A.N Hey this is a story I've been working on since January. Depending on how many people enjoy this I'll post the next chapter sooner. I really hope you all enjoy this. I worked my ass off for it!
They told us we were free, all of us. I have no clue why they're letting the entire asylum out, but they are. The even weirder thing is as we are in line to exit, the orderlies are handing each person a backpack and whispering something in his or her ears. As it became my turn the first orderly handed me my backpack and the second one whispered,
"Don't worry, you have your meds. You have a pistol with a full box of ammunition. You have all the necessary supplies to survive; we also included your book to keep you sane. The worst has hit us. Everyone calls it the 'apocalypse'. It's a virus that got out. It kills you, but after a while you come back as a flesh eating parasite. We are letting you all out and stocking the building with supplies for survivors. If you need anything, come back in two weeks. Read the instructions on the door to get in. Be safe."
My hands start to shake as I grab the backpack. I let out a yelp. The poor souls in the back of the line don't have a clue what's coming for them. The second orderly grabbed me by the shoulders, "They're attracted to loud sounds." I try to say okay and thank you but I couldn't manage. Instead I sort of nod my head.
As I was lead to the gates by another set of orderlies I looked around. They had guards sat up. Army men were by the walls enclosing the gate door. This place wasn't all hell. I mean I got decent food, had some friends, and basically just hung around and did whatever I felt like. Before I even realized it, we were at the gate door.
I took a deep breath and stepped foot outside, not much was different. I was about to turn around but the orderlies that led me out already shut the gate door. I was apparently free. I turned and noticed an orderly watching the brick wall of the asylum. It was Arnold, the orderly who guarded my block. He used to sneak me extra food and sometimes a little whiskey or wine if I was lucky. He turned around handing me his watch, "In case you want to keep track of time." I smiled and accepted the gift, "I hate the fact you're stuck here."
"I'll get out soon enough," he said looking me up and down as if he were trying to make a note of what I look like. "You know Jessalyn… I never thought you were much of a schizophrenic. Just a little sociopathic." I laugh, "We've been over this. I have mild schizophrenia and I'm a sociopath." He smiled, "Just stay safe would you?" I look at him with pity, "How bad is it really?" He looked around, "With the help of the army we got most of the area cleared. You shouldn't see one for a while. They're extraordinary but highly dangerous." He paused and whispered, "Don't get bit, scratched, and please for the love of god don't let Anna eat one!" I looked at him in confusion, "Anna? Annalyse? Why did you bring her up?" He pointed behind me.
When I turned around stood my friend Annalyse Edwards. She was a slim girl of 17, put in the asylum for trying to eat the motor of a car. In her two years of being in the asylum no one ever did find out what was wrong with her. She didn't want to leave, so they let her stay.
Arnold pulled me in for a hug, "Don't die on me okay? I snuck you too many snacks to just forget about you." I smile, "As long as you promise the same." He nodded and I told him goodbye.
"So wanna see who we're going with?" Annalyse asked me when I caught up to her. "Who said I was going anywhere with you?" I joke. She rolled her eyes and led me to a man who looked vaguely familiar. The man smiled at me, where have I seen him?
"Hi," he held his hand out. "I'm Jack Musgrove." I shake his hand still not recognizing him. "I'm Jessalyn, Jessalyn Hook." I know where I saw him. He was all over the news. He was an alcoholic whose wife couldn't handle him. He tried to bathe in the alcohol and that's when his wife killed herself. He called the police they did some tests, and put him in the asylum to 'recover'.
I don't dare bring up that subject. "Where are ya'll dragging me?" I say glaring at Anna. "Georgia," Jack began. "I had a conversation with my mother last week and she said things were getting bad. She told me to go to Georgia and find her. The signal began to break. The last thing I had heard was something about a safe haven. So I'm going to Georgia with or without you two."
"I'm going!" Anna cheerfully yelled. I thought about my options. Stay here and beg the orderlies to let me help, go alone, find another group, or go with the people who offered first.
"Sure why not?" I shrugged.
We start heading east towards the sun that had just risen. Last night the orderlies raided every room in the building. I found all my medicine, soap, and batteries gone. After the raiding they announced we were leaving in the morning. I had packed all my belongings: clothes, blankets, pillows, deodorant, notebooks, pencils, and things like that. I was carrying three bags including the one the orderlies gave me. I noticed Jack had about five while Anna only had the one.
"Why don't we stop and go through our bags? I mean us being in Louisiana and going to Georgia, shouldn't we at least get out our guns just in case we run into one of those things?" I asked tired of walking. Jack turned around and agreed. Turns out the orderlies gave us each a tent and a sleeping bag, bottles but no water, matches, soap, toilet paper, a couple cans of food including: fruit cocktail, green beans, and corn. We each had a first aid kit, mine and Anna's had a box of tampons and a box of pads. The first aid kit also had our own unique kind of medication, only enough to last a month. We each had a brush, a coat, 2 changes of clothes (they were the ugly uniform though) shampoo, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. I had my book, The Stand by Stephen King. Anna had an mp3 player with two extra batteries. Jack had a length of rope. They must have taken these out of our rooms during the raiding. When I asked Jack about the rope he replied, "I like to make knots." We got the pistols out, loaded them up, and packed the bags again. I tried to get all my stuff into one bag. It didn't necessarily work; I was still carrying two bags.
When we began to walk again I struck another idea, "You realize how much easier this would be with a vehicle. You brought the country map with you, Jack. It wouldn't be that hard to get one if this really is the end of the world." Jack seemed to consider my idea. After a while he finally said, "Alright, let's look around. What time is it?" I look down at Arnold's watch, "10:00. Where are we?"
"We had to go north a little so we wouldn't get caught in the Mississippi river; we're somewhere in Little Rock, Arkansas." He replied gazing at the map he was carrying. Anna frowned, "I thought we were going to Georgia."
"We are," Jack rolled his eyes, "We have to go north first, I remember hearing something about a bridge." I look at him with stupidity, "You idiot! That bridge you heard about is in Monroe!"
He yelled back, "Yes but I'm talking about the Helena Bridge!" He pointed at the map, "US 49!" Before I could continue on about how much of a complete moron he is Anna shook my shoulder.
She was pointing to exactly what Arnold had told me about. There were about five of them. The first one had an eye missing and most of its hair was gone. Another one's foot was broken and it was sort of dragging it with him. A girl had her shirt ripped and you could see that her breast had been bitten. One's face was half missing. They smelled awful. I can't even describe the smell. It wasn't bad like a paper mill, more like if you've ever burned an already dead animal, that mixed with rotting meat, and make it walk and growl, then you'd have what we're looking at. They started to walk faster. Not much faster, but fast enough whereas if we stood here for a few more seconds in awe it'd be hard to get away. "What do we do?" I ask lifting the pistol. "Not much we can do except blow their heads off," Jack said. I begin to shoot and hit the head of the woman with the bitten breast. She fell down instantly. "Shoot the head!" I yell to Jack. With us shooting we got all the creatures. I noticed Anna didn't shoot any. Instead she hid behind me the whole time.
"Looks like them cannibals led us to the right spot," Jack pointed to a black Toyota. Next to the Toyota was a hotel. On the double door someone spray painted: "DO NOT ENTER! WALKERS LOCKED IN!"
"I guess that's what they're calling the cannibals," I mutter. I open the driver's seat door, "Oh my god!" I jump at the sight of two moldy hands on the steering wheel. I pull the hands off and throw them behind me, out the truck. I hand my bags to Jack, "Go put all our stuff in the back would you? I'll check for gas." When Jack leaves I look at the gas meter, we had enough. The only problem was there were no keys. I rummage around and found a toolbox in the glove compartment. There was a wrench, pencil, and some screws. I needed a flat head screwdriver. Before I could look around more Jack called me, "Jessalyn, you're gonna want to see this!" Aggravated, I jump out of the truck and head to the tailgate where Jack and Anna were. When I looked in the tailgate I realized how lucky we were to have this truck. Inside the tailgate were a bunch of guns. I hop in and start looking and counting. "…20, 21, 22, 23, 24." I pump my fist in the air still holding the last gun which happened to be a rifle, "There are 24 motherfucking guns in here!" Anna pointed to a bag behind the gun bag, "What's in there?" I opened up. "Thank God for rednecks!" The bag was jammed full with boxes of ammo. I hand the rifle to Jack and grab a carbine and jump down with some ammo for them. "Now if we can either find the keys to this baby or a flat head screwdriver, then we're all set!" We begin to search the area for a screwdriver. I looked in the backseat of the truck. In the thing under the door was sure enough a flat head screwdriver. "Let's go!" I called out for Anna and Jack. "Jack, you drive. I call shot gun and Anna you take this"— I handed her the carbine and took back the rifle from Jack.
"— and sit in the back behind Jack." She gave me a look. I don't guess she knows how to use a gun. "Just hold onto it for Jack okay," I change my mind. She nodded and got in the back. Jack got the truck going and we were on our way.
"Jessalyn, you need to keep your eyes on the map not your book," Jack said noticing I once again drifted to The Stand. "I'm sorry. We're still in Mississippi. We should need some gas soon."
"Yeah," he said. "I've been keeping an eye out for a station. Anna fell asleep a couple minutes ago. "Should I wake her up?" I asked looking at Anna's short blonde hair and knowing she has those big blue eyes under the closed lids. "No let her sleep…" Jack muttered. We sat there in silence for a while. "It's almost 7; we should find gas before it gets too dark." I said looking at Arnold's watch. "It looks like there's one up there," Jack said trying to look in the nearing darkness. When we got there it sure enough was a gas station. "I'll go in and turn the pumps on…if they work," I beckoned to the building. "Me too," Anna said. I quickly turned around, "When did you wake up?" She yawned, "Not too long ago," she muttered.
"Well come on," I motioned for her to follow me. We got out of the truck; Jack was nice enough to turn the head lights on. We walked up to the door of the station. I pull the door handle, "Locked…" I mumbled. "We need to fin"— I was cut off by a gunshot. I turn my head quickly. There in front of the door was Anna holding the pistol up. She had blown the glass door open and killed a walker. "I'm sorry! I saw him and…" her voice trailed off. I make sure none of them were coming from the streets. I didn't see anything, "It's fine… Let's just get in and hurry." I walked in and jumped behind one of the counters. I quickly found the gas pump switch. I clicked all of them on. Anna called me over by the food. "It's all still good," she pointed at pop tarts, chips, and cokes that the station had out. "The stuff in the refrigerators isn't but all of this is." I nod my head, "Grab as much as possible." We packed up on candy, chips, pop tarts and grabbed a 24 case of coke. We got back to the truck and Jack was filling up gas canisters, "I found them by the ice machine while ya'll were in there. I figured this would be easier than having to stop somewhere." I saw a few walkers coming around the corner. "You'd better hurry," I beckoned to them. At the sight of the walkers, Anna jumped in the backseat. "I've got two cans left, I've filled eight. You want to go now, or cover me?" I saw a couple more south of us. "We need to go, now." He put the nozzle back in the holder and put the last can on the floorboard next to all the others. "Make sure they don't spill," he told Anna. She nodded and buckled her seat belt. I got back in my seat and Jack cranked the truck. We drove off surviving our first major 'mission'.
We stopped when we got to Alabama, which didn't take us very long. It was almost pitch black outside. "It's almost 10:00." I said having to turn the light on in the truck to see Arnold's watch.
"Anna," Jack turned around to get her attention, "Go out and put our stuff in the back with you, please." She yawned and got out. I sat there with Jack for a few minutes. There was a rustle in the trees near us. "Did you hear that?" I asked. "Yeah…" he looked out the window, "What do you think it was?" I shrug just hoping it wasn't a walker. Then a scream was audible. Not just any scream, Anna's scream. "Go check on her," Jack said. I jumped out and ran towards the scream. I had my rifle up when I saw it.
Annalyse Edwards was kneeling behind the truck, neck drowned with blood. Digging into her neck was a walker. My jaw dropped as she screamed, "Please! Jess… Please! Kill me! Let me die here! Oh my god!" I couldn't think of any soothing words so I just did as she said. Two shots, the first belonged to the walker, and the second was Anna's. I didn't allow any tears to fall. I grabbed her head and laid it on my lap. "JACK!" I screamed as loud as I could. He ran out the door holding the carbine. "Holy hell… what did you do?" I took a deep breath, "She… the walker… it got her… she wanted me to…I didn't want to, she begged me. Jack!" He stood there and walked back to the truck without helping me at all. "Jack no!" He slammed the door. I was alone with my friend's body. I lay her by a tree. I try to comb through her hand and hide the bite and bullet hole. Her hair was too short. I try to cover her body the best I could in pine straw from around the tree.
This didn't seem real… am I hallucinating again? Was all this a dream? No… it couldn't have been. I took my medicine this morning. This morning seems like a year ago. I stood up with help from the tree. I grab my rifle and saw a walker in front of me. I aimed and shot it directly in the skull. I got back to the truck and finished what Anna started—putting all the supplies on the floorboard.
I sat down in the passenger's seat and just glare at Jack. His graying ginger hair, the freckles on his nose, even the pair of glasses on his face. He was too smart, too healthy looking to have once been a drunk. He hadn't even been in the asylum a full year. He lied, something happened that night he was sent to the asylum. Something no one knows about. I will find out what. "I'll take the first watch, switch every four hours." I say still glaring. He was glancing at me as well but not with hate like I was. All he'd see on me was my dirt smeared face, hip long brown hair in a fucked up pony tail, my blue eyes, and if he dared look, my pathetic b cupped breasts. He took his eyes off me and got out of the truck. He then got in the back seat.
"Goodnight," he mumbled. I roll my eyes at that. I began to read The Stand and four hours later I awoke him. We switched posts and I laid on the backseat turned away from Jack. Even if it was about 4 am; I knew I wasn't getting any sleep.
Please leave a comment and tell me how it was. If I get at least five comments or follows or favorites for the story I'll upload the next chapter sooner. Thank you to everyone who read the whole chapter! It means a lot more than you think!