Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead.
Enjoy.
The worst part isn't losing half my family, or all of my possessions. It isn't leaving my past life behind. And it isn't looking into the mirror and not recognizing my own face. It's looking into my little brothers eyes and not seeing the joy that was once a permanent resident there. It's looking at the baby in my arms and knowing he will never have the childhood I once had.
As I drive down the car littered street, I bounce the four month old on my lap, while Zach is fast asleep in the back seat. We've all learned to sleep anywhere at any time in the day. But I still try and drive as lightly as I can, so I don't wake the two boys. When I pull into the driveway, of what seems to be an empty building though, Zach wakes up with a jolt.
"Sorry Z. But we're low on food. You're going to have to watch Zeke until I get back." I scan the area with my eyes.
"Time?" He mumbles back.
"Uh." I take out my dads pocket watch out of the glove department and pop it open. "Five in the morning. Now, get up. We have to do a sweep of the building before Zeke wakes up."
I place Zeke gently into the car seat we found last week without waking him. Then hop out the door my knife already raised. Zach copies my exact form and fallows close behind me, kukri raised. When I open the door to the building it screeches loudly.
"Ready?"
"I was born ready, Brooke." I see him yawn and rub his eyes, contradicting his words.
"Good." I shoot back.
I take the butt of my knife and bang it against the metal. The loud noise rings throughout the building. And that's when they come. I count them out of habit. Ten. The first one goes down easily with a stab in the eye. Z takes down number two and three easily. I approach four and five. I spin under fours arm and stab him in back of the head. I try to pull out and spin to five but it's stuck. Five starts to approach and I take a deep breath. I yank my hammer out from my belt and swing it down on the zombie's head killing him on contact. I take out six and seven in the same way, while Zach gets eight and nine. Then there's one left. Number ten. I drop the hammer and take out one of my throwing knifes from my wrist strap. I spin to build up the momentum and release the knife. It sinks deep into tens eye socket. And he falls to the floor with a thud five feet in front of me.
"Nice one." I hear Zach say behind me.
"You get Zeke. I'll sweep the rest of the building and find something to board the door up." He gives me a salute and spins on his heels, while whipping the blood from his kukri. I shudder inside at his casual demeanor. A twelve-year-old boy shouldn't have this for a life. I shake my head slightly to clear it but it doesn't quit work. It never does.
I collect the weapons I dropped on the floor with steady hands and return them to there former places. Once I clear the building, with two more kills, I hurry back down the steps with a medal pipe and board for the door. I can't stand being away from the boys longer then I have to be. But as usual they're fine sitting on a couch in the main entrance. Zeke giggles lightly at the sight of me and I can't help but smile back.
"Here are the things for the door." I hand them to Zach. "I'll only be gone an hour maybe two. If I'm gone more then a day leave without me. There should be enough food for the two of you to last about a day, maybe two. Oh, and there's a bathroom down the hall. I checked and the water works. So please try and get as clean as possible. I'll give Zeke a bath when I get back." Zach stares back at me with a worried look. "I'll be right back, Z. You don't have to worry about me." I say trying to convince him and myself.
"Of course I do." He responds plainly. I wince but nod my head. I always feel so guilty looking at the boys. Like I could have done something different that would give them the childhood they deserve. Like if I try a little harder. Or kill more zombies; I could raise them to be almost normal. "Where are we anyways?" He asks looking around.
"Oh, it's a run down building on the outskirts of Atlanta." I look around with him and don't see much other then concrete. "It's not much but it's better then the car." I shrug.
"It'll do… Are you hunting or just getting food?" He asks hesitantly. He never approved of me hunting alone but I'm the one in charge. And if I want to hunt geeks I will. I mean the more geeks I kill the less living have to be eaten alive. Or at least that's what I tell myself. But deep down I know it's for them. It's the only thing that still gives me hope of an end to all of this. So that's what I am… I'm a hunter.
"I'll just get food this time, bud. But I don't know how the city is so keep your walkie on." I pull him into a hug and clutch onto him for what may be the last time. Then I turn to Zeke and kiss him gently on the forehead. As I make my way to the door I feel the tug in my gut that screams for me to stay. But I push it down and burry it under my responsibilities. I push the door open hammer raised.
"Brooke." Zach says stopping me instantly. "Moon and back." He smiles.
"Moon and back." I smile back. We haven't used our saying in a while. Maybe a week tops. 'I love you to the moon and back' is the full one but recently we've just been shortening it. Saves time and time can save our lives. I close the door behind me and make sure the cars locked up.
I grab the 'go pack' from the car, which is really just a backpack full of weapons, a bottle of water, and an expired granola bar, and get going. Every time I round a corner my heart pounds in my ears. I duck under the fence that leads into the city and start my run. I try to avoid as many geeks as I can but the place is infested with them. I kill ten geeks until I decide I can't continue like this. So I try to find other ways around it. I look up and see that the buildings are close enough together for me to jump them.
I pick the smallest building I can find and apparently I picked right because the whole thing was zombie free. After climbing way too many stairs, I open the door to the roof and take gulps of fresh air. I finally straighten up from my hunched over position and walk over to the edge of the roof, at a safe distance of course. The new world definitely took away a lot of my fears. But I think the fear of heights will always stay with me. And as I look down at the street, the height wasn't the only thing that unsettled me.
The street is crammed with geeks. I don't see how I'll be able to crawl through the city without being overwhelmed. Looks like I'll just have to break my word to Zach and do some exterminating. It's the only way I can get the food I need for the boys. So I go for it. I get a running start and jump to the roof of the next building. Once I'm there I climb the ladder to the second higher up building. And run over to a pile of discarded metal I grab as much as I can hold. Then walk back over to the edge of building where a decently sized ally waits below and drop them off the roof. The noise rings through the city streets. And then I'm left to wait. Wait for all the zombies to move to where the noise came from. So I take a seat and throw a piece of scrap metal off the roof every now and then, letting my thoughts wander as I do.
I try to think of the good things in my life. I'm still alive. I have Zach, the only living member of my old family. And if this all never happened I would have never found Zeke. I mean don't get me wrong; I would go back to how things were in a heartbeat. But I think I'm doing the best I can with cards I was dealt. Oh, and the lack of eating took away all the 'baby fat' that's been hanging around for the entire seventeen years of my life. The last time I looked in the mirror I finally realized that the adjective 'chubby' wouldn't be used to describe me anymore. Neither would bubbly or sweet. And trust me, they were used a lot. Now I look muscular and guarded, maybe even cold. Adjectives that I never thought would be used to depict me. Ever.
I throw another piece of metal over but I don't hear the ringing of it hitting the floor. So I get up and peak over. Yup, I was right. The entire ally is crammed pack with zombies. They just stand there and run into each other looking around for what made the noise. Which means it's time for action. I swing the backpack off my shoulder and open it up. By the amount it looks like one, maybe two grenades should take care of it. Then all the other zombies in the city will run to the explosion, and I'll have the whole place to myself to get the food and get out.
I sit on the edge of the roof with my legs swinging off the ledge. I look down and wrap my arm around the pole next to me. I take the grenade in my hand and right as I'm about to pull the pin I hear the pounding of a helicopter above me. When I look up and see it pass over me. I jump up and wave my arms around spastically. But it just flies away in the distance. It was a long shot anyways. But maybe the explosion will bring them back. So I take my seat again with a sigh and am about to pull the pin. But of course something messes it all up, again. Or should I say someone. A sheriff on a horse it looks like, rides straight into the herd of zombies in my ally. Making it impossible for me to drop the grenade.
"Damn it!" I jump up and run over to the stairs. I have my hammer in one hand and a gun with a silencer that I just got from my backpack in the other. I take the steps two at a time and burst through the double doors in minutes. When I reach the street I see that most of the zombies are focused on the cop.
This would be the perfect moment for me to run. No one would even notice. But if I do leave then that guy is as good as dead. But what if I die trying to help him. Then Zach and Zeke would be left alone. I decide I can't take the risk. Zach needs me. I turn and start to run in the opposite direction. When I hear a gunshot. Seriously! A gun without a silencer in a crowd of zombies. Whatever geek in the city wasn't running to him, definitely will be now.
And then it hits me. A saying my mom said a lot before she died. "We have to help each other out in bad times. Because if we don't no one else will." That saying lost us a months worth of food to a family passing through our neighborhood. But she was right. That food probably saved their lives. And I think Zach would understand. Scratch that, I hope he would understand.
I breathe in deeply and turn around. I have to help him. After all it was my fault all the zombies were grouped there in the first place. So I take off at a sprint. I'm not far away from him but his horse is a lot faster then me. But as expected he's taken down in a matter of seconds. He manages to get back up but his horse isn't so lucky. As I run towards him, I take out whatever zombie is within swinging reach of me.
"Hey! Get under the tank!" I yell at him when I'm close and he turns around. Not really the smartest move ever. Especially when man eating undead people surround you. I raise my gun and fire at anyone close to him. "Go now!" I take down two more zombies with my hammer and another with my gun. Most of the zombies are pretty occupied with the horse being eaten alive. As I run past it I shudder at the noises he makes in agony and put a bullet in the things head so it at least won't feel any more pain. I feel the zombies tug at my clothing and I'm not that close to the tank. I don't have enough time to crawl under like the sheriff already did. And with a wince I realize that I have to slide under. Shorts and sliding on concrete don't mix very well. But I would rather have a couple scrapes rather then being eaten alive. So I do it I slide under and practically hear the skin pealing off of my leg. The burning starts instantly and it feels like my leg is on fire. I look on both sides of the tank and we're surrounded. I start to fire at the ones crawling under the tank and the guy next to me does too but then his fire stops. My eyes wander to the guy next to me. Maybe the last living thing I ever see. And to no surprise he has a gun to his head.
"Lorie, Carl, I'm sorry." I hear him say. I roll my eyes and see a door to the tank above us.
"Not today sheriff." I crawl through the whole and he fallows close behind. After the door is finally closed he scrambles to the other side of the tank. Taking the cozy spot next to what looks like a dead zombie. He takes deep gulping breaths and leans over to grab the dead zombies gun. But surprise! The zombies not dead! Instead of just lying there like any normal dead zombie should, his head rolls around and he stares at the sheriff. The sheriff yanks the gun from the undead guy and puts it under his chin.
"No!" I say trying to stop him.
I mean any genius would know not to shoot a gun in a small metal space. But I was too late. The gun goes off and I feel like my ears are going to explode. I can tell it's worse for him though. He stumbles forward and lies down on the floor. For a second I think he's going to pass out. But he's much too manly for that. Instead he looks up at the top of the tank. I fallow suit and see what catches his attention. The hatch is still open. He gets up and fumbles to look outside. I can hear the zombies drawing closer.
"Close the door!" And this time he actually listens. He closes the door and slumps back down to the floor. "Do you have a death wish Sheriff?"
"Who are you?" He asks not bother to answer my question.
"What? No thanks for saving my life?" I raise my eyebrows and look down at my leg. It's a shredded mess of blood, loose street pavement, and broken glass.
"Thanks. Really." I give him a salute. And when I look up at him I see he's already staring at me. I can only imagine what I must look like to him. A seventeen-year-old green-eyed girl with tanned skin and freckles. Her brown wavy hair pulled back in ponytail. Dirt smudged face and bleeding all over the floor of a tank.
"Well since you asked. You can call me Kade." I take out the water bottle from my backpack and pour some over my leg. Then I start to pull out pieces of rock and glass. Thank God for the long sleeved flannel I'm wearing or I would have gotten my arm scrapped up just as bad.
"Kade?" I guess he's never heard the nickname before.
"Short for Kadyn… It means fighter." I leave out the part where it's my middle name and why I use it rather then my first. It's all too personal for just meeting the guy.
"Seems fitting. Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"
"That's a long story. One that I will be happy to tell you, if we ever get out of this alive." I finally finish washing the dirt off my leg and look up. I see him looking back at me, eyes full of sincerity. "Since we're asking questions. Whose Lorie and Carl?"
He takes a moment before responding. "My wife and son. I woke in the hospital a couple of days ago and the world was like this. I'm on my way to the CDC to try and find them." That's a hell of story. I wouldn't have minded taking a nap throughout the first part of the takeover.
"That's where I'm headed. The CDC." I nod my head.
"Do you have family there too?"
"No." I chuckle. Barely anyone has family anymore. "I just heard a rumor a while ago, about a cure. I figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out. Worst comes to worst we have a place to hide out for a while." I shrug.
"We?"
"Really? I was just talking about a possible cure and you want to give me grammar lessons. Sorry, I meant I." The last thing I want is for someone I don't know, to know about Zach and Zeke.
"Sorry." He smiles. Not something I'm used to seeing these days. "I was just hoping there might be more people with you."
"You and me both Sheriff."
"Maybe we could help each other out on the trip." He offers raising his head slightly.
"Tempting offer, really. But I tend to fly solo. You know? Socially awkward, annoyed easily, less burdens."
"Well hopefully, I'll change your mind." The guy is a bit clueless on the whole zombie thing.
"I'll make you a deal. If we get out of this alive, I'll help you get a car. That way your transportation won't be a walking meal for the corpse's."
"Deal. But I really think we could help each other. You shouldn't be traveling alone at you're age."
"I'll think about it." Just then a noise comes from the radio inside the tank.
"Hey dumb Asses. Yeah, you guys in the tank. Cozy in there?" the strange voice sounds through the tank.
"Did he just call me a dumb ass?!" I try scramble over to the radio to give this guy a piece of my mind. But of course sheriff gets there first. It helps that he has full use of both legs.
"You still alive in there?" The voice says again. The sheriff looks hesitant to answer.
"Well say something?" I motion with my hand for him to continue.
"Hello? Hello?" The sheriff repeats trying to get back the voice.
"There you are. You had me wondering." The voice responds immediately.
"Where are you? Outside? Can you see me right now?" The Sheriff sounds more insistent.
"Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news."
"There's good news?" We both say at the same time in the same surprised voices.
"No." The voice responds simply.
"Listen whoever you are. I don't mind telling you that we're a little concerned in here."
"Oh, man. You should see from over here. You'd be having a major freak out."
"Oh, that's comforting." I say leaning back against the tank. I should have run when I had the chance.
"Got any advice for us?" He glances at me quickly.
"Yeah I'd say make a run for it." I look down at my leg when he says it.
"That's it, make a run for it?"
"It's not as dumb as it sounds you've got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still left on the top of the tank but the others have climbed down to join the feeding frenzy of where the horse went down. You with me so far."
"So far."
"Ok, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted you stand a chance. You've got ammo?"
"In that duffel bag I dropped out there. And guns. Can I get to it?"
"Forget the bag. It's not an option. What do you have on you?"
"Hold on." The sheriff rummages around the dead soldiers body.
"Do you have anything?" He asks turning to me.
"I'm not good at sharing. I'll cover you when we run but my guns stay in my hands." He nods curtly and turns back to the radio."
"I got a barrette with one clip, 15 rounds."
"Well make 'em count. Ready?"
"Hold on a second." He turns back to me. "Can you run with your leg?"
"Yeah the cuts aren't as bad around my knee so I can bend it long enough. You don't have to worry about me."
"Do you at least want the barrette?" He offers.
"I have like five in my backpack. You can keep that one sheriff." I give him a solid nod and he returns it with a hesitant look.
"Ok, we're good. What's next?"
"Jump off the right side of the tank run and keep going that direction. There's an ally up the street maybe 50 yards. Be there."
"Hey, what's your name?"
"Have you been listening? You're running out of time." Sheriff and I share one last look before we get ready for battle. Because that's what this world is a constant battle.
I hope you liked it. Please leave me comments and suggestions! I would love to hear some other opinions on the story. My hope is to have at least a chapter week, maybe more.