ACHT

Tampa, FL

Curtis Traile

'What the fuck is that idiot up to this time?'

I walked down the hallways leading to my office, past guards stationed at 30 feet intervals to prevent outbreaks within the facility. I paid them no mind, however. Oregon had not responded when I attempted to contact him yesterday when i attempted our daily progress report on his way to Oregon itself. I had been very reluctant to let him leave, but he was dead set on going. It wasn't for a lack of things here, most likely the opposite in fact. He told me how he just wanted to find someplace to finally rest in peace. Wait, I can't phrase it like that. For all I know, that may very well be why he did leave. Damnit, Oregon, why do you have to go and worry me like this?

Lost in thought, I didn't notice my right hand girl, Sandra, ahead of me. I did though when I ran right into her.

"Shit Curtis!" She barked at me as she fell on her ass. I crouched down and began to help her pick up some papers she was carrying as I muttered a couple of 'sorry's' to her. She tensed up when she saw how distracted I looked and grabbed my wrist forcefully. I looked up at her to see her usual stern expression replaced by one of concern for my well being. She may be my assistant in this hell hole, but she has also been a great friend to me since I met her. Oregon would always bug me about how I need to pull my head out of my ass and ask her ou-

Shit, now i'm thinking about him again.

"Damnit, sorry Sandra. I didn't look where i'm going." I told her as I ran my other hand through my hair. "It's just this whole things really starting to get to me, yah know?" I laughed darkly. I sure as hell wasn't happy, though.

"Come on, Curtis." Sandra told me as she helped me stand, the papers having been forgotten by her. "This is Oregon we're talking about, here. Nothing short of a flaming meteor could kill that little shit." She said with a light chuckle at the end. I couldn't help but crack a small smile myself. It didn't stay, however.

"Christ, Sandra. What do you think could of happened to him?" I asked her. "That radio's signal doesn't stop transmitting if it dies. Only if it's destroyed, or no longer on the planet. And I highly fuckin doubt Oregon's on the moon….Right?" I asked her. It may not be the first thing I would suspect…

But knowing him, it wouldn't surprise me.

later, In Curtis's office.

I sat down in my chair in St. Petersburg's sheriff's office, my arms folded in front of me on my desk. Across from me sat a teenage boy, about seventeen years of age. He stood at a height of 6'2 with a broad chest and long, flat brown hair that went down to the small of his back. He wore a Black T-shirt and tattered acid washed jeans. He had steeled toe combat boots and spiked gauntlets that went up to his elbows. Or, gauntlet One of his most distinguishable features, however, was his lack of a left arm, having been cut off at the shoulder.

"You called for me, Curtis?' He asked me with a voice of utter calm.

"We have a problem, Yuri." I told him truthfully. I looked him in the eyes and decided to not screw around, get straight to the point with him. Him and Oregon have been friends since childhood, after all, and he was as close to him as I, only staying behind due to his importance here as one of our most skilled scavengers in the facility. "Yesterday, we lost contact with Oregon. As in he fell completely off the grid. I haven't been able to contact him since." I told him bluntly. His eyebrows furrowed slightly at this revelation, and his hand balled up into a fist.

"So, when do I go?" He asked as if we were discussing a work schedule. I raised my eyebrow skeptically at him. I figured he was going to want to go after him, I sure as hell wanted nothing more than to as well, but I didn't expect him to go straight to such a conclusion.

"I never said we were going to go retrieve him, as much as it pains me to say it." I spat out eventually. I stood up from my chair and walked over to a cabinet built into the wall nearby containing an assortment of alcoholic beverages ranging from Captain Morgan to some pieces that most likely have been sold at nine hundred dollars or so had we been in a stable economy. I pulled out two shot glasses along with some average vodka and poured us both a glass. I turned back to see a visibly ticked off Yuri.

"Curtis, im sorry… But are you fucking kidding me?" He said through his teeth. "He may possibly be out there, dying, and you want me to stand here with my thumb up my ass?! That man is the only reason i'm alive! He is probably the sole reason half of the people here are alive! How in the hell-"

He looked like he was going to continue his rant, but was cut off when I shattered the bottle of vodka in my fist.

"Do you honestly believe I don't want to go either?" I asked him, death calm with my voice barely audible. Everything In the office got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. That was the moment when Sandra decided to walk in, wearing her usual white t and brown pants and hair tied back in a pony tail. She immediately noticed the tenseness in the room, and noticed my hand that was now bleeding with glass shards sticking out of it.

"Curtis, you Fucking knucklehead!" She screeched. She quickly walked over to my desk and pulled out a medical kit she knew was in one of my drawers. She ushered me over to my chair and got me to sit down as she began to treat my hand while muttering "Fuckin idiot" under her breath. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but smile. Oregon was right, maybe I should ask her out soon. For all I knew, we could both die tomorrow. Who would have knew that little shit was right.

He was right….

"I just wanted you to know, Yuri. You are one of his best friends, after all. After all you've done for this place… You deserve it."I told him tiredly as I rubbed my face with my free hand.

"I apologize, sir. That was brash of me." He turned to walk out the door, but stopped as he put his hand on the knob. "Would you prefer for me to inform the others, or would you like to do so?" He asked my solemnly. I shook my head slightly at him.

"No, thank you Yuri...But I would much rather tell everyone myself…"

He is my son after all.

That was when The radio crackled to life on my desk. I scrambled for it with my free hand and keyed the button.

"Oregon! Where the fuck are you, man!?"

Emerald Forest

Oregon

I reached down to my walkie talkie and pulled it off, then pressed the button that would allow me to speak. "Hey dad. What's up?" I asked him.

Wrong choice.

"Whats up?! WHAT'S UP!? DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS, YOU SELFISH LITTLE PRICK!? I SWEAR TO GOD, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'M GOING TO BEAT THE LIVING PISS OUT OF YOU WITH YOUR OWN FUCKING ARMS!"

I looked up at Ruby and Weiss, who looked absolutely horrified at what the man on the walkie talkie was yelling. I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly and grinned. "Yeah, that's my dad, Curtis." I said happily. They both deadpanned and sweatdropped at my words, and I just shrugged as I turned my attention back to the walkie talkie, growing dead serious.

"Sorry to worry you like that, Curtis." I began as I keyed the 'speak' button. "But a lot of shit has happened since our last chat."

"Your damn straight, you little shit." He said, having grown less pissed off. "I've completely lost track of you on the map. Just where the hell are you, exactly?"

"I'm in some place called Vale, man. I want you to grab your socks, 'cause they are going to get blown the fu-" I saw Ruby frown at me in the corner of my eyes "Freak off… There. Are. No. Deadheads." I waited a couple of seconds for his response.

"Bullshit."

"Nope. None whatsoever. Apparently, these guys don't have 'em." I told him truthfully. This was followed by yet another long silence, Which was occupied by Ruby and Weiss giving me some odd looks. I would most likely have some explaining to do after this.

"Do you have any idea how you got there?" He asked me after what felt like forever, but was probably just thirty seconds.

"No idea." I responded. "What about your end? Anything happening down there?" I asked him. Maybe there was something going on that would help us find out what happened?

"Nothing that I've seen. Listen, i've got to go soon, alright? Just… fucking Christ, man. Don't scare me like that again." He told me in a tired voice. As much as I wanted to talk more, i understood. He did have a whole community of survivors to watch over, after all. I swear, if zombies don't kill him, the freaking stress will.

"Will do, Curtis. Don't get bit." I finished. Letting out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, I put my Walkie talkie back on my belt. I would never tell him this, but I both lived for and dreaded those check ups. While they may be the only time I can speak to what felt like the one person left in my life… They also helped serve as a reminder of all the things i've lost between then and now.

"Alright, listen." I turned to my two new partners. "I realize you two have questions, and I promise i'll answer them. For now, let's just get this thing over with. Does that sound good?" I asked them.

Weiss still had a look of annoyance on her face, but under it I saw one of understanding. She gave me a short nod and we both turned our attention. Unsurprisingly, she seemed to agree with it as well. These people sure are trusting.

"I am fine with that." Weiss said as we began to start walking. "But like you said, you will answer them sometime soon."

"Hey, um," This time it was Ruby, who was now walking to the left of me. "Can I ask you something first?" She looked a little embarrassed, but I just chuckled at her expense.

"You just did, didn't you?" I asked her. She, in return, gave me a light smack on the shoulder, and actually elicited a small smirk to appear on Weiss's face. Now this… This was a reminder I didn't mind seeing. This was one of the reasons why I had fought those undead maggots tooth and nail every day. To keep people alive.

"That's not what I meant, jerk" Ruby said with a small smile on her face. "What I wanted to ask was… Oregon's not your real name, Is it?" She asked me.

I leaned toward her ear, until i was about an inch away from her. I could see the hope build up in her little face.

"Nope."

Only to watch it crash and burn.

"Well? What is it?' Weiss asked me . Before I could say anything, Ruby spoke up for me.

"He's probably not gonna tell us." She informed her teammate in a deadpan voice as she sweatdropped. I just nodded my head and locked my hands behind my head. I love messing with people.

"Why is that, pray tell?" Weiss continued. I just shrugged. "Are you embarrassed about your real name?"

"Nope." I then leaned forward and tapped her on the nose. "I just love screwing around with people. You should try it sometime." I told her. She just rolled her eyes at me. I was going to say more to her, until I spotted something up ahead.

There, in a clearing, stood a pack of those Beowulf's we had fought earlier. They were surrounding a carcass. It looked like a deer or something. They were tearing it open with it's mouths and

That's not a deer.

Suddenly, it all changed. I was back in Miami. The streets were filled with chaos as humans ran from the undead. Multitudes were caught by them and tore into like a fat guy tears into a McDonald's burger. All I had was my blood splattered ax in my hands. The last detail, however, was the most prominent, to me anyways. There was no longer a deer being eaten.

It was my father.