Roamers (Book 1)

by Viper, Velveteen

  And suddenly, Travis lunged behind her with his knife, directly into the head of a heavily decomposed Roamer which had gone unnoticed by Scarlett as it slowly got to its knees behind the counter. It fell to the ground and Scarlett felt herself turning red, biting her lip and staring at the floor, humiliated.

  Travis shot her a devilish smirk before withdrawing from her, picking up his crossbow, and retrieving the pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He lit one, allowing it to hang from his lips, and coolly threw the pack back to Scarlett, who, still a beautiful shade of cerise, dropped herself off the counter and picked up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

  “You ready?” Scarlett asked as they approached the door.

  He cocked an eyebrow at her and raised his weapon.

  “I was born ready, sweetheart.”

  * * *

  Travis threw down his weapon and bag onto his single bed in a room that he shared with three other men, and approached the dirty window. Sweeping back the ugly orange curtain, he noticed for the first time just how much he could see; the vast field that stretched out all around the hotel grounds with only a single grey road leading to the highway; the group’s collection of battered vehicles in front of the heavy oak doors and Mouse and Chino half-heartedly guarding the tall iron gates.

  Travis got to thinking about Scarlett. He wondered if he’d taken advantage of her emotional state; whether he should apologise for embarrassing her like that. He’d never really been in love. Where he lived before the world went to shit was isolated; only a few beaten-up old houses, strung together by a dirt-track road. The only women he’d been with he’d met while boozing at various bars. So he didn’t have any idea what it was like to lose someone like that.

  On hearing a knock at his door, he drew himself away from the window and his thoughts and greeted Riley with a grunt.

  “Hi, Travis,” he began, “I know you’ve had kind of a long day, but Mouse and Chino are due for their break. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind covering the gate for an hour or so.”

  “Why me?” Travis asked, fully prepared to do as Riley was asking, but curious as to why, after such a short time, he trusted him.

  “I don’t mean to sound rude, but it’s not you… it’s your bow actually. It’s quieter than a gun and we’ve had a few lone Roamers at the gates recently.”

  Travis gave a single nod, which Riley returned, before retrieving his weapon and following Riley to the ground floor.

  Once outside, Travis positioned himself on a camping bench and set down his bow and quiver at his feet. The night air was surprisingly cold on his bare arms and he wished he’d brought something to keep himself warm.

  Scarlett was alone in her room, exhausted both physically and mentally, but she couldn’t sleep. As she lay in her bed, her mind began playing tricks on her. Throwing painful memories of Jimmy and the day he died at her.

  She could still picture the very moment when the bullet knocked him to the ground, still hear his struggle for each gurgled breath, still see the fear in his eyes as he started to drift away, still feel the warmth of his blood soaking her hands as she desperately tried to keep it in his body, she could still feel him shaking.

  She couldn’t help but visualise the moment she shot him in the head; the deafening roar of her pistol when she fired, the feel of the gun as it jolted back in her small hand, the pungent smell of nitro-glycerine, sawdust and graphite swirling in the air… and then the silence. Her ears were ringing and all she could do was fall to the ground and sob.

  It was guilt. She was ashamed of herself for her actions with Travis. She'd been so willing to give herself to him. She loathed that man, but how far would she have gone if he'd actually kissed her? Whore, she thought. Jimmy would be ashamed of you.

  Scarlett pulled herself back from her murky thoughts and decided to grab some air. She dressed herself in her usual jeans, vest, shirt and boots, grabbing a thin blanket and small tin of pineapple chunks as she left her room.

  Once downstairs, she let herself quietly out the heavy oak doors and stood at the top of the concrete steps. She took a deep breath and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders before making her way down them.

  She noticed Travis sat alone on the camping bench, seemingly lost in thought. Scarlett wasn’t really sure if it would be a good idea to join him, but he looked cold, so she moseyed over and stood next to him.

  “Hey,” she said softly, “you been put on night watch?”

  Travis continued to look off into the distance as he spoke, leaning back in his seat.

  “Nah. Just coverin’ for Mouse and Chino for an hour or so.”

  “Look, Travis,” Scarlett started, “I just want you to know that I'm not usually like... that.”

  “Actually, I wanted to apologise for that.” Travis said, his voice low. “I realise that you must be feelin' pretty messed up right now and that was a cruel thing to do. I feel pretty shitty about it.”

  “Maybe we could start over?” Scarlett suggested, “I bring tinned pineapple…”

  Finally, Travis looked at her, if only for a brief moment, but said nothing. Scarlett’s shoulders dropped, disappointed, and she turned to leave, but didn’t flinch when Travis’ rough hand took her wrist, pulling her toward him, and motioned for her to sit next to him. Scarlett did so, noticing that Travis had brought out the crossbow she gave him.

  “Does it work okay?”

  “Yeah, it’s great, thanks. The sights were a bit off, but I fixed it.”

  They looked at each other, and then out into the darkness through the gates as Scarlett, after observing the goose bumps on his arms, put half of the blanket around Travis, and he timidly wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Scarlett leant against him and allowed the hush to wash over them as they both stared into the distance. It seemed that Travis just needed her company. He was lonely too.

  “You really loved Jimmy, huh?” Travis asked, breaking the silence.

  “You have no idea,” Scarlett responded, taken aback by his question, “but, as awful as it sounds, I’d been preparing myself to lose him since this all started.” Scarlett drew away a little to look at him, and he looked back at her. “Why would I think like that if I really loved him?”

  Travis considered for a moment before pulling her close again and squeezing her shoulder.

  “The fact that you had to prepare yourself for losin’ him shows that you cared about him, Scar.”

  Scarlett once again let her head rest against Travis as he used his other hand to make sure the blanket was wrapped around them both as tightly as possible.

  “So, who did you lose? Family? Your wife?” Scarlett asked, trying to distract herself from thoughts of Jimmy. Travis snickered at the mention of a wife.

  “I didn’t lose anybody,” he replied, his voice so low that it rumbled in Scarlett’s ears, “And I ain’t ever been married.” He paused for a moment before deciding to try and find out more about her, “What did you do before all this?”

  “I was at college, studying to be a teacher.”

  “A teacher? I guess that explains why you’re so damn domineering.” Scarlett giggled a little; a genuine laugh, which shocked her as much as it did Travis, “What were you gonna teach?”

  “English Literature.” She answered, opening the tin by its ring pull and leaning forward slightly to pour out some of the excess juice.

  “Oh. I like to read,” Travis stated, helping himself to a chunk of fruit. Scarlett looked at him, amazed. “What? I can read. Don't look so surprised. Had you done any teachin’?”

  “Not yet. It was mostly classroom based. I’d only just started really. I had this all too stereotypical teacher. I’ll never forget her. Always sat behind her desk; grey hair, glasses. The kind with that string attached so they didn’t fall off of her huge face… and that book: Of Mice and Men.” She sniggered and looked at her feet, “What about you?” she asked.

  “Me?” Travis said, astonished that Scarlett, or in fact anybody, was show
ing an interest, “I didn’t really do anythin’. Odd-jobs mostly; fixin’ stuff, you know. There was the huntin’ too. Kept most of my town supplied with fresh meat. When this all started, I kinda thought that maybe it’s what I was waitin’ for. I feel like I belong now. My limited skills finally have a worthwhile use. Is that stupid?”

  “Of course not.” Scarlett reassured him, “A little morbid, perhaps, but... I haven’t known you long, and I’m already getting an idea of the sort of person you are. You’re certainly not stupid. You’re every bit as good as the other men here, Travis. Every bit.”

  “You still hate me though, right?”

  “That goes without saying.” She joked, placing a whole piece of pineapple into her mouth and pulling a face as she bit into it, “And I also hate pineapple.”

  Travis chuckled and a few moments passed by and he still felt as though he didn’t know Scarlett well enough. There was no one else in the entire hotel that Travis wanted to get to know, and Scarlett fascinated him.

  “Where were you when the shit hit the fan?” he asked, purely trying to make small-talk, not expecting the experience that Scarlett next described.

  “I was at home, with my mum. She’d been for some sort of experimental immunisation. Money was tight, so she offered herself up for human trials. You probably heard about it - Rhinovir; they were actually trying to cure the common cold,” Scarlett scoffed sarcastically, “They said on the news, just before everything went dark, that they’d found the virus was linked to the vaccination. My mum keeled over not twenty minutes after getting home…” Scarlett closed her eyes tight, unable to remove the images from her mind, “And then she got back up. All I wanted to do was help her. She attacked me, chased me upstairs. I can’t even remember how I got out. I took her car and went straight to Jimmy’s. It all happened so quickly from there. We went to The City for the evac and... Well, that didn’t happen.”

  “You were in The City for the evacuation? Why didn’t you get out?”

  “There was no evacuation. They were trying to contain the spread by dropping bombs in the centre. That worked out well.” She said sarcastically, grimacing again as she slid another chunk of pineapple into her mouth, almost swallowing it whole to avoid releasing any more of its contradicting bitter yet sweet flavour. “I think about my mum every day. I wonder if she’s still in that house, walking around. Did she get out somehow, or did someone get in and... put her down? I wonder if I should have done it myself. I just can’t bear the thought of her alone in there. If I’d known then what I know now…”

  Scarlett sighed deeply, relieved to be finally telling someone, and Travis squeezed her shoulder again. He didn’t know how else to respond.

  “I’m sorry,” was all that came to mind as Scarlett leant against him once more, silently telling him that he didn’t need to say anything else. The release of getting it off her chest was enough.

  Travis was on full alert, Scarlett could tell from the feel of his body, but the warmth around her and the safety that she felt in his presence calmed her mind enough to allow her to fall asleep. Travis felt Scarlett’s head grow heavier and softly whispered, “Night”, before resting his head on hers and continuing to keep watch.

  After almost two hours, Mouse and Chino were ready to return to their post and were surprised to see Scarlett so close to Travis of all people. Travis could see it in their faces and attempted to explain.

  “I think she just needed to be with someone.” He said, “She couldn’t sleep.”

  “Hey, man, you haven’t got to explain yourself to us. As long as she’s okay, that’s all we care about.” Mouse assured him, kneeling in front of Scarlett. “Hey, Fox,” he said, gently moving Scarlett’s knee, “you need to wake up, babe.”

  Scarlett forced her eyes open to look at Mouse, and then up at Travis. She nodded blindly as Travis removed the blanket from his shoulders and Scarlett stood, surprised at just how deep a sleep she had been in, sitting up in the cold air.

  Travis returned to his room on the second floor, while Scarlett attempted to achieve the same level of sleep back in her own room. Travis’ roommates were already asleep in their beds, so he settled on his own without undressing and closed his eyes.

  Scarlett’s head was no longer filled with grisly memories - or any memories of Jimmy at all. Instead, Travis was on her mind.

  She was starting to realise that perhaps he was only a hard-ass because he’d had to be. Scarlett imagined his existence before the beginning of the end to have been a lonely one. No wonder he’d ended up in The City, and no wonder he was such an asshole.

  * * *

  Scarlett had become even more solitary since Jimmy’s death and the occasion with Travis on watch. She’d resolved with herself that as much as it felt good to tell Travis what she’d told no one else about the beginning, that night, she’d been far too open with him, so she kept to herself back at the hotel and didn’t let anyone close. She now saw Travis as she saw everybody else – someone to be dodged. She couldn’t avoid the fact that, when Riley sent her out on scouts with Travis, they always came back successful, loaded with fresh meat, berries and mushrooms. He’d also given her his old bow. She took it with her when they hunted in the hope that she might actually succeed someday, and Travis continued to subtly coach her with little hints now and then.

  So Riley continued to send them out together, and they rarely spoke about anything other than the job in hand. When they weren’t out, she avoided Travis like the plague.

  She couldn’t seem to understand her sudden interest in him, neither was she prepared to explore it. But almost against her will, her eyes were drawn to him whenever he was in view. And every time her gaze found him, he was staring back. He never looked anyone in the eye but her; all anyone else got was a guarded sideways glance.

  It was probably just curiosity, Scarlett thought, being drawn to something mysterious and forbidden. Or something entirely different. She didn’t know.

  Chapter Seven:

  Riley woke with a start to the sound of hammering on his door. Half asleep, he dragged himself out of bed, while Jack managed to sleep through the noise across the room.

  He opened the door to Chino, who was panicked and out of breath.

  “Riley, we need you, man,” he gasped, “Biters. At the gates, around the walls, fucking everywhere!”

  Riley took a second to process the information before rushing to dress himself. He put on his boots last and threw on his weapon belt with a pistol either side before following Chino.

  Scarlett was the next to be woken up, but Riley didn’t bother knocking. He walked straight in and hurled her clothes at her.

  “Riley, what the hell?” she said, confused and sleepy.

  “Roamers. Gate. Walls. Get your ass up, get dressed and get outside. They’re about to get in. Now!” Riley explained, then as quickly as he entered the room, he left.

  Scarlett sprung out of bed and looked out the window.

  “Holy shit.”

  After she dressed herself, she attached a pair of homemade saddlebags to her faithful companion, Number Six. They sped downstairs and into the dining hall where Scarlett was handed an automatic weapon and several magazines, which she stuffed into Six’s bags before securing the rifle on her shoulder by its strap.

  She ran outside where Riley, Chino, Mouse, Travis, River and several other residents were already shooting down Walkers. Scarlett felt overwhelmed as she walked out, holding her weapon out in front of her, but not sure where to start.

  She began making headshots, putting down the Biters closest to entering the hotel grounds. But it seemed that each row of corpses they shot down revealed another and then another behind.

  “This is pointless,” she shouted, still firing, “We can’t take them all out before they break through.”

  “Then what the fuck do you suggest?” Travis yelled back.

  Before Scarlett could respond, she heard screams from inside the hotel.

  “Where are the
others? The kids?”

  “They’re all in the kitchen. We told them to stay put.” Mouse responded.

  “Hold them back as long as possible,” Scarlett instructed, “Travis, come with me.”

  Travis did as he was told, following Scarlett and Six toward the kitchen.

  As they approached, they realised that the inhabitants weren’t alone in there. The sound of panic was erupting and Scarlett reloaded her rifle before entering. The sight that greeted them was not pretty. Chaos.

  Three children had been pushed to the end of the room closest to the door in an effort to save them, but most hadn’t made it that far.

  Scarlett began ushering the children out while Travis helped himself to one of her pistols and started carefully taking out as many Biters as the clip would allow.

  “Travis, there’s no time,” Scarlett yelled, dragging residents out by their arms, collars and anything else she could grab hold of, “Just get them out.” Turning her attention to the remaining residents in the kitchen, she whispered, “I’m sorry,” and closed the door before turning the key to lock it. She took two children by the hand and instructed another to follow, running down the corridor and back toward the front entrance. She quickly glanced behind her as Travis caught up and hastily scooped the third child into his arms. There were only ten others who made it out.

  As they reached the doors, the horde of Roamers appeared to be minutes away from breaking through and Scarlett stood the children with Travis while she raced over to Mouse, taking his bag containing the keys to all the vehicles. She took one out and placed it into Mouse’s pocket before handing one each to Riley, Chino and River and keeping the key to Travis’ truck. She rushed over to open the back and helped the three children and as many others as it would hold onto the flat bed.