Chapter 3: The Crazy New Chick

Tires screeched and the van spun as it came to an abrupt stop in the hitch along the country road. Katie, who had been driving, checked that everyone was okay before bolting out of the car. Lannah was hot on her tail, having been in the passenger side.

"Katie, are you nuts?! That's a zombie!" Lannah shouted raising her shotgun.

"No" Katie shouted back and pushed at the body in the middle of the road "She screamed when she saw the front of the van"

"Don't get too close" Lannah said and Katie pushed the body onto its back.

"It's a girl" Katie said kneeling down to the body "She's alive"

By the time Katie had the girl's hair untangled from her face the rest of the crew had gotten out to see what was going on.

"She's so pretty!" Pheobe exclaimed but scout held her back.

"She can't be alive, not alone out here" Scout said and Jem stood beside her watching the girl carefully.

"Miss?" Atticus asked tapping the girl's cheek with his palm gently "Miss?"

"They're everywhere!" the girl screamed and lurched up. Atticus held her and pushed her back down.

"Calm down, you're safe, there's nothing to worry about" Atticus hushed the girl and she started to relax.

"They're dead, all of them, everyone. They're following me" the girl mumbled.

"She's out of it" Holden said.

"Let's get the van out of the ditch, we'll take her with us" Jewel shouted from the van, her Roy and Ben were trying to push the car out of the ditch. Lannah and Holden ran to help and Atticus lifted the girl up. Katie picked the sticks and leaves out of the girls hair as the van slowly rolled up the hill and back onto the road.

Atticus laid the girl in the back of the van beside Kaseja who sniffed her bit with a wag of her tail. Everyone got back into the van and Katie turned the key. The engine revved, started, sputtered, and died.

"Murderer" Holden teased.

"What?" Katie growled.

"You killed the van" Holden said poking Katie in the back. She flinched and turned slapping Holden up the side of the head.

"I'll fix it" Roy said getting out and signaling for Katie to pop the hood. He lifted up the hood and looked around inside before slamming it shut and jumping back in. Katie started up the van and revved perfectly. They began to drive and the girl in back fell asleep curled up to Kaseja.

"I don't trust her" Scout said sitting on her knees and peering over the backseat at the girl. Atticus pulled her onto his lap as Roy crawled into the back with the girl. He sat down and pulled the girl's head onto his stomach to keep her head elevated in case she was sick.

"Who?" the girl mumbled after an hour or so and rubbed her eyes "Am I being moved to a new place? I knew those were just nightmares"

Everyone sort of shook their heads sadly and let out painful sighs. Roy stroked the girl's hair and tried to pull the right words that would rip the girl back into her nightmare, more, gently.

"I'm sorry" was all he could say. The girl turned toward him and looked up at him. He continued to stroke her hair, finding it the only thing he could do.

"Then I'm not crazy?" She asked "You see them too?"

"The walking dead people trying to eat other people?" Scout asked sitting back up to peer over the seat.

"No..." the girl hesitated "The little blue creatures"

"Atticus is she crazy?" Jem asked and Jewel jabbed her elbow in his ribs.

"No Jem, she is probably just confused" Atticus said giving Jewel a careful glare.

The road continued to stretch for miles through forests without any sight of civilization. Atticus took the wheel and let the others slept soundly. The girl had been moved up to the center of the two front seats.

"You don't see them, do you?" she asked half awake. Atticus looked down at her for a second then back at the road.

"No" he admitted "but you're not crazy"

"My Uncle thought so" she said sitting up and resting her chin on her forearms on the dashboard "So he sent me to a nut house"

"What's your name?" Atticus asked trying to change the subject.

"Anya" She said yawning.

"That's a nice name"

"So the dead people, you can see them right?" Anya asked.

"Yes, sadly enough"

"But they can't hurt us" Anya said closing her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"The blue creatures, they protect me, and you guys helped me" Anya said dozing off "So they'll protect you too"

Atticus watched her nod sideways and lean off the dashboard and land her head on Holden's shoulder. He woke up at her touch and chuckled. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to Atticus.

"Try and stay awake" Atticus said and the drive continued through the night until the crack of dawn. The sun crept over the horizon as if it knew and feared what it might bring light to. Its rays shone into the van like golden tears begging the bodies to wake with innocent eyes. Anya was the first to wake and rub her eyes to meet the sun's gentle warmth. She opened the passenger door and stepped down onto the dew covered grass of a field Atticus had parked in. She felt the dew chill her ankles as she saw a flash of blue through a pile of mangled cars on the side of the road.

"Anya?" Roy mumbled rubbing his eyes as he peeked out the back window. Kaseja was whining and licking Katie's face. She pushed Kaseja off and looked out the same window as Roy. Spotting Anya rushing toward the mess she popped the trunk and got out the back. Kaseja followed Katie out to the mess. Anya had vanished behind the pile up and Kaseja looked to Katie for instruction.

"Sniff her out" Roy said coming up behind the two.

"She can't, she doesn't know Anya's scent" Katie growled.

"Calm down" Roy chuckled and roughed patted Kaseja's head. He felt her muscles tensing and pulled his hand away just narrowly escaping her jaws.

"No one touches or speaks to her but me" Katie said walking ahead. She drew her dagger and climbed up onto a flipped jeep. Kaseja leaped up after her and they spotted Anya running back towards the van from around a swing in the road. She was holding something in her arms that slowed her.

"Oh" Katie said, her jaw dropping. Kaseja's back and neck fur stood on end as she growled like a bear. Roy pulled himself up onto the jeep and gasped.

"Start the car!" Roy screamed as he ran back to the van. Katie and Kaseja ran fearlessly toward Anya as a hoard larger than anything they had ever seen was gaining on her. Katie got to her and threw her weight backwards to stop her momentum toward the hoard and bring up her speed toward the van. Katie grabbed the item from Anya's hands and felt it squirm. She pulled it close it her chest, whatever it was had been tucked into a backpack.

Just then Holden had started up the car and drifted a half donut in the grass kicking up dirt and grass at the hoard. Lannah slid the side door back and Kaseja jumped into the van.

"Hey crazy bitch, give me your hand!" she shouted and Anya grabbed Lannah's hand and was pulled into the van. She then grabbed Katie's hand and pulled her in.

"Are out of your mind? You could have gotten us all killed! Katie why did you even go after her, she's a danger to us all" Lannah shouted irritated.

"Calm down" Jewel shouted at Lannah.

"We have enough to worry about with you! We don't need a crazy chick!" Lannah shouted back.

"Oh really? How have I slowed us down one bit?"

"Zombies can pick up the scent of your barf! Like any other predator!"

"What are you even talking about?!"

"Cut the act" Lannah growled as the van bumped and rattled.

"What?" Jewel said starting to get nervous. She could feet her skin growing sticky from sweat, all eyes on her.

"We all know your freaking prego"

Jewel could not think of anything to say, she had tried so hard to hide her signs and clues. She had made sure no one in the original group told, and yet Lannah had figured it out.

"That was a secret?" Katie blinked.

"Oh god" Jewel sighed and lay her face in her hands. Roy put his arm around her but she pushed him off.

"Guys, hold on to something!" Holden shouted as the grassy field came to an abrupt stop and fell straight down a steep cliff. Atticus spun the wheel and slammed on the brakes but the van skidded in the turn and flipped over and fell sideways down the cliff.

When the dust settled at the bottom of an emptied lake bed everyone got out and found the worst injury was to Kaseja who was howled in absolute agony. Katie rushed to her side to find her tail had been crushed under a seat when it came loose on its track and caught her tail between its wheels and the track.

"Guys we have to run, the hoard is coming down the cliff!" Ben shouted and cocked his shotgun.

"We can't, Kaseja is stuck!" Katie shouted.

"Leave her, she's just a dog!" Roy shouted and began to run, Ben and Jewel after him. Atticus had Scout in his arms and Jem following close behind him. Holden was dusting off Pheobe to make sure she was okay before lifting her up.

"I'm not leaving without her!" Katie shouted and tried to free her tail from the seat track. Kaseja screamed and whimpered but could not get free.

"Holden get over here" Lannah said and aimed her sights on Kaseja.

"Don't you dare" Katie growled.

BANG

Katie burst through the bushes with Pheobe in her arms as the hoard, smaller this time, was gaining once more. Lannah fired off a few shots into the hoard hoping to thin it as they ran. Atticus had found a hunting bunker and pulled everyone in and held still. One window gave a view of a small clearing where bears would be hunted.

"Wait up!" Holden shouted throwing himself into the bunker before the door was closed. He hit the floor and sent Kaseja across the floor with all her legs sprawled out. Holden stood, shirtless and looked from Lannah to Katie then to his little sister. Kaseja whimpered at the stub that was left of her beautiful flowing tail. It was wrapped up in Holden's shirt.

"It's okay baby" Katie whispered to Kaseja falling to her knees and stroking her dog's head.

"It was her tail or her life" Lannah whispered as the thunder of the hoard passed overhead.
Ben and Roy were busy pulling up a fake moss and grass see through blanket over the lookout window. The hoard passed over without a pause and their shadows could be seen leaping off the bunker and running down through the clearing.

"We cannot keep doing this" Ben said once the danger had passed.

"We need to find a place to secure, a place of our own, for good. We cannot keep running and hiding and surviving on pure luck. With that many of them we must be close to a city, that means food, water, shelter, maybe even weapons and ammo and medical supplies"

"But also means were in for a lot larger hoards, but were going in"

"Ben there is no way we'll survive on foot" Jewel protested.

"Exactly, we've got a chance of supplies in a city; out here we don't have anything"

"Wait" Scout said looking around at everyone "Where's Anya?"