Walking With Grace

7 years ago..
August 10th 2003

At 18 years old in the year 2003, Freshmen in College; Sam had settled in her dorm room for a few days now. It was hard leaving home, mostly her father found it hard. She was his little princess after all. But, she did it! And as she typed away at her computer, trying to write her paper for one of her classes; she was waiting for her roommate. She hoped the girl was not going to be a bitch and trash the room with parties--Don't get her wrong, Sam likes to party. She just does it somewhere else and not where she lived. She made that mistake at 16 when her parents went on a cruise. She invited close friends and their friends, but then everyone just invited everyone and it ended with the house trashed, and her parents coming home wondering where their great grandfathers clock was and why the pool was pink... The only thing she couldn't fix...She didn't know how to empty a pool! The clock was still there, it just didn't work anymore. Now it's just decoration in her dad's office until he goes and tries to fix it.

Cutting off her blast to the past, something- or someone smashed against her door outside and then mutters. When the door opened-- a girl her age with a light bronze skin and dark brown almost black hair emerges, carrying 2 suitcases and a large backpack. She literally looked at Sam like a deer in headlights with her hazel colored eyes. Sam chuckles as she pushed her laptop aside and got up to help.

“You must be Grace, right?” she asked,

The girl nodded sheepishly, “Yeah. Samantha right?”

“Please, call me Sam; I cant stand Samantha.” she rolled her eyes, “Need help?”

“Yes.” she half groans half laughs as Sam pulls her back pack off and helped bring in the rest of her luggage in.

Grace instantly falls backwards on her new bare bed, opposite from Sam's and closes her eyes. Sam notices her sigh of relief and raises an eyebrow. “You carried those bags all the way up here?”

She sighs, “Yep.”

“By yourself?”

Grace nods, “It was easier saying goodbye to my mom at home, rather than having her hysterically sobbing here in front of my roommate.” she gets up and grabs one of her bags to start unpacking. Sam helped her, forgetting the paper she had going and started putting Grace's things on her side of the room. Then she pulled out a blanket with red, yellow and black patterns woven together.

“This is pretty.” Grace looked up from putting her sheets on her bed to see what she was holding.

“Oh. My grandmother, Taima, made that for me when I was little. I usually just use it as a tapestry now.” she explains as she tucked the sheets on the corners of the mattress.

“Is this like, Indian?”

Grace chuckles, “Native American.” she corrects, “Cherokee to be exact, on my mother's side.”

“So you're half Native?”

“Yep.” Grace moved on to putting the pillows in the pillowcase. She didn't care about the rest of her stuff right now, she just wanted to sleep!

“That's so cool.” Sam was amazed, continuing to stare at the blanket. “So you're dad's white?”

Rolling her eyes with her back to Sam, thinking about messing with her but decided not to, “Yes. He was a photographer traveling across country when he met my mom in Oklahoma. They married, had me before moving to Georgia where he's from... And my grandmother came along.”

Sam smiles as she got up and grabbed a chair, grabbing a couple tacks and began hanging the blanket on the wall in the middle of the room where the wall was bare. She stood back, smiling at the tribal patterns then turned to Grace. “What do you think?”

Grace had collapsed on her bed and fell straight to sleep. Sam rolled her eyes and went back to her bed to continue her paper. Glancing now and then at the tapestry with a small grin, loving how it looked and made the room complete. Despite Grace's unpacked luggage...

...

Present...

It was quiet... All but the tapping nearby her head. With a groan, trying to regain consciousness as Grace pulled her arms towards her chest, hanging upside down from the seat. She hissed when she felt a shock of pain through her left arm. The tapping continued, as well as heavy uneven breathing. She turned her head towards the drivers window to see a face pressing up against it... While some of its flesh remained intact on the window as the man moved and snapped his jaws at her, baring his teeth. This pulled her into reality-- the city, the flames, the crash...She turned to the passenger side to see Sam looking right back at her.

“Sam?”

Sam's eyes were clouded over as she hisses and lunges at Grace, trying grab her-- snapping, biting the air, even growling. She struggled to unbuckled herself as she tries avoiding her best friend's reanimated corpse! After removing the seatbelt, she rolls over so she sat on the overhead then tries kicking the shattered windshield. It took her 5 kicks before she broke through it and crawled out as fast as she could, ignoring the glass puncturing her skin. She stumbled as she stood up on the grass, Sam and the other corpse that was the driver of the other vehicle were still trying to reach her, growling and baring teeth. The driver wasn't going anywhere as he was pinned by his truck at the waist, while Sam was still buckled in her seat. A whimper came from Grace as she shook with silent sobs. She held her arm against her chest before falling on the grass.

She didn't understand anything that was going on. She had never heard of a sickness like this in all her studies at the university. She heard of some incidents but never considered it turning out into an apocalypse!! What the hell started this mess? What virus? Was there a cure? Looking around, she found herself in the middle of a four way intersection in the grass a few feet away near a ditch. There was no one around. No cars, no people, not even animals. It was quiet (besides the moaning). She was alone... Knowing that she couldn't stay. That she had to move. She had to leave and find somewhere safe to stay. Taking a few deep breaths; she tries to calm her nerves and find the courage to get up.

She slowly stood with shaky legs and made her way around her flipped car, avoiding Sam as much as possible as she opens the back seat to retrieve her and Sam's bag. It took her a few tugs to get it open, but she managed. She also grabbed the machete Sam had grabbed. Where she found it? She had no clue. And she'll never have a chance to ask. Without it, Grace would probably one of them as well. She tucked it in her belt then pulled the food and water from Sam's bag, stuffing as much as she could into her own. She pulled the bag over her right shoulder, using one of her shirts and a stick to make a makeshift sling to keep her arm straight... She was sure that she had broken it, but had to find shelter to set it properly.

So, with that... Grace leaves her best friend behind and heads down the road with tears rolling down her cheeks.

…

Georgia was being a bitch today as its heat risen in humidity. Grace had took off her father's jacket and tied it around her waist the best she could with one arm. She used some of the water to pour over her head, face and neck to keep herself cool so she didn't have a heatstroke. Before she knew it, she came upon a suburban neighborhood in Smyrna. The place, like everywhere else, was deserted. She was tired, and wasn't sure if she should go downtown and search for any food left in the stores. She continued down the neighborhood, garbage was scattered across the streets and lawns. Some houses were burned, others had graffiti written across the house that read 'Dead Inside' or 'No Hope'. It sent shivers down her spine. She still couldn't believe it even though she's seen it. Dead...These things were actually dead come back to life[. This was a nightmare, something from the movies she used to watch as a teenager. She knew this was all real. A horror movie in the making was actually happening and she was terrified to face it all. She heard a growl from behind her as one of those creeps came out from behind a tree in the yard. It looked as though someone tried to shoot it multiple times in the chest where the heart was, but it still moved. It was slow, which was a good thing. Grace could get away easily. Hopefully more wont show.

Cutting through the side of the houses, she ended up facing a 6ft fence blocking her way. The creep was still advancing towards her. Panicking she looked around her to find a way out. She thought about hopping the fence, but with her arm she didn't think she could. That's when she found an opening in the fence. She crawled through the opening then tucked the wooden board back into place. She found herself in a backyard of a 2 story home. The house was a greyish blue with white trimming and perfectly green lawn. There was a tree house but no latter to get up to it. Deciding that this was her safe zone, she approaches the sliding glass door- praying that the door was open. With her luck, it was.

“We got a winner.” she heard herself say.

She didn't sound like herself, her voice was raspy from crying so much. She hoped no one was home as she entered the house, closing the door behind her. It was a beautiful home. Modern. Cozy. Everything was still neat like no one had rushed to collect their belongings. Photos were still on the tables and walls. Grace wondered if they was anyone still here...

“Hello?” she called out through the house. No reply. Maybe they weren't here?

She decided she wouldn't stay long if they were nearby, she didn't want to get shot or something. She placed her bag on the couch and pushed a cabinet nearby in front of the front door, barricading herself in; just in case those things can go through doors. She went over to the other side of the house where the sliding glass door was and took in the backyard again. She first looked at the fence where she came through, she could see the creep's shadow through the cracks. It was just scratching the wood but he could not get in. Good. The yard was large. Besides the tree house on the left of the yard, there was a swing set and a slide. So whoever owned this house had kids. That sent an uneasy feeling in Grace's gut. All the kids having to go through this apocalypse. She couldn't think about that. She shook it off and headed back inside to the living area and sat on the couch.

She removed the shirt she had tied and the stick, she took her bag and put the strap in her mouth as she carefully set her arm on the table. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath through her nose-- preparing herself as she placed her her over her arm and pulled, setting her arm back in its place. She screamed into the strap and quickly placed the stick back on her arm and wrapped her arm tightly with the bandage. She put her arm back into the makeshift sling and fell backwards.

She sat in silence for a good 30 minutes before her felt her stomach growl. She pulled her bag close to her and looked through. She found a bag of Frito's, she began eating that as she decided to check the place out. She noticed something blinking from the corner of her eye.

On a stand near the kitchen, there laid a answering machine with a red light blinking *new messages*. Curiosity got the best of her as she pressed the green button to play them.

“You have 3 new messages. First new message from 678-555-4135 received on May 10th at 6:41PM” The machine says as it beeped.

“Hi Heather, it's Shannon. Calling to see how Kyle is doing and that Hank and I aren't going to be home for a while... There's a safety issue going on in the city so, I hope you don't mind watching him for a bit longer. I'll call back later. Alright, bye.”

“End of message. Second new message from 678-555-4135 receive on May 10th at 11:08PM”

“Heather? It's Shannon again... There's, uh... There's been some kind of lock down in the office so we can't leave... Uhm... We're not sure what's happening. Something about, oh I don't know... Just, stay inside with the doors locked and don't let anyone in. Okay?”

“End of message. Third new message from 678-555-5698 received on May 11th at 3:45AM”
Grace could hear screams, crashes and banging in the background, “Kyle?! Kyle it's mommy and daddy!” a male voice said as more bangs and cries along with moans from the background.

“Kyle, I'm so sorry we were not home as much as you wanted us.” The woman from before cried.
“Just know, son, that we love you so much! So much! You are such a smart young boy and I could not be more proud of you.” The male voice crack. Another crash came as people began screaming- flesh could be heard being torn apart,

“Oh my god!” the woman cried,

“Kyle...Stay safe. Be strong.” the man said, in a quiet tone.

“We love you, Ky-” the woman voice was cut off as the line went dead.

“End of messages.”

Grace stood there horrified at what she just heard... There was a kid here along with his babysitter... And his parents.... There was no way they made it out alive... From the sound of it, wherever they were, they were torn apart by those things... One thing was left unclear though...

Where was the kid and the sitter?

Walking backwards away from the machine, into the kitchen; the floor was wet and she almost slipped and fell. She looked down wondering if the sink was leaking, only to find a puddle of blood laid before her feet.

“Oh shit! Oh shit! Shit!” she stumbled away, slipping again before latching herself near the counter.

There was so much blood, and she's seen a lot of blood when she was a nurse. She didn't even realize the trail it left from the front door to the kitchen. But no bodies... Grace didn't want to see them walking around as those creeps. She cant even picture one of them being a child. Then, out of the silence and panicking panting from Grace was a static noise coming from somewhere in the kitchen...Along with a small voice...

“Hello?...Lady?”

Grace shrieked, spinning around to find where the voice was coming from.

“Lady...? Hello?” the voice said again, “I know you're there.”

Grace looked at the corner of the kitchen, beside the window in the corner by a jar of cookies- laid a walkie talkie with a sticker of a smiley face and a bat hitting a baseball. Hesitantly, she approached the talkie and brought it close to her. “W-who is this?” she stuttered, trying to compose herself.

A 'bleep' noise was made, ending her response as she heard the static again, “M...Mine name is Kyle...”

“Kyle...” She whispered to herself. The kid was okay. Holy shit. She pressed down the button again and spoke quietly into it, “I'm Grace... Where are you, Kyle?”

“In the tree house, outside.” from the kitchen window that showed the backyard, Grace could see through the tree house's window a head of blonde hair.

She smiled up at him as she saw him peek over, “Why don't' you come down and come inside?” she asked, as she see the boy duck back down.

“I...I-I can't... She's in there...” he stuttered nervously.

Confused, she brought the talkie back to her and asked gently, “Who?”

She waited for his reply, keeping an eye on the tree house window as she heard the static once more, “Heather...My babysitter... But...S-she...She isn't Heather anymore...”

Grace's blood ran cold as she brought her focus back to the pool of blood on the floor...She cursed in her head as she notice that the blood also trailed towards the pantry... Like someone had dragged themselves there.

“Do you know exactly where she is...?”

“In the pantry...”

Grace almost dropped the talkie as she slowly returns back into the living room, keeping a close eye on the pantry door and went to retrieve the machete... She returned to the kitchen, quietly setting the talkie on the counter. Avoiding the blood on the floor, she walks forward with the machete out in front of her as she approaches the pantry.

“No! Don't go in there!” the boy whispered/yelled into the talkie.

Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest that she could almost hear it. The more she got closer, the more she could hear it. She took a deep breath and counted to herself, “1...2...” She places her hand that was holding the machete, on the handle, “3!” she pulled the pantry open and pointed her weapon at anything inside.

Nothing was there... Relief filled her as she sighed, but instantly became annoyed. She flips the machete in her hand so she could also pick up the talkie by the fingers, “Are you pulling my leg, kid?!” she yelled into the talkie, walking away from the pantry.

“Behind you!”

Before Grace knew it, a female creep charged at her from behind and knocks her over on the ground! Snapping and growling at her trying to bite her. The creep that use to be Heather had a large bite wound on her neck, the blood soaked most of her blouse which would explain all the blood as Grace held her at arms length. She had dropped the talkie along with the machete on the way down. There was no way to reach it when she couldn't even use her broken arm. Death was staring right in her face, ready to chew it off her bones.

Her arm was getting weak from holding the creep away from her. Just when she thought she had lost her strength-- her machete slammed into the creeps head, splitting it in two-- stopping her movements and slumped on top of her. Some brain matter splatted across her face and neck- shoving her off; Grace crawls backwards into the closest wall, looking over to whoever killed it... There stood a small boy with blonde hair and big green eyes, wearing a baseball tee with red sleeves, jeans and red Adidas hightop sneakers; frozen in spot, frightened at what he just did... Grace stood up, looking at the corpse then at the kid and turned his head away gently, putting her foot on the corpses back to take the machete out of its head. Her head smacked against the floor with a sloppy noise that sent shivers down their spine. Grace then lead boy out of the kitchen and sat him down on the couch by her bag.

She noticed the sliding glass door was open and quickly went over and closed it, still worried about that corpse that chased her in here. She returns back to the boy whom was shaking profusely, obviously traumatized at what just happened. Grace kneeled down before him on her knees. She ducked her head to meet his eyes and get him to look at her. When he did, she could see he was trying very hard not to cry.

“Kyle... Are you alright?” she asked as the boy gulped before nodding his head slowly, blinking rapidly to stop his eyes from watering. She smiled, “You saved my life... That was really brave... Thank you.”

“Y-y-your welcome...” he bit his bottom lip. The boy was one tough kid. And he didn't look that old either. Maybe 6? 7? Around there. She gently rubbed his forearm which got him to relax a bit.
“I'm sorry you had to do that...”

He shook his head and shrugged, “You looked nice, so...” She chuckled, smiling for the first time since this all began. She brushes his bangs to the side. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I'm fine.” she replied, as he frowned.

“But you're arm...” he pointed her arm that was in the makeshift sling.

She nods, “Yeah... It'll heal though... I hope.” she whispered quietly on the last part.

He sniffled, rubbing his nose on his sleeve. “W-we should go back to the tree house... It's not safe in here.”

Grace thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. “Okay... But only for a little while... We would have to leave and find others who can help us.”

“Do you think they can help find my parents? They're in Atlanta... I'm not sure if they made it though... On the news, it didn't look so good...”

She was expecting the kid to burst into tears, but he held it in which worried her. The one thing she hated people doing was keeping their emotions bottled in. It wasn't good for them. You cant keep filling a tub when its overflowing. He needed to let go and grieve... But for now she let it slide. Right now they needed a place to sleep tonight.

“Okay... but lets look around the house for food, water, medicine. Is there any?”

“I-I think so...”

“Alright. Show me.”

Kyle slowly jumped off the couch and led her around the house in search of supplies. They found some of his mother's pain killers and some antibiotics in their master bath. Kyle then showed Grace where his dad kept his guns. She took the handgun and all the bullets it had in the night table and stuck the gun on the back of her pants. They grabbed some canned food and water from the kitchen then went back outside towards the tree house. It had a rope ladder which was good. They can pull it up and not have to worry about anything climbing up.

Kyle went up first, carrying his small backpack filled with the canned food and water as Grace adjusted her bag on her shoulder and climbed the ladder after he made it up. She struggled, only climbing with one arm, but managed to make it to the top. Kyle pulled up the ladder then shut the hatch after pulling it inside. The tree house was surprisingly roomie, but still small. On the small crate were a bunch of comic books, action figures of a super hero by one of the windows. A poster of a baseball player from the Atlanta Braves was hung on the wall while a baseball bat fit for a kid like Kyle; laid against the corner.

“We should be safe here from the monsters.” Kyle says, rolling up the rope ladder neatly and took his bag to the corner of the room where he started putting the food and water in another small crate.

He turns to Grace after organizing everything, worried as she sat by the window trying to get comfortable. Nervously, Kyle bit his lip and tucked his knees up to his chest.

“How long do you think we should stay here..?” he asked, nervously.

She thought for a moment, closing her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. They definitely couldn't stay here long, it was only a matter of time before the wrong kind of people would find them there. And she knew there would be desperate people.

“Not long, I'm afraid... We have to go soon and find others...” Kyle nodded sadly, laying his head on his knees. “But we wont have to worry about that til tomorrow, okay?” He nods his head once more and mumbles an 'okay'.

They ate a can of green beans and some canned chicken/pork sausages as night came and they went to bed. As Grace watches over the boy, sleeping peacefully beside her. She runs her fingers gently through his blonde slightly greasy hair as she thought up a plan on tomorrow. The journey for them was going to be tough as hell, but she knew in her heart; she was going to do everything she can to keep this boy safe and alive...