Before the Storm

It had been another two months that had flown by almost in a flash. One thing that I quickly realized in this new world that we now inhabited was that it was very hard to keep track of time and days. The only way to really tell what time it was by looking at the sun and where it was positioned at in the sky. Other than that, the days just seemed to go by in a blur. The only way I knew how a couple months had passed on was the fact that it was super, super burning hot during the days, and it barely cooled off during the nights anymore. The way it normally was during the middle of July.

Over time, all three of us had become accustomed to how it was we were supposed to live in this new world. We learned how to sneak in and out of places, only grabbing what we needed and getting out before the walkers began to move in. We had learned by having a couple of close calls that if something seemed too good to be true and like it was going along smoother than it should have, then it probably was, and there was probably a massive shit storm hurdling in our specific direction. We also learned, that whatever population was left over in the world, was doomed.

Over time, all the electricity and gas lines had slowly died out. There were no street lights, there was no hot water; Hell, there was no running water, period. There were no rules, there was no Government, nobody to turn to if something went wrong and you got screwed over out of something. Just you, your weapons, and your own drive to get shit done.

One thing that also changed over the past couple months; Zack and Madisen had grown quite fond of each other, and they had gotten closer to each other. But then again, I couldn't really blame him with her being the only other girl he's been in contact with recently aside from his sister. They were practically each other's shadows. Wherever she went, he went, and vice versa. I was happy for them, really. People needed to take whatever happiness they could get in this world. I just think they chose the worst possible time to decide to get into a relationship with each other.

We were able to stay in that house for almost the entire time since we had gotten there, but eventually the walkers just became to much to deal with and we ended up having to abandon the house. We had been on the road again for about a week and we were once again having to try and find a safe enough place to stay. First off, however, we needed to find a shop to stock up on ammo again, because we were beginning to run dangerously low. If we just so happened to get stuck in a hoard of those things, we'd be screwed.

Madisen pulled up next to a guns and ammo store on the outskirts of the town we had drove into. There were a few walkers roaming around here and there, but the majority of them were far enough away that it wouldn't have mattered. From the looks of it, they hadn't noticed us pull up anyway. There were two up closer to us, and the second we stopped they were up close to the car, pressing their hideous faces up against the windows.

I winced, seeing one of them with what looked like fresh blood dripping from his mouth and down onto his neck and clothes. His teeth were crooked and rotting away in his mouth, his eyes sunken into his skull and mixed between a sickeningly yellow color and blood shot red. I grabbed my knife out of the holster and cracked my window down enough for me to be able to stab the walker in the skull.

Madisen did the same with the walker that was pressed against her window, and the walkers both fell down the the pavement, motionless. We all exited the vehicle and closed the doors as quietly as possible as to not alert the other walkers in the area that we were here. We then walked across the sidewalk and over to the door of the shop.

Zack, like always, walked ahead of the two of us and decided that he'd be the one to go in first and begin the sweep. He opened the heavy wooden door, the bell on the top of the door rang out loudly from the sudden movement, and he held his hand up in a silent motion to tell us that we needed to stay quiet as he listened for any sign of movement anywhere in the shop.

My ears strained to listen in and I heard the faint sound of shuffling feet and gurgling noises coming from towards the back of the store. We stood there for an extra minute or so and then suddenly, a walker came stumbling out through the darkness, bumping into shelves and random clothes racks. It wasn't until it came closer and passed through a stream of light that I saw that this particular walker had his face completely blown off. As if the person had originally tried killing himself, but failed in hitting his brain.

The sight made me feel repulsed, and it struck a chord deep within. A massive wave of sadness and depression washed over me in that instant. I watched as Zack walked over to the walker and grabbed his shoulder to steady him and jammed his knife deep into his skull. The walker slid off the blade with ease and slumped down onto the floor. We listened once more and I heard another walker groaning in the back of the store, but it didn't seem like it was getting closer to us.

I made my way towards where the noise was coming from, and I came upon the store room where all the extra merchandise would have been kept. There were lots of really tall shelves, and I felt like I was moving through a maze. It was hard to see around them and it made me a little on edge to not be able to see what could be coming towards me. I began to hear a few slight bangs and thumps, and the sound of the snarling walker were getting louder with each step I took.

I rounded the corner and I gasped in shock, stopping dead in my tracks and lowering my knife as I looked up upon the walker hanging from one of the rafters, a thick rope wrapped around his neck. He saw me standing there, and he began reaching out towards me and kicking his legs around, trying to free himself from the trap. I felt a lump form in my throat as my chest tightened up. This whole thing was just too much for me to handle right now.

Zack came sneaking up behind me, making me jump and turn around quickly to face him. He too was looking up at the hanging walker, before he placed his hand on my shoulder and began pushing me in front of him to go back out to the main room.

"He's not hurtin' anybody." He said. "Leave him be."

As much as I was against the whole thing, I nodded my head and walked back out to where Madisen probably was, my head hung low. Two walkers were in this gun shop, and both of them had tried committing suicide when they were actually alive. It started to make me wonder if they had been bitten or scratched and they decided to opt out before the sickness overcame them. Or if they had just been that weak and wanted out of this hell before they could get bit. Kind of like what my mind set had been these past couple months.

There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't contemplate at least once, just ending everything and getting myself out of here before I lost anything else that meant the most to me. There were times, especially at night, when the urges got the strongest and I didn't want to continue anymore. The thought of losing Zack or Madisen, the only two people I had left in this entire world, were devastating and almost too much to bear. Without them, I couldn't be here.

I walked around the store room like a zombie, no pun intended. I wasn't paying attention to anything or anyone around me. Hell, I barely even paid attention to what I was doing. It was like I was on auto-pilot, just moving my limbs and picking up ammo but not really putting any real thought into it. This world was becoming dead to me, and I was finding it harder and harder to drag myself out of this rut that I had gotten myself into.

I had isolated myself from the only two people that I had left. I knew that they knew something was wrong with me, but I was in that frame of mind where I just didn't care. I didn't care if they knew, and I didn't care if something happened to me because I didn't care. I knew this recklessness would get me killed, but right now, I hoped that that would happen. I hoped that I would get eaten by flesh craving freaks, because that would mean that I wouldn't have to do it myself.

I also knew that I shouldn't be thinking like this. I shouldn't be letting myself get so weak to the point that I want to end my life. I knew that if something like that actually were to happen me, or if I really did kill myself, it would absolutely crush Zack. He'd feel like he failed, and he'd only end up beating himself into the ground over it. I don't even know how bad it would effect Madisen. It'd probably be the last straw, and she'd end up going completely over the edge. I knew I had to stay alive for them, as much as I didn't want to.



"C'mon! We've gotta move!" Zack yelled to Madisen and me.

My breathing was heavy and my chest was heaving like no other as I attempted to keep up with Zack, who was running towards the car with his hand wrapped tightly around my wrist.
We had gone down to a gas station to attempt to get some gas from one of the pumps, just so that we'd be all stocked up and wouldn't have to worry about getting any for another day or so. Everything was going smoothly, especially after we had killed all the other straggler walkers that were wandering around. We should have been more careful.

Within minutes, seconds even, of us finishing up with filling the gas canisters, a whole mob of walkers began flooding into the streets, targeting the only living things that they had probably seen for miles. We had to make a run for it, back to the SUV so that we could get the hell out of here.

Both me and Madisen were running as fast as we could to keep up with Zack, both of us carrying a gas canister in one hand and our weapons in the other. There was a huge wall of hungry and snapping teeth stumbling around behind us, but I was too afraid to look back and see how close they were getting to us.

The car seemed to be getting farther and farther away from us, instead of getting closer. My legs were throbbing and my breathing was so heavy that I began to feel myself becoming light headed, but that could have also been from the lack of food and water recently. Zack pulled me along behind him, keeping his grip tight around my wrist to make sure I didn't get too far behind.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of one of the gas canisters hitting the ground and the thick plastic skidding across the pavement before coming to a stop. The sound that followed almost chilled me to the bone, harsh shivers shooting up and down my spine and into the back of my skull.

I looked behind me, forcing myself to stop and pull Zack back with me. I saw Madisen, laying on the ground and screaming in pain, clutching at her ankle. The vast amount of walkers were creeping up on us, and we needed to move quickly if we all wanted to get out of this alive.

"Shit!" Zack whispered harshly, before running back and grabbing hold of Madisen's hand, wrapping her arm around the back of his neck and pulling her back up onto her one good leg.

I also ran back, slipping my knife into the holster and picked up the gas canister that Madisen had dropped and continued running for the SUV. Madisen was hobbling along, barely keeping up with Zack. She couldn't put hardly any weight on it and it was greatly slowing the two of them down.

I glanced back over my shoulder once again and my eyes widened. My heart was pounding so hard that I thought it would beat clean out of my chest. We were screwed if something didn't happen that got rid of the herd behind us. The only thing we could do right now, however, is run.