Chapter Three: The Darkest Night
When Shane got promoted to Deputy, we bought a small house. The apartment was too crowded, and I needed room for all the stuff I'd made. I'd been working on a children's clothing line inspired by Carl. I partnered with several online stores and launched the line in August of 2005. The first year was spent promoting through magazine ads and commercials on TV. It didn't take long for me to create a new line for teens and young adults who were part of the alternative/punk-rock subculture.
Yes, I wore the clothes I made. They were what caught the attention of several of my favourite bands, and I had more work ahead of me. I'd been hired to creat several wardrobes for musicians going on tour. Every couple of days I held fittings, to see where I needed to make adjustments.
All my clients were amazing to work with and wanted to help with sales, so they promoted me while on tour. I was now the rival of Hot Topic; fashion magazines asked me to write columns. Who knew I'd be this successful?
By the age of twenty six, I had seven clothing stores in two states. Five in Texas, two right in Georgia that I managed myself. The money never really mattered to me, I did what I loved to do and that made it worthwhile. I had three assistants - Robyn, Clark, and Bruce, who helped run the website and the stores in Texas. Robyn became one of my closest friends, and I knew for a fact that Shane had grown fond of her, and she secretly liked him too.
I set the both of them up on a blind date, just to see what would come of it and wasn't surprised when Shane asked her on a second date.
While everyone was busy with their own lives, I made the decision to begin searching for Daryl. Nothing came up on random Google searches so I hired a private detective. Silas Arnold was the best of the best and I made it clear that he was not to be discovered by anyone. If Shane knew what I was doing, he would have a fit. When I mentioned a while back that I wanted to find the son of one of my tormentors he forbade it. Although back then I'd just turned seventeen and he was my legal guardian. I was a successful adult now, but that didn't change Shane's over-protectiveness.
Not even three months after I'd hired Silas, Rick was shot during a car chase. He spent eight hours in surgery and fell into a coma. Doctors said he would wake up, that it was just a matter of time. Lori and Carl only left the hospital for school and a change of clothes. But that was before all the weird stories on the news began. People were being attacked by others. They were being bitten.
There were reports of extreme cannibalism and it was happening everywhere. Schools were closed and a shelter, a refugee camp of some sort, in Atlanta had started taking people in. Rick was supposed to be flown over, but something went wrong. Shane was the last one to see him, and told us Rick had died. That the hospital was full of infected biters, and out best bet was to head for the shelter in Atlanta.
Robyn hadn't been answering her phone or texting back so while Lori packed, Carl and I drove down the block to Robyn's house. The door was unlocked andthat's when I knew something was wrong. She always locked her door.
"Robyn? Are you here?" Carl called out and a loud crash came from the bedrooms upstairs.
'Stay here. I'll be right back.' I told him and ran to Robyn's bedroom. I pushed the door open; she was on the floor, a nasty gaping bite on her right arm. She looked up at me and I knew right then she'd been infected and had turned into one of those monsters not too long ago.
"Did you find her?" Carl asked me after we'd left the house. I shook my head.
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The highway was one huge traffic jam. Everyone was headed for the same place, and the amount of people freaking out and starting fights was enough to trigger a panic attack. Shane and Lori went to check something out, leaving Carl and I with a woman named Carol, her husband Ed (who reminded me of Will for some reason), and daughter. I stuck to Carl like glue.
"My name's Sophia. Your dad seems nice." the little girl introduced herself.
"He's not my dad!" Carl frowned. "My dad's dead."
"Oh. Sorry. Want some candy? I found it in the kitchen before we left."
When Shane and Lori returned I told Carl to stay with Sophia and went ahead a couple cars to an RV, where Shane, Lori, Sophia's parents, and several other people were talking.
"Are you sure that's what happened?" a woman with curly blonde hair asked. From what Shane and Lori said, Atlanta had been napalmed.
"We can't stay here." a Hispanic woman held onto her husband's arm tightly. "We have kids asleep in the car."
"I know of a place, about a mile away. But we'll have to figure out a way off the highway first." The man who owned the RV said. It took a couple hours to weave our vehicles away from the chaos on the road but we got out nonetheless. He led us to a clearing, where we stopped to rest. No matter how hard I tried, I could not seem to sleep. I took Shane's gun and went for a walk around the caravan, only stopping when I heard two men talking.
They wanted to rob us blind!
"Who's there?!" one of them called out and I ran back to the car. I thought it over and chose not to tell Shane about thier plans unless I had more proof.
The next morning we chose an appropriate spot to set up camp and get acquainted. Andrea, the woman with the blonde curly hair, and her younger sister Amy. Dale, who drove the RV. Glenn, an Asian, and his friend, a black man named T-Dog. The Hispanic couple were Morales and his wife Maria, thierr son Davie, and daughter Alice. Jim was a middle aged man who had lost his family on the third day of the outbreak and he didn't really talk much. The two men I'd heard talking last nigth looked extremely familiar and my suspicions were confirmed by Jacqui, Andrea's friend.
"From the look on your face, I take it you know them." Andrea told me. "Shane said you can Sign; so can I. Several of my cousins were deaf."
'Excellent! And yeah, I knew them. I haven't seen either of them since I was thirteen.' I went on to tell her how I'd been kidnapped and found on that beach in Florida. 'Shane didn't want me to contact them. A few months ago I hired a private detective, and never really heard much from him, other than they were two people not to mess with. I don't think they even recognize me.'
"Maybe. I think Daryl might have a clue, though. He's been looking over here quite often." Andrea pointed out and I glanced at my old friend. It had been fifteen years since I'd seen him last; his hair had been cropped to his head and he'd really filled out. No longer that awkward boy I once knew so well. When he caught me staring, I grinned and waved. He picked up a crossbow and walked over to his truck. As kids, he always told me how much he'd wanted a truck. Promising he would take me anywhere I wanted. I was angry at him, but at the same time, grateful. Even though he'd broken all those promises he had brought me back to my family.
'I need to talk to him.'
"What's stopping you?"
'First off, he can't sign. There's no way he would be able to understand what I have to say.'
"Write a letter, maybe? I'm pretty sure Dale has some paper in that RV." Andrea had a good point, and came back with an 80 page notebook and a blue ballpoint pen. "I'll leave ya to it."
'Thanks.' Smiling, I picked up the pen and opened to a clean page. Everything I'd been wanting to say all these years, I wrote down. A couple pages were tearstained by the time I finished, and I wasn't sure if I should go through with it and actually hand the notebook over to Daryl. Before I could chicken out, I got up and forced myself over to where he was sitting with his brother.
"Read." I gave it to him and rushed off to the RV. That was the first time I'd spoken to anyone in a really long time, and my voice was hoarse. It sounded much different than I'd remembered.
A couple days went by, and I wondered if he'd read it yet. He seemed to avoid me, but that didn't surprise me. Merle had a strange effect on Daryl; he always had. It bothered me.
Something else that bothered me was Ed, Carol's husband. He was controlling. His daughter feared him. And Carol always had fresh bruises in the morning that she tried to hide, they were no doubt from him. Lori, Jacqui, and Andrea had all noticed it too. But we couldn't really do anything because it was their marriage, their business.
I found it hard to sleep at night so I usually sat on top of the RV with whoever was on watch duty. When Glenn's three hours were up he said goodnight and climbed down the ladder. I was expecting Dale or Andrea, and almost hyperventilated with Daryl's crossbow was tossed up. He sat in the foldable camping chair next to me, not saying a word.
"I read the letter. An' I wrote somethin' for you, too. But some things I need to say face to face." he took the rolled up notebook out of his back pocket and held it with both hands. "This might sound creepy but I've kept tabs on you. Got a business card with yer name an' email on it. Never had the balls to send ya a message an' I'm sorry for that."
I reached a hand out for him to take, but he thought I wanted the notebook. I shook my head, smiling, until he clued in and held my hand.
"I missed you." I breathed, my voice barely a faint whisper.
"Cal? You up there?" Shane called and Daryl dropped my hand immediately. Shane wasn't a big fan of the Dixons. In fact, I think he hated them. To him they were just worthless redneck hicks waiting to be thrown in jail. And they knew it. "I thought I told ya to stay away from him, and his brother!"