Dani looked across the street, eyes keen for walkers. She made sure it was clear before Melissa crossed it.
She turned over to Melissa, who was obediently waiting by the stoplight, slightly nervous, checking around her.
"Come on, I think it's clear." Dani confirmed, and Melissa eagerly left her post, running over to Dani, clutching her hand tightly.
"Why couldn't we just raid the grocery store instead of the coffee shop?" Melissa asked, her feet sore from walking all the way from downtown.
"That's what other people would do. Dangerous people."
Melissa sighed, as she knew Dani was right.
As Dani stepped into the coffee shop, she motioned for Melissa to stay near her, clutching her rifle tightly.
The coffee shop was a mess, with papers and posters scattered across the floor, moss flowing in from the cracks from the roof. The cash register was open, completely penniless.
Dani stepped over the counter, "Alright, I think there might be so-,"
"Dani!"
Dani looked to where Melissa pointed, showing a male walker in an apron, dashing across the store.
She immediately shot its head, but not after she ran towards it and dug her knife into its neck, making sure it stayed down.
As the walker gargled, it became mute after Dani kicked it, uttering its last sound.
"I think we're good." Dani confirmed, and Melissa sighed, but not after cracking a smile.
"Geez, I know you're not into men, but you didn't have to kick him." She joked, and Dani only cracked a grin for Melissa's pleasure, obviously not in the mood for jokes.
"Let's just get food, and leave." Dani ordered, and Melissa looked at her, concerned.
"Then what?"
"There's a motel uptown. We could hotwire a car and drive there for the night."
"That's not what I meant." Melissa tried to sound stern.
Dani looked at her, knowing the true question. She slumped down on a chair, defeated.
"I-I don't know." Dani confessed, burying her face in her hands, after resting her rifle on the side of the wall.
Melissa noticed the pressure Dani was under, and she kissed Dani's head.
"Its okay, Dani. We'll figure something out tomorrow." She consoled, and Dani smiled, and got up, ruffling Melissa's auburn hair.
As they looted the coffee shop, carrying small amounts of bagels and water, then walked into the parking lot.
"How about that?" Melissa asked Dani, using one arm to point towards a rustic Porsche, and they walked over to it.
"Let's see." Dani said, before putting down her food, and punched open the window, which easily shattered. She proceeded to open the car door, scooting over to the driver's seat.
She opened the coverings of the car and started to mix wires, until she could hear the faint rumbling of the car engine.
"Is it starting?" Melissa asked, hopeful. Dani shrugged, before reinforcing the wires.
As soon as the headlights turned on, Dani turned to Melissa before she ran inside, already uneasy from being out in the open.
As Dani pulled out from the parking lot, she started to hear some growling, like a predator about to pounce. She looked at her rear-view mirror.
"Fucking walkers!" She shouted, before Melissa turned her head to see around ten limping towards them.
"Let's get the hell out of here!" Melissa pleaded, and Dani floored it, with a walker only inches away from the car door.
"Did you get the rifle?" Dani asked, and Melissa nodded, peering at her purse.
"I have it."
Dani sighed in relief as they drove uptown, making sure no walkers were following them.
She eyed the gas meter, and cursed.
"Shit. We don't have much gas." Dani cursed, and Melissa nervously smiled.
"Well as long as we aren't in town, we should be fine. There isn't many people in the woods, anyway." Melissa eyed the seemingly endless amount of trees in the forest.
Dani reluctantly nodded.
As Melissa turned on the radio, all that was heard was static, and she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She opened the glove box to find several CDs, and she eagerly put one into the radio, wanting something to take her mind off of the problem at hand.
As the calming melody of country music released Melissa's tension, Dani was restlessly driving, carefully eyeing the ditches to make sure those things didn't pop out again.
It was smooth driving for about an hour.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Dani hit the brakes, sending Melissa caught by her seatbelt.
"What was that?" Melissa asked fearfully. Dani listened closely.
"Gunfire. And that sure sounded like a lot of shots. There must be a whole hoard up ahead." Dani predicted, and proceeded to turn the car around. Melissa sat up.
"What if the person's still alive?" She asked, but Dani didn't answer. There wasn't any more shots heard.
As Dani started to drive back downtown, she saw something linger out of the muddy ditches.
BAM! The walker slammed into the car, falling back on its feet.
"Oh my God!" Melissa was mortified, and Dani dug the pistol out of her purse.
She eyed the radio, which was still playing country music.
"They're hearing the radio! Turn it o-," But was interrupted by a hand breaking through the backseat window.
Dani loaded the rifle, and shot at the creature. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! It took several shots for the bastard to stop moving.
Seeing others rise out of the ditch, Dani thought quickly.
She turned on the radio to high volume, and grabbed Melissa's hand, before stepping out of the car, abandoning the vehicle.
"What are you doing?" Melissa asked, and Dani just ran faster.
"We wouldn't have had enough gas to make it out of there. If the music was loud enough, it would take their attention away from us and to the car." Dani explained, but Melissa was quiet, too afraid to ask more questions.
They ran quickly, not looking back to make sure the walkers weren't tailing them.
However, Melissa's eyed widened when she saw the road ahead.
The hoard from downtown was walking towards them.
"They're back!" Melissa shouted, and Dani cursed, making sure Melissa was behind her before she brought out her rifle.
"We can't just backtrack, the others are still behind us!" Melissa cried, and looked to Dani, wanting a solution.
It was the first time she's ever seen Dani look horrified. She had no idea what to do.
"There isn't much ammo, either." Dani squeaked, keeping her eyes towards the running walkers.
Melissa started to panic, and grabbed Dani's hand, before running into the woods.
They only ran so far, until they were stopped by a frozen lake.
"Oh God…" Dani murmured, and held Melissa's hand.
They heard the growling of walkers coming from behind them.
Dani shut her eyes, not wanting her last moment on Earth to be seeing walkers maul her to death, as Melissa did the same.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Dani flung her head around, to see a somewhat muscular woman with brown hair chopped into a pixie cut, wearing an orange jumpsuit, with the shirt tied around her waist, revealing a black t-shirt.
She was holding two pistols, and grinned as she took down three walkers.
The woman turned to Dani.
"Don't just stand there, help me!" She ordered from a distance, aiming her pistols at the other walkers. Dani nodded and reloaded her rifle, and shot at four walkers, all which proceeded to fall to the ground.
There were only three left, as the woman shot two down, and Dani started to beat the last walker with her empty rifle.
Dani breathed deeply from exhaustion, and looked towards Melissa, who ran up to Dani, hugging her.
The couple turned towards the woman, who was staring at the lifeless carcasses.
"Greetings." The woman waved her head, and Melissa looked towards her, and then to her pistol.
"Were you the one who was shooting from uptown?"
The woman nodded.
"Yeah. One moment you're just driving around hills, next you're about to be mauled by undead creatures." The woman joked, but no one laughed.
"You have a car?" Dani asked, and the woman's smile dimmed.
"Had. I had a car." The woman corrected, and Dani sighed.
"I'm Roberta Leejon." The woman took out her hand for a handshake.
"I'm Melissa Daniels. This is my girlfriend, Dani Ross." Melissa introduced them, and Roberta smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Melissa and Dani." Roberta said, and Dani shrugged.
"Thanks for saving us, I guess." Dani deadpanned, and Melissa frowned.
"Don't be rude." Melissa scolded and Dani looked at Roberta.
"So, you two going someplace?" Roberta asked, and Dani glared at her.
"Why do you want to know?" Dani asked, and Roberta rolled her eyes.
"What? You think I'm going to kill you two?" Roberta asked, and she pointed towards the dead walkers.
"I'm not sure if you noticed…" Roberta stomped on a walker's head, "But I have a strict rule for killing things that only want to kill me." She finished, and turned towards Dani.
"And last time I checked, I just saved your ass!" Roberta called, and Dani started to lunge at her, before being held back by Melissa.
"Dani! Stop!" Melissa yelled, and Dani glared at Roberta.
Melissa brought her away from Roberta, "Look, like it or not, we need her on our side." Melissa informed Dani.
"We could have-," Dani started to say, but Melissa glared.
"-No we couldn't! We were about to die!" Melissa whispered, and Dani lowered her head, embarrassed.
"Look, I know you're distrusting of pretty much everyone, but don't you think we need more allies than not?" Melissa asked, and Dani stayed quiet, obviously knowing the answer.
Dani sighed, and walked over to Roberta, who was examining the dead walker.
"So do you have a plan?" Roberta asked, and Dani shook her head.
"Well I guess we'll go with mine." Roberta concluded, and started to walk into the woods, motioning for Dani and Melissa to follow.
Hi guys, sorry for being stupidly late. MAJOY FAMILY DRAMA. Anyway, see you next chapter!