Ringer

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Ringer

I leaned up against a tree to steady myself. I wretched at the smell of rotting corpses, hoping they wouldn’t hear me.

So many died, so many innocent lives lost. And for what? Nothing, I thought to myself.

As the sun went down, I hunkered inside an old gas station, I figured was about 7 miles or so from where I started. There was a dead person in the corner. His tag read ‘Chris, Store Manager’ and he was still in uniform with a look of shock on his face.

Poor guy.

He did have a pair of keys on him, which I used to open the back room to gather what little supplies were left. Piles of dirt and dust littered the floor, and one shelf stood in the room amongst the debris. I found some tampons- silent victory- and one granola bar. Just as I was walking out, though, someone jumped me from behind.

“Ah! AHHHH!” I screamed, trying to escape its grip.

“Shhhhh, They will hear us,” a deep male voice replied.

He let go of me, and turned me around so I was facing him. He was about my age, maybe one or two years older than me. “I’m not one of Them, I assure you. My name is Toby,” he answered.

“I-I’m Ringer,” I replied, dumbfounded. “How did you find me?”

“What kind of name is Ringer?”

I stuttered. “It-it’s just a nickname.” I didn’t want him to really know why I had such a name. “How did you find me?” I asked again.

“I watched you walk in the gas station and I waited.”

“Why did you wait?”

“I thought we could team up. Maybe we could work together.”

Hmmm, I thought. Maybe he isn’t as creepy as I thought.

His hair reminded me of Bruce. Although it wasn’t quite the same color, the silkiness of it was a dead resemblance to him. Just the thought of it made me tremble.

2 IS better than one, I thought to myself. “I guess so, but if you try ANYTHING on me, you’re dead meat,” I told him, trying to seem intimidating.

“We need to hunker down for the night. We can stay in this gas station, it looks pretty secure and maybe we could cook up this rabbit I caught earlier,” Toby said while holding up a decent size rabbit with a smug look on his face.

“Whatever floats your boat,” I said defiantly.