For My Sake

Dan shook me awake from the passenger seat. My lids fluttered open, my hand automatically reaching for the gun that rested on my hip. The rising sun shined into the windshield, blindingly bright. The sky was a rosy pink, the clouds purple and blue.

“We had to stop. There's several convenient stores we can dig through. We just have to be careful. Two of the walkers have been spotted already.”

I nodded and stood, noticing everyone was already out of the RV except for Rory. I smiled at him and he waved. Dan's hand rested on my back in a fatherly way.

“Madelyn is waiting for you. Penelope is already roof jumping, searching for any walkers in alleyways.”

I stepped out of the RV, meeting Madelyn's gaze. She pumped her shotgun, a nurse's mask covering her mouth and her orange hood pulled over her head. I pulled up my hood and covered my mouth with my skull bandanna. I pulled one of the many guns I had strapped to my body out of its holster, made sure it was loaded, and cocked it. We ran across the street to the first store we found, peering into the windows. It looked clear.

Madelyn kicked the door open and we quickly shuffled in, guns raised, checking corners as we walked. I checked a bathroom, she checked a closet. It was an ordinary convenient store, its shelves were half knocked over, but it looked like there could be some useful things. Madelyn jumped onto the counter, her gun pointed at the ground. Nothing. She nodded at me. I put my gun away and shrugged my backpack off my shoulders. The medicine stuff was right next to me and I first piled in as many antibiotics and cold medicine I could find. Madelyn seemed to have found a lot boxed and canned foods because I heard soft clanks of metal as she stuffed things into her bag. Good, we were off to a nice start.

Finished with that store, we moved on to the next one. Penelope didn't reappear so I assumed she was off checking another building. I didn't like that she was alone, but I couldn't exactly intervene. When she's upset, she prefers solitude. Sometimes, I feel bad for the walkers she stumbles across when she's in one of her moods. I just had to hope she was careful and didn't get hurt.

“This one has a few walkers in it,” Madelyn whispered when we got to the fifth store.
“Why don't we leave it? My backpack is full. It's not worth the risk.”

Madelyn nodded. I was just about to turn away when the blood splattered the entire left window of the shop. My eyes widened. I heard the raged voices of the undead and raised my gun, ready to fire. Madelyn stepped back, her shotgun shaking.

The door burst open, the rotting body of a now dead zombie flying out to my feet. I grimaced at it, kicking it away from me. Coming from the bloody shop was a tall, lean black woman and what looked to be her son holding a gun. Noticing us, the woman raised her gun, her eyes narrowed beneath the hood of her black trench coat. She was oddly dressed, even during apocalyptic times. She wore tight, black cargo pants, combat boots, a blue tee shirt and a brown gun holster across her torso. Her trench coat gave her a sinister look, even without the unnecessary amount of weapons adorned to her body. Her son was no better. He had on a pair of jeans, sneakers and a backpack. He had knives strapped in his leg, his hip, the insides of his arms beneath his jacket, just barely peaking out. He had two guns on either side of his waist and a pretty fresh scar running from his temple down to his chin. I could only imagine how he got that. What made them both even worse, they had blood streaked across their cheeks like the black khol people use for sports, their clothes were splattered in it, and I was pretty sure the boy had some intestines hanging out of his jacket pocket.

“Put your guns down,” the woman snarled at us with a thick Russian accent. Weird considering she was black. Not trying to be racist or anything, it was just very uncommon for an African American woman to be Russian.

Madelyn's gun dropped. I couldn't tell if it was because the woman said so or because her hands were shaking so much. I slowly put my gun back in its holster, but never uncocked it. I need to be able to pull it out quickly if I needed to.

I held up my hands, palms forward. “We don't want any trouble. We were just about to return to our people.”

The woman's eyes narrowed. “You have more people?”

I nodded. “Yes, a man and a young boy.” I don't know why I didn't mention Penelope.

The boy's eyes widened, a look of interest flashing across his otherwise scary calm face. The woman, however, was not at all interested. I glanced up, noticing Penelope as she ran across the rooftop and jumped onto the one the woman and her son were standing underneath, as silent as a mouse. Oh, god Penelope, don't be rash.

“Where are they?”

“I can't tell you that now can I?” I inquired, keeping my voice light. “I don't know you.”
If it were possible, the woman's eyes narrowed even more. “My name is Vera, this is my son Vladimir. As far as I'm concerned, you just stole our supplies.”

My brows knit together. “Your supplies? We had just as much right to them. They're ours now, lady.”

She didn't like that answer because she rose her gun again.

“No, mama!” Her son interjected, surprising his mother. “We should join them.”
“Absolutely not,” Vera barked.

“Why not?” I asked, shocking myself, Penelope, and even Madelyn. I swallowed. “Your son needs more than violence in this world now. He needs interaction with kids his age. And you... well you look like you could use some food in your bellies, some sleep, and a bath. We can offer those things if you promise to defend us when things get rough.”

The woman seemed to be considering things, her gun lowering. Then she stood straight, placing a hand on her son's shoulder. The cruel look seemed to fall off her face, showing one of beauty and motherhood. “I think... that offer is agreeable,” she said in a small voice.

For the first time in awhile, I genuinely smiled. “Good. Our RV is this way.” I pointed down the main street. Penelope gave me a “what are you doing?” look from the roof, but when I simply shrugged she ducked away and ran off again. I knew she wouldn't be gone long; we were leaving.

When reached the RV, Dan came out, Rory peeping from behind his legs.

“Who's this?” Dan asked, looking at Vera in confusion.

“This is Vera and her son Vladimir. They've become new members of our group.”

“They're new mouths to feed,” Penelope grumbled out of nowhere, shoving past me and into the RV.

“And who is that?” Vera inquired, staring after her.

“That's Penelope, she's... well, she's the protector of our group. Don't mind her, she just has a cold front. But inside she has one of the biggest hearts you'll ever know.”

Vera nodded. I swept my arm towards the rest of us. “I'm Charlie, that's Dan, that's Rory and that's his mother, Madelyn. Welcome to our RV.”

The Vladimir boy beamed and leaped into the vehicle, immediately becoming best friends with Rory as they ran off to play. That couldn't have gone better in my mind.

Dan shimmied into the driver's seat, putting the RV into drive. He looked back at us – Vera and I. “You don't happen to know a place to get gas, do ya Vera?”

Vera smiled. “Actually, I do.” And she hopped into the passenger seat to give Dan directions.

It was just like the world before. Before the outbreak, before everyone started eating each other and killing one another for food and supplies. This was like the times when you met someone and you could help each other out. This was like the times where even a shrivel of hope was all a person needed. Man, I'm missing those days again.

I left them to their discussion and headed into the sleeping area. Penelope was curled up in one of the bunks, her back to me. I knew she knew I was there, but she didn't respond. I lowered my eyes and slid into the bunk across from hers, turning my back to her. Yeah, I'm missing those days again.