Chapter 1: Happy Birthday
It's peaceful, standing in the middle of a forest. There are no monsters around, at least from what she could tell. The little girl close her eyes and took a deep breath, taking in all the senses of the woods, how crisp the sound of crunching leaves under her feet, the smell of the old pines as they shed their needles in the wind, the sound of the morning doves as they call to one another, she likes to think that they mourn for the dead and those who were unfortunate enough to turn into monsters. Soon, another sound catches her attention, the sound of running water. The girl opened her eyes and followed the sound. Seeing the world at peace was odd, to say the least, which is a nice change of pace from constantly moving from place to place and killing monsters. As she approached the source of the sounds, the girl found a small creek, the water was slow moving, but pretty clear. Looking into her own reflection, she decides that it was time to wash away all the grime that's built up. Years on the road can cause one's whole face to look gross. The water feels nice on her face, despite the cooling temperature lately. It's the middle of fall, October, as near as she could tell. She couldn't help but look at the leaves in the reflection of the water.
After all this time in the apocalypse, the girl could almost always find some beauty in this world. The reds and golds of the trees bring a smile to her face. Abigail was always one for admiring the small things in life, despite the fact that there was usually little to no time to do such things due to the dead being out and about. Once, when she was six, she found a colony of tent caterpillars. The girl found out that she could make them dance by yelling the word 'boo' at them. She was in awe upon seeing them squirm around how they move so fast away from the perceived danger. Unfortunately, one of the monsters, a Roamer her brother called them, heard her joyful cries. The roamer made its way towards her. By the time she noticed the guttural calls of the walking corpse, it was almost too late. Thankfully, her brother was there just in time and killed it.
Then she looked at herself in the water. It's not often she gets a good look at herself in any sort of reflection. Despite all the dirt and the light scaring, it never ceases to amaze Abigail how her countless freckles against her white skin always showed through; she decided to undo her ponytail. The brunette let out a sigh of disappointment. Her hair had grown to a dangerous length. I really need to get a haircut. She thought. As she got lost in the beauty of the surrounding environment, a second pair of emerald green eyes caught her attention. Abigail smiled as she looked back to see her older brother. A man in his mid-twenties, Timothy had always been there in her life. Well, mostly because he practically raised her from birth. His long, lush beard flowed as the wind blew, which was a sharp contrast to his shaven head. To her, Timothy was the epitome of what it meant to be a good person. Someone who always tried to do what was right, which was rare nowadays. He was someone who never started a fight but always finished it. She felt like Timothy was the most selfless person she had the honor to call her brother.
"Hey jellybean," he gave her a quick hug.
"Hey."
"Whatcha looking at?"
"All of this." she gestured.
Timothy let out a soft chuckle.
"It's peaceful, isn't it? It's nice not to kill roamers for a bit and just enjoy this, huh?"
"Yea, it is." She responded with a small smile.
The two sat and admired the beauty that was before them. Taking in all sounds and smells of the woods. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the all too familiar sound of the dead crept into their ears. Timothy looked over at the roamer and sighed out in annoyance.
"Guys like you always ruin the moment. Stay here Abigail."
Timothy took out his knife and made his way to deal with the roamer. The calls of the undead thing always sent a cold shiver down the girl's spine. She wasn't scared of them, of course. Spending eight years of one's life in this world tends to dull the fear factor of the living dead. It was the seemingly omnipresence of the roamers that made her feel that way. Their fleshy call, the ones with their intestines flailing about in their open stomachs and their smell. The girl was glad that all she could smell was the outside of them. She shuddered to imagine what the insides were like. She watched as her brother walked up to the lone roamer, raised his knife, and stabbed the monster in the head. After he killed it, Timothy looked at the roamer, smiled, and called his sister over, seeing that it was safe to do so.
"Coming!" She called out, running over to him. As she approached her brother, she noticed him bending downwards, grabbing something off of the orange-shirted roamer.
"What is it?" She asked, eyeing a large knife with the top half missing due to a large amount of rust.
"It's a machete, well what's left of one."
"Cool, but don't you have a knife?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Well, yes, I do. But I figured since you lost your last one..."
As he held out the machete, Abigail's eyes widened with excitement at what he was implying. The girl earnestly grabbed the weapon and did a couple of test swings before she lowered it to her side. Then, a thought occurred to her. "How am I supposed to carry this? It's not like I can put it in my back pocket or anything like that."
"Sure you can, you just have to use your imagination." He joked, moving his hand in the shape of an arch.
Abigail rolled her eyes, but she loved it when her brother told her dumb jokes like that. After taking everything of value from the roamer, the two siblings made their way back to the creek. The familiar sound of running water returned to the girl's ears. As the two gathered water to fill their canteens, Abigail told her brother about her concerns with her hair and asked if he could cut it. He happily obligated, setting his bag down and retrieving a pair of scissors. The world around them was blissfully quiet, apart from the occasional birdsong and peeping of frogs. When he was finished and helped put her hair in a single bun, the two siblings headed towards their only home, a minivan they called Homer. The sun began to cast its twilight orange and purple colors by the time they reached the van.
Abigail quickly adopted the front passenger seat as her's, with Timothy commenting on how much energy the girl had. She noticed he was fiddling with his pendant. It seemed he was messing with it a lot lately. The pendant was something of importance to her brother, with it being the only thing that he had of their mother. It was quite simple design, a black rope that went around the neck, with the only notable thing about it was what the rope was attached too. He had told her that it was a tooth that belonged to an ancient animal called Tyrannosaurus. He said that it was one of the back teeth because the ones up front were as big as his knife, if not bigger. Out of the blue, Timothy asked to grab a deck of playing cards from the glove-box. Her eyes widened with excitement. "So, what are we playing tonight, Tim?"
"Well, I figured that we play a new game tonight. A game called..." He smiled, "War."
Timothy soon explained the rules, and the two started. Abigail found the game fun, but unfortunately, luck was not on her side for the first few rounds. She grew more and more frustrated as the game went on.
"I can't believe this shit!" she finally exclaimed upon losing for the fifth time in a row.
"Hey, watch the swears young lady." Timothy gave her a stern look.
"I meant crap."
The game went on for another few rounds before an all familiar grumble emanated from her stomach. Timothy called the game so that they could eat. Her brother skimmed through his bag and frowned as he produced a single can.
"So, can of beans sound good for dinner?" he chuckled sarcastically. he uses he knife to open the top and hands over the beans to Abigail. They both said grace before she gave him an inquisitory look, silently asking are you sure? He nodded, and she began to eat. As she ate, Abigail saw her brother play with his pendant again. She grew in curiosity. It grew more and more as he messed with it. It eventually got to the point where the words "Why are you doing that?" slipped through her lips. He smiled at her but said nothing. He was up to something, Abigail could see it. Whatever it was, she had no clue. When she was finished, she could feel the inevitable arrival of exhaustion. She yawned, she wanted to say awake. All she wanted to do was to make sure that Timothy, there home and, what little, of their supplies. But her own human nature was beckoning her to sleep, and Timothy seemed to agree.
"Alright jellybean, time for bed."
She reluctantly nodded and curled up in her seat. Then she looked back at her brother, asking him to sing her a song to sleep. One that he used to sing when she was little, well little-er. He smiled in agreement and began to sing, with her softly joining in.
"We'll meet again,
Don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again,
Some sunny day,
Keep smiling through,
Just like you always do,
'Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds,
Far away,
So will you, please, say hello,
To the folks that I know?
Tell them I won't be long,
They'll be happy to know,
That as you saw me go,
I was singing this song,
We'll meet again,
Don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again,
Some sunny day,
We'll meet again,
Don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again,
Some sunny day,
Keep smiling through,
Just like you always do,
'Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds,
Far away,
So will you, please, say hello,
To the folks that I know?
Tell them I won't be long,
They'll be happy to know,
That as you saw me go,
I was singing this song,
We'll meet again,
Don't know where, don't know when,
But I know we'll meet again,
Some sunny day."
As the song ended, the heavy set of sleep overtook her, and the world slowly went into darkness.
She woke up to the sounds of gunfire, the scent of burning wood and flesh seemed to emanate from everywhere. She quickly got out of the minivan and began calling for her brother, desperately crying out for his protection. As she went on, Abigail found herself in a compound and looked with horror at a large red brick building, with a white bell tower on top.
No, I-I can't be here! Not again! We left this place. I got to get away, I got to get away from him.
She began to run back the way she came, but despite how far she ran, Abigail saw only abandoned shops and vehicles. Without realising it, she was at the doorstep of an old, rebuilt pharmacy. She began hyperventilating. She needed to get out of there. Before she could leave, a voice called out to her. It was Timothy's. Still breathing uneasily, she entered the pharmacy. she walked through the small isles, seeing old energy bar wrappers and long worn-out batteries. Timothy's voice called out again. It was coming from the office. She knew where it was coming from, and she was afraid. Abigail slowly walked towards the door. She looked at the bloody sign that was hanging that said alive inside on it. The door seemed to open itself, and what was in front of her turned her pale. Timothy was on the floor, blood slowly oozing its way from his chest. Her breath quicking in both its uneasiness and shortness, Abigail looked over the right to see Him. The man seemed impossibly tall. His dark brown eyes were filled with a hateful glee towards the girl. He let out a laugh. It was long, cold, evil. He looked between the girl and her brother, a permanent smile plastered on his dark-skinned face.
"This is what happens to those who betray me." To describe his voice is like to describe the man himself. It was not only full of both hate and darkness. But also of charm and had a way of making it seem like he was right all the time. He raised a revolver that he held towards Timothy's head and pulled the trigger, killing him instantly.
"Glory. To. Mars." He said grandly and left the girl with the corpse of her brother.
A scream emanated from around the girl, a scream so devastating that it could only be described as something out of a nightmare. Abigail realized where the screaming was coming from when she felt her throat go raw.
She sat there for what felt like eternity, sobbing by her brother's corpse. She cradled the body, wishing that he would come back, protect her, to save her from this place. But he was still limp, the color of his body gone long ago. All that remained was chant, one that grew more and more in intensity.
Glory to Mars.
Glory to Mars.
Glory to Mars.
"Go away." She mumbled, the chanting continued. As if mocking her, it grew even more in intensity.
Glory to Mars.
Glory to Mars.
Glory to Mars.
"Go. Away!" She crying out, tears streaming down her cheeks. But still the chanting continued.
Glory to Mars.
Glory to Mars.
Glory to Mars.
"GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY!"
The chanting was like thunder in her ears. She covered them as best she could, but the words kept on repeating. She rocked back and forth, yelling go away with every passing moment. In the background, however, she could hear something else. Her name. Slowly but surely, it overpowered the three-word chant until the world started to fade away.
"Abby come on! Talk to me jellybean!" A concerned voice called out to her as she came too. Timothy. She opened her eyes and started to cry. It was a nightmare. All she did was sob into her brother's jacket as he tried to comfort her. She had nightmares, who wouldn't in the apocalypse. Some nights were better than others. But horrific nightmares like this happen on rare occasions. Timothy continued to comfort the clearly frightened girl. Through shaky breaths, she told her dream to him, about where she was, the man who killed him, all the chanting.
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, you hear me?" He said sternly, looking in her eyes. "Us Pauling's gotta stick together, right?" he gave her a small smile.
She nods in response, still shaken from her night terrors. The two stayed up for the rest of the night. Which, luckily enough, was almost over. The siblings excited Homer and climbed atop of it to watch the sunrise. The simple site of the beauty of the morning pinks and red hues brought a sense of ease to the girl. Once the sunrise was over, the duo made their way back into the minivan. Timothy looked at her and started to beam from ear to ear.
"By the way, happy birthday Abigail!"
Her birthday? She was surprised that he kept track because she didn't. The last time she kept count of her birthday was when she turned seven. Ever since then, she hadn't bothered to count the days since she was born. Why would she? The day of her birth felt like every other day in this world. Hard, cold, and dangerous. Timothy went on about how today was her lucky number nine and that he had something special to give to her. He gently grabbed her left hand and placed his pendant in it. She looked back at him, but he simply smiled. This was the reason he was messing with it.
Abigail was dumbfounded. This was his most prized possession and he was just giving it to her. She held it with care, like it would shatter like glass if she handled it wrong. It felt like it weighed a million pounds in her hands. Timothy offered to put the pendant on, which she slowly nodded.
"There ya go." He said after placing it around her neck, "Ya know, it looks cooler with it on you than me."
She simply smiled, but there was something off about him. Abigail couldn't help but see something in his eyes, it was like he had a sense of pride in her. Not the kind of pride akin to praise, but the kind in the sense of admiration of the person she had become. But she brushed it off, she was probably reading too much into it.
"Now, I don't have a cake for you, but if we find an orchard then I promise you'll get first dibs on the peaches."
She lit up with delight, peaches were her favorite and she would die happy if she ever stumbled across the world's largest peach. Timothy started the van and the two buckled up. Their plan for the day was simple, there was a town north of them and Timothy figured it was a good place to potentially find some supplies. The two drove for hours, with Abigail counting the cars as they sped by them. during that time, she noticed her brother starting to cough more and more, when she asked about it, he brushed it off. Saying that it was nothing but a cold coming on. She was skeptical, but didn't question it. By the time they passed a sign that said ATHENS 3 MILES AWAY Abigail was at ninety-four cars. She sighed, her stomach groaning in request of food. The beans she had last night must have been the last of the food they had. She was hungry, but she knew Timothy must be starving. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and smoke started to come from the hood of the van. Timothy grumbed, he stopped homer and got out. He opened the hood and his eyes went wide. Abigail rolled down her window. "What's wrong?"
"Dang piston blew out!" He called back. A sense of sadness fell upon the now nine year old. Homer was their home for the past three years. And now it was dead in the water, so to speak. She got out, her new machete in hand. It was now about midday, and the sun was beating down on the two. For being October, it was really, really hot out. So Timothy's next words brought her heart down in annoyance. "Looks like we're walking to Cleveland."
With one last look at what was once their home, the two began to walk down the long abandoned highway. The day seemed to move slowly, with every minute feeling like an hour. So the pass the time, Abigail started to talk about their travels. The duo recollected about the places they saw, the people they met, and the things they saw.
"Tim, do you remember Kenny?" She asked, the two were talking about their favorite people they've met. He chuckled.
"How could I not? The man was certainly colorful, I'm still shocked that you didn't correct him everytime he swore."
"I figured what was the point of doing so, the F word and crap came out every other word." She laughed, "But he did teach me how to swim, so that was cool."
"Hey! I was there helping too." He said with a fanned hurt expression.
The two laughed for a good long while. Enjoying each other's jokes and stories about the past. They were about two miles out from their destination, according to Timothy, the sun hung low as the imminent arrival of twilight was fast approaching. Suddenly the two saw a pair of lights in the distance. Timothy tensed up, reaching for his gun on his hip. The light grew closer at a rapid pace. Until it stopped about fifty yards in front of them. It was a white pickup truck, with armored windows and bloodied spikes on the front, probably from the amount of roamers that it ensnared. There was a two head wolf that was painted on the side of the truck, which sent a cold shiver down her spine. Two men stepped out of the vehicle, one was tall, lean and looked like he could run forever. His white skin was covered in burn scars, all with the same wolf symbol as on the truck. The second man she instantly recognized. His smile was cocky and anything but friendly. He was taller than the first man, more built than him. His copper skin sent an unnatural chill through her, battle scars covered him from head to toe. With a black eyepatch covering his right only thing missing was his infamous red beanie and brown fur jacket. Both with AKs.
"Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" The first man said, his voice rough and gravely. The second man said something to the first that she didn't hear. The siblings glared at the two men, both prepared themselves for a potential fight.
"Timothy Pauling, long no see. It's been, what? Five, six years? You've seen better day that's for sure. And I see you still have your little mascota by your side." He gave them a sly smile.
He moves in front of his sister, shielding her. "Not long enough, García. How's the eye holding up?"
García's smile drops, he begins to glare at the two. Without warning he shoots Timothy in the kneecap. Abigail cried out in fear as the man fell. He chuckled, wincing in pain as he spoke. "You actually shot me this time round. Good for you Gabe."
"Oh, I guess this is some big joke to you, huh? Like this is a one big comedy routine."
"Well, what's a comedy show without a joke? Now where could I find one?" He looked around, teeth chattering with the pain. Finally landing his emerald eyes upon Gabe, "Oh, there he is."
Gabe's whole face contorted with anger, he snapped his fingers and the white man rushed down the girl. Quickly taking her down with one swift motion of the stock of his gun. He pointed the tip of the rifle at her head, looking back at Gabe for more instructions.
"Get away from her you son of a bitch!" Timothy cried out, attempting to rise but Gabe stomped upon his wounded knee.
Clicking his tongue in mock disappointment, Gabe taunted him. "I thought christians aren't supposed to say words like bitch?"
"There's a time for everything Gabriel. A time to be civil and a time to protect someone you love at all cost!" He hissed, "A few swears don't mean nothing if it means saving her from you monsters"
Gabe yawns dramatically, not taking care of what her brother was saying. He grabbed the man by the back of the neck. "If you say another fucking word, I'll have Jed beat her skinny little ass to oblivion."
For Abigail's sake he remained silent. Gabe threw him to the ground and started to kick him.
"NO!" She cried out, trying to rush out to him, but the man, Jed, helder back. Forcing her to watch the brutal beating. Gabe kept kicking and kicking him, he grabbed his collar and started to punch him. Timothy's face growing more and more disfigured with each punch. A missing tooth here, a broken noises there. Once the man, if he could even be called that, was done, her brother was a bloody mess. Gabe's fist was covered in Timothy's blood, droplets dripping from his knuckles. He threw him on the ground and Jed finally let the girl go, she rushed to his side. Abigail could hear his breathing was labored, her eyes grew wide with fear, tears began to fall from them.
"Commander, we should head back, walkers could show up any moment." Jed told Gabe, "We should leave them for the fuckers."
Gabe nodded, "Alright, there is just one thing I need to do." He looked over at the sobbing girl. He grabbed her by the hair, all she could do was kick and scream. Terror flooded in her body, she was slammed onto the road. Her eyes widen as she realized what Gabe was about to do. He grabbed his knife and cut half of her left index finger off. She screamed from the agony, the pain was unbearable. He then used the same knife to carve a two headed wolf into the right side of her cheek. She sat there, crying, cursing at the two monsters. Gabe leaned down to her ear and whispered, "Glory to Mars."
With those words said, the two took Timothy's gun, entered into their truck, and drove off. Abigail ran over to her brother, sobbing and in pain. He looked up and smiled at her weakly.
"Hey jellybean." He suddenly coughed violently, spitting up blood. "Huh, I guess Gabe did a real number on me."
Then the sound of the roamers started to prickel her ears. She quickly surveyed the land around them. From what she could see, there were about a dozen roamers approaching them. Abigail looked at her brother, begging him to get up. With great effort, Timothy got up, clearly in pain. He pointed at an old gas station down the road. The siblings carefully made there way to the ruined building. When they got to the entrance, Abigail made sure there were no roamers inside the station. With the ones outside closing in, and the building being clear, the injured dou entered into the gas station. They hid behind one of the isles and Abigail helped her brother sit down. His breathing had gotten worse, she was scared, she prayed that this wasn't the end for him. But just by looking at how pale he was, no she couldn't think like that. He was going to live. he has to.
"Abigail, come here." She obeyed, a dark feeling forming in her stomach. He reach his out to caress her cheek. He smiled sadly at her. "How did I get so lucky."
She was confused, why was he saying this? Then the dark realization hit her.
No, He couldn't be! I-it's not possible!
As if reading her thoughts, he rolled up his right sleeve. Her eyes widened at the sight, it was plain as day. On his upper arm, was the unmistakable mark of a roamer bite. She began to cry for what felt like the millionth time today. How didn't she see the signs sooner, his gradual paleness, the coughing until blood came up. He began to cry with her. "Jellybean, I'm sorry, I should've told you-"
"NO SHIT YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD ME!" She cried out, why was this happening to her, this was just a nightmare. It just had to be. But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that no of this was real, deep down, she knew it was. What Timothy said next shatter her. "Abby, I need you to kill me. Please, I don't want to become a roamer."
"But you said that us Pauling need to stick together. So you can't leave me, please don't leave me." Timothy went silent, he looked like he was trying to gather his words.
"I hate it ya know, that you're in my position now." She looked at him, her eyes red from how much she cried in the past half-and-hour, "I had to mom down, she got shot not long after having you and..."
She understood, she hated this. All of this, she hated to roamers, she hated the people who hurt her and most of all, she hated her life. The only thing that made her happy was now being taken away from her, and she hated it all. He raised his knife, asking her to take it. It was the hardest thing she had ever done. He smiled at her. "We'll meet again, jellybean, don't you ever forget that."
"I will." She took the knife, raising it above her head.
"I love you, Abigail."
"I love you back."
Once the knife planted firmly into his head, Abigail Pauling's world got a whole lot darker.