Title: From the End
Rating: T
Summary: Ashley is a survivor after a zombie apocalypse. After finding a mysterious room, she is transported to another world. One with demons and reapers.
A/N: Yes, I know I already have an unfinished story for this section. This is a bad habit of mine. This idea came to me while I was watching a no commentary play through of "The Walking Dead". Hope you enjoy! :)
To Leave this World
August 23rd, 20XX
Three years in
"C'mon." I shuffled through the bag I had found. "There's gotta be something in ya." I felt something and pulled out a magazine. Upon further inspection, there were only about four bullets left in it. "Still useful, I think." I stuck the magazine in my backpack. "Better get back to camp, I've been gone for a while, Mom'll throw a fit." 'Mom' wasn't my actual mom, she was the one of the two leaders of our group, along with 'Dad'. Their real names were Lily and Kenny. Lily was protective of the minors, which was pretty much Clay, whose a twelve year old, Charlotte, his sister, an eight year old, and me. Kenny was more protective of everyone, including the adults in our group of eight, always worrying that maybe someone didn't get to eat or something about me not getting my anti-depressants. It didn't matter that much anymore.
"I'm back." I called, jumping the short fence where only members of our group knew where it was.
"Ashley's back!" Charlotte called.
"Keep your voices down." The paranoid one of us, Clementine, an adult, hushed.
"We're fine, Clem." Glenn reassured. "Did you find anything?" He turned to me.
"I found some ammo, four bullets, but that's about it." I showed him the magazine.
"Better than nothing." Kenny grinned as I handed him the ammunition. "See anything up there, Lily?" Kenny called.
"Nothing." Lily called back.
"Think Ashley can go out for one more trip?" Kenny asked. Lily paused.
"Well… alright." She hesitantly agreed. "But make sure you're back before sun down." I nodded.
"Got'cha." I jumped back over the fence and started my hunt again.
About half an hour later, I was back in the city. The run–down buildings were slightly breaking and the streets were deserted. "Help… me…" I looked down to my left and saw a man trapped under some fallen debris. I remembered what Kenny had told the minors.
"If you see anyone dying, not yet one of them, don't kill them. Just keep walking. Don't waste the bullets." I recited quietly, as I strode past him.
"H-Hey!" He cried. "W-Wait! Please!" I sighed, thankful Kenny told us to just keep walking, I didn't have the guts to kill anything that wasn't the living dead, but I also felt guilty about leaving him there. Lily said that the "Stranger Danger" rule still applied and should be upheld even more so, now that there was a risk they could have been bitten.
I climbed a ladder up one of the building and went into a room with a broken window. I took out the axe that Shawn had given me. He said that I needed it to protect myself, seeing as how Lily wouldn't let me have a gun just yet, says I need to get better aim. Shawn also told me I need to cut my hair. It's not that long, just goes down to the back of my neck. "Hello?" I called. "Any creeps in here?" I called the walkers 'creeps', because that was what they were.
My grip tightened on the axe, ready to strike at a moment's notice. After a few minutes of silence, I decided it was safe, and finally paid attention to my surroundings. There were odd symbols on the walls, overturned chairs, broken glass, and bloodstains. "Damn…" I shuddered. I figured it was some satanic ritual gone horribly wrong, or some creeps interrupted some vandals.
One large symbol bearing a star with an odd-looking circle around it caught my attention. I felt drawn to it. As I got closer, I saw something glowing purple underneath my feet. I looked down and saw that I had carelessly stepped on the symbol. I gripped my axe, ready to defend myself if needed, as the light grew brighter, surrounding me. I had to close my eyes as the light intensified. A minute passed and the light faded. I opened my eyes, and gasped, nearly dropping my axe.
Around me was a fancy mansion. Way too fancy to be from the apocalypse. I went into defense mode as I slowly walked around. There seemed to be no one there until I heard a loud scream and smashing noises. Thinking there were creeps and someone was in trouble, I raced towards the sound and saw a red-haired woman wearing a maid's outfit, getting up as she was surrounding by broken plates and a fallen cabinet.
"Are you okay?" I asked, looking around for creeps. "We're you bitten?"
"Bitten?" The woman asked, looking around. She screamed when she noticed me. "P-please don't hurt me!" She cried.
"I-I'm not gonna hurt you." I raised my free hand defensively. "Unless you're gonna rob me, or if you were bitten."
"Mey-Rin!" A male voice yelled as a man wearing a chef's clothes and a boy that looked like a gardener came running to her. They stopped dead when they saw my axe.
"Wh-Who's this?" The boy asked, worriedly.
"And why does she have an axe!" The man yelled.
"I don't know!" the woman known as Mey-Rin exclaimed. "She came running over here and asked if I was bitten."
"Bitten?" The boy and man blinked as another man wearing all black turned the corner.
"What on earth is all this?" He was cut off as he saw me. I backed away slowly, then turned and ran.
Shit, shit, SHIT I thought furiously. How the hell did this happen? Why do they not know about the walkers? Where the hell am I anyways? As I looked back, I ran into someone. I quickly raised my axe.
"I wouldn't advise that." I stopped as I saw it was the man in black from before. In an instant, my axe was taken from me.
"L-Look, dude." I stuttered. "I-I don't want any trouble. I don't know how I got here. B-But please give me back my axe. Shawn'll kill me if he finds out I got that taken."
"My master has ordered me to bring you to him." The man didn't give me back my axe, or said anything else. He started walking away, but then looked back. I decided that if these people were any of the rogues, and if I wanted to stay alive, I had best go with him. I followed him through some hallways until he opened the door to reveal a kid, no older than Clay, sitting in a chair, an eye patch over his left eye. "I have brought them, master." The man behind me bowed.
"Thank you, Sebastian." The kid nodded slightly in a formal tone. "Now then, you." He looked at me seriously. "What are you and who are you?"
"Last time I checked I'm a female human." I grimaced. "And why should I tell you? You'll probably kill me then take all my stuff."
"And why would I want anything of yours?" The boy scoffed. I guess that could be taken as a laugh.
"Who are you?" I asked him. "And why are you dressed so nicely?"
"I am the Earl, Ciel Phamtomhive." The boy, Ciel, stated as if it where the most obvious thing. "Now answer me. Who are you?"
"Alright, fine." I sighed. These were some strange people. It was almost as if they had no idea an apocalypse was going on. "My name is Ashley and I'm one of the survivors in my group of eight."
"Survivors?" Ciel blinked, then rested his head on his hand, an interested look on his face. "Tell me more."
"You don't know?" I shrugged.
"Know what?"
"Alright then." I sighed. "My group is barely surviving three years after an apocalypse."
"Apocalypse?"
"That's right." I nodded. "The dead just started… eating people. I remember how it started for me. I was coming home from school when I saw one of my friends who hadn't been there…
"Hey! Jacob!" I called. He turned around and slowly limped towards me. That's when I saw his face. It was rotten, covered in blood. "Oh shit!" I cried when I saw his dead eyes. Someone else looking like that came out of the house next to me. They both came towards me and I began running, screaming for help.
"Get down!" A man cried. I hit the deck and heard gunfire.
"That when I met him." I smiled at the memory. "He seemed my guardian angel."
"Are you okay?" he asked as I looked up.
"Yeah, thanks." He helped me up.
"Names Raul." He nodded.
"Ashley." I told him.
"C'mon, it's not safe here." We dashed towards his truck.
"Everything seemed fine. We met some kind people who gave us shelter for a while. Until…
"God damnit, Raul!" Doug's mother, Liza, yelled at Raul. "It's your fault! It's your fault Doug's dead!"
"It was no one's fault." Henry tried to calm us down. "No one had any idea that the rogues would attack."
"He did." Gina timidly pointed at Raul. "I've seen him. Every night he sneaks out with food and gives it to the rogues."
"Raul…" I gasped. "Is… Is it true?"Raul sighed.
"I guess there's no hiding it now." He looked up. "Yes. I did."
"I knew it!" Liza yelled.
"But it was to keep Ashley safe!"Raul protested.
"You're always worried about Ashley!" Liza cried. "Ashley, Ashley, Ashley! Always looking out for your precious Ashley! Never a kind gesture towards Doug or Gina, who needed protection more than anyone else."
"I can take care of myself!" Gina spoke with sudden boldness. Gina had been surviving on her own until the group found her.
"Stay out of this, Gina." I pleaded. "Please."
"Then, Raul did something really stupid…
"So…" Raul's head hung low. "What are you going to do with me?"
"I say we kick him out." Henry sighed. "That seems like the most peaceful solution."
"This isn't about peace, Henry!" Liza yelled. "This is about life or death. So I say we kill him." My breath caught in my throat as I saw Raul pull his pistol out. He aimed it at his head, and pulled the trigger.
"After that, I ran away. Grabbed what I could fit in my backpack." I moved my backpack a little. "This sucker has been with me since the start of this whole mess. I was on my own for a few days. That's when Shawn found me."
"H-Hey!" A man bravely called out to me. "Are you alive?"
"Are you?" I called back, running over to him from my tent. It was a dumb move that could've cost me my life, but seeing as how I was out of food and almost out of ammo and water, I didn't care.
"Are you own your own?" He asked. I nodded. "Come on. Get what you have. I'll take you back to camp." I was reluctant, but wasn't going to refuse help.
"After a year, we got some more people…
"Are we sure we're doing the right thing?" Kenny questioned.
"What if it were you?" Lily asked. Kenny was silent.
"Are we gonna be safe here, Clay?" Charlotte asked, clutching a ripped teddy bear.
"We'll be fine, kids."Glenn, their father reassured.
"This was my second year in that group." I explained. "We have a pretty good set up, a vegetable garden and heavy fortifications. We take turns looking for supplies and being lookouts for rogues and, or, walkers. I was in the city looking for supplies when I got here."
"How exactly did you get here?" Ciel asked, a bored expression on his face. "As you can see, we're exactly a few years into an apocalypse where the dead eat the living."
"I'll be honest. I'm not sure." I shrugged. "I found this weird room, was surrounded by a purple light, then all of a sudden, I'm here."
"That's it then?" Ciel asked, sitting up. I nodded. "Very well, then. Sebastian, show her to a guest room and give her proper clothing." The man known as Sebastian, who I assumed was a butler to this Ciel kid, nodded.
"Yes, master." He smirked. "Lady Ashley, if you would come with me."
"Can I have my axe back?" I asked as I followed.
"I see no reason you would need it." Sebastian stated. "Seeing as how there are no "walkers" here." He chuckled. What was this guy's problem? Did he think I was joking?
He showed me to a large room with an actual bed. In the camp, we used mats as beds. "Here you are."
"Thanks." I blinked as he handed me a maid's outfit. "What's this?"
"Your new uniform." Sebastian stated plainly, as I took it.
"And why would I…" I turned and saw that he had left. "Well, damn." I looked at the outfit. "Man, Lily is gonna kill me when I get back."
A/N: Some future chapters may show the group back in Ashley's time. Unless you guys don't want that. Hope you enjoyed. :)
