Chapter 1 – Awakening
The storm starts to settle. One of the last drops falls down Liz's cheek as she wakes up. She tries to open her eyes. Never had she thought it would take such effort to open her eyes, as she feels no control over her body, she tries to discover where she was. Soaken wet and completely oblivious to what was going on she realized that she didn't know that place. Huge buildings kept piling up infront of her vision, black clouds seemed to appear the more her numb state weakened. Her blurred vision starts to go clear. It took some time until she lost her numbness and with that she felt a sudden pain on her forehead.
‚,What the hell happened?'', she puckered. She felt something on her head that was thicker than water, she looked at her hand and realized that she was bleeding. She didn't know what had happened to her but she knew exactly that she needed to get up and get out of this place.
‚,Come on, get a hang of yourself already'', she said to herself, getting up with all her strenght. The streets were completely empty, silence. Carrying herself on with the help of a wall of some building she tries to walk further, with steady and slow steps, still feeling dizzy. The Wind blows cold and Liz shivers. She felt cold only wearing a green leatherjacket, some black leggins, short black pants and her favorite high heels. Her long brown hair, cut in a pony, wouldnt really keep her warm either. She stoped for a second and touched her head again. She closed her eyes, wanting to rest again. Suddenly she heard a hitting sound and opened her eyes immediately. Surprised by the sound she looked up and tried to figure out where it came from..
‚,Why is this even scaring me? Its just a sound'', feeling stupid about her own emotions she approached the alley where the sound came from as fast as she could, which wasn't fast at all because her head was still punding.. The closer she got the clearer got the image of something seemingly spazzing out. The sky was getting clearer and liz slowed down her approaching, not knowing what it was she got scared. Something seemed off about this and liz had a very bad feeling about this. She took a deep breath and decided to look who that person was. She got so near that she clearly could recognize black thin jeans and some sneakers. The rest of the body was hid behind some boxes and leftovers of furniture that was already pretty worn-out.
‚,What am I even doing, I should just go'', liz told herself and the moment she decided to leave she heard a moan. She turned around again and finally faced the boxes. Slowly looking around the corner of the old furnitures and boxes something suddenly grabbed her jacket. Too shocked to scream and too scared to even move she stood there, not knowing what to think. As she looked closer she saw a face. Still calming herself down she asked that person:
,,Wh-Who are you?''. Letting go of Liz the person mumbled some words that weren't understandable. Still in shock but slowly getting angry about wasting her time with someone that was randomly laying around, she grabbed the person and helped her getting into a seating position. Liz grabbed her face with both hands and tried to figure out if she even realized that she was talking to her. Her eyes sluggishly started to recognize Liz's face.
‚,Who are you'', Liz asked again, this time a little calmer.
‚,S..r...'', she still mumbled. ,,Sarah'', she repeated again as she realized that she wasnt being clearly enough. Liz let go her face, picked Sarah up and put her on one of the old furnitures. She thought it would be better for her to sit on a wet couch than on a soaken wet ground.
‚,Can you help her too please'', she said quietly.
‚,Her? There's another one?'', being told that, she checked up the alley. Right behind the other tons of boxes that were lying next to Sarah was another person. With only a tanktop, baggie pants and a beanie she was lying there. With already a little experience at picking people up she right away went to grab her upper arms first. As she turned her around Liz backed up immediately and fell onto the ground. Being scared shitless she crawled up to the wall behind her. Getting a sudden wave of dizzines due to sudden movements she sat there, scared. Sarah already being conscious again and directly noticing Liz being terrified. ,,What is it?''. She didnt get any response, atleast not from Liz. A horrifying growl came from behind those boxes and Sarah's friend got up in one sudden movement, her face being quite deformed and as pale as a corpse.
,,Does your friend always look like this ?!'', Liz asked snapping out of her state. Sarah couldn't even respond, she broke out into tears and screaming:
,,What is happening ? Is this some sort of sick joke ? Bri stop, its not funny anymore !''. But she didn't stop, it wasn't a joke. Bri suddenly started to approach Liz with fast, lagging movements, with her non-stoping horrifying growls. Liz knew they could't run away, Sarah was still numb and Liz wasnt in the condition for any tedious movements either. With her right hand she could feel something pointed laying next to her on the ground, it was a screw driver, left behind with the other old furnitures. Maybe someone forgot it and it fell off of some of the boxes. Without even hesistating she took the screw driver and acted. Liz knew exactly that there was no time to waste in this situation, her instict was never wrong. She got up, breathing heavily, her head still hurting like hell. She squuezed the screw driver as much as she could once more before she ran up to what was standing before her. She put up all her strenght that she had left and sticked the screwdriver right through one of that thing's eyes. Blood immediately spread out and got onto her jacket and a bit of her face. The creature growled and had one last spasm before going down. It fell so sudden that it took Liz down with it, still not letting go of her chosen weapon. Sarah screaming even louder now made Liz uncomfortable, it made her doubt herself. She let go of the screwdriver and backed off again to the wall behind her. Being disgusted by the look of, the what once seemed to be a girl, below her. Surprised by herself and scared she just let herself sled down the wall and rest on the floor.
‚,Oh my god, what did you do?'' Sarah screamed in complete grief over her friend. ‚, I don't know'', Liz answered, completely cold.
,,How long do you think we can hide here ?''‚
,,I don't know, but I don't want to go outside there anymore, I'm sick of it, I'm sick of running. Can we just stay here for one second, please?''‚
,,I think we can do that''. She hid it, but he saw a tear stream down her face, she was hurt and she didn't want him to notice it because she thought it would depress him, make his thoughts go negative. She always thought of others first. She was such a kindhearted person. Everything was still around them. It started getting dark. She leaned her head on his shoulder and they stayed like this for a few more minutes before the running started again.
The sun was at its highest point and shining clearly through some weak clouds. Paty was looking at the map and marking some locations on it.
‚,We should check these out first, we haven't been there and I'm pretty sure they have big malls. We need some supplies for the trip we're about to make guys'', she spoke and the people around her acted right away on it. Not because she was their boss, more because they were friends and they relied on her. Anne stayed beside Paty because she was simply too lazy to get any weapons for herself, not that she needed them, because she was avoiding fights anyway. The lake down the hill was passing by quietly and the leafes of the trees dancing in the wind.
,,Are you telling us where we're going to end up next, after we have the supplies?'', Anne asked with curiosity. Paty just grinned and packed away the map. Raymond came back with some of the guns that were in their camp and ammo, in a bag that looked more like a sack, while Randi came back with a coffer full of bandages and other medical inventory like always. As Paty was standing there, looking at her group, she realized how proud she was of them. Randi was packing the things onto the car while Raymond was checking the guns again. Lian came back with cotton candy in her hand. Everybody stopped what they were doing to take a look at Lian. She was standing there, eating her candy, with her flashy shoes, bubbly clothes and her headphones around her neck, just like everyday. They looked at Lian, back at eachother and laughed.
‚,What?'' asked Lian confused about the random laughing.
‚,Nothing'', they all answered at the same time, laughing even harder. Everything was loaded and they were about to head out, extremely late to it Anita hopped on to the car and acted like she'd been there from the beginning on.
‚,You're late again'', said Randi and gave her the biggest smile.
,,No I'm not, I don't know what you're talking about'', and smiled back the best she could. Ray drove off with Paty sitting next to him in the truck, with Lian, Anita, Anne and Randi in the back, enjoying the driving breeze. The land completely empty, without any animals nor people. Endless fields of grass filled with trees passed by them. After a while of driving they finally reached the land they were headed at. Slowing down the car while entering the city the group was suspicously looking around. This village was bigger than the usual ones they visited for supplies but it was quieter Way more quiet.
‚,Take out the guns'', Paty said in a serious voice. Randi reached into the bag, since she was the only one in the back of the truck that actually could handle guns. Lian, the youngest in the group, wouldn't mind to handle one but Paty and most of the others were too worried about her using one. Anita avoided the shooting as much as she could, but Randi always made her carry a knife around with her, so that if something happens, Anita had something to defend herself with. Randi handed over a shotgun to Paty for nearcombat occasions, even though Paty already carried a pistol around with her.
‚,Why is it so silent, they usually already linger on the streets when we're coming'', Anita was clearly aware of what was going on and was the only one to speak it out loud.
‚,The Mall should be just around the corner here'', said Paty in hope to calm everybody a bit. The village was wasted and furniture, broken glass, ruins of houses and burned out things were lying around everyhwere. It seemed like a more old fashioned village, calm and beautiful.
,,I wonder what happened here'', said Ray, almost whispering in thought of Lian, to not scare her. Paty gave him a look like she had misheard him, like she wanted to mishear him. It was still bright daylight when they got out of the car. Anne was dressed all in white, white short shorts, a white simple shirt and white ballerinas. Her blonde hair shining in the sun made her almost as flashy as Lian. Paty went first, heading into the mall like it was nothing, absolute routine. The mall was in a surprisingly good state. Lian right behind Paty following up with Anita, Anne and Randi & Raymond as ending lights. Anne had a stick, nothing more, and a light one on top of that.
,,Seriously girl, you need to get armed or I'll have to protect you your whole life'', said Ray.
,,That doesnt sound so bad'', said Anne as she turned around and winked at Raymond. He smiled, almost blushing.
‚,Get a room already you two'', Anita blurted out without even thinking. Lian and Randi just couldn't help but laugh at it, because as blunt as it was, it was truth. Even Paty knew it so she secretly smiled along, still headed further into the mall. The hallway of the mall was very clean, no blood, no signs of fighting, no corpses.
‚,Seems like they had a day off when shit started to go down'', said Randi trying to cheer up the mood, like she always does.
‚,Maybe they were on a strike, I heard this village pays pretty shitty'', Anita went along. ,,Randi and Anita, you two go check out the highest level, Ray and Anne, you'll take the middle one while me and Lian check out the stores down here. Take everything that can come in handy and Randi, no gay porn this time'', commanded Paty. Randi laughed out loud as they all headed out to their told positions.
,,Are you trying to get pair them off ?'', asked Lian with a smirk on her face and taking a bite of her Cotton Candy.
,,Atleast I'm not eating cotton candy allday'', returned Paty, walking off with a smile of victory. Lian pulled her typical pout face and followed her. The first store that Paty entered was the Pharmacy. Everything was still in order and in the shelves. Lian and Paty checked for the dates and took some of the medicine with them, or more likely Lian did in her rainbow back-pack. She stuffed it in her, seemingly little, back-pack.
‚,Look! A candy store, we need to check that out'', said Lian out loud, enthuasticly, being all excited about it. Paty smiled and couldn't help Lian's cuteness and just agreed. Paty felt very unfitting in the store, incontrary of Lian she was not all flashy. Everything seemed so rainbowcolored in that store, while Paty was only wearing a black blouse with some blue jeans and her black sneakers.
‚,I wish I could eat them all'', said Lian, making Paty grin again.
,‚Lets just go, you're making me hungry, we have to find food''. As soon as they walked out the store they heard a loud gunshot. Lian jumped by the sound of it and Paty immediately run to where the sound was coming from, upstairs.
,,Come on Lian, we have to hurry !'' she screamed as loud as she could to hide her fear. Lian tried to put her fear aside and ran right after her.
She wiped the blood of her machete. It had a red grip just like its sword sheath. She put it back, slowly, enjoying the sound of it. The sound that she has been hearing for some time now. Another dead zombie in front of her feet. It was only a leftover of another human's crippled and intoxicated brain, whatever it was.
‚,Why am I still doing this, there's no point in it''. What was the fighting worth for? She asked herself that everytime she dealed with one of these creatures. It's not like she enjoyed it, it wasn't like her, but she had to do it to survive.
,‚I'm sure as hell not the one giving up just like that''. And she walked on, going her maverick way. She reached another street. She pulled her Machete as a horde of zobmies shows up in front of her, once again.
‚,Tell me who you are!'', Ash said in panic and pointed the gun at the person in front of her. She was standing in the middle of a park that seemed so peaceful at first sight. With her hair in a ponytail, wearing jeans with unknown symbols on it and badass boots.
‚,If you think that I can't pull the trigger then you're wrong!'', she demonstrated by shooting the ground just before his feet.
‚,Hold on! I'm not a bad person, I promise''.
‚,Just tell me who you are already and maybe I'll believe you'', she said with no mercy in her eyes, still pointing her gun straight at him.
‚,Omar'', he said as if he were in hurry. Ash took down her gun. ,,Well nice to meet you, Omar''.
,,Is that how you always greet people? You must be popular amongst your friends. What the hell was that for? Pointing a gun at me, I didn't even do anything.''
,,Don't worry, it's just for security, there's a lot of people you can't trust here, I just had to check''. Confused Omar didn't ask any further and tagged along with Ash. He was wearing nothing but a grey hoodie, light jeans and brown worn-out vans shoes. He had black short hair and a beard that seemed well trimmed.
‚,So... how did you..-'',
‚,You mean how I survived?'' Ash interrupted Omar already seeming to know what he meant from the beginning on. ‚,I woke up and my dad was already shooting them, he took down a lot of them. My mother was getting me and my brother ready to go when they suddenly entered through the backdoor. I don't know how, but they managed to break the door in. Our house isnt really the stablest you know. I guess it isnt zombiesafe'', she tried to cheer up the story as she realized that Omar was already knowing where she was headed with the story.
‚,They bit my mother, my father still tried to save her but it was too late. They got him too. I still hear him screaming when I space out.'', she grabbed her shirt and tried to fight the tears. ‚,I just took Tommy with me and the first gun I could find. A few hours later, as we were already settling down on a camp, he turned into one of those things without me noticing. Now that I think back he might have gotten bitten too. He looked like he wanted to kill me. His eyes, his arms reaching for me. His veins were all popping up and his eyes blank and red. it wasn't him anymore. I pointed the gun at him and shot him. I shot my own brother'', she broke out in tears, nearly tearing a part off her shirt.
‚‚I just ran away, I couldnt take it''. Omar could only imagine the agony she was going through right now. He didn't even need to search for words. He was absolutely clear about what was the right thing to say in this situation.
‚,We'll go back''. So surprised about that answer she immediately stopped crying.
‚,What do you mean we go back? Didnt you listen to me? How can you say something like that?''.
‚,We'll go back. We'll go back and bury him like he deserves it. You'll have the chance to say good bye. You didn't have the chance to say good bye to your parents, but you will with Tommy.'' He said those words certainty than everything he has ever said before in his life. He smiled with complete secureness. A smile that was contagious and left Ash no other choice then to go along.
,‚You look way better when you smile than pointing guns at people.'' His smile turned even brighter. Ash started laughing a little and her last tear finally dropped. She gave him a little punch:
,,Idiot.'' They started their way back to Tommy together and left, the once so peaceful, park in silence again.
to be continued