Well, I had planned on rewriting these next few chapters, but life got in the way. Sooo much drama, asgdad! I decided to just post them as is and worry about revamping the entire story later... so this'll be a draft story (yay)!
If anyone wants to be my editor, PM me~
Also, I'm trying to save up money, so if you wanna commission me for art, PM me or look up TwitchingHades93 on deviantart and note me on there! (I also have a character sheet for Sammy, if you want to check that out on my DA)
Now, onward with the story!
Chapter Ten: Losing Yourself
I'm sure that by now, most of you out there have lost a lot of who you were before all of this shit went down. There is such a thing as being out in the wilderness for too long. You do loose pieces of yourself along the way, among all of the death and chaos. But those parts of you will return when you need them again. If civilization is rebuilt, it'll come back. And, if you find yourself in a nice settlement, void of the stress and chaos of the outside world, you might think you're losing your edge to survive. But, if you're anything like me, you're a survivor at heart. No matter what situation you're thrown into, you can find a way out.
Sammy's chest tightened as she stared at the scrawny boy in front of her and Daniel. She felt the tears well at her eyes, but she laughed and wiped them away.
"Of course I found you, ya idiot," Sammy stated, the smile stretching across her face. Her teeth were surprisingly white for someone who hadn't brushed them in ages. "I told you I would if the world ever ended. You think I'm some sort of fucking lair?"
"Not a lair, but someone's developed a bit of a sailor's mouth," the man teased, grinning cheekily at her. "Guys, this is Sammy; she and I were room mates back in college." His eyes scanned over his companions with a look of unease that Sammy caught in an instant. "She's cool. A real trooper to have traveled from the other side of the country." His eyes met with Sammy's again, the unease gone at the sight of a friendly face.
"Where you from?" the old man asked, pushing at the brim of the baseball cap that sat on his head.
"Southern Texas," Sammy answered with a cheerful smile at the old man. As an after thought, she added a 'sir', wanting to stay on these people's good side. Especially if her best friend didn't trust them. She didn't want to start unnecessary drama. She turned to Daniel with a smile as the men talked among themselves.
"So, that's your friend?" Daniel breathed out, awe in his voice.
"Yep, that's my Petey over there!" Sammy said, loud enough for the boy to hear the nickname.
"I told you to stop with that fucking nickname," Peter called out, mirth in his voice.
"Would you prefer Dirty Birdy?" Sammy teased, turning back to the boy with a mischievous grin.
"Woman, I am warning you," Peter said lowly, narrowing his eyes at her.
"I could start calling you Tweety Petey again," Sammy threatened, narrowing her eyes at him in return.
They stared each other down before they both broke. Fits of laughter escaped from both of them, and Sammy closed the space between them to pull her friend into a tight hug.
"I missed you, Peter," Sammy muttered.
"Missed you, too, Sammy." He pat her back several times, trying to put up with the long hug for the sake of his friend. "Sammy," he said after several seconds had passed with the girl clinging to him.
"One more second," Sammy hissed in reply. "I traveled across the fucking country to find your dumb ass, so let me hug you for as long as I damn well please." She hugged him a little tighter, lifting him off the ground a bit before setting him back down with a sigh and letting go. "You've gotten thinner," she mused aloud.
Peter smiled at her in amusement. "You've gotten stronger," he added. "And thinner. Geez, you're really skinny." He took a moment to sweep his eyes over her body, a worried look on his face. "How much have you been eating?"
"Well, you now," Sammy said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she offered the boy a lazy shrug. "I can usually manage to scarf down a good 16oz. of canned food between running, fighting and scavenging. So, enough."
"Fair enough," Peter replied with a sigh, though some worry lingered in his expression. "So, they can stay, right?" Peter turned his attention to the other two men, who seemed to have more power in the camp than he did. Or, at least, that's what he let them believe. If Sammy knew her friend, and she did, he was pulling the strings from the shadows, and no one else had any idea. "I promise they can pull their own weight around here. Hell, they'll probably pull some extra weight and pick up what the slackers around here fail to do."
"Do we really have to do extra work," Daniel complained quietly, whispering the words into Sammy's ear as he stuck close to the girl.
Sammy jabbed him in the ribs before smiling at the other two men. "We're happy to help in any way we can," she stated with a nod. They looked at each other, sharing a nod as they decided on their verdict.
"Alright, you folks can stay," the elderly man agreed. "But no slackin' off. You start becomin' more of a hassle than you're worth, and I'll eat ya!" He let out a hoot of laughter. The tall man and Peter joined in with quiet laughs. Sammy let out a nervous laugh as she stared between the strangers and her friend.
"Is he joking?" Sammy asked, her voice straining slightly as it hit a higher octave. The two strangers just laughed louder as they walked away.
"They're your responsibility, Pete, so show 'em the ropes," the man instructed as he left.
"Seriously, I can't tell if he's joking," Sammy said, her smile faltering as her friend approached her.
"He's not," Peter said slowly, wrapping his arm around Sammy's shoulder and leading her into the camp. "So, preferably just stay away from him. And Gabriel, that big guy that was with him; he may be hot, but do not fuck with him. I've seen him smash a biter into smithereens in less than five seconds. He's scary strong."
Sammy nodded as she stored the information away. She knew the cunning boy had a reason for telling her all of this information. Regardless, she liked to know who she was living with for the next chunk of her life.
"Jessica is a sweet girl, I'm sure you'd like her," Peter continued on as he led her through camp, Daniel trailing behind them. "She won't make it for very much longer, though."
"What?" Daniel exclaimed, butting into the conversation and looking at Peter like the boy just told them he was Satan himself. "That's awful, how can you say something like that!?"
Peter looked at him questioningly, his icy blue eyes sending chills up the other man's spine. "He wasn't your first choice, was he?" he asked, sparing Sammy a glance before continuing to stare at Daniel in boredom.
"My first choice was bitten in the middle of the night by an idiot who infected himself; she bled out, turned, and I stabbed her through the head," Sammy confirmed, sharing the grim story with such ease that Daniel was certain that this woman wasn't the same one he had been traveling with for months. "But, Daniel isn't too bad. He can be funny, and he's made a good traveling companion so far." She smiled as though she was complimenting him, and Daniel puffed out his chest as though he was receiving it like a compliment.
"Yeah, I'm a good traveling companion," Daniel repeated, a snippy tone in his voice. "Unlike some people." He looked pointedly at Peter, faltering slightly after a few seconds of silence.
"Oh," Sammy said, drawing the word out as she turned her head to Peter to see his reaction. Her friend just smiled sweetly at the boy.
"Thank you for keeping my dear, beloved, sister company on her way up here," Peter said, the venom in his voice almost unnoticeable. Almost. Daniel swallowed, standing his ground.
"You're welcome," Daniel said stiffly in return.
"Oh," Sammy repeated, again drawing out the word unnecessarily.
"Shut up, Sammy," Peter laughed, smacking the girl lightly in the ribs.
Sammy giggled in response before sending a reassuring smile to Daniel. "Seriously, Danny-boy, calm down," she instructed her companion. "We need to relax and enjoy life in these little moments that allow us to do so."
Peter nodded in agreement. "Right, you should," he stated. "But first, you need to work so you're not eaten." Daniel paled and kept his mouth shut as the other man led them on again, giving them both jobs to occupy themselves with.
Several hours passed. The sun was long gone beneath the horizon, and the moon was high in the sky to take its place. Most of the residence of the camp were located around a large fire as they ate their dinner. Daniel had sat on the outskirts of the group, exhausted from the day of hard labor. Sammy, on the other hand, had taken up residence on top of one of the RVs. She stared up at the night sky in awe, trying to find the few constellations that she knew about.
"There you are," she heard Peter's voice from below. She looked down the side of the RV, seeing the boy smiling up at her with two bowls in his hands. "Help me out." He held out the bowls to her, and she reached down, setting them carefully on the roof of the RV. Then, Peter climbed his way up to sit beside her, both of them eating their dinner in silence.
"So, what's the plan?" Sammy asked quietly, her eyes fixed back on the stars above them.
Peter smirked slightly. "How do you know I have a plan?" he asked, though his tone told her that he knew better than to doubt her ability to read him. They had known each other for so long, even after years of being apart they still felt like two sides of the same coin. Peter was the head of the coin, cunning and manipulative, while Sammy made up the tail with her violent temper and disregard for what others thought. They completed each other, in a strange, psychopathic sort of way. A way that would ensure that they both would survive as long as they stuck together.
Sammy scoffed at his question. "He fuckin' eats people, Petey," was her reply. "You wouldn't have stuck around someone like that if there wasn't a plan."
Peter just laughed at the girl, choosing to take a sip from his bowl of soup instead of answering her question. He shook his head when her questioning gaze fell on him. "Not here," his voice was quiet as his eyes scanned the area, pointing out where the night's lookout stood. Sammy got the hint, knowing it wasn't safe to talk while they could be overheard.
"So," Sammy started slowly, deciding to change the subject. "What have you been up to since the world fell to shit?"
"I've kind of been jumping from one group to another, trying to get south to meet up with you," Peter answered truthfully, eliciting a long 'aw' from the girl.
"You were looking for me, and we found each other!" Sammy cooed, leaning on the man's shoulder. "It's like some mushy, zombie-apocalypse love story!"
"Don't be gay," Peter laughed, pushing the girl off of him when she nuzzled into his side in response.
"Oh, I'm the gay one?" Sammy teased as she sat back up straight, a grin on her face. "Speaking of gay, have you got any sexy tail yet?"
Peter scoffed, but his face flushed in embarrassment despite his efforts to hide it. "Not since the world ended. There isn't a wide selection of male bachelors looking for other male bachelors," he stated with a roll of his eyes.
Sammy scoffed quietly. "Not a wide selection of male bachelors, period," the girl rectified. "And, that's not omitting the ones that have gone crazy and are more likely to rape you than actually try to whoo you."
"I don't get it," Petey said, the astonishment ringing clearly in his voice. "The world's gone to shit, there aren't a lot of choices left for a suitable mate. If some guy would just fuckin' hand me some pretty weeds that look like a flower I would be all over that."
"No joke," Sammy laughed bitterly in reply, finishing off her soup and setting the bowl down beside her. She opted to lay back on the RV, enjoying one of the rare moments of peace and safety with her friend. She was sure it wouldn't last very long, but she was grateful for just that small moment. "I don't know if it's an animalistic instinct to try to fuck anything with a hole, though, but they can't seem to see very far with their heads so far up their asses."
The two laughed, glancing fondly at each other. "I missed you, Sammy," Peter mused aloud as his laughter died down.
"Yeah," Sammy replied softly, a rare, gentle smile on her face. She closed her eyes, just enjoying the moment. "I missed you, too, Petey."
Don't let it run you, though. Let yourself take a break from all the fighting and all the distrust. Let yourself be human every once in a while. It's okay to be human, you won't lose the animal in you that's kept you alive this long. It might not always jump right back, but both sides are still you. Try to learn to live with them both regardless of the shit going on around you.