A/N: Walk With The Dead Ch.2
2 days after Indianapolis I was sitting on the bed of an abandoned truck, letting the sun wash over me and pretending that none of this was real.
"What're you thinking about?" Renea asked.
"Nothing." I answered. "Just clearing my head."
"Is it working?"
"Not as well as I'd like."
"We've made past Indianapolis. Probably an hour away from Cincinatti."
"Its taken us two days to get around the city, we're moving at a snails pace."
"What would you expect? every major road is blocked by cars or walkers, were having to take major detours and stop to find fuel more often because of it."
"I know why, just need to figure out how to make this quicker."
"Guys!" Nick yelled. We rushed to him and found him standing next to a man and a woman who looked like they hadn't eaten or slept in days, maybe longer.
"This is Ben and Lena." Nick said.
"You two look like you need food." I said.I pulled 2 cans of ravioli from my bag as Doug handed them some water.
"Thank you." Ben said.
"Are you with anybody? A camp?" Kylie asked.
"No." Lena shook her head. "We were but..." She trailed off.
"We were with a small camp but Lena and me were just taking a walk when we were drawn back by gunfire and screams. By the time we got back it was too late. We couldn't even grab our things."
"Well there has to be something around here that y'all can change in to." Trisha said ad her, Kylie, and Maria began searching nearby vehicles.
A little while later we were all sitting there with a freshly fed and clothed Ben and Lena.
"So where are you guys from?" Tyler asked.
"Dallas, I was a highschool football coach and Lena was a manager at a diner."
"How'd y'all end up in Indiana?" I asked.
"We took a road trip to new york, just before we got there everything went crazy and we turned around but by then it was too late." He answered.
"Got family in Dallas?" Trisha asked.
"Nah, Anna's an only child and her parents passed long ago and I grew up in foster care."
"Sorry to hear that." Trisha smiled sadly.
"It's fine, given what is going on now it seems anything before this is trivial." Lena smiled back.
"We should rest some then hit the road again at first light." I said as I noticed the sun begin to set. "I'll take watch."
"I'll switch out in a few hours." Tyler said and I nodded.
The night was quiet. A few walkers straggled by our camp but I stayed a top the van and they never even noticed. Once Tyler replaced me I settled down in the bed of a truck and stared up at the night sky. The next thing I knew I was being woken up by rain dripping on my face. I opened my eyes to the blinding sun light.
"Morning." Renea said as she handed me a pop tart and some water.
"Thanks." I said.
"Think we should get a move on?"
"Probably best." I nodded.
A few minutes later we were all packed andr eady to go with Ben and Lena now added to the group. We began driving and luckily found empty road for a few hours before we needed fuel. We stopped and siphoned enough fuel to keep both vehicles moving long enough to get us a fair ways past Cincinatti into Kentucky. We made good time and decided to stop for the night near Lexington, Kentucky.
We all huddled into a gas station just outisde the city limits. I took out the walker behind the counter and drug his body outside while everyone else checke the bathrooms and storage room or began setting out their sleeping bags.
Once everything was clear we all sat on the floor and ate in silence. Kylie found the key to the door and we pulled down the metal gate.
"Maybe we can all get some sleep then." Doug said and we all nodded.
"At first light Tyler, Ben, and I will check the pumps and nearby cars for fuel. Everyone else search for anything we can store fuel in. Empty bottles, buckets with lids, any large enough container." Everyone agreed and after that it fell silent for the night.
The next morning Tyler, Ben and myself were siphoning gas out of some cars when we heard Nick.
"Fuck yeah!"
"Be fucking quiet!" I whisper yelled when I got to him.
"Sorry but forget the truck with the keys, we really just caught our lucky break." He pointed to a small fuel truck in the garage behind the gas station.
"Please have fuel." I said to myself. I walked up to it and climbed on top. I opened it to reveal half a tank of fuel. "Thank fuck."
"Thats about two hundred gallons." Doug said when I mentioned it was half full.
"That means we won't need to search for fuel for a while." Trisha smiled.
"There is a God." Lena said.
After getting the fuel truck started we headed on the road again. Six hours later we pulled up to my parents home outside of Nashville. My mom ran outside and jumped in my arms.
"Thomas!" She cried. "Thank God you made it in time."
"In time?" I asked.
"Your Dad he's...he's bit."
"What?!" I yelled. I ran in the house and found my Dad sitting in his favorite chair. My brother was holding a cold towel to his head.
"Thomas." He hugged me.
"Hey Blake." I hugged him back.
"Thomas?" My Dad said weakly.
"I'm here Dad." I knelt next to him and touched his hand.
"I'm a little under the weather." He joked and I lightly chuckled through tears.
"I can see."
"It happened yesterday." Mom said as they all walked inside.
"Its my fault." Blake said sadly. "A groaner got me and as Dad was saving me he got bit."
"It's not your fault Blake." Mom consoled him.
"Blake, none of this is your fault." Dad said as sternly as he could.
"I'll pack you guys some snacks." Mom told me. "There is a survivors center down in Atlanta."
"You're coming too." I told her.
"No." Was her reply.
"Mom!" I pleaded.
"Thomas Jacob Everett, twenty-seven years ago when your Dad and I got married we made one vow. That we would die under the same roof."
"Mom." I pleaded one more time.
"I love you boys, but I won't last three days out there." She rubbed my face. "And in this world our promises are all we have left."
"I've tried talking her out of it Thomas." Blake said. "It's no use."
"He's right, you guys get some sleep so you can head out in the morning before the center gets too full."
"Mom we can stay, we don't need a survivors shelter."
"Listen to your mother Thomas."
"But Dad, this is pointless. We should all stick together." I told him.
"So you and your brother can die too?" He looked at me, removing the towel for the first time. "I'm done for, your mom is a grown ass woman, and no matter how old you get or how tough the Marines made you you're my son. Both of you are and I'll be damned if I let you piss away a chance at survival. You leave first thing in the morning."
The next morning we were all freshly showered and most of us had caught a fair amount of sleep, except for me that is. I stayed up with my Dad until he passed and then I made sure he wouldn't come back. After burying him with my Mom and Blake I barely had time to shower. I hugged my Mom for the last time I ever would and she kissed my forehead.
"Keep your brother safe, and yourself. Beat this Thomas." She told me. "And you listen to him without question." She hugged and kissed Blake.
I climbed into my Dad's old truck with Blake and we all drove off. I shed a tear as I looked back and saw my childhood home, and my mother for the last time.
A/N: Ch.2! Let me know what you like and what I could do better