Apocalypse | Week One

by Harris , Octavia

  She spoke softly saying, “You’re fucking terrifying. The ideas you come up with are frightening.” I found myself beaming with pride a little bit at her choice of words. But then J-Nice changed stances and said, “But do you think this will work?” I didn’t see why it wouldn’t work considering that we tried it and are alive proved that it does work. I wasn’t going to try to argue with her about this but I accepted that she was skeptical and I would do my best to calm her doubts. J-Nice asked me some more questions. I felt like we had been talking for ages until she said, “Okay this is my final question.” I stared at her, feeling skeptical but then I told her, “Fine, go ahead.” I think J-Nice enjoyed these discussions even more than I did. She had a very strong inquisitive nature. She inquired, “Where are we going to get the material to build these defenses?” I explained, “The population of the town is fifty people give or take but there’s only five of us and we don’t need that much space. So we can use the homes as building material for the time being. And figure everything else out later.” J-Nice seemed okay with my answer. She didn’t complain and it didn’t seem like she had any more questions for me. The only thing she said was, “I look forward to seeing how this all plays out.” I was curious to see if everything was going to go as planned myself. There were still a lot of unknown variables and other things to be on the lookout for but everything in due time. But we still had to clear that first hurdle clearing all the shufflers out of the town. We needed to come up with an efficient way to eliminate the shufflers as quickly as possible. But I unfortunately don’t have a map of the town. So I don’t have anything to go off of except for the general information I gathered about the place but there are no mentions of landmarks or tourist attractions. Although considering how small the population is they might not have the same things I would be accustomed to seeing in the city. But after racking my brain trying to figure out the best course of action I couldn’t think of anything from a tactical standpoint. Then I remembered all the booze Queso I and grabbed from the liquor store. I jumped out of my seat and looked over at J-Nice and yelled, “I need you to help me with something.” J-Nice seemed a little alarmed by how on edge I was but I assured her that I was fine but I had come up with a plan. I woke up Raye yanking her out of the seat. She was pissed but at that moment I didn’t care. I needed all the help I could get. We all walked past Nugs’ seat and asked her to come with us. She carefully sat down her needle and thread and followed us to the back. I opened all the pantries where we had stored some of the alcohol. I grabbed bottles off the shelves and started placing them on the floor. Nugs looked at me and said, “What are we about to do with all these bottles?” Raye, calling herself being funny, asked, “Are we about to have a drinking contest?” I stared at Raye completely dumbfounded and spat, “No this ain’t no damn drinking contest!” J-Nice who was eyeing all the bottles and asked, “So exactly what is it you want us to do?” I looked at everyone and sigh then said, “I need you guys to help me make Molotov cocktails.” I asked Nugs if she had any extra pieces of fabric we could use and she ran back to her seat to see what we could use. She came back with a large bag full of different types of materials. Nugs slammed the bag on the floor and said, “Feel free to use whatever is in here.” I bent down and opened the sack and started throwing handfuls of fabric onto the floor. J-Nice grabbed some fabric and walked to the right of and sat on the floor and started ripping the fabric, twisting it and shoving it in the bottle. Raye scooped up some of the fabric and sat over on the left and repeated the process. Nugs and I sat in the center going through the fabric and shoving it in the bottles. It felt like we had a small sewing circle going on. After a while of twisting and stuffing the fabric into the bottles the fabric started to absorb the alcohol. We got all the bottles on the floor ready to go so then I told everyone to gather as many bottles as they could and put them in some empty sacks. We got the cocktails put away in bags and brought them to the front of the bus and pushed them over by the door. Raye sat her bag down and asked, “So are you going to tell us what you plan on having us do with all of these?” In a smug tone I said, “I’ll tell you when we get there.” She fanned me away and went back to lay down in her seat. Before she disappeared behind the row of seats I asked, “Are you feeling any better?” She turned to me and replied, “Yeah my nose isn’t clogged up anymore.” I was relieved to hear that she was doing better but in my frustration I demanded, “Why didn’t you tell us you weren’t feeling well Raye? You could have gotten everyone else sick.” She hung her head low and her voice barely above a whisper stated, “Part of the reason was I didn’t think it was anything serious and I also didn’t want to worry anyone.” I understood her reasoning but it wasn’t just her life on the line anymore. We all needed to start being more considerate of each other and put the wellbeing of the group ahead of our own at least while we continue to travel together. I looked at Raye and sternly said, “I don’t care how insignificant it may be to you but from now on you need to tell us if you are sick.” She gave me a meek response and then said, “Can I lay down now?” I rolled my eyes playfully and dismissed her and she slumped into her seat throwing the covers over her head. Queso called out to me screaming at the top of his lungs, “You didn’t use up all my booze did you!?” I laughed at Queso chuckling, “No bro it’s still some back there fucking alcoholic ass!” The look on Queso’s face was so serious and menacing. And even though I know he was serious it just made it all the more funnier. But while I was trying to contain my laughter Queso was grumbling and whining about how he didn’t want the alcohol going to waste. I kept assuring him that there was plenty back there for him to drink. He finally calmed down and asked, “So are you planning to go to war or what?” I just simply told him, “If we do just know I plan to win.” Queso’s eyes grew wide because he couldn’t tell if I was joking or not. But I was serious that the Molotov cocktails would ensure our victory of clearing out the town and doing it as quickly as possible. I just needed to work out all the details on my end to make sure things are clean and efficient. Queso interrupted my train of thought and said, “T-minus six hours until we make contact. You might as well get some sleep, we'll be there before you know it.” I knew I needed to take it easy but I felt there was still a lot I needed to get done but I wouldn’t fully know until we got there and had a chance to survey the area. But right now I’m trying to prepare for the unknown and I was frighteningly aware of how unprepared I really was. But we’ll see once we get there. For now I just had to hope for the best. But before I went to bed I walked over to Nugs wondering if she would be willing to do me a favor. I peered down at her from over the seat and remarked, “Hey Nugs, can you do something for me?” She looked up at me rubbing her eyes and said, “Yeah sure.” I looked at her super eager and remarked, “I know it is super last minute but can you use the fabric you have to make a really long rope?” She took a few seconds to think about it and then she replied, “Sure I can do it. But how long do you need the rope to be?” I just told her to make it as long as possible. I didn't have a specified length. She said it was no problem and got to work on that for me. I walked back upfront and asked J-Nice if she could help me get the guns ready for when we get cause we’re probably going to need them. She followed me back over to the weapon shelf and the ammo cache. We grabbed a few of the handguns and I showed her how to check them for issues and take them apart to clean them then put them back together. I taught her how to load the ammo inside and let load the next few while I worked on the rifles. I laid them down gently on the floor checking for any kind of damage and then disassembled them to give them a good deep cleaning. I put them back together and get to work loading the bullets into the clip. When we were done J-Nice looked at me and remarked, “Damn, are we really going to need all this?” I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Better safe than sorry.” She had no qualms about that and I would rather have it than not need it. But I felt a little more prepared so I didn’t feel as anxious but I still had a little bit of fear still
at the back of my mind. I looked out of the window and saw that the sky was getting darker but I also noticed that the fog had begun to dissipate. The terrain outside looked totally different; you could see the serrated mountains that loomed off into the distance. It was breath-taking to see how proudly they stood and boasted their majesty. Their peaks were sharp like harpoons that threatened to pierce the moon. I opened the window slightly to let in the crisp highland air. The wind was cool and seemed to bite at my cheek the longer I continued to linger by the window. After a few minutes I closed the window because the air started to feel too chilling and numbing on my skin. I made sure the window was shut and secure. I helped J-Nice pick up the guns we were working on and put them back on the shelf. I think we were done for the time being so we went back to our seats and I felt a chill down my spine and I started shivering. I was still a little chilly from looking out the window. I sat down in my seat and wrapped myself up in my blanket trying to warm myself up. As I sat there bundled up I started to feel a little tired. I was struggling to keep my eyes open and I couldn’t stop yawning. Without realizing it I was completely knocked out. I could hear myself snoring softly until I couldn’t hear anything at all, just comforting silence. But then I feel something pulling on me and yanking me from the seat. I woke up and caught myself before I hit the floor. I slowly looked around and saw Queso hovering over me. I try to pick myself up but I still feel a little groggy. I struggled trying to get to my feet. Queso scoffed at my efforts but then offered me his hand and pulled me up. I looked at him and yelled, “Why did you yank me out of bed!?” Queso looked away from me and said, “My bad bro. But you wouldn’t get up.” While he continued talking I tried to collect myself and come back to my senses. Queso raised his voice slightly and asked, “Are you listening to me?” I honestly hadn’t heard a word of anything that Queso said, the only thing I could manage to do was stare blankly at him. I blurted out, “Look I’m still half asleep get to the point bro.” Queso rolled his eyes at me and said, “We’re here.” He pointed out the window and I looked out and saw the town a few feet in the distance. We went through the bus waking everybody up and told them to gather upfront. We shuffle to the front of the bus and spread out on the floor. Queso slides past me and sits in his usual spot. Raye looked around at us but then focused on me and muttered, “Why did you wake us up?” Everyone else stared at me with a mixed look of annoyance and irritation as I pointed towards the window. Everyone abruptly turned their head to look in my direction. Raye turned back to me and said, “Exactly what the hell are we supposed to be looking at?” I rubbed my temples and replied, “We’re on the outskirts of the town we just got here a few hours ago.” Everyone was completely still, there was nothing but silence between us. I think everyone understood the gravity of the situation. We all just kept exchanging glances until Nugs asked, “So how are we going to approach this?” Her question immediately made me spring to my feet. I walked over to my seat and scanned around for my notebook. I grabbed it and turned back to face the group. I flipped through the pages until I stumbled across what I was looking for. I took a brief moment to study my notes before I addressed everyone. Once I organized my thoughts I took a deep breath and said, “So I don’t know much about this place. The only thing I could find out was the population of the town. But I couldn’t find any maps or layouts of the town. So I’m going into this kinda blind.” Everyone looked around kind of surprised but I could definitely see a few furrowed brows and some disgruntled faces among the group. But Queso chimed in and asked, "So what the hell are we going to do?" I stood silently folded my arms. I looked at Queso and sternly replied, "A small group of us should go into town and do some research to figure out what we're dealing with." We all just exchanged glances between each other until Raye yelled, "Not it!" We all darted our eyes in her direction and Nugs said, "You're fucking dumb!" She let out an obnoxious chortle that made everyone else join in. We all enjoyed a lighthearted moment before getting back to the situation at hand. I caught my breath and sighed, "Look, the goal is to settle here in town. But to do that we have to clear it out. It is safe to assume that the majority of the people in town have been turned into shufflers." I saw J-Nice nod in agreement at my statement and remarked, "Basically you want to know how many shufflers we have to take care of." I leaned my head to the side and said, " That's partly correct. I need to know the layout of the town to plan how to effectively get rid of the shufflers. Like places we could lay traps or vantage points we could use to pick them off." As I continued to speak J-Nice cut me off and responded, "I volunteer to go." Her hand shot straight up in the air. Nugs eagerly raised her hand too. I just stared blankly at the two of them and chuckled, "I'm going too so I guess it's the three of us." Nugs hopped up from the floor and went to her seat and started packing her bag. J-Nice followed suit and walked over to her seat and started to get ready too. With the meeting adjourned I closed my notebook and put it back in my bag. We all got geared up to go and Queso walked towards me and said, "We'll be listening out for you guys on the radio. Make sure to check in every once in a while." I nodded to him and replied, "You guys make sure not to total the bus while we're gone." Queso gave me a thumbs up. I headed towards the door. I went down the stairs and immediately the crisp mountain air smacked me in the face. It was chilling right down to the core. I'm glad we stopped and grabbed these coats before getting here. Otherwise we would have been screwed. I took a moment to get used to the cold air while waiting for Nugs and J-Nice to come outside. I see them come down the stairs and both of them have an intense reaction to the cold air. I notice Canella comes leaping off the bus, Nugs jumps around trying to warm herself up and J-Nice just stands in place shivering and sniffling. We all took a few minutes to gather ourselves and then we headed off towards town. As we walked, Nugs and J-Nice seemed to be having a good conversation. I couldn't tell exactly what they were talking about but it was nice to see them interacting. I never saw them talking to one another before I was beginning to think they didn't really care for one another. But I guess they never really had many opportunities to really engage with one another. We walked on for a while inching our way closer to town. The cold air nipped at our skin until the point where my face just felt numb. J-Nice was having a difficult time adapting and would occasionally swear under her breath. Canella seemed to be enjoying herself although I think she just likes spending time with J-Nice. Nugs walked closer to me and started talking to me for a bit, "I love this kind of weather." I scrunched up my face and looked over at her and said, "We'll you can keep this shit. I hate the cold." She chuckled at me and remarked, "I mean you suggested that we stay out here." I could hear the smart-ass tone in her voice. So I got on her level and replied, "Maybe I should have let you guys figure all this shit out and save myself the headache." She couldn't tell if I was joking or being serious right now but she quickly changed the subject. Right as she was about to speak I heard my radio make some buzzing noises. I looked down and pulled my radio out of my pocket. I hit the button and said, "Queso? Over." Not even a second later he buzzed back in, "Hey I was just trying to check in with you guys. Over." I responded back, "We're approaching the town and should be there in a few more minutes. Over." Queso chimed in and said, "Roger that. Over." We both cut our communication and I put my radio back in my pocket. I stared ahead and saw the town growing closer in the distance. We trudged on until we started to pass by a few small residences and shops. We would occasionally stop walking to check inside the buildings for any signs of survivors and resources we could use. As we kept scrounging around going from building to building scanning through some rubble and debris. But we all started to notice a few things after looking around for a bit that was a little strange. J-Nice blurted out, "So have you guys noticed how freaking quiet it is?" Nugs and I looked at her in her direction and nodded in agreement. I said, "It's like there's no life here at all. I don't even hear any shufflers straggling around." Nugs chimed in, "This town feels different from all the other places we've been
to. I don't feel like I need to be on guard." We both agreed with her sentiment but we knew we still needed to be cautious. We don't know what could be lurking about. We walked back outside deciding what direction to go in. J-Nice wanted to keep north toward the center of town. We didn't see any harm to keep going to the heart of town. Maybe we would discover what happened here. J-Nice ventured off and we followed behind her. I radioed Queso to let him know about our progress. Queso's reaction was very similar to ours in that everything we have witnessed and experienced so far was definitely strange. Queso said, "Just watch your backs out there, this definitely isn't something that we've dealt with before." I agree wholeheartedly and tell him I'll reach out later if I get any more information. We both ended the transmission and I put the radio back in my pocket. As we walked around I saw that a lot of the buildings had little to no damage there weren’t any signs of a struggle. There wasn't any glass on the ground, it just didn’t look like zombies had ravaged this place. Like everything looked very well maintained and it was shocking. As we got closer to the town square I started to feel very uneasy. I don’t know why but I felt like something was watching us. I kept looking around, constantly scanning the buildings as we walked by. My neck started to hurt from looking around so much I felt like my head was on a swivel. I honestly didn’t like feeling so paranoid but while I was so focused on our surroundings I felt a hand squeeze my arm I immediately looked down and saw Nugs standing beside me looking concerned. In a hushed voice she asked, “You look a little off. Is everything okay?” I take a deep breath and sigh, resting my palm on my forehead. I looked back over at Nugs and grimly expressed, “Something feels very off about this place. Most of the buildings look completely untouched; it looks like the infection just skipped over this place.” Nugs found herself agreeing with my statement and she went on to add, “As we’ve been wandering around I haven’t even seen signs that people lived here.” I stopped in my tracks, taken off guard by what she just said. How could I not have paid any attention to that. Nugs glanced back at me and said, “Why did you stop?” I stared at her so intently to the point where I think it made her uncomfortable and replied, “I didn’t notice any of that.” Nugs walked back towards me in a soft voice and remarked, “It’s not a big deal your mind was just focused on something else.” Basically it was a nice way of telling me I wasn’t on my shit. Once I was done beating myself up we started walking again. As we look down the path in front of us we hear a gut wrenching scream. Immediately we stopped dead in our tracks looking around trying to pinpoint the source of the scream our eyes darted around wildly. Nugs and I huddled together she whispered, “Where the fuck is J-Nice!?” My eyes grew wide with fear as we called out for J-Nice and Canella. We screamed until our throats were raw and we could barely speak. We cautiously continued down the path as we walked. I took out my radio to inform Queso of our status but I couldn’t get a message out. I kept yelling, “Hello?! Queso!?! Can you hear me!?!” But there was nothing but dead silence. In frustration I kicked up the dirt around us shouting obscenities into the air, “Fucking Dammit! Stupid piece of shit! Why now of all times!?!” As I was my fit Nugs glared at me, “Will you fucking chill out bro!?” I glanced over at Nugs with a menacing look on my face, “What did you just say to me!?” She put up her hand-while at the same time shushing me. I damn near lost my shit I screeched, “Who are you telling to shush right now?!” Nugs I swear to god don’t fuck with me right now.” She turned around and said, “I heard something a few minutes ago. But I can’t hear shit with you making all that damn noise.” Once she said that I did my best to try and calm down. I knew better than to behave this way it wasn’t going to make the situation any better. We both quieted down and listened out for whatever it was she heard. After a few minutes passed I picked up what sounded like barking. It was faint and sounded a ways away. But it definitely couldn’t have been anyone other than Canella. I said to Nugs, “Did you hear that?” She nodded and took off in the direction of the sound I yelled behind her, “Hey don’t just run the fuck off?” I chased after her crazy ass. I couldn't afford to lose both of them. I trailed behind her trying to close the distance between us. I see her make a sharp turn around the corner of one of the buildings. As I approached the building I heard this loud sharp metal clanking noise followed by these intense grunting sounds. I hit the corner and saw Nugs struggling trying to fight off an attacker. Her hatchet was laid off to the side by a dumpster that must have the loud metallic sound I must have heard. Nugs is trying to fend them off as best as she can but it’s not enough. I reach into my jacket and pull out my gun I yelled as loud as I can, “Get the fuck away from her!” The guy sees me and starts to slowly back away while at the same time he puts his arms in the air above his head. In a low and raspy voice he said, “Alright let’s just calm down. No one has to get hurt.” As I pointed my gun at him Nugs runs over to the dumpster to grab her hatchet and rushes back over to me. The guy continued to stand there just spouting nonsense. I shouted in his direction, “Where’s our friend and her dog?! You fucking took them didn’t you?” But the only thing he did was shoot me a disgusting crooked grin and said, “If I were you I’d worry about myself.” His lips curled as he let out this frenzied and howling laugh it was grating to the ears. The laugh was coarse and gruff like it was stuck in his throat. Nugs and I just stared at him with a look of horror and distress sewn across our faces. As we gazed on, I heard my radio go off in my pocket. I glanced over to Nugs and told her, “Make sure his ass doesn’t move.” I reached over and handed her my gun. I could see the guy’s eyes dart rapidly back and forth between us. He was clearly very nervous but so were we as I looked at Nugs she couldn’t begin to contain the fear she was exuding. If we were in the wild predators could smell us from miles away. I dug my radio out of my pocket and held it up close by my face. I could hear Queso on the other end but it was a lot of static on my end. The only words I could make out were, “Are……...okay……...give….us...location.” And then there was nothing I couldn’t hear anything else. I was about to speak when I heard footsteps approaching from behind me. They sounded heavy but quickly I spun around to see who it was. When I did it was this really tall muscular woman dressed in dark clothing. I saw her reach into her jacket pocket. I immediately thought she was reaching for a weapon. I yelled at Nugs to hand me my gun. But it was too late the woman pulled out a small canister. She pressed the button on top down and this faint yellow liquid shot out from the nozzle. At first I didn’t think much of it, maybe just a diversion tactic. But the thought did cross my mind that she sprayed me with piss I stared up at her and yelled, “You tall Amazonian skank! Did you just spray me with piss!?” She just looked at me and didn’t utter a word. She kept giving me this intense cold glare. It was enough to cause a another fucking ice age. I started to feel intense stinging all over my skin it was fucking unbearable my eyes started to seriously tear up and my face felt like I was burning alive in a tanning bed. My nose started to run with stringy bits of mucus swinging around. My breathing was labored as I tried to work through the pain but I couldn’t take any deep breaths. I just kept coughing and hacking up so much phlegm that I looked like I was foaming at the mouth. I fell to the ground wheezing trying to get fresh air into my lungs by any means necessary. I was hurting badly. I knew I had to protect Nugs but the only thing I could do was cough, “Get….…Out….Of...here.” After that the only thing I remember was hearing Nugs cry out to me and then everything went dark. I don’t know how long it had been since I blacked out but when I finally came around I felt wet. I opened my eyes and saw Nugs laying across from me. She didn’t appear to be hurt as far as I could tell. I moved my head around to get a better look at my surroundings. I gazed around and from what I could see it looked like an old cellar. There were tons of barrels just laying around. I rolled over onto my side and tried to prop myself up when I realized I hadn't been tied up. I could freely use my hands and legs. I continued to scan the room and saw a water hose laying on the floor in the
corner. They must have hosed me down which would explain why I’m soaking wet. I felt too tired to try and stand up so I crawled across the room to wake up Nugs. I repeatedly yelled her name but she wouldn’t wake up. I got frustrated and smacked her lightly on the cheek. She slowly opened her eyes and focused on me. She rubbed her cheek and said, “Ow why’d you hit me so hard?” I chuckled a little bit and started to look around. She asked me, “Where are we dude?” As she sat up I explained that from what I could tell we were in an underground cellar. Nugs started to pat herself down and burst out, “They took our gear!” I nodded and added, “But they didn’t tie us up.” Nugs looked down at her hands and legs and had the same late reaction as I did. Nugs without hesitation stood up and then helped me on to my feet. I was able to get a better look at the cellar and saw an old work table along the wall across from us. We walked over to the table and examined it and both of our belongings laid resting on before us. Nugs eyed me and said, “They have to be fucking with us.” I was inclined to agree with what Nugs had said. There's no way that they would give their enemy’s weapons back unless they just don’t see us as a threat. Nugs and I grabbed our gear and loaded up. We looked around for an exit and saw a steep set of stairs leading up to a hatch. We approached the steps staring intently and wondering what was awaiting us at the top. Nugs muttered, “I just J-Nice and Canella are okay.” We still have no idea where the hell they were and I still wasn’t getting any signal on my radio. I went up the stairs first and Nugs followed up behind me. I pushed open the hatch and poked my head and quickly glanced around below me. Nugs whispered, “Do you see anything?” I looked down at her and shook my head so with that I cautiously climbed through the hatch trying to avoid making any loud noises. Once I was through I held the hatch door open so Nugs could make her way up. She crawled up and stood beside me. Nugs helped me lower the door back into place as quietly as possible. We scanned around taking in our surroundings and it looked like we were in an old farmhouse. Nugs and I walked around looking in all the various rooms we stumbled across. Being mindful not to make a lot of noise but a lot of the house appeared to have been built with a lot of natural wood. There were paneled wood walls, wide-plank floors and exposed wood beams, the home was filled with various pieces of vintage furniture and accessories. Not to mention all the fabrics had some kind of floral pattern on it. After strolling through the house I saw Nugs standing near a window. I walked up to her and said, “Yo, did you find anything?” Nugs turned her head to me slowly and replied, “J-Nice is outside playing fetch with Canella.” I looked at her like she had lost her mind. I didn't believe her at first. I thought she might have been seeing things. But she pulled me over to the window and pointed, “Look at them playing in the front yard.” A look of confusion appeared on my face and I whispered, “What the hell?” I rushed away from the window frantically looking for the front door. Once I found it I flung it open and threw myself through the door. I stood on the front porch and shouted, “J-Nice!!!!” I waved my arms desperate to get her to look in my direction. She finally notices me and waves back. She ran back to the house with Canella in tow. Nugs walked out the front door and stood beside me. We both stood looking out at the tall grass blowing gently in the wind. The grass looked like a shimmering sea of brown and gold. I noticed off to the side of the house was a green barn. I kept peering over at it gave me a bad feeling as I stood there brooding. I hear Canella scamper up the stairs as she hopped up on Nugs, happy to see her looking for some good head rubs. J-Nice approached the stairs hunched over and clutching her knees. She appeared completely out of breath huffing and wheezing. Once she caught her breath J-Nice raised her head and said, “Holy shit! I couldn’t believe it was you at first?” I slowly walked down the stairs and snarky replied, “Well, believe it.” Nugs jumped in and said, “Not that I’m not enjoying the moment but where the hell are we?” J-Nice stood all the way up and let out a large sigh, “We’re currently being held at their base of operations.” I interrupted her, “Do you happen to know how large their group is?” J-Nice shrugged her shoulders and muttered, “I’ve just seen the same two people wandering around the guy with the creepy laugh and the really tall woman.” I squinted my eyes and slightly raised my voice, “Those sound like the same two assholes who jumped us!” Nugs nodded her head, “Yeah that tall woman pepper sprayed the shit out of you.” I turned my head and grunted, “It caught me off guard I thought she had sprayed me with piss at first.” J-Nice looked at me clearly very confused and whispered, “Why would someone spray you with piss?” I snapped at her, “Haven’t you ever heard of biological warfare?!” Nugs rolled her eyes and said, “So moving on what should we do now? Make a run for it?” I was fully on board with that suggestion until J-Nice explained, “They told me to bring the both of you to the barn once you woke up?” Nugs and I stared at her feeling a bit perplexed and I responded, “Your ass is trying to betray us!?” J-Nice stared at me like I had just stabbed her in the chest. She didn’t say anything, she just started heading toward the barn. Canella bounded down the stairs after her. Canella’s tail isn't wagging in the air as happily as it normally does. It was tucked in between her legs she must still be a little scared from when they took J-Nice earlier. Nugs and I looked at each-other and we flew down the porch and followed after her we stayed a good ways behind J-Nice. Nugs I were definitely a bit shaken up by this whole fucking situation Nugs even asked, “What do you think they want to talk to us about?” I shrugged my shoulders, “Hell if I know.” Up until this point we haven’t had contact with any other survivors aside from J-Nice so I couldn’t even begin to imagine what they wanted from us. Unless they're under the assumption we have a lot of resources and this is a scare tactic to intimidate us. But as we neared the entrance of the barn I felt my heart sink. Standing in front of the doorway felt like I was about to enter certain oblivion. But the only thing I could do was walk forward with my head held high. I closed my eyes as I crossed the threshold I felt like I would spontaneously combust as I walked through but once I opened my eyes I saw that I was still breathing. I relaxed and looked around. I was surprised that there were no animals inside. It didn’t have the usual scent of shit and sweat that have been known to mingle in the air. The barn didn’t look very old from what I could see but it was dimly lit so I couldn’t see much to be honest. All three of us stood in the center of the barn underneath a flickering light. A few minutes of silence went past before I had finally had enough of waiting in the dark. I shouted into the dark, "Y'all gonna come out or what?" There was no response. I turned around to leave the barn and see our captors blocking the entrance to the barn. I saw the tall woman standing there with her hand resting in her jacket pocket. She was probably clutching onto that same canister of pepper spray from earlier. I stared at her remembering our first encounter. As we had our little staring contest going on. I hear footsteps approach slowly from behind us. Then suddenly we hear someone speak, "Now, now there's no need for such hostility. We're all friends here." Their voice was warm and filled the air with a sense of calm. But more than that his tone felt reassuring that I could take them at their word. I turned back around to face the direction I heard their footsteps approach from. I was curious for them to walk into the light. The pace of their footsteps didn't change; they were slow but steady. But from how they sounded I assumed they were that of an elderly person or someone who suffered a bad injury. After a few minutes I can see a figure creep out of the darkness. I can't make out any discernible features but as I scan through the darkness they said, "You'll have to forgive me, I can't move around as well as I used to." They sounded a little hoarse like they were out of breath. But before I realized it I saw the tall woman brush past us and disappear into the shadows and re-emerge with an antique chair and place it down in front of us. A shaky, withered, and wrinkled hand reaches out to grab the back of the chair. An old woman slithers out of the darkness. The first thing I noticed is how skinny she was but also how transparent and fragile her skin was. Her hair was
silver, almost the color of starlight. She had it done up into a perfectly shaped bun. But a few stray hairs delicately framed her face. She had piercing amber colored eyes. She gazed at me while she walked around to sit in the chair. I felt like she could see right through me to my very core. Once she was seated she looked up at the tall woman and said, "Enough with the theatrics turn on the damn lights." The tall woman replied sheepishly, "Yes grandmother." The three of us eyed each other and whispered, "Did she just say that was her grandma?" Nugs and J-Nice nodded and said, "Yeah that's what I heard." As we muttered to ourselves the lights kicked on and were almost blinding. The old woman remarked, "That's better. You have to forgive us for all the smoke and mirrors. But we aren't used to seeing outsiders you see." I could understand where she was coming from but then Nugs blurted out, "But did Hansel and Gretel over here jump us in town?" The guy looked very perturbed by Nugs' insult. But again the woman spoke, "I merely told them to follow you. I was honestly very upset when I found out they used violence towards you all." I didn't get the sense that this woman was lying; she didn't seem like the type. But as I observed her she said, "So what brings you all to our little mountain town?" Should I tell the truth or fudge it just a little bit but then the guy came over to the old woman holding my notebook in his hands. "Fuck.", I immediately thought so I sigh and said, "I guess I better come clean." The old woman nodded and replied, "I think that would be the best for all of us." So I told her that I had created a guide for survival to help us navigate this new zombie infested world. And for this entire week we have followed through with the plans I have laid out in this notebook. The grandson handed the notebook to the old woman and she slowly flipped through the pages. She said, "My, my these notes are quite impressive my dear. I can tell they took a lot of time to come up with." I felt a little bit pride from her praise but not enough to forget the situation we're currently in. She continued scanning the pages as kept speaking. I finished with, "And so the last phase of my plan brought us here to your town. We wanted to start a new settlement here." She closed the notebook and signaled for her grandson to take it. But I was surprised he handed it back to me. The old woman said, "I see from your notes you came here because the climate does not favor our zombie friends." I nodded and said, "That's correct." She moved her hand to her chin, rubbing it. As she sat thinking I exclaimed, "So far I've answered all of your questions. Will you give me the same courtesy?!" She looked at all three of us and retorted, "By all means." J-Nice asked the first question with no hesitation, "Are you three the only survivors left in town?" The old woman leaned forward in her chair and said, "Would it be so bad if we were?" J-Nice got a little unnerved by the response she got and was about to challenge her when the old woman held up her hand. She stated, "Calm yourself child. Just making a bad joke being old gives you a dark sense of humor. But most of the town was infected by those things. So I will neither confirm or deny that we are the only ones alive." Well at least she partially answered the question. So at least it clears up why the town feels so barren and lifeless. The old lady gestured to me, "Any other questions my dear?" I took a moment to think about what I wanted to ask and then had a realization, "Why aren't there any corpses laying around of the people who have been turned? The town looks completely spotless." The woman looked at me then shifted her gaze to her granddaughter. She motions for her to come to her side. The granddaughter leans over and the old lady whispers something in her ears. The tall woman nods, then stands up straight and walks up to us and says, "Follow me." Her voice was surprisingly soft given her stature and intimidating presence. The old woman said, "Don't worry nothing will happen to you, just follow her outside. I'll join you all in a moment. It takes me a minute to get up." I nodded and stepped aside as the tall woman walked past me to the barn door. She pushed the barn door open and the light outside cascaded into the barn. She continued to venture outside and we started to follow behind her. As we trailed along Nugs tried to get the tall woman to talk to us by asking her random questions but she just stayed quiet the entire time. Part of me understood she was probably still distrustful of us. We came up to a building that looked like an old stable. The woman disappeared behind the structure and J-Nice whispered, "Are really about to follow her over there?" I shrugged and said, "What other choice do we have?" I walked up to the stable and turned the corner and saw the talk woman standing in front of a huge ditch. I walk up to her and look down and it's just a large disgusting dumping ground filled with bodies. As I scanned over the corpses you could see that they all were at varying stages of decay. The stench seemed to form this overpowering miasma. I looked over to the tall woman and said, "I assume this is what has been keeping other shufflers at bay?" The tall woman glanced down at me but she didn't speak. Instead another voice answered my question, "Yes my dear you are correct. But in the beginning when we first dumped them here we had no idea the stench was what kept them away." The old lady appeared with her grandson followed by Nugs and J-Nice with Canella. The old woman shuffles over to me and we both stand there silently. Until I decided to break the tension, "So what happens now? Are you going to kill us and throw us in this ditch?" The old lady stared at me with a confused look on her face and said, "Heaven's no! Why on earth would we do that?" I looked shocked but I didn't really have an answer for her but anytime situations like this happen in movies or video games it just seemed like killing was the only solution. But I was happy to be wrong at this moment. I sighed a breath of relief and said, "Thank you." She grabbed my hand and said, "Think nothing of it. I just feel like you all could be an asset to this place. Plus less work for me to do." J-Nice, Nugs and I all looked at each other feeling hopeful. But then I suddenly remembered we need to let Queso and Raye know that we're okay. I told the old lady we had some other companions traveling with us. I asked her if there was any way we could contact them and let them know we're safe. She said that she would have her grandkids show us the radio setup back at the main house. And that we were welcome to sleep there for the time being. The thought of being able to sleep in a bed sounded so surreal to me. But I think I am even more enthusiastic about being able to take a bath. The old woman's grandchildren walked us back to the main house. I thought it would be a silent trip back but the grandson started to speak with us a bit more casually. Specifically he wanted to apologize, "Hey sorry for grabbing you back in town." Nugs was taken off guard by his apology but responded, "It's cool no hard feelings I can understand why you attacked us." He looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The tall woman appeared to the side of me and softly spoke, "I'm really sorry for pepper spraying you." I explained that I still had some hard feelings about that but I was willing to try to move past it. She accepted that but there was something else I was curious about. I asked her, "How did you both know we were in town?" She looked at me and said, "We noticed you when we were out scavenging for supplies. We radioed our grandmother and she told us to follow but we got carried away." That makes sense at first I thought they might have set up some sort of surveillance system throughout town. We reached the house and we hopped up the stairs through the front door. The tall woman takes me to the back of the house to a room. She unlocks the door and turns the knob pushing the door open. At first it just looks like an ordinary sewing room. Nugs would love this room if she saw it. The woman walks over to a table and pulls this large white sheet off the table. She reveals the large radio hidden underneath. She said, "Feel free to use this to get in touch with your friends. And let me know if this thing gives you any trouble." I gave her my thanks and she walked out of the room. I turned the radio on and tried to get in set to the right channel but at first the only thing I was picking up was static. Until I started to hear some chatter the signal was kind of spotty. At first I had to make some adjustments but then I could clearly hear the other person speaking. The person on the other end repeatedly kept yelling, "Hello, hello! Can anyone hear me?" It was Queso as clear as day. I replied, "Queso can you hear me?" There was no response, just silence,
then I heard him shout, "Where the hell have you been? We've been trying to reach you guys for ages!" I assured him that we were safe. And I tried to explain what happened as best I could but I would save certain details for when we were face to face. I told him our current location and to meet us here as soon as possible with the bus. He said, "I'll see you in a bit." With that we ended the transmission. I cut the radio off and got up and left the room making sure to pull the door closed behind me. I walked toward the kitchen and heard sounds of lively chatter. I step through the doorway to see Nugs and J-Nice sitting around the kitchen table with the old woman's grandkids. She was at the stove cooking. I couldn't tell what she was making but it smelled delicious. She looked at me and told me to have a seat and the table and get comfortable. I pulled up a seat and sat down and the old lady asked, "So were you able to get a hold of your other friends?" I told her I got a hold of my brother and that he would be here soon and I expressed how grateful I was for her help. She shrugged it off saying it was no big deal and that she was happy to do it. When she was done cooking she told us to go wash our hands and then come fix our plates. We ate to our heart's content. It was a hearty meal that just seemed to warm the soul. I think I cried a little bit because of how good the food was. After the meal the old woman walked into the kitchen with three sets of fresh towels and told us to feel free to use the shower to freshen up. She said she'd also find some clean clothes for us to sleep in. I felt like I was in a dream. This moment made me realize that this is what life was like before all this madness. Eating tasty meals together, being able to enjoy a simple hot shower and wearing clean comfortable clothes. Things I think we took for granted in the past. But it was nice to recapture the feeling of normalcy even if it was just for one night. She handed me the towels and wandered into the living room. The three of us started to argue over who would take the first shower. But we couldn't reach a unanimous decision so we decided to play rock, paper, scissors for it. But basically a lot after a lot of swearing and angry threats Nugs ended up taking the first shower. While J-Nice and I got escorted to the rooms we would be sleeping in. They were modest sleeping arrangements but to us after sleeping on bus seats for a week. This was like spending the night at a five star hotel. I walked into the room and noticed there was a change of clothes laying on the bed. Down the hall I heard Nugs come out of the bathroom humming. She sounded really happy. She walked past our rooms saying she was finished and that we could use the bathroom. I let J-Nice use the bathroom and I would just take the last shower. J-Nice eagerly ran to the bathroom Canella was right by her side. But when J-Nice went into the bathroom she slammed the door leaving Canella in the hallway. Canella desperately scratched at the door wanting to go inside. She started to whine until I invited Canella to wait in the room with me until J-Nice was done in the bathroom. Canella strolled into the room and laid at my feet just resting. Some time passed and the bathroom door opens Canella’s ears perked up. And she sat up immediately J-Nice walked past my room and told Canella to come. Canella immediately left my side to be with J-Nice once more. Now it was my turn to shower I gathered up my towel and headed to the bathroom. I go inside and close the door and turn on the shower I adjust the temperature of the water to get it just right. I got undressed and threw my clothes on the floor and hopped in the shower. The warm water felt good on my skin. I looked down at the drain and saw all the dirt and grime wash away. I was filthy. I did my best to scrub myself clean. I let the water run over me and just get lost in my thoughts. I could have stayed in the shower all night but realized I had to get out because my hands were getting all pruny. I stepped out and dried off. I grabbed my dirty clothes before heading back to my room. I closed the door and changed into the new clothes that were left for me. I got dressed and just fell into bed. It felt like laying on a cloud. I haven't been this relaxed in a while. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. The night was calm and serene. I felt my sink into bed as the blanket enveloped me. I wondered if everyone else was enjoying a peaceful sleep. I awoke to a knock on the door. It was Nugs and she said, "Hey you up? Breakfast is ready." I heard her footsteps recede from the door. My face was smashed into the pillow. I opened one eye and quickly gazed around the room. I closed my one eye and just laid there for a few more minutes then I heard yelling coming from outside. I jumped out of the bed over to the window and saw Queso outside waving his gun around. I immediately thought, "This fucking idiot!" I tried to open the windows but they were stuck in position. I frantically looked for my clothes so I could change. When I heard another knock on the door this time it was J-Nice, "Can you come get your crazy ass brother before he gets himself killed." I pulled my pants up and buttoned them. I slammed the door open and brushed past J-Nice. I flew down the hallway I almost tripped a few times because I didn’t want to waste time putting my shoes on. As I ran through the kitchen in my socks. I grabbed the doorknob to the front door and flung it open. I saw the tall woman and her brother standing in the yard armed to the teeth. I stepped onto the porch and winced at how cold it was. I hopped around trying to find a warm spot to stand on. I got to the steps and shouted, "Queso what the fuck are you doing?" He locked eyes with me. I think observing me to see if I was hurt. He tried getting closer to the house. But the two of them weren't going to give him an inch. I knew they'd drop him if charged up to the house. So instead he yelled back, "Tell J-Nice and Nugs to come outside so we can get the hell out of here." I looked to the side of the house and saw the two of them staring out the window. I turned my attention back to Queso. I need to diffuse this whole situation before they kill his ass. I yelled, "I know this isn't the best situation to be in but put the gun down so we can all talk this out." Queso looked at me like I had lost my mind, "What the fuck are you saying? Why would I talk to the people who held the three of you hostage?" I know I'm asking for a lot right now but I need him to see where I'm coming from. I keep trying, "Bro, I just need you to trust me. Have I ever given you any reason to doubt me?" He looked indecisive and frustrated. He lifted up his gun and aimed it at the tall woman and she responded in kind. It looked like a scene out of an old cowboy movie. The question was who would fire the first shot. I yelled and berated him to drop his gun. But it didn’t seem like he was paying me any attention. But what he did next was a bit unexpected. He raised his gun in the air and fired off a couple shots in the air while screaming at the top of his lungs like a mad man. I yelled over him, "What did I tell you about wasting bullets!" He lowered his arm and at this point the tall woman and the man were walking back to the house. I guess they didn't see him as much of a threat anymore. I heard the front door swing open and the old woman stepped outside and said, "Are you all finished putting on out here? Breakfast is getting cold." Queso heard the old woman say breakfast and a smile appeared on his face. He said, "Excuse me ma'am but did you happen to cook any bacon?" The old woman looked at him and said, "Of course I did boy. Now all of you hurry up and get in this house." And with that she went back inside the tall woman and the guy walked past me and went through the front door. I saw Queso turn around and walk to the bus shouted, "Raye come on so we can eat!" I saw her step off the bus and made her way over the house with Queso in tow. She got closer to the house and ran up to give me a hug. I happily embraced her. She let me go and bombarded me with a barrage of punches. She clearly had been worried about me but I was happy to see her again. She went inside as I waited for Queso. He approached me, giving me a high five. I returned the high five but I also smacked him on the head a couple of times for being foolish. He apologized saying wouldn't act out again and said, "Now I'm about to go inside and get some of this bacon." I whispered, "You fat-ass!” He ran up the stairs quicker than the speed of light. As I stood outside it started to snow lightly and it looked breath-taking. But I started to get chilly so I went inside. As I head inside the house is filled with the sounds of hearty laughter and a strong sense of camaraderie. The two siblings were joking around with Queso like they weren’t about to shoot him a few minutes ago.
J-Nice said, "Why don’t we all go around the table and introduce ourselves. I'll go first." J-Nice kicked us off. She said her interests and what job she had before all this stuff happened. Everyone else from my group went around the table introducing themselves. It got to the tall woman and she looked a little nervous. She spoke in a low tone of voice and said, "I go by Tone. It's what my brother and grandma call me. I used to love to ride horses and before all this I worked as a farm hand taking care of animals and helping the crops grow." We all looked at each other and immediately counted our blessings that we found someone to help us grow our own food and raise our own livestock. Things were beginning to look up for our merry little band of survivors. It was time for the brother to speak and he remarked, "My family calls me TJ. I love to build things. I used to work as a building contractor before this whole zombie apocalypse mess happened." Again we hit the jackpot building this settlement was starting to seem less daunting of a task than before. It was my turn to speak but I was interrupted by the old woman, "If you all are done eating I'll have Tone and Tj show you all around the farm." Everyone got up from the table to go walk around. I went back to my room briefly to grab my shoes. I headed out the door and I saw everyone heading to the barn. I ran to catch up with them but they were already ahead of me. I ran into the barn behind them and when I entered I saw large stacks of lumber and other building material we could make use of to help get us started. Tj said, "Yeah I used to store materials here from contracts I would work on. Hopefully we can find some use for it." I was already coming up with ways to use it in my mind as we speak. Queso wandered over to me and said, "I see that brain of yours already going to work." I looked at him and said, "You know how it goes, we should get started building as soon as possible." Queso sighed and then replied, "Damn, we can't catch a break with your ass. But do you really think we can have a good life here?" I looked at Queso and I was silent for a moment then I remarked, "I'll let you know when I think that far ahead." He looked at me and whispered, "You fucking smart-ass.” We both heard the rest of the group calling us over to take a look at something Queso walked ahead but I stayed back thinking. I didn't know what was in store for us but the only thing I could do was to keep moving forward. Queso yelled out to me, "Come over here bighead we need some help." I shouted back, "You got a lot of nerve disrespecting somebody!" I walked over to the group and heard the lively chatter amongst them and thought If this was to be my life then I would gladly accept.