Forsaken

Despite the protests of her brain, Carrie paused, leaning against a rusted-out Ford for a breather. She needed to think, watching the buildings closest, on the fringe of the cities. Those were her options. Scoping ahead, she didn’t see any corpses, but that didn’t mean they weren’t around. Probably lying down until some sap like her wandered past, then just wear her down. She had to make a beeline for one of the buildings without drawing attention to herself. Then again, with her exhaustion, her current gait might keep the smarties from figuring out she still had a pulse. From a distance. Then she had to pray to whichever deity was sitting on their ass laughing at the human race that there was nothing in the building. At this point most of the dead were in the streets, and didn’t bother with the buildings unless they knew something was inside. If she could make it that far, then she might have a chance. Though Carrie’s level of care was draining away. Maybe she’d feel better once she finally had some sleep.

The sunlight, dull as it was, landed perfectly to reflect something in a window of the building Carrie was staring at. All she knew was that it was small and shiny, holding her attention without question. A deer caught in headlights. Prey. Helpless, she was incapable of looking away at all, spacing out as she continued to stare.

The sound of Duke’s voice brought her back to the world of the living, spooking at the sudden noise, her adrenaline immediately starting to jolt through her as her frazzled mind immediately assumed something dangerous was nearby- why else would he be making noise? She didn’t bother processing what he was trying to tell her. However, as she had spooked, and tried to turn and face him, her left foot slipped, sending Carrie into an impromptu meeting with the ground. Again.

Though for once she was grateful for the fall as she felt the air split in the space her head had occupied only moments before, flinching horrendously as the glass in the truck’s window shattered to microscopic pieces, more from the sound than the shock. Until something sank in. Something with a gun tried to shoot her. Something with a gun tried to shoot her.

Holy Chrysler car something with a gun tried to shoot her! This is bad this is bad this is bad. Bad badbad. Even without the knowledge that something just tried to kill her, the gunshot (which she hadn’t heard, now that she thought about it) would have been enough send her into a blind panic as loud sound tended to draw out every corpse within hearing distance. And a gunshot could be heard from miles around. Whimpering softly, the only way to get away from the glass was into the open. Still aware that she was in danger, Carrie struggled to get up, her weak body protesting, begging her to allow herself only a few moments rest. Struggling a moment longer, she then surrendered to her body’s demands. It really didn’t matter too much any more… so exhausted… She supposed the only thing she could do was pray there weren’t any walking corpses in the immediate area or in the cars. Otherwise she was dead. But would it be that bad? Duke was the only reason she kept going anyway. When he glanced at her with those pretty brown eyes she couldn’t possibly imagine leaving him all by himself on purpose. But death was something she was ready for, willing to accept. She simply was too weak to pull the trigger herself.

Weakly one hand reached up, on reflex fingering the dirty white and red ribbon. She could feel the difference in texture between the white and the demented polka dots. Whimpering softly, she closed her eyes, completely surrendering to whatever fate had in store for her. As soon as she finally got that sleep she so desperately needed, it was ripped away from her.
Duke’s voice was in her ears, demanding she wake up, his touch encouraging her to get onto her feet.

“Shut up, Duke.” She whispered softly, her speech slurred, the words barely recognizable and scratchy as all hell, not even having the energy to flinch at the sound of her own voice. It was so foreign to her now she hardly recognized it at all. He obeyed, falling silent, but still touched her, urging her to get on her feet. Carrie stared at that shiny circle in the window of the building, wondering what it was. It seemed to shift, and focus on her again. Then it was gone. No rhyme or reason, just kapoofed. At Duke’s continued insistence that she rise, Carrie made an agitated noise, soft in the back of her throat as she ignored him, plunging herself head first into the darkness ahead of her.

Despite the need for some kind of rest running rampant in her mind, a light sleeper was still a light sleeper. And the vibrations of Duke’s low, warning tone was akin to earthquakes as far as the frazzled female was concerned. Did she even care enough to look up? Or rather, back, as she was currently staring at the dull sky looming overhead of her. A raindrop was released, deciding it fit to ensure that the small thing ended up landing squarely in her eye. Aside from blinking rapidly, Carrie gave no reaction. It was probably a walker. Carrie’s chances of getting away from one of the ones who could barely stumble around were slim at best. Maybe if she fell asleep her mind would be kind enough to make her oblivious to the pain as she was eaten alive. It was exceedingly difficult to find the will to care. Fine, you win. I surrender.She informed the powers that be, resigning herself to her fate. Maybe she could try for her gun again. Surely she could finally pull the trigger like this- knowing that death was inevitable, and coming, hard, fast, and painful. And Carrie could avoid that by taking one well-aimed bullet to the head. The final fuck you to whoever decided it would be a good idea for the government to mess with human DNA. Really, what could have possibly gone wrong with that plan? Perfect soldier Carrie’s ass. Probably not the most appropriate thought process for someone about to stare death in the face, either via some corpse or down the barrel of a gun, but what did she care? Zip none nada, that’s what. The rain drops fell more steadily, wetting down her disgusting clothing, as she felt the dirt and grim slowly, slowly run off her skin. It both calmed Carrie and relaxed her, a rare treat, as she focused in on the falling drops and less on the impending death waiting for her.

However, when Carrie saw a shadow cross over her body, and felt something touch her that most certainly wasn’t Duke, the mental stress was too much for the drained woman to take as she slipped into unconsciousness, knowing she likely wouldn’t wake again.