Chapter I
His stare was cold. Deadly cold. Rae laid on her stomach, Dawns foot pushing in her neck. He held her arm up, so she couldn't move. "You were not to just barge in my room and go through my stuff. Ya hear?"
Dawn released his foot, now pushing his knee in her neck. His face came closer, right next to her ear. She could feel his hot breath and smell of alcohol with every word he said. "You are already dead. That's how you survive, remember? Being nosy doesn't fit in."
Rae let out a huffed sound, not impressed by his words. Before she knew it, he yanked her right back on her feet causing her to almost lose her balance. "Listen Rae." Dawns voice was sharp. "You are too nosy for your own good. And you're really getting on my nerves. Now, get outta here before I kick your ass."
He pushed her away and Rae stumbled backwards. A challenging look in her eyes. "Shoot." Rae just raised her eyebrow and slowly left the room. Irritation boiled in her. She heard the door slamming shut behind her. She cursed her eldest brother for his threatening and grumpy attitude.
Dawn was the eldest of her four brothers and herself. He was the one that had looked after them since they were on their own. And that was a long time. On their own, since their parents... But she stopped her thoughts. The past was the past. Dawn was hardly home and if he was, he was shit drunk.
She sighted as she entered the small closet that she slept in. it wasn't much, but she was used to it. Darkness and a blanket was all she needed.
From the other room she heard rough voices softly yelling at each other. Not loud enough to attract the Moaners, though. Moaners, that's what they called the creepy corpses there had taken over the planet. But in here, the living did nothing but fighting with each other. It was a habit.
Beside Dawn, her third brother Seth and her, there were five other men who stayed with them. Not the kindest men, just some shitheads looking for a fight every second of the day.
Dawn was their leader, or so he called himself, but he wasn't the easiest person to get along with. He was stubborn (what she might got from him) and an extreme hothead. Listening to the advice of others wasn't something he liked. And mostly never did.
But whenever he wasn't drunk of high, Rae was sometimes able to talk some sense in to him. But for now she knew it wouldn't do any good to talk to him. It would just piss him off. And he would piss her off.
When she went to his room earlier, to look for some cigarettes and just wondering around (the nosy person she was), he caught her. Before she knew it he had pushed her on the ground. But she could care less, he was never one to act softly. And neither was she.
The yelling continued, as she also heard Seth joining in. He was easier to get along with, although he also had a very short temper. She was left with only the two most hotheaded brothers. She felt a twitch in her stomach as she thought of Sem and Levi. The two other brothers were no longer part of their group. She rather just forget about them. It would make things just so much easier.
Thinking of the past made her weak. And weakness wasn't something she wanted to show. The past was filled with nothing but pain and it distracted her. She needed to be alert with the whole world going to shit.
But now her eyes grew heavy as she laid down on the blankets. Although she hardly slept, so now and then she drifted off in a light stage of unconsciousness.
As Rae laid out on the blanked, a sudden kick against her leg made her sit up straight immediately. Seth's face hung above her, a worried expression on his face. She rubbed her eyes and got up, leaning her hand against the wall for support.
"What?" Her voice was grumpy from being woken up in the middle of a rare sleep. "The men got into an argument with Dawn. They're leavin'." Seth's voice sounded frustrated, his words waking up Rae at once.
She looked confused. " Well, that would be somethin' to celebrate." She said gruffly.
Seth looked away for a moment. "Yeah, it would. But they don't want Dawn leading anymore, wanna make this an anarchy. That's what they said. What Benjamin said. Hell, we know that that's never gonna work. They just gonna take the lead themselves. Maybe leave us as Moaners bait." He looked at her, with a crooked smile.
Rae thought for a moment. "Dawn drunk?" She asked tiredly. When Dawn was drunk he fought. When he wasn't drunk, he still fought but then he used his brain a little bit more. She hoped he used it now.
"Nah, sobered up I guess. But now he's threatening to kick'em out. But they're not gonna leave emptyhanded."
Rae felt tired of all this bickering. She was sick of the men, she knew the men often threw filthy looks on her, sometimes even trying to make a move. But they never came very far. Those fuckers stopped trying when she kicked their balls and broke some noses. Rae was small and pretty skinny, but she had more muscle and strength than most girls. All girls in fact.
Growing up with four brothers in the slums of town and hunting trips into the woods, she had no choice than take care of herself. And that is what she did. Even when they got separated for a while, when they were little. But they found each other again. Eventually. The woods had also been a safe haven when she had walked away from a foster home. She had spent days out there.
Rae nodded silently, stepping past Seth. She heard his footsteps behind her as she entered the dark livingroom.
Dawn stood in the center, facing her while the other men sat or stood around him. Benjamin, the eldest of the other men and obviously their spokesman, stood face to face with Dawn. All they did was staring at each other, but the tension in the room was high.
With a low and dark voice Dawn began to speak. "You take this filthy men with you and find yourselves some other place to stay." He moved a step closer to Benjamin, their noses just a few inches apart. By the look on Benjamins face, his breath still smelled of alcohol.
"And you really think an anarchy would work? It would end in a bloodbath. You copy?" Dawns eyes where dark. Rae could hear Benjamin's angry breathing as he showed his teeth.
"You will never survive, the three of you. You are weak and a terrible leader. Most of the time you're even shit drunk. Soon you'll be zombie meat." Zombie. That name just didn't fit, it felt surreal. And Moaners didn't? But Rae thought it fitted with their moaning sounds.
Dawn huffed, obviously not impressed. Rae grinned at his responds, he never cared what others thought of him. But she agreed with Benjamin on the drunk part. It irritated her to no end that he needed that stupid bottle. Just to push away his guilt feeling and shit knows what more.
Benjamin nodded his head to the other four men, as he slowly stepped back. "Don't think we leave this easily." He paused. "Give us guns and food, then we'll leave. " Dawn's cold stare returned as he knew they wouldn't leave without it, probably taking everything they had. But the thought of them out there with guns, didn't make him happy.
Suddenly he saw Rae and Seth standing in de doorway. Rae's eyes were closed off from every emotion, like always. Just like his eyes. But she nodded silently. He still wasn't sure if sending the men away, was the right decision. Suddenly another idea came up to him, and that didn't include men wandering out there with their weapons and food. Rae saw his hesitation.
The men were still waiting for him to speak. He looked darkly at hem. "Only one weapon each and food for a week."
Benjamin narrowed his eyes. "Fine." He huffed. Dawn looked relieved, but also amazed by the sudden cooperation of the man. Rae knew he could take this men, especially with Seth and her helping him. Dawn nodded. "Seth, you gather the supplies with Benjamin. Rae and I will stay here."
Without a word, Seth passed Rae and took Benjamin to the supply room in the basement, throwing a knowing look at Dawn. Dawn nodded. Then his gaze went to Rae. He jerked his head a little, then looked at the bowie knife at her belt. She frowned, confused by his intensions.
Then they heard a gunshot in the basement, which Dawn replied by throwing himself on one of the men. Rae saw his throwing knife glister in the scare light as he silently pushed it in the man's neck and then in his head.
For a second, Rae was shocked by this sudden action. But she quickly crabbed her bowie knife and went for the men. But the men also realized what was going on, as one of them came at her with his own knife. But Rae was small and fast, so she ducked under his arm and pushed her knife in his side. Now she was thankful that no one carried guns in the house.
The man let out a painful cry, but she quickly pushed her knife in his eye. He felt to the ground, still alive. But she was already going at the next man. He was also coming at her and his knife scraped at the side of her face, leaving a bloody cut. She then threw both her foot around his legs and they both fell down. Quick as she was, she slit his throat making him gargle in his own blood. It wasn't the first time she killed a person and saw him die, but there was still a sting in her heart when she took a life.
Suddenly an arm slid around her neck, laying a knife against her throat. She tried to pull away, expecting a knife in her head at any moment. But she dared to jerk her head backwards, breaking the man's nose. His arm was still around her neck, looser now. She got a hold of it and pulled the man forward, causing him to fall on his side. She saw the bloody mess where she stabbed him in the eye, but was too focused to kill him. She took the knife out of his hand, putting it in his temple. After a final gasp, he laid still.
She snapped around, ready for the next attack. But all she saw was Dawn wiping the blood of his knife and his eyes were cold again. She smirked. They took care of them all.
"It took you long enough. I would've done it quicker on my own." They turned their heads, seeing Seth standing near the basement, with his arms crossed.
Dawn huffed. "Would've seen you tryin'."
He turned his gaze between them. "We should've done this much sooner. These guys where just a bunch of loonies." Then he looked at Rae's face. "You alright?" As his hand gestured to the scratch on the side. Rae touched her face and blood stuck on her fingers. "Yeah, no big deal." Dawn only nodded, his face blank.
Rae looked around the room, the dead men laying on the floor. She stepped to the man that got his throat slit and yanked her knife through his skull.
"Now he's really dead." She wiped her knife clean on the sleeve of his shirt and straightened her back. "I guess they're the zombie meat now." She said dryly.
" Yeah, they are. But we can't just throw 'em out." Seth looked concerned. There was a silence as they all stared to the dead bodies. Suddenly there was a soft moaning outside the house.
Dawn sighted. "They heard the noise. We'll leave the bodies here. It's time to look for a new place to stay, anyway. I'll see if I can still reach the car."
Rae looked at him and shrugged her shoulders. But Dawn was already speaking again. "All right. That's settled than. I go out, get the car, while you two gather our stuff and wait for me." With that being said, Dawn took the gun Seth was still holding and paced to the barricaded door. Rae raised an eyebrow. Dawn just barged out without waiting for an answer. Again.
After about an hour, Seth and Rae had gathered all their stuff. Dawn still hadn't returned. Although he often used to disappear on his own, with the zombies walking the earth worry was always in their lives. He was a big guy, but even Dawn couldn't stand against a herd of Moaners.
Another hour past and Seth was pacing up and down the livingroom. "That shithead's gonna kill us some day. Just strolling away and leave us." He paused, his voice softer now. " Just like Sem did."
Rae flinched when she heard his name. "Shut up." She said hard. Seth just gave her a look.
Just then they heard an engine stopping behind the house. They both jumped to their feet as quick footsteps hurried to the door, before they heard a knock. Seth had barricaded it again as soon as Dawn had left. He walked towards it and said: "Who?" He smiled when he heard a grumpy voice.
"It's Dawn, you peacock. Open the fucking door, hurry." Seth quickly cleared the door and Dawn stormed in. "Quick, you sloths. I attract all the zombies in town with the damn car noise." Dawn snapped.
"Well, it took you long enough." Rae said plainly. Dawn furrowed his brows. "You better watch it. The damn car didn't start. Had to find another one." His voice was hard.
They continoud to stare at each other, to stubborn to be the first to look away. Seth looked at the two, than pushing a bag in Rae's arm. "C'mon, no time for staring battles." After one last firing look, Rae turned away.
They hurried to get all the bags and the rest of their supplies in the small jeep and jumped in. Rae swung her bow over her head and grabbed her backpack. They felt comforting. She closed the door behind her, stepping into the jeep. "All ready?" Dawn looked at Seth and Rae as they nodded in responds. Dawn turned is eyes to the stearin wheel. Rae couldn't help but notice a flinch of old pain and guild flickering in his eyes, before they went cold again. Then he pushed the gas as hard as he could.
Rae looked back one more time, just to see several Moaners walking around the corner following them. The sting in her heart came back for the two men she had killed, hoping they were the last lives she ended. But she knew that she had changed, because the sting slowly faded every day.
Soon she would become numb, just like her brothers.