Home is You ('Home Is' Book One - Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 31 - Hit The Road Jack (Ray Charles)

NATE

It happened again.

In the middle of the night, just like before. Except this time? It took three others.

Mr Gilbert has really been knocked about by his asthma attacks over recent weeks. He went to bed and instead of lying there peacefully when he died? He got up about two hours later.

Made it to Mrs Melita's room and took her out silently. Then stumbled across Carlito who'd fallen asleep on his night watch.

Sweet, gentle Carlito....who was so shy. Yet loved his Aunty so much, he stayed to help out with her care.

And together, the three of them fell on Franco. As he went to grab a coffee from the kitchen.

Guillermo woke instantly to his screams. Took off fast as a bullet, knife in hand. He dispatched the former living quickly before Jorge and I barrelled around the corner.

It took a lot longer for him to take care of Franco. Who was still alive, but mortally wounded.

I held him during the early morning hours while he cried. Not only for the loss of his friends. But finally....for the loss of his own life as he knew it.

You know, don't you? We all do now. Exactly how he feels and that nothing will make the pain go away.

All I could do was be there and hold him. Try to let him know. Just how much his life here and now  means to others.

It came as a huge shock to Leo and myself. When we saw the end result of a natural death for the first time. Just after joining the vato's.

The truth really hit home hard.

We're all zombies. Everyone....regardless of being bit or not. Someone screwed up royally and as a result? Mankind is dead.

Dead, yet still living and walking.

We're now down to nine of the seniors and have lost over half of the vato's. To the living and the un-dead.

It's getting harder to scavenge in the city and suburbs.

Because there's a larger group out there now, breathing but totally inhuman. They're preying on the smaller communities of people who have also managed to survive.

Including ours, whenever we venture outside.

They're systematically wiping everyone out and taking what they  believe is rightfully theirs.

We have to split up now to forage. Going about in a larger party makes us conspicuous targets.

It's hard and bloody scary. Fending for yourself, when you're so used to having someone's back and they've got yours.

But we take as many precautions as possible.

Sneaking out under cover of night and varying our routes so we can't be followed. Venturing further afield for longer periods of time.

We're running low on everything.

Our walkie-talkies have a limited range, are only used where necessary. And we communicate in code. So no one else can decipher the messages if they stumble across our frequencies.

By now, I've gone on a couple of longer runs on my own. Scouting further out of the burbs and into the countryside. As Jorge and I have confidence in my abilities to keep my head down.

And being a country girl? I'm more familiar with farms and their set-up than any of the vato's. So it makes good sense.

Guillermo took a lot more convincing, yet even he finally conceded it has to be. We simply don't have a choice anymore.