"Heather, I swear to fuck, if you ever fall asleep while you're on watch again, I will feed you to the fucking walkers myself!"
Heather's eyes shot open and she scrambled up from the hay where she was taking a lovely little nap when she was supposed to be keeping watch for the walkers. She scowled at me, "Don't tell me what to do, Sammy!"
I pushed my overgrown bangs behind my ears where it just fell back into my eyes. "It was your fucking turn to watch for the little shitheads while the rest of us slept."
She rolled her eyes. "We're in a fucking barn, it's not like they're gonna come busting in. Why are we even hiding? The fuckers can't even run!"
"I'm not even gonna fucking bother with your bullshit anymore!"
She glared and shoved me roughly so that I fell onto the dirt floor. All the stress from the last few months just blew up and I tackled her. Normally, I wouldn't react to Heather his violently, especially after this—thing—happened.
All those stupid shows about the zombie apocalypse that make everything look so badass?
Yeah, they fucking lied.
Okay, what the actual fuck?
Guys, if the actual zombie apocalypse happened to you, you would not know what to do. Don't play that macho badass bull with me. 'Dude, I would totally know what to do during a zombie apocalypse, it's not that hard, calm ya shit.'
That used to be me.
But when you wake up to your mother leaning over your bed as a rotting corpse, moving and groaning and looking like she was about to bite you, all that shit flies straight out the window. I miss my mom, I really do. Yes, she was an annoying brat at times, but she was my mother.
Was.
I still remember all too well grabbing my alarm clock and slamming it against her head, over and over, until she finally lay limp on the floor, unmoving. I didn't move from that spot for a while. I just stared at what used to be my mother, lying lifeless on the floor of my room with all kinds of thoughts swirling around my head. One of them being, what the fuck did I just wake up to?
The only reason I got up from my bed was the relentless and rapid buzzing of the doorbell. I don't really remember opening the door to find Casey there.
I do remember him driving like a maniac through hoards of straggling, gray, dead, moving bodies. We were nearing the edge of town when I had turned to him to say, "I may not be completely sane right now, but I am quite sure this is not your car. Or that you ever got your license. Carjacking, Case? Really? And you scold me for jaywalking?"
The corner of his mouth lifted as quickly as it came back down. "There are special circumstances."
"How many?" My voice cracked a bit with each word.
He sighed. "Most of the town, I think. My parents. Most of our parents. Maynard and his son. Um, I'm sorry I just grabbed you and didn't let you get anything—"
"It doesn't matter."
"It does matter, Sams. The others had time to pack, but I just—"
I cut him off again. "Casey, dead people are walking around. It's okay."
"Dorito was walking around in the hallways so I grabbed him for you. He's in the trunk. After I had to bash my dad's brains out with the baseball bat he gave to me, I emptied out the pantries for imperishable food. Billy hotwired his dad's RV with a shitload of supplies and he's waiting for us on the edge of the town, outside of the city. He wanted to thank you for teaching him to hotwire vehicles, by the way."
I shrugged. "Why did you come to my place?"
His hands clenched around the steering wheel and he gave a breathy sort of laugh. "What do you think? I wanted you to be okay. You have no idea how badly I needed you to be okay and not one of those—zombies."
I leaned my head against the window. "Zombie blood looks like bird shit."
Casey chuckled softly. "You would make a joke on the eve of our impending doom."
"If I don't, who else will? Who else is up there with Billy?"
He bit his lip. "Marissa and Mikey, Dot, Holly with Vera and Meg, Heather, Danny, Lars, Sasha, Tammy, Borsch and his wife, Hudson, Tenille, Monet, Madame Nashira, Taylor Briggs, Cisco…that's it. They all drove up there themselves and we're camping out there. Borsch was able to raid the department and take all the guns and bullets for self-defense against the…erm…zombies?"
I stared at him. "Borsch is going to give everyone a gun with bullets?"
He nodded solemnly.
"I am not going to trust Heather, Tenille, Monet, Danny, or Taylor with fucking guns."
Casey sighed. "What else are we going to do? But I dunno, I think Borsch is going to control who has access, especially since Taylor is a 'delinquent'."
A soft mew sounded below me and Dorito hopped up onto the console between Casey and me. He began to purr and rub up against my arm. "Hey, little guy. How're you doing?" I picked him up and set him on my lap.
Casey didn't leave my side once when we reached the camp. We kinda just got by, rationing the food and whatnot. Except for Heather and her little cronies. They were so convinced that the military was going to swoop in any day and take them away to some magical cookie fortress or something. So they snuck larger portions of food into their greedy mouths. When everyone found out what they were doing, they lost it. Everyone threated to toss them down to the city to what we now called, "walkers".
Only reason that we didn't send them off to their deaths was because a walker came out from behind the trees and we all flipped out. No one knew what to do.
We were all frozen as it latched its rotting teeth onto Monet's shoulder.
It wrapped its arms around her and that's when Cisco grabbed a gun and shot it in the head. The walker fell onto its back with Monet in its arms. She pried herself away and stood up shakily.
We all knew what was going to happen to her.
Cisco lifted the gun again and pointed in the direction of Monet's head. Her eyes widened and she started begging, "Please! Don't! I'll be fine! Please don't kill me!"
The gunshot rang in our ears as Monet stumbled back a bit and then toppled to the ground on top of the walker.
We returned to the fire and continued eating our beans in a can. I suggested we drive across the country to see if there was any safe haven. We could get gas from abandoned cars. Heather, Tenille, and Danny protested, but the rest of us agreed to head to Georgia with or without them.
Casey had grabbed his sister by her shoulders and shook her, yelling, "We're leaving! We're taking our food and our defense! No one is going to take care of you anymore! Especially not me! If you think I'll stay here with you just because you're the only family I have left, you are fucking wrong!"
She spat in his face and accused him of loving me more than he cared about her, but in the end, she and Tenille, and Danny came along in Danny's car. God knows what kind of parties they're having in there every night when we take a break to sleep and refuel.
It was the same in every town we passed.
Stupid walkers roaming in and out of the streets and hunting pigeons. During our travels, Hudson realized that the walkers weren't going anywhere near Casey's car which was covered in dead people guts. He figured that the walkers didn't attack anything that had the scent of death.
The only thing we found in Georgia that was alive was a farm with a barn and everything. The crops were growing healthily, which really excited us for once. We raided supermarkets for cans of food everywhere we passed, but to have actual fresh food for once would be nice. In the months that passed, we did have a few walker scares, but we settled that and decided that everyone would take turns staying up at night to watch out for us.
Heather fell asleep every time and she showed her growing discontent with doing what she deemed unimportant, even though her fucking friend was killed by those little shits.
I socked her in the nose just like on our first day of school almost six years ago. She screamed bloody murder which woke everyone else up. They were scared shitless, thinking that Heather flaked out again and walkers made their way in. You could hear a sigh of relief from everyone when they saw that we were safe.
For now.
I think most of them walked away, not caring if I killed her or not. From the beginning, she was holding everyone back, putting us all at risk and we were sick of it.
She ate all the food, wandered off, started fights, wasted our bullets, and led walkers to our campsite. All that bullshit.
After a few minutes, I felt strong, rough arms wrap around my stomach and pull me off of Heather. "Let! Me! Go!" I squirmed in his arms and he pulled me to his chest and dragged me to a bale of hay on the other side of the barn.
"Shhhh," Casey soothed softly in my ear. "Killing her won't do anything."
"It'll make shit a hell of a lot easier," I hissed.
"I know. But—"
"I think I'm going to end up killing her."
He sighed. "And no one will blame you. But you can't go off the deep end like this, Sammy. We need all the leadership we can get."
I laughed bitterly. "I'm not even eighteen yet. We have Hudson and Borsch and Cisco and Meg and Vera and Madame Nashira."
"And you. Sammy, they won't be around forever. You know that. And you can lead. You can help us."
I leaned my forehead against his chest and screamed out my frustration. He rubbed my back softly and kissed the top of my head before I swatted him away. "Are you trying to make a move when we are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse?"
"Only if it's working."
"You're such a dork."
His undoubtedly unwitty response was cut short by Madame Nashira shrieking hysterically. I gripped the front of his shirt and stood my ground when he made a move to head outside. "Sams…she's going to die."
"Just give me a minute." I breathed deeply for a few seconds before grabbing my pistol from inside a bale of hay and ran outside to find her weeping in the grass with only Heather standing next to her and a walker slowly gnawing on her arm. She yelled at Heather, "This is your entire fault! You were supposed to be keeping watch, you selfish bitch! You were supposed to be keeping watch!"
Heather pursed her lips. "I thought you were a fucking psychic! How did you not see this coming?"
Madame Nashira looked like she wanted to take Heather down with her, but she turned to me with a vulnerable look in her eyes. "Sammy, I need you to kill me. I can't come back as a monster. I want it to be you. If I let this stupid whore do it, she'll get all trigger-happy."
I froze and contemplated this. I didn't want to see this woman turn into a walker. She had been a friend to me ever since I was twelve. But I didn't want to shoot her.
"Goodbye," I whispered and I closed my eyes, firing two shots. One for Nashira and one for the walker.
I glared at Heather one final time and stalked off towards the barn, shrugging Casey's hand off my shoulder. Everyone gathered at the doors of the barn, looking worried, obviously having heard the gunshots. Borsch looked at me for an explanation and I grunted out, "Heather fucked up. Nashira's dead now."
There was murmuring among them about what to do now.
The gunshots could've attracted walkers towards this farm.
We might have to relocate.
Again.
I walked past the adults and hid in the back of the barn, waiting for them to make their decision. Casey appeared in front of me, leaning against the wall, looking very sexy which was making it very hard for me to mourn. "Hey," he whispered. "They want to move farther up Georgia. They're going to try to look for a new place for us. They wanted to know what you thought."
"Well, since your sister royally screwed us all over, anything sounds good right about now."
He winced slightly and I tried to backtrack. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"
He cut me off with, "I'm pissed at her too. You have nothing to be sorry about. She was being a selfish brat and now Nashira is dead."
"Maybe it was for the better. Look at this." I showed him a small, homemade, rag doll that I had found a few days earlier. It was of a little girl and it had the name "Sophie" stitched across the shirt. "Do you think this belonged to the little girl of the family that used to live here? What if they left because of the walkers?"
He raised an eyebrow at me and I knew that he was thinking that they were most likely dead. "Mm, maybe. You, me, and Billy are on Food Patrol. We gotta pick as many vegetables as we can and then plant the rest of the crops in some planters so we have more food later and we don't have to eat canned beans anymore. Please? I do not ever want to smell Billy's bean butt farts again."
"I resent that!" Billy exclaimed fake indignantly. "Casey just doesn't find beans romantic enough to make googly eyes at you every night with the possibility of farting in your face at night."
I gave Billy a cheesy smile and replied, "What's there to be worried about? I mean, I drooled on his leg the other night. Again."
"You better not drown us in the RV tonight, Sammy Keyesta," he joked.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "I thought me and Casey were taking his stolen car."
Casey rolled his eyes and said, "Last time Heather was on watch, she let a walker get to close and when she grabbed a gun to shoot it, she missed. The fucker swerved out of her way and scratched the gas tank. So Billy's RV is gonna carry us around until we can borrow another car."
"What about the bike that's behind the barn?"
Casey asked incredulously, "You want to pedal farther upstate?"
I rolled my eyes. "Silly Casey. The motorcycle with the sidecar."
"Since when do you know how to drive a motorcycle?" Billy asked.
I gave him a sly smirk. "Same day I figured out how you get gas from abandoned cars into your RV. Or maybe I don't know. But I can learn."
Billy turned a deep red, thinking about how I caught him sucking gas out of cars with a hose and his mouth.
Casey folded his arms across his chest, frowning. "I don't want you to get hurt, Sammy."
I begged him, "Please? Can we at least bring it along?"
He looked at the ceiling of the barn, avoiding my eyes. "Sammy, I don't—gah! Fine. This is unfair. You know I can't say no to you."
That night, me and Casey slept on one of the cots Billy had in the RV with Marissa, Mikey, Dot, and Holly on the others while Billy drove for a while. Everyone who was driving along with us would take a break in the morning. Casey wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. "What do you miss the most?" he whispered so as not to disturb anyone else.
I buried my head in his chest and thought for a second. "Cookies."
He laughed abruptly, leaning his head back and trying to stifle his laughs. "Cookies?"
"Cookies. And that this shit happened the day before Allegiant came out. God, I'm still pissed. I should punch you for not taking me to Barnes & Noble to go raid the shelves. And the fucking cookies, man." I sobered up a bit. "And I sorta miss my mom. Yeah, she was immature and practically didn't even acknowledge she was my mother and took me away from Grams, which I think was what killed her annnnd she never told me who the hell my dad was…why do I miss her again?"
Casey pushed my hair out of my face and placed a kiss on my forehead. "Get some sleep, Sams."
So I did.
Until someone started shaking me lightly in the middle of the night. I stirred slightly and strained my eyes to make out Billy, with bags under his eyes and a tired goofy smile on his face. "Hi, Sammy Keyesta. I-I know it's my turn to keep watch, but it's just…I'm really tired and I—"
I cut him off, saying, "You've been driving all night, don't worry about it. I'll take watch and you can rest."
He gave me a sloppy wet kiss on the cheek, saying, "Bless you, Sammy," and he hopped into bed with Marissa.
I climbed the ladder inside to get to the top of the RV and watch out for the walkers. I let my legs dangle off the edge of the vehicle, thinking about the shit we've all been through. I know there are others out there. But where the fuck are they?
I looked ahead to see where we were headed, but I found it a bit weird that there was a huge gated area ahead with walkers wandering around it, but not being able to get in.
Well, that wasn't really the weird part.
The weird part was how the walkers were falling one by one every time there was this gunshot. It was too dark to be able to see the shooter. But there was someone there. Whoever it was, they scared off the remaining walkers and they dispersed. They would probably be back later, but this was my chance.
Of course, this person could be a total nutjob and shoot me on sight, thinking I'm a walker. But we needed a place to stay and this was worth a shot. I put my pistol in its holster and set off quickly. The closer I got, the more I was able to see. The place was a prison. A fucking prison. It seems a bit ironic that I would want to get into a prison, after all the people I put in a prison.
But it makes sense.
A prison.
Nothing can get out and nothing can get in.
It was getting clearer to see the person who was shooting.
I think it was a guy.
But he seemed a bit short to be an adult.
He looked more like a kid.
Ad he was wearing a sheriff's hat.
He looked at me suspiciously, as if I was a threat. And for all he knew, I was. I didn't know anything about the kid. He could be all alone in there. And very scared.
"Who's there?" he called out. I walked closer so that we were speaking with only the gate to separate us. He was a short kid, with a mop of dark hair and freckles fanning across his face, in a way, he sorta reminded me of Casey.
"You seem a little too young to be a badass, shooting walkers in their tracks."
He shrugged. "How many of you are there?"
"It's a bunch of us. We're camped out farther down. We were staying in a barn until this shithead in our group fucked up. What about you? You here by yourself?"
"No."
"What are you doing outside at night?"
He shrugged again. "I s'pose you would like for my group to allow yours to stay here?" he asked with a soft Southern twang.
I bit my lip. "They don't know I'm down here. And you guys found this place first. I mean, I don't want to intrude, but it's just that we're desperate."
He just stared at me for a while. He was a quiet little kid, but it looked as if the apocalypse had hardened him. "What's your name?"
"Sammy Keyes. Might I ask yours?"
He hesitated slightly before saying, "Carl Grimes, ma'am."
"So," I started, settling myself on the ground. "What's your story, Carl?"
"What's yours?"
"I woke up to find my mom trying to bite me and I had to smash her brains in before she ate mine. I've been traveling with some long-time friends."
He nodded slightly. "I had to shoot my mom after she died giving birth to my sister last month."
"I'd hug you, but you don't seem like a people person. What's your sister's name?"
He smiled a bit and answered, "Joyce. But one of the guys in the group, Daryl, suggested we call her Little Asskicker. I might've accidentally called her Little Asskisser once or twice. He told me once that he wanted to call his baby daughter that, but her mom took her away to California."
I laughed softly and asked, "Are you taking good care of your sister?"
"Sorta. The ladies like to fuss over her and feed her since my dad kinda went schizo on us. I think he's getting better, but…it'll be okay. We still have Daryl with us. He's the real badass," he said earnestly. "What are the people in your group like?"
I sighed. "Well, we have a sergeant who focuses on my jaywalking, that's Borsch. His wife got turned and he needed to be dragged away. We have a middle school janitor, Cisco. A Webster smart old guy named Hudson, he gives the best advice and used to make the most boss iced tea ever. Meg and Vera are the foster parents of my friend Holly. They used to groom dogs and whatnot. My best friend Marissa and her little brother Mikey are with us too. Mikey is around your age, I think. My other friend, Dot. Her family was on vacation and they might still be in Holland. We don't know anything about what happened over there. Then we have two selfish brats named Heather and Tenille. We have two juvenile delinquents named Danny and Taylor. Danny assaulted some guy on the street and Taylor was a stupid meth head. Tammy whines. A lot. And sometimes I want to toss her to a walker. Lars and Sasha really piss me off because whenever we send them off to go do something important, we find them fucking on the floor or against the tree, you know?"
He smirked a little. "Sounds like Glenn and Maggie. They're getting married soon though."
I smiled. "Mazel Tov to them for not letting this shitstorm fuck their love lives up. Billy is practically the clown who's there to make us all laugh so that we don't fall into a godawful depression and kill ourselves, but he has a serious side that comes out when shit needs to get done. And then there's Casey." I smiled a bit, mentioning his name.
Carl reached through the fence to poke my knee. "You like him."
I looked down to where my hands were settle in my lap and fiddled with my thick rubber bracelets that Casey bought for me around Christmas last year. One was black with the words got cookies? on them. The other was red and said in black stencil letters, I'M ON THE NAUGHTY LIST. "I guess. What about you, tiger? Any girls?"
He turned a deep red and looked down. "Nah. Beth probably doesn't even really like me."
"Well, who's your competition?"
He chuckled a bit louder than he was speaking before and gave me a genuine smile. "My dad had the 'The group is locked, no more people,' mentality a few weeks ago. But we're kinda desperate. I'll talk to him."
My eyes widened. "Carl Grimes, you are a godsend."
He shrugged and a voice from behind him called out tiredly, "Goddammit, Carl! We've talked about this! I'm begging you, get back inside!"
A/N: 4,145 words okay I'm gonna cry this took so long. I got this idea from someeebody when we were talking about Sammy and Daryl and cookie fortresses. I wanna actually try my hand at getting you emotionally invested in someone and then killing their ass off. Sammy Keyes and Walking Dead crossover like yesssss can we please review? I WORKED REALLY HARD OKAY? I found out I have scoliosis and it hurts like hell to bend over my laptop and type this okay make this worth my while.
I might be changing names of the story every once in a while because I'm not sure what I should call it. I mean, even right now its saved on my documents as "That Walking Dead Stuff".
Please don't be cruel, I'm just a lowly child trying to curb my obsessions.
Kill Daryl And We Riot
~ImmaStartARiot
Holly with Vera and Meg, Heather, Danny, Lars, Sasha, Tammy, Borsch and his wife, Hudson, Tenille, Monet, Madame Nashira, Taylor Briggs,
