"Come on Claire wake up," someone groaned from above me. From the pathetic whine that followed I knew right away it was my older brother Randall.
I rolled over, opening one eye to peek up at him annoyed -my voice coming out groggily as I spoke. "You said I could sleep in this morning," I reminded. "So let me sleep." I rolled back over and yanked the green blanket we shared over my head in defiance.
I could hear Randall mutter something under his breathe before his footsteps slowly retreated away from me. I smiled -figuring I won the argument for once. I sighed in content, closing my eyes and began to lull back into a dreamless slumber. At least I tried. That is until I started to feel bad that Randall would have to go on the run by himself if I didn't decide to. The group we were with didn't seem to like us much, I guess that's considering we were still only teenagers and the other men couldn't really rely much on us to do dirty work. Sure there was Abby, the woman who took me and Randall into the group, that made sure we were always all right, and Jane who was pretty nice, but nobody else really gave two shits about us.
I sat up -rubbing my tired eyes in pure exhaustion and stretching my arms above my head. I wiped the bead of sweat from the back of my neck before standing up and stripping my tank top and pajama pants off. I pulled on the white v-neck and flannel Abby washed for me yesterday, and then my jeans that no longer fit me since I seemed to be losing weight a lot from lack of eating. I tied my dirty hair up into a knotty bun and zipped my boots onto my feet -grabbing my machete in the hand that didn't have two busted up knuckles and running out of the small storage room Randall and I stayed in within a few minutes. More than enough time for me to easily catch up to my older brother.
I passed by Tony and Nate, frowning in distaste as they snickered at me. I hate them. If there were no brainers surrounding us, I'd be sure to push them forward as bait. "Randy wait up," I shouted in his direction.
He turned around at the sound of his nickname, stopping short at the blockage of cars, a giant smile on his face as he gripped tightly onto the pistol he found a couple of weeks back. He barely even knew how to use the thing. "Thought I was gonna have to cover my own back for the first time," He told me as I slowed down and stood in front of him. "You could have slept in 'ya know, I did promise ya"
I nodded, rolling my eyes as we climbed over the cars and jumped down. "I wanted to, but I'd rather stick around someone I can trust."
Randall nodded his head in understanding; bumping into me playfully before swinging his arm over my shoulder as we walked along the empty road back into town. "I know you still aren't comfortable in that group, but have a lil' faith al'right"
"Okay," I answered simply. It's easier said than done. I don't want to end up arguing about it all over again with him. It was starting to get old. I still remember that first week we even came into the group. I know Randall keeps trying to act like it didn't happen, but it did and I'm never going to forgive those bastards for that. Not even Abby and Jane who just sat around and did nothing. The only reason me and Randall stay is because it's a group and you need a group to survive or you'll end up dead fast.
I groaned, stepping away from Randall and swatting at his hand. "Randy don't be roughing up my hair," I huffed. "It's already messy enough as it is."
Randall laughed, taking off down the road, leaving me no choice but to catch up. He turned back for a few seconds, a playful grin plastered on his face. "Win this race to town and I'll let ya have my candy bar I found last week!" He shouted.
I sped up at the mention of that three musketeers candy bar he showed me a few days ago -my mouth watering at the thought of it. "You're so on!" I yelled back, not caring that those nasty no brainers could be around here anywhere. I didn't exactly know what they were called since no one officially gave them a name, but most people in our group called them no brainers which didn't seem quite right. They did more damage than something that didn't have a brain could do in my opinion.
I opened my mouth to inhale more oxygen as my speed began to slow down. I was a fast runner and Randall knew that, but as time flew by, we've both noticed that I was becoming slower. Lack of food, rest, and water is at fault for that. It's still something I need to improve again or I'll be screwed someday.
I stopped -looking around to make sure no no brainers were coming our way. I leaned over, placing my hands on my knees as I breathed heavily, needing to catch my breath as my heart raced . I could hear Randall laughing loudly as he jogged back over to me and patted my back. "Maybe next time baby sis eh?" He teased.
I rolled my eyes, standing up straight and swiping the back of my hand that wasn't holding my machete across my forehead to get rid of the beads of sweat. "You knew I was going to lose anyway," I grumbled. "You cheater. I'll definitely get you one of these days, I promise you that."
Randall laughed and began strolling ahead of me casually. I took another few deep breathes before following after him, my hand gripping the handle of my weapon as we got closer to town. It'll only be a few more minutes before we see the first few stores that our group has already raided since we've been in town for a few weeks now. We were told to check out the small post office and the salon to try to find any useful supplies. I was sure we weren't going to find anything useful, but it got us away from the group for a while.
I hummed soflty to the tune of a lullaby our mother used to sing to us as kids -easily gaining a frown from Randall. "Shut up with that shit," He barked, the lullaby hitting a nerve within him easily.
I turned my head slightly, looking at him as I stopped humming. I hung my head in sadness, memories of our mother coming back to haunt me. It's always as if everywhere I turned, she pops up into my head unintentionally. I bit down on my trembling lip and slowed down a bit so Randall was ahead of me. He said nothing for a few moments, but stopped suddenly, making me bump into his back.
He turned around, a stern yet sympathetic look on his face. "You gotta stop thinking about things from the past Claire or it'll eat you alive like these no brainers out here ya hear me." He scolded.
I nodded slowly, averting my eyes to look down at my shoes. I know Randy is only looking out for me and I try not to think about anyone who isn't still alive, but it's hard. Especially when it comes to my mother because she wasn't killed by a no brainer, she was killed by living, breathing people for standing up for herself.
"Let's go, we're wasting too much time out here."
I looked around, noticing a few of those things had showed up on the road which meant we were coming into town. Just like I thought, a few more minutes and we passed by the rest stop at the right of the towns welcoming sign. Too bad it ain't so welcoming no more. I stayed close to Randall as we walked quickly through the streets. Randall killed a few of the no brainiers, but kept quiet as to not attract the other ones that haven't seemed to notice us at first.
I ran ahead of him as we came into view of the salon, swinging my machete quickly at a no brainer in front of the door way. Its blood splattered onto my cheek -making me hold in a gag. I wiped it away and swung the door open, a bell jingling as I did so. Randall went in first, me following close behind him as more no brainers crowded the streets with their loud moans and the smell of their rotting flesh.
"Watch out!" Randall yelled as he pushed me away from the door. I gasped, tumbling down to the floor and sliding a bit until my back slammed against a salon chair. I groaned out, rolling to the side as the no brainer I didn't see that was by the door lunged at me. My attention turned to Randall for a split second as he fought off a large woman no brainer that could easily over power him.
"Get the fuck away from me," I spat out in frustration as the no brainer that lunged at me gripped onto my foot and pulled me towards it. I lifted my machete up and swung it down as hard as I could onto the top of the petite no brainers head. It split in half, the blood flying to my white t-shirt. "Fuck." I muttered, kicking it away from me and jumping to my feet.
I turned to look at Randall who was breathing loudly, the monster he had to deal with dead at his feet with a curling iron through its rotting head. Yuck. I walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You all right?" I asked. He nodded, but quickly shook his head as he turned to the side and threw up. I rubbed his back as he regained himself, wiping his mouth and standing up into a straight posture. "Sorry, she just scared the shit out of me," He apologized.
I nodded, walking away from him and looking through the draws of the first two stations in the salon. I tossed a few bottles of shampoo and conditioner, as well as the small bottles of hand soap into a bag I found on the counter of one of the salon tables. I could hear Randall looking through stuff in the back room -making a lot of noise carelessly. "Dumb ass," I mumbled.
I grabbed the clean washcloths I found and tossed them into the bag. This place already looked like someone had been in it, but at least there was some things we could take back to camp. Hopefully they're fucking grateful this time around because usually they say me and Randall get useless shit even though we put our lives on the line.
"Randall, you find anything?" I called out. I waited in silence for a moment, leaning against one of the chairs, the bag slung over my shoulder. There was loud bang of a gun shot before Randy came running out with a handful of things. I jumped, my machete ready in my hand. "What the fuck were you shooting at?" I hissed. He shook his head, dumping everything he had into the bag slung over my shoulder. "There was a no brainer baby in there, I put it out of its misery," He said simply.
I frowned, casting my eyes behind him to the door to the back room. "Who would just abandon their infant here..." I questioned sadly. Randall shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. Let's get to the post office because that gun shot will surely attracted more than we can handle," He warned.
I trailed to the back of the salon door, Randall following. "If you didn't want to bring trouble down on us you should have never shot the damn gun," I snapped -slowly opening the back door in caution. There were a few no brainers on the left side of the building, but none that could seriously stop us. I took off, Randall right on my heels to watch my back as we ran to the trees. A shortcut to the other side of the town where the post office was. I stumbled over a few tree roots, but kept going so I wouldn't slow us down or cause any commotion.
"We're almost there, I can see the post office through the trees," Randall confirmed in a low voice behind me.
Randall pulled me back from the strap of the bag, turning me around to look at him. "Wait, can you stay here and keep watch of the outside?" He questioned. I raised an eyebrow at him in curiosity. "Why?" He looked around frantically. "If any no brainers get to close to the post office we could get trapped in there so I want you to keep watch and scream if you see them crowd around the post office while I'm in there," He ordered.
I sighed, nodding my head and crouching down behind a bush -not looking back at him. "You better get your ass back here if I signal you Randall and I mean it."
"I promise."
He kissed the top of my head before clearing through the trees and dashing across the parking lot. I squinted my eyes to get a better view of him as he dodged by a no brainer and and ran over to an open window, jumping through it and disappearing inside the building. I squeezed the handle of my machete in anticipation, scanning each side of the post office continuously. Hurry up Randall. I have a bad feeling about this place.