The

Walking

Dead

This Is Our Home

It had been over two months since society collapsed to the masses of the dead, corpses walking with the living. No one knows how they function or why, all we know is that a bite kills you, and when you die you get up, you try and eat the living, and there's nothing left of you when you rise, it's just your body none of your mind stays. My parents, my girlfriend, my brother, and my grandmother have all gone through that, turned into a subhuman cannibalistic monster, my grandpa and I are all that's left of our family, we have no blood relatives left.

We've been living in a campsite in the mashes, an old Indian village, thirty huts, about twenty-five people living here including us, and mud, water, and reeds giving us cover and protection from dead. Grandpa and I are hunting today, tracking a deer in the area surrounding the marsh.

"It went that way." Grandpa said pointing north and running, I followed him closely, I could easily outpace him but I couldn't track like him, at least not yet. As I ran I heard leaves crunch underfoot, and the footsteps of the deer ahead, somewhere in the woods. I ducked under branches, leapt over fallen trees, and mantled over rocks to pursue the deer [I will not lose this deer, I will not lose it.] I thought to myself.

I had my spear ready, twenty minutes ago grandpa had put an arrow in the deer and we were running it down. We were gaining on it now, I could hear it, and the deer couldn't be more than twenty feet ahead now. I saw the deer jumping through the woods and I sprinted towards it, I could catch it, I knew I could. The deer was getting slower and wasn't able to keep up its sprint anymore.

Within thirty seconds I was within striking distance of the deer. I lunged forward and rammed my spear into the deer's shoulder then let go. The deer took one more bound and then fell, violently spasming. I drew my knife and quickly stabbed it into the back of the deer's head, severing the spine.

"Good job Caleb." Grandpa said "thanks Gramps." I replied panting "let's get this back to camp." He said pulling a tarp out and wrapping the deer in it. We carried the deer for twenty minutes before we got to our canoe and we tied it onto the top, then we shoved off and paddled for camp. There was really only one waterway to our camp and we all knew it, it was hidden by some reeds we'd cut. When we got back to camp Grandpa and I untied and unwrapped the deer and proudly carried it to the firepit. After we put the deer down a few people took over cooking it, I decided to go hang out with some kids my age. There were four other kids my age in camp, Luke, Tyler, Sara, and Gabby, the newest arrival; we were the only teenagers around, the other kids in camp were two annoying twins and they were eight.

The others were hanging out near a hut; they were making arrows and string for the hunters. I sat down and resumed working on my bow; I was trying to make a recurve dogwood bow. "Hey Caleb." Sara said smiling "hi Sara." I replied smiling back "so I saw you and gramps caught a deer today." Luke said "yeah." I said "do you ever say more than two words?" Tyler asked "yes." I replied.

"Is she okay?" I asked gesturing towards the hut "Gabby, yeah, she's just adjusting. It's only been two days, and from what I can tell her whole group was either killed or captured to be killed. I think she lost her only friends, she'll adjust but for now we give her time." Sara said; Sara was always looking out for people, if someone wasn't feeling alright she was the first to try and make things alright, when a new member came into the group she was the first to say welcome. She was generous in her love for others, and her love was unconditional.

"I'll go check on her." Tyler said "good, she's probably hungry as hell still." Sara said. Aside from Sara Tyler had been spending the most time with the newcomer, he had taken "quite a liking to her, and she to him." as Grandpa put it. I was focused on my bow, I was almost done too, I would string it and shoot it for the first time this afternoon. "I can't wait to see how your bow shoots." Sara said "me too." I replied worried, Grandpa told me the first arrow from a new bow always was the most nervously released.

"Caleb, we need to talk." Grandpa said putting a hand on my shoulder "about what?" I asked "some of the other men and I are talking about the problem we've been having, you need to be part of this." he whispered in my ear "okay." I answered as I got up. We walked to the hut furthest from any other and stepped inside, I saw the other four men who hunted "hello Caleb, sit down so we can talk." Maurice said "what is it?" I asked.

"the group nearby is starting to encroach on our hunting ground, we can't have them cutting into our supply of wild game, and as you know Arron disappeared a week ago, the only explanation is they captured him, the dead he could handle, and there aren't many around here." Maurice said "we shouldn't start a fight with them, but if they attack we have to retaliate. We can't let them think we can be walked over." Mike said.

"I agree." I said "I do too, Caleb and I can go scout their camp tonight, we know where it is." Grandpa said "thank you both, remember if you are caught send them south to Orinda, they'll get a nasty surprise." Maurice reminded. We nodded and after a few more minutes we left the hut and resumed our jobs.

When I left the tent I was instantly met by Sara "you're going tonight aren't you?" she asked with a look of disapproval "We need to know if they're a threat." I said "but can't we just talk to them? Like we do with the people at the reservoir." She said "they aren't like that group, they've threatened us before." I said "but we don't need to start a war." Sara said "you're right." I replied "then don't do this." she pleaded "I'm not starting the war, we're just showing we're not going to bend over for them, we won't kill anyone, I promise." I said "okay." Sara replied hugging me.

Six hours later

Grandpa and I had hidden the canoe in the normal place and made our way to the forest camp. We made our way through their alarm wires and watched them from the brush. They had a two hundred by three hundred foot clearing as their camp; it was full of tents and one RV. They had at least thirty adults walking around, ten or so teenagers, and twenty small children, on top of that one woman looked pregnant. The people were well armed; almost all casually carried some sort of weapon on them, most had a bat, machete, club, or spear. Some of them carried guns, some magazine fed pistols, a few 22. Rifles, three shoguns, and one man had what looked like a flintlock rifle.

"Grandpa, do you see Arron anywhere?" I asked "no, but they all seem to avoid the small tent in the center of camp." Grandpa said curiously. I heard a rustling behind me and turned to see Sara, rifle slung over her shoulder "shit Sara, be careful." I whispered "why are you here?" Grandpa asked "I didn't want you to get hurt, three pairs of eyes are better than two." She said "fine but keep your head down, you get shot it's not my fault." Grandpa said. "Why Sara?" I asked "I didn't like that the two of you were going alone." She said "but you're risking your life." I said "so are you, it's my life to risk." She said scooting closer to me.

We watched their camp for hours silently, waiting for something happen. All the while Sara was only inches from me, she held my hand in hers, her grip was like a vice too. We just kept sitting in the bush, waiting to see if they had Arron, or if they would talk about attacking us. Sara began to squeeze my hand tighter, then I heard her inhale three times, quickly I covered her mouth and nose and held her close before she sneezed.

"AAACHOUGH!" she sneezed muffled by my body. Suddenly people in the camp looked up and around the area. We started to crawl our way out of the wires when Sara touched one wire and the cans jangled "crap!" I cursed getting up and starting to run. Grandpa and Sara quickly got to their feet and ran too. Now I heard yells and cries "those swamp people!" "GET'M!" "PASS THE RIFLE!" "OVER HERE!" they yelled.

We all ran through the forest as fast as we could, Grandpa and I moved like oil across water, Sara sadly moved with much less ease. She stumbled over fallen branches and tree roots; she would lose her balance on the uneven and loose forest floor. I couldn't go back for her; if I did I'd slow both of us down, probably get us killed.

We ran for what seemed like hours until we came to our canoes and we pushed off the shore. Sara and I were in one canoe and Grandpa was nowhere to be seen, I couldn't worry about him right now, I needed to focus. Sara and I paddled as fast as we could, trying to get out into the reeds so they couldn't shot at us. We were almost home free and I turned around to talk to Sara "we're home free." I said. CRAAAACK!

The noise made both of us jump and I quickly turned around and paddled. We pulled the canoe into our camp's dock and we walked to camp. "That was a close one huh Sara?" I asked, she didn't reply. "Sara?" I asked turning around and saw her with her arms folded over her stomach, she was shaking violently and there was a small trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. "Sara!" I exclaimed taking two swift steps to catch her as she collapsed "Sara, please stay awake, HELP!" I yelled "please Sara stay with me, come on Sara, don't give up." I pleaded.

She was now shaking weakly, her face and hands turned pale and her gaze was distant, like she was looking at something a mile away. Now others were running to help, her parents collapsed at the sight of their daughter dying. Two men picked her up with a blanket stretched between them and rushed her to camp. She was motionless, her shaking stopped and she simply lay still.

The next morning

Sara passed away overnight, she died with her parents holding her hands, Grandpa arrived at around three AM and I told him what had happened. "Caleb, it wasn't your fault, Sara followed us of her own free will, you aren't to blame." He said with a hand on my shoulder. He was wrong, if I hadn't turned around to talk to her she'd still be alive, if I'd just paddled whoever shot her wouldn't have had that shot. It was my fault.

Three days later

I was out hunting by the road since deer had started using roads to travel. I walked with a 22. Rifle in my hands, and I scanned the area. Ahead I saw a car parked with a girl about my age standing next to it; I approached cautiously in case she was going to shoot me. Her curly dirty blonde hair was put back in a bun; in her slender hand she held a dark grey pistol. I took one step and heard a twig snap under my foot. She whirled around and aimed her gun at my face "who are you?" she asked hand shaking "no one dangerous, I swear. I'm sorry I scarred you." I said setting down my rifle and putting my hands up.

I looked her in her brown eyes, she stared right back. Her stare seemed uneasy and forced "is something wrong?" I heard from the woods to the side of the road as a boy with a machete asked emerged from the brush followed by a girl with black hair and a shotgun. "I swear I'm friendly, I live near here, I'm out hunting, my name's Caleb." I said extending a hand to the girl with the pistol. "I'm Noelle." she said taking my hand and giving a slight smile.