Ch. 23
'Innocence lost Part two'
[Static, KY, afternoon]
'August ninth'
The day sped by, Genevieve felt like it had been a slow-going, all-day affair.
The young girl made her way up the stairs, slowly creaking open the rusty old door leading to the roof of the town bar, once opened, Genevieve was greeted with cheers.
"Happy birthday, Genevieve!" The crowd shouted in unison, the young girl quickly picked out Summer, Amanda, Ian, Melissa, and A.J., Genevieve felt a small tug on her heart, seeing Amanda standing tall next to Summer, wearing a brown work shirt and her signature pink "Be Happy" shirt, looking almost as she had months earlier in their previous settlement, smiling next to her proclaimed sister, Summer, Genevieve noted that her guardian was wearing a navy blue T-shirt, dark pants and black boots with her pant-legs tucked in, leaning against the roof's railing with a proud and maybe loving smile directed at the birthday girl, Genevieve knew that she didn't always give Summer her due credit, but understood the hardship Summer stood up against on a daily basis, just to keep her safe and healthy, the little girl wondered how Summer had gone from hating her to being the closest thing to family in a mere four years, her eyes wandering to the next group member, Melissa, one of the first people from the group to be nice to her, often keeping her safe in the beginning if "He" was not around to do so, Genevieve remembered how Melissa had laid over her when the walkers swarmed the mall in Chattanooga, it was futile in keeping her safe if anything had transpired, but the intention was clear, truly endearing to Genevieve to this day, standing next to the grill in her flannel she found just after crossing the river, a black T-shirt underneath and jeans with her blonde hair in a curly ponytail, framing her round face and big, warm smile, Ian could be seen standing nearly head and shoulders taller than everyone else in the crowd, whooping and hollering in celebration of her birthday, Genevieve had not known him as long as the others, yet felt like he was family, his dirty words and profane behaviour, could not hide the good heart that Genevieve could see underneath his exterior, his laughter was infectious and his attitude often brought levity to the otherwise bleak and depressing world around them, Genevieve was thankful for his company most of the time, Genevieve saw A.J. standing beside Summer and Amanda with rather honest smile albeit a small one, while he had his flaws and rough edges, Genevieve could see he had his uses and his hand to hand combat could be useful if he tempered his anger, Genevieve's eyes found a thin middle-aged man with a black, wide brim hat, clapping with the others at her arrival, Rainey had attempted to seem kind and gentlemanly, he may have even believed he was, but Genevieve knew better, she saw how he treated others if they stepped out of line, utilizing brutality to control the town.
Genevieve turned her attention away from Rainey, back to her friends and the others, smiling brightly, while being a fake smile, Genevieve truly appreciated the presence of her groupmates.
"Happy birthday, Kiddo," Summer said brightly, opening her arms for an embrace.
Genevieve stepped into the hug, wrapping her arms around the young woman, feeling a different warmth than the last time Summer embraced her on the riverside months ago.
Looking up at the young woman, Genevieve allowed a genuine smile to shine out.
"How's it feel to be in the double digits?" Summer asked, smiling down at the newly ten-year-old girl.
"It feels no different," Genevieve said, truthfully.
"Well, y'all will feel different by the triple digits," Amanda cut in, now resting on the railing like Summer.
The group chuckled at the thought of living to a hundred, the sheer thought of making it through the world they lived in for a hundred years didn't even sound good let alone possible, the congregation cooked up venison, for the occasion someone even baked a cake.
[In the woods west of Static]
"What did he say?" A heavy-set man in black militia gear with the Saviour symbol on his arm asked.
"He doesn't need our protection," Another Saviour soldier said, looking through a pair of binoculars.
"Well did you see the girls?" The heavy man asked, watching the mass of bodies approach slowly from the south.
"I wish," the young man with binoculars said, sighing in defeat.
"What if they're dead already?" The heavy man asked, turning his attention to the young man.
"They aren't," the man with the binoculars said, turning his attention to the heavy man.
"How do you know," the heavy man asked, noting the young man's sudden mood change.
"Because they can't be!" The young man growled, his breath trembling faintly at the thought of his mission failing.
"They weren't in the last settlement!" The heavy man spat back.
"If they were, your bullshit killed them!" The young man said with venom dripping on every word.
"Listen, we'll start with molotovs, and head to the northern end as we do that, it'll lead them right through town, if they don't retaliate, their houses will burn," the heavy man explained, holding his hands out to the side in a show of defeat.
The two decided to head back to their group, quietly scurrying into the quickly growing darkness readying to attack the settlement as was their orders if the townsfolk didn't take their protection deal.
[Static]
Genevieve had slipped away from her own party as the adults talked, some had turned into their homes to wait out the horde in their homes, Melissa being one of them, staring out into the southern lands, watching the horde advance towards her location, the plan was set, she just needed the walkers, they could cover their tracks, Genevieve was slightly worried for Amanda's safety, knowing her spine still bothered her, overall Genevieve knew this was a good attempt to slip away from the tyrannical Mort Rainey and the town of Static.
"Can I have everyone's attention!" Rainey called out, waving his hands to quiet the crowd. "There is a horde coming through, they oughta head right on by, as usual, so long as everyone stays quiet and keeps their lights off, is that clear?" Rainey spoke.
The crowd shook their heads in agreement, yet Genevieve kept her eyes on walking corpses, shuffling ever closer in search of food, the young girl's eyes wandered catching some unusual movement amongst the trees, Genevieve furrowed her brow, squinting to see the figures in the dark, she counted at least ten figures skulking in the darkness, this couldn't end well for Genevieve's plan.
The young girl decided to leave her sightings unreported, electing to see if she could use their actions to her and her group's benefit, more chaos meant less attention solely on them.
Within a few minutes, the lights were turned off and everyone quieted down, the settlement's tactic for the walkers to pass them by undetected.
"Everyone, stay quiet, they're coming by," Rainey whispered, loud enough for the people to hear.
Summer felt a smaller hand fit in hers, looking to its owner, Genevieve gave her a slow, knowing nod.
"Follow me," Genevieve whispered, barely audible.
Summer could see the look in Genevieve's eyes, a look she had never seen before, looking up to her groupmates, Summer locked eyes with A.J. and Ian, she motioned for the door leading downstairs with her eyes, receiving a nod before making their way to the door quietly.
Summer took Amanda's hand and tugged at it, knowing Amanda would follow, the moments before they could make it to the door were filled with gasps and the sound of glass breaking, followed by voices protesting, Summer stole a look at where the crowd was looking and noticed a couple of the houses now with fire beginning to spread across their wooden exteriors, Summer heard the door ahead of her swing open, whirling her head around she saw Genevieve had disappeared, quick as a flash Summer, Amanda, A.J. and Ian were bounding down the stairs after the little girl.
Ian slammed the door behind the group. "Find something to jam in here!" Ian shouted down the stairs.
Summer shouted an acknowledgment before stopping in her tracks as a guard had been posted at the exit to the bar.
"Where're you going?!" The guard demanded, knowing full well already having stopped Genevieve.
"Look the other way, you'll never even know we were here," Summer said, her hands up in a show of surrender.
"Mort doesn't want you to leave!" The man said, pointing his gun at the young woman.
A.J. who had been standing near the back of the bar grabbed the ax from under the counter and started skirting around, crouched among the tables, A.J. snuck towards the man's flank.
Genevieve started gradually stepping to the side, out of the man's view, the man snapped the pistol towards Genevieve.
"Don't you fucking move!" The guard screamed.
Genevieve her hands and lowered her head in a display of submission to the gun.
"Hey! Keep your gun on me!" Summer yelled, stepping forward quickly.
"Careful," Amanda breathed from behind Summer, knowing she couldn't do much against a healthy adult right now.
The gun was immediately snapped back to Summer. "If you take one more step, I'll --" the man warned before being cut off as Genevieve wrapped her arm around the man's wrist, hampering his ability to aim his weapon, the young girl's ear rang as a gunshot sounded off at point-blank, she didn't know if the bullet hit anyone, and at the moment she was stunned from the sudden loud noise right next to her, the man used the lapse in, coherence to wrestle free of Genevieve's grasp, and throw the little girl to the ground, regaining her senses, Genevieve looked in time to see Summer rushing towards the man, and the gun pointed in her face, Genevieve knew Summer couldn't make it in time, the gun never fired as something behind him lodged into the side of his head, Genevieve quickly deduced that an ax had been smashed into the man's head, quickly averting her eyes from the gruesome sight, the little girl felt blood spatter on her face and bits of brain matter, seconds later, the body could be heard hitting the floor.
Having skidded to her knees next to the little girl, Summer checked her over. "Are you ok?! Are you hurt?" Summer asked quickly, rubbing the blood and brains off of the little girl's face, smudging mostly.
"Uh-huh!" Genevieve breathed out between shaky breaths. "Thank you," Genevieve said, being helped off the ground.
Amanda made it to the door and looked out through the curtains. "They're here," Amanda said, stepping to the side, revealing hundreds of walkers, staggering up the main road towards them.
Ian had been holding the door for the short time it took for the group to dispatch the guard, with the others pushing on the other side, Ian locked the door, hoping it would hold them off a while longer, even with the bridges connecting buildings, Ian hoped some of them would be burnt, quickly running down the stairs, Ian saw the aftermath of the violent acts recently committed.
Gunfire started emitting from several different locations, mostly from above them, yet some of it sounded farther away, the undead started breaking away and rushing towards the different locations, some of them fell dead far before they got to their meals.
"We have to get Melissa," Summer exclaimed, looking amongst the group.
"I'll go get her," Ian volunteered, stepping forward. "You still got our gear at your place?" Ian inquired.
"Yes," Summer answered simply, putting her hands on the door. "We'll wait got you there, be careful!" Summer said, opening the doors and rushing towards her house with Genevieve, Amanda, and A.J. in tow.
Ian picked up the pistol the guard had been using and ran out the door towards the infirmary, where Melissa often stayed.
Genevieve could see she was right, it was hard to keep track of Summer and Amanda normally, even harder with the now burning structures, lighting the dark, Kentucky skies, thick black smoke billowed out of the houses and stung the little girl's eyes as she tried to keep pace with the taller adults, making sure Amanda didn't fall behind, the sound of gunfire and the roars of the undead filled the world around the group, Genevieve saw people running across the bridges above them, but she had no time to stop now.
Upon their arrival, the group found their home on fire. "Do we really need that stuff?" A.J. asked, looking at the fire pour out of the house's top.
"All of our weapons and travel food is in those backpacks!" Summer replied, stepping up the stairs, trying to cover her face from the intense heat of the flames.
A.J. didn't like the idea of running into a burning building, but he knew they wouldn't last long out there without their weapons, the man followed Summer up the stairs, finding the knob too hot, A.J. kicked the door down, before the duo could enter, their attention was seized.
"Fancy meetin' yall here!" Rainey's unmistakable voice rang out above the chaos.
The group turned to see the man, missing his hat, sweating with tattered clothes, drenched in his own perspiration, Amanda and Genevieve were closer, being just off the porch steps.
"I will never know why ya wanna leave so badly, but I gotta say, Ya ain't doin' that!" Rainey bellowed, trying to keep his gentlemanly exterior. "I told ya, Summer, what would happen if y'all stepped outta line again, ya ain't leavin' here alive!" Rainey yelled, stepping towards the two closest.
Summer started back down the stairs, feeling an arm catch her abdomen, the young woman heard wood breaking and felt herself pulled back into the house as the pillars holding the porch's portion of roofing, gave way and had fallen, scrambling to her feet, Summer found quickly that the exit had been blocked by fiery pieces of wood supports and roofing.
"Fuck," A.J. said, breathing heavy, picking himself up off the floor. "Shit," A.J. exclaimed when he saw the blocked entrance.
Amanda flinched at the loud crash of the roof caving on the porch, Genevieve raced to the side yard, Amanda following after her, Rainey quickly caught up with Amanda, shoving her to the ground, a sharp grunt being interrupted by a rough landing, Rainey stomped on Amanda's head once, shoving the teenage's face into the dirt, crushing her nose and mouth from the force of the impact, lifting her head again, her vision blurry and her mouth full of dirt, grass, and blood, Rainey lifted his leg again, the man felt a weight thrown into his ribcage, falling to the ground, Rainey found that Genevieve had thrown herself into him, the two locked eyes, his filled with anger and hatred, her's with fear, yet determination, both of them scrambling up to their feet, the two stood, Rainey towering over the ten-year-old, Amanda struggled to her feet hoping Genevieve could stay alive until she got there.
Inside the house, Summer struggled in vain to move the red hot blockage from the door, A.J. rushed out to the living room with everyone's backpack. "We! Have! To get outta here! They need us!" Summer screamed, stepping away from the blocked entrance, she saw out the window, Genevieve being grabbed by her neck and thrown across the yard, Amanda quickly grappled with the middle-aged man, raising Summer's hysterical state.
"How're we getting out?!" A.J. asked, coughing in the black smoke.
Just a few feet away, outside the house, Amanda strained against Rainey, the teenager assumed she'd be stronger than him if she hadn't been injured, her spine ached heavily as her back started bending back, his hand around her throat, forcing her down, her knees almost bending, Amanda jabbed her palm into Rainey's nose, a sickening crunch emanating, his attack relenting as he cried out in pain, drawing her hand back again, Amanda punched Rainey in the face, knocking him away.
In the house, Summer, and A.J. were struggling to breathe, seeing Amanda punch Rainey, Summer knew she had to help even the odds. "You got Amanda's knife?" Summer asked, through her coughing.
Without talking, due to coughing himself, A.J. produced the knife promptly, Summer took it and quickly threw it out the window between the bars. "Amanda!" Summer screamed, a coughing fit overtaking her soon after.
Amanda glanced back from her adversary and saw the familiar glint of her throwing knife, Amanda turned around just in time to slip a punch, countering with a kick from her right leg, connecting with the inner portion of his right knee. "Genevieve get the knife!" Amanda ordered, turning to face her enemy again.
Genevieve raced to the knife, quickly picking it up, looking into the window just above her head, she could see Summer coughing.
"Summer, what can I do?" Genevieve asked, her worry growing with every passing second.
"Help Amanda, we'll get out there soon," Summer said, not knowing how she would accomplish this.
Genevieve hesitantly nodded before turning to help Amanda, seeing Rainey storm towards her, Amanda lying on the ground struggling to get up, Genevieve took the knife, taking a shaky, deep breath, the young girl threw the knife, Rainey covered his face, the knife hit the loose fabric of his coat, from his arms being raised, causing it to fall harmlessly to the ground, Genevieve internally cursed herself, watching as Rainey picked the knife up, the sound of Summer screaming threats at Rainey could be faintly heard over the white noise overtaking Genevieve's hearing, fear of death starting to surface.
"We have to get to them!" summer bellowed at the man stuck in the house with her.
"How?!" A.J. asked, starting to fall to his knees from smoke inhalation, dropping the ax as he fell to his knee.
"Don't give up!" Summer shouted, seeing A.J. starting to lose consciousness.
"W-we can't..." A.J. trailed off, coughing.
"No!" Summer roared picking up the ax and swinging it at the window, its blade bouncing off the bars, Summer took a breath and looked for an exit, Summer could hear Amanda scream "Leave her alone!" Setting Summer off. "No! I will not!" Summer yelled, swinging at the floorboards with that ax. "Let! Them! Die!" Summer roared, chopping at the floor with a righteous might. "We're going! To save them!" Summer screamed as she saw the dirt below the house. "A.J., let's go!" Summer shouted pulling A.J. down the hole, still wearing the backpacks, under the house, Summer could hear the house about to give way, crawling on her belly with A.J. right behind her, Summer made it to the foundation fencing, whirling around as quickly as possible, Summer kicked the fencing several times until it gave way, Summer threw the ax out first, pulling herself out, Summer heard the house give out, a loud crash sounded off, the house caving in on itself, A.J. letting out a scream, Summer looked back and saw A.J. pinned under some rubble, Summer took another look at Genevieve and Amanda before heading back for the pinned man.
Amanda had managed to disarm Rainey, leaving the knife near the house, Genevieve picked up the ax and was swinging at the middle-aged man wildly, dodging the attacks, Rainey found himself running out of room to back up, nearly up against the wall, Rainey waited for her to swing again, missing once more, Rainey grabbed the ax, pulling the little girl into his knee, connecting with her stomach, Rainey grabbed Genevieve and threw her into the side of the house, stunned from the sudden attack, Genevieve didn't see anything except the fist hitting her square in the face, smashing her head into the ground, knocking her unconscious, turning around menacingly ax in hand, Rainey looked at Amanda with evil eyes, the teenager saw her knife, but it laid behind him.
Knowing the danger inherent in her decision, Amanda took a shaky breath before putting on her signature brave face. "Well, you gonna show a woman a good time? Or are you too old!?" Amanda taunted, closing the distance with the ax-wielding maniac, the two met each other with murderous intent, and before he could swing, Amanda grabbed the shaft of the ax, wrestling with the man, Amanda quickly realized she wouldn't win with brute strength, after a moment, Amanda allowed the ax to travel downward, dodging the swing, the teenager head-butted Rainey, performing a hip toss seconds later, Amanda felt a pop in her spine, a flood of pain rushed through her, Amanda resisted the urge to fall to her knees, knowing she would surely die if she did, willing herself forward, the teenager shuffled towards the knife, falling to her knees, Amanda picked up the knife, standing again, the teen threw the knife, as Rainey lifted the ax to swing it down upon her.
Summer crawled back to A.J., grabbing his arm, the young woman pulled on his arm while kicking the rubble, hoping to free the man from the impending fiery doom, some rubble crashed down near Summer, making her flinch, but not deterring her, Summer pulled with all her might, eventually, A.J. was freed, and the duo crawled quickly for the exit, crawling out in just enough time to see Genevieve wake up and see the fight's end.
Amanda's knife found purchase in Rainey's raised arm, impaling his forearm, while he flinched slightly, Rainey had already been in the act of swinging the ax down, Amanda felt the ax decimate her torso, crushing through her collar bone, breaking several ribs, and destroying one of her lungs, Amanda screamed out before her lack of air cut her short.
Looking into her eyes, Rainey breathed heavily at the exertion, satisfied with his deed, he let a breathy chuckle out, Amanda had fallen to her knees, from the sheer force of the blow, her chest heaving from both the pain and her struggling, Amanda locked eyes with her killer, forcing herself to her feet for the final time, the two wordlessly showed the mutual feeling of hatred through their silent stare, after a long moment Amanda quickly pulled her knife free of his arm and plunged it into his throat, the surprise in his eyes, made Amanda smile a smug, faltering, half-smile, barely able to tug her lips into a smile.
Parting from each other, Rainey backed away several feet before stumbling to the ground in a pool of blood, Amanda fell back to the ground wincing at the pain caused by the ax wiggling from her fall, Summer rushed to Amanda's side tears already pouring out.
"Amanda," Summer whispered, feeling Genevieve's presence behind her.
Amanda's blank face was unmoving for a short moment, Amanda made a wincing face as if trying to learn how to make facial expressions. "I... Messed up," Amanda said, feeling cold
Summer watched as her sister began to function less and less, picking Amanda up in her arms, Summer noticed her wince and saw her trying to pull the ax out of her body, quickly pulling it out, Summer knew Amanda was dying and that there was no saving her, if she wanted the ax out, she would get what she wanted.
Amanda's eyes were beginning to glaze over. "Don't... Let me turn," Amanda squeaked, barely able to talk.
Genevieve's world was falling apart, yet she couldn't make a sound, the tears rolled down her cheeks, the thought of life without Amanda, becoming a reality, too soon, Summer was sobbing over her sister's barely living form, but Genevieve felt anger more than sorrow, she wanted revenge, to see the one responsible, so killed.
A.J. looked over the dying teenager he had learned to respect, calm anger washing over him, A.J. picked up the ax, walking over to Rainey's form laying on the ground, gurgling in his blood, Genevieve had found herself kneeling next to the man, looking over Rainey grasped for Genevieve's hand, looking for comfort, the little girl repeatedly pulled her hand away, once Rainey lost the energy to grab her hand, or given up, Genevieve reached the hilt of the knife, wrapping her fingers around it, looking at Amanda's killer, Genevieve pulled the knife out, blood gushing from the wound and the man's mouth, A.J. stepped over the man, with a dark smile.
"Remember me?" A.J. asked, sadistically.
Genevieve stood up her heart full of hate for this man, she wanted to watch his death, the young girl, watched as the first swing split the man's head in two, Genevieve immediately having the urge to look away, a look of fear crossing her face at the muscles and brain matter splattering everywhere, the bones now showing as A.J. swung down again.
Genevieve could hear familiar voices screaming at her to stop looking. "Baby, look away!" Genevieve's mother screamed with worry inside her head.
SWING.
"You don't have to see this, look away! Please!" Genevieve's father pleaded.
SWING.
Genevieve winced as A.J. swung again, and again, and again. "Genevieve, no!" Blake's voice cried out as A.J. swung again.
SWING.
Squeezing her eyes shut, tears escaping her eyes, Genevieve heard another swing and a squish, something inside the little cracked, Genevieve opened her eyes, no more tears, watching as A.J. smashed th ax into the now pile of meat that was once Mort Rainey.
Amanda watched Summer's tear-filled eyes, knowing she would never see them again, Summer held the teen's gaze knowing she would never see her looking at her again, and before Summer could say anything more, she saw Amanda's pupils open wide and her glaze over, *May I, stand unshaken* Summer knew her beloved sister was gone, *Amidst* Summer swung the ax into the side of her sister's head, preserving her face as best as she could, *Amidst the clash of worlds* Summer allowed her cries to turn into wails, *May I... Stand unshaken* Summer strained her voice, yelling in, complete agony at the deed she had just committed, even if it was Amanda's wishes, *Amidst ... Amidst the clash of worlds*
The walkers were moving on, following whoever had been firing the guns no doubt, Ian emerged from the smoke alongside him was Melissa, the scene before them, knowing that life would never be the same, that Summer nor Genevieve could ever be the same. *May I... Stand unshaken*
After what felt like hours, the group had dug a proper grave for their friend, Ian laid, Amanda's body down, placing her hands together, his breath shaking and his eyes welling up. *Amidst*
"See ya 'round woman, I'm really gonna miss you," Ian said, his voice cracking as he sniffled back tears that fell regardless. *Amidst*
Climbing out of the hole, A.J. and Ian took turns helping bury Amanda, Melissa brought materials for a cross which was fashioned from some wood from their house, Summer carved "Amanda" into the cross with the knife her sister had gifted her years ago, hammering the cross down into the Kentucky ground, the group stood over their fallen comrade, crying and holding each other remembering all the memories, and wishing to God they could've made more, yet one person was more composed than the rest, Genevieve allowed tears to roll down her cheeks, but her face was like stone, the young girl looked at the cross with a fury-driven determination.
*Amidst the clash of worlds*
"No one else would ever die while in her care."
Amanda Willis, 02/28/1997 - 08/09/2016