So plot bunnies are attacking but not for the story that everyone wants me to update.. URGHHHH. Anyways, I just needed to start this so I'd at least stop thinking about it! Enjoy~
In the end, it was quiet.
She honestly thought there would be more drama, smog filling the sky, sirens blaring, the whole nine yards. It might have been like that somewhere, but it sure wasn't here, in the godforsaken backwoods of Georgia she thought as she listened to her surroundings perched on a medium height tree branch. Noise of any kind was the enemy now, for that what brought them, the fucking zombies that had suddenly sprung up out of nowhere and ambushed her and her family in the middle of the fucking woods.
Camping was supposed to be fun, a great activity that doubled as a visit to some cousins who lived in Atlanta. It wasn't supposed to be the last time she saw him, it wasn't supposed to be a bloodbath. And all around, no matter where she wandered to, ducking in and out of places and scavenging what she could, did she see the slightest hint that things would be getting better anytime soon.
A scream pierced the low hum of forest activity.
She had given up on following screams weeks ago. However this one was different, tilting her head she confirmed it, it was a kids scream with no adult accompaniment.
She heaved herself off the breach and landed as quietly as she could. She didn't run, but the fast stalk through the trees she had recently adopted set a respectably brisk pace towards the source of the noise. Another scream, and the groaning the signaled at least one of those things and she abandoned caution to run to where she saw a little figure wrench herself away from two hulking monsters.
Drawing the machete she had strapped to her waist she moved to quickly dispatch the two zombies as the kid fell to the ground and attempted to scramble as far away as it could. Turning, she saw the kid was a girl, young – a preteen at most- with a huge bite in the side of her neck.
"I am so sorry" she felt the words leave her, a plea for forgiveness at her inability to save her, if she had just run faster-
"You helped me." The kid was crying, holding on to where she was bit and looking at her sad gratitude of someone who knew their savior came too late. The bite wasn't deep, but it would kill her, a slow death sentence.
"Yeah, well… us girls have to stick together." She tried to lift her mouth in a mockery of a smile, but it didn't really work as she crouched down nearer to the girl "My names Isla, what about you?"
"Sophia." The girl –Sophia- responded to Isla as she relaxed more, no longer trying to get away from the older girl.
"And where're your parents Sophia?" She couldn't have made it this far by herself, unarmed and weak as she seemed to be.
"I don't know! I got lost! I have to find my Mom!" Sophia started to tear up again and the excitement made her neck bleed faster.
"Hey, hey, it's ok, I'm sure she's around here somewhere." Empty words, Isla hadn't seen or heard another live human in days.
"I need to say goodbye…" kid was taking it like a trooper at least, her neck had to be in a lot of pain and she was going to die with Isla who she just met, no moms or dads present.
"I'll tell her" more empty words she couldn't seem to stop saying… Isla was blaming it on the fact that Sophia reminded her so much of her niece who had been 8.
"You will? You'll tell her I said goodbye? That I love her?" Sophia started to sob, heaving as tears streamed down her face and the reality of her situation really set in and she awkwardly crawled over to Isla who hesitantly placed an arm over her shoulders. The blood loss and trauma were starting to make themselves known, it wouldn't be long before Sophia passed out and would never wake up.
"Yeah, if I find her, I promise." Isla affirmed, she honestly didn't think she'd ever be able to keep that promise, but what else would she have said?
"Ok…" her voice was faint, Isla looked down only to see Sophia's eyes drooping, and for the 2nd time in the past few weeks, she had another person dying in her arms "Thanks Isla…"
They stayed like that for a while, the forest quiet and devoid of any zombies for the moment. It must have been half an hour later that she felt the last breath leave Sophia before she stilled, dead.
"Sorry Sophia, you seemed like a good kid." Was the best eulogy Isla could give as she pulled out her smaller camp knife and quickly stabbed up through the back of her head, preventing her resurrection.
Isla couldn't rationally spend the time to burry Sophia, not with night closing in and being on her own, the best she could do was cover her body with leaves and place it under a bush in the faint hope it would be too old for the zombies to be interested in when they found it.
She adjusted her pack before moving on, the run earlier having jostled around some of her supplies and making it dig uncomfortably into her back. With that fixed, she set out, night was setting in soon and she needed to find a decent tree to climb, she was alone again.
The following days saw her scavenging from some empty houses she came across as she drifted through the woods, finding the trees to generally have fewer walkers then the empty streets. Survival, it was really all that mattered now, and dwelling on those she had die, family or not, was not going to help her eat. So with that mindset she had set Sophia to the back of her thoughts, she had to keep going and with each death witnessed the little voice in the back of her mind saying 'give up, let go' got a little bit louder.
a little while later saw her sitting by a stream eating a small package of nuts and berries she had grabbed from the last house she raided when the sound of… horse hoofs came closer and closer.
"Sophia!" a man's voice echoed through the woods and had her tensing, searching for the telltale sign of any walkers who had to have heard the shout. She was relatively hidden behind some outcroppings of rocks and roots, enough that he probably wouldn't see her just passing by. The horses scream though, that scared the shit out of her as she vaguely saw the horse rear up and throw the man who proceeded to fall down the bank and stab himself in the side with one of the arrows he had on him.
It was impressive, the crossbow he was carrying that is. She knew it took some major arm strength to use something like that, and it seemed to be his main form of protection. But that was rather beside the point, she supposed…
He hadn't gotten up yet.
He was a lucky fucker to have landed face up, and not in the main part of the stream, she'd give him that. Going over after a few minutes confirmed that yes, he actually was still breathing… and now that left her with a decision.
She could strip him of his things, leave him for dead, maybe even kill him herself… and if she was being honest, a large part of her was screaming at her to do so. She had seen few other survivors over the past weeks, but for the most part, they were not the kind of people you wanted to meet alone at the end of the world.
Ultimately, looking down at him, she noticed he was relatively clean (unlike her) and despite his hillbilly redneck look, he was outfitted nicely and definitely hadn't been starving. She wanted to take the bow, she wanted to kill him and be on her way before any of his friend came because at first glance, he looked like trouble… but his voice kept niggling at the back of her head.
Sophia
There couldn't been that many lost girls in the backwoods of Georgia with that name, which told her that this man was not alone. There was the mother somewhere in the equation, and probably others too if he had left her alone to search for the kid with a horse of all things.
No one had ever described her as the trusting type, but neither had they ever called her dull. She knew she would only get so far alone, already the isolation and paranoia were eating at her and she hadn't slept more than a few hours in days… furthermore, it probably wouldn't be long before one of those unfriendly wanderers caught her unawares, and she really didn't want to dwell on what that would mean.
But this man was decent enough to look for a young girl lost in the wood days after it happened. He had to have a base camp, others to watch it, and access to some supplies if the absent horse was anything to go by.
Sighing she knelt by him, and for the first time in weeks, she didn't follow the instinct to cut and run. Instead she dropped her pack on a dry part of the riverbed and dug out the med kit she had been saving for an emergency…
Looks like she had an arrow to dig out, and an introduction to plan that wouldn't end with her dead.. And if it didn't work out?
Well,
It's not like she had much to live for now anyways.