A.N.: *jumps on the walking dead fanfic bandwagon* am i cool yet? 8U This will follow the series starting with season one. posting new chapters might be a bit slow since I'm super busy with work and a few medical issues, but I'll try my best.
Colors danced around in the air, soft sounds coming from the slightly muted television set glowing in the dark room. It was quiet and raining, all the curtains closed to block out the gray view with the exception of the bay window facing the front lawn. A large dog walked into the room, pausing in the doorway to yawn loudly and swaying his tail back and forth. He raised his large head, his ears perked as he glanced around cautiously as he'd been trained to do. His dark muzzle sniffed at the ground, and he paused as his gaze fixed itself to the couch. His tail wagged at the speed of light as he released a playful "woof" and pounced on the lump of blankets piled at the end of the piece of furniture. A high-pitched squeal sounded through the otherwise empty house, and a shriek was accompanied by a giggle as a girl erupted from the blankets. "ALFRED! ALFRED CALM DOWN GET OFFA MEEEEEEEE" She rolled and fell off the couch, grunting from the impact as she reached up to pet the large dog who was now laying down. Coughing she stood, wobbly on her feet and sat back down on the edge of the couch. Her black and pink plaid pants dusted over her toes and her loose long sleeve black shirt twisted around her middle. She tugged the offending article of clothing over her chubby stomach and smoothed her hair, grabbing the remote to turn up the volume on the television. "-ople are panicking as this illness continues to plague city by city. Major roadways are being shut down as the military takes control and creates checkpoints to control the chaos ensuing. Nothing has been released about the illness itself but we have been informed that the main symptom to be concerned about is a violent fever. It is advised that people who don't rush to get out of the city stay in their homes, though refugee camps are being set up in major citi-" The screen went black and the girl stood up, stretching her arms above her head and walked out. She checked the dead bolt on the front door and moved into the shabby kitchen. Opening a cabinet she dropped several bottles of medicine and jumped back in surprise, cursing as she grabbed the rolling bottles.
A small cry came from another room and she sighed, rubbing her head as she grabbed the thermometer and shoved it in her mouth. "Co'in Addy." She called out while trying to keep the object under her tongue. Closing her lips tightly around the instrument she walked the short couple of feet to one of the bedrooms, opening the door and sliding in quietly. She walked to the small toddler bed and smiled at the two and a half-year old wiggling around with an upset expression. She picked the whiny toddler up and carried her on her hip into the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a sippy cup. The young woman had to keep twisting her head to avoid the thermometer being taken from her lips by small curious fingers, and sighed in relief when it beeped. Handing the sippy cup to the child she set her down and watched her run off into the other room. Smiling as she heard a squeal of delight and a small woof of pleasure, she took the object and read the small numbers. 99.4, not exactly a fever. Satisfied, she reopened the cabinet, more carefully this time, and popped 2 dayquil pills. Glancing into the livingroom to see the dog and Addy playing, she took the liberty to walk into her bedroom and started piling bags on her bed. Checking through each one she felt a surge of adrenaline as she gazed over the Trucker's Friend All-Purpose tool tucked in a small hard case. Closing the case and clicking the locks she searched through each bag to make sure she had everything with her. A dufflebag for clothes, another dufflebag for food and emergency supplies, a two person tent and sleeping bags, the hard case that hid the all-purpose tool as well as two handguns she'd manage to steal from her father, the thought sent another surge of adrenaline through her, a backpack with a fold up shovel, emergency flares, and several other items. She walked out and grabbed the diaper bag from Addy's room and stuffed it with the toddler's snacks, diapers, powder and dishes she'd need. She fanned herself momentarily as colors danced around her, the noise from the other room the source of the floating shades of soft yellow and green.
Shaking her head she stacked the bags next to the front door, several of the bags displayed a decal that said "Emergency Zombie Kit" and she smiled. Glancing out the window she noticed the nearly empty streets, most of the town had already made their escape including the crazed survival family downstairs. Luckily she was on good terms with the family before she came down with the flu, she'd noticed that the man of the house had knocked on her door and silently handed her the keys of their second vehicle, a fully locked and loaded 2013 Expedition King Ranch EL, with all the bells and whistles. She'd looked at him confused, and he simply replied that he knew she'd need it later, and that they were only taking one car. The gesture left her feeling very touched and she'd thanked him profusely, after all it was the survivors of this damn plague that had to stay together, no one would help them. Momentarily she recalled a fuzzy memory of a conversation with his wife. "Ex-marine was it?" She shook her head, the violet color evaporating into the air, and turned on her heel. She picked up the leash and harness from the table, dog tags clicking together in small bursts of periwinkle, and Alfred answered the call languidly. Small bursts of the same periwinkle danced up from the large Leonberger's nails as he clicked across the kitchen. Petting his head the young woman shoved all the medicine she could in her sister's Dora backpack and zipped it. "Addy!" She called out weakly, and waited as the television clicked off and Addy bounded in the room. "Where's your fafa?" She asked while glancing at the child's pacifier-less mouth. "I dunno sissy!" The toddler held out her hands and shrugged her shoulders in the most adorable expression of confusion and bewilderment. Laughing at the heartwarming display the teenager swooped the child in her arms and hunted around, finally finding the desired instrument under the couch. Washing it quickly she shoved it back in Addy's mouth and dressed her in record speed. "Okay Addy, we're going to go on a little trip okay?" The little girl nodded and smiled, toddling to the door and banging against it as the young woman threw on jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Throwing on a dark crew sweatshirt she smoothed her hair down and picked up Addy, lugging the bags down slowly as Alfred ran ahead. Packing everything in the car she smiled and stroked the steering wheel, admiring the vehicle and shivering in amazement she was even in possession in it. Closing the door she buckled in her sister and paused. "I'll be rick back." She allowed Alfred to jump in the car and closed the door as he settled next to the toddler, ears perked and alert. She jogged next door and broke into the abandoned house, well...the door was unlocked, so it wasn't really breaking and entering now was it? Walking into the garage her gaze darted around until...aha.
Grinning to herself she picked up her target, The Trail Rider. The electric skateboard was heavy in her hands, but knowing that her neighbor's eccentric skate obsessed son had this and left it behind made her happy. It'd be a perfect tool to discreetly raid towns and it was all terrain. Rushing back to the truck she packed it away in a hurry and jumped into the driver's seat, noticing the full tank of gas with a shiver of relief. The rain unmercifully battered the windows, driving was a bit tough but getting out of South Lawrence was her main priority. The plague had hit the Northeast Coast so viciously it was a wonder nothing major was completely wiped out. Rather than driving to Boston where a refugee camp was rumored she made a sudden decision to head south, maybe the illness hadn't spread there yet. Licking her lips she turned the cd player on, turning up the volume and relaxing when Bon Iver floated out of the speakers. Judging by the yawn caught in the rearview mirror, the little one was still tired from her interrupted nap. Smiling and rubbing at her itching nose the teenager drove on, weaving past broken and twisted cars and wrecks. It took hours of backtracking and some off-roading to get away from Massachusetts. The back roads were empty, she drove past small towns that lay abandoned, and stopped twice in nicer looking towns to do some extra scavenging. A couple of abandoned fresh cartons of juice and some baked goods caused her to smile, and there was some extra tubes of antibiotics she packed away quickly. They rested and ate a small meal, sandwiches that wouldn't go bad in a small cooler for a few days. Addy was changed into warm thermal pj's and tucked in with a blanket. The young woman did nothing more than remove her bra and down more cold medicine, and continued driving. The rain slowed to a drizzle, but the clouds remained. The initial excitement of a real zombie apocalypse faded away to apprehension as the weight of the situation settled on her mind. She was trapped in a world where people rose from the dead and was expected to survive as long as she could. Now the idea alone wasn't too bad, if she were by herself. Looking back in the mirror she frowned realizing she had a precious life she had to protect. A small child in a world like this, she'd have to be quick about teaching the small and spoiled child to listen and be quieter. Guilt spiked in her stomach, and the thought flashed through her mind that maybe she shouldn't have spoiled her rotten. She couldn't help it though when those big sweet eyes looked at her. She pulled over on the side of the road and rested her head against the steering wheel. No more warm blankets. No more running water. No more trips to the store or restaurants with hot food. No more coffee. No more boring school days at the local college. No more trips to the park or new clothes or new books or internet or music or...or...anything that society had built. Pressure built behind her eyes that settled into a dull ache, she choked up as she thought about the more sentimental things. No more visiting Grammy and Grampa...no more Mom...no more Step-dad...no more Christmas and Thanksgiving... She sniffled loudly and wiped her eyes, there wasn't time to be crying.
Within these thoughts she came to a realization. She was a city girl, who knew how to live in an urban jungle of concrete and steel, of cars and busy streets and sidewalks full of people you didn't look in the eyes. She wasn't a traveler no matter how much she wanted to be, she was always so poor. She'd lived just a few streets away from her childhood home, on Kingston street in a shabby three-story home split off into three separate homes. Her upstairs neighbors were in an out, tenants changed constantly but the doomsday preppers downstairs had been there since the beginning, and even helped her move in when her dad proved to be a no-show and her grandfather didn't have the strength to lift the heavier objects. She knew how to drop off her sister, get to school, and get to the store right down the street. She didn't even know where the Market Basket closest to her was, her grandparents always made the Demulas runs for her and she'd spot them the money. Granted at least two thirds of the money always seemed to make it back into her house, and she never said anything since she knew her grandfather preferred it that way. Gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white she pulled back onto the rode and drove until her eyelids proved to be too heavy to go on. They pulled over and she slept more deeply than she would have liked, her illness took a hard toll on her body. They woke the next day to clear streets and weak sunlight filtering through the windows. Addy was changed and fed and window shades were suction cupped to the back windows to prevent the sun from bothering the child. They drove and drove and drove, the needle on the gas meter draining slowly but surely as they covered more distance. Song after song after track after track of music played, softly at first but as Addy got more fussy the volume went up and she was pacified by the noise. The teen was bothered by the colors dancing in front of her eyes but it was somewhat of a distraction from the ghost town of roads ahead of her. Her nose was blown over and over again but the appendage remained stuffed and uncomfortable. Her head was full of cotton and her hearing off a bit, she was exhausted but intact enough to feed and change Addy and read the signs ahead of her. Patting down her short golden brown hair she trained her stormy gray eyes in front of her, squinting to see the words on road signs. She stopped momentarily and sighed, slipping her thick rimmed glasses on her nose. The headache throbbing behind her left eye vanished, and she pulled back on the road.
She watched state signs pass by, took different passages when roadways became clogged with empty cars. It was two days later when they first saw walkers. It was a lot worse in real life than it was in movies, and Alfred went berserk and barked loudly at the undead. The teenager shushed him loudly and was glad Addy's shades were drawn. She kept her eyes trained on the road and messily plowed into any undead that came too close with a determination that was unrelenting. The Georgia sign passed by and she slowed her pace as the needle on the gas level began creeping closer to E. Sighing she drove through small primed towns that seemed perfectly abandoned, passed by corpses and walkers and horrifying signs that revealed locations where hope was lost. She took a deep breath and blinked back tears. She had been wrong. The south was just as bad as the north. It was spreading faster than she thought, and suddenly all those survival plans she had went out the window. She changed her course and headed toward Atlanta, at this point she figured not seeing any survivor groups was strange, not everyone could have been attacked. It was impossible, improbable. She slowed as she passed by a police car at an abandoned house, curious as the area seemed otherwise desolate. Continuing on her way she sighed, until she spotted something ahead. Speeding up she caught sight of a...man on a horse. What? Confused she drove alongside the man, though he was riding through grass and land and not on the road. The man glanced at her car and did a double take before she pulled over and stepped out. Alfred poked his head out her door and woofed at the man, but otherwise remained well behaved. Shocked the two approached each other, the young woman never straying far from the vehicle. "I...you...you're alive. You are a living breathing person with a car. Are you heading to the refugee center?" The man asked quickly. "I...sorta. Just...trying to find a safe place...you know zombie apocalypse and all." The two remained awkwardly excited for a few moments. The police officer held out his hand and smiled weakly. "Rick Grimes." She took his hand, transfixed for a moment by the new shade of light blue that danced from his lips. "Eve. Eve de Lepré."
A.N.: to clear things up, in reality it's been a few weeks that have passed but Eve has the flu and hasn't been doing so good, so time passed quite slowly for her. The colors will be explained later, but cookies if anyone can figure it out themselves ahead of time. reviews are welcome, flames are giggled and pointed at.