Dante led Maria and Crystal through the forest. A couple of yards away he spots a couple of walkers. Scanning the surrounding behind the girls he nods and releases a sigh of relief seeing that no walkers should surprise them from behind.
"Stay here." Dante commanded as he looked back at the two, he then slowly made his way to the three walkers that were feasting on the deer.
Dante swung at one walker's head with a baseball bat, the force being strong enough to cause the head to roll on the ground. The action causes the other two walkers to pry themselves from their feast, grunting and eying Dante as their next meal.
Quickly Dante swings at one walker's knee, knocking it out of place causing the walker to fall to the ground; effectively slowing it down. The remaining walker rushes towards Dante with out stretched arms. Taking a step away from the zombie, Dante makes a full swing knocking the head off of the walker. Turning on his last victim, Dante repeatedly bashes the zombie's head in. Blood splatters onto Dante's face until he stops. Giving one last whack to make sure the walker was dead, Dante wiped the blood off of his face.
Dante then whistled at Crystal and Maria to come over to him as he leaned on a tree to catch his breath, Maria and Crystal walked up to Dante slowly as they looked down at the dead walkers.
Crystal frowned when she looked down at the half eaten Deer, she then squatted down and sighed. "Poor deer… At least we know they eat animals as well."
Dante looked down at the deer and frowned as well. "I just hope this hasn't happened to my parents…. I know my father got bit but…" Dante said as he started to tear up a little.
Maria rubs his back and leaned her head on his arm while grabbing his hand. "I'm sure it didn't…. Don't worry."She looked up at him, giving him a reassuring smile. Dante nodded and wiped the tears of his face, he then kissed her and looked at Crystal. "Come on… We need to go." Dante said as he started walking with his baseball bat in hand. Crystal nods and stood up and started following them.
A hour later they make it into the city, the city was quiet with burning bodies on the ground due to a napalm bomb.
"This is horrible…. I wonder how many of these people were still alive." Crystal said as she looked down at the bodies while walking with Dante and Maria.
"Don't get to close to them… Some of them might be walkers." Dante warned her as he grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the bodies.
A few minutes later they make it to the building where Dante parents live in, Dante sighed as he entered the building, it was dark outside and inside, there was no electricity running through the building, the whole city of Atlanta eerily resembling that of a ghost town. Dante groaned as he saw that the elevator was clearly not working.
Dante opened the door to the stairwell and looked at the two girls. "Ladies first." Dante said with a smile as he gestured them to enter.
Maria smiled and bowed as she entered the dark stairway, she then walked out. "You go first Dante." Maria said hiding behind Crystal.
Crystal chuckled while Dante sighed. "Any of you brought flash lights?" Dante asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the two.
Maria nods and takes off her book bag and set it on top of a table, she then started digging through it and found a flashlight, she turned it on and flashed it up the stairwell so they can see.
"Stay behind me… Crystal watch our backs and move quickly if one sneaks up behind us so I can get him." Dante said as he looked at the two girls, he then started heading up the stairs slowly while Maria pointed the flashlight so that he could see where he was going.
A few minutes later they make it to the fifth floor, the building seemed empty to them, the group rested in the stairwell catching their breath for a second, Dante then put his hand on the door knob as Maria and Crystal stack up behind him, Dante turned the door knob as he gripped the baseball bat ready for anything.
Dante opened the door and stuck his head out to scan the area, his eyes widen when he saw at least 20 walkers in the hallway, he slowly closed the door. "Shit… there is a whole bunch of them in there." Dante said as he turned around to look at the two.
"What now?" Maria asked as shed leaned against the wall and frowned looking down to the floor.
"Is their another way around? Maybe a second stairwell?" Crystal suggested as she leaned on the wall next to her sister and folded her arms.
Dante sighed and shook his head. "We could but… It would be the same situation."
"Then what are we going to do Dante?" Maria asked with a raised eyebrow as she grabbed her little sister hand.
"We can rush to my parents apartment, I can cover the both of you… I give you my key and you open the door while I protect you… But you have to be fast… Understood?" Dante said as he looked at the both of them with adrenaline running through him. They both nodded and got ready to run to the apartment, Dante tossed the keys to Maria as he put his hand on the door knob ready to go, Maria catches it and gets ready while still holding Crystal hand.
Dante opened the door and rushed into the hallway ducking under a few walkers and turning around to hit one walker in the head, he then hit a walker next to that one while Crystal and Maria run over to the apartment and Dante right behind them swinging at walkers but they start to overrun him, Maria opened the door to the apartment and her and Crystal enter.
"Shit!" Dante said as he fell down when he was so close to the door, the walkers walk over to him ready to feast on him.
"Dante!" Maria yelled as she tried walking over to him but Crystal held her back. "Let me go!" Maria shouted at Crystal while trying to wiggle her way out of Crystal clutch.
Blasts from a shot gun rattle the hallway. The two walkers that were about to eat Dante are suddenly headless. Dante frantically looks around as more and more walkers go down. His eyes widen as two walkers make their way to Crystal and Maria from behind. One by one walker heads get blown off as a dark figure walks towards Dante while shooting his shotgun and reloading quickly as the walkers change their attention to the mysterious man. A couple of seconds later and all of the walkers in the hallway were down, and an African American male that was 6'0 with a brown skin tone that was muscular,He had a goatee and was bald. His light brown eyes look down at Dante as he smirked. Dante looked up he then looked at Maria and Crystal, his eyes widen as he saw the two walkers behind him, he took the pistol that was on the man waist and he turned to Maria and Crystal, he then shot the two walkers in the head with the pistol.
Dante panted and dropped his head on the floor looking up at the man. "Tyreese Jackson…" Dante said with a smile.
Tyreesse looked down at Dante and smiled. "Hello… Brother." Tyreese said as he grabbed Dante arm and pulled him up.
Dante smiled even more and hugged Tyreese. "It's good to know your still alive bro."
"Same here brother." Tyreese said as he hugged back, he then looked at Maria. "Maria!" Tyreese said as he walked over to Maria and gave her a hug.
"Hi Tyreese." Maria said with a smile as she hugged him back.
Tyreese hugged Maria some more and then frowned as he looked down at the two walkers, he then pulled Maria away from him and looked over to Dante. "Dante…. It's them…"
Dante walked over to them and frowned as he looked down at the bodies, he then started tearing up and kneeled on the ground crying. Tyreese kneeled down next to him and started crying as well for his adoptive parents, Maria and Crystal frown looking at the two cry over their parents.
Dante started sobbing for a while as he started chanting religious things in Spanish, he then exhaled sharply and got up from the floor, he wiped the tears off his face and looked at Tyreese. Tyreese looked up at him and frowned, Dante then put his hand out to pick him up, Tyreese took his hand and got up.
"Maria…. I want to find them…" Crystal said as she frowned looking at Dante and Tyreese dead parents.
Maria nods and looks at Dante. "Can we go find them?… Please!" Maria said as she gave Dante a hug.
"Yes…. But tomorrow… It's getting late and I don't want us to be in danger out there." Dante explained as he rested his chin on her head while he hugged her.
"What? You can see your parents today while we have to wait until tomorrow?" Crystal shouted at Dante as she made a fist and growled.
"Dante is right….. We need to stay in for tonight… Those things out there will be hard to see and we will be overwhelmed." Tyreese explained to Crystal with a sigh.
"But!" Crystal shouted but was then cut off by Maria.
"They're right Crystal…" Maria said with a sigh as she looked at her sister seriously.
"But….. Alright fine." Crystal said as she huffed, pouted and stomped away from them.
"Bro if were going to be staying here we have to get rid of…. Their bodies." Dante explained as he pointed to his parents bodies with a frown.
"Well we can't bury them and we can't burn them… So what are we going to do with them?" Tyreese asked with a raised eyebrow and a frown.
"I know you two love them but…. Maybe we should put them in the other stairwell." Maria suggested as she looked down and fiddled with her fingers.
Dante sighs and frowns while he looks at Maria. "Can you give us some time alone… Please."
Maria nods and heads off to look for Crystal, she found her in Dante room crying, Maria walked over to her and sat down next to her wrapping her arms over her shoulder and started singing to her to comfort her like she used to when they were young. Dante and Tyreese was mourning their dead parents for a moment, Dante and Tyreese then picked up their parents and took them to the stairwell that Tyreese came from. They then headed back to the apartment and closed the door and locked it, the two then put some furniture in front of it to prevent the walkers from coming in.
A few minutes later Dante and Tyreese finish, Dante looks at Tyreese and smiled. "It's good to see you again Tyreese."
Tyreese nodded. "It's the least I can do… I came over here to check up on them…. I knew I would meet you here."
Dante nodded and smiled. "Good thing you was here… Or else we might have been dead."
Tyreese smirked and patted Dante back. "They were good people…. They took me in when my parents died… They raised us well bro."
"That they did." Dante said with a smile as he was reminded of them. He then looked at Tyreese up and down. "You're a Sergeant now?" Dante said as he looked at Tyreese police uniform and pointed at the rank.
"Was… Until everything turned into shit." Tyreese said with a chuckle. "What about you?"
"I'm a Sergeant as well." Dante replied with a smile.
"They would be proud of us." Tyreese said as he let out a long sighed.
Dante nodded and then exhaled sharply and frowned. "I regret not being able to see them more."
Tyreese shook his head and put a hand on Dante shoulder. "They were proud of you and understood… You was defending our country."
Dante nodded and smiled. "Yeah."
"Come on… Let's go check on the girls." Tyreese suggested as he wrapped his arm over Dante shoulder and lead him to the girls.
Crystal stopped crying and Maria was there with Crystal leaning on her arm, Dante entered the room and put a hand on Maria shoulder. "We can take my parents bed." Dante said with a smile.
Crystal frowns and tugs on Maria shirt. "Can you please stay with me tonight?" Crystal asked as she looked into her sister eyes.
"Of course I can." Maria said with reassuring smile.
Dante looked down at the two and smiled. "Ok… You two take my parents room and… Me and Tyreese will take our old beds."
Maria and Crystal nodded, Crystal headed to Dante parents bedroom and changed the sheets and pillows, Maria smiled and kissed Dante. "Thanks honey." Dante smiled and kissed her back, she then left the room and headed to Dante parents room.
"I would have never thought I would sleep on this bed again." Tyreese said with a chuckle as he started preparing his bed.
"Me either…. Me and you should spend the night keeping watch in case those walkers come." Dante suggested as he prepared his bed as well.
"Walkers?" Tyreese asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah… It's what most people are calling these things." Dante replied with a smile. "I'm also keeping your pistol." Dante said with a chuckle as he sat on his bed and inspected the pistol.
"I'm fine with that." Tyreese said with a smile, he then looked down the hall. "It's a good thing Maria lit up those candles."
Dante nodded in agreement and smiled as he finished inspecting his gun. "Yeah… She's great."
"So why haven't you married her yet?" Tyreese asked as he looked at Dante seriously.
Dante face palmed and sighed. "Why is everyone asking me this? You should know why….. Our jobs are dangerous and If I die…. I don't want her too…"
"Too what? " Tyreese asked as he threw a small ball at Dante.
Dante caught it and threw it away. "I don't want her to be a grieving widow… Or worse."
" You're full of shit. She loves you more then anything, sure when you die she would be devastated but at least she would be married to a American hero… Man up." Tyreese said as he grunted and got up. "I got the first shift… I'll wake you up when I'm sleepy." Tyreese said as walked out of the room and sat on the couch in the living room.
Dante sighed and rubbed his head. "Maybe your right…" Dante said softly he then laid down and fell asleep.
During the night Dante and Tyreese switched shifts through out the night while Maria and Crystal slept like babies, the next morning the girls woke up and Dante was on his shift.
Dante yawns and heads to a sleeping Tyreese, he then shook him gently to wake him up. "Wake up… Let me sleep… It's morning."
Tyreese woke up and groaned, he then sat up and yawned while he was rubbing his eyes. "Alright Alright… Go ahead." Tyreese said as he got up and took his shotgun and headed to the living room. Dante put his pistol on the table and dropped on the bed falling asleep quickly. A few hours later Dante woke up, he groaned as he got up and stretched, he then took his pistol and put it in the holster Tyreese gave him, he waked to the living room and greeted everyone.
"Good morning everyone." Dante said with a smile to the three.
"What's so good about it?" Crystal replied as she was sitting on the couch pouting and had her arms folded.
"Stop thinking like that." Maria scolded her little sister as she was sitting down next to her and she pinched her.
Dante took canned pineapples that his parents had in their shelf and he started eating it since their was no electricity or gas to cook food, after a few minutes Dante finished eating his food and walked into the living room again.
"Everybody is ready to go?" Dante asked with a smile as he looked at the three. Tyreese stood up and nodded, Crystal slowly got up and sighed, Maria got up and held her little sister hand smiling and nodding at Dante.
Dante smiles and starts removing the furniture they had blocking the entrance to the door with the help of Tyreese, after a few minutes they removed all of the furniture and opened the door, they both peeked their heads out to spot any walkers, the hallway was clear so they headed to the stairwell, Maria turned on her flashlight and held the bat Dante gave her, Crystal was holding a big kitchen knife. The group slowly made their way down the stairs and eventually to the lobby on the first floor, Crystal and Maria gasped as they saw a whole bunch of walkers outside of the building.
"Holy shit." Dante said as his jaw dropped looking at the many walkers outside of the building, he then gulped and looked at Tyreese. "Please tell me you have a plan."
Tyreese nodded slowly and took out his keys. "I got a truck parked on the other side of the walkers…. We just need to shoot our way towards it."
"We're not going to make it… there are… too many of them and me and Maria can't handle them with a bat and a kitchen knife." Crystal said as she pulled on Dante arm and looked at him seriously.
Dante exhaled sharply and nodded, he then looked at Tyreese. "Alright… I'll take Maria and protect her… You take Crystal."
Tyreese nodded and sighed looking at the two sisters hugging each other like it was the last time. "You two stick close to us."
Maria and Crystal nodded, Maria stood behind Dante putting away her flashlight and holding her baseball bat with both hands, Crystal was behind Tyreese having a strong grip on the kitchen knife. Dante and Tyreese open the door slowly not to catch the attention of the walkers, they then slowly got out of the building but now all of the walkers were looking at them.
"Aw shit!" Tyreese said as he looked at them all shotgun ready.
"Get back to the apartment…. We can take the fire escape." Dante said as he grabbed Maria hand and head inside while looking back and shooting nearby walkers, Tyreese pushed Crystal in and started shooting as well. Dante opened the door to the stairwell and commanded Maria and Crystal to go in, the girls went in and Dante and Tyreese started shooting at the walkers again getting plenty of head shots, the walkers then got too close and the door was still open so the two brothers ran up the stairs while shooting the walkers and reloading.
Maria started opening the door to the apartment but the keys fell down due to her being nervous, Crystal picked up the keys and opened the door to the apartment, she then grabbed her sister hand and dragged her to the window where the fire escape was, she then opened the window and got out on to the fire escape with her sister.
Dante and Tyreese continued running up the stairs and had walkers following them, they stopped on the fifth floor and started letting out plenty of rounds into most of the walkers but their was still too many of them. Dante entered the hall way and Tyreese closed the door behind them hoping that would stop the walkers, they then ran into the apartment and headed to the window where Maria and Crystal were at, they then heard the door to the stair well break and some walkers entered the apartment, Dante shot at them while Tyreese got on the fire escape and lead the girls down, Dante kept shooting but he then got a empty clip, he then got out to the fire escape and ran down catching up to Tyreese and the girls. Tyreese started shooting at some wandering walkers on the ground floor, he then threw a clip at Dante for his pistol, Dante reloaded and started shooting at the walkers that were on the fire escape. Tyreese stopped shooting and put the ladder down so the group can get on to ground floor.
Once down there the group start running and followed Tyreese to his truck while Dante and Tyreese shot the remaining walkers, Tyreese entered the car and waited for the others while shooting at the walkers from out his window, Dante sat in the seat behind Tyreese and started shooting as well as Crystal took the seat next to Tyreese and Maria sat down next to Dante, Tyreese started driving away while Dante shot at the walkers, Dante then stopped and closed his window, he then sighed in relief.
"Ok so where are your folks Maria?" Tyreese asked Maria as he looked at her from the rear view mirror. Maria then started giving him directions to her parents house, she then leaned on Dante arm while Dante looked out the window.
"I need ammo… I got one more clip left." Dante said as he kissed Maria forehead and looked at his gun.
"This is my last one." Tyreese said as he passed Dante the clip while he was still driving.
"You still got some for you shotgun?" Dante asked with a raised eyebrow as he put the new clip in his gun.
"Yeah… Two more.." Tyreese replied with a sigh as he looked at Dante from the rear view mirror, he cruised through the streets going in the direction Maria told him about while trying to avoid running over the walkers.
"We need weapons…." Dante said with a sigh as he leaned his head back and still looked out the window.
"You're a cop Tyreese… Can't we go to your precinct?" Crystal asked Tyreese as she looked at him and raised a eyerbow,
"It's to far away and If we do go then we have to get more gas." Tyreese said as he pulled up to Maria and Crystal parents house.
Dante scanned the area and it was slightly clear of walkers and some of them were far away from them, he knew it was safe if they didn't cast to much attention to themselves. The group got of the car while Dante put his finger on his lips signaling them to be quiet, they then walked up to the door of Maria and Crystal house, Crystal opened the door to the house and cautiously looked around for any walkers or signs of life while Dante and Tyreese cleared all of the room, Maria closed the door behind them so no walker would wander in.
"Where are they? They're not here." Crystal said as she looked at Maria and then searched some more.
"I don't know.." Maria said with a frown as she looked around as well.
"Maybe they went to the camp in the highway we was at yesterday." Dante suggested as he looked out the window for any close walkers.
"Maybe Dante is right." Maria said with a shrug and a sigh as she stopped looking around and stood in the living room.
"Then we need to go now." Crystal said as she looked at Dante and Maria while folding her arms.
"Wait…. We need weapons and ammo if were going to go there… It may be crawling with these walkers." Tyreese said as he rested his shot gun on his shoulder.
"He's right Crystal." Dante said looking at Crystal.
Crystal looked at Maria for a confirmation, Maria gave her a nod, Crystal then sighed and nodded. "Fine… But where?"
"There is a pawn shop nearby…. They should have weapons… But I don't think they sell guns." Tyreese suggested with a sigh as he headed towards the door.
Dante nods. "The pawnshop it is." Dante said with a slight smile as he followed Tyreese out.
They then made their way back to the car silently so that walkers wouldn't notice them, Tyreese then drove them to a pawnshop a couple of blocks away. Tyreese stopped in front of the pawnshop and the group got out of the car and scanned the area of Walkers; The area was clear, the thankful group peeked their heads into the pawnshop seeing that the glass was shattered. Tyreese and Dante deemed the pawnshop safe to enter, the group then looked around, Dante felt like a kid in a candy shop as he saw tomahawks and combat knifes, Dante then grabbed both of them and a belt to hold them and his gun, Crystal walked around the shop and gasped when she saw a very expensive Bow that she always wanted, she then took it and as much arrows as she can carry, Tyreese grinned when he found a machete, he then grabbed a belt that would allow him to walk around with it, Maria on the other hand did not know what to get, she was just a accountant that was good at cooking, Maria then froze as she felt something tap the back of her head.
"You fucking move… And your dead." A woman voice said from behind Maria as she takes the safety off the gun.
