The girl had drifted off to what seemed like a peaceful sleep - she looked so innocent. I whipped round the room with one of Alex's duffel bags, and shoved clothes that would keep us through seasons and whatever essentials I brought with me. We're gonna stink, but it's not like we have any other choice, eh?
I was throwing all the medical things, any pills and some essential toiletry stuff I could find in another bag, when I caught my reflection in the mirror.
Staring back at me was someone who looked like hell. My long red hair sat funny from where I kept running my hands through it, my dark brown eyes looked almost black and hollow. Where I had been chewing my lip, it had begin to appear chapped and weird, despite them being rather full in shape. Dragging my eyes down, I saw I was still dressed in my tracksuit bottoms and t-shirt. My body had never been perfect. Don't get me wrong, I have a pretty awesome curvy shape, but I was always a bit more weight than I wanted to be. Always. I was totally fit, but just like everyone else, I couldn't shift that last little bit of weight across my middle no matter how hard I trained at my karate after all these years and the amount of swimming I had to do. I sighed, thinking about how I'm now probably going to loose that last bit of weight and some - through starvation.
I finished piling stuff into a bag when I heard a soft whimper from the bedroom. Peeking my head around the door, I saw the little girl wrapping herself up tightly in the duvet, her face full of fear. I scanned the room and looked back at her.
"Are you okay?" I asked, walking over to sit at the end of the bed.
"B-bad dream" she said quietly, hugging the duvet even tighter. She then hesitated before she jumped at me, gripping me tightly and started to sob quietly.
I could feel my heart break as I hugged her close, whispering comforting words at her.
"What's your name?" I asked after her sobs had subsided slightly. I thought I should at least get to know her, if I'm going to look after her - and after seeing how fragile she is, I'm going to be fiercely protective.
"Helena." she said shyly as she nestled into my chest.
"That's pretty Helena. My name's Sam. How old are you?" I asked again as she smiled coyly at the compliment.
"I'm nine and a quarter. How old are you?" she asked, her confidence coming though. I smiled.
"I'm twenty-six. A lot older than you are." I said as I tickled under her chin.
"Fancy helping me pack some stuff up?" I asked, wondering how Alex is doing, pushing the worst case images from my mind.
"No," she said, sitting away from me, "you can't go out there!"
"We've got to. We're going to get away to somewhere safer. Is there anyone... around here you know?" I asked, wondering if we could pick up more people, but judging from the welling of her eyes and the trembling of her chin, I knew the answer.
"Alright chicken, let's get ready then."
We had three big bags in total, and I had even found one of Alex's old toy bears that Helena fell in love with. I smiled at how innocent she was, but then frowned as I realised in going to have to keep my eyes really peeled.
Alex thankfully had come back, saying he'd found a beaten up and old but running black Explorer, and had managed to siphon off some fuel from the other cars. I was actually really impressed - but it'd go to Alex's head if I told him that. With one last look around Alex's apartment and probably civilisation, we left the building. I grabbed Alex's hand and squeezed it, and he smiled weakly at me.
We checked the coast was clear before we sped to the car, throwing all our things in it. As I strapped Helena in the back seat, a dead thing about twenty feet away saw the commotion we were making, and started heading towards us. I grabbed Alex's arm and shook it slightly, and he seemed to get the message after following the direction of my gaze.
Alex revved up the engine and stepped on the accelerator and we sped off, heading to where I imagined was the exit of the city. I looked down the streets as we zoomed off, and saw bodies everywhere - well, what was left of them. Obviously hearing the engine of the Explorer, any of the dead things started heading towards us, but we were away from them before they even got close.
I looked back at Helena, who had her head down, with her hands covered her ears.
It took a while, and plenty of dodging abandoned and piled up cars, but we were eventually out of Carolina and on our way to Atlanta in what felt like no time at all - I guess it was the adrenaline that kept me buzzing. Or total fear.
I woke with a start, to find that we were still on the freeway.
"Hey sleeping beauty! You slept through another refill and Helena talking to Mr Cuddles. You really could sleep through anything, couldn't you?" he said, a small smirk creeping up on the side of his face.
"Mr Cuddles?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah. My old bear." he said, smiling.
I spun round in my seat to look back at her, and saw her snuggled up with the bear, hunched against the door.
Sighing, I sat back round in my seat. Looking out of the front window, I guessed that it must have been quite late as the sky was dark. We sat in silence as we past cars and people lying in the road. We even passed a couple of the dead things. I don't even know what to call them. Zombies sound to comic-like and unreal, but essentially, what is real about all of this? There's no escape from this reality. I couldn't suppressed the shivers that ran through me as I saw all of their features, their gruesome, sickening features. The colour of their skin - when there was actually some left on them. The gargling mouth, the glazed over eyes.
"You took the news pretty well, actually." Alex said after I had another shiver attack, snapping my attention away from them.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Well, it's not like I had much choice. and what about you Mr. Alpha-Male? You've really taken control of our situation." I said, smirking at him.
"Yeah," he chuckled, raking a shaky hand off the wheel to run it through his hair. "I just kinda switched off my emotions, and switched on practicality. It's hard, but you can't think about family or anything. You just can't."
My family. God, I'd forgotten. I had called them when I landed a few days ago, and they've probably seem the news. Would they be calling to check on me? Would there zombie things back over there too? Would my not-so little sister Erin be okay? But what if it's over there too? The thought of them laying dead somewhere or worse... My started filling up, and it felt like there was a frozen hand tugging at my heart. Alex noticed this train of thought attacking me as I felt his hand on my leg and squeezed it.
"I'm sure they're okay. If they're as badass and as smart as you, they'll be totally fine. However you've threatened to cry on me more in the last couple hours than you have our entire childhood. Besides, it's not like they'll miss a zombie on the plane or something." he said, and I let out a nervous laugh.
"Yeah, I hope so. They're strong. And you totally can't blame me! This is all a bit of a shock, to say the least." I said, smiling at him, earning a smile back.
We then slipped into silence, but the longer it ticked on, the heavier my heart felt.
"So, how was your life? Like, before all of this? The reason I visited.." I asked. Small talk was never my strong point, but it was better than thinking about everything else.
"Oh, the usual - getting by. I got a second temporary job at a decent hotel while I was waiting on a referral at the police station, and this incredibly hot maid worked there. She totally wanted me, by the way." he said, a cheeky smile lighting up his face. Then his smile faltered, reality setting in once again.
"What about you though Sambo? How was life back in chirpy old Britain?"
"The usual" I said, smiling at him. "I was working at a big swimming center as a lifeguard with Joe Greener - remember him? And the rest of the time I was teaching Karate to kids on most evenings. Nothing romantic going on with me." I chuckled, snuggling back in my seat.
"You're such a saint. I know you've reached black belt and whatever expert thing after that, but dude, did you ever get to use nun chucks and swords and stuff?" he asked, wide-eyed with excitement, ignoring everything else I said. Such a child!
"Yeah, well we didn't use swords. We used sticks, but my master said that they could be substituted for anything. I've never tried with a sword though." I said smiling as I could see Alex imagining me going full-blown Chuck Norris on someone.
"That's awesome.. Are you sure there is no man in your life? No women?" He asked, a stupidly huge smirk at me.
"No, no man. And you'd love there to be a woman, wouldn't you?" I asked, sticking my tongue out.
"Oh yeah!" he said, winking. "Sam, you're never satisfied. When was the last time you were with someone? Like, with them with them?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me before turning back to the road.
"To be honest, I don't think it's any if your business. And it's not like it matters anymore anyway. The only people out there are rather dead or you." I said, conjuring up the most disgusted look I could.
"Ew Sambo. I've seen you in diapers." he said, also with mock disgust, making me laugh a little at his attempt.
"Wow. You've been in the States for five years, and you wouldn't even know you were actually English. 'diapers'" I giggled.
"You're from England? I knew you spoke funny." interrupted a small voice from the backseat. I turned round to see Helena rubbing her eyes, her lips jutting out the more she rubbed.
"Hello you. Yeah, we both are, but Alex had lived here for a few years now, so you can't tell as he's got a bit of an accent." I said, smiling at the cute little blonde bundle in the backseat.
I turned back round to the front and watched the dark world go by, trying not to think of everyone at home. Everyone who's lives have been ruined. I've got to stay alert and stay practical.
We drove for another couple of hours, occasionally stopping for a toilet break, for Alex to have a nap or to scavenge something. I did drive for a while, but American gears are so confusing! Alex found a ripped-up duffel bag with a machete and a few guns and a small amount of ammo in at one point. He didn't stop bragging about his amazing hunter/gatherer skills after that. It was a relief to have some more weapons though - I felt a little bit safer.
I went for the machete when we had pulled over on the highway when Alex went to pee and to stretch our cramping legs, and I tried applying some of the katas I had learnt with the sticks to the sword. It took a while - especially when trying to get to grips with the weight of it - but eventually, the machete felt right in my hands - like an extension of me. I had managed to do a few twirls with it in both hands and a few defensive moves when Alex returned, grinning like an idiot at my display. I stuck my tongue out at him before getting back in the car and buckling Helena back up.
We eventually reached Atlanta at around seven in the morning, the sky changing to a pinky hue and a slight chill in the air.
"This is a safe zone, you said? Alex, there aren't any barriers or checkpoints or anything. It's a total ghost town." I said, looking at the city that zoomed by.
"We'll have a scout about to see if there is anywhere safe, but if not, we'll head out and look for some place else. Somewhere off the beaten track. But we can't do too much scouting - I don't want to have to refill the car here." he said, checking the gas gauge on the dashboard.
We drove around the main areas of Atlanta, or that's at least what Alex said. It wasn't promising wherever we went though. There were the occasional walker about, and the more than occasional gruesome sight.
"That emergency broadcast was wrong. This isn't safe at all. We should probably leave before we draw too much attention to ourselves." Alex said, letting out a frustrated sigh, and with that, he drove us out the city. To where? I have no idea.
"Damn it!" Alex shouted, smacking the wheel, the car sputtering and grinding to a halt.
We had only been on the road for what felt like an hour or so, with nothing around us except trees. We'd even had to drive around a whole jam of cars blocking the road, many of which seemed to have been looted. But that was miles back.
"What?" I asked, having jumped out of my skin at his outburst.
"Something's blown on the car." he grunted. He got out of the car and marched up to the front, popping the hood. Checking the coast was clear, I got out too.
"What do you think it could be?" I asked waving my hand through the smoke that was rising out of it's engine. I could feel my blood beginning to race around in my veins, panic starting to set in.
"I have no idea Sam." He sighed, spinning and leaning against the car, running a hand through his hair and gnawing on his lip. I stood there in silence, the faint hissing of the engine in my ear.
"We can't go back. Not with the kid in tow, but this isn't going to run." Alex said, thinking aloud.
"We can't stay here though. The sound is going to attract them."
He nodded, and we both looked around.
"Okay, we'll get everything that's important out of the car so we'll have to drop some stuff and head off down the road, but close to the trees. If there's any sign of a zombie, well duck into the woods."
"Okay. And worse case scenario, we walk through the woods. I mean, they can't go on forever, and we've got enough food to ration for a while if we're careful." Alex said, and I nodded.
Looking over at the woods, it seemed daunting, and pretty damn frightening. You'd have to be fully alert at all times. I sighed, and pushed myself off the car to go and grab everything we desperately needed.
Once we had divided everything equally - although we gave Helena a lot less to carry - we headed off down the road. Looking back at the smoking car, I realised things are going to get a hell of a lot harder.
What do you think? I hope you enjoyed it!
- Loré. X