Ch. 25
'New normal Part two'
[Early morning, Settlement]The sun had not risen, Genevieve was oiling the knife she had kept from her beloved mentor, Amanda.
Wiping the blade clean, Genevieve sheathed her knife, looking out the window, the teenager sighed knowing she would soon need to find out who would come along, after leaving her room, the young scavenger shrugged her rucksack on which still donned her signature pink unicorn, stitched into the former backpack of Jenny, pulling her boots on and began lacing them up, Genevieve looked up and saw Summer sipping on a cup of coffee.
"Please be safe Genevieve," Summer whispered, behind her coffee cup.
Genevieve nodded quickly, looming back down at her last boot. "I will be," Genevieve whispered back, finishing her laces up.
Summer sighed quietly, fearing every day that Genevieve wouldn't return home alive.
After a few moments of silence, Genevieve stood up and exited the house, walking through the snowdrifts, Genevieve made a mental note to remember she should shovel the walkway when she got home.
Walking half a mile, Genevieve let herself into the main building, being greeted by the watchman on duty, the teen made her way to the board and traced her finger down the list of names, landing on scavengers for this morning, Genevieve's hand and mood dropped. "Fuck," Genevieve growled under her breath, when she read the name beside hers.
[Early morning, Richmond, VA]
The wind howled softly through the dilapidated buildings of Richmond, once a thriving community, now nothing more than a shell of its former self, snowdrifts piled high against the base of the buildings, the morning air was clear not a flake of snow fell from the sky as a group of people, battled for supplies, including antibiotics, alcohol, and weapons, the cramped back alleys, served well to keep the commotion out of the open, bows and quieter weapons were more often used these days, but with ammo growing more scarce, survivors use melee weapons instead.
An arm was wrapped around Genevieve's neck, she struggled profusely against her attacker, he was stronger but she was faster, Genevieve had a hand between his arm and her neck but she couldn't pry herself free, gritting her teeth and breathing heavy, Genevieve kicked off the wall sending her and him into the other building's wall, an alley was both a good place to fight and a bad one, depends on your experience, cascading into the wall, the man's grip loosened, squirming around, Genevieve now faced her attacker, pushing with her arms, his strength was more than hers after a few seconds struggling, Genevieve changed her tactics, grabbing the man's collar and slamming her skull into his, a sickening crack sounded off, her vision blurry, Genevieve took the opportunity and shot her fist out, hitting the man's throat, Genevieve felt bones break, seconds later, the man started gurgling, releasing the teenage girl immediately, being back on the ground, Genevieve turned to see A.J. slamming an ax down on a man's head.
"You, ok?" Genevieve asked, shaking the dying man's hand away from her ankle.
"I'm fine," A.J. said, walking over menacingly, ax in hand.
"Do you want to take care of this?" Genevieve asked, gesturing to the man at their feet, struggling to keep his life futility evident.
Pulling a familiar knife from his pocket, A.J. handed it to the teenager. "You do it, Ya dropped this back there," A.J. said, thumbing back the way they had come.
Looking at Amanda's throwing knife, Genevieve looked back up to the man she was working with. "I thought I had lost it, thank you," Genevieve said genuinely, reversing her grip on the weapon and striking the man in the temple, waiting for the man to stop moving, Genevieve pulled the knife out, standing up again, the teenager wiped the blood on her pants. "Ready to keep going?" Genevieve asked, sheathing her knife on her thigh.
"It's freezing, so obviously I'm ready to get this over with," A.J. said, a shiver in his voice from the cold.
"Check them over before we move on," Genevieve said, turning around to survey their path forward. "They were probably holed up nearby," Genevieve assumed, the column of smoke rising over the building ahead of them.
A.J. let out an exasperated sigh, crouching over the first body, pulling its coat aside, A.J. found a few bullets meant for a 9mm pistol. "I'm tired of this shit," A.J. muttered, pocketing the ammunition. "Bullets, some chapstick, well cat oil, it works the same," A.J. said to himself as he walked to the next body.
Genevieve listened to her surroundings, picking up what could be walkers, snapping her fingers to get A.J.'s attention, the man looked up and saw the teenager holding a finger up to her mouth.
A.J. nodded quickly checking the bodies before swiftly rejoining his partner, the duo snuck up to the building between them and the smoke column.
"This might help," A.J. announced, a key in his hand, looted from one of the bodies.
Pressing the key into place, A.J. gently turned it, hearing a click, the door squeaked open, a couple of people playing a card game stirring at the sound of the door's old hinges.
"Rush 'em!" A.J. exclaimed, barging into the building, ax in hand.
A.J. slammed the ax into the closest one's shoulder, burying deep into his chest, the bladed weapon sticking in the wailing man, the other man grabbed A.J.'s arm and punched him in the ribs causing A.J. to recoil, three other men ran in from a hallway.
Genevieve, being taken by surprise with A.J.'s actions, watched on as he was overwhelmed by a handful of men before she joined in the fight, running forward Genevieve pulled her knife out and jumped on the closest one's back, and thrust the knife into his chest twice before he fell to the ground, Genevieve dismounting a moment before he did, the teenager took the brief moment to assess the situation, A.J. was being choked from behind while one punched him in the stomach, the last one had turned around and was running towards Genevieve, having taken her moment the teenaged girl leaped into action, ducking the right hook the man swung her way, stabbing him in the gut quickly, weaving under and countering his attack left the man, now stunned and holding the bleeding hole in his stomach, Genevieve took the small pause and threw the knife which impacted the man choking A.J. in the eye, killing him, turning back around the teen girl was met with a fist to her head, falling to her knees, Genevieve looked up in time to see a boot coming her way, throwing both her arms up, Genevieve caught the attack with her body, wincing at the pain, Genevieve held the man's leg and extended her own into his groin a yelp followed soon after, now angered, the man grabbed Genevieve by her hair and pulled her up before he wrapped his fingers around her neck.
Now free, A.J. blocked an incoming punch from the man he faced now before A.J. could counter the man's attack he launched himself at A.J. tackling him to the floor.
Genevieve knew she only had a few seconds to retaliate before she would pass out, fighting the urge to grab at his wrists, she instead found his stab wound and jammed her thumb in which warranted an immediate response from the man who screamed as Genevieve twisted her thumb and pulled at his wound until the man loosened his grasp on her throat, taking the chance, Genevieve threw her right hand in between his arms and thrust her hand into his throat, freeing herself, the teenager followed up with a quick jab to the face and a crescent kick to the knee, the crunch of bones and cartilage being destroyed echoed, the man fell to the ground with his knee in his hands, throbbing from the pain soon after an ax hit him in the face.
"Took ya long enough," A.J. said, an exasperated exhale escaping his lips.
"The rest of the group are probably through that door, are you still ok?" Genevieve said, a calm, emotionless tone to her speech.
"I'm fine!" A.J. half-yelled, lowering his voice soon after. "Quite asking," The man added before stepping to the door, A.J. cracked the door and strained to see any enemies in their path, counting off over a dozen people, A.J. could see they had ladders leading to the roofs surrounding this alcove yet all of the people were on the ground level, cooking and eating food.
A.J. could see the buildings out there were all connected to his respective building. "Kid, c'mere," A.J. called over, seeing Genevieve checking her backpack, listing off everything new and all her personal belongings, she would always bring those items with her, in the event she died, Genevieve figured she would die with a little bit of everyone she cared about as well.
Looking up from her checklist, Genevieve tossed the flap over and buckled down her rucksack, moving over to A.J.'s side, Genevieve stepped towards the crack in the door and peered out. "At least a dozen of them, ladders," Genevieve mumbled to herself.
A.J. nodded as the girl listed off what he had seen. "I'm thinking we knock the ladders down and send the dead in," A.J. said, nodding in enthusiasm.
Genevieve grimaced at the thought of sending the walkers in. "What?" Genevieve asked, assuming he heard the man wrong.
A.J. ran a hand through his hair, in frustration. "Send. The. Dead. In!" A.J. exclaimed, waving his arms in emphasis.
The teenage girl shook her head in disgust. "That's fucking horrible," Genevieve said, harshly.
"You got a better idea?!" A.J. hissed, his voice filled with frustration at being questioned.
Genevieve held the man's glare for a moment, breaking eye contact to mull over the idea, the teenager had noticed a chainlink fence housing a small amount of undead, most likely used as a form of defense, looking back to hold A.J.'s glare, Genevieve remained composed.
"I don't like this," Genevieve stated, sounding defeated.
"Just go knock the ladders down, I'll work the distraction out," A.J. said, preparing to open the door.
"Why don't you knock the ladders down?" Genevieve inquired.
"You're smaller than me, and quieter," A.J. pointed out.
Genevieve knew this was true, still feeling like this was a bad idea, sighed before shrugging out of her backpack and handing a homemade pipe bomb to A.J., pulling her rucksack back on, Genevieve refocused for the task at hand. "Throw this at the grill, wait for my signal, I'll tell you when to throw," Genevieve explained, before slipping through the cracked-open door.
Slinking behind a tarp-covered pallet, Genevieve waited for the man to receive his food, once his back faced her, Genevieve swooped to an overturned table across from her, clutching the weathered wood with her cold fingers, Genevieve surveyed her surroundings, the teenager could hear the men talking about their past spoils from ambushing a family a day or so ago.
Genevieve ducked when someone turned her way, narrowly avoiding detection, holding her breath so she wouldn't be found, the teenager waited for a chance to present itself, slowly popping her head up, Genevieve saw that the men had gone back to their meals, taking her chance, Genevieve vaulted a small concrete rail and grabbed hold of the lever to open the gate enclosing the walkers.
Standing up straight, the teenage girl licked her lips lightly before letting out a shrill whistle, moments later, a door swung open, hitting the exterior wall of the building, A.J. threw the pipe bomb at the open grill.
The men had been eating when someone whistled, the men turned to see a teen with dark hair opening the walkers' pen, and on the other side, a man slamming a door and throwing a projectile.
An explosion erupted from the grill slinging charcoal and metal across the area, some of the shrapnel hitting the living and dead, Genevieve had ducked behind the railing, being protected by the concrete.
Several men fell rapidly to the onslaught of walkers, A.J. stepped out into the fray with his ax at the ready, slamming it into the closest person who was reeling from being bit.
"Fuck! I got bit! I've been bi-!" The man wailed in fear and pain before A.J.'s ax silenced him, smashing his face in.
Within seconds the men were defeated but a few undead still walked, Genevieve threw her knife at one of the corpses, hitting it in the eye socket, crumbling down the walker fell leaving a total of four undead enemies by Genevieve's count.
Swooping under a flailing arm, The teenager trapped the opponent's opposite arm, stepping behind the corpse's legs, rotating her torso, the walker was flipped over the teen's shoulder, landing face-first on the concrete ground, the sounds of bones crunching were heard before Genevieve followed up with a boot to the back of the enemy's head, crushing its brain.
A.J. waited for one of the three remaining walkers to move towards him but instead was met with two, gripping his trusty weapon, A.J. swung the ax wildly, hitting the first across its face obliterating the walker's head, ripping the ax head out, A.J. not waiting for it to fall, A.J. took his top hand off the ax handle and pushing the corpse to the ground, push kicking the other walker down, A.J. brings down his ax on the undead's face.
Having just smashed her last opponent's head, Genevieve felt cold dead hands grab her shoulders from behind, the teenager whirled around swiping the monster's hands away as she did so, following quickly with a sidekick to the walker's knee, knocking it down, rechambering her leg, Genevieve fired her leg once again hitting the undead in the face, sending it back to the pavement.
"Flashy bullshit," A.J. muttered, barely loud enough for Genevieve to pick up on his comment.
The walker struggled to regain its footing, Genevieve had left the enemy and rolled over the corpse that had been killed by her knife, grabbing ahold of its hilt, Genevieve pulled it out with a squelching sound.
"Nice one," a familiar voice said sounding almost as if it were on the wind, Genevieve turned to face the voice but only found A.J. with an expectant look on his face.
"What?" Genevieve asked, sounding spaced out.
"Have a look around see what you can find, I wanna go back to town," A.J. spat, standing with a boot on the neck of the last remaining corpse.
Wordlessly, Genevieve moved to where the remains of the grill stood, the sound of A.J.'s ax killing the last walker was heard soon after, the surrounding area was now littered with bodies and rubble from the poorly made tables and chairs that had once stood, A.J. checked the bodies while Genevieve checked the surrounding area.
A.J. mumbled to himself flipping over a body and checking the pockets of its coat, pulling out four rounds of ammunition for a forty-four revolver, and handmade shank, A.J. cocked an eyebrow as he pocketed the items.
Checking the other side, A.J. grabbed up the small plastic card in the man's other pocket, a grimace soon crossed his face when he saw that the dead man had kept his driver's license all these years.
"Useless," A.J. growled, throwing the card away and standing up again.
Having moved inside, Genevieve walked slowly down the hallways, no lights would have made it impossible to see ahead of her without her small flashlight, while it was great to see ahead, Genevieve knew that the light would be a beacon for anyone or anything hiding where the light didn't reach, walking ever so slowly, Genvieve employed a technique she had picked up off Summer, heel first, roll the rest of the foot down carefully and quietly, listening closely to the small sounds around her, Genevieve thought she might have heard someone shuffle a bit just ahead, while the walkers play dead, they don't full-on hide, narrowing down what type of enemy this could be.
Having checked all the bodies, A.J. found several firearms and ammunition to boot, he saw that Genevieve had set a large blue cooler on a stool that survived the chaos, stepping over bodies and through the rubble, A.J. opened the cooler and found steaks, beef steaks, A.J. felt his stomach leap at the chance to have a steak after so many years, shutting the lid and lugging the cooler along, A.J. opened the door he had exited from, he checked the surrounding room, not seeing Genevieve, A.J. opted for his rather less intelligent plan.
"KID! Where are you!" A.J. shouted, his voice echoing up and down the corridors, a sudden crash to the left of him. "Ah, fuck!" A.J. exclaimed before running in the direction of the noise assuming the girl had got herself into trouble.
Genevieve snuck down the hall assuming there was someone in the hallway with her, hearing A.J.'s bellow, Genvieve whirled around at the sound of breathing to her right.
As the light hit the man, he rushed the teenage girl, throwing the flashlight, Genevieve saw she hit the man in the face before getting picked up and smashed into the door opposite him which now held on by its top hinge only, Genevieve's vision was blurry from the powerful blow, shaking it off, Genevieve brought her elbow down on the man's head three times before he threw Genevieve through the door, knocking it off its hinges completely, the man held to the door frame shaking his head, no doubt feeling the effects of being bashed in the head several times.
Genevieve got to her hands and knees slowly ignoring the blackened edges of her vision as she heard footsteps coming towards her, looking up at the oncoming danger, Genevieve stood on her knees redirecting the man's punt swiftly before hitting the man's groin with a back-fist, the man doubled over exhaling in pain as the teenager swing her right hand as an uppercut, demolishing the man's nose.
Reeling back the man got a look of anger on his face as blood dripped past his lips and down his chin, Genevieve stood up and got into her stance similar to a boxer, the man took a step towards her but was interrupted by a wooden handle wrapping around his neck, wrestling around to free himself, a sickening snap sounding out, followed by the man's arms falling to the sides.
Genevieve put her hands down as she saw A.J.'s face behind the now-dead man.
"Thank you," Genevieve said, holding pressure on her side.
A.J. threw the man to the floor. "Let's get outta here," A.J. muttered, turning around and picking up the cracked flashlight.
Genevieve obtained her flashlight, clicking it off and pocketing it, the teenager followed A.J. out into the main room once again.
A gun clicking sound was heard behind Genevieve, turning around the teen saw A.J. pointing his revolver at her, with a menacing look upon his face.
Genevieve squared up against her armed assailant, her hands calmly hung at her sides. "What are you doing?" Genevieve asked, coldly.
"Are you scared?" A.J. asked, stepping closer with the gun still trained between Genevieve's eyes.
While her heart pounded, she knew better than to play into his game, maintaining her poker face, Genevieve stood still, no sudden moves would benefit her here. "No, I'm not," Genevieve declared, keeping her eyes on his.
A.J. shifted on his feet, a scowl forming on his face, A.J. pressed the barrel of the revolver against the teenager's forehead. "Yes, you are!" A.J. shouted, echoing across the building again.
Genevieve sighed. "Quiet, or we'll have walkers on us," the teenager warned, never breaking eye contact.
The gun-wielding man growled in disappointment, lowering his weapon in anger, seeing Genevieve walk casually to the exit, A.J. holstered his gun before following the girl out the door into the cold.
[Settlement]
Summer had been working in the stables all day, her fingers numb from long hours in the frigid temperatures, dumping a pitchfork of manure into a wheelbarrow, Summer set the pitchfork down against a wooden pillar.
"Yo, Summer, Genevieve's back," Ian exclaimed, popping his head in the doorway, and thumbing towards the main gate.
"Great, let's go," Summer said wiping her hands on her coat and following the large man.
The duo ran up to where they could see the gate being opened, the sound of horses whinnying beyond the doors made of an old storage container, with the squeaking of metal hinges, the doors opened granting entrance for the scavenging duo, trotting in first, A.J. rode towards the stables dragging along the blue cooler which had been set on a plastic sled.
Genevieve clopped in atop her horse, Summer would have greeted the teenager girl who had become like a surrogate... Daughter? Sister? But Tina had run out to meet Genevieve and had hopped up on the back of the steed, wrapping her arms around the teenage scavenger, Summer watched as Genevieve trotted past her towards the stables she had just come from, Genevieve did send a nod in her direction, Summer gave a wave, noticing new bruises on Genevieve as the teen trotted away, Summer sighed in hopes the little girl she once knew would be alright.
"Stay safe, kiddo."
Sorry for the wait guys, been super busy of late but I hope you enjoy this chapter! have fun!