Until Dawn

Chapter Three

"I don't think we really thought this through," I heard Poussey say in the complete silence as we walked through the forest. Our footsteps were careful and quiet as were listened for any noise in the woods surrounding us. It was now full day light and there were bright shafts of sunlight pouring through the foliage above us, lighting up the woods. We didn't want to alert anything else that could be in here with us.

"What you mean?" I heard Red ask, still wielding her frying pan.

"I mean, all of us are fucking convicted felons who have spent the last several years in prison," she replied. "What the fuck are we supposed to do if we run into any of the cops that I'm sure are fucking everywhere out there right now? Cause we ain't exactly going to fit in with our prison uniforms, y'know what I'm saying?"

I considered her words, having not even considered that possibility. It was true that we were all criminals, but right now, did the cops even care? They seemed to have more on their plates to care about a few nonviolent offenders. Hopefully, they'd just happy to have us help kick some zombie ass. Not that I'd be kicking any ass, cause God knows that I'm fucking running to the nearest deserted island and getting away from all this shit.

I quietly wondered to myself if Cambodia had been infected yet.

"They're not going to care," I said softly, stopping to peer into a particularly dark part of the forest before continuing on once I knew it was zombie free. "They won't even know who we are, especially when we find some clothes to change into."

"Hell yeah!" Taystee said with a grin. "I love me some shopping!"

"Especially shopping that you don't have to pay for," Poussey laughed, high fiving her friend. I couldn't help but smile, sparing a wistful thought for Polly and her friendship that I always missed so badly whenever I saw Poussey and Taystee together. I wondered again where she was but quickly pushed that thought away and quickly prayed to a God I didn't believe in that she was safe with Pete and their baby.

"So, Blondie, where you taking us?" Red asked me after a few moments of silence. "We've been walking for hours now."

I looked up into the sky, acknowledging the fact that we had indeed been walking for hours. I had found them at sunrise and it was now late afternoon. I had hardly any knowledge of the area but if I squinted into the distance, I could see that the light was getting brighter in front of us, which meant that our journey through the woods was almost over.

"Honestly? I have no fucking idea," I replied. "But we're almost out of here and there should be a city or a town nearby somewhere and hopefully we'll find Janae there."

We continued on quietly and I breathed out a sigh of relief when we stepped out of the trees and into the winter sunlight. I looked around me, noting that we were standing on top of a hill and that everything seemed quiet peaceful. It wasn't until I walked forwards and looked down that my heart stopped in my chest. Below us was a small town which looked like it might have once been quite nice but was now almost completely destroyed. Even from this distance, I could see broken glass reflecting the sunlight covering the roads. There were several shops and houses that were nothing more than burnt out husks and I had to turn away at the bodies that lined the sidewalks, surrounded by blood and body parts.

"Shit," Poussey whispered from next to me, her eyes wide with disbelief and horror at the view. Red's face was tense and her lips were turned down at the corners while Taystee just stared with her jaw slack. Even Yoga Jones eyes lost some of their peace and reflected her horror at the scene. "They all dead."

"Come on, girls," Red said after taking a deep breath. "We can find some clothes and move on. We don't want to be there long if those people start waking up, dead."

I nodded, following Red down the mildly steep slope with Taystee and Poussey following behind us in somber silence and Jones guarding our backs. It took us just over half an hour to reach the edge of the unnervingly quiet town, though I still strained to hear any noise other than the wind. We walked through the streets, moving quickly but quietly as we searched for a shop that would provide us with clothes and food. I flinched when I stepped on a piece of broken glass, the crunch echoing in the silence. I looked up quickly and saw out of the corner of my eye as one of the lights that were on in the shop across the road quickly turned off.

Survivors?

I looked at the sign before gesturing the girls over to me. "There's someone in that camping shop."

"There would be guns in there," Yoga Jones offered softly. "Along with some equipment that we'll probably need."

We all jumped when the shop door was thrown open, slamming against the wall with a loud bang. I looked up in shock which quickly turned to joy when I spotted Janae standing in there door way with a massive grin on her face. She'd changed her clothes for a pair of army pants, a black t-shirt and big black steel capped boots. Ammunition covered every inch of her body and she held a shot gun in her hands and had two more guns in holsters at her waist.

"Took you bitches long enough!" She laughed as she rested the shot gun on her shoulder. "Get the fuck inside and gear up. I found us a car!"

"Oh, thank God," I whispered, closing my eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath before I followed the other women into the store. I smiled at Janae as I passed her and she patted me good naturedly on the shoulder.

"You did good, Chapman, you did good."

/

Just over an hour later, all the girls had changed their clothes and were packing bags of provisions. I looked at myself in one of the cracked mirrors in the back room, feeling good to be out of my prison khakis. I was wearing a pair of black and grey army pants, a white tank top with two straps over my chest that held the two shot guns strapped to my back. I had two black, hand guns holstered on my upper thighs and two very sharp knives in each of my knee high black lace up boots. I had my trusty screwdriver in my pants pocket, along with one of the walky talkies that Janae had handed out to all of us, in case we were to get separated.

I packed my bag with a spare change of clothes, ammunition and some other bits and pieces, just like the rest of the girls. Janae had found us a large, eight seater black Jeep which she had filled with food she had taken from the local supermarket. I threw my bag over my shoulder and waited for the rest of the girls to finish getting ready before turning to Janae who was looking out of the doorway, checking that the coast was clear.

"They hardly ever come out in daylight," Janae said when I looked over her shoulder at the empty street. "I only ever seen one when the sun was out and I don't think it could see well. Didn't see me coming with an axe, anyway."

We followed her quietly to an alley, less than a block away and I was surprised when Janae offered me shotgun and not even Red said a word about it. I jumped into the passenger seat while Janae got in the driver's seat and the rest of the girls jumped in the back. There was move then enough room in the massive car, even with all of our stuff. I leant back in my seat and let myself relax for the first time in days, content to just let Watson drive and enjoy the fucked up scenery.

Though, in the back of my mind, my thoughts where still focused on Alex. I wondered where she was and if she was alone or if she had stayed with Nicky and Morello. I wondered if she was safe and if she'd found a place to change her clothes or if she was still wandering around in her khakis. I wished that I hadn't lost her when we were all making our run for it.

But I knew that no matter what, I would find her, if it was the last thing that I did.

AN: Thanks for all the follows and favourites so far, I hope you guys are enjoying this story. It's going to get a whole lot more interesting from now on. Review and let me know what y'all think.