Jade stared at the motel in the rearview mirror until it was out of sight. She sighed and finally turned her attention to the road ahead of her. Santana and Cat would take it the hardest, it was a no brainer. Hopefully if she saw them again they wouldn't be to mad at her.
She almost didn't leave any letters for them but a spur of the moment decision made her write them out. Santana and Cat got one explaining why she was leaving. They could show them to the rest of the group if Kurt tried to say they helped her leave or something. Rachel also received a letter just asking her to take care of the girls. She wasn't that close to Rachel but Jade knew the girl loved her friends and would do anything to help them.
Jade also took a small amount of the supplies with her; Santana's pistol, a few cans of food, a couple water bottles, a soda, one of the bottles of alcohol, and one of the katanas along with her pack of personal items. It wasn't enough to seriously hurt them and was enough to get her by. The katana was Rachel's, she was only supposed to borrow it, but she didn't really think the diva would be too upset with the loss.
Sighing she turned to look at the driver of the van. Sikowitz was sipping at the straw in his coconut, driving one handed without a care in the world, for the moment.
"Thanks Sikowitz." She said after a moment.
"It's not a problem, Jade. I thought you would want to leave after that conversation." Sikowitz said. "Can't say I blame you either. I wouldn't want to be a guinea pig."
"It's just easier this way. They don't have to deal with me anymore. Besides, there's no guarentee I'm actually immune." Jade said, a hand moving to cover the bite on her shoulder. "I could still die from this."
Sikowitz shrugged, "It is possible, but it's also possible you will be fine. In my personal opinion you're going to be okay."
"Hope you're right Sikowitz."
The two drove down the road for an hour before they found the next town. Jade decided to go east since more then likely the group would travel north. No chance of bumping into them going this way. She told her teacher before she wanted to go to a town and he agreed to drive her, but said he was leaving after that.
The town looked abandoned like they all do nowadays, Jade found it odd she was missing the road rage. It was an average size, not big enough to qualify as a city though. The sign they came upon before getting to the town itself read: Welcome to Woodbury. It gave Jade Walking Dead memories and she hoped it didn't turn out like that did.
He stopped at the edge of the town, "Here's your stop, Jade."
"Thanks again. Where are you headed now though?"
Sikowitz gave her a nonchalant shrug, "I don't know. I'm going to go South though. My coconut visions tell me something will happen there."
Jade rolled her eyes, "You're going to run out of coconuts you know."
"Perhaps I'll go to Hawaii. I hear they grow on trees there."
"It's a good idea." Jade chuckled. She popped the door open and hopped out. Before she shut it she looked back at the man. "You were always our favorite teacher. We all loved your class."
Sikowitz smiled at her, "And you all were my favorite students. I'm sorry about Tori, I always liked you two together. She was a good person."
"Yeah.." Jade agreed softly. She took a breath and slung her pack over her back. "Well, good luck Sikowitz."
"You too, Jade. Perhaps we'll cross paths again." Sikowitz gave her a sad smile this time. On instinct Jade hopped back in the van and gave the man a hug. He patted her back and she smiled, letting the hug linger before she finally moved back and jumped out of the van again.
"Bye, Sikowitz." Jade said before shutting the door and heading into the town. She heard Sikowitz's van driving off behind her, the engine fading into the distance. She was alone now, she wasn't used to it anymore. She felt uncomfortable being alone.
She patted Santana's gun on her hip to make sure it was still there, the katana was strapped to her other hip. Jade was quite sure what made her switch her gun for Santana's, she loved her magnum. It was another of those spur of the moment decisions she seemed to be making a lot. She kept her hand near the gun as she walked, the other holding her flashlight.
The street was clear of zombies for the moment so she was free to look at the buildings. A clear house would do nicely for a place to rest for the night. It was probably around two a.m. right now and she was pretty tired. The buildings she passed didn't catch her eye, though she knew she shouldn't be so picky about this right now.
Apparently she and Sikowitz had come in through the business part of Woodbury, there were stores and restaurants all through the street. They buildings weren't tall and the light she was getting from her flashlight wouldn't reach far enough to scout ahead.
After a couple of minutes walking she found herself at the end of the street. She managed to spot a house across the street, or a building that looked like it was a house at least, and made her way to it. Getting closer to it she could make out more details, it was a one story house with a patio in the front. There were a couple of zombies on the lawn and Jade pulled the katana from her hip. The zombies went down quickly after she sliced off half of their skulls. She checked the inside for any zombies, checking every single corner, and not finding any dubbed the house safe. That didn't stop her from making sure all the doors were locked.
The front of the house was the living room. To the right was the kitchen and in the back there was a hall with five doors, one leading to the backyard. The rest were the master bedroom, the guest room, bathroom, but the final room was a collection room. There were a bunch of sports trophies in a trophy case against the wall. There were other awards on the walls.
Jade went into the master bedroom, tossing her stuff on the floor next to the bed and promptly passed out, though she did notice Santana wasn't there to cuddle up to her again.
The next morning, technically afternoon, Jade went to scavenging the house. She was surprised to find the house had working electricity and running water. She made sure to take a long hot shower before proceeding to do anything else. She couldn't believe how much dirt she washed away.
After the extra long shower Jade searched the rest of the house. She found a coffee maker in the kitchen and couldn't resist making a pot of coffee. The first taste of the hot beverage elected a soft "mmm" from the girl. How long had it been since she had coffee? Since the outbreak started so at least a couple of months. It felt like forever.
After she drank the cup she continued her search of the house, but didn't find much else that could be useful other then the can goods and water bottles. There was enough food in the kitchen to last her a couple of days but not all of it would last long out of a fridge. Though that was somewhat fixable if she could find a cooler, some ice and a car. Unfortunately the house she was in had no garage and no car was in the front.
It didn't take long for Jade to make a plan. She could stay in this house for a couple of days and scavenge from the other nearby houses like she had been doing at the motel. It may not be the best plan or the most adventurous but it would work for now.
However after an hour of sitting around and drinking some more coffee the boredom came. She tried to get the television working but the satellite wasn't working, big shocker there. The people who lived here before didn't even own a DVD player. There was a PlayStation 3 but she couldn't find any games for it. She could get it to turn on though, so if she could find some DVD's she could watch them at least.
Okay, so maybe she didn't think this run away thing through. She didn't know just how lonely it was going to be or how bored she was going to get. Perhaps she should've brought Cat or Santana instead of just running. She could have just stayed, but she really didn't want to be an experiment. Sure maybe they could've found a cure out of her but how long would it have taken? What all would they have had to do to her to get the cure? There was too many if's with no way of knowing answers.
She couldn't help but wonder what exactly the others were doing right now. It was three in the afternoon so the group had probably moved on by now, if they didn't go out looking for her but she doubted Kurt would have them waste time on that.
Finally Jade couldn't take the boredom anymore and decided to scavenge one of the nearby houses. The house to the right was a two story house with an awning on the second floor, with chairs on it and everything. It could be a better place to stay now that she thought about it.
As a precaution she put all her supplies in her pack, everything that wouldn't perish without the fridge, and headed over to the two story house. It was a nice house, much nicer then the one she was currently housing. They must've hated their neighbor for bringing down their property value. The two story was a nice shade of white, with a small garage.
Knife in hand Jade pushed open the oak door. The living room was a decent size with a two couches and a chair facing the television. There were books sitting on the coffee table, one with a bookmark. The kitchen was to the right, with an island with appliances on top. Sort of reminded her of Tori's house.
The stairs were in the back, a hallway behind the living room. She took the hallway first, finding a small bathroom midway and a door at the back of the hall. The bathroom had the standard toilet, medicine cabinet and a bathtub with a shower. She quickly tested the water and was relieved when the liquid flowed down the drain. On a second thought she flipped the light switch. Glad the water and power were working in this house too she checked the door in the back.
The door lead to the recreational room. There was a small couch with a mini fridge next to it. Bean bag chairs were scattered around and in the middle was a ping pong table. Oh great, a game to play but no one to play with. There was a zombie in the room as well. He didn't put up much of a fight and she shoved the blade in his skull easily.
Jade went up the stairs and found another bathroom as well as a few bedrooms. The awning, which Jade had decided to dub the Bird's Nest, was attached to the master bedroom, a sliding door separating the two. In the master bedroom there was another door, most likely the master bath. Jade went over to the door and eased it open.
The first thing she noticed was the body in the tub. It was a man, still had color on his cheeks, leaning against the wall. Jade held up her knife and cautiously made her way over. As she approached the bathtub the body jumped.
The man started coughing and Jade stopped mid swing. She was surprised he was still alive he looked dead. The man looked up at her and wheezed out, "Who-who are you?"
"I'm Jade. Are you bitten?"
The man shook his head, "I'm sick. My wife and son went out to find medicine but they haven't come back yet."
"When did they leave?"
"I think a week ago. I'm not sure. One of those things got in and I came in here to hide. I've lost track of how long it's been."
Jade nodded and licked her lips. "I um. I don't think their coming back."
"Seems that way." The man coughed again, this time coughing up blood.
"Is there something I can do?" Jade asked hesitantly.
"Do you have a gun?" She nodded and he went on. "Can you do me a favor and put me out of my misery?"
Jade froze, not knowing how to answer. She hadn't killed a living human before. Zombies were different then humans.
"Please? I don't know if this thing is airborne or what but I don't want to be one of those things."
Jade nodded and took out her pistol. The man didn't flinch with the barrel aimed at his temple but Jade's finger hesitated at the trigger. She took a deep breath, "Sorry." She pulled the trigger.
She pulled the man's body and the zombie's outside before making herself comfortable. She took everything valuable out of the first house, including the PS3 and perishable food, and moved them into the new house. She kept the front door locked, having found the key on the man's body.
Jade searched through the house and found a few things she could use; more food, over the counter medicine, which wasn't what the man needed apparently, and some other things to hopefully entertain her.
She had also checked the garage and found a car. It was a red Camaro, with no gas in the tank. The trunk however was a different story. It was filled with hunting supplies, the family must have been planning a hunting trip. There were two hunting rifles and a crossbow with a scope. Jade found herself taking a liking to the crossbow for some reason and named it Bianca. She also found a bag with camping equipment; a pair of binoculars she kept on the Bird's Nest, a couple bags of trail mix, and more bottled water.
Jade decided to make it her base for now. It was a good place to stay and she had the supplies to stick around. Now if only she had someone to talk to.