I Can't Do This Alone

Brown iris tailing the guy’s stare, Angie now joined him  the said baseball bat. It wasn’t a bad choice of weapon, the wood appeared to remain firm even though judging by the amount of rotten blood that covered its surface, the stick must have come in contact with quite a lot of walker’s brains. The thing was, considering the condition of his injury, it wouldn’t be very effective anymore. “You’re going to need to swing that using both hands to produce adequate impact, and with your left arm the way it is now…,” the brunette stopped mid-sentence and shrugged her shoulders before showing the ice pick she just took out of her bag, “Here, take this instead.” Handing him the tool, her sharp eyes caught his doubtful expression. “Don’t judge by its size. Small as it seems, that one can pierce into their brains much faster with less effort compared to your bat, so long as you know where to aim,” she explained.

Drawing her hunting knife herself, the brunette then stood up in one swift motion and offered him a hand. “There’s a cluster of abandoned cars not too far from here. If we move now, we may still have time to hotwire one of them and find somewhere safer after that. Your wound, the bleeding has stopped, but it’s gonna require you to stay in bed, let’s say…another two or three days before you’re ready to back to adventure.” Her calm and composed demeanor may have fooled her audience, but to be completely honest, she was just as nervous about the whole crash plan as he appeared to be. She wasn’t used to having people tagging along, let alone to being expected to watch their back every now and then. As much as she was willing to help him for her own peace of mind, she knew she would always be that kind of a person who kept walking and never looked back if the presence of the stranger was only meant to be a burden.

"You ready?" the brunette side-glanced at her company, right hand gripping her knife tightly while the left holding the handle of the back door. Their destination was only a few blocks away, so unless something slowed them down, they should arrive there in less than twenty minutes.

And with one final nod, Angie pushed the door open.

Adrian nodded in agreement about not being able to use the bat properly, he gave a disbelieving look at the woman as she handed him the ice pick, how could an ice puck of everything be used as a decent weapon. Staring at it with doubt for a few moments as he listened to her he sighed and took it. She obviously knew better than him and decided to go along with it. “Just aim for the head right?” He questioned as he took her hand and pulled himself up, surprised at the woman’s strength he wasn’t the heaviest guy in the world but he still wasn’t expecting that kind if strength from the petite brunette. It took a few seconds for him to adjust, his head starting to hurt from standing up too fast.

Adrian stared sort of dumbly at her as he listened to the plan, a million ways it could go wrong immediately entering his mind but they didn’t really have a choice. She seemed calm enough and showed no signs if nervousness at all, so again Adrian did what he usually did and went with it. “Sounds, uh like a good idea.” He lied, giving the best enthusiastic nod and smile he could manage. “Thank for this, seriously. I promise I won’t be dead weight and hold you back.” The blue eyed man said genuinely.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Eva looked out her car window as they drove. They passed several walkers on their way, but never even bothered to give them a second look. The walkers were a part of their lives now unfortunately. Seeing them was now as normal as using the restroom. She let out a sigh at the thought, silent enough so that her fellow group members wouldn’t hear.

Once they reached the town, Evangeline offered to take a couple of the buildings on her own to scavenge. There was no particular reason for her request. She liked her group and she enjoyed working with them as a team. In fact, she probably would feel safer if she was with more people, but Eva felt the need to do this on her own.

After walking for a while throughout a portion of the town, Evangeline noticed a diner up ahead. It was barricaded with chairs and tables, and the girl wondered if it was to keep something out or to keep something in. To satisfy her curiosity, she made her way towards the building and had her gun ready. When she finally reached the diner, Eva knocked loudly on the door, hoping to draw out any walkers and eliminating any surprises. Thankfully there was only one and her question was answered; it was to keep something in. Eva put her gun away and instead took out her knife for a quieter kill. She walked with the outer walls of the diner, drawing the walker that was inside to the nearest window. With a quick smash to the dirty window, the monster was now accessible and Eva lunged her weapon into its head. She wiped the knife onto her pants, and her forehead with her sleeve. After double checking the insides, the redhead climbed into the building through the window.

The inside was dark and dirty, as expected. She only hoped it wasn’t as empty it appeared as though. Making her way towards the behind the counter, Eva searched through the cabinets and drawers, hoping to find something to bring back to the group. It wasn’t much, but the girl did happen to find a jar of peanut butter. As she reached for her bag to put the food in, she accidentally dropped the plastic jar and it rolled over to the shattered glass on the floor from the window she broke earlier, making a small noise. But it wasn’t the only thing she heard. Immediately after, Evangeline heard a thud on the diner’s walls, then, unexpectedly, a voice. Intrigued but frightened, she pulled her gun out and made her way over to the broken window and stuck her head out. On the ground to the right of the window was a man, shaking his head and holding his shoulder. He looked injured, but the girl’s inital reaction was to point her gun at the sitting man. “Who are you?” she questioned, “Are you bit?”

"Doesn’t look too good. You got bullet fragments stuck in there.. going to have to fish them out, piece by piece. That’s gonna to sting and hurt like a bitch." The girl told him as it was, facing him as she was talking, but not moving from his lap. Though she reached behind her and grabbed the bottle. "I’m going to have to clean it with water, although I had liked alcohol a whole lot better. It is what it is. Do you wanna lay down or are you okay sitting like this. I think I can work both ways.." Hadley muttered the last part, already planning her next move in her head. This was going to be a long night and an unpleasant one for both of them. Although she was sure he would suffer more.

So that’s what she did. Nodding as he continued to talk and at his request she tucked her gun in the back of her jeans. “I could probably kick your ass no matter what state your in.” She shot back at him and looked at him daringly. “Precautions. I like it. At least something you can do right.” Hadley had a way of masking her compliments in a little bundle of sarcasm or critique. Ignoring him mentioning his name, she followed him to the kitchen and looked around. Quickly catching sight of the water and food he was talking about. Instead of attacking it like some kind of animal. Hadley carefully gathered all the supplies and left them on the counter. Turning to face him again.

"What are you going to do about that wound of yours."

Slowly she walked towards him, her hand not trembling as she put her finger on the trigger. A smirk showed on her pink lips as she wet them with her tongue. With swift fingers she locked the gun on safety and secured it in her panties for the time being. It was cold against her bare skin, but it didn’t bother her.

"Do I look like a nurse to you?" Hadley questioned, eying him as if he was the most stupidest person on the planet. "I’m not a hotel that serves food or drinks, certainly not on the house." She stated, nearing him a bit more. For a moment she glanced at his shoulder, it looked nasty. Keeping that untreated would certainly lead to an infection and an infection.. well he’d be joining the undead very soon after that. And right now, he was in her ‘house’. Even though she was planning on leaving she had kind of fallen in love with the place. Having a brainless creature inside her place was definitely not on her to do list. So she tilted her head to the side and decided to do the humane thing for once, even when it was mostly for her own benefit.

Nodding to the sofa in the living room she ordered him. “Sit down.” Before running upstairs to get her bag. In there was everything she needed to threat the wound. Luckily for him she also knew how. Living on her own for seven years had finally paid off. Coming back down the stuff she needed she looked at him once more. “You don’t have any alcohol, do you?”

He let out a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding as she put the gun away. “No your don’t look like a nurse.” He stammered slightly at the look she was giving him, mentally slapping himself for being so afraid of a teenager but that didn’t stop him taking a small step back as she neared him. “If it’s not on the house, what do you want me to do? I’ll so anything, seriously? Just not anything that’ll mess up my shoulder.” He said truthfully, he was desperate and would do just about anything. Adrian watched her cautiously as she tilted her head, nodding and moving forward towards the couch to sit down.

Adrian watched as she went upstairs, shaking his head. Why was he so afraid of this girl? Was it the way she had looked at him? Or the way she was seriously considering shooting him? Maybe it was the way she didn’t act like a teenager, not that he expected her to, giving the current situation if the world. Adrian shook his head and took a breath to calm himself before carefully and slowly taking off his shirt with Ike hand, angling his arm in a way so he wouldn’t touch the wound. Adrian studied the shot for a few seconds, he had been shot yesterday and the bullet was still in his shoulder, probably in little pieces. He crumbled up his shirt and held it to the wound to try and stop the bleeding. He looked over at the girl as she came back down. “No I don’t, sorry.” He answered. “I don’t have anything.”

As she approached it she saw a few zombies banging on the windows. What attracted the living dead more than noise? Life. And Hadley wasn’t hearing anything, so that meant there was someone inside that dinner. She cursed under her breath, probably eating all her food right now. Not wanting to let them have all the fun, she sprinted towards the building. Cautiously walking around it, making sure she wasn’t spotted by the moaning creatures. A window. A small one, in the back of the dinner. Probably leading to the toilets. No one would fit through that, perhaps only a skinny child. And that was exactly what Hadley was, at least, when she wanted to be. Standing on her tiptoes she pushed it open further, peeking inside, her thoughts were confirmed. Restroom. Gently she pushed her bag of supplies through the opening in the wall, before following them.

After some wiggling and squirming she had entered the dinner, without a problem. Fishing her bag from the ground she softly made her way out of the restroom and into the dinner itself. One hand on the strap of her backpack and one resting on the handle of the Smith. Noticing a male sitting on the ground she shook her head. Hopeless. Approaching him carefully, she saw the blood dripping from his arm and sighed. This just couldn’t get any better.

                 “___Dead learn how to shoot?”

She questioned him, nudging her head to his shoulder. Lowering her 45, smith and wesson a bit. But knowing you couldn’t underestimate a desperate human being, she warned.

       “__Try anything and I’ll blow off your balls, got it?”

Adrian was staring at the ground infront of him or more the blood drops that was there, his blood. He removed his hand from his shoulder, sighing as he saw the blood covering it. He the ignored the steps he herd coming towards him, not really caring who it was or if they wanted to shoot him. Adrian let out a slight laugh. “Nah, some biker assholes.” He answered, looking at his shoulder then up at the girl, she reminded him of his little sister. “I’m not gonna do anything, I’m really not in the position to and your a little girl. So please refrain from shooting me in the balls.” He added, moving his hand to his shoulder again.

Cautiously the blond looked around, searching for her next prey, her victim to be. Being high up in a tree gave her the advantage of far sight and she was out of direct danger. She smiled to herself, realizing this made her slightly proud, she always had a reason to do things. Like when she threatened to kill that boy, it was a good thing she didn’t actually do it. Because he went running home to his group and they offered to give her food if she let them be. Who was she to refuse such a sweet deal, she didn’t have an interest in that group in the first place. The images of the occurrence filled her mind and she hummed softly. Always have a plan. Hadley told herself. Advice that she often needed a reminder for. As she could be very rash at times.

Squinting her eyes and trying to block out the sun by covering her eyes with her hand, she saw someone nearing her. They were still far away, but Hadley immediately got into action. Climbing a bit higher so she had a better view, she made note that it was a woman. Slender build. Alone, at least right now. Straggler. The girl added her mental notes. Best course of action? Jumping down on her from the tree? That would most likely result in a fight. It was best to play innocent and approach the woman herself. With that in mind, Hadley swiftly made her way down. Having both feet on the ground she dusted herself off and tried to get into character. Running a hand through her hair, pulling a sad face and her eyes now sparkled with tears. Slowly she started to walk towards the unknown woman. As she got closer, a feeling of unease made her stomach tie in knots. Familiar, the woman looked familiar to Hadley, but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. And then it hit her.

“Mom?! Mom!” She exclaimed and started running. Faster and faster she ran, but the girl didn’t seem to get any closer. Tears were now streaming down her face, real ones this time. “Mom! Please!” Hadley screamed again and suddenly there she was. Right in front of her. Dark blond hair covering her face and Hadley stood like frozen before her. So badly wanting to see her mother’s face, touch her, feel her, be with her. Very slowly, like in slow-motion, the girl reached out. The ground started to trembled and right underneath her it split open. Causing Hadley to fall into a black pit of darkness.

“Mom!” She yelled one more time, before opening her eyes and shooting up straight. Panting and sweating, Hadley took in her surroundings. She wasn’t in a tree, she wasn’t even outside. Actually she was still in the abandoned building she had stumbled on late yesterday evening. With a groan she rubbed her eyes and got up. “A nightmare. Of course..” The girl mumbled to herself as she started packing up her things. Checking her 45, smith & wesson, she liked to call him Smith. It was loaded, meaning six bullets, she had a few more in her bag, but she soon would need a refill. Luckily she was a fair shot and she knew she’d make every bullet count.

Hearing shuffling on the ground floor she stopped her packing and walked to the stairs. Holding her Smith in both hands. She hadn’t even gotten dressed yet. Some idiot probably thought the building was empty. They were wrong. Quietly she walked down the stairs, only wearing a top and her panties. Until she saw the figure. Their back turned on her.

              “___You don’t smell dead. Would you like to find out how death smells?”

Adrian sat up, looking around the pitch black street. “Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.” He grumbled as he stood up slowly, grabbing the metal baseball bat on his way up. Adrian winced, clenching his jaw as he felt the searing pain his his shoulder yet again. He took a breath as he started to walk forward, more like stumble as he was finding it hard to find his balance. Adrian didn’t have a clue why he couldn’t walk properly, maybe it was the lack of food, water, possibly the gun shot that was throwing his balance off.

Adrian had no clue were he was going, he just kept walking even though it wasn’t the best idea and he was more than likely going to pass out again but all he knew it that he couldn’t stay at the side of a road during the night. Clutching his shoulder, making sure the palm of his hand was pressed against the wound he continued forward. He had to get some sort if first aid, now while he had no clue about how to take care of a gun shot wound, he guessed wrapping a bandage around it would do something.

After for walking for what could have been twenty minutes or two hours, Adrian came to a stop at a building. He tapped the window and waited to see if anything from inside decided to appear. After a few minutes he decided it was safe and with the remaining strength he had, he managed to open the door. He stepped inside, slowly and as quietly as he could. If possible it seemed darker in here than it was outside. Adrian gulped and tightened his grip on the bat as he moved forward, the fear and dangerous reality hitting him.

Adrian froze as he herd a voice behind him. Thankful it wasn’t a walker but whoever it was clearly didn’t have a problem with killing him and that scared him even more. “No, I wouldn’t.” He answered as he turned around slowly, narrowing his eyes as he saw a figure on the staircase gulping at the sight as he seen the gun in the persons hands. Adrian put the baseball bat down, stepping back. “Look, I don’t want hurt you or anything.” He admitted honestly. “I haven’t eaten or drank anything in two days. I’ve been shot and I think I’m gonna bleed out soon or pass out or or dehydrate.” He said frantically. “Can you help me? Please?” He asked, his voice cracking slightly towards the end.

The half-Russian was just about to take a well-deserved nap after she finished securing her temporary nest when she heard someone broke into the place; judging from how fast they entered the diner despite the precaution she had prepared around the entrances, she assumed it was human instead of some brainless zombie. The lack of effort to hide their presence could mean the person was in a hurry or he was one of those highly confident jerks who thought everything on the road these days were made specially for them to claim. Either way, Angie knew she had to remain careful. To her, even before shit hit the fan, people were rarely trustworthy to begin with.

"Oh, dammit," Angie bit her lip in frustration as she showed up and figured the mess she ran into. Before her, sat a guy with an actively-bleeding wound on his left shoulder who also appeared to be the reason why her moment of peace was cut short by a clump of walkers outside her door.

If she really wanted to, there was still enough time for her to leave the diner and let the guy be the bait that would prevent the dead from chasing her. After all, using others for her own advantage had once been her way of life, why couldn’t she repeat it now? Still, as a lone wolf who never made that many calls when coming into contact with fellow human, she wasn’t very sure how such action may burden her heart in the future. She realized she wasn’t immune to depression, she could also feel a deep sense of guilt every now and then after a bad decision.

Heaving a sigh, the woman finally approached the man and squatted, in her grip was a first-aid kit she just took out of the backpack she never left unattended. Her conscience gave her no choice; she had to do something about the guy’s condition, no matter how little it would help sustain his life.

"Listen, I’m gonna treat your wound and stop the bleeding, but that’s it. After that, I’m leaving," she stared piercingly into the guy’s eyes to make sure he was paying attention, "You are allowed to join me under two conditions: first, I’m not taking any dead weight with me; and second, if you dare trying to do anything, anything at all, that would be your one-way ticket to hell. You understand? Now, give me your arm. It will sting like a mad bee but I have to ask you to keep silent, for both of us.”

He couldn’t believe his luck, maybe this woman could help him, maybe he wasn’t a dead man for sure. He tried his best at another smile as he saw the woman take out the first aid kit. He looked onto the woman’s piercing eyes and nodded. “Got it. Thank you.” He said genuinely, he sighed as she said she would be leaving after. He couldn’t do this alone, all he wanted was to be part of a group. He was too scared and unprepared, it was amazing that he had survived this long. Adrian’s face lit up momentarily as the woman said he could join her. “I’m not dead weight, I can walk.” He said quickly. “I won’t try anything.” He added, truthfully he wouldn’t mainly because he wasn’t that type of person and he needed someone else. Adrian gave another nod as sat up slightly, pulling the short sleeve if his shirt up with his opposite hand and holding it there, revealing the wound.

Adrian clenched his jaw and fists as the woman got to work on disinfecting the wound, she wasn’t lying it stung but he knew it was for the better. He winced and tried his best not to make a noise as she started taking out parts of the dismantled bullet, breathing heavily through his nose. He let out a breath as the woman wrapped it, pulling the shirt sleeve down over it. “It’s fine, better than what I could ever do.” He gave a slight chuckle. “Thank you again.” He said with a kind smile. Adrian gave a nod to his left were his baseball bat lay. “Yeah, the bat. I’m good with it, it just hurt a lot thanks to the shoulder.” He said looking back at the woman. “It’s bearable though.” He nodded surely, hoping that it wasn’t going to cost him.

God. No. This couldn’t be happening. Her car…her car she’d driven all this way…dead. As dead as the things around her on the street. Immediately, she checked her bag. She’d have enough ammo to keep herself relatively safe is she kept an eye out and tried her hardest to stay as quiet as possible. Maybe keep to the woods. Walking was so risky, but Maya didn’t have time to contemplate it. All she had was the gun her father gave her and her wits about her. 

She tried as best she could not to slam the car door after getting out, so as not to attract attention. Luckily, the walkers were focused on something that wasn’t her. For now. She walked as fast as she could while still staying to the background until she came across a huge structure. No doubt what had once been a prison, was now overrun with walkers. The brunette was so entranced by the sight, that she didn’t realize something was starting to creep up on her. 

It grabbed her by the shirt, and she immediately turned and shot, not even thinking about the consequences. “Oh…….shiiiiit….” She drawled, hoping to God her surroundings weren’t completely empty. She didn’t have enough ammo for this. 

Braveness wasn’t Adrian’s strong point but he was too nice a person to not help whoever it was so for the first time since the outbreak, Adrian ran towards the danger. He mentally thanked his high school football coach for making them do those intense sprints every practice. After a good maybe twenty seconds on sprinting, passing an abandoned car, he slowed as he saw the large building, freezing on the spot as he noticed how many walkers were there. He frowned, shaking his head as he spotted to woman. He couldn’t do it, he was terrified but he couldn’t live with the guilt if he left her.

Tightening his grip on the metal baseball bat, Adrian ran towards the woman and the few walkers that surrounded her, swinging the bat at the monsters head. “Run, go, now!” Adrian half yelled as he glanced at the woman, the feat evident on the mans features as another walker stumbled towards him. Pushing the walker to the ground, he noticed a large group of the zombies heading towards them. “Oh fuck me."