Survival of the Fittest

Staying Alive

"I didn't know if I had the courage to do this" She admitted quietly, looking anywhere but into the eyes of the man who had rescued her. Silence reigned all around them, huddled into the little bedroom of the country house in which they decided to spend the night. In the distance a faint moaning noise could be heard above the sound of crickets and other night time woodland creatures. In the morning they would need to start out again, heading up to the North and directly through Houston - the quarantine zone. According to Max, they needed to get to Oklahoma, where there would be a stronghold waiting for them, ready to take them to safety.

            It had been a month since he had found her, hiding vainly in the massive department store in Memorial City Mall as walkers swiftly broke down her barriers, leaving her with no other option but to hide away behind some old mannequins and wait patiently for her oncoming doom. Honestly, she was scared stiff. She would rather die than turn into one of them. She could hear them slowly getting closer, the putrid smell of rotting flesh approaching and making her want to retch. She remembered her hand shaking violently as she reached for her father's pistol in the waistband of her jeans. 9 rounds left... Not enough to bring down all of them. Oh well. If she was going to die, she'd go down fighting.

            Shaking herself from her wandering thoughts, she met Max's eyes, a confused expression wrinkling the middle-aged man's features. 'He reminds me of my father' her mind supplied, causing her stomach to tighten with fresh grief. Her world was changing. People died now, and stayed dead if they were lucky. There was no guaranteed lifespan - so long as you had skill, stamina and luck you would survive. None of that made it any easier though.

"I was with my brother before you found me" She began, shifting slightly on the soft bed that she had commandeered for herself. Silently she reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a folded, tattered photograph. Heaving a shaking breath she unfolded it, revealing a young blonde boy standing so proud in his primary school uniform. Max's face tensed in dread, as if he already knew what she was going to say. Not unlikely, her story was hardly unique. "I remember when I first saw news of The Infection. I was watching TV with my younger brother, Julian. H-he was only 6... 5 years younger than me. He turned 10 last month". A wistful smile darted across her face, soon to be shadowed with a frown. "I can't forget his face as I saw him running to me, tears streaking down his innocent face, screaming how Mommy and Daddy have gone bad... I didn't know what to do. I just grabbed him and ran to the Mall. We holed up in the air vents, where the walkers wouldn't get us...

We were together for about a year, maybe? You tend to lose track of time now. I don't know how it happened, but one day he just turned. I had to do it! I had to! He wouldn't have wanted to be like that, I couldn't see him like that... I lived for him, Max... I didn't want to have to do this alone..."

            Sobs wracked her body as she buried her face in her hands. She didn't even notice when her companion sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close as she sobbed herself to sleep. She knew that she would have to get through this, would have to survive. The day he found her had been a blessing, and she had grown to rely on him, and would continue to for as long as this nightmare lasted.