Chapter Five: Solidarity

Solidarity: unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.

Day 15

They had been driving non-stop for an hour on Interstate 85 out of Atlanta, heading South-West in an effort to find some pipe-dream of a sparsely populated but well-stocked town that could provide some stability in these apocalyptic times. Daisy was tired from the hurried excitement of the bombing of Atlanta that had occurred earlier.

"Hey, uh, Daisy? The kids are tired, do you think we could stay at the next town for the night?" She heard the mother of the family, Maryanne, question from the back reluctantly. Apparently they were just as tired as Daisy was, she thought gratefully.

"Yes! Stop, we shall!" She said with a renewed vigour, sleepy eyes widening in an attempt to keep awake for the remaining half-hour it would take to get there.

"…Yoda." Daisy heard the tiny boy mutter to his sister from the back.

"Yes, Jonah, sound like Yoda, indeed I do!" Daisy smiled at his reflection in the rear-view mirror when there was an answering sleepy giggle. Maryanne, Jonah and Maeve looked to be drifting sleepily in the backseat. Daisy looked beside her at Pete, the father of the family, and saw that he seemed to be unclenching. "What's up there, Hoss?" 'Pete' looked at Daisy, startled. At his questioning look she elaborated, "You've looked like a man with a severe case of constipation, mental or otherwise. You've just unclenched, why?" He looked bashful.

"Well…no offence, but—"

"Oh, no offence. Okay, no offence will be taken here, for the clearly offensive thing you are about to say about me." Daisy gave him a side-eye and a smirk, he looked somewhat fearful.

"Uh…"

"Sorry, do go on."

"Well, that's just it." He said with reluctance. Daisy looked at him with curiosity.

"What's just it?"

"Well…I don't know if you've ever been told this before…but you're kind of abrasive? I mean…as a person?" His voice lilted as if he had asked a question, and when Daisy looked, he seemed as though he expected some type of abuse to be inflicted upon him.

"Hah!" Daisy laughed loudly, causing a stir in the backseat that was quickly calmed by a panicked Pete. "Sorry…it's just, yeah I have been told that before." He still looked vaguely terrified, probably thinking that she would kick him and his family out of the Mazda and onto the road. "Don't worry about it, man. I'm aware of just how…abrasive…I may come across as, especially upon first meeting."

Daisy gave him a bright smile to help assuage his worries, getting a nervous smile in return that now seemed to be typical of him.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're akin to a skittish mouse?" Daisy teased, hoping to comfort him further in any way that her decidedly abrasive personality would allow. Pete laughed nervously.

"Not in so many words…but, yes."

"Ha, you're alright, Pete!" Daisy claimed, channelling her inner-self, shockingly similar to a nameless, gruff old farmer.

Half an hour later

Dusk was beginning to cover the horizon in its pinkish-orange haze, and they had just reached LaGrange, Georgia. Though the town was larger than Daisy would have liked, she figured that if they stayed on the road any longer, she would fall asleep at the wheel. It would be awfully embarrassing to crash a car when there were absolutely no other drivers on the road.

But, they were just going to stay on the edge of town, Daisy had decided after coming across a decidedly seedy-looking motel just off the Interstate. The faithful Mazda pulled into the parking lot and edged into a space in front of the motel reception. Daisy turned her head to look in the back seat at the woman and children that were dozing there. The woman had smooshed her face into the right side window, arms wrapped tightly around herself in a hug, and the two kids were leaning against each other, Jonah on Maeve's shoulder.

"That's just adorable." Daisy said softly to Pete beside her.

"Yeah, I'm a lucky guy." Pete said humbly.

"Get up, losers! We're here!" Daisy shouted into the back seat, the three sleepers now panicked and awake. "Oh, calm down, it was a joke!" Daisy said to Pete after receiving a disbelieving look. "I'm gonna go get some keys for room, go stand outside room five."

"Wh—y five?" Maryanne said around a sleepy, grumpy yawn. Daisy's eyes widened and her head retracted in offense.

"Because I said so, that's why!" She said flatly, turning off the car and getting out, with her trusty shovel in hand.

"Hey…that's my line…" Daisy heard Maryanne call softly from the car, and her lips tugged up in a smirk.

Walking towards the small building that was clearly labelled 'hotel reception', Daisy raised her arms up and her fingers intertwined, pulling to stretch out her stiff limbs. Her arms fell, one catching on the glass door, pushing after seeing the prompt 'push'. A bell tinkled softly above her and Daisy looked up, shooting a glare at the offending object.

Daisy shook her head and continued into the room, shovel trailing in the air behind her, seeing a long, wooden desk and a computer behind that. Her eyes narrowed, not seeing any keys at first glance, but she made her way around the desk and sat at the long-backed chair behind it. After swinging in a full-circle just once, Daisy planted her feet and opened the drawer closest to her. There was a folder of non-descript papers, one, two, three paperclips, a newspaper, the LaGrange Daily News, dated "September 2nd, 1987", for some unknown reason, and finally a leaflet for the "Fifteen Leading Causes of Doggie Diarrhea", which caused Daisy to backtrack and question what kind of secretary owned this desk. But, she digressed.

She closed that somewhat disturbing drawer and was about to reach for the one below that when she heard the tinkling again. Quickly, she raised her head and the shovel above that. False alarm.

"What the f—heck are you doin' here, kid?" It was Jonah. His eyes had widened at seeing her raise the shovel at some unknown threat, so she lowered it and set it against the desk beside her. Daisy walked back around the desk and towards Jonah, pulling the glass door open and nudging him forward with a knee.

"Uh, I wanted to help look."

"No, go to your parents." Daisy said urging him, not wanting the responsibility of caring for a kid who likely can't even tie his own shoes. Daisy looked down, and was gratified when she saw the Velcro. He left reluctantly, dawdling his way to the row of motel rooms his family was standing in front of.

Daisy shook her head, lamenting the amount of times she had done so during this so-called apocalypse. She turned and went back to the desk, celebrating when she opened the second door and was rewarded with an assortment of room keys, rifling around until she had uncovered the keys for rooms five and six.

Finally, Daisy picked up her shovel, heaved it over her shoulder and left the building, making her way past the Mazda and through the parking lot, coming to a stop in front of her new companions. She silently handed the key to Maryanne and continued past them, stopping at the next door to open it with the key.

"Wait—aren't you going to stay with us?" Pete stuttered. Daisy turned and furrowed her brow.

"What, why?"

"It's not safe!" Pete said decisively, head nodding in affirmation. Daisy's eyes looked around the parking lot, seeing not much of anything.

"I...am pretty sure you'll be fine." She said with a reassuring smile.

"Wh—but—?"

"Look, guy, I'm just next door!" Daisy said, she turned the knob and the door swung open. She was surprised when a person fell out.

Daisy screamed in shock, hearing four more screams answer hers. Hearing the grumbling groans of the dead above her, she decided that this man was one of them and quickly brought her hands up, pushing it off of her. Daisy rolled over and onto her hands and knees above her fallen shovel, and picked it up, bringing it above her head. The dead man was crawling towards her, she swung the shovel down and cursed her stupidity when a heavy, dull thud rang out; the shovel was positioned the wrong way for impalement.

Daisy was now on her ass, so she kicked her leg out and caught the dead man in its stomach and turned the shovel so that the sharp end was pointed towards his head. She brought it down once more. The body convulsed, and the body dropped. Daisy could hear herself panting, and she looked over at the family.

They were all astoundingly pale, having backed away and hit the door of room five, the mother had thoughtfully covered Jonah's eyes with him being somewhere around the age of seven. Maeve, Maryanne and Pete could see, however, and it was stunningly clear to Daisy that they had never had such a close encounter, not that they had even encountered this one as such.

"Woo, that was a tough one!" Daisy said lightly with a comforting smile thrown towards them. They all looked towards her in horror. She stood, brushing her pants off and picking her shirt away from her body and cringing at the blood stains that riddled the fabric. Daisy walked towards the door to room six and pulled it softly shut. She turned towards the still-shocked family and took the key to room five from Maryanne's trembling hand, turning to put the key in the lock.

"Wh—?"

"Okay, okay, you were right! It isn't safe!" Daisy interrupted Pete, trying to call them with her light tone and relenting to stay with them. She swung the door open, shovel poised to smack any awaiting surprise, but there was none.

Daisy sighed in relief and entered, leaning the shovel against the wall. She collapsed on the nearest bed and laid like a starfish.

"Uh, where are we all going to sleep?" Pete asked Daisy from somewhere next to her bed. She said nothing, but pointed towards the only other bed in the room. "There are four of us…and only one of you?" He added hesitantly. Daisy turned her head and opened one squinted eye.

"And I have a shovel!" She mumbled. None of the others said anything, so Daisy relented. "Fine, the tall lady and oh Sullen One can share with me, gross boys are relegated to the quarantined area."

"Uh—" Pete mumbled.

"Maryanne and Maeve with me, you and Jonah in that bed." Daisy brought her arms up to fold underneath the pillow under her bed. "Now go to sleep."

"It's only 5:30." Maeve said, the first words Daisy had heard her speak. Daisy's head raised and she looked towards Maeve with a tired smile.

"Dude, you spoke! Nice…" She trailed off and her head hit the pillow once more. "And we're currently in an apocalypse. Go to bed, rest up."

With that, she tucked her legs into her stomach and manoeuvred herself under the covers, rolling to one side to make room for her bed mates. She heard the others moving around, getting into their respective beds, Daisy relaxed and started to dream.

Day 16

There was a heavy thud, and Daisy snorted awake with a start. She looked around wildly, somewhat disturbed to feel what she saw was Maryanne spooning her from behind with a smile. Daisy jumped away and rolled off the bed, Maryanne stirring but not waking. The thud sounded again, now oriented, Daisy could discern that it had originated from the front of the hotel, near the door to the room. Through the faded yellow curtains, she could see numerous shadows dance slowly against the fabric.

Daisy's heart began to thud in her ears, either there was a sudden surge of people on the outskirts of LaGrange, or more likely, a sudden surge of the dead.

"Hey, wake up." Daisy whispered harshly. There was a deep groan coming from the other side of the door, and also from behind her. "Pete, shut the fuck up."

"Wha—no!" Pete protested sleepily.

"Yes! Those face eaters are outside!"

"Face-what?" Maeve mumbled from Daisy's bed.

"The fucking dead people!" Daisy lost her patience and stood, standing by the bed and bending, bouncing it up and down with her hand. Finally, everyone started to stir.

"Wass, goin' on?" Baby Jonah slurred from where he lay. Daisy looked at him and internally cringed.

"The icky bad people are here…and now we have to get moving, people!"