This chapter marks the beginning of two different story arcs. While the next few chapters will focus on one group, both groups will receive focus later on. For now though, let's begin with the next arc!
As the morning sun peeked out from the horizon and slowly entered the room, the group began to wake up one at a time, some more groggy than others.
"Man, I miss having a bed." Eddy groaned as he sat up from his spot on the floor. There weren't nearly enough beds for everyone and the couch wasn't going to house more than two people at minimum. Thankfully there were some rugs and mats that provided at least a little bit of comfort.
Breakfast was cooked as more of them woke up, if it weren't for the fact that they were out of their home country, in a stranger's abode, in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, one might confuse the sight of all of them as some sort of bizarre family gathering.
As everyone ate, they packed up everything they needed, some of the group still trying to prepare for the split mentally and emotionally. Lenore pulled her daughters aside and into another room.
"Didn't think I'd be saying goodbye to you girls like this." She began.
"It's not forever, Mom!" May assured, smiling up at the older woman. Her face tried to show a sense of optimism, but all of them could tell that May was upset about leaving. Hell, they were all upset about having to split up.
"I know, Honey." Lenore said, pulling all three of her daughters into a hug. "We'll meet up again soon, and when this is all over we'll move into a better home so that you can all have your own room to come to when you're on break from college!"
As she mentioned college, she looked down at Lee, her eldest daughter. When she received word from Principal Antonucci that Lee was among the top students in her class, she was ecstatic, Marie and May weren't as high but when they started hanging out with Janyse and the other girls in their class more, she noticed a lot of improvement in their academics. Once all three girls received college acceptance letters, she had to leave the room so that the three wouldn't see her crying tears of joy.
In a small trailer park in rural Arkansas, 19 years earlier...
"Are you sure this is really what ya' wanna do?"
Lenore Kanker looked down at her stomach, growing slightly larger due to the early stages of pregnancy.
"I gotta, this town ain't no place for me to raise my baby." Lenore said, looking up her mother. The older woman resembled her a fair bit, with her hair being long like May's would be but in a dark brown color. She then looked over at her father, who had the same red hair that Lenore did, but his was slightly balding and the hair he did have was more as a scraggly looking beard. Behind them stood a young man with a car ready to drive off, he watched the three with a concerned look.
"And you think raising 'em with that li'l city boy is gonna make 'em a good person or somethin'?" Her mother asked.
"That ain't what I'm saying! I just-"
"I don't wanna hear it! Go on and be with them fancy city folk!"
As her mother left, Lenore's father lumbered over to his daughter and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.
"Don't mind your ma, she's just trying to deal with this. What are you two planning on doing?"
"Butch said he's got some friends up north in Canada." Lenore began. "He says they can get us a place while he works on this book he wants to write."
"Book? He don't got a job to make money in the meantime?" Her father looked at the young man waiting in the car; he was fairly muscular but had a bit of a belly on him that was covered by a leather jacket over a blue shirt. Aside from that he could see the boy wearing green jeans. The two locked eyes, with Butch giving a polite handwave to Lenore's father, who returned the greeting.
"Alright, well... Whatever makes you happy, Pumpkin." The man said, sharing a hug with his daughter. "Just remember that you always got a home here, no matter what your mama says. Just remember to show us some pictures of the little one when they come out!"
"Thanks, Pop, and I will!"
Right before Lenore turned to the car, her father placed his hand on her shoulder again.
"Before you go, I want you to have this."
He handed her a package wrapped in an old cloth, as Lenore unraveled it, she gasped. It was a ship in a bottle, the family's last name carefully carved into the side.
"Dad..." She said softly with her voice cracking a bit.
"I want you to have it." He said. "Consider it as one of them going away presents... Don't forget about us, okay?"
After one last hug, Lenore got into her boyfriend's car, she caught a glimpse of the rest of her family, which consisted of siblings of about 5 boys and 4 girls ranging in ages from what appeared to be 4-20 waving or cheering her on. Even her mother seemed to have a bittersweet look on her face. The feeling of an arm draping over her caught her attention, with that arm belonging to Butch, who smiled at her as they reached a red light. The two locked eyes and smiled before the light turned green, getting Butch's attention as he faced forward.
"Well, Dollface, this is gonna be the beginning of a brand new life for us!"
Garden Expressway, Canada, 8 years earlier...
"Damn it... WATCH WHERE YOU'RE FUCKING GOING!" Lenore swore at the car that cut her off. She was driving in a pickup truck towing a mobile home down the highway. After about another ten minutes on the road, she took the next exit and finally arrived at the town she and her pre-teen daughters would be moving to: Peach Creek.
They had to move their after the apartment she and her last man couldn't keep up with the rent... well it was mostly her...
Once the light turned red, Lenore looked over at the passenger seat, the robe of her last boyfriend neatly laid out on the seat. The name 'Rod' neatly stitched onto it. She gently caressed the sleeve with a look of depressed longing on her face before her attention was brought back to the road, with the light now turning green.
Eventually, Lenore pulled up into the Park n' Flush trailer park. An open spot reserved for them buy the renters. If she was being honest, she thought the whole place looked like shit. There was bottles and other trash scattered around the place, which probably explained the low price, but it was the most she could afford for the time being.
Shutting her truck off, she stepped out and quickly lit up a cigarette, looking around the place. Aside from the litter everywhere, she remembered passing by an elementary school and high school on her way so at least her daughters could hopefully get a better education than she did. As she leaned against the mobile home, the door opened and three girls stepped out.
"Hey, mom, is this it?" Lee asked.
"Yup, home sweet home." Lenore replied flatly, blowing out some smoke. "I saw a school earlier so I'll try to get you three signed up for it later."
"Can we go out and meet some of the locals?" Marie asked. The three girls looked at her mother with pleading eyes... well at least two of them did. Lee's curly hair covered her eyes just enough for Lenore to sometimes be unable to tell what she was thinking. But having raised these girls almost by herself, especially with their upbringing, she was confident they'd be fine. The town looked pretty peaceful and when she found out about the place, she was happy to learn that crime was pretty much nonexistent in the suburbs they were currently going to live in.
"Just be back before dinner." She sighed, as her daughters gleefully wandered off, she sighed to herself. Finishing her cigarette and getting the robe and other luggage from the truck, she headed inside the mobile home and hung Rod's robe on a rack with two other robes with the names 'Butch' and 'Bubba' on them. After looking at Butch's robe for a moment, she quickly planted herself down on the couch.
"One hell of a brand new life... Damn it, Butch..."
3 months ago...
"Can't believe this is actually it." Marie said, sitting down on the couch after dropping her backpack by the door. "Graduation's coming up, summer break, then college!"
"Hey, don't get so excited, college ain't all fun and games." Lee warned.
"Maybe not for you, Ms. I got accepted into one of the best schools around!" Marie replied.
"Hey, you got a scholarship for your kickboxing skills and May got one for cheerleading. We're all movin' up in the world!"
"But what about our boyfriends?" May asked.
"They'll definitely stick together, Double D's been tutoring Ed and Eddy since freshman year and we already know my man's a shoo in for scholarships around the country. Plus the school Lee said she's going to is the best med school in the country and I heard Double D saying he's heading there so I can see him whenever I want!"
"And even though our boys ain't the sharpest tool in the shed, I overheard them saying that they got accepted into Citrus University." Lee added, making May's eyes light up with joy.
"You mean the same school Marie and I are going to!"
"Yup! We're always gonna stick by our men!" Marie asserted. From the kitchen, Lenore was able to hear them with a smile on her face as she looked down at the three acceptance letters. She never had the opportunity to go to college since she dropped out of high school after her first pregnancy. She turned in the direction of her three daughters, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Hey, you doing alright?"
Lenore was snapped out of her daydreams by Eddy's dad, who handed her some supplies.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sorry..."
"Hey, I've been thinking we should stick with our kids. I know we both decided to head East, but my son is going with his best friends and your daughters. They aren't related but those two boys had a pretty rough home life. Their parents aren't bad people, but they made some mistakes raising them or they weren't always there so my wife and I treated them like our own, especially after my first son left. We never really talked much outside of anything related to school and you know your girls better than anyone else, so I'm thinking it might be better if we headed with our kids."
Lenore pondered the man's words for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"Yeah... that's a good idea." She didn't want to go into her own life story, but looking back at her memories and at their current situation, she felt as if she couldn't leave her family behind... not again.
She couldn't help but find it funny though, her family had always been small since she left home, with it never being more than four or five at a time. Nonetheless, she did have to pack up, and soon enough the once busy apartment was almost empty again.
As the last of the group was still packing, Kevin approached the Eds.
"Hey." He greeted.
"Hiya Kevin!" Ed replied cheerfully.
"Good morning, Kevin! I assume you're here to discuss the plans for our groups?"
"Sorta." Kevin replied. "Ma Kanker and Eddy's dad are gonna be joining you guys too."
"I suppose that's alright." Double D said, sweating a bit at the mention of the Lenore joining her daughters.
"I guess my old man wants to keep an eye on us." Eddy sighed. "He should've done more of that when we were kids..."
"Right..." Kevin said as he rubbed the back of his head, past memories now reemerging for all four of them. "But the other thing I wanted to say is that when all of this is over, we're going back to Peach Creek and building it back up."
"We also must give everyone who was taken from us a proper burial."
"Definitely!" Kevin agreed, with Ed nodding as well.
"And I want everyone here right now to be with us when that happens, so... stay alive."
"Count on it!" Eddy asserted, Kevin nodded to the three before walking away.
Everyone piled out of the building, some on lookout to make sure there weren't any zombies or hostile people nearby as they all formed their groups and began saying their goodbyes. Matt walked up to the Eds with a bittersweet look on his face.
"Well guys, I guess this is it." He said.
"This separation will only be temporary, I assure you."
"Yeah, we each got a genius in our groups." Eddy added. "Kathy and Double D'll be able to build some kinda radio so we can talk to each other!"
"Both groups have a genius, Eddy. Although, it is possible for both of our groups to contact each other, so long as we both reach our intended destinations."
"Well we have a pretty big group full of tough people, so I think we'll manage."
The three boys turned to Ed, who's lip was quivering and eyes were watering.
"I will miss you, my friend!" He cried, bringing Matt in for a bear hug.
"I'm gonna miss you too, big guy." Matt croaked. "But can you let me go, because I'm going to miss my ribs more unless you let go!"
Reluctantly, Ed released his friend and wiped the tears away from his eyes.
"Well... until we meet again..." Matt said, joining the rest of his group as they all began heading to the East.
Ed, Edd, Eddy, Eddy's father, Sarah, Jimmy and the Kanker family all followed the streets heading South-West with Ed constantly looking back at the other group until they were all just dots in the distance behind them. He could almost feel a piece of himself leave with him. All of them walked in silence, a small part of the Eds were surprised that the Kankers didn't try making one of their moves on them, though it may have been because both of them had a parent with them. They also chalked Sarah and Jimmy's silence up to their emotional state. Even Eddy would admit that they had been through a lot of things that nobody their age should have experienced.
The group continued on until May called out to the others.
"Look!"
She pointed over at a large mega-mart that had a sea of cars outstretched in front of it. Some cars were neatly parked while others were crashed into each other, parts scattered along the lot with blood splattered and dried in some spots, strangely though, the bodies that the blood came from had all vanished...
"Oh d-d-dear!" Double D chattered. Jimmy almost fainted at the sight of it.
"I've seen one of these." Terry said. "They're one of those big supermarkets that are supposed to have anything you could think of. There are supposed to be a ton of these in the States."
"Guess a lot of people planned on getting anything they could to hold out." Eddy's dad said. "Well, least we can do is see if there's anything left for us to get."
"Yup, we're gonna need all we can get." Lenore agreed.
Double D and Jimmy slowly and carefully maneuvered around the corpses and mangled cars and joined their companions in the market. The inside of the building was mostly well lit, with a few blown out bulbs in spots, much of the produce and stock was in shambles though, with much of it either gone or scattered on the ground. The gang all looked around at what was salvageable. There were loaves of bread and bottles of water that they were able to grab as well as some essentials like clothes that would fit the environment they would be traversing.
"Hey guys, check this out." Ed called out, careful not to be too loud as to attract unwanted attention. Everyone except Terry and Rachel gathered around him. Ed pointed to the guns and ammunition that lined the counter he stood in front of.
"They sell this stuff here?" Eddy asked in shock and confusion.
"Well, Eddy, gun laws in the United States aren't as restrictive as they are in Canada, though this is, or I suppose was, given the situation, a hot topic of debate in this country."
"Eh, I never gave a shit about guns when I lived in this country." Lenore sighed. "I'm honestly not surprised these are still here. I'm more confused about why the toilet paper is damn near gone."
The older woman pointed to the remains of what was a tower of toilet paper with a sign nearby for it. Just as she said, most of the rolls were all gone, save for a few scattered and unrolled along the floor.
"Are you serious?!" Sarah said, half laughing.
"This country is weird..." Jimmy added.
"Still, this ain't a bad find. We can definitely lock and load for anything that comes our way." Lee noted, grabbing a shotgun and some ammo for herself as well as some 9mm's. The ladies all headed into a different section of the store to continue searching for supplies.
"So what else do we need, Double D?" Eddy asked.
"Well, we have an ample amount of food and water, ammunition and other weaponry for self defense, and appropriate clothing. I suppose we should look around and see if we can find any camping supplies so that we won't have to depend on, ahem, unconventional sleeping arrangements."
"Camping stuff, got it!"
The sounds of banging from several isles down made the men jump a bit. There wasn't a trace of any other people in the entire building when they all entered. Terry readied a revolver he had taken from the store and began to slowly walk in the direction of the noise.
"Terry, wait!" The man's father called out softly, his voice almost a whisper. He then hurried over to his side. "You can't go alone."
"I'll go too!" Ed and Eddy both said at the same time before looking at each other in confusion.
"Ed? Why do you want to go?"
"Because Mr. McGee is the last grown up I know from home."
Eddy was a bit taken aback from his friend's answer but he shook his head in defiance.
"Ed, it's my dad and my brother, I gotta go with them."
"Boys, don't argue." Mr. McGee said sternly. Ideally they would all go together to find what was making the noise but he knew Double D and Jimmy weren't really mentally and emotionally ready for combat right now and they would need someone to cover them in case they were attacked. He knew Ed would understand if he was asked to protect his friends, but his bulk might be a good help if it was needed. On the other hand, Eddy's mentality of sticking with his family was something his dad admired, and he could sweet-talk his son into protecting his friends, who were essentially his family in their own right. He had a choice to make...
Who should Mr. McGee bring with him?
Make your choice:
Choice A: Ed
Choice: B: Eddy
Sorry this chapter came out a little bit late, school has begun and it's already a bit of a mess. But now that the number of characters has been cut in half for the time being, I want to try giving them all a bit more development. I'm sure you can guess who I'm starting with. Kevin's group will get focus later on, but for now, I hope you enjoyed the beginning of this new arc.