Ch. 36
'The bigger they are Part one'
[Melissa] "Previously on Alive Inside."
A quick recap of S1, S2, and S3:
In 2012, the Christensen family from Idaho Falls were thrown into an apocalyptic America by a mysterious plague that shook the united states; Blake eventually led the growing group of survivors to Georgia in hopes of finding refuge, but all they would see was Blake's demise, or so they thought.
Four years later, in 2016, Summer, Blake's sister who had witnessed the tragic event, vowed to take care of the little girl Blake had taken on after her parents were killed; the group had returned to Tennessee, where they had met someone on their way to Georgia; had settled the group down in a colony near the border of Kentucky; trouble ensued, and the group was shanghaied into a community led by a tyrannical man, the group would escape at the cost of Amanda's life, the person they had met in Tennessee, years earlier.
Five years after the traumatic event in Kentucky, the year is 2021, and Blake was discovered to be alive and with a good community that the group now resides in; life seems to finally go right until a now fifteen-year-old Genevieve goes on a bloody rampage across the states of Virginia and Maryland in pursuit of vengeance for her murdered partner, causing the hostile Saviours to retreat out of the western states back to the south.
[Outside Atlanta, GA, August first]
The trio had finally reached Atlanta; after two weeks of travel, the sight of its dilapidated spires sent shivers down Summer's spine; this was where she and the group had met Trevor.
The city stood as a ruined beacon; what once was a proud city was now no more than a desolate wasteland; the early years were spent in warfare, while the latter saw the Saviours' reign.
Summer watched Blake walking ahead of her; the last time she was in this city, she believed he was dead, but now, he was about to lead them through the hazardous home of the Saviours.
"There shouldn't be very many undead, if any, not till we get to the suburbs anyway," Blake said over his shoulder as the group crossed the threshold into the city.
Summer worried more about the living; they could lie, steal, cheat; you knew what the dead were going to do.
The group rounded a corner, staying as quiet and stealthy as possible; Genevieve had been quiet the entire journey from Virginia to Georgia, and Summer could only imagine what was going through the young survivor's head, what atrocities had that young girl committed in her quest for revenge.
The city was eerily quiet; no signs of life were immediately evident either, animal and human alike.
All that Summer could hear was her and the other two's footsteps on the nearly nonexistent concrete sidewalks.
Summer's side was achy today, the bullet wound was indeed healing, but it still could be trouble if it were to open again.
"It looks like the neighborhood we want is here," Blake said, pointing to the street sign. "Looks like the dead have arisen this morning," Blake said, lifting his hands to emphasize the undead milling about, obstructing the group's path.
"There's probably a bunch in the alleyway, too," Summer sighed, trying to figure a safe way through the horde.
Genevieve surveyed the scenery silently; the monsters were everywhere, and the glimmer of hope she had, had slipped further out of reach.
"Well, we didn't come this far to quit, so… There can't be more in the back then out here," Blake said, starting his way to the back alley.
The girls fell in line behind him, and the trio found that there were considerably less; the group counted no more than four, spread across the next half-dozen houses.
"Which one is the house Ian is in?" Summer breathed in a low voice; attracting even four zombies could bring the rest of the horde down the survivors.
Shrugging his backpack off, Blake pulled the map out before slinging one of the pack's straps over his shoulder.
"Fourth one down, just over there," Blake said, pointing past the undead enemies in their way.
"Why can't we ever just get somewhere without a hassle?" Summer growled as she grabbed her bow off her back and readied an arrow.
Genevieve pulled her knife out, and Blake followed suit by putting his hatchet up.
Summer let the arrow fly and watched as it hit the target; after it pierced dead-center between the eyes, the zombie fell dead.
Genevieve and Blake rushed forward to meet the final three.
The young survivor jumped towards the house and kicked off the moldy siding, using the momentum to torque her kicking leg directly into the undead's head, sending him to the dirt.
Blake reared back with his hatchet and swung it overhead, bringing it down on the walker's head, decimating the monster's cranium; the force of Blake's swing crunched the zombie to the ground with dirt flying into the air.
Landing on the balls of her feet, Genevieve turned to face the last corpse in their way in quick succession; she drew her knife and threw it.
The knife flew through the air with perfect trajectory as it hit the monster in the eye.
"Shit!" Blake exclaimed in awe as the last walker fell to the ground, turning his attention to the young survivor who had just lifted herself to an upright position. "What're you supposed to be? A ninja?!" Blake asked with a laugh, surrounded by the dead they had just dispatched.
Genevieve stifled a smile as best she could whilst she put a boot on the corpse's neck and wrenched her knife free, and cleaned the weapon on her pants. "Amanda showed me a few tricks when she was around," Genevieve answered honestly as she pocketed her knife.
"Huh, copy that," Blake said, noting the young survivor's stoicism.
The trio approached the backyard's gate and found the door lying in the grass; the surrounding foliage had been trampled all the way up to the house, several sets of feet would have been present.
To the group's dismay, the glass sliding door to the house was shattered; this could prove to be a bad omen.
Summer felt her heart thumping; she crept through the door first; no one was immediately visible; the only thing left in the living room was a walker with a familiar face to all except Blake.
A mix of terror and sorrow swept over the room; Summer and Genevieve closed in on the undead that shifted towards them.
The walker decided to make Genevieve its meal, and with a sad sigh, the teenager quickly side-stepped the little girl and clamped a hand around its throat, and wrapped her other arm around the undead's torso, encircling its arms.
The dead child's feeble struggle to break free made the ordeal more heartbreaking to Genevieve; this child was a baby when they met; she had been such a funny girl, curious and vibrant, she brought light to this horrible world, and again the monsters put out another flame.
"Do you want me to do it?" Genevieve asked in a saddened tone, looking to Summer with her eyes now wet with the prospect of killing someone they loved.
Standing just in front of the young survivor she loved so dearly; Summer shook her head gently before tearing her eyes from the walker to meet Genevieve's.
Sharing a slight, slow nod, Summer pulled her knife out of its sheath, and Genevieve tightened her grip gently; the steps; Summer took towards the end of this child's existence were deafening, and the thought of ending the offspring of Ian was sickening to her.
Summer put her left hand on the dead child's face and placed the tip of her Bowie knife on the other side of her head, right in the middle of the temple; Summer kept her eyes on Genevieve, who shared her look of sadness.
The two women closed their eyes together, awaiting the inescapable sound of silence, for when they heard the knife pierce the walker's head, there was silence, insufferable silence.
The body went limp in Genevieve's arms; it was over, and the group would never see her grow up.
Lowering herself gently to her knees, Genevieve laid the dead walker down on the floor, closing her eyes in reverence.
Blake had pulled a curtain down from one of the windows in the living area; the man quickly made his way to the side of the dead child; when Genevieve stepped away, Blake spread the curtain over the corpse in a show of respect.
"I'm sorry y'all had to do that," Blake said somberly, hoping his condolences would ease their grieving.
Summer's breath was shaky; her back turned away from the corpse, yet another dear friend had died of the plague. "Let's find out where they went," Summer said, trying to stay composed.
Hearing Summer's words, Genevieve pushed her thoughts down; it wouldn't help to get stuck thinking about death right now.
Lifting herself back to her feet, Genevieve turned around to survey her surroundings. "Let's see what we figure out around here," the young survivor said evenly.
Taking a moment to search the house, the trio could only find a booklet that seemed to have been from the CDC building.
The group retreated back to the kitchen of the house; Summer had set the booklet on the counter for the rest to see.
"Why would they go there? If there were a cure, we'd know it by now," Summer said, still distraught from the demise of Ian's daughter.
"They were probably desperate," Genevieve lamented; this was her fault; they would still be together if it weren't for her.
Blake pulled the map out and thumbed across the city of Atlanta; his thumb fell on the Center of Disease Control; the man nodded before looking up to his companions.
"That ain't far from here, maybe a little more than a half-hour," Blake said, showing the girls what he had found.
The two came over to see his finding, and both of them knew they would have to try.
Folding up the map, Blake put it in his back pocket, inhaling and exhaling; the ex-saviour figured this could end in heartbreak for the girls, but he knew it would be the right thing to do.
"Let's get to the CDC."