Jay sat outside the motel room in a chair. He watched the surrounding darkness, feeling alert and uncomfortable at the same time. He took the guard post for a few hours, letting everyone go inside and sleep or go inside and get clean or go inside and fuck. For some, all of the above. He just needed to sit and relax. Everyone had been so distracted by the normal things in life, the things they took for granted. Jay wasn't ready yet. Still in blood splattered clothing and the smell of the death and fire.
A car pulled up to the motel, more people looking for some place safe to spend the night before hitting the road in the morning. A woman drove up to Jay and rolled the window down and inch or two, which made him get out of his chair. The woman was obviously scared. One of her girls, early teens, in the back seat mentioned he had a gun. And a knife.
"I don't have a place to stay. Can we stay here?" The lady asked.
"I don't work here, ma'am. The office is back there. Go get a key and go in one of the rooms." Jay answered. "The office is a blood bath, but it's clear."
He returned to his seat and watched her drive to the office where she went in for the key. She then drove to the door and parked. The girls sat in the car. Then they stood outside the room door nervous about going inside. Mom peeked through the window into the dark room. Jay stood up and walked over to them. They backed away. Jay held his hand out. "Key." Mom handed him the key quickly, which he used to open the door and turn on the lamp. He checked out the bathroom and the room was non inhabited by anyone alive or dead. Jay handed her the key back and walked away, leaving their door open.
"Hey, kid, thanks." Mom said, ushering her girls inside with their bags.
"No problem."
He went back to his seat and then fell asleep for a bit. He woke up to death staring him in the face about to take a bite out of him. He jumped, knocking the chair over, scooting back on his ass away from them. The first tripped over Jay's feet and they fell like dominoes onto each other. Jay jabbed the first in the head then got up and finished off the rest. He hated himself for falling asleep, then putting himself in a position to be killed, leaving his group a man short. All that hard work would have been for nothing.
He walked back to the motel room, covered in more blood and brain. He opened the door to his room. Julia and the kids were sound asleep. He grabbed an extra blanket and covered the 4 dead that he'd killed.
Room 108's door creaked open. "Are you ok?" A girl's voice asked. Another fright for the night, he spun quickly looking directly at the little blond.
"Fine." He answered.
"I'm Leah." She said, stepping outside onto the mat on the walkway.
"Go back inside and stay there." Jay ordered. He wasn't looking to flirt.
She turned hurriedly and closed the door.
Fucking defenseless girls in a violent new landscape. Leah wasn't thinking, stepping outside that door. She didn't know Jay and she didn't have a clue as to what could happen to her if she opened that door to the wrong person.
Jay returned to his room with Julia, closing and locking the door behind him. He got that shower he needed. He dried off and got into bed with Julia. He wrapped himself around her warmth. She lay naked, waiting for him to finish being a hero, finish watching for the dead and feeling the need to protect everyone he loved. In doing that he nearly died. Again. Julia was knocked out. He left her sleep. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while and everyone needed that, including Jay.
Morning came. Tavin banged on the door early, but the kids were already up. Julia got their shoes and coats on and sent them with Tavin around back of the motel where they grills were. He said Luz had started cooking already and a handful of others had pitched in on the other grills.
"You coming to eat?" He asked, picking Tatia up.
"We need some time." Julia answered. "We'll be out."
She closed the door to their room and Julia crawled back in bed with Jay. She woke him up.
"Morning," He yawned.
"The kids are with your brother and we aren't wasting the bed." Julia grinned. She pulled off the blankets and then went down on him.
Jay head around to eat as Julia gathered their belongings, repacking the bags they'd brought inside. She unplugged all their charged electronics. She thought she was crazy when Jay's phone beeped. She rooted through the bag and retrieved it. It started buzzing in her hand. It was Hayley. She answered it. "Julia, where are you?"
Julia didn't answer her. "We're ok. Where are you?" She asked, throwing the bags over her shoulder. She closed the door and started walking around back of the motel.
"I'm near Oaks, Julia. Finally charged this fucking phone. I can't believe I'm still alive."
"What do you want, Hay? Why are you calling?"
"If you guys are still around here I thought we could hook up together. I am scared. I can't do this alone."
Julia dropped her bags in the Prius, "We're no where near Oaks, Hayley. And we're not turning back."
Jay jogged over to her. He asked who she was talking to. She handed the phone to Jay and walked away, shaking her head. She was hungry and Hayley was history.
Tavin approached her while she filled a plate with food. She stood and ate as all the seats were taken. Tavin had business to discuss. He suggested that she get her book and they put their heads together.
"Ok. Then find the others and we'll get to work."
"I think we should stay here."
"Uh, no." Julia answered. "No. I didn't fight my way off Death Lane to sit in a motel. Tavin, we have a goal. Remember?"
"I remember. But, we need fuel if you want to make it to the cabin. And we are in a neighborhood here that has electricity and heaters and-"
"Tavin, no."
"Julia, we're cooking on grills outside in the cold. We could be cooking on a stove inside a warm house. We could gather more supplies, food from all those freezers that are still working, fuel from the cars that are abandoned, or get newer cars, SUV's like Tom suggested."
"Are you in denial, Tavin?"
"It makes sense, Julia and we have a long winter ahead of us. I say we stay warm and fed as long as we can."
"We're sitting ducks out here."
"We're sitting ducks everywhere." He argued.
"Book's in my bag. I wanna eat first."
"Take your time." He said. He saw Jay on the cell. "Who's he talking to, Julia?"
"Hayley."
"Well no wonder you're in a fuckin' mood."
"Leave me before I stab you with my plastic fork." She ordered.
Julia was approached by the Andrew, the man they'd met upon arriving the day before. He set his plate in the grill that burned and then his plastic wear and cup he set in a bin to be washed.
"Are you Julia?" He asked, looking down at her.
"That's me." Julia nodded, taking a bite of food. "What's up?"
"Every one I ask, they say talk to Julia. You're in charge here."
"They do, do they?" Julia laughed. "OK, what's up?"
"I wanna thank you for letting us eat with you and helping us out yesterday. Your boyfriend gave us some supplies and that got us through they night. My kids were hungry."
"He's not my boyfriend. And you're welcome." Julia paused. "You heading out today? Got your gasoline."
"We are. You kids are great. I hope you make it wherever you're going."
"Thanks. We will. Good luck."
Andrew said goodbye to Tavin and the others and then gathered his family to leave. Julia approached Luz and asked if Tavin had spoken with her and she said no. She said they had plenty of food for now. She wanted to know whether to pack up or not. Whether they'd need another meal before heading out. Julia replied at least one. They planned on having a meeting, then she'd get back to her.
Jay put all the kids in rooms 100 and 101, they were joined rooms and as long as they were closed in they could run and play and be safe inside there. The morning sun beat down on them as they stood in the lot in the cold December day. Once all were present they went inside Tavin's room and had morning meeting.
Jay, Chess, Tavin, Julia, Callie and Cass sat around the room and the meeting was over for Julia in her mind because everyone else had made up their minds. It appeared as though her input wasn't necessary. She took notes in her book, jotted down arguments and options.
Jay took the floor so to speak and mentioned to the group that he'd received a phone call that morning from Hayley who asked to join up with them. Julia stared at him as he suggested the unbelievable. They should let her join their group. She would get as far as she could then he and Tavin would go get her. They'd stay at the motel another night and during the day the men would hit the street in the car and scout for supplies, markets, fuel and a house to shelter in while they gathered more supplies. They also wanted to secure more guns and ammunition. Hopefully an SUV or two to get them out of the Prius.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Julia yelled at him.
"Would you like to be alone out there, Julia?" He asked, finding it hard to look at her.
Julia closed the book and hurled it toward him. She left the room and went back to the Prius for her bag. Jay followed her there, of course, then back to their own room.
"Julia, she's alone and she called us for help."
"Fuck her, Jayson." She yelled.
"I know you're mad-"
She slapped him hard across the face. He held himself back from returning the favor, because that just wouldn't be right. "Bring that cunt here and I will put a bullet in her head."
There would be no argument. It was not happening. Julia held her hand out. "Gimme your phone." Julia dialed Hayley's number and when she answered she told her. "You are on your own." She then hurled the phone out the motel room door and it cracked and broke into a couple pieces.
"We're living with your fuck buddy, Julia. How would Hayley be any different?" He argued.
She slapped him again. "Stop hitting me, Julia.."
"Just thinking that having her anywhere around us-me, Jess, you, Chess-is worse than any hit you could give me." She said angrily. "And you have the nerve to think you're heading back for her?"
"She's been through hell, Julia." He said softly, sitting on the bed next to where she stood.
"I understand wanting to protect people, but no. I don't care what she's been through. No."
Hayley was held in the basement, nude and dirty, bruised and sore. She had enough. She remembered Julia once accused her of being the kind of girl that would lay down and take it and then be killed off by an attacker. She was tired of laying down and taking it. She escaped naked in the freezing cold with her last shred of dignity. She climbed out of that basement window and ran as fast as she could through the snow. She found a house not too far away and frantically broke inside, she cleaned herself up, found clothes and shoes that were too big for her and she continued to run home where she packed up a bag and set out of Maverick. She'd been held since the night of the dance. She'd been at that party where she should not have gone with people that she should not have been with. She thought they were her friends. She thought they'd be safe together, but when law and order were abandoned, the boys became savages and kept her downstairs with threats and beatings. They raped her repeatedly, told her she was worthless and in this new world that was all she'd amount to.
When she escaped, her true friends were all she thought about. She wanted to find them and make sure they were ok. She was sure Julia would understand her and they would help her. She'd traveled on foot with her bag and her freedom to Oaks, which was a hike on foot out of Maverick. She stayed here and there, anywhere out of the elements. She bundled up in stranger's homes and kept warm as best she could. Thanks to Jay's running routine, she could haul ass pretty quickly away from any threat that shuffled on dead feet.
She finally found a place to stay that had electricity. She was warm again, she was clean again, she had light again and she could charge her cell again. She needed to call them. She never thought she'd hear any of their voices again. She got Julia who listened little and handed off the phone to Jay who listened a whole lot. She poured herself out to him. He could handle hearing her story. He had stories of his own. And he agreed to help her. Julia would be an obstacle, but he felt sure he could talk to her and she'd understand.
Hayley rooted around the stranger's house and found a better bag. Her Aeropostale backpack held a lot but couldn't put up with any wear and tear. She moved on with clean clothes and a larger bag with a lot more supplies. It was heavy, but it was worth it. She kept walking till night fall. Her feet were killing her and her back was aching. Despite having received another call, this time from Julia telling her she was on her own, she continued to the destination. She hoped that Jay would be able to change her mind. She hunkered down for the night in the back room of a Laundromat. She had no bed, but there was still some laundry in bags that had been cleaned by the employees. She wrapped up in blankets she'd pulled out of those bags and laid still in the dark, praying to sleep safely till the sun rose. Jay had told her to find a weapon and not to be afraid of using it. If a threat approached, start swinging, alive or dead. In the dark and in the cold and all alone, she never felt more vulnerable. Her fears had got to her. Her days in the basement of Jackson Herald's basement woke her as soon as she fell asleep. And they bothered her when she was awake. She forced herself to go back to sleep. She repeated to herself, 'I'm a survivor' till she nodded off. She repeated it while she was awake, hoping that she'd eventually believe it. She didn't have time to feel sorry for herself.
She awoke near dawn and set out on foot again. She kept her crow bar in her gloved hand and was scared as she dodged the dead. She had to hide from them several times, but she was a champ at evading their arms and their teeth. Some people fought till they were dead and Hayley merely perfected the art of evasion. Getting on the turnpike for a vehicle may have been impossible, but on foot was perfectly fine. She rounded cars and she walked on top of cars in some spots as they sat bumper to bumper. Dead and living dead encased inside the vehicles. Standing on the roof of a Chevy, looking around the landscape, she wondered where the living had gone? Or was everyone dead?
She was face to face with a cluster fuck of living death. She scrambled on top of a box truck and waited out the passing of a hundred or more slow and rambling soulless beings. She laid on her back, used a sweater as a pillow and took a nap. She felt assured that she was safe where she lay. And the sun felt good on her face.
Julia lay in bed, reading back in her book. She was still in a motel room and she was comfortable in the warm room, clean and well fed. She was still nervous about it coming to an eventful and frightening end. She felt slighted that the cabin was being put off, but she gritted her teeth. When she thought about it, Tavin had a point. He had the group's best interest at heart. She sat out evening meeting and left Jay to write the updates in her book. When it was over he brought the book back, gave her a quick kiss and left her alone. They'd hit the mother load of firearms and ammunition thanks to the national guard post that had been set up and then abandoned. Feeling they had a lucky day, they'd loaded up a guard vehicle and brought back their booty very proud of themselves. They parked the vehicle in the rear and secured it. They filled up several gas cans and found some kerosene. They stored that hidden, but away from the motel.
Jay returned to the room after the kids had gone to sleep. Julia had met the mother and her two girls that arrived from the road. In case they traveled along with them, she entered their names and some random personal info in her notebook. Jay kicked off his boots. He'd replaced his sneakers for more durable guard boots. He got a shower and got in bed with her. He watched as she read what he'd written, mentioning they'd had a good day. A very lucky day, considering what they'd returned with.
"You guys were right I guess." Julia said, closing the book. She was still angry, but moved onto her back to let Jay between her legs. They made love quietly, leaving the sheet over them and keeping a watch on the sleeping kids beside them on the other bed. When Jay finished, he complained that the kids should be in the kids' room. There was someone assigned to watch them, posted outside the door at all times and Luz was inside there.
"Our kids stay with us, Jayson. If anything happens to them, I don't want to have to start blaming anyone. OK."
"OK." He replied. "Can we have a serious talk now? I know you were mad earlier."
"I'm still mad, Jay." She told him.
"I know this girl, cute little red head. She was kidnapped not too long ago by a worthless fuck of a human."
"Jay, come on." She whined, tensing beneath him. He stayed on top of her though, not letting her up.
"Well he did some things to her that were-"
"Unspeakable."
"Yeah. And she survived that. She fought that fucker off her and she survived."
"Yeah, she did." Julia nodded, her eyes blurring with tears.
"So I know this other girl. She went to a party with people when she should have gone home. She got high, she started fucking around with her date and it was fun. But this strange shit started happening around them and when she tried to leave with this guy she was partying with, him and his friends said she couldn't leave."
"And..."Julia sighed.
"So she's stuck at this house. These losers decide that they have a nice piece of ass to keep for themselves and they use her whenever they want. If she doesn't want to, they beat her ass. They tell her she doesn't have a choice. " He explained. He kissed her forehead and watched her as she cried, thinking of her own vulnerability and how lucky she was she'd got away. "So she decided enough was enough and she crawled outta there through a window into a foot of snow. She did this naked. She did this not giving a shit about the death walking around her. She decided to live and die on her own terms. So she escaped."
"That's sad, Jay."
"And she asked people to help her. She's alone and she's scared and she's been fucked with. We are the only people she knows. And she is glad we're alive and still near her. She wants a second chance, Julia. Like you did, like I did, like my brother did."
"What's Chess say? And Jess?"
"I told him. He says he loves Jess and he's fine with it. Jess is ok with it too."
"So I'm gonna look like an asshole if I say fuck her, right? Did you all vote on this or what?" Julia asked.
"It's your vote. No one Else's." Jay replied. "Think about it is all I'm saying."
When Julia fell back to sleep, she dreamed of Caleb Downing. She was strapped to his bed again. Naked, she struggled as he was inside of her. Struggled as his lips met her flesh. Only this time she couldn't free her hands. She lay immobile as he hurt her and raped her and then he held a gun to her head. As the gun fired, she awoke with a start. In the darkness, she felt for Jay and he slept beside her, rousing as she woke up. She hated Caleb Downing's face. She hated he was alive in her dream and no one rescued her, no one cut his throat. She had no choices. The next dream came and the next and it was only worse. Jay finally woke up and comforted her with the last dream. He drudged up memories, the fear, being victimized and abused. He held her as she cried and apologized for bringing it up at all. It was all his fault. She'd finally stopped being terrorized in her dreams by Caleb and Jay had brought him back to life.
Hayley woke up from a nightmare atop the box truck. She had no idea how long she'd slept, but every body had long passed her. She climbed down and started walking the turnpike, keeping an eye out , scanning in all directions. She was hungry, but didn't want to stop yet. She decided she'd eat when she stopped for the night. She chose to divert off the turnpike, to look for a spot to stay, at the next exit. It seemed like the next exit was never going to come. She repeated to herself, 'I'm a survivor' just to keep going. She had a good nap and was rested enough to continue physically. Mentally she was banged up and feeling low. She felt like it would only get worse. She wondered if she'd ever be safe again?
The exit brought only trouble that she couldn't get out of. Which is worse? The living or the dead. Hayley felt sure it was the living as she avoided the grown men that cat called her. She felt the fear building inside her and when the man got close, she remembered what Jay said. Swing, so she swung her crow bar and ran. She ran as hard as she could, but the pack weighed her down, so she ditched it into bushes as she rounded a corner into an alleyway. She ran herself into a crowd of dead and led the men into the same crowd. Hayley ducked and dodged each hand and arm and mouth, but the men were caught in all that she had avoided.
She crouched into the dumpster and pulled the lid shut. Her heart was pounding and she had no more tears to cry. She listened as the men screamed and as their screams were silenced. Monsters banged on the metal box and she heard their desperation to get to her. Hours passed and they finally forgot about her or gave up on her. She lifted the lid an inch and peeked outside. She was freezing cold, her hands and feet were numb. Her jacket was torn. She hopped out of the dumpster and quietly slipped away into the night. She needed someplace, anyplace safe and out of the elements. The wind was kicking up and was cutting her as she walked. Her bag was still in the bushes where she'd thrown it. She pulled it out and put it on. She searched in the dark for a safe place, for a place to hide and spend the rest of the night that didn't involve a dumpster. She shined her flashlight and walked back toward the turnpike. She heard someone calling to her from one of the homes along the road. Hayley looked, but hesitated. "Hey," The kid called to her. "Are you crazy out here alone at night?" He asked. Hayley stopped a few yards ahead of him. "I'm Kevin." He said. "You can come inside." He said taking a step to her. She shined the light in his face and lifted the crow bar. "No, please. I'm just trying to be nice to you."
"Kevin, I have someplace to be." She said.
He pulled a gun from his jacket. He held it up and then set it on the ground. "Take it. I'm not armed now. I have a place you'll be safe."
"What do you want from me, Kevin? I can find my own place."
He kicked the gun toward her. "Give it back when you leave." Hayley picked up the gun, studying his light skinned face, his penetrating brown eyes and hearing his voice he sounded honest. She couldn't trust him. She couldn't trust anyone. Ever. "You look beat up. What happened to you?"
"I got stuck in a situation." She answered. "That I got myself out of."
"You're gonna die out here alone." Hayley stepped beside him and he showed her the way to the house on the left. Skittish, she backed off if he moved the wrong way. "I been watching you looking in the houses. That's why I came out. You looked like you needed a place."
He brought her inside and walked her to the back of the house where the den was. There was a fire built in the fire place and he had some food set out in front of the fire that he was going to cook. She watched him put the food in aluminum foil and toss it in the fire. Hay was nervous, but peeled off her layers and sat by the warm glow. They were silent for a long time. They ate and they drank juicy juice.
"So where you going?" He asked her.
"Up the turnpike a ways. I have friends up there." Hayley replied. "Why are you alone?"
"I was in Blue Hill." He told her. "Got the gun off a guard."
"What's Blue Hill?"
"It's jail." He answered. "Jail emptied out. Think we stayed in?"
"Did you rape or kill someone or fuck with little kids?"
"No. I was dealing drugs." He answered. " I didn't start killing people till I got outta jail. Walked into a bunch of zombies. That's what they are right? Zombies."
"I think they are death. It's a plague to wipe us out."
"You killed anyone?"
"No. Never."
"How did you get this far?"
"I call it dodge ball. I dodged every death trap out there. I'm fast on my feet."
Kevin kept the fire burning through the night. He left her take the couch and he took the floor. Having spent a few hours with him, she turned over the gun to him. She still didn't trust him, but she didn't feel like he'd hurt her either. He was 20 and tall, long legs and thin as a rail. Light skinned black kid with no more drugs to deal and a family he didn't want to return to. He came up with drugs and gangs. Addicts and their addictions.
As Hayley tried to fall asleep she whispered the routine 'I'm a survivor'".
Kevin listened as she whispered to herself. He listened as she cried and then listened as she finally fell asleep. When her dreams came, he realized he may have a sleepless night. He knew someone damaged this kid that lay on his couch. She was the first pretty face he'd seen in weeks. Since the jail fell and everyone let themselves out of their cells. He had hoped bringing this pretty kid inside and keeping her warm would lead to something, but her head was messed up and she had been hurt by someone. He couldn't go there. He didn't have the best life with his mama but he learned one thing from her. You don't disrespect a woman, you don't force yourself on one either. As soon as he'd seen her bruises he knew she was off limits. She'd survived more than the walking death at every turn. Whoever hurt this kid was alive out there.
The ringing of her cell phone woke them both with a startle. Survivor answered it and spoke with a friend for a moment.
"You leaving so soon?" Kevin asked.
Hayley rifled through her pack and pulled out a couple cans of mandarin oranges. She shared with Kevin, sitting in front of the fire. She handed him a water bottle. "I am. That was my friend. Said to get walking. He's gonna meet up with me."
"Why did your friends leave you?"
"They didn't leave me. We had a rough patch this year and we had stopped talking. I called them and asked them for help."
"And they said yeah?"
"That's why they were-are-my friends. And friends do second chances."
"You can stay with me. I'm your friend." Kevin told her.
"Kevin, that's sweet of you to say." Hayley smiled. "So what are you gonna do? You staying here? Got plans or-"
"It's just me out here. I'll find people. I'll find my way. I always have."
Hayley put on her layers and pulled her pack on her back. Kevin took her to the door and watched her walk away.
Jay drove the Prius to the turnpike entrance, parked it on the roadside and it blended into all the other abandoned cars. He set out, walking East.
Hayley walked the entrance to the turnpike, heading West. A sea of cars ahead of her. She'd walked a couple miles, shifting the pack several times on her back.
"Want me to carry that?" She heard Kevin ask not too far behind her.
Hayley didn't hesitate, handing the pack off to him. She stared at him a moment, his soft brown eyes hopeful. "I'm glad you're coming with." Hayley told him.
They spent miles talking and getting to know each other. She learned about his past, growing up in Philadelphia and his family. He grew up the 6th of 8 children. His mom worked 2 jobs taking care of all her kids. She always liked to party and eventually that lifestyle took her into drugs. Once into drugs, her addiction changed her into a different woman. She always loved every one of them no matter where she was or what was going on in her life. He didn't see her much as he turned into a teenager. She'd done a couple stints in lock up and then cleaned up for a while, but she always got into the wrong crowd once she got out and she returned to her addiction.
Hayley was taken aback by the similarities between Kevin and Jay's past. But unlike Jay who was straight as an arrow, Kevin went a different route. He started selling drugs, got involved with gangs and then he spiraled out of control. Dropped out of school, did time in juvenile and then county. When he broke out he had done 6 months out of a 36 month sentence.
"Tell me about you, survivor."
"Well, I grew up right around here. In Maverick." Hayley told him. A girl that was given everything she wanted and never had to wait for anything. She had the coolest clothes and the coolest friends. Parents that stayed together and then had turned together at Maverick Community Hospital. She smoked weed and she drank too much. "When it all ended I was at a party. My date was this guy who was flirting with me at school, so I said yes. I shoulda gone home, but both my parents weren't there. They went to the ER and they were sick, but they only went because the news told them if they had any symptoms too head to the local areas set up. So I went to Jack's and we were partying. I did some E and we were fooling around and having fun. The next day we were all fucked up, still in our suits and dresses and hung-over. Shit started going down hill. The military was rolling up and down the streets and telling everyone to stay indoors. Before the electricity went, we were watching the news, the world was falling apart. So what do we all do? We start partying again. And we did till the planes came down. Everyone ran and there were dead bodies and dead walking and it was just mayhem."
"So what happened?"
"I was fucked up. They kept giving me drugs and we all kept going, the ones that stayed. I should have left like the others, but I'd probably be dead in my homecoming gown, roaming the streets of my hometown. So in a way they saved me. I paid a price for that. Those boys turned into some thing I'd never seen before. Jack was first. We were fucking like there was no tomorrow because there wasn't a tomorrow. When we ran outta condoms, he forced himself on me. I struggled, but couldn't get away. Then his friends took their turns."
"Wow." Kevin said softly.
"So when I tried to leave, they told me I wasn't going anywhere. They were gonna party with me till they didn't wanna party anymore. They beat me if I fought back. They kept me naked and only let me out to use the bathroom. They brought me a little food, but they started to run out so sometimes I didn't eat. I was their fuck toy."
"You don't have to tell me this."
"There's not much more to tell. When we had that snow, I broke out. I ran like hell and didn't care. No shoes, no clothes, just alive and I wanted to survive. I found some clothes, went home, packed and left. I didn't look back."
"Hey, we got company." Kevin said, pointing ahead of them. He took the crowbar from Hayley and struck the walker in the head. He did with the next three they encountered. "How did you get this far without killing one of these things?" He asked, puzzled.
"You have to be quick. Wanna do it with the next group? I'll show you." They walked another quarter mile and encountered a cluster of 20. "Follow me."
He jumped and sprinted and leaped from car to ground back and forth across the road. Hayley had successfully avoided every last one of them and she did it so they wouldn't realize she was even there. "This is too much like frogger, girl. It's easier just to whomp em' on the head."
"I don't think I could." Hayley shrugged, denying that she had the ability. "I'm too short to be reaching up that high. Some of them are just huge, Kevin."
"I'll show you." He explained the ins and outs of head whomping as he called it. The next walker he jammed the crow bar upward through the chin. He pulled it out and then the walker dropped to the ground. Blood and yuck sprayed downward onto his gloved hands. Hayley thought that was the grossest thing ever. And that was too up close and personal for her. The next walker that came by she did the exact thing that Kevin showed her. It was dead, but it was messy. "For the record, this works with the live ones too."
They walked for hours on end till Kevin said, "Hey, we got company." He pointed to Jay.
Jay saw Hayley walking with a tall, black kid down the turnpike. She didn't say that she was with someone. Had the story been a lie? His doubts were laid to rest when he got closer and he saw her face. The bruises were there, but they were that dull yellowish-brown from fading. She hugged Jay tight, then introduced him to Kevin.
"You didn't say you had company." Jay told Hayley.
"This is Kevin, Jay. Kevin, this is Jay." Hayley said. "He helped me out last night and he's good people, Jay."
"Yeah, we're survivors. Just like you." Kevin told him, extending his hand. Jay shook it and they continued their walk Westbound.
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