Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Twilight or TWD. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Robert Kirkman. I do own the rights to the original characters created for the storyline. Please support the official release.
Writers notes: Hello everyone! Sorry I am updating late! I have been sick and am still under the weather but here is the newest update! Hope everyone is enjoying the season! I have started a discord for fanfictions so if you want to join, please message me and I will send the invite link! As always, don't forget to follow, favorite and review!
[Somewhere in the Northwest around the Colorado region]
The outbreak was unsettling. The virus that swept across the world happened so fast that there was no time to prepare. He knew it was a bad idea, weaponizing viruses that no one knew anything about. It was bound to fail and chaos would ensue. Charles Swan was a logical man. His dark hair was aged with the years of the military. The silver streaks at his temple and the crinkles around his eyes were signs that he wore his stress. His dark eyes were like two little pieces of coal, but they were wide, deep-set. His chin was angled down slightly and the curve in his jawline was prominent. His nose crooked slightly; his facial features not quite symmetrical. His face was scruffy, a mustache and small beard forming from not shaving as frequently as he would have liked. He had a scar above his brow from an old encounter with a rake one rainy fall on one of the few times he was home from deployment. His multi-decade time spent in the Marines kept him away. Yet after everything, he was strong, his age only a number at this point in time. He was overseas in France when the outbreak hit. He knew that he had to return to the states fast. He had little communication with his daughter and Jake. He knew that they were strong and would likely withstand the first waves. He had no doubts. But that was two years ago, though time had escaped him. He wasn't sure of the months passing anymore. He spent a good part of the first year trying to get to the states. His best friend of many years accompanied him. William Black or Billy everyone else called him. His native friend was a marine like he was. For many years and he got injured in the first wave of the outbreak. Breaking his back in a terrible fall but he lived and Charlie cared for him and took him everywhere. When they landed on Washington State, they lucked out landing so close to their old home. The home of Billy's tribe and Charlie's birthplace. He was married in Forks, had Bella in Forks before he deployed and took off around the world. As a Marine officer he was often at bigger top-secret events that he could never tell his family about. Not even Renee, who was a Navy nurse. His sweet wife… she died too young and before Bella was ready to lose her. She needed a mother with everything Bella had been through, yet Bella has survived and had become stronger. He would like to take credit for that, but he honestly hasn't known what he was doing.
Charlie thought a lot about dying, but he wanted to keep going for Bella's sake. For his friend's sake. They found Emily Young and Sam Uley in La Push. Six months post apocalypse and you could count on the rez being a safe harbor for people. For a few months it was fine. Until the walking dead stomped through, forcing them to run. Sam and Emily became very vital to helping with survival on the run.
It took them three more months to make it towards Colorado. The snow made it harder for travel but they kept going East and they had plans to go South. But it was harder and harder to travel in the snow. Now they were north of Colorado Springs and trying to stay in a log cabin during what felt like the worse winter storm.
"Plenty of wood." Emily said in her soft, sweet voice. She was five foot two and weighed probably a hundred pounds. She was nearing forty and the scar on her face from a terrible accident on the rez marred her beauty, though if you asked Sam, she was still so beautiful. Her dark hair was braided down her back towards her waist and her bronzed skin was pale due to the lack of sun lately. Her dark eyes seemed tired as she spoke but that was the normal now.
Charlie worked on cleaning the rabbits him and Sam managed to hunt down in the snow. They weren't meaty, but it would be some sort of food. "Should do for now. If the storm passes over we can get started headed more south. Get out of the snow. "
Billy spoke, the low rumble of his voice was layered with an edge of fatigue itself. "You should leave me here."
"Don't start." Sam said as he walked in from the bedroom. He finished turning the bed down for Billy. "We move as a team. Jake and Bella are in Georgia where it's nice and toasty." Sam was strong and it was clear that he was strong from looking at his shoulders. His hair was shaggier right now because of months of not cutting it. His skin was the same deep bronze, matching Emily and Billy's his eyes were dark and deep. He always seemed like he was serious, rarely cutting a smile but Emily was his humor and his sunlight.
"I'm pretty sure Georgia gets cold too." Emily said with a smile.
"Better than below freezing here." Sam said and then kissed her temple before looking to Billy. "Want to get in the bed? I can bring you rabbit when it's done."
Billy grunted. "I'm fine where I am. You and Emily should take the bed."
" Now Billy, you need to be able to rest fully." Emily said in a mothering tone.
Charlie cracked a bit of a smile. "Listen to them old man." He joked at his friend.
The joking came to an abrupt halt when they heard screams outside.
Sam and Charlie moved fast, grabbing their rifles and going towards the door. "Emily, lock it behind us." Sam said quickly as he followed Charlie outside into the startling white snow. They weren't dressed completely to be out in the harshness of the cold Colorado winds, but that didn't matter. They ran towards the winds, the winds blowing at their backs to make it easier to see. Charlie spotted the woman first, her body collapsing in the snow as she seemed to get herself trapped in what looked like an impossible situation with the icy creek and a couple dozen walkers. She fired with a gun she had and she managed to hit a couple of them before it was clear her gun was out of ammo. They saw another man rushing towards her, stumbling in the depths of the snow a few times but he made it to her side to help her up. Sam and Charlie rushed, slinging their rifles onto their backs as they pulled hunting knives from their belts and slashed into the walkers, they didn't show hesitation or fear of the walking dead as they managed to fight hard against the waning herd.
At the end, they had managed to save the girl and the guy that came to her rescue. They were both breathing hard, their bodies on fire from the exertion, but they were steady.
Charlie turned to the two they had just saved. "Are you okay?"
The man nodded, helping the woman to her feet. "Where did you come from?" his accent was slightly that of New York and it was strange to hear in the Midwest.
"Cabin. Come on. The winds are coming in harder. The snow will be falling hard before long." Sam said and with Charlie's help, they got the two back up towards the cabin. Emily unlocked the door when she saw Charlie and Sam return with two others.
The woman was shivering almost violently since her clothes were soaked from the snow and she wasn't dressed warmly. Out in the snow it had been hard to tell but she had blonde hair and her violet eyes were set nearly perfect on her face. Her delicate face and features were beautiful and youthful. Her teeth chattered as Sam guided her to the fireplace.
"I'm Emmett. Emmett McCarty. I was CSPD." He relayed. Emmett was sturdy, tall. He had wide shoulders and had the muscle to go with those shoulders. His dark hair peered out in tuffs under the hat he wore. His eyes were a navy blue and were darker right now in the dim lighting of the cabin. His face had scruff that matched Sam and Charlie's
Charlie reached over and clasped his hand in Emmett's. "Colonel Swan." He said. "This is Sam Uley and his wife Emily. And that's Major General Black." He introduced.
Emmett nodded, shaking Charlie's hand firmly. "Thank you for saving us. This is Rosalie Hale. We found each other about three months ago. We were trying to get to some sort of cabin. The herd activity in the city is getting worse so we thought we would break for the more rural areas. The snowmobile we were using broke down and so we were trucking through the snow. We didn't realize that there was a herd surrounding one of the cabins farther down and so we tried to outrun them. We don't have much."
Emily got Rosalie swaddled in blankets by the fire and then brought blankets for Emmett who had shivered slightly during his speech.
"Yeah, we're just passing through. This storm blowing in forced us to hunker down here. We're headed to Georgia." Charlie said and then walked back towards the counter where he had been working on the rabbits. He poured water from a jug onto his hands to clean them the best he could before he resumed what he was doing. "Get warm and I'll have rabbit ready soon. I'm sure You're hungry."
Emmett nodded his thanks to Emily and settled next to Rosalie by the fire. "Thank you."
Charlie looked at the map, Emmett and Sam standing next to him. The snow storm moved out a week ago and now they were back on the road. Emmett and Rosalie wanted to tag along and Charlie didn't see the harm. Billy was more cynical about it. But Charlie figured with Emmett's strength, it would be easier to survive. Rosalie was helpful as a nurse previously. That would be beneficial in the event someone was hurt.
"If we drop down through Oklahoma we can start moving out of the cold." Emmett said, pointing at the map.
Sam nodded his agreement. "Yeah, but Texas is a lot of land to cover if we go that route. The fastest way to Georgia is going to be continuing east on this highway. We'll make it through Missouri and then Illinois. Angle down through Kentucky and then come across Tennessee going I-40 East." He said and shrugged. "Colder but we'd travel faster."
Charlie stroked his chin a little as he thought about it. "Yeah. The Humvee can handle the snow and ice so it's faster to go that way. Texas is a lot of wide open space and then there's the population." He nodded. "We'll cut through this small town up ahead first. Gather supplies. Warmer clothes and then we'll keep pressing forward East."
Emmett nodded. "Alright. East it is." He slapped Charlie on the shoulder and then walked around to the back passenger side and opened the door before sliding in next to Rosalie. Emily was in the back of the Humvee knitting something with yarn they found a while back to keep herself occupied. The cool rush of air coming inside made both women shiver a little, but it was gone when Emmett closed the door.
Sam looked out at the snow-covered roads and grimaced a little. "Food is going to be an issue with two extra people."
"It's a necessary risk. Emmett is strong. Rosalie a nurse."
"I know." Sam nodded. "Bella is strong. She's still alive Charlie. We don't have to rush."
Charlie looked at his younger friend. "I know she's strong. It's been two years Sam. I just want to see my daughter… I want to get Billy to his son."
"I'm with you brother." Sam clamped a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "We'll get to Bella and Jake." He said with a reassuring nod. He patted Charlie's face lightly before rolling up the map and going to get in the seat behind the driver's seat. Charlie sighed one more time before climbing into the driver's seat and angling the Humvee East.
[A week later]
Sam nursed his wounded arm. They found the small town of Woodbury only to discover that it was occupied by a maniac that called himself the governor. He was Rosalie's ex-fiancé and she thought she had rid herself of him. Sam got shot in his shoulder in the process but Charlie managed to get them out of there without casualty. Now they were in Illinois, south of Chicago. The roads were not kind with cars littered everywhere, it was hard to maneuver easy with the large Humvee. But they needed to stop. They needed supplies again and the food they had was getting low. Sam needed antibiotics and Rosalie was sure of it.
Charlie surveyed the town with his binoculars. Emmett was going with him to the pharmacy. Walkers were guarding it pretty well, so it wasn't going to be an easy in and out. They didn't have many options, so they would try their best to get it clear before rummaging around inside.
Silently the pair slunk through the town, only using force if they needed to get through the scattered walkers in the streets. They made it to the corner where the FM Bank was positioned. A small herd of walkers rounded their way and Charlie and Emmett slipped inside the glass doors of the bank and retreated out of view. There were no walkers inside the bank and Charlie found that slightly odd. He pulled his flashlight out and turned it on and swung it across the back counter and saw a shadow of something.
"This is Colonel Swan with the United States Marines. I know someone is there." Charlie's authoritative voice echoed inside the confines of the bank.
Slowly someone stood. A man with a red beard and red hair. He was strong looking. He was wearing an army jacket that matched his pants and the beige combat boots seemed large on his feet. "Sergeant Abraham Ford, sir." He announced.
Charlie looked at Emmett and then at Abraham. "Army?"
"Yes sir." Abraham said. His blue eyes studied the two men and then pulled his dog tags free to show. Charlie did the same and they nodded to each other. Charlie walked towards them and a woman and another man came out of the vault hands clear so Charlie could see they weren't a threat. "That's Rosita Espinosa and Eugene Porter. My companions."
Charlie took in the sight of the other two. Rosita was Latino, slender and tall probably around five foot seven. Her dark hair was pulled in two low ponytails that brushed her shoulders. She was wearing a dark jacket, fingerless gloves and army pants. She wore a hat on her head, a green army cap that matched the pants she wore. The other man was timid looking. His dark hair was longer, brushing his shoulders in a seventy's mullet. His eyes were blue-green and scared looking. He wore a plaid jacket with a hood and then he was wearing dark khaki pants and boots. He was wearing a backpack as was Rosita. Both didn't seem like they were military. "Alright. Well, we don't want trouble. We were just waiting out the small herd before exiting."
Abraham nodded. "Same. We saw them moving in so we entered through the rear."
"Back exit could get us closer." Emmett commented.
Charlie agreed. "It could."
"Closer to what?" Rosita asked her tone wasn't heavily Latino but there were some closeness.
"Pharmacy. Looking for medicine." Charlie said simply.
Eugene waved a hand. "I am not going for a weapon. I have medicine in my bag. We already were at that pharmacy." He spoke and stuttered slightly. His accent was strange, like a southern robot trying to talk but Charlie gave him a nod and Eugene reached inside his bag and grabbed medicines. "There was not a lot. I grabbed antibiotics. It was already pilfered through."
Charlie looked at Emmett. "We need just a bottle of antibiotics. Just one bottle." He said and Abraham grabbed a bottle and tossed it and Emmett caught it easily "Thank you."
Abraham nodded. "Of course. We do have a favor to ask."
Charlie was wary but he gave a simple nod. "Okay."
"Our vehicle broke down about two clicks West of here. We are trying to get Eugene to DC. He's a scientist with information on how to cure this disease and we need to get him to the-"
"There isn't a cure." Charlie cut him off. "I was there when this happened. The virus is unknown to us. It was an experiment gone wrong."
"I assure you that there is always a way to find a cure. I have the knowledge to help create a vaccine that would prevent further spread of this very unfortunate virus." Eugene said quickly, stumbling over his words a little.
Emmett looked at Charlie. "We can drop through DC on the way to Georgia. We're being detoured that direction because I-40 is eat up."
Charlie thought about it. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea. A vaccine to prevent more spread was ideal. Even if it wasn't a cure for the ones already infected, a preventative was plausible.
