[Formerly titled: Nowhere Near the Apocalypse]
[REWRITING]
After surviving the first three years of the apocalypse Pasadena has pretty much given up all hope of making it back to her home in California. Her new life consists of traveling around upst...
"That's a profession not a name." I retort and he howls with laughter.
"You got me there little lady!" He exclaims. "But Doc's just a nickname. My real name is Steven Beck."
"Anyways Pasadena is my name so take it or leave it." I say while searching the car.
"Does it mean anything?" Doc asked.
"Yeah it's where I'm headed. It's my home. I need to go back and see if there's anything left." I explain and he nods with a sad look.
"What happens when you get to Pasadena?" Doc asked and I shrug.
"Look for my brother and if he's not there change my name." I say and Doc laughs.
"To what, Toronto?" Doc chuckles and I shake my head.
"Marissa. I always liked that name." I say and Doc nods.
"What about you? How did you get a name like Ten Thousand?" Doc asked 10k.
"I gave it to myself." He answers curtly.
"Well I suppose you'd have to. Does it mean anything like Pasadena over there?" Doc asked.
"It's how many zombies I'm going to kill." 10k answers.
"Well that's a whole lot of zombies." Doc says and I grin.
"Guess how many he's already killed." I say and Doc looks at me surprised.
"How many?" He asked eagerly.
"1,055." 10k answers and Doc's eyes widen.
"Damn! What happens when you get to 10k?" Doc asked.
"I change my name." 10k says while moving to the next car.
"To what? Twenty Thousand?" Doc asked laughing.
"No, to Jeff. I like the name Jeff." 10k says as he piked a zombie in one of the cars.
As we are searching we find one of the guys from the motorcycles earlier. We point our weapons at the guy and check him for bites. He tells us there's a refinery for us to find gas. He takes us there in exchange for a ride. The refinery is filled with zombies. They all seem to be attracted to a sound at the top of the catwalk.
"Frackin zombies." 10k says and I roll my eyes at him as we all get out of the vehicles. As everyone else is talking about making a plan I see 10k walk away towards a building and I follow him. He seems to be looking for a high place to shoot his slingshot.
"You should teach me how to use that thing." I say and he shrugs.
"Want a lesson right now?" He asked and I nod.
"So what do you put in this thing?" I ask as I take his slingshot from him and turn it over in my hands.
"Gears, rocks, anything sharp really." He says with a shrug as he pulls out a bag of various objects. He hands me a gear and gestures for me to take a shot. I shoot at a zombie just below the window and I get close but the gear lands a few feet away from the z.
"I mean I was kinda close." I say as I push my hair out of my face.
"Here use your dominant arm to steady the slingshot. Like this." He says and moves behind me so he can steady my left arm. "Also make sure your feet are firmly planted at a hips width apart. Use your dominant eye to aim and close the other."
"Ok," I say quietly as he nudges my legs apart with his knee and I close my right eye.
"Good, now use your other had to pull the band and amo back as far as possible. The bands should form a triangle like that. Now take a deep breath." He says and I breathe in. "Exhale and release."
The gear goes straight through the z's head and I give a little cheer before turning around and hugging him. I hear him chuckle slightly before hugging me back. When I pull away I see Doc trying to beat a z in the head but it has a hard hat on. 10k hands me another gear and gestures for me to take a shot.
"What if I miss and hit Doc?" I ask nervously.
"Just remember what I taught you and you'll be fine." He says and presses the gear into my palm. I nod at him before putting the gear in the band and taking the shot. The z is instantly killed and I grin with a wave as Doc looks up at us. I hand the slingshot back to 10k and he finishes the rest of the zombies.
"1,060 nice shot kids!" Doc cheers. Suddenly an engine roars to life and Murphy is driving away with the van. Doc runs after the van and 10k and I start to make our way out of the building.
"Wait a second look." I say stopping 10k and pointing to two red containers. We go check on them and they are full of gasoline.
"Oh my, kid, little lady, you guys are gods!" Doc exclaims as we round the corner. Everyone else is already piling into the pickup truck. We get into the bed of the truck with the two younger girls and Doc.
"Excuse me ma'am." 10k says while staring at the girl with dark hair. She looks at him weirdly when he says, "You have a finger in your hair."
"So, where'd you get that bat?" I ask the girl with the bat.
"Picked it up off a dealer right before I joined up with Garnett." She says and I give her a weird look.
"Who's Garnett?" I ask and she chuckles.
"Oh right you don't know everyone. Well I'm Addy, that's Doc and Cassandra with us in the bed of the truck. Driving is Warren, next to her is Garnett. In the back is Murphy and Mack." She says while pointing to each person and I nod. "What's your name?"
"I'm Pasadena." I say and she nods.
"Why did you choose that name?" She asked.
"Gotta have a goal in life and right now mine is to get back to Pasadena, California." I tell her and she nods.
"What's in Pasadena?" She asked and I shrug.
"Probably nothing, but it's where I lived pre-z and maybe there is something I can salvage or there might be a clue telling me if my brother is still alive." I tell her.
"If you're from California what were you doing up in New York?" Cassandra asked.
"I was at a karate tournament with my mom and two younger siblings before everything went to shit." I say casting my eyes down.
"What happened to them?" Doc asked and I glared at him.
"The goddamn apocalypse happened." I say and they all nod. After that we ride in silence.
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