Bad World
Glens eyes widened in realisation and he stood up, quickly jogging to his tent and grabbing his backpack. He held it in his hand as he rushed back to where the group was huddled around the fire. He sat down in his old spot, opening his bag and looking through it.
"What are you doing?" Amy asked him next to him, amused.
"You remember that camera I found on my last run?" He asked, his hand feeling through all the junk in his bag.
Andrea nodded from her place beside Amy and answered. "Yeah, I remember that camera. You wouldn't stop asking everyone what they thought could be on it." She rolled her eyes playfully.
"What's this about a camera?" Rick questioned, his arms wrapped around his family. If he had it his way, he'd never left them go again but unfortunately, he had to go with Daryl and Glen to get Merle in the morning.
"Short round 'ere found a camera on one-a his runs." Daryl answered, not looking up while he used his spoon to pick up the oatmeal in his bowel before he turned the spoon sideways and watched as it dripped back in. He wasn't hungry. He just wanted his brother back. "It 'ad 'please watch' written on it but we 'adn't got a way ta'." He explained distractedly. "Dumb-asses think people go round carryin' camera chargers." He muttered.
"Yes but now we do." Glen announced, pulling a camera out of his bag. "I found travel charger for it n' plugged it in that car I stole." He shifted his gaze to Dale. "Before you vultures took it apart." He scowled. "Anyway. Who wants to watch it with me?"
"Sure." Rick nodded and went to stand up. His family followed him as well as the rest of the group, except for Daryl and the few who had gone to bed, leaving Daryl, T-dog, Rick, Lori, Carl, Shane, Dale, Andrea, Amy and Glen up.
"Who ever made tha' is prolly dead now anyways." Daryl told them, sighing. "No point in watchin' somethin' that's just gonna' make ya' sad." He told them.
"That just makes me want to watch it more." Amy admitted quietly and the group gazed at her questionably. "Think about it. These people are probably dead." She agreed with Daryl. "So the least we can do is watch it and remember them."
Rick smiled at her. "I think that's a great way to think about it."
"Yeah," Dale agreed from his spot behind Glen. "I would like to think that when I go, someone will be remembering me."
"Alright, here we go." Glen said, turning the camera on. "Daryl, you joining us?" He asked, glancing over at him.
Daryl put his bowel down on the ground and bit at his thumb. "If y'all are doin' it, might as well." He shrugged standing up and walking over to them. "Ya' never know, it might be ah football game."
"Yeah, a football game with 'please watch' written on it." Glen replied sarcastically.
Daryl scowled at him. "Shu' up, Asian." He told him, standing at the back of the group. He didn't want to get to close; physically and emotionally speaking. They did leave his stupid ass brother behind and they were lucky he was even talking to them and not kicking their asses. After all, he could kick their ass after he got his brother back.
"I'm Korean." Glen sighed.
"Wha' ever. Jus' play the damn thing."
He did as he was told.
There was a young woman, no older than Twenty Five, laughing as she held a ball underneath her foot on a freshly-mowed lawn. Her strawberry blonde - almost red - hair was short and choppy as it laid just underneath her chin. It was a hot day, not a cloud in the sky, which would explain her clothing; she was dressed in white shorts that barely covered her ass and a tank top which hugged her curves in all the right places. A man with spiky brown hair dove at her, trying to take the ball but she was too fast and before he knew it, she was sprinting around him, kicking the ball along with her. "Sucker." She teased in amusement as she ran, juggling the ball with her feet.
"Well, you were right, Daryl." T-Dog said. "It is a football game." He, and some of the group members, laughed and Daryl shot him a dirty look.
The man growled, though it was obviously playful. "You're goin' down!" He told her, his feet carrying him in her direction. He looked like he was around Thirty years old and wore long shorts with a short sleeved T-shirt.
"JJ, you're getting' your ass kicked by our sister!" A man's voice called behind the camera and the camera shook with his laughter.
"Shut up, Tom!" JJ shouted over to him and the camera shook even more. Laughter could be heard in the background.
"He's not as young as he used to be." The girl giggled as she came to a stop, her body going into a crouch as she prepared for her brothers attack. "Ain't that right, old man?" She grinned beautifully, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight.
"She's pretty." Rick commented, his voice soft and sad.
"Mm," Lori hummed in agreement as she leaned into her husband. Carl smiled at his parents and snuggled himself in-between them.
Suddenly, her eyes widened and her brother appeared on the screen as he tackled her to the ground. She laughed breathlessly. "You douche!" She coughed, struggling to catch her breath. "God, I'm so unfit." She commented.
JJ quickly got to his feet and ran, taking the ball with him. "It's all that -" He got cut off as the screen went black and a new scene appeared.
The next was a image of the same girl sitting on a sofa with a laptop on her lap. She didn't appear to know that she was being filmed as she typed away at her computer.
"Hey, Tammy?" Tom, the camera man from earlier, asked.
"Mm?" She hummed in response as her fingers flew effortlessly over the keys, her eyes never leaving the screen. A few seconds later, she stopped and glanced up, rolling her eyes when she saw the camera. "Tom." She groaned. "Me n' JJ should never of brought you that camera." She muttered playfully.
"You love it." He replied. "What'cha doin'?" He questioned curiously.
"Just replying to Facebook messages." She told him, turning her attention back to her laptop.
"Jeez, I miss Facebook." Glenn commented and Amy hummed in agreement.
"I never really went on mine." Lori spoke up. "I made it but only checked it about once every Three months." She laughed and Rick looked at her adoringly. Catching his look, she gave him a kiss. No one seemed to notice the way Shane's jaw clenched.
"Look." Dale told them, pointing to the camera. "It's when the first case of the virus appeared."
The camera was now focused on a T.V as a 'breaking news' banner flashed across the screen.
"Doctors at a hospital in Lake city are baffled after a elderly man died of a heart attack, came back to life and appeared to be mentally unstable as he tried to bite – Yes, bite – the Doctor who was treating him." A reported said, holding a microphone up to his mouth as he stood outside of the hospital. "The Doctors think that the heart monitor he was connected to had failed which is why the elderly man appeared to be dead. More about on this report is on our website."
"Weird." Tammy commented and the camera turned back into her direction. She didn't noticed however because her attention was the the T.V.
"I doubt it." Tom responded. "The heart monitor failed, they probably tried covering him up and it stressed him out or somethin', which is why he tried to bite 'em."
Tammy nodded absently. "I suppose." Suddenly, she frowned, her attention still on the T.V.
"What?" He questioned, the camera going back to the T.V. "Holy crap." He commented.
"-I repeated, another case, similar to this one has just been reported from a hospital in Rock Bridge, Thirty One miles away from the original case." The reporter informed. "This must rule out faulty equipment." He paused for a second, holding his hand up to his ear. He dropped his hand as he spoke again. "I have just been told that a Nurse at Rock Bridge hospital has been bitten. Her wound is currently being treated."
"OK," Tom started. "Now it's weird."
"It's probably nothing." Tammy replied. The camera shifted over to her just in time to catch her smiling reassuringly at him. "Don't worry about it, Tom."
"I won't." He responded. "I'ma go get some sleep." He said and the camera tilted as he stood up. "Night, sis."
"Night." Tammy said, a smile in her voice. "I hope you enjoyed your birthday today."
The screen went black again before a young man appeared, no older than Nineteen. His hair was a mess, his eyes tired and he seemed to be filming himself as he looked down at the camera. "OK, so my sister just woke me up." He started whispering. "She said that the hospital in Lake city and Rock Bridge, and a load of others has been quarantined off." He explained in a slightly amazed voice. "People have got bitten and then they bit other people!" He whispered frantically. "The news said people who had died in car crashes have just stood back up and bitten the paramedics. It's insane." He shook his head. "How can something like this happen? How can everything be normal then just...Just change? Like that?" He clicked his fingers.
"Tom, you ready?" Tammy called to him.
Tom looked up. "Yeah, I'm ready!" He shouted back before looking down at the camera again. "We're packing our stuff. The news says they're setting up a safe-zone in Atlanta but JJ doesn't think it's a good idea. JJ thinks we should go and find a cabin in the woods. Says that the less we're around people, the less we'll come in contact with those...things." He swallowed visibly. "I hope he's right." He whispered.
"Tom, come on!" Tammy shouted before there was a piercing scream, soon followed by Tammy yelling, "Oh my god! Mom!" Tom jumped at the noise before rushing out of a room and down the stairs.
"Holy shit!" Tom yelled, absently holding the camera up to his chest. The camera just about caught a figure hunched over, it's face bloody as it pulled intestines out of a elderly woman's stomach. The elderly woman gasped in pain, holding her hand up towards the camera.
"Carl, honey, don't watch." Lori muttered to her son, using her hands to cover his ears as he looked away.
Suddenly, a man stepped behind the cannibal and jammed a knife straight through the top of it's head. Blood splattered onto his jeans and he pulled the knife out, the figure falling to the side. "I'm sorry, Mom." The man knelt down, revealing that it was JJ. JJ chocked on a sob as he used the same knife and stabbed his mother in the head. He breathed heavily for a few moments."Are you two alright?" He asked hoarsely, standing up.
There wasn't an answer, the camera shook violently in the teens hand and the sound of a young woman sobbing filled the air.
"W..W-why would you..." Tom trailed off, his voice full of shock and disbelief.
"She was infected." JJ's answer was strained. "On the news it said you can't do anything for them. They'll turn and try to kill you." He continued. "Now, I know you two are in shock, believe me, I am too but we gotta' go." He said firmly, stepping over the bodies. "C'mon."
The young girl continued to sob as the camera cut out.
Glen pressed pause and blinked. "Wow." He commented. "Kinda' reminds you of how you felt when this first started, huh?"
"Yeah." Andrea agreed. "Do you think they made it?" She questioned, glancing around at the group. " I mean, they're heading to the woods."
"Don't mean they made it." Shane butted in. "We were all meant to go to Atlanta and look where we ended up." He looked around the camp. "Plans change. They could have been in city when they napalmed it."
"What if they did make it to the woods?" Amy asked. "And they're still alive?" She looked around. "I hope so." She admitted. "Wouldn't it be nice to think that there are actually others out there?"
Behind them, Daryl snorted. "Even if they did make it ta' the woods, you think they'd be alive?" He shook his head. "They look like they haven't done one day of hard work in their lives. Fuckin' rich kids." He rolled his eyes. "No way they'd be able to survive out there. They'd run out of food, prolly go ta' the city to find some n' get overrun by Geeks."
"You shouldn't judge people like that." Amy argued. "What about the older guy? That, uh..." Her eyes rolled up as she thought. "JJ." She remembered, looking back at him. "He looked like he could handle himself."
"I have to agree." Dale interrupted. "He seems to know how to stay calm in bad situations. That's a good thing to have these days."
Daryl scoffed. "Yea 'cause it don't matta' if you're surrounded by Geeks. S'long as you stay calm, everything'll be alright." He said sarcastically. "Don't need no ammo, no food, no weapons. S'long as you got zen, right?"
"I think what he means is that if you're calm, you can assess the situation better and get out of it, right, Dale?" Rick nodded at him.
"Yes. Thank you." Dale smiled gratefully.
"OK," Glen interrupted. "How about we watch the rest of the film and see if they survived or not?" He suggested. "It's better than drawing to conclusions based on their appearance."
Daryl nodded. "A'right." He agreed and pointed at him. "I bet they don't. If I win, ya' do my laundry for ah week."
Glenn groaned, the idea not appealing to him. "Fine but If they do, you do mine. Deal?"
"Deal." Daryl replied. "Now turn tha' thing back on so ah can win already."
Please review and let me know if you want me to continue or not!
