Day 643
Roy was a nice guy. This much I gathered from his little heroic act back at the city wall, and from the way he treated us like family from the get-go.
This is why by the time we reached his house I decided to trust him.
His house by the way, wasn't very impressive. I was actually surprised by how he had managed to live this long.
It wasn't your average sturdy house, no Roy wasn't even that protected. It was a simple wooden cabin on the very edge of town, a small one too.
As I learned more and more about him I wondered what was so special about this guy. Why were the bikers so afraid of him?
That question was answered with two things. One, as we strode up to Roy's house we heard the dogs.
Bloodhounds. Roy had a pack of fifteen bloodhounds in his backyard. All trained to kill at Roy's orders.
He told us later that he was a breeder before the big happening. That's what Roy decided to call the apocolypse. I liked that.
The second thing to answer my question was when we got inside, like right away, I noticed the collection of weapons Roy had acquired on his wall.
Guns, knives, grenades; you name it. His house looked like the inside of a military surplus, which also was explained.
Roy said he had a brother who owned a military surplus store not too far from his house that he had the keys to.
When the great happening...happened...Roy said he was paired up with his brother. They were a great pair being that they both were veterans and served at least two four-year terms in the Marines. Roy on his own had served for four.
Later on he said his brother passed from a corpse bite to the shoulder. Died in two days said Roy.
Lucky, I thought. My mom had to suffer for eight days. By the end of it she wasn't her angelic self. You can say disease brings out the worst in people.
After the sixth day of fever she hit the insanity phase. Spewing profanity with every breath, and even forgetting who I was.
I knew at the time that I shouldn't have watched her slowly deteriorate, but she was my mom. How could I just let her go?
After Roy invited us inside we sat at his large round kitchen table to talk.
"Sorry guys, I wish I had some more food to offer without cleaning out my cupboards completely." apologized Roy as he placed down two cans of beans.
Already my mouth was watering.
See food was a problem for us. We were always on the move, and almost never had enough to eat. The two cans Roy held was the most food we had seen in weeks.
"Oh, it's no big deal. You don't have to feed us." said my Dad politely. Roy laughed.
"You're kidding right? If Len didn't kill you back there starvation would've. I can see your boy's ribs from here." replied Roy.
My cheeks flushed and I looked down embarrassed. It was true. I didn't exactly have the body I would've liked.
I used to be just a normal toned fourteen year-old but after the malnutrition, and all the running from place to place I lost a few pounds. Okay, maybe a lot more than a few.
I practically lost all my muscle and then puberty did the rest. I grew four inches in the last year, so my body stretched out a ton.
I was a 5' 8" skeleton, with very little muscle sticking to my arms.
"Here. Pair up and share a can each." said Roy as he slid a can down to Eddie and Kaitlyn, and then one for me and my Dad.
We ate a little too enthusiastically having not eaten since breakfast yesterday.
After we ate my Dad engaged Roy in an "adult" conversation. Which meant I had to retire to the lounge chair in Roy's living room.
Still I listened intently to their conversation trying to make out whatever words I could.
"So do you know of a place where a group of four can stay?" asked my Dad.
Roy stayed quiet for a bit obviously thinking. He exhaled slowly before he finally answered.
"There's a few abandoned buildings here and there, but all the ones I know of are near some bad communities."
"Worse than that Len guy's group?" asked my Dad.
Roy let out a chuckle and said, "Oh yeah, much worse. I wouldn't bother with them."
My Dad stayed silent taking in this information for a while.
"And I don't suppose we could stay here. No offense or nothing, but your home seems just right for you. I don't think it could handle four more." said my Dad.
"Mmmhmmm. Right you are." Said Roy.
My Dad exhaled in defeat. "I don't know what to do anymore. This world has gone to complete crap, this was my last resort Roy."
"Well, why don't you guys just get back on your feet and keep searching more. I hear Washington is still good." offers Roy.
"No, we've been all over, and my group is done. We don't have much more fight in us. We're one more disappointment away from biting the bullet." answers my Dad.
My heart sunk in my chest. I knew what my Dad said was true, but actually hearing the words was a whole different sadness on its own.
Roy sighed. "Listen. There's...a place...that I happen to think would do fine for your group." Roy said slowly.
Instantly my Dad jumped on the oppertunity.
"Where is it?" He said. "Anywhere, we'll go anywhere if it's safe."
Roy continued. "It's very large, and very well protected. I'm friends with the person who lives there. They don't like strangers, heck they barely like me..." He trails off with a laugh.
"The thing is, you guys seem like good enough people, and if there's one thing this world needs more of it'd be good people so I can't let you guys die." Roy finishes.
"Wow. Well thanks Roy." My Dad says. Soon after Roy continues.
"Like I said, they don't like strangers, but they do owe me a favor. When you meet them you better say I sent you, or they won't take you in." warns Roy.
"When's the last time you saw them?" asks my Dad.
"Mmm about seven or eight months ago." answers Roy nonchalantly.
"Seven or Eight!? Roy, how do you even know they're still alive?" My Dad questions with shock.
Roy chuckles a bit and then gets serious. "Oh I know they're alive. They're smart like that."
"Wow, okay then. Who is this mysterious friend we're looking for might I ask?" says my Dad.
"They go by Everett." says Roy solemnly.
Now I stand up from the lounge chair and make my way over to their conversation not being able to contain myself any longer.
"What kind of name is Everett?" I ask as I interject the conversation. My Dad snaps his head back at me in annoyance for interupting their chat.
Roy smiles and answers, "It's a last name. They don't go by their first name."
"Do you know it though?" I ask, but my Dad shuts me down.
"Roy, don't answer that. The real important thing is where do we find them?" says my Dad.
"Get onto the street with all the shops and stores, keep traveling down that road until you find the big glass building. Turn there and keep walking. Soon you'll find them." He answers.
"That's it?" says my Dad in disbelief.
"That's it. You better take off now if you want to catch them before dark." says Roy.
"Okay then I guess it's settled. Jack, get the others we're leaving. Thanks Roy. You've been a great help." says my Dad smiling at him.
"No problem Andrew. Best of luck to you and your group." He replies.
My Dad gets up from the table to get our things, while I go outside to find Kaitlyn and Eddie watching the dogs.
After we say our actual goodbyes we head out the door one-by-one. I am the last to leave and just as my hand touches the door handle Roy calls me back in.
"Jackson is it? Come back boy." He says from his seat at the table.
I turn on my heels reluctantly. I hated it when people called me "boy". It meant I was a kid to them, which yes I was, but still I hated it.
"It's Jack sir, and yes?" I say looking at him with wide curious eyes. What could he possibly need from me?
"When you get there say hi to Cal for me." He says smiling.
I nod slightly and turn for the door again. As I exit the house and join my group I begin to wonder what Roy meant.
Who's Cal? And what's this Everett person like? Slowly I recounted the only information I had of the so-called Everett.
He doesn't go by his first name, and he doesn't like strangers. Hasn't been seen in seven months, but apparently is too smart to have died...
As we walked down the street we passed a few corpses, nothing too big though.
We kept walking for a long time and soon the sun was beginning to drop. We started to think we were lost until we were met by the giant glass building on our left.
"Finally!" yelled Eddie as we turned the street.
The first thing we saw was a group of corpses about fifteen feet away. They turned slowly to us and we all backed up quickly.
"Move!" yelled my Dad as they started to pick up speed.
We pulled out our guns but were beat to the punch when the zombies started dropping left and right.
Shots were being fired from some unknown location and a corpse was falling dead at every sound.
"Up there!" yelled Eddie as he pointed to the side platform of the building.
Each floor had a little roof of its own that went out a bit, and the second one just so happened to have a sharpshooter laying on it.
The shooting ended, and soon enough the eight corpses littered the streets in a messy massacre.
"Wow that was amazing!" said Eddie clapping his hands for the stranger.
"Thank you very much kind sir!" called my Dad as he waved to the shooter to come down.
The shooter covered from head to toe stood up from the rooftop and jumped down to the first floor's platform. After that they walked to the edge and got down by hopping onto a car below them.
All of us stared at our second savior of the day with jaws hung open and eyes wide. Who was this guy?
Slowly they walked to us and the person shocked us even more. They were rather small. My Dad was the first to speak of his observations.
"He's a kid." My Dad said awestruck.
The stranger walked closer. If my jaw hadn't already dropped it would have done it second time.
"He's a...she." I said in amazement.
She stared at us with a questioning look as she closed the gap between us. Next Eddie spoke.
"She's a total badass." said Eddie in sheer awe and approval.
The girl smirked at Eddie's comment and looked at us suspiciously.
"You're welcome." she said.
My Dad was the first one to hold out his hand and introduce himself.
"Hi, I'm Andrew Carter." He said nicely. He then turned around to introduce us.
"This is Kaitlyn..." He said in which Kaitlyn said, "Hey."
"That's Eddie..." He motioned to the blonde in which he responded, "Sup."
"And this is my son Jackson." He finished. I didn't say anything. I just nodded at her.
The girl didn't take his extended hand, she just eyed it untrustingly. However, she did clear her throat to speak.
"I'm Everett."