Calvin

I opened my eyes slowly and concentrated on my breathing. I pulled Layla tighter to me so as to not drop her while we ran. I tightened the straps on my backpack and squeezed Sam's hand reassuringly. Sam smiled at me and looked to her left at Daina. Daina was smarter than I was at her age. If it weren't for what happened, she would be a real prodigy. I smiled at the sleeping Layla and looked at Sam. "You ready?" "Yeah." She whispered. I looked to Daina and she nodded. 

 

Sighing I pulled back the tarp on our makeshift shelter and made a run for it. I didn't go too fast so the girl could keep up. Anyone knows that you've got to keep moving, and that the only way you can stay in one spot is if you have weapons or are in a large group. We have neither. The plan was to run from the broken shed we made into a shelter, and to head into one of the skyscrapers. Since a month after the apocalypse happened all the power basically went out. A few places still worked, with the occasional flickering of lights and radios. But things like elevators and security cameras were long gone. We were going to hide out in one while we planned where to go next. 

 

The only thing is, nowhere was safe anymore. We were getting close to the entrance. If we could just make it in there without getting any wandering groups attention we were safe another night. Now safety is considered a luxury no one has. Something I used to take for granted. Unfortunately I spoke too soon, thinking we were gonna make it. Sam tripped, so we had to stop and help her back up. The time that cost us was too great. Someone saw us. 

 

I swore under my breath and put Sam and Daina behind me protectively while holding Layla tighter. A group of people made their way towards, clearly amused. They were a small group, 3 guys and a girl. They didn't seem to have any weapons either. They were just as unsafe as us, and they were pushing their luck confronting us. There's no way I stand a chance against the four of them especially with the girls. Not to mention that while I'm not lean or scrawny by any means, I don't have enough experience to match my appearance. 

 

The taller guy started to snicker while the girl eye raped me. The red head was the only one who spoke up, strange. "Well well well. Look what we have here. Let me guess, a protective brother and his sisters, running for their lives to safety. Too bad we were here. Whatever you have handed it over." "No" I knew it was risky to say no, that if we gave them our stuff they would probably have left us alone. But I couldn't do it. I will not be a coward in front of the girls, I'm the closest thing they have to a father, heck, our father died before Laya was born, so she never even met the man.

 

The ginger nodded to the third guy with blonde hair. The blonde guy started walking towards us, and flicked a pocket knife out of his pocket. Shit. I was about to tell the girls to take Layla and run, when out of nowhere a girl appeared. She was wearing black rollerblades, along with a leather jacket and matching leather pants. Her tight lace tank top was blood red. Here blonde hair was cascading down her shoulders almost blocking my view of her eyes, were they green or blue? I couldn't tell, they looked like everything at once. The thing that really caught my eye was her black metal bat she was holding. It had red on it, like blood. 

 

The girl swept in and swung at the blonde guy's legs, he fell to the ground with a thud and groaned out, "you bitch!" She smirked and said, "Now that isn't anyway to speak to a lady." The ginger looked at her and laughed. "I'm gonna have fun with you later aren't I? Get her!" The other guy ran at her with lightning speed. The girl quickly crouched low dodging his punch, and hit him in the stomach. After he fell she wacked him once more and looked at the other girl. She ran at her, but the blonde was ready. She ducked and kicked. The girl landed right on her butt. Then using the bat, the girl hit her in the face, the crunching of her nose was audible from where we stood. The ginger looked pissed. He walked up to her calmly and said, "not bad, let's see how you do with a professional boxer, huh? Before this mess, I was the best highschool fighter in the country, and I have to warn you that I've only gotten better. Maybe you've heard of me, I'm the Ripper." 

 

Her eyes widened and her breathing quickened. "Well I heard you were beaten in your senior year by a junior." "How did you know that? That was an unofficial match, we were the only ones there. How did you know Joshua beat me?" She looked like she might cry when she said "because he was my brother. Something you should know, I've been whipping the floor with him since we were kids." "Well then in that case, this is personal. Come one, take off the blades and bat. Let's see what you're really made of huh?" 

 

She turned around and looked me right in the eyes. I could tell Daina and Sam were amazed by her, even Layla woke up and watched. I looked into her eyes and couldn't look away. "You mind holding these for me? I don't want any of these guys to wake up and steal me." I just stared at her. Daina nodded and grabbed the bat and skated from her. 

 

She looked back at the ginger and sighed. "Alright let's go. I don't have all day." At this the ginger got into an offensive position and made his way towards her. She put up her guard and followed him with her eyes and he circled her. He made a few punches at her and she evaded them easily, barely breaking a sweat. The second he stopped punching she struck. She threw punches as he tried to avoid them and failed. His guard was strong, but she broke through it. She said, "I forgot to mention, my brother and I don't train for boxing like you did. We did kickboxing and MMA." This seemed to kick the ginger out of his shock as he lunged back. They began circling each other again, covered in blood and dirt. He went for a jab, but when she dodged it, he threw a hook square in her jaw. That was gonna bruise badly. 

 

She cursed loudly and spat out blood. She stood back up while the ginger turned around. Daina and I tried to warn her as he pulled something metal out of his pants. But we were too late. She swung at him as he turned around, oblivious of the weapon he held. He swung his arm and hit her in the face hard and fast with the metal chunk. She fell back and he smiled. He turned around and started walking towards us. He was coming closer to us and I protectively pushed the girls back behind me. I was getting ready for him to punch me when he fell back. 

 

He fell on his back with a thud and scrambled back up to his feat. The girl was back with her face covered in blood. "Well you just won't stop!" "Nah, I don't lose." He glared at her and went to punch her. This time she grabbed his arm and jumped up, wrapping her legs around him. Then did some strange swinging climb thing and was on top of him, literally. She had her legs around his waist and had his head in a tight lock. He groaned then pushed himself back. He felt on top of her, while she was slammed into the ground. He kept leaning forward and slamming her head and back into the ground. He was losing air. I went to go help her, but she saw me and glared. Clearing not wanting any help. With the gingers last few breaths he screamed, "no matter where you go, when I wake up I will find you!" She said back in a scary deadly calm voice, "then you can't wake up." 

 

His eyes widened and she clenched her jaw. She squeezed his neck, twisted and pulled hard and fast. After a sickening crunch and pop, his body went still. She pushed him off of her and stood up. I just started realizing just how dangerous she really is.

 

Tatiana

I was minding my own business. I had just managed to fix my rollerblades, and they were dead silent. I had a little blood left on my bat from the people who tried to rob me a few days ago, but I wasn't that worried. In this world, it's kill or be killed, and it seems that lately I've had to kill a lot. Ever since the apocalypse started a year and a half ago, I had become a nomad. Even when I was with my brother, we were always going from one place to another. Never sleeping in the same building twice, I would only stay in one town or city for a week tops before I left. Anytime longer and I was basically asking for a repeat of last time. 

 

After I lost Joshua I became a deep pit of depression. After that I taught myself how to give myself a "tattoo" by cutting myself with a very hot knife so I would have a scar with a burn over it to help it last my whole life. When I was finally free, I gave myself three, two for my parents and one for Joshua. After I lost Tammy I added one for her to. Each tattoo for them were the same, stars in a line on my collar bone. 

 

The first time I killed someone was after Joshua's death. In fact I killed multiple people after that. He was always the one who ended it. I would get close, but never finish them off. He did that for me, to keep the guilt and haunting from my mind. But when I finally had to do it. It was so easy, so easy. I never felt any guilt or loss or haunting of them. Not even regret. I became so soaless, I had no more reason to live anyway. So I decided one day to use the tattoo system to keep track. I made a tally mark on my arm for every person I killed. 

 

Most people would think of it as some sick trophy. For me it was my reason to live. I didn't take all those peoples lives just so I could throw mine away. It was a reason to keep on living. To keep on going. Oftentimes I still catch myself looking to them for motivation. To avoid questions though I've always worn a leather jacket that covers the marks. It's been a while since the last time I counted how many tallies I have. A couple of months in fact. Honestly I've been avoiding it, dreading it. It seems everyone is a bit crazier than usual, because I've had to kill twice as many people than before. To the point where the tallies are on both my arms. 

 

Honestly I was hoping tonight would finally end. My last night in this shit of a town, and I was on my way back to my "place" so I could pack and leave. When I saw in the corner of my eye movement. Thanks to my mostly black outfit, I was easily undetected in the shadows by anyone. But I could pick out movement like a hawk. I turned my head and saw it. 

 

A guy was running, holding the hands of two girls and a backpack on his back. One of the girls tripped and they had to stop, clearly wasting precious time. By the time they were about to keep going, a group had already stopped them. Three guys and a girl. It would be easy, so easy. I could kill them all right now and get out with their stuff. Stuff that could provide for me at least a few more weeks. No, I just want to go. I'm not going to help them. I shouldn't, it's not my problem. No one helped us.

 

But I stopped moving and turned back to look at them. The guy was holding a third girl in his arms. She was small. Tammy wouldn't have been much younger than that. Damnit. The little girl, she makes me think of Tammy. I don't process what I'm doing until I've done it. I skated over to them and killed three of the four. I made sure to make it clean and precise, and as quiet as possible. I was ready to kill the fourth when he brought up Joshua. I ended up in a fist fight with him, and the damn cheater almost got the better of me. Of course I wasn't gonna have that. Unfortunately though, I'll have to manage myself up later. Now here I stand, a bit bloody. In front of these three girls and a guy. Ready to add four tallies to my list.

 

"Did you kill them all?" The girl holding my stuff asked. I gave her a small smile. "Erm, no. Just the carrot guy. The other three, I just put them to sleep yeah. But when they wake up they'll be mad, so I'm gonna have to go." I didn't know whether to lie or not, but I thought it was better they didn't know I killed them all. I grabbed anything valuable out of all of their pockets and put it in my pockets. The girl walked to me and gave me my roller blades and bat. I smiled and she smiled back. "Thank you." I whispered to her. 

 

"Well now that that's over, I think it's time I leave." I turned and started to walk away. I already saved them, no need to take them with me. They were all uninjured and looked somewhat healthy. No need to be a hero Tatiana. Just walk away. No need to get to know the little girl who reminds you of Tammy. Just ignore that other quiet girl's cute smiles and nods. The bigger girl probably faked her smile and words to her. Right no need to get to know them and help them, even if you want to. 

 

Oh god what am I thinking? They're kids. I'll just scare them away. Anyway, the guy was clearly incharge and didn't say a single word the whole time. Obviously he doesn't trust or like me. I sighed and kept on skating. Until I heard it. I turned around as the small voice got louder. The whole group was running towards me and the guy was shouting "wait! Wait!" 

 

When they caught up and regained their breath I nodded for them to continue. "Uhm I want to thank you for what you did back there. You didn't have to help us but you did." I let out. a short laugh, "yep, and look what that got me." I pointed to my bruised face and bloody body. "Well it's fine I don't mind, anyway I got some good stuff from them so it wasn't a mistake." "Uhm, well to repay I can help fix you up, if you would like that is." Honestly I don't know what he thinks he can do for me, but I nodded anyway. 

 

They followed walking behind me for 45 minutes before I stopped and turned around. I sat down since there was a clear spot on the ground and opened my bag. The others sat down next to me, clearly confused. I opened my bag and pulled out a party size bag of chips I found a few days ago, along with two water bottles. I gave the chips and water to the four of them and smiled.

 

None of them started to eat. "Jesus" I grabbed a chip and ate it. "There, see?" The girls looked to the guy and he nodded. They all started to eat the chips and I watched for any incoming. "Alright while you guys eat and drink I'm about to tell you a few things. But first, my name is Tatiana." "Im Calvin. The tallest girl is Daina, and the other one is Samantha. The girl sitting in my lap is Layla, she was only a few months old when this stuff started so she's pretty accustomed to how things work." I nodded. "Alright nice to meet you guys. Uhm so I was about to leave this terrible town, so if you want it to come with me then maybe, depends on how well you do in the next 10 minutes. The reason I say that is, to get into the place we're going, well it's gonna be hard for you girls. But I can help make it easier. But for this to work. I'm gonna need you to stay as close to me as you can the whole time unless I say otherwise. I'm gonna need you to do every single thing I tell you without a question. Lastly, stay quiet the whole time."  

Calvin

"Alright nice to meet you guys. Uhm so I was about to leave this terrible town, so if you want it to come with me then maybe, depends on how well you do in the next 10 minutes. The reason I say that is, to get into the place we're going, well it's gonna be hard for you girls. But I can help make it easier. But for this to work. I'm gonna need you to stay as close to me as you can the whole time unless I say otherwise. I'm gonna need you to do every single thing I tell you without a question. Lastly, stay quiet the whole time." I stared at Tatiana, unsure if we could trust her yet. I mean she did risk herself to save us, and gave us food and water. So I guess she can't be all that bad.

 

That's the most anyone has done for us since this whole thing started anyway. Well I guess she can be trusted unless proven otherwise for now. Once we got the chips and water packed and away we followed Tatiana down the alley. She stopped and looked around the corner. After that she turned to the wall and pulled down the fire escape ladder. She quickly took off her roller blades and tied them to her pack along with her bat. She motioned for us to climb up, once we did she came up behind us. She pulled the ladder back up and then walked up the stairs. We followed behind her up the stairs for about four flights before we stopped. She shushed us and opened the closest window. She slowly and quietly stepped in through the window and motioned for us to follow quietly. 

 

Once we were all in the building she closed the window. I tried to look around but I couldn't see much. Just that we were in an empty brick room with no lights on. Samantha and Daina followed behind Tatiana and I followed behind them holding Layla and our pack. We walked to the front of the room to a door. Tatiana opened the door and looked out, then motioned for us to follow. Once we were all out of the room we were standing in what used to be a fancy hotel hallway, but now looked like something out of a drug house mixed with a crazy cat lady's house. We walked down the hall silently and turned left. We kept on going until I heard footsteps coming from behind us. 

 

Tatiana moved swiftly pushing us into a room and closing the door behind us. She let out a loud sigh and walked to the back of the room. Then she pulled back a pair of black curtains and opened a spray painted window, revealing a yellow tube. She turned around, "alright how well can you all swim?" "I was top of my class!" Daina smiled brightly and looked at me. "I can swim well, and I can carry Layla." Samantha blushed red and said, "I can't swim very well." "Alright here's what's going to happen. Calvin already has a backpack and Layla. So he'll swim with that. Daina will swim between us in case she needs help. My bag can float, but not enough to hold Samantha completely, so Daina you can use it to give you a little extra help. I'll carry Samantha.

 

"We're all going to go down that tube and then land in a shallow pool of water, but once you get down there move forward to far becasue just a few feet in front of it, the ground drops and the water goes from 3 feet deep to 30. So don't go drowning, because I can't guarantee I'll be able to help you if you go too deep. Alright? Lastly when we go through the tube, I need you to be completely silent. Like the grave. Lets go!" 

 

Before any of us could object or ask questions she jumped down the tube. Daina went next, then Samantha. Once I made sure the bag wasn't going anywhere and Layla was well situated in my arms, I jumped down after them. When I reached the bottom of the tube I landed in a pool of water like Tatiana said, except she didn't mention the smell or the color of the water, green and brown.

 

I gagged trying to keep down the chips from earlier. I let out a sigh and breathed in only through my mouth. I looked at Tatiana and saw that she already gave her bag to Daina and was ready with Samantha. I nodded letting her know I was ready and we all stepped forward. As soon as we moved I felt the ground disappear and sunk down a bit before swimming back up. I could picture it, sinking down into the threatening water, and never resurfacing. 

 

We continued to swim for what felt like half an hour. At some point Daina grew tired and started to hold onto Tatiana and I. Although a few minutes ago Layla started to get uneasy in her sleep, so I had to let go of Daina and leave her to Tatiana. Now that I think about it, Tatiana had been holding both Daina and Samantha for a while now. Whoever this girl is, she's both physically and mentally strong, I like that. I envy her in a way, she has the strength, and skill to be confident in her choices, even when responsible for others lives. 

 

We're still swimming and it feels like it's been at least two hours! I don't really know how long it's been, but Daina and Samantha both fell asleep, and Layla hasn't woken up yet. So now Tatiana is holding their dead weight, without any of their help. I want to help her, and offer to take one of them. But I'm not sure how much longer we're swimming for and honestly, I don't know if I can hold them for very long. 

 

Just as I was about to ask Tatiana when we would stop swimming I saw light coming up ahead. I began to swim a bit faster as Tatiana swam and tried to wake up the girls. We were all awake now, even Layla, as we neared the grass. It looked like we were in a small field surrounded by forest? Where are we? 

 

Tatiana helps push Daina as she lifts herself out of the water. Once she was out I handed her Layla, then I took off my pack and flung it over the end onto the grass. The pack was about three times heavier in the water, at least 100lbs. I sighed lightly in the water feeling light without the extra weight. I turned to Tatiana and saw her determined look on her face. How could she still be so strong willed after all that? If it weren't for not knowing our location I would be halfway to sleep by now. 

 

I went to help Samantha out of Tatiana's arms and onto the grass, but Tatiana seemed to have the same idea. She picked Samantha up and lifted her with ease onto the grass, at least that's what I thought until I saw her arms shake violently and tears brim her eyes. Once Samantha was out of the water I pulled myself out. I grabbed Tatiana's pack out of the water and handed it to Daina to hold. I bent down to help Tatiana out of the water. I stuck out my arm and she grabbed my hand, she used her other hand to push up as I pulled her out. Once she was up, she put her roller blades back on and grabbed her bat. She flung her back pack back on and looked at all of us.

 

"Alright you guys did well. We're almost there, just a quick ten minute walk and then we're there. Ready?" We nodded and she turned back around. We followed her through the wooded area and ended up on some far outskirts of the town, turns out we were in a park that had some strange underwater system. We walked a little longer and then went down a few alley ways. Then we stopped in front of some gas station and Tatiana reached into her bra. She looked at me and blushed as she rummaged around a little until pulling out a set of keys. 

 

"You hid keys in there?!? Doesn't it hurt?" I tried to stifle a laugh as Tatiana blushed at Samantha's questions. Daina nudged Samantha and shushed her while I chuckled lightly. "Alright were here." "Where?" "Our ride, it's here." I looked at Tatiana as she walked behind the gas station. We followed her and watched as she pulled a couple of tarps off of a large object, revealing some sort of trailer. What in the world was that? It looked like a truck had a babe with a barn.

Tatiana

Once I had all of the tarps off, I folded them up and put them in a pile. "Wait there for a second." I set my pack down and left the group as I clicked on the keys. The trailer unlocked and I opened the door. I stepped up the steps and looked around the corner at Suzie. Good she was awake, much easier to do introductions that way. I sighed and stepped out of the trailer. I looked at the family in front of me and sighed inwardly. Here goes nothing.

 

"Alright so I basically took a trailer for horses and took everything out of it except for one horse stall, and then made some extensions to the back as well. Uhm, so I said I live alone, and technically I don't. You're all about to meet Suzie, and she's... well I think it's better if you see for yourselves." I could see the girls getting curious, and Calvin getting nervous. I walked around to the back of the trailer and unlocked the three different locks, then lifted the hatch. I opened the door and stepped in. I hope they aren't allergic to horses. I put the halter over her soft face and clipped on the reins. Once I was sure they were on right I lightly tugged on the rein to make sure Suzie was actually awake. She looked into my eyes and I gently led her out the trailer onto the gravel. 

 

I heard some gasps as they all saw Suzie, my black horse. To be more exact, she is an Anglo-Arab dark black horse with black eyes and a black mane. "This is Suzie, she's only 5 so she still has a lot of life left in her. She's an Anglo-Arab crossbreed. So her mom was an Arabian horse, built for intelligence and endurance, and her father was a Thoroughbred built for pure speed and power." 

 

"Can I pet her?" "Do you know how to ride her?" "Is she nice?" "Do you have her parents?" "Why do you have her?" "Whoa whoa, okay uhm, the answer is... yes, yes, yes, no, and because of my brother. When we were younger the only thing my brother was bad at was horseback riding, but I loved it so he introduced me to her, and when the apocalypse started we grabbed her when we ran." Once I finished their questions I took Suzie to the nearest bit of grass and tied her to a post at the gas station. While she grazed and went to the bathroom, I brought everyone inside and showed them around.

 

"Alright so there's not a lot here. There's the stall for Suzie and her stuff, the bits next to and behind her stall are food, supplies and storage. Everything at the front is for everyday use. So on the ground is a king size mattress, and there's also a couch so sleeping won't be a problem. There's a couple of cupboards and a sink right at the front, and then right in front of that is the driver and passenger seats. There's a lot of room up there so that's also a sleeping option, there is also a space above the front seats so if you need to change or anything like that, up there is pretty private. Any questions?" 

 

After I showed them around I waited for any questions, but they stayed pretty silent. Well I guess it's a pretty great place to stay for the apocalypse. But I can tell that with their background they were probably used to something more high class. While when my brother and I found and stole this, it was actually better than where we lied before. we were in a poor neighborhood in a house that was falling apart. Our dad used to be abusive, but left when he caught our mom cheating. She pays the bills by sleeping with someone new every night. One night though she found out she got pregnant. After that she got an abortian, quit her job, and went to rehab. When she came back, our dad moved back in. Everything was great, until the apocalypse, then it all fell apart. I watched my parents get killed in front of me. Then I found Joshua. We survived for a while, but he died as well. I was ready to end it all when I found out I was pregnant, I was until my miscarriage at eight months. I was going to name the baby Tammy, I thought it would be a girl, I had hoped and had dreams, of course I would have loved a boy as well. If my brother were alive at the time he would have said it was better that way. I wasn't even 20 yet and we were in the middle of an apocalypse. But that didn't matter to me, I wanted to have her. But then I lost her.

 

I shook myself out of my spiraling thoughts and looked back to the group. one of them had any questions so I walked to the back of the trailer to get the supplies. I looked through my clothes. I grabbed two tight long sleeve shirts that would be just right or slightly big for Daina and Samantha, along with two pairs of black leggings. I grabbed some socks and clean underwear. I took the two piles and put each in a plastic bag. Then I grabbed the comfiest crop top I own and the smallest spandex I had with two small socks and put them in a bag for Layla. Lastly Calvin. I knew the only clothes that would fit him were the ones left from Joshua, and I didn't want to go through his things yet. It was still too soon for me. 

 

I ignored my rising anxiety and bent down next to the box labeled "Joshua's clothes" and opened it. I grabbed a t-shirt, pants, socks, jack, and underwear that looked the closest to Calvins size. He was a little shorter but more muscular than Joshua was, so they should fit. Once I had his things in a bag I handed each of them their bag, and Calvin also got Layla's. 

 

"The bag I gave you has a pair of clothes you can change into, put your wet ones in there when you're done. We'll have to find a place with clothes for all of you at some point, but this'll do till then. I'll put Suzie back in here and then I can get changed outside with you guys in here." I didn't wait for a reply as I grabbed a pile of my clothes and walked outside. I went over to Suzie and checked to make sure she went to the bathroom. Then I felt her stomach to make sure she wasn't hungry anymore. Her stomach was no longer growling and felt quite a bit fuller, so I untied her and walked her to the trailer. I led her to the back door and she stepped up into her stall. Once she was in I took off her rein and halter. She laid down on her mat and blankets and I smiled. 

 

I hung the halter and rein up on the wall but kept my eyes down, in case they were changing. Once I was sure they were on the hook properly I closed the door and locked up the locks. Then I went back over to my pile and made sure I had everything I needed. I sighed and began to strip. I pulled off my jacket and grimaced and the noise of the wet leather on my skin. I unzipped my shirt and put it on the jacket. It took me a while to get off my bra because it was so stuck to my skin. Once that was off I pulled on my sports bra and black t-shirt. I then slipped off my leather pants and panties.

 

My socks came off when I took off my roller blades earlier, so they were already dry now. Once I had my pants off, I slipped on my boy shorts underwear, then my sweat pants over that. I pulled on my comfy fluffy socks and put my clothes in the bag. I tied the bag up. Lastly I took my comfy sweater and pulled it on, making sure my "tattoos" aren't visible and then I made sure everything we brought was in the trailer. Once I was sure there was nothing left behind I walked up to the trailer door and knocked. "Were done!" I smiled at Dainas voice and opened the door. I took everyones bag and put it in a plastic box with my own in the back.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 22.09.2020

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Widmung:
Bob, you literally moved from one house to another with me. I was sort of inspired by you to write this book. Even though you were a stink bug, you never died. Despite literally being stabbed by a knife by my sister, stepped on by my brother, and (almost) eaten by my dog, you would not die. That is until you met my corn snake. I guess in the end, Death will always find away.