I do not own anything from the Walking Dead franchise, except for my OCs. Special thanks to Mischieflover and KL for betaing my work!
Lists of things to get:
1) Fuel
2) Wires
3) Maybe some chocolate
I seem to be forgetting something.
What is it?...
Do I need to get fertiliser? I still have some in the storeroom. Or perhaps extra writing paper? ... Uncle Jeffrey and Co. can get it themselves. Maybe new batteries for the Wildcam? Nah….
Know what? Screw this – I'm getting out. It's time to pick Uncle Jeffrey and Co. up.
When I step out of the cabin, an unusually cold chill hits me. Hmmm…. Winter is near – got to hide my nuts in the trees and fatten up. Well, maybe not really fatten up, if not I won't be able to fit into my coats. Imagine…. Me in my….
Ok, stop, focus. After picking Uncle Jeffrey and Co. up, I will have to:
Come up with an energy usage plan
Do more fruit preserves
Probably perform a forest check by the end of this week
My chicken offering is still outside the compound. It seems like Snow and his pack still don't want to come near humans.
All right, I'll just bring the dead chicken further out. It's on the way anyway.
2003 is looking pretty good to me. If Uncle Jeffrey hadn't introduce me to this job, I'd still be stuck in that office job, getting odd hour calls, doing dumb stuff… Ugh. I get the outdoors here, and I get to watch Snow and his pack grow, which is what I wanted to do in the first place. Plus, I get to do plenty of climbing around here. It usually takes me one whole day to travel from my cabin to the foot of the mountain, but if I'm alone, I can just scale down the cliff face.
Actually, it would be awesome if I could climb The Edge, which is the cliff face just behind my cabin, and covers a huge portion of the perimeter of the Wolf Research and Conservation Center. The Edge is days' worth of vertical climbing, which is the perfect adventure. Once Snow and his pack….leave the compound, I will apply for leave and go scale The Edge.
Wish Dad was here.
I'm on the ground now. It's 11am. Not bad, I have set a new record.
I scramble up and into the plane, and as I open my wallet to grab my keys, I notice how bare it is.
Crap, I knew I was forgetting something!
I wanted to go to town to buy groceries, and have lunch with Uncle Jeffrey and Co., and I FORGET to bring…..
Cash.
Wow,…. It's a real stroke of ingenuity.
But it's natural – after all, I've spent quite a long time living off self-reared chickens and veggies from the greenhouse back at the cabin. My electricity and water utilities are covered by hydroelectricity and a small fuel-powered generator, so basically, I never had to spend a single dime on daily necessities, unless I need more wires and get lunch with my colleagues. So it's like Man vs Wild, excluding the bug-eating and piss-drinking parts.
Guess I have to pay for lunch with Uncle Jeffrey and the rest with my debit card -
Wait. Debit card?
I flip open my wallet, and – thank the heavens – I brought my card. Come to think of it, I could get Uncle Jeffrey to pay for it first, and then return him the money later.
Now concentrate on flying.
After I land my plane on the air strip, I head straight for Michael's store. As usual, Michael arranged for my fuel and wires to be picked up by me at the back of his store. I place them on the trolley and rolled them to the plane and load them up.
Ok, here's what I got to do
1) Pay with my debit card
2) Grab some flowers
3) Visit Dad's grave.
4) Pick Uncle Jeffrey and Co. up
I ring the bell on the counter, and Michael's daughter, Laurie, comes out to greet me.
"Hello! How have you been?" she approaches, with a baby in her arms. Uh….. I don't remember her having a baby the last time I was here.
"Uh….. Good baby?"
Laurie gives me a puzzled look, as if wondering why such perfect nonsense just came out from my out. I swear I wanted to say "Good, your baby?"
Damn, my brain's not working.
"Oh… yes, Jonah here is about six months now. Say hello there, Jonah!" She waves Jonah's arm at me, and I gingerly poke his hand with a finger.
"Laurie, can you grab a ….."
Damn it, I forgot what it's called! Come on, recall, recall… ah-hah!
"Funds transfer machine? I forgot to bring cash."
"Sure, I'll go grab it from the front of the store." Laurie promptly left. I spot a box of Ferrero Rochers and walk towards it to grab it.
I hear a scream, which gets cut short. Followed by sounds of ...flesh being munched on? And the sound just keeps getting louder and louder! Is she mopping the floor or spilling water or…
I put the Ferrero back to find Laurie and–
What.
The.
Hell?
Someone, looking like a car crash victim turned grey, has his face buried in Laurie's neck.
Or rather, he's chomping furiously on her neck, spewing blood everywhere.
Another one like it is also doing the same to Jonah.
With a sickening crunch, his head falls to the ground. Blood gushes out like water works.
His small, fallen head rolls on the ground, and it rolls to the point where his eyes are…..
Staring at me.
What…. The shit is happening? People… don't… eat… people… and….. I am not sure if the former can even be considered people at all… judging by what looks like….. Rotten skin?
Oh damn! The smell of blood is over-powering! I taste bile in my throat, and they are threatening to erupt.
A loud snarl erupts from behind me– and I whirl towards that sound.
Another greyish car crash victim is lunging towards me with mouth and arms open wide.
NOPE, NOT GOOD!
I sprint out through the front of the shop and on to the main road. A sharp turn to the right and holy sh-
A whole bunch of them.
BACK UP BACK UP BACK UP AND RUNNNNN!
Don't trip over those….. dead bodies!
No way…. Can't risk slipping on this pool of blood…. Get around that car!
After getting around the car, I run in the path of several other people like me – frantically running for their lives. And it's a bad idea- they keep knocking onto me. So I step away from them, near to this dead body and – UGHHHHH!
IT'S TRYING TO BITE MY ANKLE! WHY ISN'T IT DEAD?!
I narrowly avoid its teeth and continue on my mad dash to get away from the walking corpses behind me.
Lungs and legs are starting to tire, and it's getting harder to br- NO! KEEP RUNNING! I'M NOT GETTING EATEN LIKE –
OHHHHHH CRUD!
There's more incoming in front of me.
I freeze in mid-stride.
Walking corpses are surrounding me now, fixing their gaze on me, reaching out with their rotten fingers. Time is running out – with every second I spend searching a way out in front, they stagger faster and faster towards me. I can now see clearly the bite marks on them, every torn flesh, lipless mouth, black blood, my fate, my death my –
What? There's an open door at the back?
I dive into that opening and slam the door shut.
Around me are shelves with foodstuff on them. This must be Jon's minimart. Luckily nothing's in here, so I'll go further in. There should be a -
A deafening boom, and following after is the sound of bricks falling on concrete floor. My heart leaps up into my mouth and my hands come up in reflex. The dust gets into my eyes and stings them but I can make out the hood of a car … as well as silhouettes of those walking corpses.
Store room!
And shut the damn door!
After the loud slam, I can hear my gasping becoming more erratic, but they draw less air.
Calm the shit down….
Even out your breathing…
Good.
Hope nothing else is inside this – WHAT THE HELL?!
The world swirls and spins around me.
And spins, and spins and spins….
Wait…. I think I've stopped. I can make out the face of a man, and the shape of a woman, a teenage boy and a small girl.
They are not greyish-looking corpses.
They are living people.
Phew…
I don't notice he had his hands on my mouth until he moves it away. Without any sign of walking corpses, I feel less tense now.
Silence fills the air. We all stare at each other. All of them are in a daze, or are in confusion. Most of all, they are scared shitless.
"What... the hell just happened?" Tell me something – ANYTHING – I need to know what's going on!
"They... just came in one big bunch," the woman whispers.
"One moment we're on the way to Glacier Park, next thing– this," the man chips in.
"Dead eating the living." The words weigh down on me like rocks.
"Maybe we can hole up here till help comes. At least there's food here," the woman takes note of what's around her.
Oh no… we can't stay here…
"But how do we know if help will come? What if those things find us in here?" the older man faces her and shoots her a glare.
There's…
"Sasa and Kona can't eat people food, Ma." The little girl brings my attention two Siberian Husky puppies in her arms. Good thing they're a quiet bunch.
Her mom quickly shushes her, and then continues her argument in a hushed tone. ''We can lock ourselves in. Barricade the doors.''
The teenage boy's voice rings out. '"I say we try to get to our car – it's parked in the front of our store!"
"NO!" I yell out loud. All of them stare in astonishment at me. The woman makes a faces that says 'shh'. Guess I was too loud. Fine, I'll lower my voice.
"Those things are in the shop right now. The only thing stopping them from us is this -"I cringe at the mere thought of the door breaking, letting legions of those things in. "Point is, we've got to get out. Not by the front door, but from the back!"
The younger man nods his head in frustration. "You got a plan?"
"I got a plane. It's in a runway, so it's got to be fenced up and those… walkers shouldn't come in. Outside the other exit of this storeroom should be an alleyway, which should be fenced up, and another door to the diner. Runway's behind the diner."
They cheer up. Well, slightly.
"Where are you landing?" The older man questions with hard, glaring eyes.
"From where I came from – Montana Wolf Research and Conservation Center.", I answer. I hear a collective of gasps at the mention of wolves. "There are wolves in there?" The woman asks with great concern.
"They are in captivity." I say.
She questions me further. "You know how to deal with them right?"
Woman, which part of the word 'captivity' do you not understand? And seriously, you are more concerned about wolves than walkers RIGHT OUTSIDE?!
I resist the urge to tell her off, and instead reply with a simple, "Yes".
The two guys and woman look at each other and nod in agreement. "Sounds like an idea."
Oh yes…
"Is there internet?" The little girl asks. The dead are rising, and all you want is internet? That's cute girl.
"Sure, there is." I manage a grin. She smiles back.
"Name's Chad." The older man introduces himself.
The woman speaks next. "I'm his wife, Sarah. This is my boy, Chandler, and little girl, Madison. Thank you so much."
"My name's Lena. Now let's get out of here."
