Zombie Apocalypse: Fractures

Chapter 5: Bruce, Winter

It felt like days since Bruce had found Winter in that grocery store from the town they had once called home. Taking care of a twelve year old little girl gave Bruce the strength and sanity to carry on for her. They were trekking through the woods as he took that as the best way to get through to the city they were heading to. At least what Bruce had told Winter because he had a safe place in mind to hold up in for the meantime.

"Where are we going Bruce?!" Winter asks with a little frustration behind her question as she was tired from walking. Bruce had given her his hunting knife and pistol for her to use as he had his hunting rifle and the axe she had when they met. "Chill Snowflake, we're goin somewhere safe." He says to her with a smile. He had been calling her that after learning her name along with seeing the color of her hair and eyes. To him it just fit her persona, yet she didn't quite share the same sentiment behind it. "You have been saying that ever since we left the store instead of taking me home to find my parents." Bruce lets out a sigh as he just had to tell her now what the possibility of finding them were. "Look, ya saw what was goin on back there. Findin 'em would be like tryin to find a needle in a haystack. Even if we did, bet they'd be like them there monsters back there."

He shakes his head as they continued walking on before reaching some little cabin here in the middle of the woods. "Besides, we're here Lil Snowflake." Winter huffs with relief at seeing a stopping point but was annoyed by what he was calling her. "My name is Winter! Not Snowflake!" Bruce just groans as she didn't seem to get that it was just a nickname for him to call her. With all that out of the way he tells her to check around back for any monsters and to use the knife, not the gun. Meanwhile, he goes straight into the cabin with axe in hands and ready to swing at anything that isn't exactly normal.

Checking the back of the cabin, Winter looks for any of the monsters if they've made it this far. She grips the hunting knife tightly as she starts walking towards a shed a little ways from the cabin. Her blue eyes watching it in fear as she crept towards the shed, her hand trembling as it reaches out for the handle on the shed. Winter then jerks the door open to be greeted by a gust of rotting stench, which in a way blinded her for the moment it made her head reel. That's when she heard the haunting groan that was getting familiar by now and it haunted her. She lets out a scream as she stabs one in the thigh before a gunshot rings out, the knife sliding out of the rotting thigh with ease as it drops dead. "Run Snowflake!" Bruce calls out from a window in the cabin as he fires another shot from his rifle. He kept shooting until there wasn't any of those freaks left and Winter had ran inside of the cabin.

Bruce sighs with relief that she was safe inside the cabin with him. He turns around after setting his rifle up against the wall, running to where he could hear her heavy breathing. Breathing that was filled with fear of what had just happened, that is until she saw Bruce enter into the bathroom. "You okay Winter? Did any of them bite ya?" He asks her with concern for her safety and wellbeing. She shakes her head and lets him see her arms and neck. Bruce pulls her into a slightly tight hug that she was unharmed and he was quick enough to save her. She was the only reason he was fighting for both of their lives after losing everything.

"Bruce... I'm sorry for opening up the shed-" Bruce just shushes her quietly before speaking softly to her as he held her in his arms. "No, I should've checked out back with ya. Not yer fault hun. Ya were just doin what I told ya." He held that to him heavily as he did tell her to check out back. He had felt at that moment she was old enough to be fine but this was when he realized she was from a different family that raised her differently. Winter was slowly falling asleep in his arms as she felt safe with him, knowing he'd be there to protect her. As soon as Winter fell asleep, he gently lifts her up and carries her to the only bedroom, laying her down in bed and covering her up with the large comforter.

Bruce walks out of the room quietly so as to not wake her, shutting the door behind him but not fully. He then walks out to the kitchen to check the fridge which it seemed the power was out. "Maybe there's a generator out back." He says as he grabs the axe and walks out of the cabin to greet the outside once more. He looks around to the back of the cabin and sees a rather large cord that ran towards the shed. Bruce curses under his breath as he then follows the cord to the shed glad the monsters were taken care of before doing this now. He spots the generator in the back of the shed and starts it up, the generator roaring itself to life. "Might need to turn that off at night, really fucking loud." he proclaims as he walks back to the cabin.

He was honestly hoping to run into some friends who lived here but it seems things went haywire here too. Bruce steps back into the cabin, setting the axe on the kitchen table as he makes his way towards the fridge. He spots a few beers and grabs one feeling it was warm, he sighs and decides on opening it anyways. "The others will be cold by tonight." He says to himself as he chugs it down like it was just a shot glass filled with the alcoholic beverage. He grimaces from the rather unpleasant taste of warm beer but he just lets it out with a burp. "Please God if you're listenin, don't take her away from me. She's all I got and whatever happens, take me first."