On Her Own
Ivy
She pulled the bow taught and let the arrow fly. It made a nice squish sound as it sank into the decomposing brain of the walker. As the walker fell to the blood-soaked pavement, she had already knocked another arrow onto the bow and had it aimed on another walker. She took the second walker out just as fast as the first. The road was littered with the bodies of the infected. The streets of Atlanta, Georgia were crawling with walkers, and they seemed to get worse as nightfall approached. She had to be extra quiet then, or else they might notice her and that would be the end.
She wiped her sweating brow on her filthy tank top. Between the world wide power outage and the dead coming back to life, getting a good shower had become nearly impossible. She hadn't showered in nearly a week, her only means of cleaning herself was the lake she had found three days before and wipes.
She was perched on the ledge of the roof of a department store. Using her gun was too dangerous in the city with all the walkers, so she was forced to use her bow and arrows. She set her bow down for a minute and pulled her lengthy mouse brown hair into a bun on the back of her head. Scanning the street for any further activity of the walkers, she stepped away from the ledge and made her way to the middle of the roof, where she had set up a tent that was filled with a small amount of her possessions.
Her brother had come with her when the outbreak had begun, but they had become separated after a swarm of walkers had invaded their camp. She now spent most of her time searching for him, hoping that he had run up with another group of survivors and that he was okay. Nightfall was setting in, so she grabbed her bow and unzipped her tent.
The tent didn't have much in it. After the outbreak, their simply was no reason in carrying around items that were of no use. A pile of blankets and a pillow made up her bed. She had only thought to bring four different sets of clothes and it was getting harder and harder to keep things clean as the days went by. She placed her bow on the make shift bed and pulled her quiver over head and off of her back. She set the quiver down opposite the bow on the make shift bed and collapsed to her knees. Sighing, she folded her hands together and rubbed them against her tired eyes. Sleep had come to her less and less during this last week. The walkers were so noisy, especially after dark.
She made her way over to the bed and sat on it, her knees pressed to her chest, knowing sleep wasn't coming this night either. Her hands made their way over her collar bone and to the locket she kept on at all times. It opened up to reveal a picture of her brother on one side and her on the other. Inscribed on the back were the words: "I owe my life to you. Thanks for listening, Ivy."
Ivy bit down on her to lip to keep it from quivering. Too much had happened and love was so sparse these days. She rolled onto her side and sighed as a single tear slid down her hollow cheeks. Ivy closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.
She awoke several hours later unsure as to why she had awoken at all. Ivy sat up and wiped the sleep from her hazel green eyes. Slowly, she grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows and quietly unzipped the tent. The inky blackness that was night swam into her immediate vision. Still unsure as to the disturbance of her sleep, she cautiously stepped out into the dark unsettling night around her and waited for her vision to stop swimming with the inky darkness to peer around. Holding her bow at the ready in front of her, she stepped one foot in from of the other out of her tent and made her way to the ledge of the building. Each step she took made a squeak making her ever the more alert. Her bow trained at nothing in particular, Ivy carefully lifted her body gracefully onto the ledge and peered down. In the darkness, she could see bodies shuffling around on the ground, but even her keen eyesight could not penetrate the depths of this darkness.
Her body moving lithely on the ledge, she pulled an arrow from her quiver and knocked it on the bow. Her senses telling her exactly where to aim, she released the arrow and gave a satisfied smile as she heard the body she had aimed for hit the ground. Smirking, Ivy sat down, her legs dangling off the edge, and peered into the night. There would be no sleep for her this night. Knowing this, Ivy placed the bow in her lap and smiled as she waited for day break. It wouldn't be long now.
Sighing softly, Ivy rubbed her tired eyes and broke her gaze away from the sunrise. It was so much easier for her to see at night. The sun wrecked havoc on her sensitive eyes. She stood up off of the ledge and set herself down on the roof. Today, she had promised herself that she would move. She had wasted too much time on this roof, but no longer. She would be moving out of the city today. She had to get away from all the dreaded noise. Ivy turned herself around and walked towards the tent. After retrieving all of her things and stuffing them in her bag, she unpitched the tent and rolled it up.
Her plan was to exit the building, using as much caution as possible and utilize any walkers that came into her view as quietly as possible. But, as her brother had pointed out to her countless times before, her plans almost never went as planned.
Throwing her bags over her shoulder and readying her bow, she walked over to the door and cautiously opened it. Her arrow taught and ready to be released at any moment from the bow, she pointed it in every direction, making absolutely sure there weren't any walkers around before continuing downward. The stairs spiraled down from the roof and to the interior of the building. She stepped down from the stairs, and with her eyes throwing darts cautiously around the department store, made her way to the door.
Her breath came out in short raspy spurts. Out the shop's windows, she could clearly see a large group of walkers headed in her direction. But no, she stopped to realize, they were not headed in her direction at all. They were clearly headed after a man running idiotically down the street. He looked all around himself, and without any further thoughts of his whereabouts, began firing off shots from his gun; calling every walker in a five mile radius to his position.
What the hell is that idiot doing? Ivy thought angrily to herself. Did this moron not realize the danger he presented to anyone trapped within these buildings.
After firing a few more rounds, the man began running away from the walkers and ran to a tank on the other side of the street. Rolling her eyes at the man, Ivy readjusted her bags on her shoulder and quickly made for the door of the shop. While that idiot man--as she now referred to him--kept the walkers busy, she would nonchalantly slip into the alleyway beside the shop and make her way to a car that she hoped would run smoothly.
Her bow at the ready, Ivy quickly and silently pulled open the door of the shop and made her way to the alleyway. It was just her luck that a few straggling walkers would notice her. Shit. She thought to herself, shooting off three arrows without even blinking. But, the more she shot, the more stragglers noticed her. Deciding not to waste any other of her precious arrows, Ivy began to run through the alleyway. Her destination at this point was unclear, she just wanted to get out of the city. She pulled herself up a ladder and away from the eight walkers that had followed her into the alley. Cursing under her breath, Ivy sent her last eight arrows into the squishy, coagulated cerebral cortexes of the walkers. Slipping down from the ladder, she backtracked and pulled free her arrows. She would just have to make do with the ones she had at the moment.
Apparently while she had been preoccupied in the alley, the idiot man had joined forces with some other people in the city, and one guy had rigged the alarm of a cherry red car to go off. He drove the car manically in the city, and she supposed, all for another getaway car to arrive. Not wanting to impose on the new people, Ivy thought twice about following them, but the idea that her brother could be with them made up her mind for her. Ivy ran through the infested city streets and eventually hotwired a car and followed the small group of people inconspicuously up a mountain.
She wiped her sweating brow on her filthy tank top. Between the world wide power outage and the dead coming back to life, getting a good shower had become nearly impossible. She hadn't showered in nearly a week, her only means of cleaning herself was the lake she had found three days before and wipes.
She was perched on the ledge of the roof of a department store. Using her gun was too dangerous in the city with all the walkers, so she was forced to use her bow and arrows. She set her bow down for a minute and pulled her lengthy mouse brown hair into a bun on the back of her head. Scanning the street for any further activity of the walkers, she stepped away from the ledge and made her way to the middle of the roof, where she had set up a tent that was filled with a small amount of her possessions.
Her brother had come with her when the outbreak had begun, but they had become separated after a swarm of walkers had invaded their camp. She now spent most of her time searching for him, hoping that he had run up with another group of survivors and that he was okay. Nightfall was setting in, so she grabbed her bow and unzipped her tent.
The tent didn't have much in it. After the outbreak, their simply was no reason in carrying around items that were of no use. A pile of blankets and a pillow made up her bed. She had only thought to bring four different sets of clothes and it was getting harder and harder to keep things clean as the days went by. She placed her bow on the make shift bed and pulled her quiver over head and off of her back. She set the quiver down opposite the bow on the make shift bed and collapsed to her knees. Sighing, she folded her hands together and rubbed them against her tired eyes. Sleep had come to her less and less during this last week. The walkers were so noisy, especially after dark.
She made her way over to the bed and sat on it, her knees pressed to her chest, knowing sleep wasn't coming this night either. Her hands made their way over her collar bone and to the locket she kept on at all times. It opened up to reveal a picture of her brother on one side and her on the other. Inscribed on the back were the words: "I owe my life to you. Thanks for listening, Ivy."
Ivy bit down on her to lip to keep it from quivering. Too much had happened and love was so sparse these days. She rolled onto her side and sighed as a single tear slid down her hollow cheeks. Ivy closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.
She awoke several hours later unsure as to why she had awoken at all. Ivy sat up and wiped the sleep from her hazel green eyes. Slowly, she grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows and quietly unzipped the tent. The inky blackness that was night swam into her immediate vision. Still unsure as to the disturbance of her sleep, she cautiously stepped out into the dark unsettling night around her and waited for her vision to stop swimming with the inky darkness to peer around. Holding her bow at the ready in front of her, she stepped one foot in from of the other out of her tent and made her way to the ledge of the building. Each step she took made a squeak making her ever the more alert. Her bow trained at nothing in particular, Ivy carefully lifted her body gracefully onto the ledge and peered down. In the darkness, she could see bodies shuffling around on the ground, but even her keen eyesight could not penetrate the depths of this darkness.
Her body moving lithely on the ledge, she pulled an arrow from her quiver and knocked it on the bow. Her senses telling her exactly where to aim, she released the arrow and gave a satisfied smile as she heard the body she had aimed for hit the ground. Smirking, Ivy sat down, her legs dangling off the edge, and peered into the night. There would be no sleep for her this night. Knowing this, Ivy placed the bow in her lap and smiled as she waited for day break. It wouldn't be long now.
Sighing softly, Ivy rubbed her tired eyes and broke her gaze away from the sunrise. It was so much easier for her to see at night. The sun wrecked havoc on her sensitive eyes. She stood up off of the ledge and set herself down on the roof. Today, she had promised herself that she would move. She had wasted too much time on this roof, but no longer. She would be moving out of the city today. She had to get away from all the dreaded noise. Ivy turned herself around and walked towards the tent. After retrieving all of her things and stuffing them in her bag, she unpitched the tent and rolled it up.
Her plan was to exit the building, using as much caution as possible and utilize any walkers that came into her view as quietly as possible. But, as her brother had pointed out to her countless times before, her plans almost never went as planned.
Throwing her bags over her shoulder and readying her bow, she walked over to the door and cautiously opened it. Her arrow taught and ready to be released at any moment from the bow, she pointed it in every direction, making absolutely sure there weren't any walkers around before continuing downward. The stairs spiraled down from the roof and to the interior of the building. She stepped down from the stairs, and with her eyes throwing darts cautiously around the department store, made her way to the door.
Her breath came out in short raspy spurts. Out the shop's windows, she could clearly see a large group of walkers headed in her direction. But no, she stopped to realize, they were not headed in her direction at all. They were clearly headed after a man running idiotically down the street. He looked all around himself, and without any further thoughts of his whereabouts, began firing off shots from his gun; calling every walker in a five mile radius to his position.
What the hell is that idiot doing? Ivy thought angrily to herself. Did this moron not realize the danger he presented to anyone trapped within these buildings.
After firing a few more rounds, the man began running away from the walkers and ran to a tank on the other side of the street. Rolling her eyes at the man, Ivy readjusted her bags on her shoulder and quickly made for the door of the shop. While that idiot man--as she now referred to him--kept the walkers busy, she would nonchalantly slip into the alleyway beside the shop and make her way to a car that she hoped would run smoothly.
Her bow at the ready, Ivy quickly and silently pulled open the door of the shop and made her way to the alleyway. It was just her luck that a few straggling walkers would notice her. Shit. She thought to herself, shooting off three arrows without even blinking. But, the more she shot, the more stragglers noticed her. Deciding not to waste any other of her precious arrows, Ivy began to run through the alleyway. Her destination at this point was unclear, she just wanted to get out of the city. She pulled herself up a ladder and away from the eight walkers that had followed her into the alley. Cursing under her breath, Ivy sent her last eight arrows into the squishy, coagulated cerebral cortexes of the walkers. Slipping down from the ladder, she backtracked and pulled free her arrows. She would just have to make do with the ones she had at the moment.
Apparently while she had been preoccupied in the alley, the idiot man had joined forces with some other people in the city, and one guy had rigged the alarm of a cherry red car to go off. He drove the car manically in the city, and she supposed, all for another getaway car to arrive. Not wanting to impose on the new people, Ivy thought twice about following them, but the idea that her brother could be with them made up her mind for her. Ivy ran through the infested city streets and eventually hotwired a car and followed the small group of people inconspicuously up a mountain.