House of the Rising Sun
Chance Encounter
You can do this, you know you can, Tanner thought as she took a few deep breaths, do it for Brandon.
When the epidemic started, Tanner and her father quickly tried to set up defenses around their 38 acre farm. Will McMurphy used every bit of his military know how to protect his land, his daughter, and himself. The two did their best to defend the vast amount of land but in the end it was just one walker that undid their weeks of preparation.
It took one bite to reduce the strong fit combat vet Will had once been into a weak, feverish old man. He had clasped Tanner's hands in his and told her to survive. Do everything she possibly could to live and find her brother.
Tanner smoothed the map over the steering wheel and put the truck in park. Great, she had reached Georgia but it would still take hours - if not days to get to Jacksonville from here. Luckily she had siphoned enough gas from a mall parking lot around the South Carolina/Georgia border that she shouldn't have to worry about filling up for a while. She lit a cigarette as she traced out the route with her finger. She'd make good time if she stuck to the interstate and didn't take too long to sleep.
Just as Tanner went to put away her map the hunger pains hit her hard. It had been a good week since the caravan had a full pantry and she had been running off pure adrenaline for longer than she'd like.
"Shut up," She hissed to her growling pudgy stomach.
The gas station she had stopped at appeared empty enough, and she glanced past all the posters on it's big glass windows to find the quick stop shop was pretty bare. The grocery stores would be packed with walkers, she knew that much from experience on the road.
"Great. Grand. Goddamn beautiful." Tanner slammed her palms on the steering wheel and growled. She'd have to set up a blind or something later, get her fat ass up in a tree and start hunting if she didn't find something soon. Wasting her dwindling ammo would be a bad idea but she was running out of choices.
Angrily shifting out of park, Tanner's eyes fell upon a gift from God, a vending machine. Clasping her hands together in a prayer, she thanked the big man upstairs for providing and giving her the brains enough to grab a crowbar before fleeing the farm.
After pulling up to the blessed machine, she scanned the area one more time and crawled out of the truck. Prying open the machine silently would be hard but she needed some of those calories if she was ever going to survive the drive to Florida. Tanner had to stifle a large whoop of joy when the display gave way to her best efforts. She scrambled to empty the machine and began throwing the pilfered goods into her caravan haphazardly.
Tanner chuckled to herself as she shut the caravan door only to come face to face with one of those rotting monsters she had been so keen on avoiding. It growled reaching out to grab the redhead, it's jaw snapping as it did so. How had she missed the unmistakeable stench that clung to these beasts? She let out a loud yelp and swung her crowbar. With a loud squelching sound, the hooked end lodged itself into the walker's head just above it's ear. Panicking, she tried to dislodge her faithful tool from the bastard's skull.
There was a loud crack followed by an equally loud thud behind her and Tanner whipped around to find a young blond pony-tailed boy standing behind her clutching a gore splattered guitar, a walker lying at his feet, it's skull caved in from the force of the blow. "Hey," He said with a smile, "can I have one of those Twinkies?"
When the epidemic started, Tanner and her father quickly tried to set up defenses around their 38 acre farm. Will McMurphy used every bit of his military know how to protect his land, his daughter, and himself. The two did their best to defend the vast amount of land but in the end it was just one walker that undid their weeks of preparation.
It took one bite to reduce the strong fit combat vet Will had once been into a weak, feverish old man. He had clasped Tanner's hands in his and told her to survive. Do everything she possibly could to live and find her brother.
Tanner smoothed the map over the steering wheel and put the truck in park. Great, she had reached Georgia but it would still take hours - if not days to get to Jacksonville from here. Luckily she had siphoned enough gas from a mall parking lot around the South Carolina/Georgia border that she shouldn't have to worry about filling up for a while. She lit a cigarette as she traced out the route with her finger. She'd make good time if she stuck to the interstate and didn't take too long to sleep.
Just as Tanner went to put away her map the hunger pains hit her hard. It had been a good week since the caravan had a full pantry and she had been running off pure adrenaline for longer than she'd like.
"Shut up," She hissed to her growling pudgy stomach.
The gas station she had stopped at appeared empty enough, and she glanced past all the posters on it's big glass windows to find the quick stop shop was pretty bare. The grocery stores would be packed with walkers, she knew that much from experience on the road.
"Great. Grand. Goddamn beautiful." Tanner slammed her palms on the steering wheel and growled. She'd have to set up a blind or something later, get her fat ass up in a tree and start hunting if she didn't find something soon. Wasting her dwindling ammo would be a bad idea but she was running out of choices.
Angrily shifting out of park, Tanner's eyes fell upon a gift from God, a vending machine. Clasping her hands together in a prayer, she thanked the big man upstairs for providing and giving her the brains enough to grab a crowbar before fleeing the farm.
After pulling up to the blessed machine, she scanned the area one more time and crawled out of the truck. Prying open the machine silently would be hard but she needed some of those calories if she was ever going to survive the drive to Florida. Tanner had to stifle a large whoop of joy when the display gave way to her best efforts. She scrambled to empty the machine and began throwing the pilfered goods into her caravan haphazardly.
Tanner chuckled to herself as she shut the caravan door only to come face to face with one of those rotting monsters she had been so keen on avoiding. It growled reaching out to grab the redhead, it's jaw snapping as it did so. How had she missed the unmistakeable stench that clung to these beasts? She let out a loud yelp and swung her crowbar. With a loud squelching sound, the hooked end lodged itself into the walker's head just above it's ear. Panicking, she tried to dislodge her faithful tool from the bastard's skull.
There was a loud crack followed by an equally loud thud behind her and Tanner whipped around to find a young blond pony-tailed boy standing behind her clutching a gore splattered guitar, a walker lying at his feet, it's skull caved in from the force of the blow. "Hey," He said with a smile, "can I have one of those Twinkies?"