Chapter 2
Rick woke up early the next morning. He was sleeping by the fire. It was still burning, though not as brightly as it had been.
He looked around. Joe was beside him. Sam besid
e
hi
m
. And Big Mike sat across from them all. Everyone still had their eyes closed.
Carl was nowhere to be seen. Yet Rick knew where he was. He was in the house
-
hi
s
house, as he called it. Carl had told everyone that he had been the one to find it, so he would be the one to use it. No one argued with him. No one ever went in there. Except Big Mike. He'd go in every now and then. Though the big guy never stayed in it for long.
Rick sat up. His thoughts shifted to the young girl they had caught. He still couldn't believe that she had shot Jim. He supposed that he was lucky to be alive. He had to thank Joe for that.
He stretched, then reached over and grabbed at the bottle beside him. There wasn't much left in it. They had drank most of it last night. He pressed it to his lips and took a swig.
He had never been much of a drinker, but it tasted good going down his throat, warm. It gave him a feeling of strength.
He looked back at Joe. The man was awake now and looking at him.
"Hey there," Rick said.
Rick handed him the bottle. Joe took a swig, himself. When he handed it back to Rick, Rick finished it off.
He looked back at the fire, hungry; but there wasn't much left to eat.
Joe sat up. "When are we leaving?"
"Whenever Carl tells us to." The words tasted horrible to Rick. He hated having to listen to Carl, take his orders. But that was how things were at the moment.
Joe nodded his head. "I've gotta piss."
"Me too."
They both stood up and walked off into the field.
Chapter 3
Sam woke up early the next morning. He heard Rick and Joe talking. He felt a pang of jealousy run through him. The
y
owne
d
Shelly. She was their property. And there would be no way that he could get her from them.
Unless something happened to them.
Sam couldn't help but wish that something horribl
e
woul
d
happen. He knew that they were going out searching for supplies. Maybe one of those fucked up creatures would get them. Or maybe they'd just get shot. He could do it himself
.
If he went.
He didn't really want to go, though. He wanted to stay here with Shelly, to see if he could get anywhere with her.
He was going to tell Carl that he thought he should stay. He only had to think of a good reason.
He watched Rick and Joe stand up and walk away.
Lucky bastards!
Sam reached over to grab at the bottle they had dropped. As soon as his hand grasped it, he noticed that there was nothing left in it.
"Fuck," he said and let it drop back to the ground.
Chapter 4
As Rick stood there, penis in hand, he saw Carl walk out of the house. Thei
r
leade
r
marched over to the campfire and shook Big Mike awake. Rick saw Big Mike point his shotgun at him and say something to him, then the two broke into laughter.
Rick looked at Joe and rolled his eyes
.
What the fuck had they gotten themselves into?
He shook of his penis and walked back to the group. Joe followed beside him.
"Are you all ready?" Carl asked.
Rick was surprised. "We leavin' now?"
"You don't want to leave your little prize, yet?" Carl mocked him. Big Mike snickered.
It pissed Rick off, but he wasn't going to say anything about it. He wasn't about to start a fight with Carl. If it wasn't bad enough that that guy was absolutely nuts, Big Mike was there with that shotgun of his.
No, he wasn't going to say anything about it at all.
Carl laughed. "Yeah, we're going to leave in a few minutes. Head over i
n
tha
t
direction. I think there'll be something there."
"Why don't we just go to one of the houses nearby?"
Carl shot a look at him that gave him pause. He shouldn't have questioned the man. Rick looked down to avoid Carl's gaze. Though it didn't stop him from being able to make sure that Carl wasn't about to bend down and pick up a rock to bash his head in.
"I want to see if we can find more than supplies today," Carl explained. His voice sounded strained, like he was trying very hard to keep things under control.
"More than supplies?
"
Fuck, he shouldn't keep questioning him!
"Yeah
,
more than supplie
s
." Carl's voice started to pick up speed. "I wanna see if we can find some more survivors. Maybe some more beautiful little girls like the one you brought back last night. Of course, I don't mind if they're a little older. If that's okay with you."
Rick raised his eyes and looked at Carl. Then he glanced at Joe. "Yeah, it's okay with me. For sure. I was just wondering, that's all. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Didn't mean anything by it, huh? Well, that's good." He broke into laughter again. Big Mike joined.
Rick kept glancing at Joe. Neither of them knew what was going on.
"Let's get ready!" Carl shouted and started to walk away.
"But Carl," a voice called to him. Sam. Rick couldn't believe that the man had spoken up like that.
Carl turned to face him. "Yes?" His voice slithered like a snake.
"I was…well…I was thinking that I should stay here with Gregor."
"With Gregor? Why, are you his lover? Want to fuck his ass while we're gone? Or do you want him to stick it to you?"
"No, no. Nothing like that!" Sam looked nervous as he spoke. "I was just…well…I was just thinking that he wouldn't stand much of a chance if any of those creatures came by. They'd kill him. And then the girls." Sam looked at Big Mike. His words seemed to bother the man.
Carl took a step closer toward him. Rick was sure that he was going to hit Sam. Maybe even kill him.
Instead, he placed his hand on Sam's shoulder and nodded his head. "You're right. We can't leave poor Gregor alone, can we? So we leave. You and Gregor stay. Everyone is happy."
Rick wasn't happy, though. He hated the idea of going anywhere with this man. More than that, he hated leaving the young girl alone with these two guys. He wasn't blind to the fact that Sam had some kind of interest in her. He could see it in his eyes.
"Come on!" Carl yelled.
Rick shook himself from his thoughts and looked at Joe. Joe was standing there, waiting for him to say something or do something.
"Let's go," Rick said to his friend. "We won't be all that long."
They headed back to the camp to get ready. Sam followed behind them, trying to hide the smile on his face.
Chapter 5
Jane and Charles came upon a small town. They approached it with caution.
They had seen the usual amount of cars spread along the roads and just as many (if not more) bodies lying beside them. And, though they hadn't heard the creatures for a while, they were sure that they were still lurking around. There was also something in the air
.
A feelin
g
.
Jane reached over and grabbed Charles hand.
"I don't like this," she said. "Something's wrong."
"Has anything bee
n
righ
t
?" Charles asked.
"No, I guess not. Still, there's something strange here."
Charles looked at the young woman. He knew what she meant. He also knew that they didn't have much of a choice. Unless they planned on goin
g
aroun
d
it.
"We have to look," he said. "There might be survivors here."
Jane nodded her head. She squeezed Charles' hand tighter.
"There might be," she agreed. "But…" She didn't finish her thought. "Let's just do it."
The two walked slowly into the town.
As the made their way through the streets, they saw more bodies sprawled through out the area. The pavement was coated in dried blood.
They came across a child's bike. Small. Pink. It, too, was covered in blood.
They continued to walk.
"Looks bad," Charles said.
"Yeah." There wasn't much more that Jane could say. She hadn't seen this much carnage in her town. There hadn't been this much in Charles', either.
She stepped over a body. Its face had been torn down the middle, almost split. Jane tried not to look at it, but her eyes kept glancing down anyway.
They made their way onto a new street. Houses lined both sides of the road. There were cars stopped all along the road. They could see a few bikes lying against the curbs. Dead bodies stretched out on the front lawns.
Charles stopped. Jane turned to him.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
He raised his finger to his mouth. "Shhh."
Jane did as she was told. Then she tried to listen. Her eyes searched around.
She heard and saw nothing.
"Maybe it was just my imagination," Charles said. "It happens when you get older."
Jane smiled. She remembered his breakdown on the road not too long ago. At that time, he had seemed weak and ready to give up. Now, that episode seemed out of character for him. Much different from the man she had come to know. He had also never made a deal of it since. Just the occasional joke.
"Let's keep moving," she said. "That looks like a store up ahead. I'm sure we'll find some things up there."
Charles looked down the street and saw the store that Jane was talking about. It was a little bigger than a mini-mart. There would definitely be something good inside.
The two walked toward it.
Then Charles stopped again. This time, he was sure that he had heard something.
"It's screaming," he said. "One o
f
the
m
."
Jane could hear it to. She turned around and looked for a sign of one of the creatures. Luckily, there was nothing. "Maybe we should head into one of the houses and wait for it to pass."
Charles looked at the store. They were almost there. Though maybe the young woman was right. If one of those things came out to get them, he wouldn't be able to outrun it. It was best if they looked for safety right away.
"Okay," he said. He pointed to the nearest house. "How about that one?"
"It looks as good as any of the others."
They walked toward it.
Jane put her hand underneath Charles' arm and tried to hurry him along. She didn't want to rush him. Yet, she could hear the screaming getting louder. "A little farther."
Jane helped Charles step up onto the curb. They made their way onto the front lawn and walked to the porch. She could see two bodies lying face first in the garden. She didn't spend much time looking at them.
They stopped once they reached the front steps.
Jane clutched Charles' arm and her jaw dropped open. "Someone's in there," she whispered.
"I see." Charles might be getting old, but his eyesight was as good as ever.
Someone was watching them from the front door, two eyes staring out behind floral curtains.
"What should we do?"
"I don't think it's one of them," Charles said. "It would've come out and attacked us by now." He raised his hand and waved.
"What are you doing?" Jane asked.
Charles kept his hand in the air. "I don't think it's one of them," he repeated.
"I know, but…"
"It'll be okay. Let's just go up and see who it is."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, I'm sure. Let's go." He paused. "Ladies first." Charles placed out his hand before him and motioned for Jane to take the first step.
She laughed, regardless of what a strange time it was to find something funny. "You're crazy," she told the old man. "We go together."
"All right."
She walked to the front door. The two little eyes continued to stare out at her from within. As she approached, she could get a better view of who was inside.
"It's a boy," she said.
The old man was standing behind her. "A boy? Are you sure?"
"I think so." Jane turned back to the door. "Are you okay?" she asked the little guy inside.
The eyes continued to stare at her.
"It's okay," she continued. "We're not going to hurt you. Can you open the door?"
The eyes continued to stare.
"Please, we're not…"
There was another scream from somewhere down the street.
"We have to get in there," Charles said. "I think tha
t
thin
g
is getting closer."
Jane knew that he was right. "Can you open the door?" she pleaded.
The eyes continued to stare. The little face continued to look at them. There was no acknowledgement in the eyes.
"I don't think he's going to let us in," Jane concluded.
"Then we have to go."
Jane thought she would give it one more shot. She knelt down beside the door and moved her face closer to it. The eyes followed her.
"Can you let us in?" she asked. "We can't stay out here. We're not going to hurt you. We just want to help."
The little boy continued to stare at her. She could see his hands gripped tightly around the door knob.
Jane turned back to Charles. "He's scared."
"Damn right."
"I don't think he's going to let us in."
"I know. We have to go."
Jane looked back at the little boy. She knew that Charles was right. The problem was that she didn't want to leave the child alone. He wouldn't be able to take care of himself.
"Please, open the door," she continued. "We're not going to hurt you."
The boy didn't reply.
She turned around to face Charles. "He's not going to answer." Her voice was quiet, sad. "We have to go."
Charles reached over and grabbed her shoulder. "We can try later."
The creature continued to scream, its voice getting louder.
Jane didn't feel good about leaving the child. There simply wasn't much that she could do. She couldn't beat down the door. She wasn't strong enough for that type of thing. And, if anything, it would only attract th
e
thin
g
and scare the child.
She didn't have time to convince the little boy, either.
"Okay," she said, "We'll try later."
She took a few steps toward the front porch steps. Charles walked beside her.
But, before she got very far, Jane heard a click. She turned around to face the door. It slowly opened before her.