Chapter One

Jessie

The moans. I was so tired of hearing them all the time. Even in the upstairs room I was hiding in I could still hear them. I had made it into this house unscathed by sheer luck. It started as just another day in another deserted neighborhood scavenging house to house for anything I could use. Food and weapons were top on my list, but I took batteries, matches, and clothes when I could find them too.

I had left a house this morning after searching it not realizing that a herd of the dead had practically taken over the neighborhood. I'm tired of living this life, and it's making me careless. I have only myself to count on, and today I almost didn't make it. If the front door of this house hadn't been unlocked, I'd be bits of blood and bone on the front step. With the size of this herd, there wouldn't even have been enough left for me to turn. Being eaten alive was not how I wanted to die. At least not today.

The room I was currently hiding out in was the furthest room away from the front door. The less they could sense me, the faster they would move on. Or at least I hoped so because I couldn't stay in this house forever. I always had the need to keep moving. If I stayed in one place too long, I felt vulnerable. If the dead didn't find me, it was the living. I was done with both. The few good people left in this world always ended up dead, and the evil ones did everything they could to make you want to be dead. I didn't trust anyone anymore. I barely trusted myself as it was.

I lay down on the bed to only close my tired eyes. That's all I wanted to do. As long as the furniture I had pushed in front of the door held, the roamers, geeks, biters, monsters or whatever you wanted to call them would be blocked from getting inside. And as long as they were outside, the living would stay away too. That meant I could rest for a little bit. I needed to. Too many sleepless nights with cat naps interspersed to keep me from keeling over in exhaustion was finally taking its toll.

Except my exhaustion did catch up with me. My dozing turned into a solid almost twenty-four hours of sleep. I needed it, but I had left myself exposed to the dangers I had constant nightmares about. What if the dead had managed to get inside this house? I would have been trapped in this small bedroom.

Fresh meat for the roamers.

I popped up off the bed and looked out one of the small windows. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief as the street was empty. They had finally moved on. Most likely there would be a couple of stragglers around, but that was nothing I couldn't handle.

My backpack was next to the bed, so I picked it up and placed it on my lap as I sat down I was about to look for something to eat when a sound in the distance got my attention. It was a car engine, and as it got closer, I realized it was more than one.

Carefully, I pushed the tattered curtains aside and saw two vehicles drive down the street and stop in the middle of the road just a house or so down from where I was. "Damn it," I muttered. I had escaped the dead to now to have to deal with the living.

I had to know what I was dealing with before I could plan my escape. There were multiple houses on this street, so the chance of them coming here first was slim. I watched as five men exited the cars. They looked like I wouldn't want to meet any of them in an alley, be it dark or not. The exact type of people I stayed away from...dangerous and deadly. I immediately knew that if they found me, I was going to wish I was dead. They split up and went into the two houses across the street, but I knew there was nothing worth scavenging in them as I had been through them already. It wouldn't take them long to figure that out and move along to the next house. Which could be this one.

Quickly, I redid my long ponytail twisting it into a bun. That way no one could grab it. My pack went on my back, and I slipped the gun into the holster on my leg. There were only six bullets left, and I needed to use it only when I had no other choice. I pulled the knife out of the sheath at my waist and started to head downstairs, but I stopped at a small mirror that was hanging in the hallway. I saw tired eyes looking back at me. There was a smudge of dirt on my face that I wiped away with my hand. How long it had been there, I had no idea. I had been pretty once, or so people had told me. The days of dressing up like a girly girl were long over. This world had taken away everything from me, including feeling like a woman.

I could fight like a man now. The days of letting a guy open the car door for me were long gone. I didn't need anyone for anything anymore. The only time I felt female again was when I met men whose looks told me exactly what they wanted. No law, no order, and no rules existed any longer so too many men thought they could take what I wasn't offering them. Many had tried to take my body, few had succeeded.

"Jessie," I said to the reflection in the mirror. "You've done the best you could. Don't dwell on the past, you've got bigger problems now to worry about. So get your ass moving, girl."

I gripped the knife in my hand harder and headed downstairs. A quick look outside through a front window showed they hadn't emerged yet. I quietly moved into the kitchen and unlatched the back door. It closed gently behind me as I headed into the woods that bordered the back of the house. I couldn't tell how deep they were, but they would offer me the cover I needed for my escape.

I kept pushing through the dense undergrowth until I was deep in the forest. The trees rose high above me, and it was easier to make my way now. Where was I going? I had no idea. I rarely did. But I knew I was going to need a place to stay for the night. I could stay awake all night, I had done it many times in the past, but I was safer behind four walls.

From what I could tell from the sun, I had only a few hours of daylight left. I had already been walking for a couple of hours having with no real direction in mind. After tripping over a branch that was hidden under a bunch of dead leaves and having the wind practically knocked out of me, I walked a bit further and thought I saw a break in the trees. It was lighter ahead. As I got closer, I could see there was a clearing. I kept myself as hidden as much as possible as I tried to see what was there.

I was surprised to see a small shack in the center. It was definitely old and run down. The ground was with covered tall grass except right outside the house and where debris from the trees had fallen. I just couldn't tell if anyone was living there now as there were no recent signs of life.

The rock I threw against the side of the building made a loud thud against the wood, but I didn't see any signs of life. That didn't mean shit. I slipped the knife back into the sheath on my belt and pulled out my Glock 19. Out of the sixteen bullets, it could hold I had only a few left. However, if I was going to get shot at I needed to be able to shoot back.

I made my way to the back of the shack and saw there weren't any windows there. I ran out of the trees and pressed my back against the old wood. Slowly, I made my way to the left side and tried to look through the dirty window, but I couldn't see much. A few more steps had me able to peek around the corner to the front. Still nothing.

The heart in my chest was beating wildly as I moved closer to the front door. It looked like it was ajar as I cautiously approached it. Another step and I saw a pair of boots sticking out of the doorway that were attached to a body. I didn't know if it was alive or dead alive.

It didn't seem like anyone else was here, so I lightly kicked a boot to see what would happen. Nothing. Not a growl or groan. Definitely not a geek or at least not yet. Feeling like I was in control for at least the moment, I took a better look at the body.

It was a definitely a guy. His pants were worn and dirty but had ties around the ankles to keep them snug to him. He was definitely someone who understood the outdoors. He was lying on his back either unconscious or dead. His bare arms were covered in blood from long thin wounds, but what got my attention was the fresh blood puddling by his side. I could tell he hadn't been here long. I squatted down and took a good hard look at him. That's when I realized that he was still breathing. Make that barely breathing by the very slow rise of his ribcage, but breathing like a live human.

A part of me told myself to run and let this guy live or die on his own. But the little kernel of hope I still had for humanity that was buried way deep down emerged and told me he needed my help. "Well, buddy. It looks like your day has really sucked so far, but with any luck, I hope to help you. So if you can hear me at all, that's all I'm trying to do is help. So don't kill me, okay?"

I stepped into the dark shack and notice the thick layer of dust that lay on everything. Just walking into the room sent swirls of the tiny particles into the air. At some point, I was going to have to open a window and clean the shack. The dust made it difficult to breathe.

Turning my attention back to the guy on the floor I tried to figure out what I needed to do. I grabbed him under his arms, and with all my strength I pulled him further into the room. I wanted to close the door as a precaution, but I need the light that with it open came into the space in order to see. He had some sort of wound on his side that was causing the majority of the bleeding. I just hoped it wasn't a walker bite. That would prove deadly. I quickly looked around the room for something to use to press against the wound to try to stop the blood. I saw an old trunk in the corner and ran over to open it. Bingo!

I grabbed a towel out of it and went back and knelt next to my unconscious stranger. I unbuttoned his shirt and moved it to the side. I pressed the cloth against the bleeding gash. It looked like a knife wound. Whatever had happened to this guy was pretty bad.

While I held my makeshift bandage in place, I took a better look at him. His hair was shaggy, and a bit long, but so was most everyone's now. I used my left hand to brush it out of his face. I needed to see what he looked like. The swelling and bruises didn't hide the fact that he was a decent looking guy. He was so messed up right now, that it was hard to tell too much more. If I could get the bleeding from the knife wound to stop, then he may stand a chance. He was going to need to be stitched up.

There were a needle and thread in my pack. It had served many purposes over these past months for me from repairing ripped clothing to closing a stubborn injury. I just wished the room wasn't so dirty. Just as I was going to get up to get my pack, I noticed his chest. How I didn't see it before I have no idea. Scars covered him. Old ones by the looks of them, but some were very thin lines, but a few others were bigger and thicker. Someone a long time ago had practically tortured him. Who the hell was this guy?

"Okay buddy, here's the plan. I'm going to get my pack and the supplies in there that we need. I'm pretty sure the wound in your side is going to need to be stitched up. I'll be back in a minute with everything, so don't die on me in the meantime."

I got up and left my bleeding stranger on the floor. As I unzipped the backpack, I looked over at the trunk that I had gotten the towel from. Did it hold anything that could help me save this guy? I wouldn't know unless I looked through it, right? So, I walked over to it and knelt on the dirty floor. Lifting the lid, I surveyed the contents of the trunk. I saw a couple more towels and what looked like a set of sheets for the bed, plus a few blankets. Digging past the linens, I found a few men's shirts and a pair of pants. Then I started to find the good stuff. A bar of soap, a comb, and a small sewing kit caught my eye. These were all much needed, so I pulled them out. Further down there were a couple of books, but hidden under a false bottom, I found a treasure trove. Why the owner left this here, I had no idea, but now they were mine.

Two handguns with extra boxes of ammunition.

They would keep me alive in this crazy world. Next, to the boxes of ammo, I saw a plain box. I took it out and sat on the wood floor. I lifted the lid off the box and saw it was filled with basic medical supplies. Bandaids, gauze pads, tape, antibiotic ointment and alcohol wipes. I needed this for the guy I was trying to save.

I took the box, and with the needle and thread from my pack, it was time to sew up my unconscious stranger. I grabbed a well-worn towel from the trunk and once again knelt next to him. I spread out everything I needed on the towel. After threading the needle, I wiped the thread with two alcohol wipes to try to disinfect it. Now it was time to remove the blood-soaked towel that was covering the wound.

The days of me being squeamish about blood and gore were long gone. I had seen way too much these past years to have that bother me anymore. The gash in his right side was about six inches long. It looked like it had come from someone swiping at him with a knife rather than a direct stab wound. This gave him a better chance as it didn't look like it punctured into the abdominal cavity. If it had, he could have internal bleeding that was well beyond my limited abilities.

I used a few more alcohol wipes to clean the area around the long incision. The bleeding had slowed, but it hadn't stopped. "I'm sorry…God, wish I knew your name. I need to call you something, so, for now, you will be…Travis. So, Travis, this is gonna hurt, and I apologize for that in advance. I think, however, in case you wake up, I'm taking this enormously big knife on your belt and keeping it safely away from your for now." I looked down at his incredibly pale face for a second before I began. "Here goes nothing," I muttered as the needle punctured the skin for the first time.

The whole time I sewed him up, he didn't move or let out a single groan. I started to feel like he may have other injuries that I couldn't see or fix. At least bleeding to death was no longer going to happen. After spreading the antibiotic ointment on the closed wound and bandaging it up, I realized I couldn't just leave him in the middle of the floor. He was too big to lift onto the narrow bed the room had so I was going to have to make him as comfortable as I could on the floor.

I pulled the blanket out of the trunk and laid it next to him. Then with all the strength, I could muster, I rolled him onto his good side. I push the blanket under him as best I could. Before I lowered him back down, I decided his shirt needed to come off. I could see that the sleeves had been cut off a long time ago. I worked to get his arm out of the armhole and then tucked that also under him so I could pull it out from the other side. That's when I noticed the scars on his chest were also all over his back. There was also blurred ink from an old tattoo, but my eyes mainly saw the crisscrossing of whip marks on his back. Like the ones on his chest, they were old and long healed. My poor Travis.

Slowly and carefully, I laid him down onto his back. Rolling him onto his injured side was going to be quick. I didn't want to mess up my stitches and have to do it again. He had been through enough as it was. I moved to his other side and gently rolled him partially over. One hand held him in place as well as I could, while the other quickly pulled the clothes out from under him along with the blanket. I had him lying on his back in just a few seconds.

Now I stood up and grabbed the rolled up blanket up by his shoulders and pulled. And pulled. He was dead weight, so it took me a little while to get him closer to the bed and out of the way. Then I took the old pillow from the bed and walked outside. I beat the dust off of it as best I could, before returning inside and putting it under his head.

Suddenly, I was exhausted. There was nothing more I could do for him at this point. My only concern was if he died and came back. I needed to know if that happened right away. My life depended on it. I hadn't planned on falling asleep tonight, but look what happened last night. I wasn't going to sleep then either, and I slept for almost a whole day. I looked around the room trying to come up with an idea. Since I hadn't even checked out the kitchen area yet, I headed to the counter. It was getting dark, so it was hard to see, but I looked over at the open shelves and saw a small ball of twine. It would have to do.

I tied his hands together in front of him and then his feet. Then I tied the twine around his ankles to a wooden chair. I placed a mason jar from the kitchen on the seat. If he moved, I would hear the jar break. It was the best I could do with what I had.

Now I had to secure the shack. The front door had an old slide bolt on the inside, so I threw that across after I closed the door. There wasn't really any furniture I could move in front of it, so I just put the other wooden chair under the tarnished doorknob.

"Jessie, this has been one interesting day," I said to myself as I headed for the small bed near the back wall. I flipped over the dusty blanket that was covering it as I was too tired to attempt anything else. This day had been completely emotionally draining. I laid out my assorted weapons next me for easy access and stretched out on my back.

I took another look at Travis and was satisfied that he was still breathing. With the intention of solely resting my eyes, I lightly closed them just for a minute. The exhaustion and stress won out…again. I fell into a deep exhausted sleep almost immediately.