Katharine stretched out her arms and rolled onto her back, she'd slept better than she'd expected to. The sun was peeping around the edges of the curtain just enough for Katharine's eyes to adjust clearly and as she woke up a little more, she realised she was alone. Flashes of rotting zombies flashed back into her mind and she sat upright.
"Blake?" She looked around her bedroom and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Blake? Ivy?" She called out as she stood and moved to the door. No reply. Swallowing back her sudden fear of being alone, she walked to the top of the stairs, from there she could see that her parents' room was vacant, the curtains slightly opened where Ivy had assessed the situation outside. "Ivy?" She repeated with a slight croak in her voice. Still, nothing. Taking it one step at a time, she warily made her way to the hallway and as she passed the front door, she startled herself as she saw her reflection in the mirror. Giving a slight giggle at the silly event, she let down her guard, and then screamed.
"Woah! Easy there!" Blake had walked through the kitchen and unintentionally snuck up on Kitty.
"Blake!" Katharine slapped his arm playfully as she pulled herself together. He sniggered playfully and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her; he looked her in the eyes and then kissed her forehead.
"Sorry Kat. Come on, Ivy's been showing me the plan." He motioned to the kitchen and the couple entered.
"Morning Sleeping Beauty!" Ivy smiled as her sister walked into the kitchen. The blinds had been raised and the sun was falling over Atlanta City once more. There were maps spread across the dining table and Ivy was scribbling various routes over them, moving her gun to one side as she marked another path. Rubbing her eyes Katharine sat at the table and inspected the maps, Blake stood beside her with his hand on her shoulder.
"So, which way do we go after we stop off at my place?" Blake asked calmly. Ivy pointed to the map.
"First, we'll head to Blake's just off the Roosevelt Highway, here." Katharine looked at where her sister was pointing then followed her finger as it slid across the map. "After that, we'll stick to the highway and join Route 85 back at the airport, Blake told me about the route being blocked further down this way so that's perfect. Then we just follow 85 up to 'Five Points' and come off at mom's office, here on Trinity Avenue." Her finger followed a red line she'd drawn on with a marker pen and circled at her mother's workplace.
"Sounds good…but that's a long way to walk… it'd take us all day to reach the City." Kitty exclaimed.
"Walk? You think I walked here from Cynthiana?" Ivy laughed. "I got my wheels parked out front, didn't you notice?" Blake's face lit up once more.
"We're going in a cop car? A real one?" His immaturity didn't surprise Ivy, and Katharine found it kind of cute. With a nod, Ivy continued.
"Kat, go grab your bag and empty the fridge into it… We need to be prepared in case we get stuck out there." Following orders, Katharine left to find her bag and Ivy started to gather her things, she loaded the magazine and then holstered her gun, folded her maps and even secured her officer badge.
"Need me to do anything?" Asked Blake feeling like a spare wheel. Ivy looked at him and bit her lip before sighing and moving towards him. Placing a hand on his shoulder she adopted a soft but confident tone.
"I just need you to be prepared… We don't know what we're going to find when we get you home." Understanding what she meant Blake just gave an appreciative smile. He'd been thinking about nothing else ever since they left the school bus and he'd almost come to terms with it but he knew that his parents could be dead, or worse.
"Fill it up!" Katharine burst back in to the room with an unzipped backpack and headed to the fridge. As she loaded up with cheese, vegetables and other various snacks, Ivy grabbed a pack of cookies from the cupboard as well as a couple tins of beans before opening the bread bin and tossing half a loaf over to Kat. Blake took it upon himself to fill up a couple of plastic water bottles which slotted perfectly into the top of the bag before it was zipped up.
"You ready for this?" Ivy questioned the youngsters. "If I say run, you run… If I say hide, you hide… If I say ..."
"Ivy, we get it!" Katharine snapped out, she was already nervous. "If we don't go out there now, it'll give me time to think of how crazy this is and I'll never leave…. Please, let's go!" Ivy nodded as she checked her pockets to find the door key. Blake moved to the door after giving Kat's arm a comforting squeeze and the sisters followed. Opening the door slightly, Ivy checked to make sure the coast was clear with one hand on her gun.
"Okay, go… quickly." She rushed the kids through the door and into the back garden. Looking around for themselves, Blake and Kat scurried to the alley way, stopping at the corner of the house, backs against the wall so Blake could poke his head around the corner as he'd seen happen in many of his favourite television shows. Ivy followed and smiled at the young man's caution.
"Come on, follow me, the car is in front of Lynette's house." Keeping her eyes peeled they rushed down the alley. A crow flew from Mr. Rivers' body where it had been feeding on his putrid flesh. "Watch your step." Ivy warned as she stepped over the fallen walker. Blake moved over the corpse without a care for what was beneath him but Kitty decided to look at her neighbours decaying face. The crows had feasted, the skin was scratched around his bullet wound where they'd fought for the meaty scraps of brain and one of them had decided 'eyeball' was on the menu. The vision made her heave and she almost puked right there before Blake pulled her away into the street. Pulling her keys from her pocket, Ivy raced to the driver's seat.
"You two, jump in the back!" She said as she unlocked the doors and jumped in behind the steering wheel, placing her gun on the passenger seat. Throwing the backpack in first, Katharine sat in behind her sister and Blake went round to get in the other side, slamming the door after him.
"Sorry." He apologised as he noticed the stern look on Ivy's face. Turning the key in the ignition she spun the wheel and shifted into gear. Although she could see the road was clear, she drove relatively slowly taking in the surroundings carefully until she spotted a walker swaying in place at the end of Liberty Heights.
"Strap in!" She ordered. "This is probably going to get bumpy!" With an evil grin she slammed her foot down and sped the car up. As the engine growled, it seemed to catch the walker's attention and hungry for its next meal it began to clumsily walk towards the speeding vehicle. Blake's eye widened, it was just as he'd seen in movies. Kat clenched her fists into the leather seats and closed her eyes waiting for impact. It was the satisfaction in Ivy's face as she was close enough to see the faded eyes of the walker that made her push down the gas even harder and as the car bumper crashed into the legs of undead, the sounds of bones breaking echoed through the street. On impact, the zombie flew over the bonnet with a heavy thud and landed head first into the concrete pavement beside the road. More broken bones; neck, spine, even a dislocated shoulder. Blake cheered as he spun to look at the twitching mess out of the back window, the car continued round the corner with a more controlled speed. The streets were deserted, homes empty, front doors left wide open as people fled the scene with no thought to home security, abandoned cars scattered the road and forced Ivy to slow right down to manoeuvre her car through them.
"Look at this place!" Kat said as she sadly stared out of the window at the broken neighbourhood she once called home. This hadn't just been some horrible nightmare, this was real and driving through the aftermath of the outbreak made them realise just how real it was. With the weather as brilliant as it was, the streets were usually filled with the hustle of suburban life. People mowing the lawns, chatting to neighbours over white picket fences, children riding bikes down the road, ladies jogging in horrible fluorescent velour tracksuits as they stick their chest out at every topless male they bounced past… Now, nothing. Not one single living person was seen. Ivy checked on her sister through the windscreen mirror and just sighed hopelessly. As they turned the car onto the Parkway the roads cleared slightly and the car picked up speed.
Trees lined either side of the road and apart from the occasional car which had skidded into the side barriers it all seemed relatively normal, peaceful. Ivy fiddled about with the radio but all that came back was white noise and an automated evacuation message so she turned it off and left the car driving in silence. Taking a left onto Roosevelt Highway they could see the city centre growing in the distance. They noticed that the road heading out of Atlanta was packed with cars ditched as their passengers desperately evacuated the city. The road into town was empty; obviously nobody was stupid enough to head into the centre of the mayhem the rest of the population was running from… nobody except Ivy and company. Luckily for them, it meant they could really gain speed.
"Make a left here!" Blake said as if directing a taxi driver. Ivy screeched to the left and weaved her way between two cars that'd been left at the crossroads. Bryant Street was just the same as Katharine's street, empty cars, empty homes, smashed windows, pools of blood running down the drains and not a soul in sight. Ivy took another glance in her rear view mirror, this time to check on Blake. He was staring out of the window, dread and sorrow filled his eyes. Seeing his own street destroyed by the outbreak, a sudden sense of realism came over Blake and he understood how close to home this happening was. Literally. Slowing down, the car crawled down the street and then they reached Blake's house. Blood stains decorated the front door as it swung open and closed. Before Ivy even had a chance to brake, Blake had bolted out of the car and rushed towards the house.
"Blake!" Kat yelled after him, panic overcoming her as she unfastened her seatbelt and the sisters both leapt out of the car and sprinted after him.
"Blake! Wait!" Ivy grabbed her gun and prepared herself for what could be lurking in the house. Out of habit she checked the hallway to make sure it was safe although Blake had already ran through it and had checked the living room and kitchen and was eagerly about to run up stairs before Ivy barricaded his path.
"Mom?" He shouted upstairs, quickly Ivy grabbed him and placed her hand across his mouth so he couldn't shout any more.
"Shh! Listen…" Katharine said as the sound of footsteps was heard upstairs. Wriggling from Ivy's grip in anticipation of seeing his parent's again Blake soared up the stairs, chased by the Kennedys, none of them noticing the bloodstains up the walls. Checking all around the empty rooms he moved towards his parent's bedroom, the familiar sight of blood stained the painted wood. Blake grabbed the handle and pushed the door. It was locked. Only a sane, living human being would lock the door.
"Mom! Dad!" He bellowed through the door. Again, footsteps were heard on the other side. "It's them! They're safe! Mom! It's me! Open up!" The excitement grew in Blake's voice; Ivy on the other hand was a little more curious as to why the child's parents weren't responding to their son. "Let me in! It's me!" He repeated, recognising his frustration and confusion, Ivy took charge.
"Move back." She ordered as she too twisted the door handle to make sure it wasn't just jammed. Then she tried to force it open as she barged the door with the side of her arm and shoulder, the weight of her body still unable to break the lock. She tried again, again and again.
"Dad! Let us in Dad! Open the door!" Blake's calling became a little more panicked as time went on with no response. Why wouldn't his parent's answer him? Stepping back from the door, she held one arm out to shield Blake and her sister; the other aimed her pistol at the lock.
"Whoever is in that room, step away from the door!" She demanded as she paused for a response, as she pulled the trigger, sparks lit the stairway. Watching the door open slightly, Blake dashed forward and into the master bedroom.
"Mom! Da…!" He froze. His parent's were there. Standing before Blake, his mother… a walker. Her hair was matted with dry blood, her once loving green eyes now a cloudy grey, her flowery dress torn and frayed as blood soaked into the pattern. A bite mark on her arm.
Rushing into the bedroom after him, Ivy held her gun up, ready to put the beast down. Then her conscience piped up. She couldn't kill this woman, not in front of her son. But she wasn't a woman any more. Her soul had left. But Blake was still in shock, that's his mother. But she was dangerous. As seconds passed, Kat followed into the room but the first thing she noticed wasn't Blake's undead mother, it was his father. Lying there on the bed where they slept each night, Mr. Tyler had put a gun to his head and pieces of his brain now decorated the headboard.
As walkers entered the house, Mrs. Tyler must've been bitten as her and her husband made their getaway and locked themselves in the bedroom for protection. Once Mr. Tyler realised his lifetime love was becoming one of them he'd made the choice to end his own life, on his terms. As the attacking walkers roamed the house and banged against the bedroom door, Mrs. Tyler now one of them had kept herself contempt by feeding on her husband after his suicide.
His intestines hung over the edge of the bed and curled up against the tainted carpet.
"Mom…" Blake cried, tears streaming down his face as he too spotted his father's body.
"Kat! Get him out of here!" Ivy snapped as Mrs. Tyler's rancid body stepped towards them, her jaw clashing as the sight of fresh food electrified her appetite. "Now!" She screamed. Blinking back into the moment, Katharine grabbed Blake's arm and tugged violently to get him to move.
"Blake! Please…" She begged as his watery eyes stayed fixed on his hungry mother. As more tears left his cheeks, he relaxed his resistance and Katharine was able to pull him away from the scene and headed for the stairs. Ivy closed her eyes out of respect that this was once a living person, a sweet lady, a loving wife and most of all, Blake's mother. Slowly her finger constricted around the trigger of her gun.