Mood: "Heavy Soul" -The Black Keys
Hi. I'm Cascade. Cascade Idaho if we want to get real specific about it. Obviously that's not my real name, there are no real names anymore… No real anything anymore. Having zombies take over can kinda have that effect.
But it's not all bad. If one can manage to stave off insanity long enough it's actually kinda fun... in a morbid sorta way. Lucky for me I happen to be in the ass kicking business. And business is good.
The big diesel engine idled. Inside the truck, the driver gnawed nervously on her bottom lip. She had seen the brightly colored lights flip on in the other side of the valley. And if she had seen it, it meant the waves of undead wandering around LA had seen it too. Growling under her breath, she leaned forward and slammed a fist on the dash, the glove compartment popping open. "What fucking idiots would turn on Pacific Playland in the middle of the apocalypse?"
Retrieving double .45 pistols from the glove box, she inspected each gun before loading and stashing it on her person. From under the seat she pulled a long sword, carefully sliding it in the sheath across her back. Across the empty parking lot came the echoes of gunshots, lots of gunshots, then the combined screams of the horde. Cascade sneered. It was quite possible the people trapped in the amusement park were the last people on earth, besides herself, and it was terribly disappointing already knowing they were dumb as fuck.
Deciding not to delay, Cascade grabbed the 30-30 Winchester off the seat next to her, kicked open the door to her truck and plopped down on the asphalt. As loud and bright as it was at Pacific Playland, it was as dead and quiet in the parking lot. Until an air horn broke the silence. "Come on!" A strong male voice bellowed. Cascade lifted her rifle and peered through the scope. "Tallahassee's nice this time of year!" A few more toots of the horn and Cascade spotted him just as he turned on his heel and began running. The number of undead that followed him was enough for Cascade's eyes to widen. Is he insane?
Cascade took quick steps towards the gates, avoiding the mangled bodies that lay in front of them. She'd barely crossed inside when the man in a cowboy hat ran past her laughing uncontrollably and shooting anything that came near him. Noting the mass running behind him, Cascade stepped back into the shadows of a ticket booth and let them pass. Reaching into a pocket on the front of her jacket, she pulled out a flask, took a big swig and replaced it. She bit her bottom lip again, trying to decide if it was going to be worth it to help.
A metal clanking brought her attention back to the uninfected man. He'd jumped through one of the prize booths and was blocking himself in. The undead that surrounded him numbered well over 50 with more on their way. Bullets began to fly but she didn't get to stay and watch the show. A gurgle from behind had Cascade whipping around to the window, shooting the zombie's jaw off. Her shot attracted more attention and three of the ghouls began to stagger her way. Cascade quickly readied her 30-30 and began taking them out, only to gain even more attention from the nearby horde. They stared at her like a fat kid stares at cake. Here was a meal that wasn't playing hard to get.
"Fuck me," she muttered, getting backed up to the front door. Whether she liked it or not, she was involved now. Glass exploded from behind her and Cascade hunkered down in reflex to avoid the spray. She realized in delayed horror that the kiosk she'd been hiding against was filled with infected, their hands reaching through, heedless of the glass cutting into their flesh, wanting nothing more than to feed on hers.
Horror became terror as one of the hands caught a chunk of hair and jerked her head backwards as she tried to run. Cascade couldn't stop the panicked scream as it tore itself from her throat. For a second, it seemed the entire night froze and listened to her scream then abruptly exploded in action again.
The cowboy began shooting with renewed vigor, something manic about the way he was taunting on the zombies now. The hand on Cascade's hair gripped tighter, trying to drag her back. Reaching behind her, Cascade slid her sword off her back and chopped off the offending hand, hair and all. Shaking herself free, she stood with feet apart, ready to take on anything. The first zombie in range got a leg cut off at the knee and as he was falling, his head got separated from his shoulders and fell next to the body.
Cascade smirked. This sword made her feel like such a badass. The second zombie got his stomach separated from his back, black blood spilling out onto the concrete. Zombie after zombie fell to her sword and it wasn't long before there was a mound of bodies. Cascade barely had time to wipe the sweat out of her eyes before she was threatened again. Her arms and back burned but there was no stopping. Stopping meant things worse than death.
From across the way, she could see the cowboy had survived his ordeal and was climbing to the roof of his prize booth. Cascade couldn't bother with him. A big boy had stepped into her line of site. At least seven feet tall, he had been a monster of a man in life and in his unlife he was a titan. Blood and bile dripped freely from his open maw down his bulging belly making his shirt a warped tie-dye. Cascade wrinkled her nose, catching the stench of rotting flesh. "Gross…" she whispered to herself.
The big boy howled and charged. His first time around, Cascade managed to avoid his hands and rolled to the right. The second time she took off his left hand that had been reaching for her. Before either could move again, a gunshot sounded and the big boy fell forwards, dead. Cascade's jaw dropped and her head whipped around to stare up at the guy smiling down at her. "That one was mine!"
The cowboy frowned. "Fine! See if I help your ass out again!"
Both stood there, awkward for a moment. She didn't know about him but it'd been a while since Cascade had been in contact with any humans that weren't trying to skin and eat her. He was staring too intently at her. Ignoring her first reaction to blush and look away, she stared right back at him, lifting her chin a bit in a challenge and slid her sword back into its sheath. He was tall, he was built, and he was obviously way too used to having his own way. Smirking, he sat down, his legs dangling off the roof as he studied her and she studied back. The snakeskin jacket and cowboy hat were a thing of the past now but Cascade still looked on with appreciation. This man definitely had his own style.
"Tallahassee!" Cascade whirled in the direction of the voice, 30-30 at the ready.
The cowboy sighed. "Over here Columbo!"
From behind a stall ventured out three new people. Two girls and a boy, all looking worn out but not bad considering the numbers of the zombies they attracted. The smallest looked about 12 while the other two were early 20s. All three had their weapons pointed right at Cascade. The next few moments were tense enough to be in an old western movie. Eventually Cascade raised her right hand. "Hi."
The smaller girl smiled and copied the gesture. "Hey."
"Fuck guys, not this again." The boy breathed out with exasperation. Cascade eyed them warily. None but the boy had dropped their weapons. "Look…." He addressed Cascade, "we're not going to hurt you." As an afterthought he added, "You're not going to hurt us… are you?"
"Are you bit?" Cascade's voice came out a bit harsher than she intended and the boy flinched but shook his head negatively.
"No, we were careful."
Cascade snorted and dropped the barrel of her 30-30. "More like you were lucky." From behind the nervous looking boy, the older girl lowered her weapon, eyes still hard on Cascade. Cascade didn't blame her. Trust was understandably a big issue in Zombieland.
The boy took a few timid steps towards her and stuck out his hand. "I'm Columbus…. Ohio…" He added his state hesitantly, obviously still not used to going by that as his name. Cascade didn't move forward so Columbus slowly took back his hand and instead pointed to each of his companions. "That's Little Rock." The younger girl. "This is Wichita, they're sisters." The older girl's mouth pursed down at Columbus giving out information to this stranger. "And this… well, this is Tallahassee."
Cascade chanced a glance up to where Tallahassee was sitting and found him staring down at her. Shrugging her shoulders she sighed and looked back to Columbus. Finally sticking her own hand out she said, "I'm Cascade Idaho."
Above her, she heard Tallahassee snort and ignored it. Columbus eagerly shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Cascade. If you don't mind, where are you headed?"
Cascade shrugged. "I'm just checking shit out before going back to Idaho."
"Right…. Well, if you want…."
"Stop right there you little spit-fuck." Tallahassee's boots slammed into the concrete between bodies as he slid himself off the roof and right next to Columbus. "I got enough frickin' headaches to worry about without you adding a god damn migraine!"
"Hey!" Columbus tried drawing off Tallahassee for a private conversation without much success. Wichita followed Columbus and Little Rock followed Wichita over. Cascade merely stood and stared at the four while they discussed what should be done with her. What started out as quiet whispering quickly escalated. "She could be the last human left besides us and you're willing to let her wander off and die!?"(Columbus)
"Damn right I am! We've got enough dead weight to deal with as is!"(Tallahassee)
"Right. And you killed all those zombies over there with an invisible sword, right?" (Little Rock)
"She's going to be trouble."(Tallahassee)
"That's what you said about Wichita and Little Rock." (Columbus)
"I was right wasn't I? It wasn't my idea to turn on the biggest lightbulb in the fucking valley!" (Tallahassee)
"HEY!" (Wichita and Little Rock)
The four continued arguing until Cascade finally got fed up. Slinging her trusty 30-30 over her shoulder, she spun on one heel and started walking away, her boots making soft clicks against the cement. Fuck this shit, these people are hopeless… She couldn't lie, her hopes had gone up when she had heard what Columbus was about to offer her. But it was a stupid irresponsible hope. Sure, people provided companionship and a back to fight against but they also could lead to very nasty things. Like when you bond with said people and then they get bit, forcing one to blow the other's head off. It was a good thing when someone was alone, unattached, uncomplicated… made things easier.
Cascade shook her head to rid herself of her thoughts and opened the driver door to her still running truck. A screaming zombie child met her face to face. "Fuck!" Cascade stumbled back a few steps as the zombie launched itself out of the vehicle towards her. Having no other option, Cascade gripped the barrel of her 30-30 and swung the butt of the rifle right into the zombie's face with a sickening crunch. The zombie shrieked and dropped to the floor, giving Cascade enough time to draw one of her .45 pistols and shoot the thing in the head. "Motherfucker…" she whispered, coming up closer to give it a good solid kick. "Hide in my truck, will ya bitch? Probably ripped the damn leather, didn't you?"
"Nice swing." Cascade gasped at the low voice that whispered behind her ear. Acting on instinct she pivoted, driving one hard punch to the ribs and then raising her elbow, bringing it down hard on Tallahassee's neck when he doubled over from the first blow. The cowboy went sprawling across the parking lot. Groaning, he tried to get himself to his feet.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry, you scared the crap outta me!" Bending down, Cascade helped Tallahassee to his feet. "I'm really not used to being around people who talk, sorry…." Looking up she found Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock standing a few feet away watching her with wide eyes. Cascade bit her lip and looked back to Tallahassee who was watching her. She couldn't figure out if it was grudging respect or growing dislike that was shining in his eyes and suddenly decided not to even worry about it. It's not like I'm going with these people anyhow. They don't want me and it's not like I'm craving human contact…A little voice in her head floating up to scream how wrong that thought was. Damnit…. She dropped her arms she had held out to make sure Tallahassee was stable. In a dead voice she said, "Like I said, sorry." She turned back towards her truck. "See ya in hell."
Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock watched Cascade disappear down the road with smoke billowing out of the stacks on her truck. Tallahassee sneered after her. "Like we wanted her around anyhow."
Wichita gave Columbus a long glance as Tallahassee turned, making his way back into Pacific Playland. They could have definitely used someone like Cascade, even if she did royally piss off Tallahassee. Columbus gave her an exasperated look and shook his head. Only Little Rock still stood staring in the direction Cascade had gone.
Tallahassee kicked open the door with "Fried Twinkies" emblazoned on the glass front. He was in a foul mood and getting his ass kicked by a girl in front of three kids only made it that much worse. "Where are you, you delicious little bastards!?!"