, their just hiding right now.”

David stopped for a few seconds, probably smiled, and then said, “Why not? After all, you’re to be a part of our group. Bill, would you be so kind as to bring around the civic for our guests here.” And with that, camo shirt climbed down behind the RV with David.

As soon as they did Brett turned around to the rest of the group, Ashley just resting on the ground. “Ok, just Bryce and I needs to go with Ash down the road.”

“So, you guys will take care of her.” Ben whispered.

“Yeah.” Brett lied. Then Bryce offered him his axe. Brett was reluctant to take it, but had to in order to keep up the charade for the rest of them.

“You’re a better man than me, man.” Yeah I am, but not the way you think I am Brett thought. After handing him the axe and patting him on the back, a silver 2003 Honda Civic rolled around the corner, with Bill in the driver’s seat. He stopped the car in front of Ashley, got out and said, “Don’t think about stealing it. This here car is mine.”

“I won’t even get a scratch on it.” Brett replied. Bill was a scruffy man, with a lot of five o’clock shadow, a goatee, a very wide nose and a brown colored mullet. He threw the keys to Brett, and was off to take his perch atop the RV again.

Brett put the axe down below his seat and let Bryce get in the back before then practically having to drag Ashley into the car. She had really taken a turn for the worse, coughing up blood and her bite wound had become much worse, it had blown up some and was oozing out thick white puss, showing signs that her body was trying to fight off the infection, and was losing the battle. Blood also stained the top of her button up below her mouth down to her belly button.

They left the RV park at about dusk, and turned right at the main road like they were told. A couple of minutes into the drive and Brett looked over at Ashley. Her eyes were closed. Looking over her body again it was just amazing to remember how when Brett first woke up after she hit him she was such a cute and vibrant girl. Now, she was covered in both new and dried blood, had a busted up lip, some of her clothes were torn, and her hair was an absolute mess and had some blood in it as well.

“Hey Ash?”

“…I’m not dead yet.”

Brett could sense in her voice that she had given up. Is that what this end of days apocalypse did to you? Make you feel like all hope was lost? You just had to have a purpose. If you had purpose, then there was hope, and right now Brett’s purpose was to get to his parents, and he couldn’t lose sight of that.

They approached the rest stop and pulled in slowly. Brett put it in park and turned off the car. He took a deep breath, knowing what was coming. He was about to see Ashley transform from a rather cute girl into just another ghoul.

Just behind the rest stop there was a clearing of grass surrounded by oaks. Brett thought that was a good enough place. He told Bryce to stay in the car, and then took Ashley out. He gently laid her down in the middle of the clearing, and then dropped the axe. Her body was drenched in sweat. She opened her eyes a bit. and. He didn’t even bother bringing the axe. “You keeping your promise?” She whispered.

“Yeah. Yeah I am.”

Then a smile broke across her face. That was the first time Brett had ever seen that out of her, and she looked even better when she did

“Thankyou for th-“. She had started coughing horribly mid sentence, only this time it was coupled with gurgling. God, she was choking on her own blood. The only thing he could think to do was stroke her hair. He barely knew the girl but seeing anybody like this would make him sob silently. It wasn’t too long before her body stopped moving. She was in a much, much better place than he now. She was the lucky one, this new world was a fucking nightmare.

But he didn’t lose track of the situation. He knew she would be turning soon and he stopped stroking her hair. He turned around and didn’t look back. About the time he got to the civic, He heard a gurgled moan come from far behind him. He hopped in the car and took off, only this time , he turned right at the main road instead of left, where he had come from. He was going home.

Bryce was surprisingly quiet through all of this Ashley business, only talking to him when he turned the wrong way. After explaining himself Bryce agreed to go to Fitzgerald, Only if they went to Douglas next. By this time it was getting dark, and he just drove five minutes further down the road so Ashley couldn’t find them. They pulled off the side of the road and decided to sleep there for the night. Brett kept the key in the ignition in case they needed to get out of there fast. Brett settled in his chair, leaned it back, and was glad he was finally going to have a good night’s sleep.