Dead California

Bad Dreams

[Author Note: This chapter was co-written by my friend Bryn (montana_gurl) Check out her fan fic (if you haven't already) and her zombie apocolapse story as well both are very good!]

A faint voice could be heard.

              "Dad! Dad wake up!"

 Rob jolted up, covered in sweat from the mixture of the heat of summer and his dream that he was having.

              "Huh? What?"

              "You were having one of those dreams again, weren't you? Indio said with a frown.

Robert looks at his son and looks down then frowns and nods his head yes.

              "I miss them so much."

A tear starts to form in the corner of his eye.

" Dad, please don't cry. I miss them too."

The beads of sweat on Indio’s forehead ran down the side of his face and dripped onto the granite floor, as he looked out the archway where the door on the destroyed law office building used to be hinged. He looked nervously both directions down the street. He turned back to Robert, who held his head in his hands, trying to gather himself after the dream he had been entranced in. Seeing that his dad was disturbed by the images that haunted his memory, Indio walked over and took a hold of his sleeve.

“Dad,” he nudged. Robert looked up at him. “Dad, we have to go now, okay?” Indio encouraged.

                Robert nodded and followed Indio out of the doorway into the street. The city was deathly quiet, something no one experiences in Malibu. There was a slight breeze that only brought the scent of rotted flesh. Bodies littered the streets, and cars crashed into telephone poles and each other, were scattered among them. Holes in windshields and blood told the stories of the demise of the passengers. It was hard to ignore the scene, but there were much more pressing issues at hand. Indio grabbed Robert by the hand and led him to the right, down the street, staying close to the brick wall of the building, carrying the long piece of rebar in the other hand. They approached the ally and Indio glanced around the corner. Not seeing anyone (or anything) he tugged on Robert’s hand to keep going, but Rob wouldn’t move.

“I hear something.” He stared blankly across the street, trying to focus his hearing.

“And? What is it?” Indio whispered.

“Sh sh sh.” Robert waved a hand.

                Indio paused and listened intently to the rustling of the wind through the rubble in the streets. Faintly he could hear a shuffling. He recognized that sound anywhere. It was the sound of the Infected's feet, scraping and scuffing against the pavement. He looked around frantically trying to pin point the source of the noise. The tall buildings of the city caused the sounds to bounce off of walls and echo, making it seem that sounds came from the wrong places.

                Robert grabbed Indio and shoved him into the ally. He dragged his son a ways, rushing for the large garbage bin towards the other end. The shuffling got louder, and groans began to grow more audible. Robert flung the lid of the garbage bin open, and heaved Indio up into it. Once inside, Indio helped pull Robert in, and they shut the lid.

“Burry yourself.” Robert whispered.

                Indio didn’t argue, and began shoveling mounds of trash over him, leaving only enough room to breathe. They sat there in silence, neither daring to move. They knew that the next unpredictable amount of time was crucial to their survival. Their hearts pounded in their ears, but not even the sound of their breathing could be heard. More and more footsteps could be heard in the ally, passing just feet from their hide out. The Infected were swarming this block of the city, and who knew when they would leave. They moaned as they wandered back and forth about the streets. Occasionally, the sound of teeth clicking together would send shivers down Indio’s spine. Robert put an arm around his son silently to comfort him, he then squeezed his eyes shut and began to pray silently to himself. He had never been a religious man, but he figured, if he was still alive, God must be willing to help him out at least a little.

                 The sound of the scraping footsteps started to become more distant. So Rob decided that he would peek out of the garbage bin. He raised the garbage bin lid up just a tad and scanned his surroundings.

                  "Get ready to run Indio, I don't know how far away they are and I want to be ready if they decide to chase us." Robert said in a whisper.

Making sure his actions were descrete he lifted the garbage bin lid all the way. Robert and Indio climbed out of the garbage bin and ran down the alleyway to the street. Luckily no Infected heard them. So they decided to do a fast walk weaving in and out of alleys.

                        They wander outside of the big city to a small neighborhood. Not noticing the horde of zombies that were wandering the neighborhood as well. Rob and Indio continued walking and talking, They were talking about what their lives used to be like before this "Mess" happened as Indio liked to call it. Rob suddenly stops holding out an arm to stop Indio and holds up his index finger to his lips to shush Indio and he points at the horde of zombies. Indio has a look of horror come over his face. Robert points to a house that doesn't have zombies surrounding it. They quickly scamper over to the house.

                          An Infected sniffs the air and makes a groaning noise and wanders away from the horde. It was a man that looked around his early twenties, possibly the same age as Indio. He was wearing a torn up Iron Man t-shirt and a red zip-up hoodie, with blue jeans. Indio notices the man (or what used to be a man) just as him and his dad reach the house. He pushes his dad in the house and his dad gives him a look, but soon realises why he did what he did. They examine the house, trying to find somewhere to hide.

                            "Here!"  Robert waves his hand at Indio.

                             Indio runs over to where his dad was, which was underneath a table that had a blanket covering it, which Robert probably got somewhere from the house. Indio falls to his hands and knees and crawls underneath the table to accompany his dad.

                               The Infected man that wandered off from the horde limped closer to the house, still sniffing the air, his moaning got louder and louder. His footsteps could be heard going up the steps to the entrance of the house, Indio realized that he left the door open to the house and looked over at his dad. Robert glaring at his son with disbelief inched his way out from under the table.

                                    "What are you doing!?" Indio says in a loud whisper.

The infected man whips his head around and looks in Indio's direction.

                                    "Uh-oh"