Chapter 1 brought to you by Carribean Queen

Please be sure to check out her other works on her FF page

-We're The Ones Who Write


Michonne

It had been at least two weeks since we've been walking under the hot Georgian sun. Survival these days was all about being invisible from both mankind and walkers. During the day we stuck to the woods where the landscape provided cover. Late afternoons, we ventured out onto the roadways. Where possible, I sought refuge indoors at night and foraged the shelters in which I would find myself for whatever gifts they might offer.

Yeah, gifts… it's rather unusual when a can of beans could be considered a gift. I guess it's all about one's perspective though.

Welcome to the end of the world or almost end because some of us are still here… at least for now, but I digress. Where was I again? Oh yeah, I was telling you how I was surviving.

More often than I cared for I would take refuge in a tree when necessary. My travelling companions required less maintenance and comfort because they are what one might call an acquired taste, metaphorically speaking of course. It took me some time to get accustomed to their smell. Although, I'm not quite sure one could ever truly get accustomed to the smell of rotting flesh. It truly depends on the temperature, colder weather I would imagine would make it more tolerable, when it rains it dulls the baked rotting smell from the blistering heat but then it's like a wet rotten smell.

Personally, I can't decide which is worse. They say beggars can't be choosers and it's true; they keep me invisible from their kind.

Vehicles on the other hand, while they provide for contact with humans, that contact may not always be a positive experience. We've all heard that old adage about be careful what you wish for because it just may happen to you. Well, I've seen the aftermath of such hopes go up in flames and it ain't pretty. I have to be smart about who I allow to see me because I'm a woman travelling with my two companions you might even call them pets because we have a history together… yeah, we go way back. My protection is up to me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of being alone but sometimes it does get lonely. I try not to think about before… you know, before the world turned to shit because it changes nothing in the end. I'm already walking a fine line as it is… for me, it's a seduction. I'm teetering on the edge… there are days when it's calling like an old lover and I want to answer it's call… but so far I haven't.

I haven't punished myself enough just yet.


Back at the Refugee camp, people were getting sick, sickness leads to death. It was a no-brainer a quick medical run was necessary to keep us going until the army came to rescue us. They were evacuating the hospitals and the Senior Residences first, then all able-bodied men, women and children. It made sense, no one questioned it.

Three others plus myself volunteered for the run. I'm Michonne… Michonne Anthony. My family has been at the camp since it all began… maybe ten weeks ago give or take a few days. This thing, the outbreak was expected to be contained soon. The Center for Disease Control was working around the clock on a cure, all we had to do was remain healthy until they developed the vaccine.

Thomas, the camp leader was an older man with the kindest blue eyes. He was a former military man… a Colonel, I think. He wore his grey hair in the typical army buzz cut and always clean shaven. He kept his six-foot frame fit. He always wore army fatigues. If the world hadn't ended you'd swear he was still an active member. It was evident too because he ran the camp as though it was a military base. Everyone had a job to do, and it got done. There were teams and many rules.

I was a leader. He selected me the first day we got to camp. We got on really well and often talked politics, the law… the state of the world, strategy for the runs and such things. I think it was our way to hold onto the last vestiges of life as we once knew it to be. Thomas had lost his wife a year before the turn. At the time, they were empty nesters. Once the world ended so did many families too; so, when we turned up at camp Thomas immediately took a shining to little Andre and my little man took to him instantly.

My job was that of a Runner, which meant I went on errands for whatever was needed at camp. I would also volunteer for Watch Duty. I always did a little extra, perhaps I felt guilty because my boyfriend wasn't cut out for life in a dystopian society.

Most men volunteered to go outside the fence to hunt or go on runs to supplement what rations the army provided us, but not Mike. He preferred the security of staying behind the fence. Ironically enough our camp was his domain. It was an old high school. He was a teacher by profession before the world ended so he was tasked to teach the young children of the group to read and write.

We had facilities and we slept in the gymnasiums and some classrooms. At least there was that, we had a roof over our heads at night, food and a community.

The camp was situated approximately forty minutes away from the city.

At first, we were maybe sixty but as time went by our numbers grew. There were always folks wandering and stumbling upon it. No one was ever turned away unless of course, they demonstrated that they couldn't live in the new world. Increased numbers also meant our supply ran out much sooner than CB radio we used to contact the army had gone on the fritz days earlier. Prior to this, we would be given coordinates to the meet where we'd pick up much needed supplies weekly.


I remember the medicine run into the city. The decision was made to raid the local hospital for whatever was left behind. It seemed like it would be a bigger haul, as oppose to raiding multiple pharmacies, which would require splitting the team of four in a city that was practically overrun by walkers.

The hospital was supposed to have been abandoned. The patients were supposed to have been medevaced to Fort Benning's army base. When we got to the hospital, however, there were bodies lining the yard. The helicopters were on site but they weren't transporting the patients, instead, the soldiers were killing them. They were killing the medical staff too. It was nothing like the emergency alerts that were being broadcast twenty-four seven.

My heart sunk, was this the fate which awaited us too?

We were damned if we did and damned if we didn't. If we made a run for it we'd become wouldn't want witnesses of this atrocity to be known, especially, if this was their intent for the Refugee Camps. They certainly wouldn't want opposition when they came to slaughter us. We remained concealed until such time the whirlybirds took to the air. The only good thing about that day was that the choppers were travelling in the opposite direction of our camp, presumably heading back to their base.

After about fifteen minutes had passed, we decide to abandon the hospital as a target. It was pointless, we were four and the place would be teaming with fresh hungry walkers. We backtracked towards camp hitting every pharmacy and store in our path all the while being mindful that our saviour was now our enemy.

Later that afternoon, we could see black smoke in the distance. It was in the vicinity of our camp. It was the second time that day that my heart seemed to have displaced itself. I kept telling myself it could be anything… but my heart knew otherwise. There was just too much smoke to be an accidental fire.

When we arrived, the school was burnt out. The supply sheds were plundered and burnt. The walker's bodies looked like a small infantry used them as target practice then got bored and decided to move tracks were fresh where the grass was trampled from fresh tire threads. The firepower alone was their calling card. The army was culling humans as though they were animals.

It took minutes before I was able to move and when I did I was frantic. The others had long since dispersed after witnessing the chaos.


My rations were rapidly depleting with every new day. Being in the countryside the homes were few and far between and pickings were slim. I've been living off a box of protein bars for a week now. I need to scavenge in order to stay alive but I haven't made the decision as yet as to whether I was ready to give in to the seduction. I keep moving so I wouldn't have time to think and by the time we make camp at dusk I would clean up and fall asleep. The fatigue rendered me numb to the pain in my heart. The one I thought would have claimed me by now but yet, each morning, I rise.

Each new sunrise, we start our journey a new destination unknown for now. It's been at least two weeks since we last had human contact. We're lost souls just wandering, shuffling along in this verdant wasteland. The juxtaposition is not lost on me, nature is thriving all around us… the ones that remain but… humans and humanity were now pretty much on the verge of extinction.

Gone were the comforts we once took for granted like a warm shower, food in the refrigerator, deciding what to watch on Netflix, what clothes to wear... what shoes would go best with it and yes, that annoying question to your significant other… 'does it make me look fat?'… putting them between a rock and a hard place when you already knew the damn truth but you needed that little lie to make you feel better. Ironically enough, this is one of the times that I'd like someone to lie to me.

Gone also were the ones we held dear to us, family and close friends.

It seemed like only yesterday, we were having discussions about living in a dystopian society over dinner with a couple bottles of wine and close friends. It was the thing that made for good entertainment discussing the pros and cons of a Zombie Apocalypse. I wished I had taken better notes at the time because one day we woke up to just that reality. We were no longer required to suspend our disbelief… it was now our reality.


That night, my companions and I were sitting around our campfire for the night when I remembered the last time we actually shared a meal together.

It was a bright sunny Sunday afternoon when Mike and his best friend Terry were sitting at the dinner table in our small condo, discussing the latest Zombie Apocalypse film we saw the night before. Andre was down for his afternoon nap. I was in the kitchen preparing a cheese plate to accompany the crudités I prepared earlier.

I ate a can of beans and engaged in polite chatter.

"Mike, do you remember life before this all began? We were happy then… we wanted so much more. Andre had just turned three. I had been working for five years then and we were finally in a place where we were talking about maybe a brother or sister for him… he's was my world..."

It was a rhetorical question. My chest tightened. I couldn't forgive myself for allowing the distance which came between us after we got to the camp; even now, after all this time.

"I miss you. I missed you even when I was with you. Back at the camp, it wasn't you who did it. I knew it wasn't your world. You couldn't protect us. That was my job and I failed. I failed him and I failed you. I should have been there."

My words fell on deaf ears but I finally said them. I was the one to blame... It was all my fault.


Overnight a herd serged in our direction I couldn't outrun them nor could I fight my way out we were dead centre. I've seen herds before but never quite this size. It was as though they were being summoned somewhere by some force. Each day we shuffled along it collect stragglers along its way.

We were shuffling along in the herd of walkers which manifested overnight. I hadn't showered in a while so I don't notice the stench anymore. It keeps me alive for now. There's nothing out here but there's also nothing behind me either. I'm walking just for the sake of something to do. When I sleep, my eyes would close but I don't relax even when I managed to find a comfortable bed. I'm searching for a purpose, a reason to be.

I've lost all track of time now. I no longer have markers, but I never stayed anywhere more than two nights at most.

The temperature was unbearable and these farmhouses were further and further apart. I don't like it because I'm in the open in broad daylight. If others happened along now, I could become collateral damage.

I know there's a prison out here. I know this from the signs posted at the last crossing. I sent a lot of people there. Yes, before the world turned to shit I was a Prosecutor. I had a ninety-two percent incarceration rate but that's neither here nor there now, is it? However, I figured, if the prison fell, the detainees would jump at their first sign of freedom. It's instinctual really, they'd be trying to get out willing to take their chances on the outside than remaining in safety, in a place that was originally designed as a means of punishment for them.

Survivors, on the other hand, knowing what was outside would be dying to get in. Think about that for a minute, would you? A prison is designed to keep people in, it's pretty much self-sufficient with generators and a stockpile of food to last a large population for quite some time. Again, if the army continued to systematically cull large crowds it would mean the prison would be an ideal place for any survivors to move into. In this new world, there was always those who were looking for an opportunity to present itself and it would be a pretty sweet set up.

We were walking towards that. Even though I hadn't yet found my sign that was my beacon if I decided to stay. It would be shelter, food and society. Yes, in this wasteland, I imagine society was still important. Out here now, there was safety in numbers that's how I've managed it this far. My numbers at present were this herd. I would have to break from them soon because I won't be safe here when the rain comes… and it's coming it's a day or two at most. There's been a subtle change a night and that usually signals rain. I can't be outdoors much longer. I'm tired and haven't slept in days.

It was day three before the herd managed to splinter. There were sounds in the distance like an explosion of some kind. I knew this would propel them in that direction. We slowed and as they shuffled around us we fell to the back of the herd and that's where I found my sign.

She was my height and colouring. She wore her hair in dreads like me. She was dressed in a multicoloured knit sweater, a brown skirt with well-worn running shoes on her feet. She was ambling along to their unheard symphony. The similarities were shocking. I was essentially looking at myself except I was her... the only differences between us were our eyes and our purpose. Her eyes were dead and she had no other purpose than to roam endlessly until she was given a true death… on the other hand, even though I was dead on the inside… I still had a choice to define my purpose so I chose to live.

At that moment, I dropped the leash of my travelling companions reached for my katana pivoted to my right and lopped her head off then those of my travelling companions. My sudden movements caused a small group of walkers to advance on me. I went into a frenzy pivoting and swinging my katana slicing some into two; lopping the limbs and heads off others until I was alone surrounded by a heap of rotting body parts. When it was over I fell to my knees and cried. I cried for the first time since I left the camp and slowly, I felt the vice around my heart loosen.


I wasn't feeling great. It had been two days since I chose to live. Ironically, I had become slower. I had been without food for about three days now and I used the last of my water the day before. I'm not sure what was happening to me; I've been hungry before but this was different perhaps the virus had finally caught up with me. I had the farmhouse ahead in sight for an hour now but it took me two more to get there. When I finally stepped onto the porch, I rattled the doors and the window to draw out its occupants and quickly disposed of the reanimated farmer and his wife then settled in. I had no pressing appointments to get to so I decided to stay on until such time I felt much better or perhaps meet my end, whichever came first.

After drinking some much needed water and scrounging for whatever food I could find in the kitchen. I settled on a can of beans… it was a small feast.

Sated, I went through the rest of the house and found it empty of occupants. I then took a long shower, it felt good to have water on me. I stayed a good while under it luxuriating in the cool liquid running down my body from my head to my toes eventually washing my hair, and lathering myself in the amazing peach body wash I found. I was beginning to feel human again. If I didn't know what was outside these walls I could easily fool myself into thinking that the world hadn't changed.

Wrapped in a bath towel I rummaged through the draws for something to sleep in. I settled for an oversized tee shirt, no doubt the farmer's.


The next morning, I was looking at a map on the dining table. I found myself in a quaint little farmhouse just outside of the Town of Woodbury. I was right, the prison wasn't far off now, a day's walk perhaps two at most.

I was feeling much better than I had in days but gave myself an extra day just to be sure. Thankfully the rain never came so I busied myself by washing my old clothes and hung them out to dry. After, I went into the fields to collect some peaches for my trip. I don't know whether it was my paranoia from being solo after having had companions for so long but it felt as though I wasn't alone the hairs on my neck remained upright but there was nothing to be seen for miles; not a bird, not a walker just peach trees. The only aroma I could smell was peaches which spoke volumes.

Later that night, I heard the creak of the front door and sat up in bed. I drew my katana and tiptoed behind the bedroom door and waited. There were two distinct sets of footsteps coming down the hallway.

I had never dealt with the human foe first hand. I had no doubt what this would entail. They watched me and knew I was alone. Earlier in the day while I picked peaches to pack my bag, I felt I was being watched. I made careful sweeps of the property but I saw no one as far as the eye could see. They were smart, I'd give them that because it was now night-time, where could I go?

The door opened without any resistance from me. The head came through followed by his body, in his right hand was an army knife. He was a prisoner, medium height and slim build with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. His overalls were tied around his waist and he was wearing a dirty wife beater.

"Come on sweet cheeks… I know you're in here and you're alone. I won't hurt you... unless you want me to."

I froze. I knew it was his life or the horrible things they had in mind for me but he was human… it wasn't like lopping off a walker's head they were already dead. This was something different altogether. I stood there for what seemed like an eternity to rationalize what I was about to do not once but twice. There'd be no coming back from it. My problem was just days before decided I want to live... but could I live with the consequence once the immediate threat had been neutralized?

"Tomas? Did you find that bitch yet? I'm gonna make her arse pay for sending me away." The other prisoner's voice was loud and clear; it jolted me into action as I brought the katana down with force into the skull of the man named Tomas. His body fell to the floor and the other man appeared instantly in the doorway.

I was staring at Andrew Parsons a serial killer I put away about two years before the turn. His previous hatred towards me only seemed to reignite as he aimed the gun at me. I sliced off his forearm before he could cock the hammer then slid the katana through him and pulled it back as the lights went out of his eyes. His body fell next to that of Tomas.

My body shook as I puked. After, I grabbed the sheath for my katana walked over their immobilized bodies and closed the door behind me.

I left the quaint little farmhouse at daybreak. I was walking for hours and from the sun's position, it was past noon.

My mind kept going back and forth reliving what I had done. I knew this was how it had to be now... but it didn't change the fact that I took two lives. I need to be okay with that in my head but I know it would take some time.

There were walkers gathered up ahead in the path. It was then I saw the bearded stranger who dispatched several of them but then he just seemed to give up. Perhaps he had been bitten but from where I stood concealed it didn't appear so. It was just one walker but he just sat there waiting for the kiss of death. The great seduction… the one I knew only too well. It prompts me into action and before I knew it as the walker fell towards him it was headless. The bearded stranger looked back at me perplexed. His tired blue eyes seemed to ask the question, why?