Chapter 52 "I Survived"
Day 223
Sierra sat on top of a school bus, a fitted black trenchcoat protecting her from the remaining cold of the winter night. The bus was painted shades of white, green, and brown as camouflage. The windows appeared to be blacked out, or perhaps black curtains were drawn. Dried blood stained the grill and wheels, a dark red tinting random parts of the bottom-sides of the large vehicle.
The blonde on the bus looked down at her fingernails, dirt and blood intermingling grossly between them. Her stomach growled. She thought of her most recent encounter with strangers. It had to have been a week or two ago. She gazed into the woods, recalling all that she had lost, her dear friends and family members. She sighed, tired of the world she was enslaved in, but she remained alert in the morning light.
A rustling could be heard approaching from her right. Quickly, she put her silenced rifle up and pointed it in the direction of the rustling. Expecting a walker, she focused her aim on the head of the figure. Instead, however, it was a man, and she tried to stop herself as she realized it, but she instinctively shot. "Dalton!" shouted a voice from the same direction as the collapsed figure, and Sierra cursed under her breath, her face painting the anger she had at herself for pulling the trigger.
Taylor stood in the hallway of the large administration building, chewing contemplatively on a stale peanut-butter cracker. He looked on at the people in the building, going to or coming from their jobs, or making use of those on duty. They walked around carelessly, as if their lives really mattered.
They don't, Taylor thought. These people think that they're so safe, so well-off. But they're not. New people could show up today and sneak their way up the ladder of importance. Once they're there, we're all screwed, because they could do whatever they wanted to us. Everyone's just seems so oblivious,he believed.
He turned around, fed up with the dull, simple life before him. As he turned, he bumped into a pretty blonde, and he crumbled. "Sorry," he attempted to say, but it came out more like a whisper.
"It's okay," Lyssa laughed, brushing the bulky man's arm and sashaying off to the cafeteria.
Maybe they're not that bad, Taylor rethought, watching her bottom as she walked.
A young man sat on a bench deep within the neighborhoods of the community, playing with a small toy truck in his hands. He seemed impatient, or as if he did not want to be there.
"Tyler," Alexandra called to the boy from the kitchen window. The smell of stew seeped out from the window, and a loud simmering could be heard from behind her.
"Yes?"
"Where're John and Sophie?"
"They went to go get Stetson and Evan."
"Oh, alright," the aging blonde conceded. "How long ago did they go?"
"It's been a while," Tyler sighed and stretched. "They should be back soon."
"Good," Alexandra said happily. "You know how I worry."
"Yup," the teen called, then looked back down to the toy. "Except you didn't notice my sisters aren't here, either," he said under his breath. "All you care about is your kids."
"Did you say something?" the woman called.
"No, ma'am."
Tyler stayed seated, staring at the toy listlessly. Soon enough, Sophie came walking down the street holding her boyfriend Evan's hand. She was followed by John, who was making jokes and laughing with a boy nearly as tall as Evan, but was clearly much younger than the teen.
"You alright?" Sophie asked the boy, who was her cousin and adopted brother.
"Just peaches," Tyler said, easily pulling off a fake smile as he ruffled John's hair and gave him back his toy. "You nearly forgot that, little man. You gotta be more careful."
"I will," the innocent-looking little boy grinned. "Thank you, big brother," John said, pulling Tyler down to hug him.
"Of course," Tyler returned the hug, and his heart wrenched in confliction.
Robert exited the administration building, a basket full of food in his hands, giving him difficulty in walking. Others exited the building after him, taking their rations back to their homes, as well. He breathed in the frigid winter air as he stepped onto the road.
It was cold, snow on the ground from the night before. The sky was a large gray mass of icy promises. Despite wearing three layers, Robert still shivered, and he smiled as he thought about the fact his house was on the opposite side of the community.
As he made it onto the main road, he was distracted by the gates opening wide. In rushed Dalton, a large white bandage on his neck, blood staining his neck and clothes, going all the way down to his pants. He was held up by Roger and Dylan, who led the group. Following behind them was a sight Robert thought was impossible.
A familiar blonde woman followed quickly behind, looking determined and concerned. Greyson and Seth ran closely behind her, looking desperately for other people around the place to help. Greyson immediately saw Robert, and smiled widely. He pointed his boyfriend out to Sierra, and she smiled, but remained with the group, focused on helping Dylan.
Robert dropped the basket of food, his heart breaking into a race as he saw the sight before him. His face twisted in a mix of relief, confusion, and joy. Behind all of them, Caleb led in a large group of people, that looked to be made up of about fifteen survivors. It was hard to distinguish who all was there, but Robert immediately recognized Gabriel, Xavier, and Kelly.
The rations spilled on the ground, the teen further disregarded them and made for a sprint to the group. Greyson ran ahead and met him and they embraced, Robert crying into his boyfriend's shoulder, who was now crying once again.
"We're all back together again," Greyson told Robert, pushing even more joy into his lover's mind, who had missed many of the separated deeply.
Greyson grabbed Robert's hand and they walked to Sierra, and she immediately gave Robert a huge hug.
"I've missed you so much," the brunet sighed through tears. "All of you."
"You have no idea," Sierra returned. She gave a final smile before breaking off the hug. "We'll talk later."
Robert nodded, slightly confused, and he waved her off. He looked to the group being escorted in and then back to Greyson. "Can we talk to them?"
"Not yet," Greyson said. "You know how it is. They've got to get them all registered first."
Robert shook his head and looked back to the new group. He made out a few cute-looking guys, including a buff, tall blond, and a thin boy with green hair and blond roots. He made eye-contact with Gabriel and Xavier, and gave them both huge smiles and a nod, letting them know it was safe here.
Shawn, Beth, Mika, Lyrik, Patricia, Selenis, and Malcolm ran to the administration building, led by Robert, Greyson, and Seth. They had all been pulled from their homes or jobs and were all excited and overjoyed, knowing that their old friends had arrived. They were excited to see their old loved ones, and were desperate to know who made it.
"Did Otis make it?" Patricia yelled as she struggled to keep up.
"Like I said," Robert repeated, "I didn't get a good look."
"So you don't know about Ryan, either?" Beth chimed in.
"Or Oscar? Or Shakira?" Selenis questioned.
"No!" Robert yelled back to them all. "Like I said, I only saw Sierra, Kelly, Xavier, and Gabriel."
"What about you two?" Shawn asked. "You were both there."
Seth and Greyson shot each other knowing looks and bit their tongues. Their silence spoke a thousand words as they all began to feel worried.
When they finally arrived, they stepped into the building to see Jim walking into his office with Xavier, just as Sierra walked out. Roger, who stood by, gave Seth a nod, and he turned to them all. "Looks like the registration's been completed. We can talk to them now."
Roger spoke up with a laugh, "Thank God. Got a lot of catching up to do," he smiled to Kelly, who gave him a half-hearted smile and gripped onto Amanda B.'s hand. "A total of sixteen people, huh?"
Everyone in the two crowds began intermingling, having happy heartfelt reunions. Selenis and Gabriel shared a long hug; as did Amanda and Seth and Shawn; and Xavier, Sierra, and Kelly with Lyrik and Greyson.
Patricia immediately began scanning the crowd. She spotted a large man in flannel and went right to him, praying it was Otis, despite being almost certain it wouldn't be. The elderly blonde tapped the large man's shoulder, and he turned to face her, revealing a large, white beard, and she instantly deflated.
"You alright, ma'am?" he asked kindly.
Beth took notice of Patricia's plight and stood by her side. She wrapped an arm around her and gave Axel an apologetic, "I'm sorry." She looked to Patricia, who seemed utterly devastated. "Did you know Otis?" Beth decided to ask the man.
"I did," Axel stated, and his eyes went wide as he realized who the woman must be. "Are you...Patricia?"
The elder looked up to him as a tear escaped her eyes, which were now lit up. "Yes," she said mousily.
"I'm so sorry," he offered her. She nodded, burying her face into Beth. "He was a great guy," Axel said, motioning to put a hand on her shoulder, but deciding against it. "I didn't know him for too long, but I learned something from him in the short time I did. He was a strong, passionate guy. Had such a big heart. This one time, we were out camping in the woods after our ride ran out of steam, you follow me? It was so cold, and the girls were shivering, and we only had a few blankets. He gave this woman who had just lost her daughter his blanket, and he gave his gloves, boots, and warm flannel hat to the other girls. He always was lookin' out for everyone but himself," Axel said, then looked down and was silent for a while. "He really loved you. Through it all, he kept thinking about you. Wanting to find you. You're-...were...lucky."
"Lucky?" Patricia nearly screamed. "If I were lucky, he would be here. But I'm not. And he's not. That can't be fixed; I'm not gonna be easily consoled by some stranger who didn't even know him." She was crying ravenously, snot oozing out of her nose as she screamed furiously. She stared into the large man's eyes and turned, leaving the building before he could speak again.
"I'm so sorry," Beth told him. "Thank you for trying. She's just upset right now."
"It's fine," Axel nodded politely. "Tell her I'm sorry if I said somethin' wrong."
"Of course," the young blonde nodded before giving chase to her distraught mother figure.
After this odd, yet sad, scene, Shawn approached Sierra. "Can we talk?" he smiled, gesturing for them to step aside from the crowd.
"Of course," she nodded.
They stepped outside and looked out onto the mini town.
"How have you been?" the farmboy began, offering the blonde a cigarette.
The blonde's eyes widened as she snatched the white stick from the younger's hands. "Oh my god, you have no idea how bad I need this."
"I'm sure I do," he smiled, lighting his own cigarette and taking a drag.
"You smoke?" she asked curiously.
"I do now," he chuckled. "Helps me keep a level head." Sierra nodded, recalling the man's temper. "You didn't answer my question. How've you been?"
"Right," the blonde breathed. "Well, it certainly hasn't been a ball. At least I'm still alive, though. Today's probably the best day of my life."
"You don't even know," Shawn smiled to his old friend. "It's good to have you back."
"I would say 'it's good to be back,' but I don't even know where we are."
"You've been out there for how long and you still don't pay super-close attention to everything?" Shawn joked.
"Names aren't what I was paying attention to. I was too busy reading these...your people." Shawn chuckled and nodded, taking another puff. "How long have you been here?"
"We got here just around two weeks after the herd ran through."
"Really?" Sierra said in surprise. "You guys got damn lucky, then."
"I guess so."
"Who did you all lose?"
Shawn shrugged. "Well, first we were split into two groups. There was me, Seth, Selenis, Daniel, Greyson, and Robert. After about a week, Daniel went crazy over some drama between him, Greyson, and Robert, and fed himself to a walker."
"Damn," Sierra cursed.
"That's how I felt. It was so unexpected. I kinda thought Robert killed him on purpose for a while."
"Really?" Sierra raised her brow. "I always felt like there was something off about the guy."
"I dunno," Shawn sighed. "After that, we only lost this girl Sarita. Beth and them met her and these two guys, Malcolm and Taylor, not long after the herd. She's dating Malcolm now."
"Wow," the blonde said. "You approve?"
"I mean," Shawn puffed, "I guess. He seems like a nice dude. My only concern is that he's like eight years older than her."
"I don't know if that really matters anymore."
"So I've been told."
"Well," Sierra breathed out, "you guys really did get lucky. We lost so many."
"Really?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "First, we lost Patti when the herd swept through."
"Oh yeah," the brunet scratched his neck.
"We went back and saw she had been put down."
"Daniel did that," Shawn nodded.
"Then, Oscar got bit, didn't tell us, died, and killed Ryan."
"I knew it," Shawn frowned.
"Knew what?"
"I knew that Ryan was dead. Mika and Beth got really close, and she adopted the girl. Beth asked if I thought Ryan was dead, and something just told me he was."
"He was pretty dumb. Not sure why anyone would think he'd last that long. But I'm lad to hear Mika's doing well, and has a parental figure, too."
A loud laugh came from inside the building, and they turned to see Caleb and Roger making a joke, with Kelly looking embarrassed behind them.
"Glad to see they're all getting along," Shawn laughed.
"That's the first time I've seen some of them smile in weeks," Sierra said, a weak smile cracking on her own visage.
They kept staring through the window, admiring the happy scene. Shawn took another puff of his cigarette and urged the blonde to continue. "You were saying? Ryan died."
"Right. Well, I put down Oscar and Ryan, and took over the group. Kelly and Xavier became official, and we carried on. Made it to Salem, where your group was supposed to be at, but found Steve instead. He's that big blonde one there," she pointed through the window.
"He must have been a big help, right?"
"Not at first," Sierra chuckled. "We were all skeptical of him in the beginning and treated him like a prisoner. Kept him tied up and never left him alone. In retrospect, it was pretty harsh, but I don't regret it. Just 'cause he's not a bad guy doesn't mean he might not have been."
Shawn nodded, impressed with the knowledge exhibited by the blonde and her group. "No wonder y'all made it so long. I don't think we would'a done that."
"It was just a precaution," the woman shrugged. "Just a few days after we met him, though, we came across the majority of the strangers you see in there. The tables turned on us, and we became the prisoners."
"Talk about karma."
"You're telling me. Only thing is, Steve was a prisoner with us."
"He was like, a double-prisoner."
"In a way," Sierra laughed and pointed again. "That guy there's Merle Dixon. He was the leader, and he was basically a dictator. Bullied and taunted most of his people, fed them lies and stuff to get them to comply."
"You're kidding," Shawn groaned. "Why's he still here?"
"Because when he saw no one was listening to him anymore, after his place was destroyed, he fell in line. He's still pretty mouthy, but he's a good member of the group now. He's still got his problems, and can be a dick, but he's really stepped up."
"As long as he's not as bad as he used to be, right?"
"Right." Sierra locked eyes with Merle, and they shared a strange look. It was one of both hatred and respect. "He had more people. Four others. Robert, Sam, Mandy, and her daughter Poppie."
Shawn nodded, slightly saddened to hear another child had been lost to this world.
"That mom and her girl...that was tragic."
"When isn't it, when it involves loved ones?"
"That girl died. She got burned and bit. When Amanda K. — that one there — put her down, Mandy fell into a hard depression. Wasn't three days before she went out into the woods and just hung herself."
Shawn looked down to the ground, reminded of Maggie. He bit his lip and looked into the distance, watching Julia and Michelle running towards them.
"It's good to see there's still hope," Sierra stated, watching the two young strangers run into the administration building and straight into Jim's office.
"So what happened to Otis?" the farmboy asked hesitantly.
"God," Sierra frowned. "That freakin' guy. He sacrificed himself for us. Some of them in there will say it was an accident, but his death saved us all. I'd like to believe he knew that… We were hiding out in this school. We'd been there about a week, and were pretty set up. We knew there were walkers in other parts of the building, tons of em, but we just didn't have the strength to get them all. One day, one of our barricades fell. Otis was the first one to get up and start holding them all back. He yelled to us, woke us up, and gave us enough time to get most of our stuff and get out. Axel, Steve, and Gabriel were also trying to keep that barricade in place, but he yelled at them to help — that he had it. Of course they were hesitant, but they eventually let go like he'd asked. When it was just me, Amanda K., and Xavier, we yelled to him to let go and to come join us. He didn't say a word. He just looked like he was in complete pain and shock. The barricade broke, and all of the walkers he'd held back began devouring him — we had to leave him. I could still hear his screaming when we made it out to the vehicle."
Shawn was staring up into the sky, attempting to keep himself collected and prevent any possible tears. "I loved him so much," the farmboy stated.
"So did we. He was a hero." After a long pause, Sierra continued with her recounting of the events that she had been through. "Shakira died in the wildfire that burned Poppie and destroyed Merle's train station. Sam died to starvation just a month ago. Times were really rough. It was depressing to see the guy go. Robert was killed by bandits who stole some guns from us a few weeks ago. Otis and Sam died about two months apart, and in between those months, we met those three," she pointed to a blond teen missing his left leg, a man with green hair and blond roots, and a woman with short, frizzy light brown hair. "Dillon there," she named the legless teen, "lost his girlfriend when he lost his leg. Her name was Emily. Sweet girl. She was funny and light-humored, despite the world around us. Once again, we made a mistake by underestimating walkers. We tried to cover ourselves in walker guts to make it through a herd. We got pretty far, but Emily tripped on a corpse and screamed. Walkers got her in an instant. Panicking and trying to save her, Dillon did everything he could, but ended up getting bit. We pulled him out of there and cut his leg off."
"Jesus Christ," Shawn said, staring at the boy. "How old is he?"
"Nineteen."
"That kid's been through more than anyone ever should."
"You're not wrong. He's barely spoken a sentence since it happened."
"Can you blame him?"
"I don't suppose I can. I'm just impressed he hasn't ended it. Seen it happen way too often now. But he gets it. He survived. I survived. We survived."
Wow! Finally, everyone's reunited! Took long enough, haha. Too bad that we lost some people, though. They were all so kind. I hope you like this chapter; it was probably my favorite one to write in a long time.
Sadly, however, this is probably going to be the last chapter for a while because it's finally summer for me! The biggest reason for this hiatus is because school has really interfered with my writing over the past month, and I'm quite behind. Plus, the non-stop testing had fried my brain. But, when I do return chapters 53, 54, and 55 will be posted; the last of which is a BIG chapter that I'm excited about. Spoiler alert: it's titled "Prison."