I drive along the dark road. Once lit by street lights, and now pitch black. I look to my right at the little girl. I stitched her up and made sure to clean it well. I'm confident she will be ok. Just have to wait for her to wake up. I grab a water bottle from the cup holder and take the final sip. The water goes down the wrong hole as I drop the bottle and begin coughing. I put my fist to my mouth and cough into it until I feel something warm in my mouth. Bring my fist away from my mouth and look at it. Blood coats 2 of my knuckles as blood oozes from the corner of my mouth.
12 years earlier
"Hold it steady" Hank says as he pushes the plank against the frame
"Yeah I got it just focus on hammering" I respond annoyed
"Alright I think that's it" He says with excitement
We both step back to look at the finished product. A shed
Hank crouches down and pulls out 2 ice cold beers from the cooler before throwing it at me with 0 warning. I just barely catch it at the bottom before flipping it upright and cracking it open.
"That nearly hit me Hank"
"Ahh shut the fuck up" He says before cracking his open.
Hank blows the froth off the top of the can before taking a sip.
"So what are you planning to keep in it?"
"Probably just tools" I take a swig
"Nice, nice" He takes an even bigger swig.
Hank swirls the can before breaking the awkward silence.
"So how are you and Maria doing?"
"Yeah we moved in alright. Doctor says she should stop doing much physical labour in the coming months so Ill have to assemble a lot of the furniture myself. How's love life going for you? You got your eye on anyone?"
He locks down at his beer
"No, no I probably shouldn't since, y'know."
"You still taking your pills?"
"Most days"
"What do you mean most days? Take them every day. No one wants a repeat of what you were like before you were prescribed those."
"Yeah yeah alright get off my dick about it"
Present day
"So we're going to mon..montain...mon-"
"Montana" I cut the girl off "Now in Montana, they have a safe zone. They managed to hold out against the sick people and now everyone lives there. Your parents were driving you there but something came up so they asked me to take you"
"So my mommy will be there?"
The car goes silent as I look at the road.
"Ye...Yeah. And your daddy will too!"
She looks out the window of the truck as she gently kicks her legs back and forth
"Hey so uhh... How old are you?"
"Seven. How old are you?"
"Im 42"
She pauses a moment "You're old"
"Yeah I know"
As we drive a building begins to reveal itself from over the horizon. Squinting I notice what it is. A diner. I look at my watch. I have 78 hours.
"You hungry?" I ask looking down at the girl.
She nods
"Ok lets see if we can find anything in here"
I stop the car on the road rather than one of the parking spaces. I want to make sure if something goes down I can drive out of here as quick as possible.
I pop open my glove box and pull out my 38. snub nose revolver. I hear the girl audibly gasp as I'm loading it.
"What?"
"You're not supposed to have that!"
"Why?"
"My daddy says only police officers should have guns. And you don't have a police hat"
"I am allowed to have this though. Its registered. Sounds to me that your daddy may be a tad underprepared when even now he sees no need in the American right to bear arms"
She looks at me blankly not understanding what I just said.
"Why do you want bear arms-
"Look! Lets just go inside" I get out of my truck before walking to the passenger side and opening the door for her. She tries to reach the ground with her feet but is about 8" too short.
"Do you need help?"
"No!" She hops from the car seat and lands on her feet.
"Nice. Ok lets go" We walk inside of the diner. The walls are painted a light red with white stripes. Its one of those 50s styled diners. I kneel down to get on the girls level. "I'm going into the back to try and find you something to eat. Stay here. Don't leave or go into any other room" I say as I lock the entrance.
"Ok" She says with a smile
Heading behind the counter I look underneath. Nothing.
I walk through the double doors and into the kitchen. I walk over to a big fridge and swing the doors open. There's 3 cartons of milk. They are all definitely spoiled. I close the fridge doors. Turning my head I spot a knife block on a counter. I pull out the only knife in it. A paring knife. I was hoping for chefs knife or a meat cleaver but this is ok. I store the knife between my belt and pants as a sort of makeshift holster before continuing. I see a can of something under a counter. I crouch down and grab it. "Canned Pears" The label reads. I begin walking back to the double doors when I hear a loud fit of coughing behind me. I spin around aiming my gun. I hear the coughing continue behind a door with a sign that says bathroom. I put the can down on the countertop and begin to slowly approach the door. I reach for the handle and begin to slowly open the door before bursting in gun drawn. The bathroom is seemingly empty. But I need to check the 4 stalls. The first one is unlocked. There's no one inside. Second ones door has been ripped off. No one inside. 3rd one? Same as the first. I finally reach the last stall. Its locked. I raise my gun to my chest, take a deep breath, step back, and kick the stall door open. I hear a Pop as the lock is busted. I aim my gun and. Its empty? How the fuck? I look down to see a puddle of blood. Its shifted to the left and goes into the stall on the left. Wait. I hear running to the left of me as I spin around to face the infected. "Oh shi-" The infected male slaps the gun to the side and tackles me into a wall. I bang my head as my gun slides under the stall door. The infected begins to pummel me with his fists and snap his teeth at my neck and face as I am just barely able to hold him back with my arm against his neck. I get my feet against his chest and push him off of me before getting on my stomach and crawling under the stall door towards my gun. Before I can reach it I feel him grab my leg. Followed by him biting down on my thigh. I scream in pain as tears begin forming in my eyes. I look back at the infected and kick him in the face with my free leg. This causes him to unhinge his jaw from my leg and look at me with rage. I pull my leg up and kick towards his face again. But instead of hitting his face again he catches my ankle with his other hand. My voice quivers in fear before the infected man screams, drags me out from under the stall, and throws me into a sink. The wind is knocked out of me as the side of my chest collides with the sink before bouncing off and landing on the hard ground. I am unable to move as the infected man grabs me by my jacket before lifting me off of the floor and slamming me back down to the ground. He throws himself on me as I put my hand against his face to hold him back. he bites my palm before slapping my arm aside. He places his hands around my neck and begins to squeeze tighter than any human could ever manage. My face goes hot as my vision begins to go blurry. I cant breath. I'm dying. Remembering the knife in my belt I grab at my side and unsheathe it. I drive it upwards and into the infected. Piercing his neck. I feel his grip loosen as I repeatedly jam the knife in and out of his neck. He begins shifting to the side and I Roll him off of me and get on top of him. I unleash a flurry of stabs and slashes on his neck face and chest as he puts a bloodied hand against my face. His head falls back against the floor as the hand slides off my face. I get up and put the knife back into my belt. I walk over to the bathroom stall and open it to retrieve my gun. I leave the bathroom and begin walking to the double doors. Grabbing the canned pears on my way out. I see the girl sitting at one of the tables as she turns to look at me. Her face is one of shock and concern as she gasps. Likely at all of the blood on me.
I raise the can up and grin "Got food"
37Please respect copyright.PENANAwxjitMz3RA
37Please respect copyright.PENANAhPUbZE6Jv2
37Please respect copyright.PENANA7s5YnNrgTV
37Please respect copyright.PENANARRsL3voNv2