This chapter took a little bit to get out there because I got held up at work and my co-writer has been busy with her family. Now that we are done, we can finally present you with a new chapter.
*WARNING* This is rated M for Mature. There will be violent and graphic scenes as well as some scenes of sex. I do not advise anyone under 18 to read this. You choose to read this at your own risk. If anything about this story bothers you, I suggest putting it down.
*Disclaimer* Twilight's character's belong to Stephenie Meyer. The story line belongs to Bella Marie Whitlock and I.
Chapter 2 - On Our Own
Walking a few miles may not seem like a hard thing to do. But it is, especially when it's pitch black out and there is only a street lamp that works every so often. It also doesn't help that every little sound makes me jump and look around frantically. I never know what it might be. It could be a zombie roaming the streets or the woods. Or just a hungry animal passing by. Either way, it makes me clutch the metal pole closer to my body.
The late night spring breeze makes me shiver. I pull my light jacket around me, hoping to warm myself up. It's only mid April, so Seattle is still pretty cold on spring nights. Usually it averages around forty-two degrees. But with the windchill, it feels like thirty-three. Sometimes you can even see your breath. That reminds me, I will definitely have to make sure we pack jackets. You never know what the weather might be like in other cities or states.
I left my truck while the sun was setting. Now it's beginning to rise already as I arrive on my street. Since yesterday, this neighborhood has turned to shit. It is very chaotic when I arrive. Trash cans are thrown all over the place and cars are missing from the driveways. There are doors and garages left wide open and even clothes littering the street! People were obviously trying to get out of here in a hurry. Some people who haven't left yet, probably because they want to wait out the traffic, are now rushing past, piling into their cars and leaving.
My heart drops as I walk up to my house. The front door is hanging wide open, but my mother's car is still here. Did she and Maddie hitch a ride with one of our neighbors? Does she think I am dead? Hesitantly, I walk up the porch steps and into the house. I stop short when I see my mother's limp form laying lifeless in a pool of her own blood. She is splayed out at the bottom of the stairs, facing away from the front door. It looks like she tried to run.
I fall to my knees with a strangled sob. I can't see any bit marks. Only a different type of wound. A purposely inflicted wound. A blow to the head that clearly knocked her off her feet! Blood, which had poured from the back of her head, was now beginning to dry up. That means this happened to her a few hours ago. Anger runs through me. What greedy bastards did this? Why would anyone need to kill a woman and a child? Who dared to take my family from me? Were people already raiding the houses?
Oh, Mother! If only I had gotten here sooner! Maybe I could have somehow prevented this. Maybe I could have saved them. Maybe this wouldn't have happened. If only I had found another vehicle and tried to drive here, or somehow avoided the bombings in the first place. If only she had not answered the door or if she had hidden, the intruders may have never seen them! I don't think I can even bring myself to look for Maddie's body. Mother is one thing, but Maddie? A shiver of disgust and anguish almost brings me to my knees again imagining all the things that could have happened to my sister.
As if in answer, I hear a quiet sobbing. The sound makes my head snap up. I scramble to my feet and run to the source of the sound. It's coming from the kitchen! As I swing open the kitchen door, the sound abruptly stops. I look around but I don't see anything. My eyes, however, zero in on the kitchen sink. Under the sink are the cabinets. Cabinets that my little sister likes to hide in. Slowly moving forward, I reach for the handle.
When I open it all the way, I am met with a heart breaking scene. My little sister is huddled in the furthest corner clutching her knees. Tears are running down her face mixing with snot. She is refusing to look at me as if she is scared that I'm going to hurt her. "Oh, Mads," I barely manage to choke out as I begin crying. My baby sister is alive!
Upon hearing my voice, Maddie launches herself at me. I catch her and hold her close. She sobs. "We wuz pwayin' hide n' seek an fere wuzza bang at da dowah an mommy fought it was you. She told me keep hidin an she be back. But fere wuz scweams an bangs. Mommy not come fine me," she said in between hiccups.
I tuck her head into my shoulder and shield her eyes as I run to lock the front door. Who ever killed my mother could always come back. Or others could come here, thinking this place is up for grabs. I use the deadbolt, hoping the lock will buy us time. We don't have a back door, but we do have a garage. So, I run to the garage and lock that door. I also begin going around the house and making sure all of our windows are locked and the curtains are closed.
I freeze when I think of my mother again. I can't just leave her there on the floor! Maybe when I can get Maddie to sleep I can take my mother out the garage door and into the backyard and bury her. For now, I take Maddie upstairs to my room. I sit her on top of my dresser, so I can get a good look at her. "Hey sweet girl," I say cupping her face. "You've been up all night hiding. I bet you're tired, huh?" I ask. She nods with her thumb in her mouth. "Okay, why don't you close your eyes and take a nap. I need to get some stuff packed for us because we have to take a trip. Okay?" We need to get in our Mother's car and get out of here before anyone finds us. Hopefully we can wait a few days before leaving because we will need all the rest we can get before taking this trip.
Maddie's eyes grow wide and I can see her start to panic. "N-no!" She cries out.
"Shh, shh, shh," I rub her cheek. "I'll be right here, princess. I'll be right here. I'll lay with you until you fall asleep and then I will just be in the other rooms getting stuff for our trip, okay?" Maddie nods against my hand. I pick her up and bring her over to my bed. With her free hand, she clings to my shirt. I hum her a lullaby our father used to sing to me. By the second verse, Maddie is out cold. Ever so gently, I gather her in my one arm and use the other to stand up. I pull back the covers and lay her in bed. Her curly brown hair sprawls all over my baby blue pillow. Her cheeks have a pink tint to them and she is sucking on her thumb. I know she isn't going to be taking just a nap. She'll sleep for several hours, making it easy for me to take care of things. After knowing my baby sister is down for the count, I head downstairs and into the garage. I find the shovel and walk quietly into the backyard.
~*Before the Dawn*~
It takes me two and a half hours to dig a hole that is barely big enough for my mother and drag her body outside. It takes another thirty minutes to compose myself long enough to cover her body with dirt and then another hour to cover her. I spent another fifteen minutes making a gravestone and placing it on the freshly piled dirt. Afterwards, I go back inside, lean against the counter and cry. Again. Hot angry tears roll down my face as I curse the men who killed my mother.
Eventually, I will myself to move upstairs and take a shower. I need to wash her blood and the dirt off of me. Besides, who knows how long it will be before I can take another shower. Who knows how long the apocalypse will last? After I finish washing, I go into my room to change. Maddie has moved into a different position then when I left her. Instead of her head being on my pillow, her head is now in the middle of the bed with her feet resting on my pillows. I chuckle quietly at the sight. I feel my body longing to shut down, to close my eyes and sleep. But I still have so much to do.
I go back downstairs and peek in my fridge. I pull out one of my energy drinks and crack it open. These are something I'll definitely need to pack. I chug half the can before putting it down and starting the task of packing. I head back into the garage and pull out our camping backpacks along with a suitcase. This suitcase was my father's. He used it when he needed to fly to Oregon to help with a murder case that had started in Forks. It's a big suitcase that could probably hold a lot. It moves smoothly when it is being rolled and it's also quiet. It is exactly what we will need for our trip.
Taking the backpacks upstairs, I start in my sister's room. I walk to her dresser and start grabbing clothes. I make sure to grab at least ten pairs each of underwear and socks. Then I go through the shirts. I grab four short sleeved shirts, four long sleeved shirts, and two turtle neck sweaters. I then grabbed five pairs of Maddie's shorts and five pairs of her sweatpants. Next, I take the clothes I've selected and begin rolling them into the shape of a tube. My father taught me this one time before we went camping. It allows us to have more room in our backpacks, so we can pack more. Because my little sister's backpack is small, only her clothes and a few more items will fit in here.
I decide to go to the bathroom and throw all of the toothbrushes and toothpaste we had into her bag. Maybe we won't get to brush our teeth everyday, but every now and then when our teeth are bad, we can brush them. I also gather all of the medicine we've collected through the years. Between Maddie and I, we have likely been sick or injured at least fifteen or twenty times. Probably me more than her.
Because of our hospital and doctor visits, we've accumulated a bunch of different types of medicine that we can take with us. Antibiotics for if we get an infection. Cough and cold syrup because face it, the last thing we want to do is draw a horde of zombies to us with a coughing fit…; Benadryl because you just never know when you might have an allergy attack. And my personal favorite, Ibuprofen, for cramps or headaches, or really anything. Plus it's an anti-inflammatory.
After stuffing the medicine into her backpack, I am able to fit in the peroxide, two boxes of bandaids and three boxes of gauze, plus medical tape and polysporin. You never know when those items may come in handy. I pack my menstrual cup since I'm not currently on my monthly but would eventually need it. I also pack the three spares I had. Who knows how long we'd be away for? Maybe eventually Maddie can use one. I bite my lip when I think about what all this will mean for Maddie growing up. And what should I do about her growth spurts? I'll have to check in the attic to see if my mother kept any of my old clothes. Hand-me-downs seem like the safest option. I don't want to roam the stores any more than necessary. Imagine how many zombies there might be!
I take Maddie's full backpack and my empty backpack into my room. I pull out the same amount of clothes and style of clothing as I did for my sister. I also pick out two extra pairs of red underwear and two black yoga pants. These will be my designated clothes for that time of the month, just in case. Black hides stains and the style is comfortable. Hopefully there will be opportunities to wash our clothes in the river when we are near one. When there isn't, we'll just have to make do.
With the extra room in my backpack, I decide to stuff a lot more stuff into it. Being older, I can afford to overstuff my backpack because I can manage the extra weight. First, I go into to my mother's room and grab a picture of her and my father and stuff it into the bag. Next, I go back to the garage. I stuffed a couple of crank lanterns and LED flashlights, from our camping trips, into my bag. Then, I stuffed our extra batteries and matches, in a sealed box, into my bag. Finally, I go into the corner of the garage that holds our safe.
Putting in my father's birthday as the code, I open the door to the safe and rummage through the guns. My father always collected guns. He would take me and my mother out to the shooting range and show off as he shot the targets. It wasn't until I was twelve that he showed me how to shoot. I was really excited because that meant when we went camping, we could also go hunting. My father was thrilled that I turned out to be a tomboy instead of a girly girl.
I pick up the Beretta 96A1 first. This gun is a little more powerful than your standard nine millimeter because it can hit 1,190 feet per second and pack a heavy punch. I move to the Colt 1911 next. It holds a standard 7-round magazine and shoots at a velocity of 1,225 feet per second. These are two out of the three guns I have experience using with my father. The third gun is a MP-40. I remember when my father brought it home. My mother was really mad he spent ten thousand dollars on it. But in this moment, I'm sure they would both be glad of the investment. The MP-40 is a submachine gun, so it will come in handy. The rest of the guns in the safe are ones I haven't fired before. I'm sure I can pick it up easily though.
I'm not sure the names of them, but I pull out two more pistols and a sniper rifle. I make sure I grab all of the Ammo my father had in the safe that go with each gun. Then, I ensure they are unloaded except the Beretta and MP-40. After checking and double checking the safety is on, I stick the Beretta in the waistband of my pants. The rest of the unloaded handguns and Ammo are stuffed into my backpack. I sling the sniper rifle over my shoulder and allowed it to rest against my back. Then, I put the safety on the MP-40 and allow it to hang off my shoulder on my right side. Grabbing my backpack, I head back inside to the kitchen.
The suitcase is the last thing I need to pack. I place the two guns on the table with my backpack while I go up into the attic. I cough as the dust is disturbed. After it settles, I look for boxes marked with my name. I find them easily and opened them. I gather six outfits from each size, making sure to choose something for each season. I also grab a few pairs of sturdy, old sneakers in various sizes. I take the clothes downstairs and roll them. I stuff them into the suitcase. Seeing the sneakers I packed for Maddie reminds me I will need a few pairs for myself. I run upstairs and grab two extra pairs and stuff them into the suitcase when I get back to the kitchen.
Thankfully, with my father being an outdoorsman before passing, he had taught us to buy dehydrated foods that are delicious and can keep forever. As a result we have a whole pantry full the stuff in the garage. So, I pick up the energy drink from earlier and finish it while I move between the kitchen and garage stuffing the rest of the suitcase full of food, water bottles, and a pot. I pull out a sturdy cardboard box and fill it with canned food, checking the dates on the cans as I go, and the last of my energy drinks. We might only have the car for a few days depending on what happens, but for as long as we do, we can continue to use up the heavier canned foods. After that, we can rely on all of our camping food.
The water bottles are for us to drink and refill. The pot is to boil water after the bottled water and purified water tablets are all gone. Who knows what will be in rivers and streams we find. Oh! That reminds me, I need to bring that garden thingy, in case it's ever safe enough to settle anywhere for a longer time. My mother saw it on an infomercial once and insisted we needed it. It's basically an emergency garden in a box with seeds to plant; absolutely every vegetable and fruit we could possibly want to grow. I don't know if we'll ever have a place to plant it, but it'd be a waste not to bring it. I grab it off of the shelf in the garage and place in the suitcase before zipping it up and moving it by the front door. After making sure the garage door is locked back up, I walk upstairs to my room to lay with Maddie and get some shut eye.
*****Meet the Characters*****
Name: Renee Swan
Age: 45
Likes: Spending time with her daughters
Education: College degree for teaching
Relationship Status: Widowed; was wife to Charles Swan
Current turn on: N/A
Current turn off: N/A
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 138 lbs
Size: 7
Currently: Deceased
~*Before the Dawn*~
Name: Charlie Swan
Age: 46 (as of 3 years ago- he would now be 49)
Likes: Camping and Fishing
Education: Police Force Training
Relationship Status: Was married to Renee Swan
Current turn on: N/A
Current turn off: N/A
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 245 lbs
Size: 40x32
Currently: Deceased
~*Before the Dawn*~
Name: Maddie Swan
Age: 3
Likes: Ponies and Macaroni and Cheese
Education: Daycare
Relationship Status: Crushing on a kid in daycare
Current turn on: N/A (She's a child you sick fuck ;P)
Current turn off: N/A
Height: 3'2"
Weight: 30.5 lbs
Size: 3T
Currently: Scared but sleeping