Prologue
I decided to unpublish my original Glenn Rhee love story and completely start over, mainly because I thought it was too rushed and poorly written. Nothing much has changed. I just gave my main character Kira another sibling and included more details in her backstory, presented to you in a lovely prologue. I hope you enjoy it!
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It only took a moment for society to crumble. When the walkers rose, they destroyed everything in their path, leaving survivors fighting for their lives. How much longer can they hold on?
It's a humid evening on the Atlanta highway. With walkers looming in their presence and the military firebombing the doomed city, thousands have packed the roads, desperate to escape a gruesome death. Unfortunately, this meant a complete road block, leaving everyone trapped. The atmosphere is tense and frantic, some not willing to accept that their fates have already been sealed.
23 year old Kira Easom sits in one of these cars, along with her severely autistic sister Katherine and best friend Winnie. They've been stuck for hours, but have only managed to move a few inches. 21 year old Katherine is growing fidgety and agitated, but she's non verbal and can't communicate properly with others. Kira attempts to calm her sister in the back seat, while Winnie sits behind the wheel, honking the horn impatiently. She knows it won't help, but at this point, she's not sure if anything will.
"Kat please, it's okay, it's okay. I'm here." Kira says desperately, holding onto her baby sister. Katherine lets out more frustrating screeches as she tries to wiggle out of her sister's grasp.
Winnie rests her head on the steering wheel for a brief moment, trying to figure out how they'll get out of this chaos. A fist fight has broken out right next to the car, but she ignores it.
"Kira, let's face it, this road is never going to clear up. We're going to die if we stay here." Winnie says to her best friend. "This place is a graveyard."
"Where are we supposed to go Win?" Kira asks, while cuddling Katherine. "What options do we have?" Winnie ponders for a moment.
"The woods." Winnie finally says. "That's our best shot. I know it's risky, but we need to get away from the chaos before the walkers come. We can't risk Kat freaking out and running into a hoard."
Winnie is right. Katherine has an extremely underwhelmed sense of danger. Her brain has a difficult time sorting out what's a threat and what's not. Kira has tried her best to understand her sister's complex condition.
"You're right Win. But how much do we know about wilderness survival aside from a few camping trips? That's a risk too."
"Not a lot, but I think we'll be alright. Just trying to live now is a big risk, but you'll never know unless you try." Winnie smiles lightly at her beloved best friend. For a moment, all the noise on the highway is tuned out before they snap back to reality.
"Alright, we should get going then." Kira says. A blood curdling scream rings out in the distance, signifying that walkers have arrived. The girls don't waste any time gathering their supplies, although Kira has to coax her sister out of the car. "It's okay baby, I've got you." She says lovingly to Katherine.
"Kira, do you still have a lot of snacks for the road?" Winnie asks. "I don't want your blood sugar getting out of control." Kira is a type 2 diabetic. This means eating only certain foods and never skipping meals. Her blood sugar can spike or drop, causing fatigue, nausea, loss of consciousness and other major problems.
"Crackers, Almonds, Pretzels. I've got everything." Kira says looking through her bag. "We're good to go."
She loads up supplies into a single backpack while Winnie loads her gun. Kira has one too, but Winnie is a much better shot. Growing up on a ranch has its perks. The only other weapon they have is a metal bat. They'll need to conserve bullets for bigger groups of walkers. With their supplies packed and ready, the girls begin to move off the highway towards the dark woods.
"You ready girls?" Winnie asks with uncertainty.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Kira replies.
They disappear into the woods, leaving behind the bloody screams coming from the highway. It's eerily quiet and serene around them, but also extremely unsettling. They move in a tight formation, keeping their eyes and ears open. Winnie is ready to protect the two other girls from any sort of danger. The leaves in front of her suddenly start to rustle, and a walker appears from the bushes. They try not to gag it's rotting stench. It moves hungrily towards them.
"I've got this." Winnie says protectively. "Give me the bat."
With the bat in hand, Winnie wastes no time swinging into the corpse's rotting skull. It falls to the ground. She begins to smash the walker's skull over and over, until there's nothing left but blood and brains. After it's over, she takes a deep breath and glances over at Kira and Katherine. Kira has shielded her sister's eyes from the gruesome scene, while Katherine mutters a few whimpers into Kira's chest. Winnie walks over and pulls them into a loving embrace.
"Are you okay?" She asks with concern. Kira smiles at her.
"Yeah, we're both fine. You're our beautiful knight in shining armor." This causes Winnie to blush beet red. She gazes at the 2 sisters, happy to not be alone. She would probably go insane by herself.
"It's getting dark. We should find a place to settle for the night, look for water in the morning."
They continue on through the forest, hoping to find a suitable place. Walkers appear occasionally, but Winnie dispatches them easily. They eventually reach a clearing in the trees. After an inspection, the girls settle for the night.
"You and Katherine sleep. I'll keep watch." Winnie says as she holds her best friend's hand.
"Thanks Win." Kira says sleepily.
As the night goes on, Winnie sits against a rock fiddling with her fingers. She glances at Kira and Katherine, who are sleeping peacefully against each other. She wonders about the fate of their parents. They had left Katherine in her sister's care while they took a much needed vacation in Brooklyn. Getting out that city alive would be a complete miracle. They also had an older and younger brother, but they were living in different states at the time of the outbreak. Hopefully, they managed to stay alive.
Winnie thinks about her family, and the horse ranch she grew up on. Her parents were both avid equestrians. They even named Winnie after their first horse. She hated her first name as a child, but grew to love it over time. She wants to go back there someday, to see what's left. She hopes her parents are still alive. Her eyes are growing tired, but she fights off the drowsiness.
The quietness is suddenly interrupted by loud rustling from different directions. Winnie perks up, trying to find the source of the noise. To her horror, walkers begin to stream out of the bushes, heading towards Kira and Katherine. She runs over, shaking Kira frantically.
"Kira, wake up right now!"
"What?" Kira says sleepily.
"There's a hoard, grab Katherine and let's go!"
Kira is up in a flash, waking up Katherine and helping her to her feet. The girls grab their supplies and take off running, the hoard following closely behind them. In a turn of bad luck, they narrowly escape walkers approaching them from the sides. Katherine struggles to keep up as she runs with Kira. They're beginning to get outnumbered.
Winnie aims her gun at walkers in her path, while Kira shoots at any who come too close. When the path is clear, they continue running until the hoard is no longer in sight. The girls stop to catch their breath. They're safe for now, at least that's what they think. Winnie doesn't notice a lurker hiding in a pile of leaves near her legs. No one notices until it's too late. It rips into Winnie's ankle. It all happens in a blur. Her blood curdling scream echoes through the trees, ringing in Kira's ears.
As Winnie screams in pain, Kira reaches out and shoots the lurker in the head, her heart tearing to pieces. Everything goes quiet. Winnie stares at the sisters with wide frightened eyes as the blood gushes from her wound.
"Winnie?"
"It's okay Kira, I'm fine. We need to keep going! The hoard is going to catch up with us." She cries out in pain.
"You need help walking Win!"
"I told you Kira, I'm fine! "You're already holding onto Katherine! We need to go right now!"
They continue running. Winnie is limping along as fast as she can, despite the searing pain in her ankle. She winces, tears running down her cheeks. It's only a matter of time before the infection sets in, but she keeps moving. She's not ready to die yet.
With walkers seemingly coming of every direction, the girls are beginning to lose hope. Winnie is falling further behind, her ankle bleeding out. A sudden burst of pain causes her to trip and fall into the forest floor. It all happens in a blur as walkers descend upon Winnie. She lets out bloody screams as they tear into her flesh. Her hand reaches out to Kira.
"Winnie!" Tears pour down Kira's cheeks. The sounds of the walkers feasting on Winnie makes Kira want to vomit, but she still keeps her grip on Katherine.
Another scream from Winnie rings out. In a moment of vulnerability, Kira lightens her hold on Katherine. The girl takes off running into the forest, disappearing into the trees. Kira has no choice but to chase after her baby sister. Winnie lets out a final scream, signifying her death.
Kira frantically moves through the trees, searching for her sister and trying to avoid walkers. She feels the need to eat something, but ignores the thought of her blood sugar going crazy. Finding Katherine is more important.
"Katherine!?" She hears nothing.
"Katherine!?" More tears fall down Kira's face as she continues her search. She doesn't care about walkers hearing her yell. She fights the urge to vomit. A shrill screech, suddenly rings out from ahead. Kira moves like lighting towards the noise. What she sees is a horrifying sight.
A walker has sunk it's teeth into Katherine's neck. She screams, while trying to claw herself free. Blood coats her clothes and the ground. Kira's heart sinks and her eyes fill with a sudden fire.
"Get away from my sister!"
She immediately runs over and yanks the walker off her sister, throwing it on the ground. She stomps the walker's skull over and over, sobbing loudly. Blood and brains splatter everywhere, but she doesn't stop, cursing these creatures for taking her family. Her foot aches, but she continues stomping until the walker's head is nothing but mush.
After it's over, Kira crawls over to her dying sister pulling her into her arms. She holds Katherine close to her chest, sobbing loudly, not caring about the blood staining her clothing. "I'm so sorry baby girl. I promised to protect you. I failed. I'm so sorry."
She stares into Katherine's vacant, dying eyes, wiping away strands of bloody hair. Katherine lets out a few pained groans in response. She's fading fast. Her breathing starts to slow down.
"It's okay baby girl. I've got you. You rest okay? I'll be alright. You've got family waiting for you up there." Kira says sobbing.
Katherine lets out a final breath and her eyes close. Kira sobs against her dead sister her soul completely gone. "I'll see you again someday Katherine. I promise."
After what seems like an eternity Kira lays her sister's body on the forest floor, kissing her forehead gently. She pulls out her gun and puts it up to Katherine's head. She won't let Katherine turn. The loud ring of a gunshot is heard as the bullet fires into the girl's skull. Everything is quiet for a moment.
Kira picks up her sister's body, cradling it in her arms. She knows what has to be done. It would be cruel to just leave Katherine's corpse for the walkers. She has to be buried. Even if it takes a while to find a suitable place, Kira will find it. "I'll put you to rest. I promise."
Kira continues to move through the forest hoping to find a way out. Being in no condition to fight, she simply ignores walkers and takes off in the other direction if she sees a large group. Her blood sugar is out of control. She's nauseated and dizzy, but continues on. She doesn't stop until the trees end and the road begins. Kira kisses her sister's head and moves down the road, hoping to find a place to bury her. What she doesn't realize is that she's being followed.
"Hey." A voice calls out from behind her.
Kira turns around coming face to face with a man in a sheriff's uniform.
Can you guess who the person in the sheriff's uniform is? I feel so much better about this rewrite! I hope you enjoyed it too! Glenn will appear very soon.
Thanks for the reads everyone!