Running.
I loathed running with a passion.
Yet that's all I seemed to do lately.
My body screamed for me to stop, but I knew that if I did, they'd find me.
It was all a mistake, I knew it was. I should've just stopped, took my gun in my mouth, and pull the trigger. Would've been a lot easier than running for the rest of my life.
I tripped against a hidden root, but quickly righted myself and stood up tall. Forcing myself to breathe lightly, I reenacted a deer as I surveyed the area around me. There wasn't a sound, not a single noise around me.
That was more concerning in this day and age.
I looked down at my hand gun, opting to put it away as I pulled my hand knives from my pockets. As I stood there, I softly contemplated just letting them fall to the ground.
A twig snapped, making me spin around. I swung the knife without mercy, stabbing the attacker just behind the ear. I wrinkled my nose in disgust as the smell of rotting flesh filled my nostrils. I looked away slightly as blood oozed from his skull, before he dropped to the ground.
It was one of them, those creatures.
Looking around the forest, I soon noticed that there was plenty more of those things where this one came from. They encircled me, walking slowly, making my skin crawl as I anticipated them to just book it at me.
There was no exit between the mass of bodies. Their moans becoming louder and louder. I winced when I noticed one woman walking on the side of her ankle, her foot swinging around as she walked. The noise, the squish and click, of it is what got to me. I shuddered, but my attention was diverted to another Lurker that was near by. It made a grab for me, so I stabbed it in the head. Pulling the knife out, I swung at the next closest.
This repeated for a while, this had to have been my tenth kill. Already I was tired.
This was just fucking ridiculous!
I winced, holding my side for a moment. Blood was still leaking with the wound on my hip from my earlier encounter. Swinging, I stabbed another, but this time I didn't yank the knife away quick enough. I panicked as I only had one knife left, but more than one side to defend.
They were way too close now...
I swung brutally, desperately, as they continued to close in on me. It was only a second before it happened that I realized that one of the lurkers was crawling behind me. I realized too late that it had grabbed both my ankles.
I squeaked, falling down, but stabbed that thing through the head. It's grip was still on my ankles though, and there were still five walkers left. When they realized their prey was down they took a hobbled running start at me. I dropped the knife, knowing it would be no good as I pulled out my gun.
There was a moment where I looked at the barrel, and carefully, hesitantly, raised it to my face.
I just want this to end.
The creatures were closing in on me.
I closed my eyes.
BANG
All Dark, No Survivors
'For those without hope.'
No Survivors written by Iland Girl
The Walking Dead TV Series written by Frank Darabont
"I didn't plan to be here, I was just brought into the world without my own accord. Or maybe it was, maybe I was looking down at my parents and was discussing it over with God. Either way, whoever put me here, I'd love to know what the fuck they were thinking."
-Taylor
Derek
He had gone out early in the morning.
Usually he went out alone, whether for a jog or for a hunt. It made no difference to him. Derek loved the outdoors, they were home to him. Which was probably why he liked to drag her along so often.
His best friend for ten years now, in all her technologically advanced glory. The girl felt more at home surrounded by machines than by nature. The only thing they truly shared in common was their love for adventure. It was what had initially brought them together.
He had dragged her out with him this morning. Despite her whining about the bugs, about riding a horse, he knew she still enjoyed herself. She was a lot younger than him, often times showing it, but the woman had a way about her that let her take everything in stride.
'Mind over Matter'
She said that a lot when struggling.
Derek himself wasn't the epitome of a mid-thirties man. He could be fowl, playful, and down right childish. It was probably the reason he and Taylor got along at all.
The day had started out fun, full of galloping through the fields of out back Oak Bank, Manitoba. Up in Canada, he'd learned that if the weather didn't kill you, the lack of forests would. For him mostly, since the land was so damn flat. Coming across a new forest to hunt in was rare, at least one without hunting bans.
So when Derek saw a herd of deer drift into the Back Forty, a large acreage that he and his friends owned, the thirty four year old was absolutely giddy. Waking Taylor up extra early, they traveled into the forest to see what goods they could loot. The woman cursed him thoroughly; first being forced onto a horse to make up for time, and secondly for the fact that he awoke her in the AM. It didn't exist to her outside of hunting outings. She reminded him all the way back to the house too.
On the way back, a deer slung over Derek's trusted gelding's flank, Taylor had noted a shine in the tall grass. At first Derek was too eager to get back to bother, telling this to the girl as she ventured closer to the shine. It was only when the woman fell back, a large canine leaping on top of her, that Derek made a move.
With skills of a seasoned hunter, the man pulled out his compound bow, aiming it for the mutt. He shot at it, but the creature leaped off of him and growled before darting away.
Strange.
It only took him half a second to recall his friend still lying on the ground. He hopped off his horse, calmed the mare that Taylor had been riding, then made his way over to see Taylor. She'd ripped a piece of her shirt off, already wrapping it.
"Stupid shit!" She seethed. From what he could see, she was bit pretty bad.
"Best to get that checked." He said, noting that despite the wound, the woman was doing okay. Taylor glared at him, and he knew full well she'd point it towards him taking out here. He grabbed his arrow that was lodged into the ground before putting it back in its keep.
"You think?" She snapped, getting to her feet. They made their way back in silence, the horses loping more leisurely once they hit an open plain. Derek noted that the woman was shaking her head and he began to worry as the bandage looked to be soaking through.
When they reached the barns, Derek dismounted before going to walk his horse in the barn. He heard a thud, and turned to note the woman had fallen right off her horse. The mare stared down at her, unsure of what to do. Cursing, Derek picked up the much smaller woman before lugging her onto his back. He ran to the house, passing one of his housemates on the way.
"Unsaddle the horses, will you?" He asked Marcus. The burly man raised a brow, but then nodded when he took in Taylor's still form. All the while Derek never stopped running.
He pushed open the doors to the large country home, shouting loudly. No longer did he care about not waking the early risers.
"Roy! Get your ass down here!" He shouted, worry evident as he placed the woman on the couch. She winced, but opened her eyes then. Derek grimaced as the bandage seemed to be bleeding through more.
The thumping of steps made him feel a bit better as he saw not just the black hair man, but the beautiful blonde of his girlfriend and nurse come down. The moment Roy saw Taylor, his expression went from upset to strictly professional as he marched over. He lacked a shirt, dawning simple slacks- he'd been preparing for the day- but looked like the epitome of a doctor.
"What happened?" He asked sternly as Emily started to work in getting supplies. Roy placed the girl's arm above her heart, putting pressure on the wound. Taylor cried out, glaring at him.
"This mutt came out of nowhere and bit her. She's lost a bit of blood." Derek said, the large man of over six feet paced the room, anxious. Roy frowned, but then looked over Taylor.
"You're on your period, aren't you?" He asked, noting the way her nose twitched in distaste.
"Last day." She said weakly. Roy sighed, opening the bandage and looking at the wound. Taylor had always been particularly weak during her period, she didn't get nearly enough iron.
"Right now, you shouldn't have lost too much blood, I'm more worried about you going into shock though. Was the dog rabid?" Roy asked, his deep voice sounding a bit calmer, notifying Derek to calm down too.
"Dunno, doubt it. Wasn't foaming at the mouth, just bit her and ran." Derek paused for a second, his face scrunching up. "It looked terrified actually."
"What could have scared it so bad?" Emily asked as she returned.
"Probably realized I'd kill the fucking thing if it didn't run." Taylor snapped, wincing as Roy poured alcohol on her wound. They wrapped the wound carefully, putting a tensor over just in case. Taylor wasn't exactly well known for taking care of herself.
"I'd take it easy. I'll drive you to the hospital in an hour to make sure you aren't diseased. Surely your lily ass can handle it until then?" Roy teased. It was good to see that his asshole side was back, it meant there was no danger. That, or the danger was too much for him to handle without sarcasm. Which was usually the reason he would lose his job at the hospital before be rehired at another.
"You're too kind to me, doc," Taylor said flatly. "But I'll drive myself into town."
The girl tried to pulled herself up, wincing as her head spun.
"You're nuts," Derek growled, pushing her back down roughly. Better that then a car crash. You had to be firm with Taylor or she'd just keep pushing back. "You'll just get yourself killed."
"I'm not a weakling," Taylor snapped, getting defensive when the man touched her without permission. She always did get defensive about space. Especially with more than one person cornering her.
"I'll drive her," A new voice called. They all looked to the doorway where yet another housemate, Raylene, stood. She'd been watching the exchange for a while now, and hated when her friends fought. "I've got to pick up some groceries too."
It went quiet as everybody exchanged glances, before Derek held his hand out for Taylor to take. The woman accepted it before the man hauled her to her feet. She cradled her bad arm, but tried not to show it as she walked towards the door. The tall male tried his best not to notice the way she swayed, like she would faint any second.
He hated her for her pure stubbornness. Even after all this time, she refused to rely on any of them more than necessary.
Taylor
The hospital came into my view.
When I exited the car, I thanked Raylene before heading inside. This was really stupid, but I suppose if I wanted to make sure the damn mutt wasn't disease ridden and hadn't passed it on to me, I better get checked.
Then first thing I noticed when I walked in was that typically hard stench of sanitizer in the air. Why Roy and Emily wanted to work here was beyond me. It was pretty damn awful, and the few times I had visited this place I often got sick from the stench. Having a weak stomach was not a good thing.
I walked up to the front desk, the woman instantly eying my bandaged arm. Thankfully I could hide it under the table top as we spoke, her gaze unnerved me.
"I need to get my arm looked at. Got bitten by a... stray dog." I had to fight not to call it anything too ugly. This was a public place after all.
"I see..." She began, eying me strangely again before going through the motions of medical work and papers. I signed things, filled things out, then she motioned me to go and sit int he waiting area.
I did so, taking a seat away from everybody else, near the window. With a sigh, I stretched out and sprawled out. It would be a while before they called me. The waiting room was filled to the brim.
Why couldn't people watch their asses more? Stop getting hurt! Well, I suppose I couldn't say anything to that, look at me.
I stared out the window for almost an hour. Time seemed to pass by slowly, that is until a man and his daughter sat across from me. Slowly, I glanced at the teary eyed child. She was eying my wound, then looked to me with big eyes. I tried not to feel unnerved, but her black eyes were like pits, scaring me senseless.
Looking away, I noticed more people in the waiting room seemed to have strange injuries. Everyone was holding some part of their body with a white cloth slowly staining red. I frowned before looking in a full circle. The far end of the room, past the receptionist's desk, had other people waiting. However these people had no marks of wounds as far as I could see.
They were grouping us together by injury?
I turned back in my seat, staring at my lap. Why were we over here while they were over there? A frown escaped my lips, was this purely coincidence?
Yet when I saw the startled look in the man and daughter's eye, I had a feeling it wasn't.
Emily
She had been putting the medical supplies away. Roy had gone upstairs to get dressed properly, but not before greedily kissing his lover's lips.
Emily had set everything away, heading to the kitchen for some coffee now. She raised the mug to her lips, but before the hot liquid greeted her mouth, she paused.
Someone had invaded the yard.
Emily squinted her eyes, looking at the figure as they limped across the yard. On closer inspection she found it to be male, from the build. He was bulky and looked worse for wear. Emily quickly made her way to the side door, to speak with the strange man. She paused at the door though, and glanced down at the baseball bat Taylor had left lying around.
Hesitantly, she picked it up and walked outside.
"Hey you!" She called, despite being the smallest girl, she had the strongest voice. The man looked at her, his breathing was ragged as though he'd been running for a long time. He stumbled towards her, coughing a bit.
"Ma'am! Please, I need help!" He called, Emily raised her bat as he took a step closer. The man paused, he looked to be on the older spectrum, but what caught her attention was his bloody pants. There was blood running down his left leg, and instantly Emily felt her 'nurse' side stitch in.
"We need to get you inside," She said, walking to him as she lowered her bat. Another figured was walking across the lawn, her gaze shifted to him as she hollered. "Marcus, I need your help!"
The man of bulk and muscle nodded before jogging over to them.
"What? You and Tater get in a fight or somethin'?" He joked in his deep drawl. When the man's face lit with confusion, Marcus dropped the jokes. He slung an arm under the man's pits, and picked him half way up as Emily lead the way to the house.
Once inside, the tiny blonde called for her man, as Marcus laid the stranger down on the couch where Taylor had just been a short while ago. Roy rushed down the stairs, back into 'doctor' mode again.
"What happened?" Roy asked, Emily pulling the man's shirt up to reveal a strange gash on his hip. The man howled as Roy gloved his hand and prodded the wound to remove the dirt blocking his view. "Don't tell me you were bit by that mutt too."
The stranger looked at them, looking totally confused, but then nodded.
"You've seem that runt? I've been-" He winced. "Looking for him for a while now."
Roy noted the stutter in his voice, but didn't comment on it as he began to clean the wound. Roy was by no means gentle as he and Emily worked to clean the wound. Something seemed off though to Emily, the man's face was getting increasingly red. The temperature inside was cold compared to the humid and hot atmosphere outside. Reaching up, she felt his forehead with her wrist.
Emily recoiled quickly, the man was practically on fire!
"Ice, get me all the ice bags you can find!" She hissed to Marcus. The man nodded before going out to the storage shed for some, as Emily went to the house fridge. Roy noted the man's temperature too, but was more focused on the strange bite mark that didn't match the dog's that Taylor had gotten.
This looked almost... human.
The man suddenly cried out in pain, Roy almost jumped by the sudden seize. The stranger shook violently, Roy felt his forehead again and realized his temperature had actually increased.
"Emily!" He called, the nurse knowing full well what he wanted as she brought back a bucket of ice. Marcus was coming in too, bags upon bags of ice on him. Emily placed an ice cube on the man's forehead, but it melted in a matter of a minute.
"Get him to the tub, strip off his clothes and shove the ice in!" Roy instructed, utterly dumbstruck by the raising temperature. He didn't need a thermometer to know that this man was horribly sick.
Roy and Marcus each grabbed an end of the man, picking him up and dragging him. Emily held a pair of scissors, cutting all the clothes but the man's boxers off as they walked up the stairs. All the while the man was howling in pain, begging for it to end.
They dropped him in the tub, turning on the cold water as they all went for the bags of ice. They dumped it into the tub, submerging him in the ice cold blocks.
Five minutes later, the man's fever had stopped growing hotter, but it was still so fiery. Roy bit the inside of his cheek, there was nothing more they could do for him here, but if they moved him he probably wouldn't make it to the hospital. He rubbed his face a few times with his hands, but then looked down at the man. He frowned when he realized the man had stopped howling.
He looked him over, the man wasn't responsive at all. He snapped his fingers- nothing. He poked just under his eye- nothing. Yet when he felt for a pulse, there was still something. With a frown, he stood up.
"Roy," Emily called softly. He looked to his lover, a frown on his face. "I can't place a name on it, what the Hell is wrong with him?" She asked, sounding frustrated that her medical knowledge couldn't help her. She couldn't think of what kind of disease this could be, but Roy had already been musing through it all.
There was nothing they could do right now, but maybe since the man was stable-
As though hearing his thoughts, the man let out a wheeze. He then screeched once for a second, before falling dead silent again. Nobody moved as the trio looked at him. Roy frowned before repeating the process he had done before. No answer at all, nothing. This time, there was no pulse either.
The man just died.
Roy scowled.
This didn't make any sense. Whatever the man had contracted, it had worked faster than any illness he'd ever seen. With a frown, he motioned for everybody to leave before rubbing his face. Looking one last time at the man, he ushered Emily, who couldn't stop staring at the corpse, out of the bathroom before shutting the door.
The ice in the tub was nearly pure water now.
Taylor
After about half an hour of waiting, I was growing more suspicious. There were people going into the back room, but never did I see the same people come out.
I was growing restless in my seat, the will to run almost being let out. The only thing stopping me? That damned kid kept on staring at me. Not once did I try to make conversation, but multiple times I had noticed the man holding his daughter like the world was against him.
On the other side of the room, I saw many people come and go. I was almost tempted to go and sit down over there, just to see if there really was something going on.
I smacked my head, before looking down at my lap and breathing deeply. Old habits died hard, I was still looking for something to strike out at me. This was ridiculous, I needed to stop thinking the world was out to get me.
So I sat there for another hour, reading magazines, even engaging in a staring contest with the daughter. She won, her gaze was way too scary for me to watch too long. Finally, the girl and Father stood, and we shared one last look before they disappeared.
Another half hour passed, and still nobody had come out of the doors. Not even that little girl. My body grew tense, my instincts telling me to run. I hated hospitals as it was, the fowl air made me want to pass out, vomit, something along those lines. My muscles grew tight, and I began to wonder if I'd lose it.
Screw it, I'm not staying here any longer!
I jumped up, ready to leave as I took two steps for the door.
"Taylor Hawks?" A nurse called from the doorway. I paused, my hand ready to hold onto the door, but my hand clenched around air as I begrudgingly turned back to the woman.
"Here." I muttered, frowning at the way she eyed my wound. What was with these people? They looked at me like I'd turn around and kill them. When I walked up to her, she made it very clear she liked her personal space as she eyed me up and down. I was still pretty dirty from being tossed to the ground, but why did I get the feeling dirt wasn't her issue?
"Right this way." She muttered, scurrying through a set of doors. I frowned, but followed her anyways through the set of white double doors.
On the other side, things were a bit different. The silence of the waiting room was a harsh contrasted to the shouting and crying of the back rooms. The further in I got, the more people I saw. One man was crying as he laid on a bed, begging for the pain to stop. I paused in his doorway, noticing the purple hospital gown he wore was bloodied around his shoulder. My nose twitched in disgust as I saw the heavy amounts of towels a woman was pressing to his shoulder. A small child was crying next to him- I had to look away.
The nurse never stopped walking, but with my large stride I managed to catch up to her. Each room held somebody with some sort of bloody wound. Sometimes there was doctors, other times the doors were shut, but all in all there was a tense atmosphere in the air.
The nurse stopped at the last door on the right of the hall. I noted the window, but the nurse blocked my view of getting any fresh air. She motioned for me to enter the room, so I did. It was a small but private room, a purple hospital gown folded on top of the only bed in the room.
"Please change in that bathroom," The nurse said, motioning over to another door in the room when I looked at her. "A doctor will be here to see you in a minute."
With that said, she shut the door. I tried not to think about how twicthy the girl seemed before unfolding the purple hospital gown.
Well, at least it's tall enough for me.
Derek
He'd been outside skinning the deer outside for a while now. Derek had been halfway done when a frail sob broke through the air. He looked up, still holding a knife and scab of skin in his hands. The bathroom window was open, he could see it from the backyard beside the barn where his work station was.
Derek's large brown eyes narrowed as he fought to see against the sun's rays. What was that? Roy and Emily usually let some noises slip every now and again, but this was pretty big, even for them. It sounded like somebody was dying. His chest clenched as thoughts of Taylor surfaced, but Roy had told him not to worry, that the wound wasn't lethal.
That wasn't enough for the hunter though as he made his way to the house. The deer could wait, so long as his friends weren't trying to kill each other.
When he got to the deck, he pushed the swinging door open, noting he hadn't dropped the knife or skin before depositing the skin on the kitchen table as he walked over to the living room around the corner. He passed the stairs, going further into the back by the side door.
Derek watched the scene before him with slight curiosity. Emily and Roy were sitting in one corner, arguing, while Marcus was pacing frantically around. The burly man was muttering that it was 'really, really bad'. Not once did he actually say what it was though.
"What happened?" Derek asked, raising a brow. Emily looked up, glancing momentarily at his bloody hands before swallowing and looking at his face. Roy sighed before answering for her.
"A man came on the lawn, asking for help. He'd been bit by the dog too." Roy began, making Derek snort.
"Lucky Tay isn't here, she'da shot him." Derek said, thinking of how paranoid the girl could be. When he noted the dull looks on their faces, he realized the story wasn't finished though.
"He... died in the bathroom upstairs." Emily explained flatly. The girl and her partner had seen death in the hospitals many times, they were more stumped by his death than bothered by it. It was Marcus, sweet Marcus who never believed in killing that had a hard time with the stranger's death.
"Upstairs?" Derek asked, frowning slightly as he back tracked. "You brought him upstairs?"
His voice sounding near incredulous as he neared the staircase. Walking up, he damn near sprinted to the bathroom before looking inside-
Only to find nothing?
"Derek you don't have to-" Derek cut Emily off though as the trio neared him.
"You said he was up here." The tallest member snapped. "You mean to tell me you got looted without even knowing it?"
Emily looked confused, pushing past him to walk inside. Confusion and shock contorted her face as the last two crammed in to see. Roy frowned, looking down and rubbing his face. It had been such a long day, now they had a missing body to think about? He paused then, noticing something on the floor.
A water trail.
Slowly, he began to follow it out of the bathroom.
"Great, now bodies are jumping back to life?" Emily asked rhetorically. Roy frowned, watching as the water trail went downstairs. He walked, `down the steps slowly, frowning that the droplets looked to have actually dropped and not be from the body being dragged.
"How do I know you're telling the truth? I never saw a dead body. Trust me, I wouldn't miss it." Derek snapped, rolling his eyes. Marcus shook his head.
"You should've been there man." Marcus insisted, trembling slightly. His face was a little pale. Derek noted him, frowning.
Roy reached the bottom of the steps, noting that the water went left of the staircase, away from where they had been sitting. He followed it quietly, had they seriously been looted without his knowing? He had checked for a pulse though!
"I'll believe you both when I see it, how's that sound?" Derek taunted, glaring at the girl. Emily glared, nearly growing her next words.
"You'd believe it in an instant if it were Taylor telling you." She snapped. Derek glowered at her, he'd never really liked blondes anyways.
Roy heard a strange sound as he walked to the kitchen area. He frowned as rounded the corner, but then stopped cold at what he saw.
The smell hit him first, the stench so awful that he thought he'd gag. Like rotting flesh, only worse. What was more was the near nude man standing in front of him, a piece of deer skin shoved between his teeth as he slowly gnawed away the flesh around the hair.
The creature locked eyes with Roy, the once cool blue was bloodshot and stood out more prominently. A shiver ran through Roy as he noted the sickly pale skin.
But he had died...!
The stranger dropped the skin, and staggered full tilt for him. Roy let out a growl as he dodged, the man falling into the wall.
"You bastard!" He shouted, the people upstairs heard it too as they raced down. Roy kicked the man in the back of the knees, making him fall to the ground. "You trying to steal from us of all people you half pint chink?"
SNAP
Roy's eyes widened as he heard the man's spine snap. He paused his kicking, backing up a bit. He hadn't kicked that hard though, how had he possibly-
"Roy!" Emily cried, staring at him with fear. He looked to her, suddenly feeling weaker as he saw she was shocked by his rage. He made to move towards her, but something grabbed his foot. Roy looked down to see the same man grabbed onto his leg, and bit down into his shoe clad foot. Roy growled, kicking him off before stepping away.
"Roy that's enough." Derek warned, standing half ways in front of him. Roy didn't want to stop, but Emily coming over to hold his hand was the only real thing stopping him.
To all of their surprise and horror, the stranger stood back up.
There were sounds of snapping and bending, each person twitching at the noises, but the man righted himself easily. His face was covered in blood from the skin, he looked like a monster. He sounding like one as he grunted and groan.
Emily screamed.
The creature lunged.
Taylor
This place was starting to really get to me.
I had gotten changed almost a half an hour ago- once again a reason I hated hospitals, slow service- and had yet to see a doctor. Peaking out the door, I noted that there didn't seem to be any staff around right now. With a frown, I skulked back inside before sitting on the bed. I tapped a rhythm with my fingers, biting my lower lip as I looked around. It was only when I looked outside that I noticed something odd.
I had gotten bored and stood up, walking to the window and leaning my forehead against it. Looking down to the streets below, I saw a man throwing trash out in the dumpster. Nothing strange, not at all really. Except for the fact that one of the bags had opened and its contents had been spilled out.
Those purple gowns we were all wearing.
A lot of them.
A shiver rushed through me as I backed away. Looking around the room, I began to move things around. I pushed the phone on the stand away from where it was, the clock, the bed sheets, I even flipped the mattress. With a sigh, I paused before thinking clearly. Okay Taylor, you need to calm down, there isn't anything scary about this place. You're just paranoid because of nothing-
The chair.
I scurried over to where a rolling chair sat, pressing my hand onto it before looking at my hand. Clean, but it had to be there! I walked to the bathroom and wet my hand before grabbing a white sheet off the bed. Wetting the office chair, I rubbed the white sheet all around rather firmly for a moment. When I pulled it back to look, I almost puked.
Blood.
That's it! I'm getting outta here!
I changed in record time, stuffing the purple gown in the toilet bowl before shutting it. Walking out into the hall, I was careful about being seen as I snuck. However, life had other plans for me it seemed. Gunshots could be heard at the other end of the hall, I paled when I saw fully cloaked soldiers walk down the hall, heavily armed as they walked into different rooms. I could hear people crying, people screaming, a few clawed at the doors to the waiting room as they darted from their rooms. Only to find it was locked.
I spun on my heel when I saw somebody turn to look at me. The hospital was raised slightly off the ground, but it wasn't a very far drop out the window. Turning for it, I booked it as fast as I could. Somebody shot at me, missing and hitting the window. Thanks, saved me some work.
Falling out of the window, I tucked and rolled as I landed before leaping up and running. I ran as though the Devil were at my heels. The sounds of the gunshots and screaming was now very loud to the world outside, attracting attention.
As if God almighty was feeling crummy about doing that to me, Raylene pulled her car up to park in the parking lot. When she saw me running though, she started her car again. I leaped in without saying any coherent.
"Drive! Drive! Drive!" I squeaked, looking behind me as Raylene stepped on the gas. People were looking at the hospital now, but the petite woman didn't question as she booked it home.
"What happened?" Raylene asked, frantic. I gulped, looking ahead of us. my brow worried as I shook my head.
"I-I don't know."
That was all I could offer her.
We had to warn the others.
Roy
BANG
They all looked to Marcus who stood by the side door. He held his shot gun up, having pointed it at the man's chest. The stranger had fallen over.
"Marcus! He's a human being! You can't-" Emily stopped talking, instead gaped at the stranger as he once again stood to his full height. A gaping hole in his chest. She instantly switched tactics. "Kill him! Kill him! Shoot him somewhere else!"
Marcus trembled, not wanting to do this. Yet he knew, this thing, it wasn't human. At least not anymore. Swallowing his own spit, he aimed at the creature between the eyes and shot, taking a large portion of his head clear off.
The stranger fell to the ground, gurgling before becoming deathly silent and still.
Nobody moved for the longest of time.
Then the front door slammed open.
Taylor
I rushed into the house, halting when I saw the looks on everybody's face. Then my eyes fell tot he body on the floor, Raylene beat me to the scream as mine died in my throat.
All I could do was point dumbly as I stared at the mutilated body.
What was this?!
"You..." I whispered, unable to say it. Derek rushed over, blocking my view of the body with his own. My eyes darted up to his, trying to find a reasoning.
"You don't understand," Derek began, making my chest swell in pain again. "He- Tay you need to understand, he wasn't-"
"He was already dead." Roy explained, his usually sharp voice slightly hoarse. "He came onto the property and died upstairs. His corpse somehow managed to get down here."
"Not just get down here," Emily explained, looking over to the tearful Raylene as she was held by Marcus who soothed her. "He was moving pretty damn well if I do say so myself."
"So he just- rose from the dead?" I asked, not believing at all. "Really, of all the things to say you say this?!" I hissed, but then Derek grabbed my shoulders and made me really look at him dead in the eye.
"Please Tay, I can take it from anybody but you," He implored me, making my rage hesitate. "I can't help you understand if you don't listen."
My fingers shook as I balled them into fists, but I nodded as we all looked at the body. Raylene was still crying, but I felt envious she could right now. Right now we had to think, no time for crying.
"So he died in the bathroom and got down here... was he diseased?" I asked, trying to think of something even remotely logical. The dead didn't just spring to life after all. Emily shook her head, Roy rubbed his face.
"He had a fever, a really nasty one. It wouldn't cool down even after we poured ice on him. The heat shut down his brain, in short. The only injury he had before was a bite on his arm-" Roy stopped mid- sentence as all looked to me. I gulped, looking down at my own injured arm in panic.
"But I don't have a fever..." I said slowly, worried as I noticed Marcus hold his shot gun tighter. He wouldn't-
"Not yet," Roy said, but then he walked towards me. "But that man had one that started suddenly, it became unbearable in a matter of a half hour. We need to get you back to the hospital and to explain all this-"
"No!" I shouted, terrified as I looked at them all. "They were killing us there!"
Everybody paused, I took a breath before trying to explain in a less shaky tone.
"We were all separated from the other patients, given certain robes. Then these guys came in and were shooting all of us. I ran and escaped, but I doubt anyone else made it out." I explained, feeling Derek pull me closer. He felt so warm compared to my clammy skin, it was almost a relief. That meant no fever.
Everyone then looked to our leader. Our hunter, our guardian, the smartest of us all.
We all looked to Derek.
He gulped, but then spoke smoothly, like a true leader.
"Okay, first we get rid of this body."
Taylor
It was shortly after we had buried the body that Raylene had called us into the living room. The TV was on, we all stood in the living room to watch as she pointed frantically.
"Breaking News. A nation wide epidemic has hit North America! People are strongly urged to remain in their homes. Stories of people being bit by their own relatives before contracting a fever has become wide scale."
I stopped listening long enough to go throw up in the sink before washing the very little contents down the drain. I hadn't eaten since my apple this morning before our hunt. A sick clenching drug on inside of me- was that to be my fate too? Or was it just coincidence that I had been bit by the dog like the man had? Or was he just lying to us?
When Derek had told me the man had been bit by the dog, I didn't know what to think. Now in the late rays of the afternoon, I couldn't think.
"Taylor, we need to focus." Derek urged me as I stood up tall, wiping my mouth for good measure. I felt dizzy, but complied with him. Marcus and the others were still watching the TV when we came back, the burly man pointing to the TV with wide eyes.
"That's our hospital!" He shouted, making me rush over to see. An explosion went off in the building, making my chest ache and sink down low.
"Okay, people we've got to stick together," Derek said, shutting the TV off to get our attention. We all looked at him, albeit hesitantly. "It's obvious we can't stay, so I say we book it to Gwendale's on the double."
"Gwendale? But that's over a day of nonstop driving." Emily snapped, but Roy silenced her with a raise of his hand. He was listening intently.
"Roy, you head to the corner store and see if you can get canned food. Anything nonperishable. Don't take too long, steal it if you can't wait." Derek urged, the black haired man nodded before he took off.
"Emily, go to the gas station and get as many Jerry cans of gas as you can. Same thing as Roy, don't wait up. We aren't coming back here for a long while." Derek said, the woman sneering at him before going to do as she was told. Even she wasn't dumb enough to argue. He then turned to Marcus.
"Your girlfriend still in town?" He asked quickly. Marcus nodded. "Go get her and Archie, meet back here as quickly as you can."
The thicker man nodded, looking once sadly at me before he put down his gun and shakily rushed to the front door. Derek then turned to me and placed both his hands on each of my shoulders, I trembled under his touch.
"Derek... I'm scared." I admitted, hating myself for it. His eyes softened then, as he gently leaned forward to press a kiss to my forehead.
"There's not a hope in Hell I'm letting you die from some dumb infection. We've been through too much for that." He said softly, hesitantly leaning in to kiss my lips. I didn't argue, I was too scared to argue, and instead smothered myself with the warmth he brought. We pressed ourselves together, the heat rolling off of his body in waves, I gasped a little when he accidentally grabbed my wounded arm.
We broke apart, I stared at the possibly infected limb.
What a mood killer.
"I need you to run to the barns," Derek began, making my eyes dart to his warm ones. They were sharper now, leader mode back on. "I need you to let the animals free and grab the rifles. Your airgun should be there too."
There was no room for argument, and though I felt he was being drastic, I also knew we wouldn't be back to care for the animals either. I went to turn, but then Derek grabbed my hand and placed something inside of it. Looking down I saw a small handgun. Nothing fancy, but I looked up to him in realization.
"Be safe."
Nodding, I turned and rushed out of the door. All the while I felt his eyes burning holes into my back.
Outside was different from in the house. Where as the house was large and mostly quiet, there were strange noises coming from everywhere outside. Ignoring them, I ran to the barn, hoping to get those rifles and let the animals out quickly. What I found was not something I would ever wish to see again.
I unlocked three of the horses, going around to Derek's favorite, Fyvel, I realized his gate was busted. Looking inside, I saw at least five people were in the stall, standing over top of the horse.
No, not people.
Those things that lurked in the night.
They turned to me, one reaching for me. I screamed and slammed the gate back on him, making the creature fall over onto the dead or dying horse. Either way, the animal was beyond repair as those things yanked flesh and guts out of him. I gagged, running for the stairs for the hayloft. I knew the guns would be up there, what I didn't know was there were five more of those things trying to get up the stairs already.
They looked at me, before jumping at me, but I ran out into the isle and swung one of the stall gates at them. It hit one and had a domino effect, but they started to get back up one's neck was bent in a way necks should never bend. I grimaced, but ran for the stairs as quickly as I could now that they weren't blocking them.
Making my way up them, I slammed the door shut on top before searching for the guns. Just as my hands fell on my trusty air rifle, the doors tot he loft shook precariously. I aimed my gun, ready and waiting this time. However, when the doors swung open and they all swarmed in, I was easily overwhelmed. They dove at me like I was their prey, which I really was, and shoved me down.
Perhaps it was luck, or maybe God really does love me, either way I hit the jackpot on this one.
As those things jumped at me, they shoved me through one of the air ducts, pushing me down through the hayloft and to the ground below. The only problem? My landing was pretty hard.
I saw stars for a moment, the entire world going black for half a second, then I saw those things looking down at me and leaped back to my feet. I had to get out of there, I had to run. I had to-
I paused when the ground beneath me shook. Looking behind me I noticed a few of those creatures walking towards me, but what was behind them really got to me.
A bright light that looked to be getting rapidly closer got to me. Without thinking too much about it, I jumped into the tack room, passing a creature or two, before diving into the staircase.
Saying it went 'BOOM' would not be the half of what happened.
The roof caved in around me, a creature tried to pull open the door as the whole building shook, but a support beam came crashing down on his head and broke it open. Blood flew everywhere as I tried to yank to door shut again before crawling underneath the stairs.
When the ground stooped shaking, I thought for a second that I could leave.
Then the roof really did crash on top of me. I hit my head on something, though I didn't know whether I had hit it or if something hit me. Black was all I could see, and whether I can unconscious or not, when I had fallen unconscious, was beyond me.
Taylor
Something trickled down the side of my face, making me twitch.
I tried to reach up and scrub it away, but my hand was stuck for some reason. Frowning, I opened my eyes slowly, looking up slightly.
My whole body tensed as I stared at one of those things, it's teeth were gnashing as it tried to reach me. Using its hand, it pawed at something above me, and as luck would have it, a thin beam came crashing down and went straight through its head just before it bit mine.
Talk about luck.
Now... how the Hell...
Then what happened came back to me and I panicked. Wiggling around, I pulled and pushed against my bonds, realizing I was stuck in the staircase, or what was left of it. As I untangle myself, I realized that creature had done most of the work for me, clearing off a lot of wood. Could it smell me? I rubbed my face now, seeing blood come off the side of it.
My whole body ached as I crawled out. It took my a while, I even cut myself on a few splinters of wood too. Finally I was free after a ten minute struggle, I gasped for air and looked around me. I grabbed my air gun that had been sitting nicely on top of the pile. Clearly that thing had tossed it aside thinking it was only wood.
Right now I was sitting on a pile of what used to be the small barn. Around me there was burned grass and a foul stench in the air. The hot mid-day sun burned my sore skin, heating me up more-
Mid-day sun?
It was practically night time when I had gone inside the barn though.
Sliding off of the rubble, I stumbled a bit before walking to the house. While I walked, I noticed the deer Derek and I had caught. It was eaten down to the bone, not a single piece of meat left. I frowned a bit, but then kept going to the house.
Stumbling in the back door, I looked around at the mess on the floor. Bits and pieces of the room were broken away, mostly pieces I could envision being used as weapons. What had happened here?
Stumbling through to the kitchen, I grabbed both the kitchen knives that were left, gulping slightly as I stalked inside.
"Derek," I called, sounding as weak as I felt. "Emily? Roy? Marcus?" My calls got more frantic when I got no answer. I walked outside, gulping when I saw the open garage and no car sitting there.
They had left me.
I fought the urge to cry- I mean I would've left me too if I thought I was dead. How was I not dead? Pure luck is the only explanation really. As I turned around though, I fought the urge not to scream.
A creature was standing there, it dove for me, but I ran like the Devil were at my heels.
Taking off, I figured losing him in the back forty was the safest bet, and so I bolted without any other thoughts. Too bad, if I had stopped to think, I might've been able to grab some more weapons.
I ran for a good half an hour, hearing those things following me but not having it in me to fight just yet.
Running.
I loathed running with a passion.
Yet that's all I seemed to do lately.
My body screamed for me to stop, but I knew that if I did, they'd find me.
It was all a mistake, I knew it was. I should've just stopped, took my gun in my mouth, and pull the trigger. Would've been a lot easier than running for the rest of my life.
I tripped against a hidden root, but quickly righted myself and stood up tall. Forcing myself to breathe lightly, I reenacted a deer as I surveyed the area around me. There wasn't a sound, not a single noise around me.
That was more concerning in this day and age.
I looked down at my hand gun, opting to put it away as I pulled my hand knives from my pockets. As I stood there, I softly contemplated just letting them fall to the ground.
A twig snapped, making me spin around. I swung the knife without mercy, stabbing the attacker just behind the ear. I wrinkled my nose in disgust as the smell of rotting flesh filled my nostrils. I looked away slightly as blood oozed from his skull, before he dropped to the ground.
It was one of them, those creatures.
Looking around the forest, I soon noticed that there was plenty more of those things where this one came from. They encircled me, walking slowly, making my skin crawl as I anticipated them to just book it at me.
There was no exit between the mass of bodies. Their moans becoming louder and louder. I winced when I noticed one woman walking on the side of her ankle, her foot swinging around as she walked. The noise, the squish and click, of it is what got to me. I shuddered, but my attention was diverted to another Lurker that was near by. It made a grab for me, so I stabbed it in the head. Pulling the knife out, I swung at the next closest.
This repeated for a while, this had to have been my tenth kill. Already I was tired.
This was just fucking ridiculous!
I winced, holding my side for a moment. Blood was still leaking with the wound on my hip from my earlier encounter. Swinging, I stabbed another, but this time I didn't yank the knife away quick enough. I panicked as I only had one knife left, but more than one side to defend.
They were way too close now...
I swung brutally, desperately, as they continued to close in on me. It was only a second before it happened that I realized that one of the lurkers was crawling behind me. I realized too late that it had grabbed both my ankles.
I squeaked, falling down, but stabbed that thing through the head. It's grip was still on my ankles though, and there were still five walkers left. When they realized their prey was down they took a hobbled running start at me. I dropped the knife, knowing it would be no good as I pulled out my gun.
There was a moment where I looked at the barrel, and carefully, hesitantly, raised it to my face.
I just want this to end.
The creatures were closing in on me.
I closed my eyes.
Just as I went to pull the trigger a noise caught my attention. A whimper, a whine.
It was the barking of a dog.
Opening my eyes, I saw the very same mutt that gave me this wound. He growled lowly at the creatures, their attention being diverted for a second.
BANG
I shot the closest one without hesitation, doing to same to the other four quickly. They went down, I turned to look at the mutt only to find he wasn't there.
Good riddance.
Stalking out of the forest, I slowly made my way back to the house. There hopefully wouldn't be anymore anytime soon. Considering how many were probably trapped under the barn with me and how many I had put down, I wasn't quite sure there would be any more for a while.
I shivered when I was met with the cold house again. This time I noticed that there wasn't any power on at all. Biting my lower lip, I realized the true meaning behind being left behind.
It meant nobody was here to watch my back. Nobody was here to help me fix my problems. I was on my own again, with nobody to give me a hand. Which meant I had to live on my own, survive on my own. At least I knew where they were going- Gwendale. A small island off the coast of Florida. Privately owned by the Gwendale family.
Without any contact to the outside world, surely they were without this disease?
Only one way to find out.
My mind went into full on survivor mode after that. I scanned the house and land for any more of those lurking creatures before considering myself safe. I then went to the garage and dragged the work bench away from the wall. Tossing it over, I looked down and found a small hatch. Lifting it up, I stepped down a ladder to the underground compartment.
Down here was where Derek kept all his hunting equipment. In the rush he seemed to have forgotten about it. Either that or he felt a dozen arrows and his compound were enough. I needed to be more equipped though, I was my own weak link.
On the wall was a rail with clothes hanging from them. I stripped out of my gaudy looking jeans and T-shirt and replaced them with brown Irideon riding breeches, ones I stored down here since they were so comfy, and a black long sleeved shirt before adding a green thin vest that was snug but not tight. I pulled out gloves, a machete to tuck into my belt, more ammo for my air rifle, and two hunting knives that I pocketed.
Before I left, I gave one last glance at the wall where at least another dozen arrows and another compound bow sat. I shook the thought off though, now wasn't the time to be reinstating my abilities. It'd been years since I'd even shot one. Never mind got the target.
When I came back to the surface, I scoped around for a bit before hearing the 'clip clop' of hooves. A grin spread across my face when I saw my mare, Roana, come trotting out of the treeline. I gave a low whistle to signify I was there. She looked at me before she came trotting up to me. I gently brushed her muzzle, subconsciously searching for a treat in my pocket, but when I found none I sighed.
"Alright mare, how's about we blow this pop stand, hm?"
Taylor
After ransacking the house for any food left over, sadly onto finding easy open bean cans (beggers can't be choosers) I saddled up Roana with my supplies and weapons before trotting off towards the city. I knew where I was going, but I had the urge to make sure that there really was no chance they were hiding in there.
What I stumbled upon was no city.
It was a graveyard.
I didn't go all the way in. I actually didn't go in past the highway that looped around it. Yet from where I stood I could see the buildings burning, a sky scraper (a rare site here) fell over. The noise and rumbling startling the mare, but I continued to watch for a moment.
My home was ruined, my family was gone, and it looked like I was the only one left undead thus far.
Things weren't looking too good.
A small whimper signaled me to the approach of that stupid dog. Upon further inspection, I realized it was a Wolfhound. No wonder it slammed me into the dirt the other day. I might've held equal ground weight wise.
"Well, Roana, Muttface, looks like we're alone in all of this." I muttered, hearing the dog whine in response as Roana became fidgety.
We didn't have to be alone in this though. There had to be others still alive. I couldn't be the only one. Me, of all people.
Derek would survive. Tough as all Hell that one. Give him coal and he'd compress it into diamonds without even trying. He would definitely make it.
Turning away from the city, I stayed along the road, the graveyard of cars making me want to stay further in the ditch, as Roana softly loped along. I let her have free range as we rode off, heading south and hopefully not being deterred.
Or dying, that would be a big bonus.
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, was chapter one. One monster of a chapter huh? Maybe not for some, but for me I usually open with 900 words so this was... different.
I just recently watched the first two seasons of TWD, and I love Daryl. Not sure why you guys like him, I've been obessed with him since he talked about the Cherokee Rose. It's the first time I actually liked him as more than the mother effin badass dude! He's epic all around!
Okay, so I hope you guys like the chapter! I plan to follow my own plot line that loosely ties in with the TV series. However I'm not sure how often this will be updated. Highly depends on popularity truthfully. I have another story I'm currently working on too.
I often try to stay with the format that the series I'm seeing is given to me. In the TV series the pilot episode covers a lot of ground and really gets you to know what's going on. Hopefully this chapter was good as a pilot. Also the quotes you see at the beginning are quotes that will appear sometime in the story.
I'm not sure how long this story will last, highly depending again on popularity. If it is popular than possibly past season 3. However if I find nobody likes it I may end it after a couple of chapters.
Okay, I usually go over what this story with have in it.
I've rated this M for a reason, there will be a lot of gore for sure, possibly sex, rape, definitely language, among other things that I can deviously imagine. Not sure how strong the romance in this will be, but if people like it I may just keep pushing forwards!
So let me know what you think! I love to hear ideas/ criticisms/ comments. I beam when I get a review! :D
Hopefully the writing style wasn't hard to keep up to, Taylor is the main character and so only her POV will be in first person. Anyway, drop a letter and holla! Lol I could never do street talk.
Cheers!
Iland Girl