Author's Note: Hello all. You may or may not know me, you might be an old reader or a new one, but either way, welcome. This is an revision to an old story also called "Sacrifices". Sacrifices is centered around Ashton Reynolds, an OC created by me. Now, Ashton is a fourteen year old brat (he was thirteen in the old version) who ends up joining sides with Zoey, Louis, and Francis. There is also another character introduced later on named, "Milla". There is also Ashton's dog, Yin, and a few other characters who appear that are also OCs. Richard, Zach, Blaine, Nelly, and William to name a few. The story is generally focused on Bill's sacrifice, hence the title. Why I decided to write this again? Because I've improved and I really liked this story. So, I plan to bring back the Day Z collection with it, too.
There will be a few changes in the version. It will remain first person, but Milla will serve as a secondary character. Dislike will still remain for Zoey and Francis for Ashton, but Milla doesn't really have dislike for anyone. Milla might get first person, but I'm still deciding. I'm figuring she will, but less than Ashton since she doesn't appear until at least the tenth chapter. Milla has no changes as a character, she is still her suspicious self. Ashton on the other hand, has changes. For one, he'll be slightly less of a whiny child. He'll be more sarcastic, cynical, and have dry humor; you'll see MAJOR changes in Ashton's personality over the upcoming chapters.
Before I get comments about Ashton disliking Zoey, I want you all to know that I don't dislike Zoey. She's one of the more likable survivors in my opinion. The reason Ashton dislikes her is that Zoey supposedly gets more cold and serious once Bill dies, so know I'm trying to stay in character with her; I'm not bashing her. Same with Francis, but he's not supposed to be likable, is he?
There will be a few cameo appearances as well from some of my OCs for future stories I may or may not write. The ones that stick out the most are Alexis, Prince, and Azrael. As you'll later find out who they are; they are my first OCs ever and will probably appear in their own story. Alexis is very similar to both Ashton and Nick in personality wise, while Prince is more like Francis with a pyromaniac problem. So that about sums it up. I hope you all enjoy the story, and I would appreciate it if you would review, as I dislike silent readers. That is all, and enjoy!
Pilot : Joining Sides
"Yin, get over here," I call over to my partner as she disappears curiously behind a close stall. I'm following closely behind with my Pump Shotgun loaded and ready for action. It's rare for one to be able to get outside for just fresh anymore. Unless fresh air counted as slaughtering thousands of deranged people infected by a killer disease. How fantastic. "Yin, I'm not kidding," I say once more as I move with a certain sense of stealth and caution. You can never be so careful during these dark times. "Yin!"
Worrying isn't part of my nature, but I can't help but feel slightly stressed out. I called Yin at least three times, by now she would to have come bounding back to me. Here I was thinking she was a loyal companion. Part of me is worried, the other annoyed; through this all I still remain fairly calm. Nothing would to have happened to Yin without me at least hearing her whimper or bark, "Yin!" I try one last time and wait a minute or two to hear only silence. Not even the sounds of soft paws walking across the boardwalk are heard. I sigh, realizing I'll need to go find her. Even if she happens to be dead, I refuse to believe it until I see her massive German Shepherd body.
I begin walking as quiet as I can across the desolate boardwalk. Life went to Hell in only a few days. Well, the Infection or "Green Flu" as it typically is nicknamed has been around for close to three weeks now. I haven't see another living Human in three days now. I'm slowly beginning to think that I'm the only Human that survived. Part of me hope that someone else is alive, but being a loner has its advantages as well. Besides, I'm not alone as long as Yin stay by me. Then again, she just walked off on her own and could quite possibly be dead. But who's worrying?
As I walk across the boardwalk, I pass a handful of abandoned stalls. Each have signs hanging from them, each declaring their official closing or them being out of business. I stop for a second noticing a newspaper clipping declaring the closing of an airport due to the Green Flu. I remember hearing about that. I don't know what provokes me to do it, but I rip it off and shove it into my pocket. I also pocket a Pipe bomb that I find on the wooden shelf in front of a stall. I continue my journey looking for Yin. No body yet. Good so far.
As I make my way past the crowd of stalls, I arrive at the edge of the dock. The ocean front. Not only did my dog leave me to defend myself against mass hordes of zombies and the possible attack of those "other kind" of zombies, but the idea of drowning, too. I bet you didn't know that water is the leading cause from drowning. Anyway, away from the thousand mile long ocean that is the final reach of Florida, I continue my way.
Just as I begin walking down a straight line, I am careful to move over to the side to avoid falling in the ocean. As I move over, an Infected runs out from behind one of the stalls. It's a woman. She is wearing skimpy clothes; it was decently "hot" here in Florida before the virus took over. It wasn't common to see the rabid chalk - white skinned creatures dressed in tank tops, shorts, and muscle shirts. It wasn't rare to see the pale, yellow dead eyes. It wasn't rare to see blood, guts, or a gashing hole in one's stomach. "Bang," I say, lowering my shotgun and putting an extra bullet in, registering it as I walk. I leave a gaping hole in the former Infected's stomach.
As I continue to walk, I notice that the boardwalk is particularly littered. How amusing; it's the end of Humanity and all I can think of is the environment. According to CEDA, the company that tried to "cover up" the disease, the environment and cattle are the reason to blame. I slowly get tired of walking, and walking, but I plan to find my dog. I wonder how far she could to have possibly gone. That boardwalk is coming to an end now, slowly but surely, the end is in sight. When will I find my dog and not a large amount of old ice cream and popcorn wrappers, anyway?
That's when I heard possibly the strangest thing in days: voices. Voices that didn't include excessive coughing, gurgling, or rather loud screeching. They were Human voices. More than one. And they were talking. As I come close, I sneak carefully behind a stall that separates me from them. I put my Chrome on its holder on the back of my vest. I pull out the Glock from the holster on my jeans and press my ear against the stall to listen in.
"Well, wouldja look at that? A dog!" One voice in particular I notice, is loud and booming. Maybe I'm just imagining, but I could to have swore I heard an ocean off the ocean just now. Was Yin trying to lead me here on purpose, or was she trying to leave me for the new group? She wouldn't do that, would she?
"Yes, Francis, it's a dog," I hear a woman's voice; she says this with a rather large amount of sarcasm. Her voice almost seems flat, out of it. Maybe even a little bit cold if you listen to it. I pull out the second pistol on my belt, located on the opposite side of the Glock. I breathe carefully and quietly, holding them up, facing the butt towards the sky. Never could be too safe.
"I wonder if she's bitten." There was a third voice now, it another man's voice. He seemed more relaxed than the rest, strangely. I thought it was my style to act naturally calm and relaxed. Okay, now I need to see what is going on. I carefully drop to the rough wood below on the boardwalk and begin to crawl slightly, just so I can see what is going on. I notice one of them is leaning down, patting Yin on the head. That is most definitely my dog.
"Louis, you can't be seriously being thinking of taking the dog with us," the one with the booming voice says again. I wonder if he is purposely trying to attract the Infected? Last I heard they were attracted to loud noises. Would this count to them? I guess not, seeing as neither of his companions mention anything to the sort.
"Well, we don't have to take her. I just thought she would make a good companion. Besides, it's weird we haven't see dogs around here often - Zoey!" He says to the woman as she holds the butt to a Hunting Rifle to my dog. That is when before I know it, I spring into action. Jumping up, I accidentally pull the trigger of one of my pistols as the bullet goes towards the sky; all three turn to me.
"Bang," I reply coolly as I lean against the stall, putting the pistols down to face the boardwalk, "now can you all scoot away from my dog?" I say, flipping the guns around and putting them back in my holster when no one says anything and go, "I come in peace. I just came to get my dog and I'll be gone," I try, but everyone still remains silent. I just blink and sigh.
"Another survivor?! And he is a kid!" The woman companion says as she looks over to me. I blink and look over to here. She had black hair, tied back in a ponytail, with a jacket that borderlines between light red and pink, perhaps it was a mixture? She also wore converses and blue jeans; all of her features included a mixture of some sort of dirt or grime. Looks like she went through Hell like me. And the rest of us, possibly. She looks tired, similar to how I probably look, seeing how I haven't had a good night's worth of sleep in two or three days. It's not a big deal though, I'm an insomniac anyway. Or at least I became one.
"And that is surprising how?" I cock my eyebrow sarcastically, she looks young too. Not anywhere near my age. I imagine that a fourteen year old must be an uncommon sight in a Zombie Apocalypse, "say, where are you guys from? I haven't seen you all around..."
"Not here," says the black man who was being friendly with my dog. He dresses in a similar style to that of a businessman. He looks shrimpy and weak, but I'm sure being put through Hell can change a man. He is wearing a white shirt and a red tie; along with that is gray slacks and shiny, pointed shoes. I notice that he has a watch that might to have been expensive in "Pre - Apocalyptico - Land", and wears his sleeves rolled up, don't ask me how I notice these things. "And you?"
I shrug, "Not here, I'm just looking for my dog, come on, Yin," I call over to me and she barks, happily wagging her tail as she walks over. I begin walking into the distance with a casual wave. Yin trots up besides me, I see the black harness over her back where it says, "POLICE". What a tacky gag. I remember when Dad purchased that and brought it home. Teddy and I laughed hysterically into a fit of tears. I don't think Brittany was around, "Where are you going?"
It's the black guy again. I wish I knew there names. I disliked calling them just by aliases. Then again, I don't really like the woman already, so I guess not knowing her name made it easier for me, I shrug, "Away from here. I don't know, what the hell do you expect me to do? It's a Zombie Apocalypse. Run and survive, right?"
"Hey, do you even know anything about the Vampire Apocalypse?" I blink and look at him, did he just say "Vampires"? It was the loud guy, he was covered with sleeves of tattoos. He was wearing a leather biker jacket with a white tank top, fingerless gloves, boots and black jeans. Is he supposed to look like a biker? Or am I just being delirious and imaging things. Speaking of which, I am kind of hungry.
"I know I can survive if I use my wit and Hunter instinct," I say and shrug, they look at me blankly. "Hunter? Were you bit?"
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not bitten or whatever. I managed to avoid them from biting me. Strangely enough, they just like whacking me around. Unless you consider the freaky things I've seen around here, ones that spit acid, others that vomit on you. It's some weird shit," I reply and they looked almost amazed, I just blink and stare, "Uh, anything I can help you with?"
"Well, Hell, kiddo, you can handle yourself with a gun, right?!" Loud mouth says, and I feel tempted to whack him across the head. Obviously, or else I wouldn't have managed this long, "Yeah, so?" The next question surprises me, it comes from the woman who I already dislike, "Well, we can't just leave you here alone. Survivors...stick together," she mumbled on the last word as if she was stumbling over her own words. Possibly regret or something? "Yeah, you should come with us," the black guy replies and I look at them curiously.
Should I? What could I gain...
Human interaction. Teamwork. More of a chance at survival. When I look at the odds, I could do better with them, but I don't want to get attached. I walk back up to them, looking up to them. All of them are taller than me. Saddening. Yin is following me, she isn't whimpering, a good sign. "I guess there isn't any harm in that. I'm Ashton, Ashton Reynolds. This is my partner, Yin, if you even consider shooting her," I look over the black haired woman, "Bang." I reply and lean back, "And you are?"
"My name is Zoey," The black haired woman replies, noticing the brief hostility in my voice, although she tries to brush it off.
"I'm Louis," the businessman says to my question.
"I'm Francis," The guy dressed like a biker, replies, being the last one.
"Well then, I already introduced myself. If you need to know anything else," I almost laugh and want to slap myself. What would they want to know?
Don't get attached.
"...I'm fourteen, and I can handle a gun fairly well due to my ability to hunt," I look at them, wondering their ages, but I say nothing. Why? Because I just in plain, do not care. I wonder if I ever will, but as things stand, I doubt it. "To partnership," I say holding out my hand, but before anyone could try to shake, I put it instead the pocket of my brown vest.
And thus, begins my journey.