Savannah's Ruin
Chapter One
Summary: Abby Cooper is nothing special. She is just a simple nurse in the normal town of Savannah, Georgia. But when doctors begin talking about a strange flu virus, things in the little town start acting crazy. She finds herself looking for help in the direction of a very hard stranger whose only worry is to look after himself. She struggles to get him to work with her and soon they meet three other survivors. Even after they butt heads and nearly kill each other they learn off the other; leaving them emotionally stronger than before and more vulnerable. And even in the horror of the zombie apocalypse, they grow closer.
Savannah seemed too beautiful for such a horrible disaster to be occurring. The sky had pinks, oranges, yellows and even light blues. Abby remembered watching the sunset before she went to bed. Working the graveyard shift did have its upsides. But the beauty above her was wasted with the hell on the ground. In the distance she could hear big booms, crashes and screams. Nothing could make her forget the screams.
"We're going to need to find supplies." Nick sniffed. This wasn't what Abby expected this to be like. She pictured her walking with Nick for a little then getting rescued by CEDA or the military. But this was not the case. Abby saw no CEDA or military anywhere. Nick barely spoke making her feel lonelier than she had ever been. Occasionally he would say a comment about an infected or make a snarky sexist joke under his breath. He would even call her a different name, Annie was his favorite one to use. Abby had no knowledge of a plan or the "safety" Nick had talked about going to. "There's a convenient store up here."
Abby didn't even respond, mostly because Nick didn't wait for her to answer. She had a feeling if she hadn't been wearing scrubs Nick wouldn't have let her tag along. He seemed cold shouldered and distant. It made Abby wonder if it was because all of this was happening or if he was already like this. But there was just something she wished he would do. Although he was a complete stranger she felt the slight need for him to hug her and tell her everything was ok. Life changed so fast into a horrible disaster and Abby wouldn't even mind if Mrs. Caster comforted her. Whatever the reason was, Nick was bitter and it was beginning to rub off on her.
Nick opened the convenient store door, surprised it was unlocked. He walked in and the censor made the familiar beep sound. He gripped his shotgun even more and stopped right in front of the counter. Abby stood so close to him that she could smell what laundry detergent he used, along with cologne and sweat underneath his clothes. She strained her head around and started to breath heavily. The suspense was killing her.
"Hello?" Nick called. Silence. After no sound was made Nick called a little louder, "is anyone here?" Nick sat for a minute before he relaxed his muscles and set his shotgun on the counter.
"What's the plan?" Abby asked still skeptical about whether to move. Nick looked at her with a blank stare, almost as if he forgot she was really there. He moved around the counter and began rummaging through the continents. Abby felt confused. Maybe she should ask again. "Nick?"
"Well" Nick sighed, "I was thinking that we could find a map or something and head to the hospital." Abby felt a little annoyed that he just didn't turn around and ask her but she shrugged it off and replaced it with worry.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" He had an irritated look on his face. His back straightened and put his hands lightly on the counter. His body language intimidated Abby. Never in her life has she felt so uncomfortable, afraid and anxious; not even her first day in the hospital could top this. At work she quickly adapted, she could deal with angry and intolerant doctors and patients. She could deal with patients on the brink of death and having to move at an extremely fast pace to save them. But with Nick it was harder. He was downright rude and blank, and upset all the time.
Abby understood the reasons why he was probably acting this way. But as cliché as it sounded, they were going to have to work together in order to survive. "Because this morning when I left almost the whole town was there" she gestured with her hands to explain 'whole town'. "They all had symptoms of the Green Flu."
Nick nodded his head, "but when I was listening to the news this morning, they said the hospital was evacuating people." Abby felt joy and regret all in her stomach. Why didn't she have stayed for a little longer, maybe if she stopped to speak with Jenny she could be in safety.
Just then Abby's heart sunk as negativity swarmed her body. What if Jenny didn't make it to safety? Jenny was like an aunt to Abby, even a best friend. Abby watched as Nick's face softened up as hers swelled with guilt and sorrow. "They more than likely separated the non-infected from the infected, I'm sure the person you're thinking about is fine." Nick softly smiled. "The news said that's where to go and what else can we do except try?"
"You're probably right." Abby smiled and let the worry go. Relief washed over her and she took a deep breath. "It's just, she's a really close friend of mine. Her name was Jenny." Abby got this slight tingle when she talked about her, like all things negative were washing away. "She is the only person that I really cherish in this town, the only one who I really know and who knows me."
Nick nodded and quickly switched subjects, being uncomfortable talking about what their lives were. "I think we should head there before it's too late."
Abby nodded back, "I think I am just going to use the bathroom real quick." Nick looked away from her and began rummaging through the store, looking for anything that might come in handy. Abby hoped he would grab some first aid. As she walked away with the gun in her hand she could have sworn she heard the cash register being opened but didn't think nothing of it. There was no use for money right now.
The bathroom looked eerie. It was dirty and yellow with random dirt spots on the tiled floor. Four light blue stalls, all with a yellow tinge, were stuck in a row across the tiled wall. One sink was tilted down from the wall like it was broken and the rest were dirtier than the next. The mirrors all had a different type of gunk on them and some were cracked. It was disgusting, zombie apocalypse or not. The only thing that might make it worse is if there were dead bodies and blood everywhere. How could you let it get so bad? Abby wondered. Maybe it wasn't like this before the apocalypse, but that still wouldn't explain the yellow grease. Abby made sure to put at least three toilet covers on the toilet. No wonder we have the Green Flu. Abby thought with disgust written on her face. She was afraid to touch anything. And the quickly she did her business the faster she could get safe.
She made sure to grab five paper towels before turning on the facet. She scrubbed her hands almost too hard. They were now raw, red and sore, but at least they were clean. One stall behind her creaked and a groan made its way into her ears. Abby freaked out, a screamed couldn't even make its way out of her throat. Quickly she grabbed her gun from her pocket and started randomly firing at the infected. It was completely destroyed; mangled and torn but defiantly bloody, which Abby knew did belong to them.
The bullets didn't even manage to graze the infected woman's skin. And worst of all, Abby could barely keep a hold of the gun. Her soapy and watery hands were shaking too hard to even keep the gun in one spot. Bullets hit the other stall doors or zoomed into the walls. Abby desperately wished this was a video game. She could heal herself to 100% life, she could respawn or restart her life if she died, and most of all she could have auto-aim on her gun. "Shit!" Abby cried, "fuck! Shit!"
A bullet managed to embed into the infected woman's right leg, only to make her stumble. The infected woman growled and pounced on Abby, knocking her down. Abby shot, missing completely. Fear sped throughout her like lightening, so many things sprinting through her head. Tears shot out of her eyes like the water from the facet. The gun was slipping in her hands and the word death was really starting to flash in her mind. Abby pulled the trigger into the woman's stomach. Dark blood poured from the woman onto Abby. Abby brought the gun up and put it to the infected woman's jaw and shot towards her brain.
Everything in Abby's being hurt. Her ears rang, her eyes burnt, her body felt sore, her nose burnt from the smell of sulfur. But worst of all, nothing could cure the ache in Abby's heart and soul. She sat up and leaned against the wall under the sinks. She sobbed as she looked at the dead woman on the floor. This was somebody's daughter, sister, friend, or mother. And Abby killed her. The woman was bleeding dark blood, enough to match the fresh dark blood on Abby's stomach. Abby felt sick to it. Her eyes were squinted and blurry from all the crying. Not even the running water from the facet could drown out her sobbing.
The bathroom door opened and Abby panicked. Blindly she shot the gun, the banging again creating havoc in her ears. A scream of pain made her heart pound and her stomach dropped. She really was going to puke. As fast as her shaking hands could go, she harshly wiped the tears from her eyes, not caring if the soap was burning them. Nick was slumped over on the ground holding his now bloody arm. "SHIT!" He screamed, withering in agony.
"Fuck, Nick, I'm so sorry!" Abby crawled to Nick.
"God damn it, Annie!" Nick yelled right in her face. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" She felt like the worst person in the world right now. Guilt was carving its name straight into her soul.
"Nick I didn't mean to! I was-" Abby rambled so fast, her mind couldn't even keep up with her tongue.
"I don't give a shit!" Nick groaned and moaned as he gripped his wounded left bicep. "I knew I shouldn't have brought you with me!" These words stung Abby's heart worse than the soap had done to her eyes. There was just something about verbal abuse that had always hurt her more than physical. Emotional pain always was her greatest weakness.
"Let me help you out!" She reached for his arm but he slapped her hands away with him good arm, his blood smearing on her wet hands.
"Don't fucking touch me!" Nick spat, "fuck you! Get out of my face."
Abby knew he was in a lot of pain but the words were too sharp to handle. "Nick, I can fix it!" She grabbed his hands and he looked at her. Anger and pain glared at her, they crumpled and twisted his face. Even a few tears slipped through his eyes. He seemed to compose himself and pulled away his hands. His white blazer now had a big blood puddle around the fresh wound. The fabric was now ripped on the side, no hole in his arm. This was good.
She started to push his jacket off his shoulders, past the wound. His muscled tensed and budged against her hands. It felt like Abby was gently touched skin covered concrete. He hissed in pain and bit his lip, but looked away from Abby. She took that as an insult, almost. She was afraid he was too mad and disgusted at her that he couldn't even bare to look at her. She was just scared he was going to leave her.
His torn, bloodied shirt was still in the way of the wound. She started to unbutton his shirt which caused him to look at her. His muscles tensed and he began to groan in pain again. Abby looked at him softly in the eyes, "Nick calm down, you're going to hurt yourself even more. I just need to get a clear view of the wound, relax." Nick hesitated but quickly took a deep breath and his muscles went limp, returning to a soft squishy human. As she finished buttoning she pushed his collar away from his broad shoulder, abandoning the other side. She pushed down a couple inches past the wound and studied the wound fast.
Thankfully for her poor aiming she had barely grazed his muscle with the bullet. Nick handed her a towel from the backpack he had grabbed with his good arm. Good, Abby thought. He didn't forget about first aid. She quickly grabbed it and applied pressure to the wound. Nick hissed and looked at the ceiling, his eyes beginning to water some more. "Do you have any Hydrogen Peroxide in there?" She asked looking at the backpack.
He looked back at it and pulled out the brown, blue and white bottle. "Thank you." She quickly said and poured some on the corner of the towel, then applied it to his wound. He tensed and cursed, anger building in his system.
"I'm really sorry by the way." Abby spoke softly, almost too timid to speak to him.
His face turned red, "what the fuck were you thinking anyway?" He nearly half yelled. Grossly to say, spit landed on her face, making her flinch. She couldn't find her voice anymore with the way he was glaring at her. His look was burning her skin and his spit was hot with rage on her face. Her face was becoming hotter and hotter by the second and gravity was pulling her head farther and farther down.
"I'm not infected, sweetheart, as you can clearly fucking see." Abby felt her nose burn and her throat close, signaling that soon she was going to start crying. She put more Hydrogen Peroxide on the towel and continued cleaning his wound. He cursed and flinched away from her touch. And Abby felt only a little happy that he was in pain, but that was quickly squashed with remorse. "Fucking shit, Annie, watch were the fuck you are shooting! You could have fucking killed me. Not even a shit nurse could have brought me back to life."
Abby nearly lost it, "excuse me?" Abruptly she stopped cleaning his would and looked astonished. "Listen here Nick; first off, my name is Abby not Annie. And secondly, it was an accident, I couldn't see. I was scared! I just got attacked by a fucking woman who could have been somebody's mother or somebody's daughter. And I shot her like it was no problem. Where the fuck were you anyway?" Tears poured their way back out of her eyes. "I'm sorry I shot you but you're lucky I have horrible aim or else your right, I would have killed you. I won't turn into the Texas Ranger after one lucky shot. And last, I am a damn good nurse and you are lucky to have me!"
Abby's voice cracked and she continued to clean his wound. She grabbed some gauze and wrapped it gently around his arm. When she was almost finished Nick cleared his throat but didn't speak. Abby felt the anger slip away as she looked at the already bloody gauze. "Look, I know you are in a lot of pain and I was wrong to shoot you and just freak out on you like that but we are going to work together in order to survive." Abby sighed not looking into his eyes, "I'm not asking to get close to you but we can help each other out, okay?" She looked up into his green eyes and blushed.
He nodded, "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have yelled at you." He mumbled and slightly looked away from Abby. "The reason why I wasn't fast enough to help you is because your first gunshot brought more infected into the store." Abby felt another wave of guilt and nodded back at him. She started to put the supplies back into the QuickSilver backpack. "Sweet Savannah, Georgia, nothing like it!" The white bold writing said under the stores name. Abby picked the black backpack up and put her arms through the straps. Nick was struggling to put his arm through his sleeves but managed to get it done. His wounded arm was stiff and every time he moved it caused him to hiss, groan or curse.
She got up on her feet and watched as Nick's face twisted in anguish when he got up. She walked over to the sinks and quickly turned off the facet, now not caring about germs considering she had bloody soap water on them. Nick grunted, grabbed his shotgun and walked to out the door, only to leave Abby to wander mindlessly behind him.
Author's Note: I changed the summary and put more depth into it. I left it the way it originally was in the first chapter so you can flip back and laugh at how poor it was :P
I have a feeling that I am making Abby more of a cry baby more than I'd like too. But trust me, as the story goes on Abby will become more headstrong and the chapters with get less "ohhhh booo hooo" :D I also will add her past, looks, and everything you need to know about her in the later chapters. Everything will get better once Ellis is in 3 LOL
Thank you to I think my five watchers :D! And a special thanks to MobMotherScitah and ConGie for the feedback. And see, I listen! What you say that I might need to work on, I will.
Thanks :3