Playing With Death - Part 15: Don't Drop Me!

Trevor and Daniel continued to walk down Nyman, one of five streets in Sunset Acres. The sun had set four hours ago, but the moon was bright this night.

"Let's hit that house there." Daniel said, pointing.

They both headed over. "Do you know who lived here?" Trevor asked.

"Yeah. The guy who owned the farm on Sarah Dr.? He married one of the gals who lived here."

"Oh! I saw him around every now and again."

"Yeah, they live on a ranch an hour or so from here... not sure if they're dead or not."

Trevor nodded. "Bleh. I hope this doesn't last long... this stupid living dead crap. I hate it."

"Mhm."

Walking up to the front door, they found it was unlocked. Pulling out their flashlights, they entered and examined the house. After throwing some batteries, canned goods, and a couple blankets into their bag, they made their way upstairs.

Reaching the top of the stairs, they noticed some weights on the floor. Trevor moved them aside, and faced the door. It was was closed, so Trevor put his ear against the door. He shook his head, and slowly opened the door. The master bedroom was a wreck, knocked over lamps, clothes strewn, random items on the floor, as if thrown about. A slight breeze was sweeping the room, the window being open.

"Obviously a struggle..." Daniel commented.

"Yeah no joke." Trevor glanced around the room. "Not much in here to grab... And I'm tired."

"Yeah, me too."

The two left the room, closing the door behind them. Daniel took one step forward, and lost his balance. "S***!!!" he yelled, falling down the stairs, bouncing down all the way. "GAH!" he yelped, hitting the bottom. Trevor jumped down half way down the stairs, and did so again, landing next to Daniel.

"Dude! You okay?"

"No... I tripped on the weights... and... whooaaaa..." Daniels head swayed back and forth for a second. "I feel light headed. I might've broken something... my ankle is killing me."

Trevor hoisted Daniel up, putting his arm around his own shoulders. "Let's get you out of here."

CRASH!!!

The two of them turned towards the back room, where inside was the back door. Then a gargled, deep groan sounded from inside the room.

"Trevor... you closed that door, right?"

"Yeah, we should be fine." The two started to the front door, which they left open. They barely cleared the entryway when a second crash sounded from behind them. They once again turned around towards the back room.

There, standing in the door way, was the biggest, ugliest zombie they'd seen. It looked mutated, enlarged, as if it's body were to explode any second. In front of it laid what was left of the door. The walker had destroyed it. It eyed them for a second, and then ever so slowly started making it's way towards the two scavengers.

Daniel's eyes widened. "Oh..."

"...shit." Trevor finished, whipping themselves back around. "we gotta book it!" Closing the door behind them, they hobbled as fast as they could down the street.

Once again, a crash sounded behind them, but this time they didn't stop. Daniel looked behind him to eye the massive freak. "That thing is freaking huge!"

"At least it's slow. Otherwise we'd be in a real pickle."

The blue dot shows where the
survivors are taking refuge.

The two were still on Nyman. Sarah, where Trevors house was, was on the opposite end of the neighborhood, two streets down. Legters being in the middle, and Zuni connecting the three together, Otomi being the exception.

Daniel continued to keep an eye on the large walker, as he noticed a few zombies join it. "They wanna have a party with us Trevor..."

"I'm not in the mood! They can go f- WHOA!" Trevor tripped, and almost lost his balance, but in the process, dropped Daniel. "Crap!" He quickly helped Daniel back up, and continued on.

"Can you not drop me!?"

"I'm sorry! I'm freaking out right now, okay!?"

"There's... uh..." There were now ten walkers following them along with the large one. "There's only three, along with the big one."

Trevor turned his head to look.

"Don't look behind you! Just keep going!"

"Okay, okay!"

They passed Legters, travelling up Otomi. They could see the house... as well as a small group of walkers gathering in front of it.

"I should probably say now that there's actually... eleven including the big guy behind us..." Daniel said.

"...you told me there were four so I wouldn't freak out, didn't you?"

"Maybe."

"You suck."

Playing With Death - Part 14: All Together

David peered out the window again. "He better be okay..."

"I'm sure he's fine." Howie said.

"But what if he's not?"

Howie sighed, annoyed. "Kid... he's fine. Stop."

David plopped on the couch. "Uhg." Why couldn't have Cody just taken everyone? Why was he stuck here doing absolutely nothing? It wasn't fair. Not in the least bit. He was old enough to take care of himself, wasn't he?

A voice from outside the window made David sit up straight. FINALLY, he's here...

Then Lucy, Rose, and Mark screamed. Howie and David both turned towards the window.

It wasn't Cody. It was three walkers, snarling and growling as they walked up to the window, hearing the screams from inside.

"S***!" Howie exclaimed, swooping up Tyler. "We gotta go out the back door now!"

David jumped off the couch and started herding everyone to the back door. They all stopped right outside, closing the glass door behind them.

"Okay," Howie whispered. "We need to figure out where we go fro-"

"Sh! Wait..." David interrupted. "Listen."

The sounds of hacking and grunting from the front yard caught Howie's attention. "Your brother?"

They slowly made their way around the side of the house. Howie peeked around the corner. "Damnit... that's not your brother... it's three guys with Machetes and stuff..."

David peered around the corner as well. "No... but I know them!" He turned the corner, making himself visible to the newcomers. "Hey guys!"

"What the... David??" one of them said, as the last Zombie fell to the ground. "What the heck are you doing here??"

David laughed. "Hey Jordan!"

Before him stood three of Cody's friends: Jordan (19) and Daniel (17) Wilson, and Trevor Johnson.

"Wait," Trevor said. "You're Cody's little brother, right?"

David nodded. "Yep! We're actually waiting for him to get back. He's looking around."

"Hey guys!"

The voice came a few yards away. It was Cody and Rose.


***


The kids were put upstairs to rest and nap, while Cody, David, and Mark stayed downstairs to chill.

"Damn." Trevor said. "With there bein, what, seven of you?? That's insane you've made it all this way..."

Cody nodded. "It's been crazy. It's nice to be able to chill for a bit and catch my breath."

"Heh..." Jordan chuckled. "During the day, sure."

Cody cocked his head. "W... what do you mean?"

"Around here at least, the walkers are much more active at night." Trevor said.

"Yup." Daniel said. "Soon as that sun is down, they're walking everywhere and anywhere, more unpredictable. We usually have two or three instances every night of those freaks trying to get in here."

David then piped, "How long have you guys been holding up here?"

"A few days now." Trevor responded. He turned back to Cody. "We kinda have a system going.. though we're still tryin to figure it all out. Since you just got here... we'll let you rest tonight and tomorrow night maybe. I dunno." he looked around the room. "That sounds good, right?" He got a few nods from the others, and he continued. "Well, it'll only be an hour or so before the sun is down. I'll show you where you can sleep."

Cody nodded. "Get these guys situated first," he said, gesturing to Mark and David.

"Kay kay."

Cody sat back. He let out along sigh. Are we ever gonna get a break?

"Hey..." Rose said. "You okay? I noticed your hand shaking."

He looked down at his right hand. She was right. He had totally forgotten about his anxiety problems. Now that he was sitting and feeling somewhat safe, it was starting to hit him. "Aw joy... Yeah, I should be fine. Just need some sleep maybe." He didn't need sleep.

He needed this madness to end.

Playing With Death - Part 13: Settling In

This was the moment Cody wished he didn't know so many people, people that he got close with. If he didn't have a lot of friends, he wouldn't have a lot to risk losing.

Rose (16) and her adopted little sister, Gabriela (15). Their parents turned, and their 18 year old brother was eaten.

Trevor (18) and his older sister Blair Johnson (20). Their family was off either over seas or out of state. Their conditions unknown. It was their house that they were taking refuge in.

Jennifer Sailor (16). Family dead from zombies, she hit her head hard and became mental.

Kimberly Taylor (16). She was tromping through the woods when the walkers hit and she lost her family.

All these people, and more. He wanted them all to live. But he couldn't say they would. It was a painful thought, but it was reality. People will die. There's no getting around it.

"We've got this whole house barricaded pretty well." Rose said. "Windows boarded, doors guarded and ready to be boarded up at a moments notice, and we take turns for look-out on the roof."

Jen had been following them this whole time, still holding the chainsaw in her arms, like a mother holds her child. She always kept close to Rose, never losing sight of her.
Rose turned to Jen. "Jennifer, it's nap-time."

"Oh..." Jen said. "Okay." she then ran up the stairs, disappearing.

Rose walked into the kitchen. Pulling a glass from the cupboard, she said, "Want some water?"

Cody smiled. Even in the Zombie Apocalypse, she still offered to get him water, like she always used to. "Absolutely"

Rose smiled and filled the glass with ice and water. "Electricity is still running thank God, as well as plumbing. We're trying to enjoy it while it lasts." She handed him the now full glass of water.

"Thanks," Cody said, putting the glass to his lips. After taking a gulp, he sat the glass down. "My folks didn't make it."

Rose nodded. "Same." she looked away, staring out the kitchen window, now frowning. "It feels... weird... and wrong... but they're gone. And I can't do anything about it." She leaned on the counter next to the sink, still staring out the window. Cody slowly walked over and joined her, putting an arm around her. He saw a tear running down her cheek.

"Listen," Cody said. "I know it's hard... and..." he stuttered, not sure where to go with that.

Rose looked up at him. "And what?"

Cody shook his head. "I don't know. That's the best I've got right now."

She nodded and smiled. "It'll do for now." she cleared her throat. "Lets grab the rest of your group."