01: Days Gone Bye

I sat on a log off to the side of camp, rubbing the sharp end of my knife against a rock. It had been weeks since we'd set up camp just outside of Atlanta, finding a quarry to call home. It was beautiful, something out of a dream. We had an endless supply of water, a place to fish, and we were able to find the occasional deer to hunt.

"Josephine," my mother's voice rang in my ears.

I looked up, her face barely shielding me from the sun. "What?"

"Pardon me?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Letting out a sigh, I smiled fake. "Hi, mother. How may I help you?"

My mother groaned. "I'm heading out for a bit. Keep an eye on your brother for me, alright?" I nodded, standing from my rock as she looked to my brother. "Carl, I want you to stay where your sister can see you, understood?"

Carl nodded, his face lighting up as our mother walked away.

Slipping my knife into its slot on my belt, I walked over to the table my brother was sitting at and sat down. I grabbed the paper he was looking at, examining it. "Fractions?"

He nodded.

I rolled my eyes. "Didn't mom get the memo that the world ended?"

"She won't let me play until it's done." Carl sighed.

"What mom says goes," I spoke mockingly, making him laugh.

Carl got silent after a moment. "I miss dad..."

I winced. "Me too, buddy... me too."

…

Standing next to Dale's RV, I was handing him tools as he requested them. Dale was the oldest member of the group, and frankly the reason we were able to fish for food. He'd arrived alongside Andrea and Amy, sisters who had been on a road trip from Flordia, with a fishing boat and some rods.

Dale let out a sigh. "that hose isn't long for this world, is it?"

"No, sir," I responded.

"Where the hell are we supposed to find a replacement?" He asked, shaking his head as he took the rest of the tools from my hands, placing them in his tool bag.

"Let me just run to the store real quick," I mumbled, earning a chuckle.

Amy soon came rushing past us. "It's getting late... they should've been back by now."

She was referring to a group we'd sent out to search the city for supplies. It had been hours since Andrea, T-Dog, Glenn, Jacqui, Morales, and Merle had left.

"Worrying won't make it better," Dale remarked.

I wiped my hands on my pants, walking up to Amy and placing a hand on her shoulder. "They'll be alright. Glenn knows the city like the back of his hand. If they ran into trouble, he'll find a way out of it."

Amy nodded, clearly holding back tears. "I just wish I could call her, you know? See where she is and if she needs help."

As if on queue, the CB radio we kept on a stump in front of the RV began to squeak. Everyone exchanged glances for a moment before a recognizable voice sounded out.

"Base camp, can anyone hear me? Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me?"

Dale rushed over, grabbing the receiver and speaking into it. "Hello? Hello? Reception's bad on this end. Repeat. Repeat."

"Shane is that you?"

Dale sighed.

"Is that them?" my mother asked, rushing over.

"We're in deep shit over here," T-Dog explained. "We're trapped in the department store."

"He says they're trapped," I repeated.

T-Dog spoke again. "There are hundreds of them, we're surrounded."

With those final words, the radio cut out.

"Hundreds?" I asked, stepping back.

"He said the department store." My mother spoke out.

Dale nodded. "I heard it too."

"We have to go after them," Amy spoke, her voice shaking. "We can't just leave them like that."

"No way, we are not going after them. We do not risk the rest of the group, y'all know that." Shane spoke, rubbing his head, turning to look at Amy. "Look, I know this is not easy-"

"No, she volunteered to go," Amy spoke. "she wanted to help the group."

"I know, and she knew the risks, right?" Shane spoke, his voice was soft. "You see, if she's trapped, she's gone. So, we just have to deal with that. There's nothing we can do."

Amy stared at him for what felt like an eternity, her eyes wide before finally, they narrowed. "She's my sister, you son of a bitch." she huffed, before marching off.

My mother looked to Shane, before looking back to Amy's quickly fading silhouette, chasing after her.

I saw both sides if I was being honest. Shane wanted to keep who was left of us safe; to send more of us out there into what we now knew was dangerous territory could be a death sentence for all of us. I also knew that if it were my brother out there, I wouldn't be able to sit still.

…

Later that afternoon I sat inside Dale's RV, reading one of his old books he had lying around. I always loved to read, even when I was younger. I still remembered my mother and father trying to read me stories when I was only five-years-old, and me constantly trying to steal the book from them. I wanted to do it myself, much like everything else in my life.

The sound of a siren filled my ears, causing me to slam the book down on the table and rush out of the RV.

"What the hell is that noise?" I asked, looking up at Dale who was stood on top of the RV keeping watch of camp.

'Talk to me Dale, what do you see?" Shane asked, rushing over.

Dale looked through his binoculars. "I can't tell yet."

"Is it them?" Amy asked. "Are they back?"

"Well, I'll be damned..."

"What is it?" I asked again.

"A stolen car is my guess."

Within a few minutes, a red sports car drove up to our camp, Glenn hopping out of the driver's seat. He greeted us, a large smile on his face.

"Jesus, Glenn," I spoke, letting out a sigh.

"Turn that damn thing off, why don't you?" Dale spoke, climbing down from the RV.

Glenn threw his hands in the air. "I don't know how!"

"Pop the hood please," Shane spoke. "Pop the damn hood, please."

Amy began following Glenn, asking about her sister over and over again and Shane pleaded with him to pop the hood of the car. Glenn did so before turning to Amy.

"Andrea's okay! She's okay."

"Is she coming back? Why isn't she with you?"

"She's fine, she's with the others. Everyone is fine." Glenn spoke before clearing his throat. "Well, Merle not so much."

Shane began to lecture Glenn about driving the car towards camp, while Dale defended him. A truck soon appeared behind Glenn's car, Morales, T-Dog, and Jacqui hopping out. Andrea soon followed, running up to Amy and pulling her into a hug.

I looked over to see my brother upset, my mother comforting them. I made my way over, crouching down to meet his eyes.

"Hey, it's alright," I spoke, looking to both him and my mother. "We're all alright."

"I thought we had lost you, folks, for sure," Dale spoke.

Shane cleared his throat. "How the hell did you get out of there anyway?"

"New guy- he got us out," Morales spoke, holding his wife and children tight.

"New guy?"

"Yeah, he just got into town," Morales confirmed. "Hey, helicopter boy! Come on out and say hello!"

I had turned back to my mother and brother, us both trying to comfort him. Carl's water-filled eyes soon lit up as he was no longer looking at us, and instead peering off into the distance.

My mother and I turned to follow his gaze, my heart sinking into my chest.

How was that possible?

Carl pulled himself from our grips, running off.

"Dad!"