A/N: So, I ended up working on this immediately after finishing Chapter 3. It just was the spur of the moment.

I enjoyed writing it though I'm not proud of it. I'm getting kind of lazy and half-editing which is not good when I'm a perfectionist.

But yeah, enjoy the chapter. We are back to Cry's POV.

Read, review, follow, favorite.

Ciao~

Walking with Corpses

Chapter 4: Suspicion

Man, give the world a night and it will effectively take the opportunity to turn to shit.

All around me were crashed vehicles – windshields broken into and steering wheels left unattended. Some of the leather seats were stained with dried blood and some had the driver door left wide open to sport the attempted flee of the owner. Tires were slashed and more than a few bumpers were caved in from crashes.

The streets themselves were a mess and that was putting it lightly. My steps had to be deliberate and watched constantly so I wouldn't stand on a corpse, a piece of metal, or even other weapons – all of them mashed in on the barrel if a gun or broken in half if a blade. Trying to be silent in this neighborhood was nearly impossible but I managed.

And considering the scene, I think that counts for a lot.

Corpses littered the floor, both dead and undead. Some of them had skin and blood, body fluids and body parts melting off like some terrible horror movie. Others were just suffering from broken bones and the like that eventually tallied up to fatality. Car crashes, as stated before, were everywhere and that wasn't an understatement.

There was more dead and desolate than any of the lively components Florida had before.

Stores were all saying "Closed" in their windows. When I peered in they had nothing. It seemed whoever owned them were smart and took everything they could for bartering or for their own purposes. Wish I had thought of that. You know, taking whatever I can and run. At the time I think I was mainly just trying to leave the scene of the crime before it grew hands and stuck to my back like a second skin.

I shuddered thinking of those dead eyes following me. Molding fingers gripping my shoulders with claws digging in between my shoulder blades. It was not a pretty sight to imagine.

But I shook my head and the image dissipated like it never had been there in the first place. Like swishing your fingers in the water to morph your reflection.

No, I got to stay optimistic. Even when the world decided to flip upside down and suddenly partner with death, I have to be move on. Wallow and mourn and you have already given yourself a death timer until Mr. Reaper is poking your shoulder to catch your attention. Scythe pointed towards the red digits on your clock that are narrowing second by second to zero.

Sorry but I wasn't ready to die yet.

It could be a lot of things that caused me to think like this. The need to live, the want to survive and tell the world of all the shit I had to deal with. Perhaps to find my friends and team up so we get out of this together. You know, go to another state, go north even – back to New York where it's colder and the zombies wouldn't be as active or quick.

Another part was fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of what could happen. Fear if there was even an afterlife to look forward to or even a place for reincarnation. That's the common fear. The fear everyone probably has at this moment.

But for me it was something else. I was afraid of reality. Not monsters. Not ghosts. Not impossibilities. I was afraid of the world in all of its honest terrors. And that's saying something. Why be afraid of the unknown? The possible? The "out there" scenarios? They were never going to be as terrifying as what reality throws in your face, when you have a terror right in front of you compared to paranoia of what could be.

And right now reality decided to throw a sucker punch. It decided to go "Hey guys. You know, things are getting kind of dull so let's throw in a disease". It threw a fucking curve ball and everyone is suffering for it.

But hey, it's real. And that's why people are afraid.

That's why I am afraid and that's why I am not ready to die.

God only knew how many of my friends would kick my ass in the afterlife if they realized that I had given up instead of fighting tooth and nail.

Shuffling past the shop I peered in earlier, I look in and peer at the date. I knew I probably shouldn't since it didn't really matter what day it was, but I still found my gaze glancing at the red circle around the day.

June 11.

Man, was that the day? Double sure? Triple sure?

I scoffed and shook my head, choosing to ignore it and walk ahead, meandering between cars and corpses like they were obstacle courses in an inflatable attraction. Of course all of this would happen on my birthday. You know, go out with a fucking bang.

I tried to make light of the situation, of the date choice, but seeing all those dead eyes staring at me and accusing my being alive quickly narrowed it to morose.

It was quiet for some reason. In any other game, zombies would be infesting the area, they would crowd and mob and chase me out of town. However, I haven't seen a single zombie since I left the flat. Only the wind and the occasional creak of complaining metal met my ears as I stepped and avoided debris or body part.

Then again, I'm comparing this to video games and nothing was ever like a video game. War and the military was not going to be like Call of Duty so a zombie apocalypse was certainly never going to be similar to the Last of Us or the Walking Dead. It would be nice! Hell, it would be awesome if it was like that because at least I would have a basic to go off of, an outline of what to expect and what I should watch out for.

This was an anomaly, reality. For all I knew, these zombies could be like vampires and run from sunlight screeching in fear of being burnt to ashes.

Chuckling at the idea, I began to cross a street. Upon impulse, I looked both ways twice before continuing on. It didn't occur to me until I was halfway across that I would never have to look both ways. Most of the cars were out of commission and those that still worked would never be able to maneuver through this traffic jam.

Best to keep the habit though. Just so I can remember of little things like this and cherish the days I cursed at crazed drivers with an itching hand to press the horn on their car.

My foot bumped into something and I stopped. Looking down I realized it was a camera. The old-fashioned sort that printed out the picture as soon as it was taken. Polaroid, probably a 600 by the looks of it. It was still in good condition, little scratches here and there but otherwise perfectly fine. I furrowed my brows and looked around it only to find what must have been the owner of the tech.

He was an elderly man, dead by being pressured under a car. He wasn't even bitten or anything. Just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I frowned and picked up the camera. It still had plenty of film left in it. Shrugging, I placed the old thing around my neck and let it fall lifelessly against my chest. I was starting to feel like a pack rat with all the stuff I had on.

Adjusting the newly placed weight, I sighed and kicked a rock, watching it skid across the street and bounce off a tire. It was only a little noise but it could have been an explosion with how eerily silent it was around here. Forget a pin drop sounding like an explosion. It might as well be an atomic bomb.

It's funny how when you live in a big city the only thing you want is silence, however, when you get silence you suddenly want something to break it.

I realized quickly that I was one of these people.

Fixing my mask, I began to pick up my pace again, the slapping of converse on the asphalt becoming my new best friend. The sleeves of my jacket had been rolled up to my elbows with the rolling waves of heat. Sweat was dripping down my face and becoming uncomfortable but the occasional breeze that found its way between the buildings helped.

I was eternally grateful for the mask. The smell of death and humidity was a terrible mixture with the accompanying weather. It was like an amplifier. An effect on a sound program to make it suddenly echo and become louder, imminent. The small filter on mouth of the mask definitely helped me breathe.

Every so often, I would catch a glimpse of a reflection. The white sheen of sunlight hitting metal. The shiv I had created to murder my mate. I hated looking at the thing. It was like a bittersweet accomplice or a "frenemy" that offered affectionate insults. You hated the damn thing but you needed it so you couldn't exactly get rid of it.

God this was so fucked up.

I shook my head and continued towards the other side of the street. I have a long way to go before I'm even close to being out of Florida.

"Hey!" I froze.

Is my mind playing tricks on me?

Because for a split second that sounded human… and strangely like someone that should be in Sweden right now. Or Italy, somewhere in Europe. Wherever it was, it certainly should not be here.

Still, when I turned around, I found my vision face to face with a certain blonde hair blue eyed Swede. Behind him, kind of weary, was a woman with long brown hair. I presumed this to be Marzia.

I should be saying something, right? Yeah, maybe I should. Being silent is awkward. Man, how does one move lips again? Kind of forgot that one still needs to converse in a zombie apocalypse. Come on. Just reply.

"Can you speak?" Felix asked cautiously, one arm pushing Marzia behind him. I wanted to roll my eyes but instead found myself blushing at his remark. It was nowhere near mocking but it still made me feel incredibly stupid. Thank God for this mask.

Nodding, I turned to face him and adjusted my mask to make sure it covered my face. Even though I knew I could take it off, I didn't want to remove my mask. At least, not yet.

What if he saw the murderer I saw?

Yes, I am aware that this is paranoia. Intense paranoia. Paranoia I never knew I had until this fucked up situation happened. It was outrageously false and probably more than a little irrational. Yeah, I know.

However, I still didn't see any good reason to take the mask off anyways.

"Hi friend," I smiled even though I knew he would never see it.

Felix blinked and I watched as his mind processed my voice. I swear I could see a floating download bar over his head slowly reaching hundred. Fifty percent in it paused.

He narrowed his eyes although this time it was suspicious. Oh god. Really. Should I really write my name on my mask? A gigantic "Cry" in sharpie?

Sighing, I looked at him straight in the eyes. "Don't worry about it, Pewds."

That's all it took for the fifty percent to go straight to a hundred.

"Cry?!" Felix cried, clearly surprised.

I brought my fingers as if to tip a hat in his direction. "The one and only. May I ask what brought you to this neck of the woods?"

Felix sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Actually, you see… we kind of planned to throw some sort of surprise party for your birthday."

"We?" I clarified and Felix laughed.

"Yeah. Minx had the idea and the rest of us just chipped in. Ken, Krism, Mark, the Late Night Crew. We were planning to invite you somewhere and celebrate." He glanced around and the smile fell. "Well, at least that was the plan. To be honest, you are the first human Marzia and I have met who wasn't dead."

The first? Didn't he just come out of a hotel room? Surely there are more people alive in there than them two. Not everyone is a damsel in distress for this scenario. Some are always ready for the day this occurs. I was curious where those people went.

Blinking, I realized I had kept silent for too long. Talk about awkward, haha.

I leaned to peer behind Felix to look at Marzia and waved.

"Oh hi. I don't think we've met. My name's Ryan but you can call me Cry. I'm your boyfriend's friend." I made my tone lighthearted, which wasn't too hard. Their new arrival kind of lifted my mood from all the depressing atmosphere a bit.

I waited for Marzia's look to change from suspicion to acceptance. It was a scene to watch. I mean, she must know me by at least my voice, right? Everyone apparently knows me by my voice.

Eventually, Marzia walked around Felix and placed a delicate hand on his arm. "I've heard a bit about you from Felix. My name is Marzia."

I made a bow and smiled as she giggled. I heard Felix mutter a few words but when I looked at him he just smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Now then, greetings are out of the way. Where were you guys planning on going?" I swept my hand in a 180 to generally encompass the city. "As you can see, there isn't much left here."

Felix shrugged. "Honestly? We didn't know. We literally just got out of our hotel when we spotted you. It was purely coincidental."

"Well, that's great." I smiled even though I knew he couldn't see it. "I was planning on making my way city by city until I'm out of Florida. You know, each city or town make a pit stop, gather supplies, the like. I was hoping to find a car and hot wire it once I got out of the downtown area."

Felix was looking at me but I wasn't sure if he was really looking at me or the mask. Either way he was frowning which more than confused me.

"What's with the mask? It's humid as fuck out here. Are you not sweating under that?" He reached up to grab my mask and I quickly took a step back to avoid him making contact. I saw him flinch and pull his arm down. It made me feel bad. It really did, but I didn't want him to see me.

You know, vicious circle back to paranoia and all that.

Awkward silence ensued until someone's stomach growled. It wasn't mine and judging by the look on Marzia's face, it wasn't her.

I rose a brow at Felix and he chuckled with embarrassment.

"Yeah, we kind of don't have any food at the moment. The hotel was bare and we haven't come across any stores that still have anything in them. Do you…?"

"Have it covered, friend." Swinging my backpack onto the ground, I unzipped it and pulled out a few granolas and three bottles of water. Handing one of each to Marzia and Felix, I grabbed the third water bottle and opened it, taking a swig immediately. The other two quickly followed suit.

"Thanks, Ryan." Marzia smiled and tucked the water bottle in her purse.

"Yeah, thanks. You're a life saver." I laughed and shook my head.

"No, I'm just prepared."

Felix hummed in agreement and peered at the camera around my neck with a quizzical look.

"I'm curious about the camera around your neck, actually. Why do you have it?"

I shrugged and saw the old man out of the corner of my vision. "I obtained it. Decided I could use it for memories or something to do." I paused and glanced at it. After a minute I shrugged off my back pack and lifted it off from around my neck. "Actually, do you want to take a selfie? You know, a picture to look back on and remember when it all began?"

Marzia and Pewds looked at each other before nodding.

"Hell yeah! Hashtag selfie. Hashtag zombie apocalypse. Hashtag…"

"Beginning?" I supplied and Felix nods.

"Yes! Come on let's take it!"

Rolling my eyes, I found the button and peered at Felix. He looked so excited, like a little kid.

"Alright, this thing is gonna have a flash and its instant. So say…."

"Pewdiepie!" Felix chirped and I smirked as Marzia and I did the same. I didn't really have to smile. I mean, a mask kind of defeats the purpose of that. Still, I held up a peace sign for the shits and giggles.

The image printed out and I waved it in the air a bit, waiting for it to develop. When it finally appeared, I showed it to Marzia and Felix. They both wanted to see it and after a small debate between the two love birds, we decided Marzia should keep it in her purse and not I in my backpack.

After that, the three of us continued to head west. Empty streets and even emptier buildings met our searching gazes. A few times we found food and other times we would find other little things we might need – like an official medical kit we found at a local clinic.

My mindset at the time was that if we continued along the streets, we should be able to make it eventually towards I-95. From there it was basically north – a straight path.

For the rest of the day it was easy. I don't mean easy in terms of relief or calm, I mean easy as in no walkers. It was a little disorienting. I kept checking every dark area and nothing. No growls came out of closets or from behind counters.

I didn't like this feeling I was having. The feeling that this was not exactly normal.

That in itself is hard to apply I guess. It's a zombie apocalypse. Nothing in this is exactly normal at all. Still, I found myself thinking it could get even weirder – even more abnormal than it already was with the spontaneous act of its beginning.

By evening, we managed to find a car with gas and a working battery. Nothing fancy, a abandoned blue Chevy, but it was practically a savior. Our feet were sore and our legs were like rubber. Luckily, we managed to get to the outskirts of the city. Felix and I scavenged through other cars to collect additional fuel for the road before hotwiring it. Marzia jumped in first, the back seat, and Felix got the passenger side. Since I knew St. Augustine better than them, I was the designated driver.

Before I hopped in, however, I heard a growl. Low and guttural, like it was coming out of one's stomach and not their throat.

Pausing, I looked around towards the growing shadows and increasing darkness. Another growl manifested from the depths of the unknown and I felt the hairs on my arms raise.

"Felix."

"Yeah, I hear them. They seem to be more active at night and run away to… somewhere during the day." He was leaning on the open door, observing the buildings and their false securities.

"If you had to guess, how much were there at night?"

He shrugged, flicking his gaze frequently over the deceiving shadows.

"Maybe a hoard? Something like that. It was a lot but not like the sort of crowd associated with concerts and such. Definitely busy."

I nodded and motioned him to get in the car.

The second I heard the growls grow in number I followed and began to rev the engine.

That's what drew out the walking corpses. The sound of the car. I knew it would. It was rather predictable. Still, that didn't make it one smidgeon easier to deal with.

Thank God we were already in it.

Slamming the gas, I managed to dodge a few walkers and hit a few others. Marzia let out squeals with each thump and roar of pain/outrage and clutched Felix's hand over the middle console. Felix himself was cursing under his breath and wincing at every impact.

One glance and I could see he was terrified. Shit, I will admit even I was terrified. One false move and I could have this car roll over with us inside and who knows what may happen after that. Yeah, we may get out. Yeah, we may be alright and not bitten. But we would have just lost our ride and one sole security during the night hours.

I swerved left and slowed down to avoid hitting a stop sign, grinding my teeth. My knuckles were white and a headache was brewing behind my eyes with the stress and pressure. Felix had grasped the edges of his seat while Marzia held onto her seatbelt with dear life.

God.

It was terrifying.

I should have a better vernacular. I realized now I had been saying it multiple times, but it was the only word which fit at that moment. Afraid? To minor. Horrified? To major. Terrified was the word and I knew that if it needed an image in the dictionary, this moment would be that prime example.

Spinning the wheel, I winced as the car ran over another of the undead. The car bumped over the corpse and continued going.

It felt like hours, avoiding and clashing, ramming and missing the zombies and their growls of rage and starvation. It was like somebody put the sound of their words on repeat and let it droll on it complete monotone.

And all I could think was "Let's keep going. We will keep going" because we needed an optimist and I didn't see the two Europeans next to me finding a bright light in this dark tunnel.

When the growls slowly subsided, I took a deep breath.

Glancing at the clock, it had only been five minutes.

Five minutes and we were out of the mess and on one of the quieter roads of St. Augustine. Five minutes and we were perfectly fine with no scratches or deaths to our names. Five minutes and everything was great.

Marzia peered through the rear view window and even Felix was checking every side just to make sure we were in the clear. I, however, was smiling. Just a little. Because living was great and I valued then so much more now. The undead does that to you I guessed.

"Words to remember," Felix said after a while, sinking into the chair like the adrenaline had sank out of him in an instant. "Don't go towards cities during night time."

"Agreed," I replied. From now on, if we have to be outside during the night, it will have to be in between cities or in the woods and preferably in a vehicle or shelter of some sort.

"Where are we now, Ryan?" Marzia asked and I shrugged.

"I don't know. I know we are on the outskirts of the city, but that's as much as I'm going to know without signs and light."

"Oh… okay." Marzia was quiet after that. In fact, most of today she didn't really talk much in general. It was odd and a little worrying, even though I just met her, but I knew she was Felix's gal and so protecting her kind of came with protecting him.

I spared a glance in the rear view mirror and smiled. Apparently the only reason she didn't talk more was because she had passed out.

Nudging Felix, I cocked my head in Marzia's direction. He rotated around the passenger seat and an exhausted smile fell on his face when he saw her sleeping peacefully. Letting out a sigh, he plopped back into the seat. I shared a look with him and saw him shake his head.

Well, now's a good time as any to have a man to man talk I guess.

"What's on your mind, friend?"

He chuckled. "Nothing much. Just thinking of how Marzia shouldn't be a part of this. I shouldn't have pleaded for her to come. That sort of thing. You and me? We at least have some idea of what we are dealing with. She doesn't have that experience. I'm honestly afraid of losing her."

I hummed. "I can see that. You're clearly protective of her."

"Protective doesn't even begin it," he smiled fondly.

The drive was quiet with no radio or CDs to boot. I had my ipod and such but I wasn't going to kill the battery with breaking the silence. Besides, it wasn't really a painful silence, just a foreboding one.

The deafening quiet kept its pace for a bit before Felix broke it.

"Ryan?"

"Yup?"

"Are you afraid?"

I paused before answering. "Yeah, man. I mean, how can you not be afraid? It's just I don't show it. It doesn't help to show fear in a fearful situation." I pursed my lips and added. "I kind of remember a quote I said a while back and move on. It makes my fears seem like an obstacle, something I should try to overcome."

"A quote? Really? Is it some cheesy movie quote?" Felix smirked and I chuckled.

"Nah man. I told you I said it. Gotta listen." Felix laughed softly when I lightly pushed him and I said. "But no. It's a long one, so you may be asleep by the time I finish."

"Hit me." I smacked him in the back of the head and he let out a yelp.

"Hey, you asked." I was grinning and I could tell Felix was too, although he tried to hide it behind a pout. It wasn't really working in his favor.

Felix glared at me. "You just wanted an excuse to hit me."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, totally."

Felix glanced back at Marzia and brushed a part of her hair out of her face. "So, tell me about this quote all-knowing Cry."

Taking a turn, I avoided an abandoned car and opened my mouth. "My idea of fear is something you cannot comprehend. Fear is something that happens to you. It pulls you out of your safe zone, it pulls you out of your comfort and it makes you feel powerless in your situation. It's something that builds and it keeps on feeding into one core aspect of making you completely vulnerable. You can't control it whenever it happens. You're powerless. You're completely alone. You don't have any means of getting back to safety. You have nothing. Fear is something that makes you irrational, something that puts you in a state of doing things you would not normally do. Like cry out for your mother. Sprinting towards anywhere, you don't know where, but you're just running as fast as you can; trying to get away, but you know deep down that you won't be able to. That's my definition of fear. You're just powerless."

I took a deep breath and awaited for Felix to say something. After a minute, he whistled.

"Color me impressed. How do you remember all of that?"

I shrugged. "I told you, I repeat it when I'm afraid. I admit I added a few things to it, but that's the gist of it. When fear hits, you're powerless. You're weak. You are irrational and you seek some way of escape. When you think of it like that, you realize you need to kind of become stronger and overcome that fear. Like when you're in a nightmare and you realize it's your nightmare and you say what exists and what doesn't."

Felix nodded. "I… yeah, you're right. When you put it like that, it makes fear seem a lot sillier than we think it is."

"Oh no, don't ever underestimate fear. I said overcome it, friend, not undermine it. Fear is still powerful. Don't just brush it off," I chastised and watched as Felix give me a confused look.

"What do you mean, then?"

I shrugged. "I mean, acknowledge it and understand it. Know it and become close to it. But the second you realize there is a way for you to break away, to become stronger than that person who befriended the fear, do it. Do it, but always reflect on that fear to aid in pursuing more determined horrors of reality."

I couldn't remember the last time I went into a deep conversation like this. Months? Years ago? It seems like a long time now. A past life in some effect. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was enjoying it. It was calming and relaxing compared to the disastrous city scape right now. It just felt really… different having it now.

You know, zombie apocalypse and you don't immediately jump the gun to have a meaningful conversation about fears and the like. That's something that would come over a beer at a party while you're sitting in the backyard, kind of avoiding the majority of it without leaving it.

But I suppose this worked too. I wasn't complaining.

I waited for Pewds to comment or give a snarky remark on what I said, but he must have been thinking over it. I didn't want to peer over at him yet since I still had enough cars on the roads that I needed to pay attention fairly often.

A few minutes passed and Felix said nothing.

Okay, I know he didn't think that hard over this sort of thing.

"Felix?"

I was met with soft snores. A sigh of relief escaped me, a silent fear being released I wasn't aware of, and I relaxed my grip on the steering wheel. Of course he was sleeping. Typical Pewds there.

Peering over at him, I realized that he actually was a lot handsomer than he gave himself credit for. Blue eyes and blonde hair? It was a combination that few could pull off successfully but he did just right. The moonlight was a terrible lighting – making him look like a fucking god like the traitor it was. He was a sexy man – full homo.

I snickered at the old little hashtag, smiling fondly at the tweet I let out on twitter once about it.

Nah, he was my friend. I would never think of him like that – homo or no homo.

Besides, he had Marzia and I wasn't too keen on breaking relationships with my family history in mind. Bad blood doesn't help in a situation where it's vital to keep good connections.

I tried talking to myself after a while. A few times complaining about how I missed my job, how I missed playing Bioshock Infinite and all those other games. How I missed my place and the great atmosphere there. I mentioned how I wished this was a nightmare in which my eminent death would kick me out of with a heavy sheen of sweat and near hyperventilation.

But soon, I ran out of things to talk about. After that, the creeping muteness made its home and only broke its hush calm when Felix snored or someone spoke.

The drive was lonely and slow. Time seemed to be inching by, minutes seeming like hours. Two hours in, roughly 10 pm now, and nothing stirred. Sure, I saw the occasional walker on the side of the road, but nothing menacing. There wasn't a sudden zombie hoard heading straight towards us like in those ridiculously hilarious zombie movies.

It was almost painfully quiet, surreal even.

Every so often I would hear Felix mumble something or shift into the seat, which I imagined was difficult with the seat belt. I would peer over for a moment to make sure that he was okay and then I would check Marzia before continuing my straight ahead gaze.

Around midnight I noticed a change.

It wasn't too noticeable, considering we were now in the middle of nowhere and maybe fifty miles off from the interstate. However, I began noticing all the zombies that I did come across move in the same direction. Oddly enough, it was toward where we just left – or in other words, a city. It was like they were all mindlessly roaming towards it like planets to the sun.

The weird thing was that if that's where they were heading, why didn't we run into any in the city? We checked every single store that we were able to break into and we never heard a grumble nor scrape indicating their presence.

Rotating my head to peer behind me, I pursed my lips and shook my head. Weird. Maybe I'll mention it when Felix and Marzia wake up.

When I turned back from peering at a zombie to the road, however, I only had a split second to react. A split second to turn sharply to the left to avoid a head on collision with someone.

The tires screeched.

I remember hearing a loud yelp from both of the previously sleeping people.

I distinctively felt the car began to tilt.

Why did I not hit them? Because they were undoubtedly human. It was obvious and if it were the undead I would have just rammed into him.

Now that I think of it, it probably wasn't one of my grandest plans. Choosing their life instead of three of ours at the time.

I only felt the impact for an instant before my vision blacked out and my conscious soon after.