the beginning is the end is the beginning
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 03 - Hope
The gunshot rings out loudly on the otherwise eerily quiet street and he feels a sick kind of satisfaction as he watches the zombie's brains splatter to the ground.
He's always liked this, the blood and the carnage, he doesn't even know how many times he's fantasized about killing someone, shooting them right in the head. Of course he always imagined it would be a living and breathing person but now that the apocalypse has came he can't exactly complain, he'll take what he can get.
It's been eleven days since it happened - he knows this because he counts it, fully aware of the fact that with each passing day his chances of ever finding Violet safe and alive are getting lower and lower - and it's easy, almost too easy to adopt to the circumstances and learn how to survive.
Well, for him anyway. Unfortunately the Montgomerys are having a harder time to adjust and honestly, he can't help but look forward to when their time is up - because he knows it's only a matter of time. People like them can't possibly survive in this world. It's nothing personal, it's just that they make his life a little harder and he feels like he could cope much better by himself. His first and foremost priority is to find Violet and keep her safe, and nothing can come between him and his goal, not even the family who'd saved his life back in LA.
The problem is especially the baby with the ridiculously weird name, Thaddeus. Babies are not meant for this lifestyle - they cry and cry and always just cry, and since his mother is incapable of calming him most of the time, Tate fears that one of these days, his wails will alert one of the zombies nearby and that will be their downfall. He can't let that happen.
On the bright side, the zombies are easy to deal with. Mr Montgomery was right about one thing, the only way to kill them is to aim for the head, more precisely the brain, the only thing keeping them alive and moving, and that will kill them for good. It's usually Tate who takes them down - he had gladly volunteered for the task and the Montgomerys had just as happily let him - but sometimes Charles helps him out when there are too many of them and the situation is getting out of hand.
They travel at daylight because it's safer. At night they usually find an abandoned house or store or any building they can stay at, or as a last resort they lock themselves up in the car. For food, bullets or whatever they need they break into shops and take what they can find. For gas they visit the gas station or drain other cars they come across.
Survivors are rare. So rare in fact that they haven't met any yet. Not even two weeks in, and everyone already seems to be a brain dead monster.
It should discourage Tate but he never loses hope. His Violet is strong. She's a fighter. She's okay, he knows that.
Yet the crippling fear that constricts his heart every fucking day can't be ignored because there's that little voice whispering in his ear, 'what if...'
He's shaken out of his reverie when Mrs Montgomery's gentle voice reaches his ears, whispering his name. He clenches his teeth together and shakes his head to get rid of these poisoning thoughts, giving the undead at his feet one last look to make sure it's really dead before turning to face her.
He tries so hard to look okay and brave but Nora, like a good mother he never had in his life, notices he's upset and without even demanding an explanation, she understands right away what's bothering him. She sighs softly and strokes his face, much like the first time she did when he told her his family was dead. "Oh, Tate," she whispers, giving him a small encouraging smile. "We'll find her. I promise we will."
And although her promises mean nothing because she can't possibly promise that, he feels a little bit better, enough to smile back at her.
His answer is merely a quiet murmur but it's full of hope and undisguised longing. "Yes, I hope so."
She isn't just a meal, she isn't the zombies' to take and eat, and he'll make sure they won't ever touch her.
Violet Harmon is his and his only, and he'd be damned if he let anyone change that.
I know it's short and I'd say I'm sorry for that but I'm not. I'm a bit distracted but I wanted to update anyway and that's all I could get out of myself. And that being said, personally this was still my favourite chapter. It was kind of a filler, I know, I just wanted to show Tate adjusting to everything, but fear not, the next time we'll see him, things will be getting a bit rocky. You can start worrying ;)
However, next chapter we'll hear from Violet. Till then guys.
Love,
Kathy