Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead in any way whatsoever.
Author's Notes: Well, this was originally intended to be a duo project between HyRool and me but our ideas kind of diverged apart from one another... and here we are. While he writes Seven Days, I will write this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
Much love,
~SAYONARA~
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"Joanne, do you have any more water on you? My canteen's out."
"Sorry Faith. I'm bone dry over here as well."
Faith sighed as she slung her canteen back onto her shoulder. Retightening her fingerless gloves, Faith nodded glumly, walking along.
It all started with an innocent vacation with a several friends up towards San Francisco. It was planned for a long time. Sam had planned the trip from the beginning, being one of the older members in the group of friends. When the trip started, the group didn't have a care in the world. The trip was meant to be a reunion for most of her close friends, who hadn't seen each other in several years, and a time when everyone could play catch up with one another.
It was MEANT to be...
It has been weeks, months has it?, since the world Faith lived had turned into a living nightmare. The dead rose from the streets, tearing apart the living. Faith was in San Francisco with her friends when Hell struck Earth. For the first couple days, the group held on, sticking together as one. But the apocalypse started to take its toll on everyone, some worse than others.
Kenny was the first to go. Not go as in to opt out. He didn't kill himself. Instead, he lost himself in this world. All the humanity that was once inside of him disappeared along with the normalness of the rest of the world. It was as if this world was meant for him. Kenny left the group soon after, telling everyone that clinging onto morals and humanity would only bring the inevitable:
Death.
They never saw Kenny after that. He didn't take anything but his iron pipe with him. Soon, the group started to fall apart. Panic spread like wildfire, consuming the minds of the unready.
That was when Sam suggested getting out of San Francisco. To seek refuge somewhere else. The group didn't know what to do at first. Simply trying to survive in the city was a fight everyday but to try and escape? That was surely suicide. Sam and Paul butted heads. Paul insisted that there was nothing for them outside of the city and that the safest bet was to stay put and let the government make its run across the country. Sam said that it was never going to happen. People had to take sides and eventually the group split. Half followed Sam out of San Francisco whereas the others stayed behind with Paul.
Even though she thought it was crazy, Faith still found herself following Sam out of the city anyway. She still had no idea how they had managed it but they escaped from the clutches of the urban landscape and fell back into suburbia. From then on, Faith and the group thought that things would now finally turn for the better. She wanted to agree.
But that simply wasn't so. Not in this world.
While camping out for the night, the group was attacked by a wandering horde. It was nothing like Faith had ever seen before. In the cities, the dead were scattered, shuffling around by themselves. But out here, they seemed to have a horde instinct, all attacking relentlessly until all sustenance was devoured. Their group wasn't an exception. Faith had barely made it out alive from the attack. She miraculously found Joanne in the pitch of night and the two made a run for it. Faith had no idea whether her group survived the attack or not. She would never know. It made Faith wonder whether she made the right choice of leaving the city after all.
"Playing with that thing again?" Joanne asked, peering over at Faith.
"Huh?" Faith said. She looked down at her hands and saw that she was unwittingly playing around with a small, dirty yellow walkie-talkie. The LCD screen was smashed and antennae had snapped in half. It was amazing the clip-on hadn't been broken yet. Wiping the grimy screen, Faith let out a small sigh.
"I guess it's becoming a habit to you." Joanne said.
"Ya think?" Faith asked, clipping back onto her pocket.
Joanne nodded as she kicked an aluminum can into a dirt ditch. "Ever since Paul gave you that thing before we left, you couldn't keep your hands off of it."
"What do you mean?" Faith asked.
Joanne raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure if you noticed but whenever we were on the move or about do something dangerous, you'd keep fumbling around with that walkie-talkie."
"Oh." Faith said, looking back down at the dirty thing.
"Why still even keep it?" Joanne asked. "It's completely useless now ever since you fell on top of it as we were escaping that night… Not that I blame you or anything…"
Faith shrugged. "I dunno… It's kinda like a good luck charm at this point… and it's a memento…"
"Of what?" Joanne asked, surprised. "Paul?"
Faith shook her head. "It's a memento of our life. Our old life… The one before all… this."
Joanne stopped walking and sighed. That usually meant something was on her mind. Faith stopped too. She prepared herself to listen to Joanne's lecture.
"Look, I'm not trying to tell you how to live. I respect your choices and what you do, but sometimes, it's better to forget…"
Faith remained silent.
"This world, I'm sorry to say, isn't going to get any better. Things aren't going to change. If we only continue to reminisce about our past, we will never be able to move forward. As I said, I'm not trying to tell you how to live. All I want you to do is consider what I said."
Faith let out a small laugh, a first in a long time. "You sound like a refined Kenny."
Joanne rolled her eyes. "Oh please... At first he said something different… What was it?... Have a little… Ah, I forget… Anyway I- what was that?!"
The two stopped in their tracks. Faith's eyes darted around. That's when she took her surroundings in. Everything had been too quiet. Too serene. And the sudden noise had broken that silence. It sounded like padded feet going over broken glass. And it sounded close. Faith realized that she hadn't seen the dead ever since she and Joanne walked into the small town. Something was up.
That was when the smell had hit her nose. Something was burning… or was already burnt. There were no smoke trails in the sky. Faith looked on and saw that whatever was burning must have been beyond the corner of the abandoned department stores. She then heard several groans and the shuffling of feet. Her breathing quickening, Faith glanced back at Joanne. Joanne had taken out her handgun and gripped it tightly. Faith could see the white of Joanne's knuckles beneath the stretched skin.
Faith motioned with her hand to Joanne, telling her to put away her firearm.
"Why?" Joanne asked. "It's better to take these things out from a distance. Besides, we have no close range weapons."
Faith reached into her back pocket and pulled out a sheathed shiv. The grip was covered by sports tape. At the end of the grip was a ring shaped hole. Unclipping the sheath, Faith pulled out the small but sharp knife. On the blade, one could faintly see the initials L.S
"You have his knife?!" Joanne whispered furiously. "How?"
"That's besides the point. Noise attracts more of them Jo." Faith said, flipping the blade down and holding the knife upside down. "Of all people, you should've figured that out by now. We have no idea how many of them are beyond that corner."
"But still…" Joanne said.
Faith was about to step forward when she felt her foot hit something. Looking down, Faith saw a half-rusted utility screwdriver. The hardened plastic grip was intact. Picking it up, she saw that, although the screwdriver was bit rusted, the tip was still sharp.
Faith tossed the screwdriver to Joanne.
"Use that." Faith said. "It'll be better than attracting more of them."
Joanne sighed and nodded her head.
Taking a deep breath, Faith peered over the corner. It was quite a sight.
There was a military-class helicopter, with the platform machine gun still intact, that had crashed onto the middle of the street. The glass in the cockpit was smashed and stained with dried blood. There were several roamers on the street, idly walking about. What remained of the helicopter crew however was not certain. There scraps of clothes and bits of flesh scattered along the black pavement with other articles of military ware like helmets and such.
The dead must have devoured most of the crew already…
Faith looked towards the concrete sidewalk and saw a trail of bloody footprints trailing of into what appeared to be an empty mall. Faith glanced back at Joanne who looked at the scene anxiously.
"Should we deal with them?" Joanne asked, gripping her screwdriver.
Looking back at the crash site, there were about three roamers in their immediate area. One was sitting down, leaning against the wall, apparently asleep. One had its back to them, standing idly. And the last one stared blankly into empty space, unaware of the two humans in front of them.
"Let's take 'em." Faith said, semi-smirking.
Joanne gave her screwdriver a little spin. "Let's do it. I've been getting a little rusty anyway."
"Was that meant to be a pun?" Faith asked, looking at Joanne and at screwdriver.
Joanne shrugged. "Interpret however you want, we need to sharpen up anyway."
Faith gripped her knife. "Now that was intentional… Let's do this."
The two approached the roamer that stared on blankly. It still didn't notice them in its line of sight. Crouching, Faith positioned her self to the left of roamer. Joanne was behind it. Then, as fast as she could, Faith kicked the roamer in the knee joint from the side. The decomposing joint and sinews barely resisted the blow and gave way almost instantly along with an equally grotesque sound. It groaned as Joanne leapt and jammed her screwdriver into the back of the roamer's decaying skull. There was satisfying sound as the metal spike found its way into the roamer's dead brain. Standing back up, Joanne smoothly pulled the bloodstained screwdriver out from the cleanly made hole in the roamer's skull.
"One down, two to go."
They closed in on the roamer that had its back turned towards them. Joanne signaled to Faith that she would take out the one sitting down. Faith nodded as gripped her knife blade forward again. Aiming her blade, Faith thrust the shiv into the back of the roamer's head, beneath the thick skull and slightly above the spine.
However, the roamer didn't fall. It quickly turned around, taking the knife with it, its mouth gaping at its newly found prey. Faith felt the blood being drained from her face but she kept her composure. She swiftly grabbed the roamer's neck, disabling it from biting her, and kicked its leg out. The leg bent the opposite way as Faith pushed all of her weight onto the roamer, making it lose its balance. She fell with it. When they hit the ground, specks of blood splattered across Faith's face. Looking up, she saw the knife's blade protruding from the roamer's forehead. Turning the roamer over, Faith reached for her knife and after much effort, she pulled the blade out from the remains of the decayed brain.
Faith looked and saw Joanne. She had her handgun in one hand and her screwdriver in the other. Her face looked very anxious.
"What?" Faith asked, wiping her blade on the roamer's tattered shirt. "Is something wrong?"
Joanne shook her head. "I-I was just worried that you might-"
"Jo, come on." Faith said. "I appreciate that you worry for me but I can perfectly handle myself."
Joanne sighed. "I know, I know… that's exactly what Peter said…"
Faith's face fell. She felt a lump in her throat. Refusing to let the image take form in her mind, she cleared her throat. "Right now isn't the best time to relive old memories… you said it yourself… Now come on, we have some scavenging to do."
There was a store to their left. Faith signaled to Joanne to follow her lead.
Joanne nodded as she holstered her pistol back. She followed Faith as she made her way through the shattered glass door of an abandoned convenience store. The two made every effort to make the least amount of noise as possible, their boots walking over broken glass. The store was quite big on the inside. Because of its size, the store was quite dark inside.
"Watch my back for me real quick." Joanne told Faith as she took off her bag and reached inside for a flashlight.
Faith nodded as she faced the entrance and large glass window of the convenience store. Knife in hand, she braced herself for anything. From the corner of her eye, Faith saw Joanne's flashlight flicker a several times before illuminating whatever it was pointed at. The store was quiet for a while.
"O-oh my God…" Faith heard Joanne mutter, breaking the silence.
Sensing the strain in her voice, Faith asked her a question without turning around.
"What is it Jo?" Faith asked, anxious.
"Faith, you gotta look at this." Joanne said.
Faith pulled her eyes away from the entrance of the store and went to where Joanne stood. Joanne simply pointed at where she aimed her flashlight. Following the angle of the finger, Faith finally saw what Joanne was pointing at.
The aisles were literally flooded with cans of food which were untouched by the clutches of thieves and the apocalypse itself. Medical supplies and other miscellaneous items also docked the display shelves.
Faith couldn't believe her eyes. She was at a loss of words. She didn't know whether to cry for joy or laugh.
"Have a little faith…"
"Huh?"
Joanne looked at her, smiling for the first time in a long time.
"That's what Kenny use to say… Have a little faith."
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(A/N): Well, this is the end of chapter 1! Hopefully, you all enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more!
Until next time,
~SAYONARA~