Taylor is a college student home alone when the outbreak hits her small town. One minute she is working on a project, the next she is hiding away from the monsters outside. Taylor will have to find it in her to survive until her parents can -hopeful...
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Just before the outbreak reaches Wisconsin
"Dawn, can you grab me shaving cream if you stop by the store today?" I ask as I pass her in the kitchen. The smell of frying potatoes makes my mouth water, but I have no time for breakfast. Plus I had been trying to watch what I eat.
"Sure." She said, her voice is distant. I stop at the edge of the kitchen and pivot back towards her. Her brown hair is in a cute messy bun on top of her head, gray sweat pants hugging low on her hips, and a plain beige tank top just barely covers her top half. I walk over to her, meaning to grab her hips and kiss the side of her head. Instead, I get to the point of grabbing her hips, and she stiffens. It's quick, just before she relaxes but I don't miss the reaction.
My lips turn down, and I'm glad she's still facing the stove so she couldn't see the hurt on my face. I pull my hands away, I don't want her uncomfortable even though I don't understand why she is.
"Are we okay?" I ask her.
Her head shakes a little before she lets out a sigh, her whole body moving with the action. "I just... I miss spending time with you. It seems like when I was in school we somehow managed to find more time together."
"When you were in school I was working in Texas." I reminded her. "I had been working there for a while, I had earned my place and was able to take long lunch breaks and half days."
"I know, I know." She says, more of a mumble.
This time when I reach for her, she doesn't stiffen. My hands squeeze her shoulders before I pull away. "You've finished school, you've started your new job and I've started mine here. It'll be crazy for a little while but well get through."
Dawn's shoulder shrugs. "Yeah, I guess."
"I'll try to get a weekend off soon, then we can go visit your parents, or even just travel around. Whatever you want." I tell her, I don't know how feasible it was but it works. She turns around to give me a small smile and takes a few steps to hug me. I hold on for a lingering second before letting her go. There's a pain in my chest when I grab my packed lunch, coffee thermos and leave her there. I get the distance between us, when we moved up here to Wisconsin from Texas I had gotten a new job, and she had gotten one soon after. My job as a new patrol officer was demanding, hers was an office job that she had been offered as soon as we moved up here.
We had moved here to be closer to her parents. Even though I had never left Texas for longer than a vacation, all of my close family was down there. I married Dawn as soon as she was out of school and we moved up here because she was feeling homesick. I've changed my entire life around and now there's this rift coming between us. Hopefully, a few days off we can rekindle our passion and it'll remind us why we got married in the first place.
Shaking my head, trying to clear it - I move out of the house and to my patrol car. In this city I was able to bring my car home, the city I was in before was too big, we shared patrol cars there. Living in a small town had its perks. Hopefully being in a small town and not having a lot of mischief going on in the early spring months means I'll be able to take that weekend off. One could only hope.
As I get into my patrol car I turn it on and flip on the heater, even with the thick jacket I had on I wasn't used to this cold. It's not even as cold as it was a month ago, but shit, it might as well be blow-freezing to me. While the car starts to heat I cradle my coffee thermos to myself, taking sips of it, hoping to warm myself from the inside out.
My mind races over the things that have happened in the last few days. Nothing too serious, just some petty theft's from teenagers at grocery stores. There was one break-into a house and a fight that had broken out at the senior center. That last one was interesting to be a part of. All in all, it was slow and quiet around here, the complete opposite of my last job. At least here, in the future, I'll be able to take a little more time off. I just didn't want to be the newbie that never showed up when called and asked to take a shift. I didn't want to get onto anyone's bad side, but in time I hope to earn respect in the department.
I had to make this small-town thing work, because it's what Dawn wants, and I want to make her happy.
