I step out into the light of day, so much light that it blinds me. I put my hand up in front of my face to stop the sudden light from reaching my eyes. "Damn, I can't see a thing!" I say, looking at Christina.
She chuckles. "You have to just give it a few seconds, your vision will go back to it's normal state and you'll be fine." Still holding onto the hand that I hadn't thrown up to cover my eyes.
"You told your dad, didn't you?" I ask, knowing that she must have. Especially because of the way he had looked at her, before he left the room. I see her start to look down, but I bring my hand down to stop her from moving any further down. "It's okay, as long as he approves." I smile.
She smiles at that and then leans in to what looks like another kiss, so I close my eyes as I'm getting closer. "Not in front of your sister." She gives off a little laugh as she teases me and whispers this in my ear.
I snap back to reality and look down at Grace, staring at Christina and I. "Hey kiddo, what's happening." I smile down at her.
"Micky. Guess what tomorrow is!" She says, smiling happily.
I go through all of my thoughts and then remember that one week from my birthday was Grace's birthday, she was turning 10 already! "I wouldn't forget about tomorrow, it's your birthday!"
"Yay! I know it's difficult to ask for, but.... No, just forget it.... I don't want anything to happen to you....." She says, sadness filling her eyes.
"What? Go on kiddo, can't be any worse than what I've gone through."
"Well.... I always had that Teddy Bear you gave me for my 6th birthday and... Well, I never grabbed it when we left the house that day.... But it's okay, I'm a big girl, I don't need it...." She says, putting her head down and starting to walk away.
I feel bad for her as she walks away. "Seems like it really meant something to her." I hear Christina say.
I look over at her. "Yeah, she always wanted one when she was five. I bought it for her on her sixth birthday and she fell in love with it. Always slept with the damn thing at night, but I guess it's the small things that count." I say, thinking of a plan to get her a new one.
"Oh...." Christina pauses, looking over at Grace and then looking back at me. "Let's go find my dad and Tom."
"Good idea." She pulls me, leading me to Jim and Tom as I let my eyes get used to the light of day once more.
We arrive at the fence, already there's a couple of dead walker bodies stuck on it. I see Jim and Tom standing and looking at it.
"What the hell's going on here?" I ask, looking at the both of them.
Jim looks over at Christina and I, sees both of us holding hands and gives a smile. "We're trying to figure out how in the hell these things just keep coming."
"Seems like there are more and more coming each day. I think they're coming in clumps too, not all of them, but I've seen groups of them just traveling slowly and together." Tom says, looking over at Christina and I.
"Well, that just means we're going to have to be extra careful with making too much noise or we'll attract even more." I warn.
"Exactly, but that's going to be a problem if we run into trouble with a couple more walkers. And even then, who knows how long we can go without killing these fuckers with guns if we don't get any more quiet weapons." Tom says.
"Well." Jim stops, looking as though he is thinking.
"Well... What?" I ask, confused.
"It's risky, but it's the only thing I got..." Jim, pausing again. "There's a warehouse not too far down the road. It's packed with all sorts of things. Food, Ammo, Water, Toys, etc."
"So, what's the problem?" Tom asks, eager to get to the warehouse already.
"Last time I saw, there were a shit ton of walkers there. Maybe a good 30-40 walkers." Jim say.
"Well, I'll go. It's the best chance we got at keeping this place safe and I think we should go for it." I say, first one to volunteer.
"No, you can't. You just got done fighting at least 10 or 15 of those things and now you want to go and fight more of them." Christina says.
"Look, it's the best chance we've got at keeping this place secure and everyone here safe. I have to do this." I say, getting a little aggravated that she doesn't want me to go. But I relax, because I know she's just caring for my well being. "Christina, I just want to keep everyone here safe and if this works out, we'll be able to stay here for longer."
"I know... I just don't want anything to happen..." She begins to say.
I cut her off, not letting her finish that sentence. "Nothing's going to happen to me." I reassure her.
"Well, you can't go by yourself and you don't even know the way there. So I'll go with you." Jim says.
"I'd come, but I think one of us are going to be needed here. You guys should probably take that car, it'll be easier for you to get the supplies here quickly." Tom says.
"Yeah, that's true." I say.
"Well, we should leave tonight. You need your rest, I know you've been sleeping for a few days. But you're going to need as much rest as you can get." Jim, nodding at me.
"Yeah, I'll just head back to the cabin now. I'll meet you at the front gate in a few hours." I say, turning back towards the cabin and still holding hands with Christina. "You know, I'm coming back... For Grace and You." I say, trying to comfort her.
"Yeah, I know, just... Be careful and take care of my old man while you're out there." She chuckles. We've just about gotten to the cabin, when Grace comes running up.
"Micky, where are you going? I thought you were gonna come play?" Grace asks.
It pains me to tell her I can't, but I have to tell her. "I have to get some rest, I'm still hurting a little bit and I've got to get some sleep before I head out again."
I see her mood go from happy, to terrified in seconds. "But.... Micky, you can't... Not again, you barely....."
"No Grace, I have to. To keep you safe and I'm coming home, so don't worry about me. Just be respectful and follow the rules while I'm gone." I tell her, trying to refrain her from being sad. "Okay, kiddo?"
I can tell she's trying to be as happy as she can, but it's not much. "Okay..." She starts to go back to the other kids. While Christina helps me inside and to the bed.
"That could have went better." I say, in a miserable tone, because I know I've upset Grace.
"Yeah, it could have. But as long as you're coming back safe and alive, that's all that matters. Now get your rest, I'll talk to you when you get up and are ready to leave." She leans in once again.
I lean towards her and kiss her, just I had before. Then I smile and lay down. Closing my eyes, hoping that I won't step into a hole of hellish nightmares that have been haunting me the last few nights. And to my surprise, it's a dreamless sleep. Nothing but endless darkness until I finally wake up about 2 or three hours from sunset. I get up and walk to the door, this time only feeling a tenth of the the amount of pain I had felt earlier. So I open the door, look around outside to see the kids and Grace still playing. Christina watching over them with Tom's wife, and Jim and Tom standing at the front gate. I start to walk towards the front gate, only to be greeted one last time by Grace before I leave.
She immediately runs up and hugs me, I hug back as tight as I can. "I'm coming back kiddo, don't doubt that for even a second."
"I know Micky.... I just want you to know.... I... I... I love you Micky." I pick her up, continuing to hug her.
"I know Grace, I love you too." I say, pausing and staying in the moment for a minute or two. "I'll be back soon, don't worry about me." I put her down and smile at her.
She smiles back at me. "You stay safe."
"I will kid, I promise." Still smiling, I look up at the other kids still playing. "Now go on, I'll talk to you when I get back." She runs off back towards the kids and I continue on the path to the front gate.
I arrive at the gate, to find Jim and Tom talking about what we need to get from the warehouse.
"We could use pretty much some of everything there." Tom says.
"Yeah, we're going to bring as much back with us as we can. Just make sure you keep this place secure until we get back." Jim says, giving off a laugh.
"Well. Let's worry about us getting back secure." I walk up, laughing and joining in on the conversation.
"Very true." Jim says, continuing to laugh.
"So the plan is simple. You guys get in, try staying as silent as you can, while grabbing as much stuff as you can, and then you get back out and home." Tom says, trying to lighten the tensified mood of the plan.
"Sounds way more simpler than it actually is." Jim, being as serious as ever.
We talk about the plan a little bit more, before we're pretty much ready. That's when Christina walks over and asks if she can speak with me.
"He's all yours, we'll just be over there by the car." Jim says, both him and Tom walk to the car.
They get farther away, before Christina and I start talking. "I still don't think you should do this." She says, concern thickened in her voice.
"I know I shouldn't, but we've went over this. I need to keep you and Grace safe." I say, restating what I said earlier.
"I know, but I just....." She pauses. "I don't want anything to happen to you, I've lost one person that meant something to me already. I can't lose you, ever since the day I met you. I know it was only a couple of days ago, but I knew you were the one."
"I'm coming home Christina and your dad is too. You need not worry about us." I say.
She give somewhat of a smile. "You better be." She hugs me as tight as she can and I do the same, neither of us letting go for a good minute.
"I'm coming back. But I got to go now." I give her one last hug and then walk over to the car.
"Ready to go?" Jim says, throwing me the keys.
I stop and look kind of confused.
"You need to drive, I can only drive stick." He says, opening the passenger door and getting in.
I open the driver's seat door and get in, starting the car and hearing the rumble of the engine. "Let's do this." I start to drive out the front gate, once again into the real world outside of these electric fences. Where it's survival of the fittest and if you don't survive, you die. That's why you've got to stick together in these rough times. Fight The Dead, Fear The Living. Unless you're smart enough to try to be peaceful to every living person you come across with. I always think that more people we have alive and living with us, the less amount of the walkers we have to fight.