Chapter 2, enjoy!

So, there is another zombie fic out there, silly old me...oh well, enjoy!

Warnings and Disclaimer in first chapter

Normalcy

"Well, there's one good thing about the end of the world, I lost weight," Lula commented to Stephanie, "I mean, eating rabbit food and MREs, I was bound to lose some weight!"

Stephanie nodded her head and said, "You're right, Lula, but, I would sell my soul for a Big Mac with a coke,"

"True that," Lula said, before she took a glance at Mary Alice and Lisa, "The girls are handling this pretty well."

"Kids are resilient," Lester said, walking over to Lula and Stephanie, "They're able to handle most extreme changes better than adults. Evolution at play ladies."

Stephanie turned to where Tank and ranger stood huddled around the map, talking in soft voices, "What's going on, Lester?"

"Apparently, the bypass around Pittsburgh has been barricaded, we'll have to go through the city, which poses a threat to all of us."

"Why, because of the zombies?" Lula asked, earning ahead shake from Lester.

"Worse, other people," Lester said grimly, "Zombies we can kill with ease, it's humans we have to be on the look out for."

Other people, the thought of seeing other people had Stephanie's mind reeling. Were there other survivors out there? There had to be, they couldn't be the only survivors. Though, in this dog eat dog world, other people could potentially be a danger to them all.

"Other people could be a danger?" Lula huffed, crossing her arms, "How? I bet they would be happy to see us."

"yeah," Lester said giving Lula a glare, "We have supplies, running cars, and women, in this world, we can't trust anybody. If you want to live, you rely only on yourself and those who are in your group."

"Huh," Lula said, looking away from Lester, "I see your point, but are you sure there are still people in this place? I mean, after three years, there couldn't be any supplies left, right?"

"You'd be surprised," Lester said, before he walked over to where Mary Alice and Lisa were situated, playing in the grass of the rest area they were at.

'He's right," Stephanie said softly, her hand reaching for her holstered gun, "We have children with us, I don't want to risk their lives."

Stephanie walked away from Lula and made her way over to Tank and Ranger, "Can we move the barricades? They can't be that hard to move…."

"Babe, wish it was that easy, it's what behind those barricades that has us worried, Zombies, thousands of them," Ranger said wrapping an arm around Stephanie.

"They must have tried to herd them onto the freeway, trying to purge the city of zombies, but that didn't work out," Tank said, grimly, pointing to the highway sign that was beside the rest area, "See, they've spray painted the skull and bones beside Pittsburgh, which means it's a zombie infested zone."

"And we have to go through it…." Stephanie said softly, earning a head nod, "It shouldn't take us long, right? Maybe an hour?"

"More like a day, we're trying to find the back roads of the city, that way we'll head out west," Ranger said, looking over the map, "We need to find roads least likely used, the main ones will be riddled with traps and zombies."

Stephanie shook her head and tucked it under Ranger's, "I don't want to deal with Zombies….or anything, you think it's going to be better out west?"

"Should be, maybe in the national parks and those least populated areas," Tank said folding the map up, "anything's better than here…."

"We'll head out in the morning, traveling in the city at night is suicide," Ranger told Stephanie, his hand running up and down her back, "Who knows what is out there in those buildings."

"Aunt Stephanie," Lisa squeaked, running over to the three adults and hugging Stephanie's legs, "Lester wants to teach M.A, and I how to use a bow and arrow, can we? I want to learn how to kill a rabbit!"

"Oh goodness," Stephanie sighed, but nodded her head, earning a squeal from the child, "Go on, have fun with Lester."

Lisa ran off to rejoin Lester and Mary Alice, while Stephanie sighed and said, "I just want the girls to have some kind of normal life again, not learning how to hunt down rabbits and zombies, they should be learning to read and write."

"I do too," Ranger said in a tight voice, "Come on, Babe, maybe you should learn how to use a bow and arrow as well."

It had been so long since they've all felt normal, the last sense of normalcy had been in the safe house, after the group fled Trenton.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The safe house was located up north, in Maine, far away from people. They had traveled on back roads to get to it, by passing cities and towns. It had just been Lester, Ranger Stephanie and the girls. Ranger had called Tank and Tank had told them that he would meet them there soon, He and Lula had problems on one of the roads.

The safe house was a simple cabin, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was all made from thick logs and a stone fireplace dominated one of the walls, though, since it was summer, they wouldn't be using the fireplace. The furniture was rustic, as was the kitchen. It seemed more of a vacation cabin than a safe house.

Lester helped Mary Alice and Lisa out the SUV saying, "Okay, kiddies, we're going to open this cabin up and we'll find you two something sweet to eat."

Stephanie slid out the SUV and over to Ranger who was taking out several black duffel bags, "Ranger, what are we going to do now? I mean, are we going to stay here?"

"We're staying here, until, I get calls from my men, and then they'll come and then we'll make plans." Ranger said leading Stephanie to the cabin, "Come on, I know you're hungry, let's go sate the beast."

It had been a hellish first week. It took the children a while for the idea that they would never see their sister or mother again. Before they left New Jersey, Ranger had asked Stephanie if they should return to the city, to see if Angie somehow survived the original zombie attack. Stephanie had wanted to go back, to find her other niece, but the thought of putting the Lisa and Mary Alice back in harm's way had Stephanie shaking her head. She said a little prayer, and told Ranger to continue to the safe house. That first week, Ranger stayed closed to the radio, listening to some of the military channels that he picked up. The military radio channels seemed to be spoken in code; a code that only Lester and Ranger knew. The two would sit up late at night, making plans and mostly keeping a lookout for Zombies. They were deep enough in the woods, the zombies wouldn't really come deep into the woods to look for them, right?

One good thing about the Cabin as that it had its own water reservoir, and a gas generator. They could still have electricity for a bit. The one thing that had Stephanie worried was the fact that the girls didn't have clothes, they hadn't had time to pack anything. Ranger had reassured her that once Tank got to the cabin, they would go out and get clothes for them all.

It was tough on the girls. Lisa kept close to Stephanie and Mary Alice, never leaving their side for anything. She cried at night for her mother and father, and hardly played with her sister when they were outside. Mary Alice fared better, she only asked if they were ever going back to Trenton, and one she got her answer, seemed to take in it with stride. With no electronics, the girls spent time outside, with Lester, watching him practice with knives, and guns. Stephanie didn't want them to start slacking on their education, so she took some time out of their day to teach them a few things she could remember.

Tank arrived at the safe house a week later, with only Lula. When Ranger asked Tank about the other Rangemen, Tank shook his head and told him that he lost contact with them all after the second day. It made Stephanie's throat close up with unshed tears. She'd never see her friends again. Those men had been there with her and for her. It was just Tank, Lester and Ranger now, in this bleak world.

Poor Lula, she had hugged Stephanie tightly and wailed about how she went to the bonds office that morning and found Vinnie over Connie, eating at her body.

"Thank god Tankie came, cuz Vinnie turned to me and came charging at me," Lula sobbed, wiping her nose, "He shot him dead, and then told me we had to leave."

"It's okay now, Lula, you're here and you have me and 'Tankie,'" Stephanie said, earning giggles from the girls, "We're safe here."

"But for how long?" Lula asked, earning looks from everyone.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The group stayed at the safe for nearly 2 years before they were forced to leave, due to the zombies, they hardly made it out at all. The night they fled their safe house, was the last night of normalcy for them all.

"You're a natural, kiddo," Lester praised Lisa as she held the bow up, "I think I can make you a smaller bow, but for now, you handle the adult one like a pro."

Lisa beamed up at Lester and said, "Thank you, Lester, can I try to kill a rabbit? I bet if I do it right, we could eat it for dinner tonight!"

"Alright, but don't go too far, stay close to where we can see you," Lester said, watching Lisa skip off to the tall grass.

"I'll go watch her," Lula said, before she followed behind the child, "Them creepers could be in there."

"I'd rather use a gun," Mary Alice said, pulling out the hand gun that Ranger had given her, "I don't have to worry about bows, and if I aim for the head, those zombies won't be getting up again."

"True, but you can't hunt for food with a gun, one shot and you'll scare off the animals," Ranger said to Mary Alice, who pouted but nodded her head, "Plus, if you don't have a sniper rifle, the bow is a great weapon to kill people for a far."

Mary Alice held the bow up and took aim at the glass bottle that was up on a fence, "Do you think we'll have to kill people too, Ranger?"

"I hope not," Ranger said, helping Mary Alice with her stance, "But, if they try to harm you, your sister, your aunt or Lula, I'll kill them."

"No worries, Ranger," Mary Alice said, letting go of the bow string, making the arrow fly and hit the glass bottle, "I'll kill them myself."

"Good girl," Ranger said with a smile, ruffling Mary Alice's hair.

"Don't praise her for that," Stephanie said, glaring at Ranger as he came over to her, "She shouldn't want to kill anyone."

"It's a harsh world, Babe," Ranger said, hugging Stephanie, "And I want to make sure that you all are protected, and can protect yourselves."

Stephanie sighed and said, "Damn it, I hate when you're right, well, where's my bow, I need to learn how to use one too, right?"

"BULL'S EYE!" Lisa yipped, running out the grass with Lula, "I killed a rabbit! And it's a big one too!"

Lula nodded her head and said, "Now, who's going to clean it?"

"I am!" Lisa said, skipping through the grass, "Come on, let' go show the group!"

Lula grabbed Lisa's hand and began to lead her back to the group, but loud rustling had her stopping. She turned to Lisa and said in a soft voice,"Shh, there's-"

She didn't finish her sentence, because a zombie appeared in front of them, snarling and moving towards them blindly, the tall grass didn't slow it down. Lisa let out a scream, while Lula jerked her into a run, heading back to the rest area. They came barreling out the grass, and over to the rest of the group, the zombie still following them.

"Zombie!" Lisa screamed, running over to Lester, her hands still clutching her kill and the bow.

Lester took out his gun and fired once, hitting the zombie in the middle of its forehead, and stopping it in its tracks. Stephanie was beside Lisa in an instant, checking her over.

"No bites?" she asked, earning a small head shake, "Good, and you bought dinner, good girl."

"I'm going to clean it, okay," Lisa said, making her way to a picnic table.

"That fucking creeper was hiding in the damn grass, like a fucking ninja!" Lula huffed, sitting down, "I ain't never going back into grass that's taller than my waist."

Tank ran his hands up and down Lula's back and said, "It's alright baby,I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

"Good, cuz, ain't nobody got time for them damn zombies," Lula huffed, earning a chuckle from Tank.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Fuck," Jeanne Ellen Borrows sighed, looking over the barricade, her eyes landing on several thousand zombies, "Fuck, we can't get past this, those fucking idiots corralled the zombies on the fucking freeway…"

Jeanne's companion let out a sound, their hand reaching for the sword that rested on their back. They walked over to Jeanne and said with an amused voice, "Well then, we just kill our way through them, right?"

"Go on ahead, I know how much you love killing zombies," Jeanne said, watching as her friend jumped over the tall barricade, "Well…"

Jeanne winced watching as the blade of the sword glinted in the dying sunlight. Her friend was a pro at killing zombies, they could use any weapon, but preferred a sword, it made a lot less noise. Decaying body parts flew through the air, heads, torsos, arms, legs. Moments later, Jeanne's friend was jumping back over the tall barricade saying, "Too many of them, Jeanne, go use the damn flame thrower."

"With pleasure!" Jeanne said, running to go get her favorite toy, a flame thrower she found in an old military base, "We should be on the other side of this barricaded area soon!"

"We don't have much time," Jeanne's friend said, cleaning their sword, "I want to make it past Pittsburgh before sunrise, I want to be in Washington as soon as possible."

"Aye, Aye, Captain," Jeanne said, before she turned the flame thrower on, "I love the smell of cooked decaying flesh in the morning…."

As Jeanne torched several zombies, her friend leaned against the concrete railing, looking over to the abandoned city. If they couldn't kill all these zombies, they would be force to go through that maze of a city, and they already knew what awaited them inside of it; renegade gangs, zombies and humans who gained a taste for human flesh.

"You better kill them all, Jeanne," The person said, "Because cities now a days spell nothing but trouble."

Nothing but trouble indeed...

TBC….

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