Save Me (2 page)

"So Andi, you from around here? Are you with a group?" He looked hopeful, as if he was willing me to say yes.

Most people figured it was safer in a group, more people to keep watch so you could sleep, more to fight. Even just to have others around for the company was enough to make people entertain the idea. I thought most people were idiots. Sure I started out in a group too, including my parents, our neighbors old Mrs. King and the Allen's with their two small children, and even a few kids I went to school with, including Zach and my best friend Amy for a little while. My dad was a bit of a prepper. As in, stockpiling shit for the end of the world. Our basement was pretty secure and we had plenty food for everyone for the first couple of months at least. It was easy to get comfortable in feeling safe. No zombie was going to break into our basement and we had weapons to keep out the living. We didn't even venture outside once until old lady King kicked the bucket out of old age six weeks in. We wrapped her up in garbage bags but the smell was too much. We had no choice but to take her outside. It wasn't bad at first though. No zombies to be found anywhere. No one alive either. It seemed that the whole area was deserted. I guess that's why we thought it was okay to start venturing out after that. At first, we just went out to look for more supplies and toys for the Allen's kids. Then it started getting more and more frequent. After a couple weeks people were spending more time outside than in the basement. My dad tried to warn everyone it wasn't a good idea but none of us wanted to spend any more time in that dark basement. Including me. We should have listened. Zach, Amy, and another girl June and I were out one day and met up with another group of teens who had also been hidden away somewhere. Like us, they were desperate for some normal teen fun and were dragging around a wagon full of beer. For some reason we decided we should hang out and drink with them. We all knew it was a dumb idea but we just wanted to feel normal again. After all, we hadn't seen anyone else in weeks so it couldn't be all that bad. Needless to say, we were wrong.

When I first saw Zach's little sister Claire walking down the road, I was excited. She had been missing since the outbreak and every time we left the basement Zach looked around for a sign of her. I never thought we would see her again but there she was coming right down the street. I didn't even realize when I yelled out to her that anything was wrong. It wasn't until Amy started screaming, and I mean screaming, that I realized what was happening. We all took off running, but they were coming from both directions. I'd never seen so many at once, not even during the first days when they overtook the town. I tried to pull Zach with me, to get back to the basement where we were safe, but he wouldn't move. He just stood there looking at his sister getting closer and closer. Amy grabbed me and we ran, dodging past dead arms reaching for us. We managed to make it back to the basement but not without Amy being scratched. We didn't even know at first that a scratch could infect you but we learned the hard way. None of the others made it back Everything got worse from there.

"Hello? Earth to Andi?"

Will was waving his hand in front of my face to break my trance. I hadn't even realized I had zoned out so long. Those weren't memories I wanted to get lost in.

"Sorry. Uh, I used to be." I tried to get those memories out of my mind.

"Which? You used to be from around here or you used to be with a group?" Will asked, leaning down under my face to force me to look at him.

"Both. I used to live not far from here. I was with a few different groups but none of them worked out."

I could tell he knew what I meant. The look in his eyes gave away his own painful past.

"Yeah, I was with a group for awhile but now it's just me. So I guess it's a good thing we found each other."

He smiled and I could tell he was genuinely happy that he wasn't alone anymore. I couldn't worry about that though. This wasn't going to work out. I was perfectly fine on my own. Sure, I almost became zombie chow a little while ago but it's not like that happens every day.

"Look Will," I tried to be gentler with him this time. "I do appreciate what you did for me earlier but I'm not looking for a new friend. I do things my own way and I like being alone. We are going to have to go our separate ways."

I tried not to look at him while I spoke, not wanting to see his disappointment. For some reason that I couldn't quite understand, that mattered. After I finished I slowly looked up, expecting to find him at least unhappy about what I said but instead he had this big goofy grin on his face. I must have had a confused expression to match what I felt because when he looked at me he started laughing. Actually laughing. Because I told him he basically had to get lost. Something was seriously wrong with him mentally.

"What are you laughing at?" I said, stepping forward. I could feel my cheeks warm with anger.

"You," he chuckled once more.

"What the hell for?"

My anger was growing. I tried my best to be nice and let him down easy and the jerk was making fun of me. Who does he think he is?

"You're just cute that's all," he smiled, letting his eyes travel down over me and back up before turning and continuing down the road.

Cute? What was wrong with this boy? I should have just turned around and went in the other direction and left him right then and there to show him I was serious. In fact, that really was the best idea. Just part now and get it over with rather than dragging it out. I started off down the side street and returned to my original plan to find supplies and a new place to hold up. Part of me expected to find him following me again, but when I turned around to check, Will was nowhere to be seen. Good. I didn't need him distracting me from things. I had to think about me now and I didn't need to be worrying about anyone else. It might have been a good idea to stick together until I found more ammo and some supplies but it didn't matter. I can manage just fine on my own. I certainly didn't need some wannabe superhero following me around thinking I was some poor defenseless girl who needed saving. I could take care of myself. I did not need to be saved.

"Andi! Duck!" Will yelled, appearing from out of nowhere.

I guess I wasn't paying any attention because a rotting postal worker was coming around the side of a silver Toyota right for me. I ducked and an arrow flew past my head right into the undead mailman, dropping him to the ground.

"What the hell are you some sort of ninja? Why you still following me?"

"Seriously? I just saved your ass, for the second time today I might add, and you are pissed that I was following you?" Will stared at me disbelievingly.

I couldn't tell if his expression was amused or annoyed and I wasn't sure which I found more irritating.

"Well just so we don't have to go into some half hour discussion, Thanks. Now you can leave me alone!" It didn't make sense to get rid of him. I knew it, but that didn't stop me from saying it.

"Andi, don't you think we should stick together, at least until we find a safe place to be? And maybe until you can manage not to get yourself killed?"

I could tell he was trying to not chuckle on that last part.

"Look, you haven't used that gun you have there so I'm guessing that you have no bullets and that hammer clearly isn't good enough. Let's stick together and watch each other's backs until we can get supplies and then if you still want me to get lost, I will."

Of course he made sense. It was exactly what I thought we should do before I stormed off earlier. This boy just made me so damn angry! I didn't even know what it was about him that brought out such strong feelings in me. He did save my ass, twice. He made me laugh, something that wasn't accomplished easily these days. Plus, he wasn't hard on the eyes. I racked my brain trying to come up with excuses to turn down his sensible proposition. Nothing came to me. I guess maybe it would be a good idea to stay together, just for now.

"I guess you can stick around. Just until we get what we need," I said relenting, refusing to look into his emerald eyes. Those eyes, they did something to me I couldn't explain.

We didn't need to be friends though. We could watch out for each other and find supplies but that didn't mean I had to be nice.

"Great. Now slow down will ya? We should probably find a place to stay for the night. It's going to be dark soon."

Zombies tended to be a bit more active at night. Maybe it was the cooler air or that they were just hungrier. I had no idea, but it was usually smart to stay off the streets at night. I slowed down a bit and nodded.

"I know a place that should be clear for the night," I said, not really sure why I was even thinking it.

It wasn't a place I was looking forward to going back to, but in this neighborhood it was the place I knew best. I led Will five blocks over to Willow drive. A road I knew well. The place I spent over seventeen years of my life, my family home.

~Chapter Two~

I hadn't been back to my house in more than a year. I guess I just assumed it would be exactly as I left it. I don't know why. For all I knew the place could have burned to the ground since I'd been there. As we walked past the Allen's house, I couldn't help but think about them. They were a nice family with two small kids that I had grown to love dearly in the time we spent together in our basement. Matt and Janey were sweet little kids. They didn't deserve what happened to them. Matt was seven and Janey was five when the outbreak began. They were like my little sister and brother. Being an only child was hard when I was younger. I used to dream I had siblings to play with, so being with the Allen kids was like a dream come true. Even though I was much older and no longer needed playmates, having them around was great. I spent many hours in that basement playing games with them or reading them books. The one thing we were never short on during that time was books. My mother kept every book she ever had in her life and they were all in the basement with us lining the walls and making it feel less like an underground dungeon. Even though I had some kids my own age with us, I still loved playing big sister.

Zach, Amy, June and Jacob were also part of our group. Amy and June had both lost their families those first few days of the outbreak and came to my house. Anyone who knew my dad knew he would be prepared. They had found Jacob on their way over. He was with his dad over at the Stop Quick trying to get whatever supplies they could, to get out of town, when his dad got attacked. Amy and June got him out of there and brought him along. I tried to get Zach to join us in the basement the first day we realized how serious this was but his family decided they could ride it out on their own. Two days later Zach was frantically banging on the basement door white as a ghost and splattered in blood. My dad Took him upstairs and got him cleaned up and changed into some of his clothes. They were up there a long time before they both returned. Zach never talked about what happened with his family. He hardly even spoke for nearly a week.

Now here we were standing in front of my old house. It seemed like forever since I had been here. It didn't really feel like home anymore, yet at the same time it did. All the best memories of my life took place in this house. But, so did a lot of the worst.

"What is this place?" Will asked, pulling his crossbow out of his bag and scanning for threats.

"My house," I answered, but it didn't feel like the truth. Would we find anyone else hiding out inside? Would the basement still be secure? I guess there was only one way to find out.

"Hey, wait. Slow down. We need to make sure it's safe first."

Will grabbed my arm to stop me from going up the front stairs. He readied his bow and slowly walked ahead, scanning in all directions as if he had learned his moves from too many hours playing video games. I wondered if Call of Duty had characters in pink pony t-shirts.

I followed closely behind him as he lived out his video game fantasy. He checked out each room of the house and called out "clear" as he finished each space.

"You sure this is the best place for us to spend the night?" He eyed me unsurely. I knew that abandoned houses were great places to hunt for supplies but not always the best place to hide out. There were too many windows and doors for both the undead and the living to get in through. Although we would all like to think in a zombie apocalypse, the only real concern is the zombies, in reality, the living could be just as much of a threat. People did what they needed to do to survive, even if that meant taking from others or even killing to get what they needed. You also had to be careful of the ones who wanted more than just supplies or your weapons. Especially if you were a girl. It was as if all human decency and sense of right and wrong went away the day the outbreak began.

"Yes, I'm sure."

I motioned for Will for follow me and headed for the door to the basement. Dad had hidden the original basement door behind some massive bookshelves and made a new door through the master bedroom closet. Mom and I both thought he was a bit of a nut when he started talking about getting ready for the end of the world, but I guess he wasn't as crazy as we thought. I opened the door to the basement and Will again pushed me aside to check for danger. He really needed to stop treating me like some helpless little girl. Despite a couple of small problems today, I really was able to take care of myself. I had been doing just fine completely on my own for the last month with no help from anyone. The basement was clear, as I suspected. The only thing wrong with the space was the memories of my last days there. I had left the basement vowing I would never come back but here I was, locking myself inside once more.