AN: Many thanks to those that reviewed, faved, and alerted. I was worried no one would like it and you guys gave me hope! I would also like to mention the trailer for this story will be on youtube as soon as it's finished. We have to re-film a few of the scenes before we can finish it. This isn't your typical fanfic trailer as it shows Erin and Ayla as they would appear in the show. We also plan to post the preproduction goofiness as well as bloopers. Enjoy!

AN2: There should be a chapter every other day. If there isn't I either have writers block, or I've been busy. I would also like to note that I have never in my life broken into a vending machine. I just have a very rare form of common sense.

Raising Dead

Chapter Two: Every Day is exactly the same

For the past few days we'd been stuck in what seemed like a horrible rut. I never thought I'd complain about the zombie apocalypse, but I am now. I was tired of sitting in Jake's truck, watching the scenery change one moment, then back track to something I'd already seen every time we had to switch routes. People had tried to escape the virus in all directions and it was making it really hard to just pass over the state line.

Under normal circumstances it would have only taken an hour to get as far as La Grange, Georgia. As it was we were still in Alabama and only two miles from the state line. We had to find new routes and it was taking forever. Jake constantly cussed the stupidity of people. As for me, I was cussing about how bad my ass hurt from sitting the truck for days. It was difficult to find somewhere we could stop and rest for more than ten seconds without almost getting eaten and that was just in the areas that had small populations.

I was glad we had the old man along. I would have given up and gone home days ago. Jake knew the different routes into Georgia far better than I did and he finally found a way around mass pile up of cars. As a treat and a lesson in watching your ass for Ayla, we stopped at a rest stop that seemed to be deserted. I wasn't so sure that it was, but I wasn't going to complain.

"So," I said as we climbed out of the truck. "Do we get to raid the vending machine when we leave?"

"How the hell do you plan to do that?" Jake asked. He gave me a look that said running it over with the truck was out of the question.

"Well, seeing as the front in made out of Plexiglas, I was thinking that we could use the crowbar to pry the lock off and the door open." I said. I wondered if that would even work, but making a lot of noise was out of the question. "I know we can do it with the soda and water machines, so why not the vending machine?"

Ayla gave me a look that pretty much said she couldn't see me as a looter before all this happened. "I'll help. It sounds like a good idea, but why do we have to wait until we leave?"

"Just in case we make a lot of noise." Jake stated. "We want to get what we need to do done before we go drawing attention to ourselves."

"Right. So, let's get to it!"

We planned on getting showers since we had been packed into a truck for days. If we ran into any zombies the plan was forfeit and we'd leave. We were to too uncertain about the area to try and wait out the zombies. We each gathered our clothes and headed for our respective showers. Ayla and I to the Ladies room and Jake to the other side of the building. I hoped the old man would be ok on his own. I was already starting to think of him as family. Hell, we had already started calling him Uncle Jake and he didn't care so long as weren't calling him grandpa.

I had one of my guns out as we walked into the rest room. Ayla stayed behind me and made sure nothing could sneak up on us. We checked every corner, stall, and shower until I was satisfied there were no zombies in our side of the building. But just when we were about to finally get our showers we heard Jake yell for us.

We ran to were Jake was and saw what he was yelling about. Standing in front of him was what had once been a little girl. Her throat had been ripped out and one of her legs were ripped apart making it impossible for her to move very fast. Ayla gasped and stepped back. I stood my ground. The girl shuffled forward, going straight for Jake. He had his gun held up, but his hands were shaking. "Chrissy. No, no, no. Not Chrissy." He repeated over and over. My only guess was that she was one of his granddaughters. I grieved for the old man. This wasn't something he needed to be faced with.

"Come on Jake. Let's get out of here and shut the door." I pulled him with me. He still held the gun in his shaking hands. We pulled him out of the men's room and locked the door behind us. All his clothes were on a bench outside the door, so we didn't have to worry about going back in.

Once outside the door, Jake slid down wall and buried his face in his hands. "You girls go get you're shower. I'll get mine after you come out." We did as he said. We could hear the gunshots once we had turned the water on. I understood what he had done. Chrissy was his granddaughter and there for his problem to deal with. That was a rule of the Zombie Apocalypse after all. Deal with your own family-turned-zombie. If it ever came to that with my family I wouldn't ask anyone else to do it for me. It would be my problem.

Ayla and I left the rest room and I squeezed Jake's arm as he passed us to take his shower. I didn't envy him his courage. I walked outside to look around before I tried to pry the vending machines open. Jake had pulled the truck up to the doors in case we ran in to trouble and had to get away fast. It was a smart idea and one I would have done myself.

I peeked around the corners of the building to see if there was anything close to us. To my relief, there were no zombies in sight. I walked back to the truck and pulled the crowbar out of the toolbox mounted in the bed. Ayla walked out the door looking rather morose, but I couldn't blame her. She had seen her first zombie up close and it didn't help that it had been a little girl.

I walked to the vending machine and looked the lock over. It was your standard candy and junk food filled machine. It wasn't padlocked like most of the ones I'd seen before, but this one was just a bit newer. I could see the lock which meant I just needed to wedge the crowbar in behind the lock. I wedged it in behind the lock and pushed. The noise it made seemed loud to me, but honestly it wasn't that bad. If there were any zombies near the building, they wouldn't notice it. The door popped open and slammed into my leg. Just my luck, huh?

I gasped at the pain, but I tried hard not to yell and cuss like I wanted to. My leg wasn't even close to being broke, I'd live. I limped my way back over to the truck and grabbed my bag as Ayla took one of her's and started filling it up with food. I tossed her my bag and grabbed the crowbar to start working on the drink machines. They worked the same way and I had them open in no time. Minus the bashing my leg with the door.

I saw it coming before Ayla did. The zombie had come around the corner of the building and I could see it through the glass of the vending machine Ayla was working on. The thing's face was twisted and gross. I stopped paying attention there. I pulled one of my Berettas free and shot. The bullet caught it in the right side of its forehead and basically blew off the side of its head. Ayla looked on in shock. She had just enough sense not to scream at what had just happened.

"The silencer worked perfectly." I stated. I had earned a shocked look from Ayla and I knew why. This was my first kill. I hadn't panicked and I got a head shot. I won't lie. At that point my hands were shaking. I drew in a breath. "Damn. That thing scared the shit out of me."

"Oh my God, I can't believe that just happened. I didn't even see it. I would have died." Ayla rambled. I have to give her credit. She didn't scream and I almost had. "Erin, you saved my life!" She gushed as Jake walked out the door.

"Ugh, don't you ever listen? I told you I wouldn't let anything hurt you. Didn't I?" It was more a statement than a question.

"Good job, Erin." Jake muttered behind me. I exchanged a look with Ayla. He was still upset. "Let's get this stuff in the truck and get the hell out of here. Hell'll freeze over before I come back here." Jake gathered up as many water bottles as he could and still have one hand free in case he needed to go for his gun.

There were no more problems at the rest stop and before long we were on our way again. I was left too much time to think about what had happened back there.

We had been on the road for over an hour and the sun was killing my eyes. I was too short to pull the visor down and fix the problem. I decided to do something that had started my odd fashion sense. I reached into the backseat and grabbed my bag from where it sat next to Ayla's feet. She was fast asleep and snoring. I smiled as I dug through my bag. She deserved to get some sleep and have a carefree moment. She was 16 and by all rights she should have pitched a fit when I told her we couldn't wait it out and see if her parents came back.

I knew they were dead, even if she didn't think they were. The base and airport were two of the first places in Montgomery to be overrun by the infected and people trying to escape it. It had quickly become a death trap. I felt sorry for anyone that thought they'd find refuge there.

I finally managed to dig my eyeliner out of the bottom of the bag. The Egyptians had it right when they wore thick kohl to protect their eyes from the sun. I was doing the same thing but not as thick. I didn't feel like turning into a raccoon until the heat did it for me.

"How long do you think the food and drinks will last?" Ayla asked suddenly. I suppose she had just woken up.

"Well, as long as we don't pig out, the food should last at least a week. The drinks will go a little faster since it's summer and there are three of us. We need to try and drink as little as possible within reason. We don't need to dehydrate ourselves just to save water and soda." Jake told us.

"Seems fair." I said. "I'm gonna try to get a little sleep. Wake me up if anything happens." I curled up in the seat as best I could and closed my eyes.