Somebody You Once Were

Chapter 1

The office was quiet, giving the impression of desertion. Three desks resided there: one on either wall and one in the centre. The one in the centre was piled high with various papers and used coffee cups.

"Carley!" Steve shouted, approaching the Woman's desk happily, his tie hung loosely around his neck. "You in here?!"

"What?!" She shouted back from behind a teetering pile of paperwork. She peeked her head out from behind the makeshift wall. She was not an unattractive woman by any means, for no-one would have guessed that she had just turned Thirty-Five. Stress had not aged her at all. Chocolate coloured bangs framed her face and emerald eyes shone through the dimly lit office at her co-worker.

"Jesus! Need another coffee?" The man joked, slapping a green file onto the only clear part of the desk. She grabbed it and looked at it enquiringly. "I thought you might want to look into that."

"Local professor murders state senator." She read aloud, opening the file curiously. "I've seen shit like this before. Cold blooded murder."

"Well, I want to see your take on 'shit like this'." He responded cockily, pulling his jacket on haphazardly. She threw the file back on the pile and sat back in her chair, letting out a frustrated sigh as she ran her hands through her hair. He turned to look at her. "Don't stay too late. I need you bright eyed and bushy tailed for seven sharp."

"Yes boss." She murmured, silently cursing him. She heard the door click shut and gravel crunching outside. "Okay, Palmer… better get informed on this heap of shit." She said to herself, picking the file up and shoving it in her purse. After an hour of cleaning, she strode out of the front doors, pulling her blazer over herself.

"Night, Carley." Richard called, waving from his car. She smiled back at him and waved.

"Night. Give my love to Leanne and Bobby!" She called back. Once she reached her white Toyota station wagon, she threw her purse and bags on her back seat and sat herself in the driver's side.

Driving home was fairly easy, mainly because it was ten o'clock on a Friday night. Switching on her radio, she caught the last of the news.

"…series of attacks up and down the country. The places that are worst hit in Georgia are Atlanta, Macon and Savannah. We urge people in these areas to stay indoors and to contact family."

"What a piece of shit." She muttered angrily, flipping the channels until her favourite song came on.

"Miss independent

Miss self-sufficient

Miss keep your distance

Miss unafraid

Miss out of my way

Miss don't let a man interfere, no"

She sang along, tapping her steering wheel and undoing the top button of her blouse. Letting herself unwind, she bobbed her head to the music. When the chorus started, she sang at the top of her voice.

"What is the feelin' takin' over?

Thinkin' no one could open my door

Surprise...It's time

To feel what's real

What happened to Miss Independent?

No more the need to be defensive

Goodbye, old you

When love is true"

After ten minutes of driving, swearing at fellow drivers and unsuccessful singing, Carley pulled into the apartment block car-park. She got out and made her way to her fifth-floor studio apartment. Walking in, she shrugged her blazer off and hung it up gently. She suddenly felt the need to look through the file that she got off steve. It wasn't long before she was curled on the couch, coffee in hand, in her pajamas, getting ready to read the file.

"Okay… Lee Everett. Convicted of murder. Life sentence." She mumbled, looking at the man's mug shot. The dark skin on his face was covered in stubble, obviously having not shaved in a while. His eyes were the darkest brown she had ever seen and had a certain sadness emanating from them. Suddenly, Carley couldn't help but want to learn more about this man. He was a monster, yes, but he seemed to know it. After a while, her vision became blurred and the need to sleep overtook her. She stood from the couch and shuffled to her bedroom, yawning all the while.

"Eleven Forty." She muttered to herself, pulling the covers back as she looked at her alarm clock. "That's a new record."

She felt herself drift away, succumbing to her sleep-deprived desires.

Two Days Later

"Hey, we could go in here! It looks deserted." She said in a carried whisper to the man on her left. He had brown, messy hair and dark eyes that contrasted drastically with his pale skin.

"You sure? It could be filled with… them things." He said, struggling to come up with a name for the undead. She let out a frustrated sigh, throwing the door open and walking in.

"For god's sake, Doug! It's just a-"She said, walking into the main room. She was met with a woman and two men, all holding guns. "-drugstore."

"Who are you?" The woman asked, keeping her gun fixated on their heads. She was about the same age as Carley; maybe a bit older. Dark hair hung around her shoulders, framing her thin face and obscuring her eyes. Staying silent, Carley placed her purse on the ground, raising her arms in a surrender. Angrily, the woman pressed on. "I asked you a question!"

"I'm Carley. Carley Palmer. This is my friend, Doug Tabacco." She replied calmly, keeping her hands in position. She heard Doug's breathing become deeper, symbolising the onset of a panic attack.

"Were you bitten?" The man by the corner asked. He was wearing a baseball cap and leather jacket. His hands were trembling slightly, knocking his aim off.

"No. We just wanted a place to stay." Carley answered quickly. The woman in the tank-top growled quietly.

"Okay. If you're staying here, you'll need to know that we have certain rules concerning safety." She said, lowering her firearm and crossing her arms. "That door stays shut, no matter what."

"Okay, we can do that." She responded, taking Doug's hand to try and calm him down. It worked. "So, you know who we are; what're your names?"

"I'm Lilly. That's my dad, Larry." 'Lilly' replied, gesturing to the older man.

"And I'm Glenn." The man in the cap added, leaning on one of the shelves. "You local? I don't recognize either of you."

"I am." Doug piped in, sitting on one of the boxes in the corner. Carley smiled, knowing that he was fully relaxed. "I lived with my Uncle."

"I'm not. I was only here to cover the Cherry Blossom Festival for WABE." She said, picking her purse back up and checking the contents. Her gun, her keys, her wallet and that damned file remained there.

"So, how long have you guys been here?" She asked, clipping it shut and putting it on one of the display units.

"About a day." Lilly replied monotonously, fidgeting her hands nervously. Larry patted her knee comfortingly, obviously worried himself.

"So… what do you guys do when the dead aren't walking?" Carley asked, hoping to break the awkward silence that had fallen.

"I was a pizza delivery boy." Glenn said, smiling slightly.

"I was a retired soldier." Larry said, knitting his eyebrows together.

"I worked at Warner Robins Air Force Base." Lilly said, her eyes filling with sadness and regret.

"Hey, it's okay. We all miss our jobs. Hell, I miss the crappy coffee in the staff room." Carley laughed, comforting the woman.

"Hey there! You friendly? Truck's run out of gas!" They heard, snapping them from their reveries. Carley knew that they would not be alive if she didn't move. She grabbed her gun, signalled to Glenn and was out of the door before she knew it. "Fuck!"

"We're trapped!" The woman cried, looking at all the monsters around them. All in all, there was five people in their group. Two families.

"WAAH!" The boy cried as the un-dead creature fell on top of him. "AHH! NO! NO!"

Carley gritted her teeth as she put a bullet in the creatures skull. The boy ran to his family and she kept shooting; keeping the horde at bay.

"RUN!" Glenn shouted, gesturing them towards the drug store. Carley made sure the creatures stayed well back as the small families ran inside, running after them soon after.

"Carley! What the hell?! We can't take risks like this!" Lilly yelled as they closed the door. Doug peeked through the boards, keeping watch in-case of an attack.

"And we can't just let people die, either." She countered, her face contorting in anger.

"When I SAY 'that door stays shut no matter what' I fucking MEAN it." Lilly fumed, wagging her finger angrily. "We don't know who these people are; they could be dangerous!"

"Where the hell is your humanity?! They would have died out there!"

"We have kids with us." The tallest man said, gesturing to the girl at his side. His blue shirt was already covered in blood and his leg was bandaged. His face seemed familiar to Carley, mainly his eyes.

"I see ONE little girl…" Larry growled, pointing to the eight year old. The man held his daughter more securely, keeping her hidden. They conversed quietly, ending with the girl heading towards the bathroom. Carley smiled at how the man talked to the girl: It was so… normal.

"They've got kids, Lilly." Glenn said, defending the group.

"Those things outside don't care." She countered, glaring at him.

"Maybe you should go join 'em, then. You'll have something in common!" The man with the moustache piped up, practically growling at her. He turned to the black man. "Lee, can you believe this lady?"

Realisation hit Carley like a truck. That man was Lee Everett! That's why he seemed familiar!

"That lady's my daughter." Larry said proudly, standing to his full height.

"I can see the resemblance. My son won't grow up to be a raging fucking lunatic, that's for certain." The moustachioed man continued, glaring at the tall man.

"Son?" Larry asked, looking around. Seeing the boy, his eyes widened. "Ho-ly SHIT. Son of a bitch, one of them is bitten!"

"He wasn't bitten!" Lee shouted, surprising Carley. His voice was caring, genuinely scared for the little boy.

"Hell he wasn't!" Larry defied, turning towards the boy. "We have to end this, now."

"Over my dead body." His father said, his voice low.

"We'll dig one hole."

"No! I'm cleaning him up! There's no bite! He's fine!" The boy's mother cried, desperately trying to shield her son. Carley's heart broke, thinking of how that would never be her. She would never be able to have a son to cherish or to defend.

"Don't you fucking people get it? We've already SEEN this happen. We let someone with a bite stay and WE all end up bitten!" Larry continued, fear evident on his face.

"Shut up."

"We gotta throw him out! Or smash his head in!" He added, finding ways to protect the group.

"KENNY! STOP HIM!" The mother screamed, protecting her son.

"Lee, what do we do about this guy?" Kenny asked, turning to the other man for support.

"We reason with him." Lee said calmly.

"With the bloody end of and axe-handle, maybe! Nobody threatens my boy!"

"Everyone CHILL THE FUCK OUT!" Carley shouted, having no effect whatsoever.

"Nobody's doing ANYTHING." Lilly insisted, trying to remain calm.

"Shut up, Lilly." Larry said, looking at his daughter disappointedly. He turned to Carley. "And YOU. Shut the fuck up. They will find us and they will get in here, and none of this will fucking matter. But right now we're about to be TRAPPED in here with one of those things."

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Kenny asked, dread consuming him.

"He's bitten! That's how you TURN!" He explained, his face inches from the other mans.

"He's not bitten!" His wife insisted. "Lee, stop this! It's upsetting him!"

"Sit down, or that's IT." Lee growled, once again surprising Carley.

"You're gonna whoop me? You and what homo parade?" Larry asked sarcastically.

"This one." Kenny said, standing up for Lee.

"HA, that's good!" Larry then addressed the boy. "Little boy! Before you EAT your mommy, you can watch your dad get his nose broken."

"I'm gonna kill him, KAT. Just worry about Duck." Kenny shouted to his wife, preparing himself for a fight.

"Lee?" They heard. Everyone looked to the little girl.

"Yeah?" He replied, his voice becoming soft.

"There's someone in there." She responded, pressing an ear to the bathroom door.

"It's just locked. Key's behind the counter. Probably." He shrugged, turning his attention to the near-fight.

"Hey, I'm not the bad guy here, I'm just looking out for my daughter!"

"No, you're just the guy arguing for killing a kid!"

"He's covered in muck! She'll find the bite. WATCH."

"She won't."

"And if she DOES?" Larry asked, silencing everyone. He closed his eyes as if he was upset by the position they were in. "The first thing he'll do is sink his teeth into his mom's face."

"He's a little boy; I think we can handle him." Lee said, stating what everyone was thinking.

"A little boy?! He'll be an uncontrollable man eater!" He shouted, his voice cracking.

"It's not gonna happen!" Kenny growled, barricading his son from the man.

"It is and we're tossing him out NOW!"

"Knock this guy out." Lee said, making Kenny raise his fist to the other mans face. Larry just turned back around and hit him back, knocking him backwards on the floor.

A high pitched scream alerted everyone to the little girl's presence again. A corpse was crawling after her, trying desperately to sink its teeth into her.

"CLEMENTINE!" Lee shouted, running and tripping. Carley grabbed her gun and levelled it with the monsters head as Lee tried to get it away from himself and his little girl.

BANG

"You okay?" She asked, looking at him in concern and lowering her gun.

"Yeah." He replied, smiling at her. Suddenly, Lee Everett didn't seem like a monster.