"This is a ridiculous idea" Rick stated as I approached one of the horses with a rope,
"This idea is genius and you know that you are in complete awe of it. Horses are easy to find fuel for, they can travel at a range of speeds and- in this time of global warming- they are also bio- degradable" I glanced over my shoulder at Rick with a grin, "Just get on the damn horse."
Once we were up and ready Rick at least managed to get his horse to run off in the right direction. I kept my horse steady and both of my packs balanced on my shoulders. "Come on horse, someone's got to keep an eye on the idiot."
We caught up to Rick eventually just shy of the city, "Right, so Atlanta's fallen" I stated, Rick turned to face me, "This far away- we'd hear people" I clarified, he opened his mouth to try and argue- to know doubt try and someone a sentence to bring hope, but he fell short and nudged his horse to continue going forward. I pursed my lips, and indicated for my horse to do the same.
Rick was in front of me as we moved through the seemingly deserted city, occasionally we saw a zombie or two but we only killed them if they moved too close. We weren't interested in drawing attention to ourselves.
"What the hell is that?" I mumbled when we heard a distant whirring sound, Rick looked up at the sky and I followed his gaze. Needless to say, we were more than a little surprised when we saw a helicopter, "Is that real?" I asked Rick, but even as I spoke he was making tracks. I was about to follow when he turned and a couple of hundred zombies were following him.
"Shit!" I watched stunned as his horse went down and Rick crawled underneath the tank, "Get in the hatch underneath!" my yelling spooked my horse and the next thing I knew I was sprawled on the floor with my two bags on my shoulders.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck" I cursed, I whipped round and judged whether I could get under the tank, I couldn't as was pretty obvious from the zombies trying to get in from both sides. I went to look for anywhere else to hide but the only place was to go back the way we came and take out the few zombies we'd encountered on the way.
I glanced back at the tank and saw Rick just yelling at me to run, he was holding a radio in his hand, before I could yell back to ask him who he was talking to he'd shut the hatch. I made up my mind. I ran.
I regretted what I'd done, I couldn't believe that I'd actually left Rick behind. I wondered what he was doing- what would happen. He wouldn't be able to get out, the zombies would've no doubt surrounded him, and any that hadn't would be munching on the horse, aiming to have him for seconds. Every so often, I stopped and turned as if to see him behind me. When he wasn't I knew that he had to be dead, his luck had run out.
I kept on running even after I reached the outside of the city. I stared out at the road ahead and wondered which way to go, I knew that the noise would attract zombies and so getting off the road would probably be smart. I looked up to the hills, it would certainly be easier to defend myself and the trees would harbour food for hunting when I ran out of my tinned goods.
I found an old beaten path and began walking up, every so often I could make out tracks belonging to a vehicle which led me to believe that someone was still living up here, if they hadn't been followed by zombies and eaten. I didn't see any footprints that indicated that zombies had been up that way so I moved fairly confidently, though I did keep my bat in my hand.
As I got higher and higher into the hills the Sun rose higher and higher and I tied my shirt around my head in order to stop the heat stroke from getting to me. As the Sun began to set however I meandered into the woods to find a tree branch that I could sleep in- safe from any zombies that had left the city- which was exactly what I was doing when I felt a sharp pain in my side. As I looked down and investigated the pain that had just occurred I saw an arrow sticking out of me.
I fell down onto my knees and glanced around the trees, where I saw a dirty redneck emerging with a crossbow, "You fuckin' shot me!" I hissed glaring at me, my words slurring very slightly. He lowered his bow and stared at me coolly, "Need to be careful- could've shot ya in the head in the dark with the noise you were making traipsin' past like ya were"
"Yes, well now- now..." as I spoke I did not notice that my face was coming quite speedily, into contact with the ground.
I felt myself breathing in the dirt and filth on the floor and resisted the urge to puke, knowing that I would then have to deal with having my face in it. I tried to move my arms a couple of times but found I could barely even twitch them. I heard the redneck sigh loudly, as though I'd ruined his plans by impaling myself on his arrow- on the arrow that he'd in fact aimed at me and released in the hope that it would indeed hit me.
For a moment or two I heard nothing then I felt arms settle round me and knew that the redneck had elected not to leave me behind. As he settled me on the ground by a small simmering fire, which I realised he must've set up a little while before he found me, I glanced down at my wound, "It didn't go through" I murmured, he eyed me carefully, "Which means you're going to have to push it through, break the tip, and then pull the rest out" he seemed surprised by my medical knowledge, but did as I told him. Only then did I faint.
