Hiding, running, surviving.
That's all she knew and the fact of the matter was, that's all she'd been doing for the past month. It seemed like a very long time ago that everything was perfectly normal. Well, what Briony would call normal. But now, she couldn't bare the thought of everything being normal. Now that word meant nothing but sleeping with two eyes open, being on persistent alert and fighting the dead to save her own back.
She could remember when her fathers drunken voice bellowed from the ground floor of the cosy house she used to live in. It was as if she could still hear his voice now.
If that wasn't enough to scare her, then the snarls from the rotten faced creatures that now walked the earth would do the job. Though the problem that still remained was the fact that she was alone and no matter how terrified she became, no one was there to tell her "everything will be alright".
For the minority of the day Briony had been scavenging for food, due to the hunting skills her brother had taught her it had been a favourable result. The only problem that she had once she retrieved her well deserved prize, was the fact that cooking it became a very difficult task for her to complete. She couldn't cook to save her life, this was a skill she desperately needed in the crazy shithole of a world she was living in.
Briony was Will Dixon's only daughter, although he had two sons, one of them being Daryl who had taught her how to hunt, both of them being older than her but they're age didn't define them all equally, as they all shared similar personalities. Her mother died in a house fire, in which, Briony would be dead if it wasn't for her brother Daryl getting her out of the house and saving her life. Her Father also died a couple of years later, resulting in her moving to Virginia with family and losing connection with both Daryl and Merle.
The event of her father's death seemed to turn her life around, as her father used to abuse both her and her brothers. Mentally and physically.
Now a days, she remembered Daryl as an exceedingly volatile person, but he was significantly more level-headed and rational than her older brother Merle. He was a lot more caring and selfless. One thing played on Briony's mind, it was the fact that if Daryl was still to be alive would he still have the same kind heart that he only showed to her?
At the beginning of the apocalypse, Briony was fixated on travelling back to Georgia to try and find her brothers. Unfortunately, the family she had took residence in, after her father's death, refused to go with her so she took it upon herself to travel by herself and look for the brothers she desperately needed to be in contact with once more. Watching the world become a nightmare to live in turned Briony cold hearted and selfish.
She didn't want to, but she was becoming more and more like her father everyday.
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Slumped on the dry earth that was under her, the 5"2 girl grabbed her knife ready to sharpen the blade on her arrow. Her dark brown hair loosely hung just past her bust, some of it getting in her face as she focused on the blade. The clothing she was wearing had become tacky over time but no matter how inadequate her clothes were it couldn't stop her beauty from showing.
For she was beautiful, the slightly faded freckles on her face, the small dimples on her cheeks, her profounding long eyelashes. This all added to what made her such a beauty. Although, to her she didn't care what she looked like. In her eyes, looks fade and she knew her beauty would be useless to her survival.
She was just about finished sharpening one blade and was about to reach for another when she heard a slight crunch of leaves. She looked up and rotated her head to observe her surroundings. She thought to herself that it was probably just a small squirrel scurrying past, so she ignored it. She was never bothered by little sounds as it never indicated anything, it's when she heard more than once. That's when she investigated.
A small twig snapped in half not too far away, she knew this indicated trouble. Whether it was bandits or walkers, she knew she had to take action. She stood up very steadily and watched what was a tall man, with short black hair stroll carefully across the forest. He seemed to have a strong build, he was also wearing a sheriff uniform. This intrigued Briony not only because of the uniform but because he was alone.
She thought about shooting him and just getting everything out of the way but he spotted her before it was too late. She stood there and stared at him as she kept her bow facing towards him, ready to fire incase of emergency, and he did the same. Briony wondered when he was going to say something. Instead, he placed his large gun onto the ground. She looked at him with curiosity, all the people she'd come across none of them had put their weapons on the ground.
"What do you want? Who are you?" Briony questioned, breaking the tension between the two. They were both complete strangers to each other and Briony knew that she couldn't trust this stranger.
"I'm Shane, I'm a cop. Hence the uniform. We have a campsite just over the road. Women, children." Briony scoffed at the man's response, how could she believe anything he was saying? He could even be lying about his name.
"You know how many people have said that to me? You know how many I didn't believe? You know how many I killed?" Briony threatened, though of course she'd never killed a human being in her life, she never had the guts to and no matter how cold hearted she was, that was one thing she could never do. The man who claimed his name was Shane nodded, and licked his lips slightly.
"You seem very tough for a young girl." Shane responded with a slight smirk and for the first time in a long time Briony smirked back and nodded. She didn't know how to feel about this stranger, but she knew someone who can make her at least smile a little bit was someone to trust.
Still standing, Briony started to move closer to the young man. He seemed to be slightly nervous of the 13 year old that stood before him. "You have no idea."
"You by yourself?" He questioned her, clearly paranoid about her presence.
"Well, if I wasn't my "people" would've jumped out by now." Briony explained to the man who was now kicking the dirt underneath his feet.
Shane looked up at her and smiled slightly, he was still trying to figure the brown haired girl out and it was proving to be very difficult for him. "Good reply. Listen, you can hold your own. Just come check it out. You must be hungry."
"I still don't trust you." Briony told him, they were both very paranoid about one other but they were both trying to figure each other out. Briony looked down at the ground and back up at Shane, then moved a small piece of hair behind her ear.
"Unfortunately, in this world you can't trust no one. You've lost people haven't you? I mean you must've done, if your out here on your own." Shane started to move closer to Briony and she backed off slightly. Seeing her do this made him stop in his tracks.
Standing dead still, Briony stared deeply at the man. "Why should I tell you who I've lost?" She questioned. "I don't even know you." Briony had always been a closed book and never really wanted those who weren't close to her to know anything about her.
Shane sighed in frustration, he wanted to learn more about the girl and earn her trust. He was a good person but of course she didn't know that, but he wanted her to know that. The problem was she made it so difficult because she was so closed up and mysterious. He couldn't blame her though, he knew that trust can be the cause of death.
"I've lost so many people, I lost my family and my friends. I've lost my best friend, he was a cop too. He got shot and when the apocalypse broke out I had to leave him, he was dead. His son and wife are at the camp." Briony stared at Shane as he spoke and he looked right back at her, he couldn't help but feel intrigued about her story and what she was hiding. He knew that if he didn't try to make an effort with her, they would get nowhere.
"I've lost everything, my mum, my dad, my two brothers but I pull through. They always used to tell me to stay strong, that's what I'll do." Briony replied opening up to Shane, telling Shane a tiny fraction of her story made her feel slightly better. How could she possibly feel this comfortable around a man she doesn't even know?
"Listen, you will not last two days out here. You should come and stay with us, we have guns, tents, food, water. Children your age, women and men. Please just give me a chance to show you that you can trust me." Shane desperately tried to encourage the girl but little did he know she'd lasted a lot longer by herself than most groups did.
"In all honesty, I've lasted a month out here by myself. I don't need some bloke in a costume telling me I won't last 2 days out here. I could be dangerous." Briony raised an eyebrow at Shane, then looked down at her hand studying her finger nails. She didn't want to seem like she cared too much, although she did, so she acted as if her nails where the most interesting thing in that moment.
"If I thought you were dangerous, I wouldn't be standing this close to you. Plus, if you were dangerous. You would've tried to hurt me and vice a versa. Why don't you give me a shot? I'm not out to kill anyone, in all honesty I'd rather have more allies than enemies. We need to look out for each other now a days." Briony looked up from her nails and smiled at Shane, her eyes locked on him. Something inside of her told her that she could trust him.
Briony rolled her eyes. "You just don't give up do you?" She questioned, a small smirk playing on her lips.
Shane shook his head in response. "Never." He winked, smirking back. "Just come take a look."
"Fine, I'll come with you but if your lying or try anything one of these arrows goes straight between your eyes, okay?" Briony spoke boldly and smiled, she grabbed the small bag that laid on the ground and slung it over her shoulder. She paced slowly up to Shane and they smiled at each other before walking away and disappearing from the spot they were once standing at.
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I have edited this majorly, I really didn't like its original set out and the way it was written. I mean, I wrote it in July 2016 but I've decided to restart the whole thing and change the point of view it's in etc. I worked so hard on this chapter getting it to perfection, so I hope everyone like it.
Enjoy The Dead rewritten. Xx