❛ YOU PROMISED. ❜
02. Who're you?
SEASON 01 EPISODE 02
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Jamie was now one of those things, after three days she had finally turned. Her death was slow and it was hard to not know when it had happened. Jamie and I had talked, we spoke through the doors— long conversations with laughs and cries between us. It didn't stop me from talking to her though, her death didn't stop me from loving her. I'd talk and she'd bang against the door, it was probably me being delusional but it was a way for me to know she was okay— as one of those monsters.
It had now been a full week since I'd lost her, since all of this had started. It had been a full week of me not digesting a thing, there was water, for now, there was water in the bathrooms and it was just enough for me to drink everyday— just a sip.
I had found a weapon, something to kill the monsters with; a crowbar. It was hidden in one of the supply closest and there were enough clothes around for me to switch into, even though I had never felt so dirty in my entire life. There was nothing I could do about my hygiene, no toothbrushes or toothpaste, no showers, nothing to make me feel clean enough. I was surviving off of water, clean clothes, and the protection of the walls around me.
I was alive because of Jamie, yet, there was no way I could thank her.
A couple more days and I was survival ready. I had more weapons and I knew how to use them, practicing didn't make me less scared but the thought of dying of hunger when the world was surrounded by those slow ass zombies made me upset. I was traveling outside of the small room that I resided in, surfing and tiptoeing through other rooms— other buildings and looking for more food, maybe other things that I needed, maybe wanted.
'I see him walkin', I sense the danger. I hear his voice and my heart stops.'
I had found a black walkman cassette player with headphones, the headphones that had the softness over your ears. I stole random sets of tapes from the shelf right next to them, rushing away before any of those monsters could sense I was around. It was something I had wanted, yes, it was dumb to risk my life for something so small but I had found out that music had calmed me.
I nodded my head along with the music, slipping the headphones off and resting them on my shoulders. I could still hear the music while placing the player into my back pocket. It was time to change, the clothes were already sitting on the counter I slept behind. Just as my hands cuffed the bottoms of my shirt a noise was heard in the distance— it wasn't the sound Jamie made, no, this one was much louder, as if someone had tripped over boxes or bumped into a wall.
I reached for the cassette player and paused the tape, picking up my crowbar as I approached the sound slowly. I kept the crowbar lowered, wanting the momentum to hit harder.
"Woah! Hey!" The person screamed, their fingers wrapping around the weapon when it swung toward them.
"You oughta put that weapon down, sweetheart." A gruff voice rose a gun in my face, a scowl itching my features.
Jamie growled from her place, banging against the door roughly which made everyone panic and point their weapons that way. I let go of my crowbar and blocked the door with my arms up, a glare struck on my face.
"If you touch her, I will kill you."
"We're not gonna hurt her." An Asian man spoke, stepping in front of me carefully and dropping the crowbar in his hands. "Just— was she your mom?"
I shook my head, letting my arms drop. "No, she's my nanny." I paused before correcting myself. "Was my nanny."
"Okay, okay." He breathed. "We were just gonna leave and go back to our group, do... do you want to come back with us?" The man questioned and my eyebrows rose in interest. "I'm Glenn."
"Kendall." I responded shortly.
"Andrea, Jacqui, T-Dog, Morales, and Merle." He pointed to the rest of the group, behind him, holding a hand out for me.
"Is it safe... to leave?" I ask, walking around the counter and picking up my bag.
"Yes, and you'll be a hundred times safer with us."
I took Glenn's hand, giving an ounce of my trust for the moment. A small ghostly smile raising on my features as we exited through the alley, reaching the roads which were clear for now. I made sure to keep close to the man, a feeling of familiarity rising in my chest as we walked.
We made it pass at least three buildings until we were closed off by a mountain of monsters, all clustered together as hungry growls came from their lips. A glimpse of the scene which caused all of this havoc made us gasp— A man was riding a horse down the street, grabbing every monsters attention and making them horde around each other. It was truly worse than any disaster I have ever seen. He dropped to the floor, flipping off the horse as it panicked before crawling under the tank.
"Kendall, come on!" Glenn called, pulling me back the way we came from. I was in a daze but it took me no longer than a millisecond before popping back into reality with a half gasp, half scream. I rushed after the group, running back through the same alley we came from and slamming the door behind us— hoping none of the walkers would've known we came this way.
"We need to help him." Were the first words that came from my mouth once we were safe. "We— We can't just leave him out there."
"We can't risk our lives for the man that just killed us!" Andrea, the blonde woman shouts.
"I'll help him... I'll help him." Glenn says, patting my shoulder and reaching for the door. "You guys stay here, gather any other supplies and I'll be back."
They covered him— though they were not a hundred percent on board with plan to save the man that got us trapped, they covered Glenn when he got out into the alleyway, smashing the dead's brains in with a bat and my crowbar. I watched as the man ran up the stairs before the door slammed shut and there was nothing else to see but the people ahead of me.
"I'm going to the roof." I whispered, pulling the headphones over my ears once again and clicking the play button.
'No doubt about it. I'll go where he goes. My captive hearrrrt. My willing souuul. And I carry the flame, and I play my part.'
It only took about two to three minutes to get up the stairs, the fresh air from outside was lovely and not seeing the faces of possibly innocent dead people was a plus— except for the fact of Merle, he was an irritating and racist redneck that followed me up the stairs. I could hear bits and pieces of what he said and none of it sounded good but in the end I chose to ignore him and continue to listen to the music that was blasting in my ears.
I tossed my bag onto the floor beside me, the furthest away from Merle and the door, but close enough to see over the roof. Just as my eyes surfed the streets below us a gunshot made me jump back, my eyes narrowing at the stupidity of the man in front of me.
The redneck was standing on the edge, looking through the scope of his shotgun and looking down as he popped off rounds into the heads of the monsters below.
"Hey, Dixon, are you crazy?!" Morales shouts, barging through the door with the rest of the group following behind him. I took off my headphones, pausing my music again to listen in.
Merle laughs, shooting once more before facing the group. "Huh, hey! Ya'll oughta be more polite to a man with a gun!" He jumps down. "Only common sense."
"Man, you wasting bullets we ain't even got!" T-Dog shouts, jumping down from his spot with an angry glare. "And you bringing even more of them down our ass! Man, just chill."
"Bad enough I've got this taco-bender on my ass all day." Merle insults. "Now I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so, bro. That'll be the day."
"'That'll be the day'?" T-Dog echoed. "You got something you want to tell me?"
"Hey, T-Dog man, just leave it." Morales spoke up from his spot. "Alright, it ain't worth it. Now Merle, just relax, okay? We've got enough trouble."
"You want to know the day?" Merle ignored Morales, questioning T-Dog.
"Yeah."
"I'll tell you the day, Mr. Yo. It's the day I take orders from a nigger."
I turned away from the scene when T-Dog hit the ground, a type of anger growing inside for the redneck ahead. After the sound of begs and pleas, the sound of pained groans, I placed my headset back on unable to bare the sound of someone being beaten. I was angered with the situation and it was just best for me to keep my mouth shut rather than saying anything.
I could hear my pounding heart over the sound of the music, it was only getting louder when the sound of thunder made an appearance through the pause of my music. A soft hand found my arm and I turned to find the friendly face of Glenn, a smile that warmed my features.
"Are you okay?" Glenn's fingers rubbed smooth circles on my skin, calming me. "Merle's locked up so he can't get you and I need you to stay up here with him and T-Dog so we can find a way out of this shithole."
"I can stay here." I mumbled. "I want to live, though, for Jamie."
"You'll be fine."
Patience, it was something I had never had and possibly never will. If there was anything I hated, it'd be waiting and the sound of thunder put me over the edge because it still had yet to rain. The waiting on hearing anything back from the groups camp put the two men over the edge, nothing was getting through to the radio at their camp. Impatience made me worry and it also made me anxious, maybe something like that is what that held me back sometimes.
It had been over ten minutes and the group step through the door with defeated and solemn expressions, meaning that there was probably no way out— we were stuck.
I let my headphones hang over my shoulders, listening as they came up with a plan to get pass the walkers that wanted so badly to kill us. I picked up my bag, resting it on my shoulders and leaning against the roofs edge.
Smell, they were going to get pass them with smell. It was a trifling thought, placing dead guts and blood over your body just to survive, it was something I hoped to never do. The smell was too intoxicating, it would probably burn your nose and making it almost completely unbearable to handle the stench. Glenn and Rick were the ones that were going to pass through the walkers in disguise and something about this plan made me more anxious than I already was.
The group watching them from above the roof, binoculars over one of their eyes trying to spot them in the road. I tightened my hold on my straps, eager to get out of here but worried for their safety.
"There!" Morales points, finally catching them. I look up at the sky, watching as the clouds slowly turn grey and the sound of thunder grew louder.
"That's asshole is out on the street with the handcuff keys?" Merle asks gruffly with anger and confusion.
T-Dog drops the radio for a moment, smirking the rednecks way as he pulled the key from his pocket and moved it side to side smugly. Merle was lost, he didn't know if he was actually going to uncuff him but all he needed to do was hope so— though if someone gave me an ass whooping like that after calling me out of my name, I'd leave them for dead.
This is where the impatience kicks in, my heart thundering it as quickly as the weather at the moment and I could hear it beat through my ears. I wrapped my hand around my wrist, pulling slightly while looking into the road trying to spot them— it wasn't very easy since the sea of monsters but they kind of stood out. I was smiling, that was until the rain coated my arm, drenching the roads and my hair.
"It's just a cloudburst." Morales explained. "We get 'em all the time. It'll pass real quick."
Although, the quickness of the cloudburst wouldn't stop the smell, of the two people trying to save us, from washing off of them and putting them in severe danger. If that happened they'd have to fight their way through, just as they're doing now.
I widened my eyes when the sound of growling zombies grew louder, they rushing toward the two people and chased them over the fence. I burst of relief when I saw them getting away but... the other way— leaving is behind.
"They're leaving us." Andrea spoke my thoughts but as soon as she did that another one crossed my mind.
"No, no, no, where are they going? Where are they going?" Morales began to freak.
"No, no, come back."
"They're not leaving us— they're not, they can't be." I spoke, my voice soft and quiet. "They could be going around, trying to find a way to save us, right?"
One of them opened they're mouth to speak but the sound of a siren cut them off. A loud red car zooming by and drawing the monsters away from us. I took off before they could say anything, tightening my grip on my straps and rushing down the stairs without a word. They didn't waste a second, screaming and shouting for them to follow. I didn't even pause when the monsters tried to get into the building, the glass cracking but I did pause when the familiar sound of pounding came from the back room— Jamie.
The group bumped by me, running into the garage and holding onto the chain— waiting for they're hero to come along. I placed a palm over the door, shutting my eyes before whispering.
"I'm so sorry."
The sound of glass breaking and panic made me run, the monsters had got in and we were trying to rush to open the doors and get out of here. I helped them toss bags into the truck, before jumping in myself. Morales was the last one inside, shutting the back of the truck when the monsters came into view as we zoomed away. I clutched my knees to my chest, laying my head in them.
"I dropped the damn key." T-Dog admits with a shaky voice.
"Where's Glenn?" Andrea questioned, ignoring his statement completely.
"Being the distraction." Rick answered shortly, letting us know he was the one making all that noise— the car alarm.
"Glad he's alright." I breathe.
the chapters are short now but they are sure to grow longer, thanks for reading!