I know I said I would post on the weekends only, BUT...Saturday I'm gonna be super busy and might not have time to post...so, I thought I'd be super nice to all you wonderful readers and give you an early treat. Hope you enjoy!
ALSO...thank you for all the wonderful reviews for the first two chapters. I wasn't sure what type of response I'd get from this story, but I'm so happy you're liking it so far!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own any of The Walking Dead characters and I'm NOT making any money off of them! I only claim the OC characters I created for this story.
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CARYL ON!
It had been three days since all hell had broke loose across the country. Local radio and television stations were off the air now and even the cable and satellite TV were nothing more then either snow or black screens. Once peaceful neighborhoods with the sounds of children playing and families going about there day lay quiet now, trash blowing in the streets, some even littered with dead bodies. There were no cars moving, no school buses, no trucks. Even the blue sky where aircraft could usually be heard were silent.
Carol looked out the front window of her living room, her eyes scanning her neighborhood for any signs of life. Most of her neighbors had fled to Atlanta when word of refugee centers being opened reached them. Others had taken off to look for family in hopes that the epidemic hadn't stuck those areas. One neighbor had even tried to get Carol to come with them, but she had refused, telling them she would head towards Atlanta once she had her things in order.
But Carol wasn't planning on going to Atlanta. If anything, she had decided to avoid the big city at all costs. Most of the reports she had seen had been coming out of Atlanta and if it was as bad as the TV had stated, then by now the city might be filled with nothing but walking corpses.
Seeing a man walking slowly down the street, Carol stepped back some into the shadows and moved the curtain back a little. Peeking out, she watched him as he slowly stumbled along, his arms hanging loosely at his sides and moving back and forth loosely. He stopped in the road, not really looking at anything in particular before he began to amble along again. The closer he got to her house, the more she could make out his details.
The sleeve on his right arm was torn, revealing a large gaping wound. Dried blood also covered the left side of his shirt and jeans. He only wore one shoe, the sock on the other foot tattered and dirty. His hair was a mess, but it was his skin tone that had Carol taking in a breath. His ashen colored skin looked bruised from the distance she was from him as he began to walk past her house. Remaining still and quiet, Carol watched as he continued on down the street until he was out of sight.
Carol finally closed the curtain back and reached for the bottle of water she'd been sipping on. The water was still on in her house but she was starting to run low on food. She had been eating the meat from her freezer, unsure if of how long the power would still be on and not wanting it to go to waste. She had also filled everything she could with water, but that would only last for so long as well. She would need to find more food whether or not she stayed, but the thought of going out to the store unnerved her somewhat. She didn't know what she would be facing out there alone.
Making a decision, she found an empty gym bag in the bottom of her hallway closet. Emptying out the clothes in it, she then collected her machete and one of her kitchen knives. With her neighbors gone, she figured she might be able to at least find something they had left behind and would make sure she let them know it was her that had been in there home when they returned. If anything, she would repay them for what she would take.
Going out through the garage, she used the side door and snuck outside. Making sure to close it back behind her, Carol looked around cautiously before cutting across into her neighbors yard. Figuring the front would be locked up tight, she went around back, climbing over the small chain link fence and then peering around the corner. Seeing no one, she walked over to the back door, looking in through the window. Seeing no one inside, and knowing they had left out two days before, she still knocked. When there was no response, she looked around again and then looked back at the lower left window pane.
Chewing her bottom lip, Carol then looked around her trying to find something to break out the window. Seeing a few loose red bricks that Adam and Claire had been using to redo their grill, Carol grabbed one, holding it tight in her hand. Going back, she eyed the glass for a few seconds and then breathed out, "Sorry."
Tossing the brick, it easily went through the window, causing it to shatter. Cringing at the sound of the glass breaking, Carol's heart beat steady and fast in her chest. Never had she broke into someone's house. Hell, she couldn't ever remember even thinking about doing such a thing. Hesitantly, she reached through, unlocking the door and pushing it open. Stepping inside, the glass crunched under her shoes and she flinched at the sound of it. She had been inside the home several times before, but never alone. She hated that she was breaking into her friends house, but she really had no other choice.
Walking over to the cupboards, she began opening them, looking for the food. Finding the ones with canned goods, she began to pile them into her bag. Once the small bag was filled, Carol set it side, not wanting to leave the rest. She began looking around until she found some plastic grocery bags and filled them. Once all the canned goods were packed up, she began on the boxed dinners, rice, beans and dried mashed potatoes. She even lucked out, finding two unopened cases of bottled water and three cases of sports drinks which she knew Adam was a fan of.
After all the food was bagged, Carol started looking for flashlights, batteries and candles. Entering into the master bedroom, Carol stopped just inside the door. She felt bad for basically ransacking her friends home. I can't think about this now, she thought to herself and pushed on, going through the dresser, chest of drawers and closet. Seeing a lone shoebox on the top shelf of the closet, Carol pulled it down and opened it. Inside was a small handgun along with a box of ammo. Beside it also laid a large pocket knife and under it all was paperwork.
Taking the gun, ammo and knife, Carol put the box back and shoved the knife into her jeans pocket. Unsure how to check the gun, she placed it and the ammo into the carry-bag she'd found and carried it all back out into the kitchen. Knowing it would take several trips back and forth to get everything back to her place, Carol picked up as many as she could carry and left out. Taking them to the fence, she put them down and then made four more trips for the rest. The cases of water and sports drinks she went ahead and placed over the other side and then began putting the bags over, looking around every so often.
After everything was over the fence, Carol climb back over herself and started to gather up a few bags. A low growl caught her attention and just as she looked up a woman came around the corner, only the woman was different. She was missing part of her left arm and part of her intestines were handing out. It was the woman's yellowish white eyes though that caused Carol to gasp and her heart to race. Dropping the bags, Carol stumbled back, tripping over the bags of food and falling. Trying to scurry away backwards using her feet and hands, Carol's back hit the fence blocking her way. The machete was within reach of her and she reached for it as the woman came down onto Carol.
Struggling to hold the woman back as she tried to claw and bite, Carol let go with one hand again, trying to reach the machete. The woman came forward more on Carol, giving her the angle Carol needed. Her defense training kicked in and Carol, using all her upper body strength pushed the woman back enough to get her foot up and then pushed the woman up and off of her. Scrambling, she got hold of the machete and begin to swing the blade like a baseball bat. Her hacking blows were not stopping the woman from coming after her and hot tears ran down Carol's face.
Her arms were tiring when she landed the blade into the side of the woman's skull and she stilled before falling to the side. Carol let go of the machete as the woman went down and took a few steps back from her. Her entire body was shaking from fear and adrenaline. Gasping for air, Carol looked around frantically to see if anyone else had seen what she'd done. Blood covered her hands and was splattered across her clothes, face and neck.
Without thinking, Carol took off, leaving all she'd found and ran back to her house. Going in the garage, she slammed the door shut behind her, locking it and then leaning back against it. Slowly, she slipped down to the floor, the tears coming like steady little rivers now down her cheeks. She had murdered a woman, just like Ed had murdered their daughter. But the woman had been trying to hurt Carol and she had done what she could to protect herself. Pulling her knees up, she rested her elbows on them and covered her lowered head with her forearms and hands. She would have to try to figure out a way to get through this nightmare...one way or another.
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