Day Beyond the Dead (Book 1)

by Dawn, Christina

  She looked down at Gerard and noticed him looking up at her through his right eye because his other was swollen. “Why? Why would you do something so stupid as that?? I can’t believe you would do that, especially after you said all that you had said Gerard. You will never learn.” Gerard started to try to laugh but only ended up coughing up blood.

  “Your man sure did a number on me.” Gerard paused and looked up at Christa, “but it was definitely worth it.”

  “Like I said, you’ll never learn.” Christa wiped off the blood on Gerard’s face that he had coughed up. She knew she needed to go check on Damion. After everything that happened she knew if she stayed with Gerard too long, especially nursing his wounds, that would only fuel Damion’s fire all the more. She headed into the next room and found Damion on the floor still but leaning up against the corner instead. She walked over to him and knelt down in front of him placing her hand on his arms that were propped up on his knees in front of him. “Can I squeeze in there?” She moved towards Damion and put her back to him and slide into his arms. She leaned her head back onto his shoulder. “There’s my spot.” She moved her face so that her lips were planted on his cheek where she softly placed a kiss.

  Damion just sat there with a far off look in his eyes for the longest time until he spoke. “It’s my fault ya know. I should have never went through with the divorce. It was hard for a reason. I never wanted to be without you since the moment I met you and that hasn’t changed ever. So I don’t know why I left and gave that piece of shit the opportunity to ever get close to you. I should have known. I mean he has wanted to be with you since we were kids practically. I can’t bear to think-“

  Christa moves her body sharply towards Damion, grabs his face gently and motions his eyes towards her, “-stop thinking. The only thing that should be in your mind is survival and of course me,” Christa gave a grin on that last note and moved in for a kiss. She knew just how to soothe her savage beast. She always has.

  After a while Darren walked through the door to the room where Christa and Damion were. “I know we need to leave but I dunno if that’s a good idea considering Gerard’s condition currently. I mean believe me, I don’t wanna be here anymore than you guys, probably more so. I just wouldn’t feel comfortable traveling with him in that state.”

  Damion thought for a moment and looked at Darren, “It’s not safe for any of us anywhere at the moment. There really isn’t anything here to really sustain us besides shelter and I don’t know about you but the bodies behind this building have freaked me out enough that I don’t wanna stay here at all. I can’t explain that. Can you?” Damion paused waiting for Darren’s reply but his silence was all the answer he needed. “I didn’t think so. What if there are vigilantes and they come back and kill us all? These are the scenarios I think of. I have to so we can survive. It will be rough but isn’t everything considering the state of the world today? There are two vehicles. I’ll drive one and you can drive the other. Christa is obviously with me and Gerard with you. We can take twice as much stuff and we have a backup vehicle just incase. Plus we look like more people in two vehicles which makes us a bit more formidable. Well at least we’ll look that way. You and I will go get the vehicles ready and then we’ll head out of here. The sooner the better.” Darren didn’t want to admit it but he knew Damion was right. It only made sense to leave. The bodies behind the building, that seemed to have left his mind due to Tara dying, quickly gave him the chills once more.

  While Damion and Darren were getting the trucks ready Christa was looking through the office for anything that was useable. Out of the side of her eye she saw the picture once again of Sgt. Donaldson. She walked over and took it out of the frame. She stared at it for a moment before folding it and putting it in her pocket. She couldn’t explain why but she felt this need to take the picture. So she did.

  She could hear footsteps coming down the hallway which she knew meant it was time to go. Damion turned the corner, “It’s time to leave. I got some jackets in the truck and a few thermals. If worse comes to worse we’ll be covered.” Christa nodded as she took Damion’s hand and walked down the hallway towards the trucks while Darren helped Gerard down the hallway. After they were in the vehicles Damion pulled out a long range walkie talkie and spoke to Darren, “You guys just came from the south before you got me so it doesn’t make sense going back the same way. Then again I really hate this snow. I think it only hurts us in the end. I don’t know, let’s take a vote. Who wants to go north and who wants to go south?”

  Christa looks at Damion, “That the only two options? What happened to east and west?”

  “Well the highway only goes north and south from this exit so it is just those two choices.”

  “True, but there are other roads besides the interstate. Maybe we could take those. I mean what harm could it be.”

  “I don’t know. This weather is pretty bad and that option doesn’t feel right to me. We could get stuck and find ourselves far from any civilization. Then what?”

  “Civilization? Baby I don’t think anything is civilized anymore.”

  “You know what I meant. We wouldn’t be near any resources or shelter. I don’t want us to freeze to death. Well not most of us at least.” Christa gave Damion a look upon his last comment. “I was kidding Christa.”

  “Let’s just focus on our directions. I guess out of the two I would say head south but that is a double bladed sword because not only will it be easier for us to maneuver so will it be for the undead. So there are pros and cons in both situations but I rather be sure footed than not so yeah, south.”

  “Ok, one for south. What about you Darren?”

  “South. I’ve had enough snow to last me a lifetime personally.”

  “Ok, two for south.”

  “Wait a second, Gerard is telling me his answer.” A brief pause over the walkie talkie. “He said north because he rather go the road less traveled than the opposite.”

  “Figures,” Damion mumbled.

  “That kind’ve makes sense babe, but I don’t wanna freeze to death. Like I said there are pros and cons in both places. You’re the deciding, well the make it or tie up factor. So which is it?”

  Damion pressed the button on the walkie talkie, “I guess south it is. Follow me but let’s go slow. We don’t want a wreck early on. Ok?”

  “Ok. Lead on.”

  The crunch of the snow beneath the tires could be heard within the vehicle as they backed out of the garage into the elements. The sheer weight of the trucks was enough to give them good traction in the snow. Christa watched out the window at the passing scenery; forest covered with a blanket of snow as if it were laid there precisely, shadows moving like clockwork as they drove by. She couldn’t seem to shake the fact that so far they’ve lost one person in every place they have stopped. She hoped it was not a trend that would continue because their numbers were dwindling.

  Her eyes wander to Damion and he glances over at her giving her a quick smile. She wondered how much time they had left together and in that moment her stomach turned. She put those thoughts as far from her mind as she could and vowed to never let them back in. Truth is she couldn’t fathom being without Damion anymore. At the end of the world if Damion wasn’t here she really didn’t care if she was either. As a matter of fact she rather not be.

  “What are you thinking baby?”

  Christa stared at Damion a moment taking him in before she replied, “How much I love you.”

  “I love you too. I have for a long time. I don’t think I could ever stop loving you either. I could die and my love for you would reach from the other side.”

  “Don’t talk like that. I don’t like it. It puts thoughts in my head I don’t ever want. I wouldn’t go on without you.”

  “How can you say that? I love you and I don’t want to ever hear you say that. You hear me? If something happens to me, which it won’t, but if it does you better do whatever you can to survive. For me, ok?”

 
“Don’t make me promise that Damion. Don’t. Bree is gone and if you’re gone I have nothing left to keep me here. Nothing. I can’t promise that.” Christa turned away from Damion and stared out the window.

  “C’mere. Sit next to me. Everything will be fine Christa. There’s no need to have such thoughts in your head because they won’t happen. I love you.” She scooted over towards Damion and sat next to him.

  “How are you doing?” Darren looked over at Gerard in the seat next to him and realized how exhausted he looked.

  “I’m fine. Never been better.” Gerard smiled through his busted lip.

  “You should get some rest. There is nothing else for you to do anyhow and it would probably be the best for you right now. Ya know, healing and all.”

  A long silence had transpired before Gerard broke it. “I’m sorry.”

  “What?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For what? What do you have to be sorry about?”

  “It’s my fault and all I can do is say sorry for it. Sorry isn’t enough in the least but it’s all I can do.”

  “Gerard, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

  “I thought I was in time. I thought I had gotten there in time to save her Darren, but I didn’t. I didn’t see a bite or a mark on her. I wish I had-“

  “-Gerard stop. Tara was no one’s fault. It was an accident. A terrible, horrible accident. That is on no one’s shoulder. No one’s so please do not say that again. If anything she was my sister. My responsibility. If anyone would own that it would be me, but as I said it was a horrible accident.”

  “Yeah well all the same, there seems to be too many accidents happening these days.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Soon they were approaching Buckhannon again and all the memories of a few days ago came rushing back to Christa. Thoughts of her mother, sister and her kidnapping were swirling in her head. It’s hard to believe just a few days ago she was in her cabin and everything in the world was right, or so she thought. She wished just for five minutes of that once again. In a way, this all seemed so surreal like a bad dream she would soon wake up from. She would wake up in her bed and roll over to find Bree sleeping next to her due to some nightmare. She would press her nose against her little nose and give her an eskimo kiss. Bree would wake up giggling.

  Only it wasn’t a bad dream and she wouldn’t wake up next to Bree ever again. Those words even hurt just thinking them let alone saying them. It was so hard to be back in Buckhannon, even if it was just passing through, because of all the memories that place held. Good and bad. Technically they didn’t even have to drive through Buckhannon to go south but Christa wanted to stop by her place to get a few things, especially some things that belonged to Bree.

  “We have to make this quick and if it looks like it’s going to be too much Christa we won’t go. Got it?”

  “I got it.”

  Christa lived inside city limits in Buckhannon near the college. Buckhannon is a small town and the college is the biggest thing about the town. Well besides the super Wal-mart obviously. The town use to be a lot smaller but slowly new stores had started popping up. It seemed as though Buckhannon wasn’t even immune to progress.

  As they got near the college they noticed a herd of undead swarming around it. There was some scattered packs around the streets surrounding the college, but the bulk of undead were concentrated at the college.

  “I don’t know Chris. We might not be able to do this. That is a lot of walking corpses to get through or to even risk having them turn on us. I’m not sure we could get away from that and I’m not going to risk something happening to you, especially after that close call in the bathroom.”

  “Damion please. I need some things of hers, at least a picture.”

  “We have memories. Bree would not want you to risk your life for a picture.”

  “Well let’s at least see our other options and if those look as bad I promise I won’t resist.”

  Damion sighs, “Ok, deal.” Damion wasn’t really happy with that option in the least but knew it would mean a lot to Christa to at least try. They parked a couple blocks away from the college and Christa’s house, which was three houses from the college.

  Damion walked over to Darren’s truck, “You guys stay here and wait for us. If we’re gone longer than an hour, just leave. Hopefully that will give us more than enough time to get in and get out without any troubles ok.”

  “I don’t know. Are you sure you don’t want me to come?”

  “You need to stay here with Gerard,” Damion glanced over at Gerard, “He doesn’t look like he could get out of here if he needed to so it is best you stay here. We’ll be fine.” Damion turned around and walked off from the truck and whispered to himself, “at least I hope we’ll be.”

  Christa and Damion grabbed two slashing weapons out of the truck before they headed down the street. There weren’t many undead around this part of the street, but they could see the street up ahead that harbored more than either of them was comfortable with. Christa shot a look at Damion that let him know her concern. She began wondering if it was worth it. As she looked at Damion she felt more and more that it wasn’t worth the possible cost.

  Christa stopped, “You know, we don’t have to do this.”

  “What do you mean? We’re here. You wanted to do this so let’s do it.”

  “Yes I know, but after I’ve thought about it and realize what is at stake here I’m not sure I wanna do it anymore. No matter how much I want a picture of her it’s not worth losing you.”

  Damion took Christa’s hand in his, “You won’t lose me and if you get this close and not even try you’ll regret it. Let’s just try and like I said if it gets too bad we’ll turn around ok? So let’s go.” Christa nodded.

  They got to the end of the curb where her street intersected with another. This was a more open area so they used caution as they approached the clearing. Across the street and four houses down was Christa’s house. The undead were walking mainly in the street and they counted a total of 13 of them, or at least that was how many they had a visual on.

  “Let’s walk slowly across this intersection so we can get to the side your house is on.” They watched carefully as they walked across the intersection. Going to the back of the first house they planned on going through backyards to better their chances of getting to Christa’s house. The backside of the houses looked to be free from the walking dead so they continued with their plan.

  Damion took point as Christa trailed behind him. They made it the second house and as they did they noticed an undead in Christa’s back yard just standing there near her porch. They got to the third house and crouched behind a bush on the far corner. Damion peered around the corner to see if there were any between the houses. There wasn’t.

  Damion turned to Christa and whispered as low as he could, “Ok, there are none in between the houses which means we only have to deal with the one near your porch. I’ll go first and stab it in the head while you work on getting us in the house. Ok?”

  “Ok, but be careful please.”

  “Don’t worry I will.” Damion turned back around and kept crouching but stood up partially as if he were trying to sneak over for the kill. He walked up behind it, stood up and forced the knife into the back of its skull as Christa went right past him to the back door. She went over to a plant that was in the corner on the porch and lifted it up to grab the key. She waited for Damion before she unlocked the door and opened it. “Let me go first.”

  Damion walked through the door. Everything was in its place which was almost eerie to Christa. In this house it seemed as if the world outside hadn’t touched it which brought a flood of emotions. Memories quickly flashed through her head of Bree running through the front door after getting off the bus. She walked into her room and it still smelled like her. Christa walked over to sit down on her bed. Lying face down she put her face into her pillow and took a deep breath in.

  “
Baby, I know this is difficult but we don’t have a lot of time. We need to go. Get whatever you need and let’s go. Remember, we only have an hour timeline.”

  “I know. I’m just taking a moment. I…I..”

  Damion walked over to the bed, sat down next to Christa and put his arms around her. “I know it hurts. I’m doing everything I can do to stay focused so I don’t lose you too.” Christa starts to cry as she grabs on tightly to Damion and as if the flood gates were open she doesn’t hold back. Her cries echo throughout the rooms as Damion just holds her. He can feel the release in her body as she leans on him. He knows she’s been holding all this in since it happened and he won’t deny her this.

  After about five minutes her crying tapered off into a sob. Damion pulls himself from their tight embrace to wipe off her red, wet face and says softly, “We need to go. I don’t want to chance that it might get worse outside and we find ourselves trapped here. Grab your picture and whatever else and let’s go. While you’re here might as well get some clothes.”

  Christa wipes her eyes and goes over to Bree’s dresser and grabs a picture from a family trip at the beach. Bree had kept that picture on her mirror because it was at a time she was most happy. Christa remembered that day quite well.

  It was Bree’s first time at the beach and Christa was so sure the waves would scare her, but instead she couldn’t stop her from venturing out into them. She couldn’t turn a blind eye for one fragment of a moment without Bree running towards the waves with relentless conviction. It was almost if she was being pulled by something. Damion would take her out into the waves and with every splash she would laugh.

  Christa pulled the picture off of the mirror and put it into her back pocket with the picture of Sgt. Donaldson. She went to her bedroom to gather a bag with some essentials in it, but before she left she noticed a one of Bree’s stuffed animals. A pink bear that was dressed as a clown. She use to sleep with it all the time. Christa walked over and put it in her bag and zipped it shut. “I’m good. Let’s go.”