the s l a y e r

To this day I blame myself.

Sounds good to me. Dane nodded and leaned over to pull up his pant leg to show her the knife in it’s holster that was strapped to his leg. It was something that he always wore, just in case. I have this but that’s all. Nothing for long range and hopefully no zombies will get close enough to us for me to be able to use this.

That’ll do. Let’s go. There were only a few houses within her immediate line of sight, each spaced out a few feet apart. On an impulse, she decided to start with the one farthest to the right, walking quickly, and trusting that Dane was following. It had a garage. It seemed like a safe enough bet that you could store a couple logs of wood in there along with the rest of your stuff. The garage door was hard to lift, and it creaked and groaned like it’d been shut for a while, but with a few big heaves, the girl managed to lift it above her head, holding it high enough for them to look inside without her having to let go. Do me a favor and see if there’s anything worth using in there, she said with a huff.

Just Blake. We agreed that there needs to be a search party in the works like, yesterday. If a bunch of people decided to ditch and find their own way, that’s their business, but until we know that’s what happened, we can’t move forward without them.

We really do. They… fuck they can’t. I-I – okay, I’m really fucking worried about Karis, I’m not going to lie. She’s only just getting good with a gun, but that’s controlled and I’m always right there… I don’t know if she could handle herself on her own. And Daniel’s gone, that’s Taylor’s brother and that can’t be easy on the kid. We really need to get something together, because this could be detrimental to us all.

Exactly. Daniel wouldn’t leave Taylor, ever, not willingly. Neither would Karis, she’s too smart. Something’s up. Just, try to talk to a few people, okay? I will too, and we’ll see what we can do about rounding up a few search parties.

That’s way too many, really. Could we? Like… everyone that’s left is more than capable of handling a person search… maybe we could work something out. There’s definitely no way, not at all. I don’t believe it all of them would die. Like… Maci? She’s too badass. Jeremy? Too badass. Even Joey can fucking handle himself and I don’t know where he’s been.

We have to at least try. Some of those people can’t take care of themselves, like- goddammit, I haven’t seen Karis either, and she’s fine at camp, but out on her own? I don’t know, whatever’s going on, we need to figure that shit out or no one left here is gonna be able to focus.

Who fucking knows at what point she actually just poofed, you know? She’s fucking screwed, I’ll be highly surprised, impressed, and possibly a little turned on if she manages to kick ass and make it back here by herself – not gonna lie. I don’t know, V. They’re all fucking dropping like flies, this isn’t good at all. 

Fuck. How many is that now? Piper, Kadeen, Karis, Jeremy-- shit, that’s too fucking many, Blake. We need to go out and look for them or something. There’s no way they all just up and died.

My parents used to have one in their house. We never really used it but it was there and there was always firewood beside it. He raised his shoulders in a slight shrug. Might as well look. There’s no harm in trying.

Alright then. Vera stopped as they neared the edge of the trees, looking up at the sky, turning orange with the setting sun. We should have enough time to check a couple of houses before we have to head back. I haven’t seen any walkers near here, but that doesn’t mean much. Do you have anything on you?

Nope, I’ll go ahead and add him to this list of people fucking MIA this week. 

I know I’m supposed to be washing clothes, but I’m just taking a small five minute break. Care to distract me for the time being?

I doubt I’d be much better company than the laundry right now, but sure.

Vera was just heading out of camp, when she heard the muttering and fumbling, coming from  her right. She didn’t even get the chance to choose to ignore whoever it was and go about her business when there was a thump, the sound of someone hitting the ground. Sighing, she reluctantly walked in the direction of the noise. Of course, Vera thought, it was Aalyiah. Why did anyone let her do anything alone? Of course, though, everyone had been pretty scattered lately, much to the girl’s displeasure. Bending down to pick up the buckets, completely empty now, Vera huffed out, “Isn’t Nadia supposed to be with you?” 

Dane started following along behind her, trying to make a mental note of things that they passed along the way so that they wouldn’t get lost. He generally had a good sense of direction that he always worried that it would fail him when he really needed it. Maybe we can find some inside somewhere. That way it wouldn’t be damp there were people who had sheds full of it or had large piles beside the fireplace in their homes.

Vera considered this, and nodded. Sometimes it helped to have the smart guy tag along.  I didn’t think people really had actual working fireplaces outside of TV anymore. But hell, it’s Kansas. It’s worth a try. 

What the hell? Has anyone even thought to look for her? Like, it’s Piper. She’s useless by herself. How long has she been gone? And where the hell is everyone else?

Blake’s got an Ipod, or something, right? I’m sure he’d be happy to share. Just listen to another song until you forget the first one.

“It’s one of the few things I actually miss, like I miss my bed most of all.”

“One of the legs on my bed was broken and it needed a new mattress, but yeah, I miss it. A lot, actually.”

Dane nodded and slid his hands in to the pockets of his old jeans awkwardly. Sure. As long as we won’t be out at nighttime because these zombies are bad enough when I can actually see them.

Yeah, I got you. Vera hopped off the rock where she’d perched and started walking ahead, mentally counting her steps as she went. She easily lost her way if she didn’t. I need to grab some firewood before we head back, though. Everything I’ve found so far is too damp.