Edited cause I noticed a few errors and it just bugged me so much.
Camping for Suckers
"NO!" "Are you crazy?" People stared at her with wide eyes as they waited for a response. Jasmine Foster, twenty-three years old. Thick, long and messy auburn hair pulled up in a ponytail shook slightly as her whole body trembled. Closing her eyes, she feared what was in front of her. Jasmine had caught sight of blood gushing out from under the woman and immediately looked down. She wouldn't be able to take in the sight that was unfolding in front of her-but she had no choice.
"Jasmine, don't." The voices around her then slowly disappeared and were replaced by…thumping. It was her heart. It was beating very fast and loud. Jasmine shook her head to be able to regain her previous state. In a matter of seconds, the voices came back.
"Jasmine." "Please, don't do this.". Ever since they had been thrown in this hell, she knew if ever the thing she feared the most happened, she would be the one to take care of it. Taking a deep breath she pulled out her 9mm beretta from her belt. It felt a lot heavier than usual, a lot heavier. The voices then turned to panic yelling. "Stop her!" "Get the gun! Do something!"
Maybe it was because of the running back to camp; the trip to Atlanta; or simply just because she couldn't sleep well last night. Whatever the reason was she felt gello, unable to hold the handgun properly. "I-I'm.." She clenched her jaw and turned her head away. "Stop." she muttered under her breath. The woman stopped along with the shouting. She felt her stare. The woman slumped against the tree was staring and was trying to talk to her despite her current situation. "I'm.. sorry." She heard her tried to say. 'This is wrong', she sighed before kneeling in front of her and finally looking up at her lifelong friend's face. Jasmine's chest tightened and her head felt heavy as her blue-green eyes studied the frail woman. Her skin was turning to a sickening shade of blue. The corners of her mouth oozed blood and her shoulder looked like something took a bite out of it. "No. No." she shook her head refusing the tears to fall. "I'm sorry." Jasmine brushed a stray hair out of her friend's face. Her voice cracked and turned hoarse as a lump on her throat grew. "I couldn't protect you." Her mouth quivered as she pulled away and stood up. Gulping nervously she, put her hand over the gun and cocked it, looking down at the woman. Jasmine's group couldn't do anything. Everything happened so fast.
"It's okay now." She said a little louder as she gave the broken woman a small smile so as to comfort her. Pointing the gun at her head she clenched her jaw. "I'll see you soon." She whispered before she pulled the trigger.
Screams and cries were heard as the gunshot echoed around the destroyed campsite, over the dark woods and to the moonlit quarry.
"Jazz..."
"Hmm" I moaned irritated as I shifted in my covers away from the voice.
"Jasmine" The person said softly as he brushed my face. "What?" I swatted his hand away and buried my head under the pillow.
"Get up." He whispered hovering above me. It was Richie and he was on my apartment. "Why the hell are you here?" I muttered when I turned and stared up at his hazel eyes. "Just one of those nights but this time with booze and weeds" he grinned before brushing his thin lips on mine. I resisted the urge to shiver at the touch before I felt his arms snake around my waist and roll us over with me on top. I then realized we we're both stark naked. I sighed before giving him smack on his lips before getting off of him and grabbing one of his huge shirts to cover me.
"Aw. I thought you were a fan of morning sex?" he snickered at me. I rolled my eyes at him before grabbing a cup of coffee and going out at the balcony. "I would have appreciated it if you didn't woke me up at nine in the morning". I said bitterly glaring back at the wall clock. I had always hated waking up early on a weekend.
Leaning on the vein field balcony fence, I saw my neighbor Mr. and Mrs. Roberts who lived just across the hall, loading their bags inside the trunk of their car looking awfully worried and in a hurry. "Jackson! Get your sisters and let's go!" the man yelled to his son not older than twelve years old.
"Shit.. uh Jazz?" I heard Richie called out for me. Making my way inside I saw Richie stare at the television with an unreadable expression on his face. "This is why I've been trying to wake you up." I stared back at the television in horror not believing what I was seeing. Cars were in the way and people were running around the streets screaming hysterically when one man fell to his knees screaming in pain as running civilians trampled him. The footage then switched to another showing the same situation in a different area only this time a boy in his teens suddenly knocked over a woman in her business suit and started tearing the flesh in her neck. Blood started gushing out of the woman's neck staining the little boys white polo then suddenly his head shot up looking directly at the camera. Pure white and bloodshot eyes stared at the camera before the footage ended and repeated again to the first one. "The footages being shown right now happened this morning. The incident started at six thirty and as of now the situation has and is still building up. It really is devastating and horrifying as to how this situation is currently happening all over Georgia and is getting worse every second." The reporter's voice cracked with fear. "As of now, the state of Georgia has been in a code red state of emergency. We are advising all civilians to stay indoors and await further instructions. We will be expecting a word from the governor in a few minutes." And that was it.
I sat down my coffee on the table before I quickly made my way out the hallway to catch up with the kid, Jackson. The boy held his two little sisters' hands as they quickly made their way in the hallway and to the flight of stairs. "Hey!" I yelled as I went to them. "Jazzy?" He looked like he was in a state of shock. I knelt in front of him, "What's going on Jackson?" I asked firmly. "Mommy said the flu was spreading all over the city." He stared right back at me with wide eyes. The kid was beyond scared. "Jackson! Hurry!" A yell from downstairs and the kids were running down the stairs.
What the hell was going on? I glanced around the hall and saw a couple doors left open. The others were gone. Shit. I made my way back to the apartment just to find Richie in the bathroom.
"Rich?" I called out as I stood outside the shower. Richie pulled the curtains before grabbing my hand and pulling me with him. "There you are!" he then started pulling his shirt off of me. "We need to leave as soon as we can. It's not safe here." He said before grabbing my by my waist and kissing me deeply and stepping off the shower. I quickly took a shower then started dressing up while Richie grabbed canned foods from the cupboard along with other instant foods. "Quick. We need to pack our things. Bring all the essentials- Just like camping" he grinned at me before I chuckled back glancing at him. He wore a thin white longsleeves shirt, khaki pants and black trekking shoes with his long hair pulled up in a cloth headband. "Just to be sure you know?" he shrugged. "We don't even know where we're gonna stay. For all we know, we might become hobos." we both laughed at his statement. "Do you have a headlamp?" he asked. "Two headlamps. Green box under the bed." I said as I stared at myself on the mirror.
Damp, long and bright auburn hair with a shade of mint on the tips fell just past my breasts. I wore a ripped faded blue jeans and a loose camouflage shirt with combat boots. "Just like camping huh? Good thing we went trekking and camping before or else we wouldn't have any shit for camping..." I smiled to myself before grabbing all the stuff we needed. While we divided the tent parts equally, Richie carried all the cooking tools we needed and I carried the food on our backs with both our trekking bags.
"…While the Mayor refuses to show himself or even speak to the public it seems all the rumors are true.." I turned the volume up as the reporter's voice cracked with fear. "The green flu as of now is on a rapid outbreak spreading in different parts of Georgia. It is still unknown as to how the flu infects another. All civilians are requested to head to Atlanta for the refugee center." The television suddenly turned black. "Refugee center?" I muttered before hooking my bag on my shoulders and grabbing a smaller body bag and baseball cap and strapping my 9mm beretta on my thigh. "Let's just go" Richie said before opening the door and leading the way out.
"I have to get back at my apartment for some stuff." He said as he peeked outside the building making sure no infected were around not that it mattered we didn't even know how to distinguish them. "Come on." He said before grabbing my hand and making a dash for the next block where the apartments car park was. People were running wild with bags on their hands and their backs with their kids, wife, husband, friends or partners. "Atlanta's Refugee Center", I heard one said. Everyone was heading there. A scream suddenly alerted everyone in the neighborhood. A middle aged looking man who wore a mailman's uniform was lying on the floor with an old woman feeding on his stomach. The scene was nauseating, guts were spilling out of his stomach and he was writhing and screaming in pain while the old woman paid no mind to his cries and continued feasting. That triggered everyone to panic including us. My chest started getting tighter and tighter with every gasp I took. I was breathless. Seeing the blood and guts spill out just a few feet away was horrifying.
The drive to his apartment was quiet and shorter than expected. In just thirty minutes we were already there. Richie pulled out in front of the building. The neighborhood was deserted with only a few outside and they were leaving. "Stay here and keep the engine running. I won't be long." He said and grabbed his bag and left. I sat there for a few minutes before cursing. I sighed to myself before switching the engine off and getting out. I stuffed the keys in my pocket before going inside the two story building.
"Richie?" I called out from the bottom of the stairs. I quietly made my up through the first two floors. "Rich.." I whispered. I finally got to his floor and peaked inside his apartment. I pulled out my handgun when I heard shuffling."Richie?" I called out louder. "Jazz!" I ran inside the bedroom just to see Richie with a man on top of him wearing nothing but trousers and was trying to grab him. "Shoot him!" He yelled trying to pry the man off of him with his arms. "What!?" I yelled panicking. "Shoot it! It's not human!" He yelled again. I aimed for the mans shoulder before pulling the trigger. The man stopped for a moment before going for Richie again. "Fuck!" We both cursed before I shoot the man again this time aiming for the head. Taking a deep breath and holding it, I squeezed the trigger and hit the fucker straight in the head. "Shit. Shit. Shit!..." I gasped for air as I sat on the floor with man now with his brains gone, knelt on the floor face first- if he still had one. "Fuck!" I yelled as I stood up and face Richie.
"Get your things now." I said to him harshly before helping him with his things. After getting him all set I saw him carrying a shotgun. "Where the hell did you get that?" I glared at him before leading the way out. "Mr. Rollins, the veteran who died last month. He lived on the fifth floor." he said as he followed me. When we got outside there was nobody around. It was eerily quiet. "I'll drive" he said asking for his keys. I muttered a couple of curses as I practically threw the keys in his face.
"NO! NO! PLEASE HELP ME!" a boy with white and bloodshot eyes and a bite mark on his forearm chased us as we drove past him. I glanced beside me as Richie didn't show any sign of remorse and kept on driving. "Richie-" I looked at him. "No, Jazz. We can't- We won't. He'll just fuck us up.." He frowned as he took a left. The boy fell on her knees sobbing before he disappeared in the side mirror. "How do you know? For all we know she'll live and all she needs is medical care." I stared at him. He glanced at me briefly before clenching the steering wheel tighter and looking down, then glancing back at me and back at the road. "Don't-Don't look at me like that.." he clenched his jaw and snarled. "Like what?" I continued staring at him. "Like your accusing me.." he muttered. "I can't take it okay." he put a hand up as if surrendering. "Where are we heading?" I asked brushing off his comment. "Atlanta. That's where your folks are and refugee center are." he said. I turned on my phone and tried calling them but they never answered. "Mom, dad? Please call me back when you get this message okay? I love you both. I hope you're okay." I left a message before trying to get comfy in my seat. "We should turn off the ac to save gas." he muttered before turning off the ac and sliding open our windows. I look at my watch, it was already eleven. "Wake me up whenever you need to okay." I muttered to Richie before laying my head on the window feeling the air on my face with my cellphone clutched on my hand.
I must have been sleeping for an hour when suddenly my phone vibrated. I quickly answered the call. "Dad?" I said. "Jasmine! Thank god you're alive! We were so worried about you!" "MOM? Oh god you're okay." I sighed as she continued rambling on. "Outside here is just madness! Where are you right-" "Hello, dear?" It was dad. "Dad? Hey..I'm so happy to hear from you" I sighed they were both okay. "Jazz, where are you? and are alone?" he asked calmly. I smiled to myself. Dad was always so calm, whenever something unexpected happened he was always the one who can keep himself calm and think logically "I'm with Richie. We're on our way there." "Listen, Jasmine the refugee center isn't safe here." "But Dad-" "Jasmine, you remember my friend Gloria works there right? They think the center won't be able to take care of these people and keep the infected out. The refugee center is a seventy percent risk. the refugee isn't safe. Atlanta itself is not safe. It is not safe. You understand me, Jasmine?" I could almost imagine Dad with clenched jaw and narrowed eyes. "Okay, daddy. Where do we go now?" I asked. "Head to our summer house. Okay? We'll meet you there. I love you very much okay?" "I love you too." I whispered. "Hello, Jasmine?" "Mom! " I almost yelled. "Jasmine, take care of yourself okay? Avoid any contact with anyone who's infected okay? I'll see you soon okay?" "Yes Mom. I love you both very much. I'll see you both soon kay?" "Baby we need to go. We love you so so much" Mom said before the call clicked off. I sighed as I placed the cell on the dashboard.
Before I could cry my eyes out Richie quickly said something. "They'll be okay, Jazz. Your parent's are pretty kick ass and smart." Richie grinned at me charmingly as he placed a hand on my thigh giving it a squeeze. I gave him a small smile before shifting in my seat, leaning over and kissing him on the corner of his lips. "Sorry about earlier.." I said shamefully as I returned to my seat. "Me too I guess... although you looked pretty hot while holding a gun and actually hitting the target." he grinned. "Listen, Dad said it's not safe in Atlanta. We need to get the King county at our summerhouse there." I said as I opened the map. "That's good, you'll be the navigator. Now what road should we take that isn't a major highway?" We needed to get to King fast while avoiding the traffic that's heading for atlanta. I scanned the map and briefly explained our route.
It's been three hours and fifteen minutes, after keeping ourselves busy with a couple of lousy twenty-question game. It failed to do its duty and keep us entertained. After all we both knew each other for fours years. We gave up and I sighed as I took out a pencil and small notebook from my body bag and started scribbling.
This fucking flu. Whatever the hell it is, it sure is causing everyone to panic. It wasn't like SARS or H1N1 or whatever you call it. The flu made other people eat other people. Much like a zombie like that '28 Days Later' movie. Crap not really like that movie. If it were, I would have pissed on my pants when I saw an infected run for me. Shit. I guess we're still lucky they don't run, I haven't seen one run actually but I still stand corrected, I only saw three of them for now. I even had to shoot one. It was grabbing for Rich and was screaming at me to shoot it, at first I shot it on his lower back and stomach but it didn't die. Then I shot him square on the back of his head. I don't think it was human anymore though.. Eating other human was not human at all.. The sickening shade of blue on his skin. His skin looked like it was hung on his bones. Blood red sclera and white iris with a small almost dot like pupil-
"What are you writing about?" Richie leaned over forgetting all about the road and tried to read what I had written. "Rich!" I yelped in surprise before pushing his face away. "Just let me read some.. I'm literally dying of boredom here" he made a face of misery but I only laughed at his face. "No! Get off!" I pushed him harder this time. "You're writing about our little fun last night huh." He smirked glancing at me. I gave him the finger before sliding down to my seat and turning away from him. "So I didn't know you owned a gun. Where'd you get it?" I look out the window and stared as we passed fields of corn with a couple of farm houses. "I bought one and got myself a license. Richie, one thing you need to learn in life is you never fuck with a freelance photojournalist" I grinned at him.
"Jazz, come on. Babe, wake up..." I squinted as I shifted in my seat. "We there yet?" I asked softly as I looked outside. We were parked in a mini gas station with a small convenience store. The sun was setting and it was starting to get eerily quiet. "Just an hour more but we need gas, food, water and whatever stuff they have." I nodded before grabbing my jacket. It was starting to get chilly. I looked around the gas station with my hand on the strap of my beretta. It was quickly getting dark and we had to leave. The moment we stepped in the store I, a sniper rifle was pointed in our way.
"Hands up!" an old man wearing a faded camouflage uniform was in front of us his rifle pointing from my face to Richie's.
Note: OC's on the first few chapters. Recognizable characters will appear on later chapters. Or maybe a little earlier. Don't know yet. :) I don't own Walking Dead. and also thank you to lucylu0508 for adding this to her favorite list :3 I hope I don't disappoint you T_T