BAM! BAM! BAM! I jump up awake out of my chair.
"Jayden! Jayden! Open the door!" Kenny shouts as he's banging on the door.
I run over to the door and open it. Kenny and his family scurry in, they aren't looking so good. I lock the door. BAM! BAM! BAM! ARGHHH! The walkers start banging on the door as they growl.
I look over and see that Duck has been bit on the hand. The blood is thundering down onto the floor from the drips of his fingertips. His skin is corrupted yellowish.
"Holy shit..." I say, looking at the bite mark. Kenny looks at me. "He's going to be fine. Our boy is a fighter. He'll get through this." Kenny says, tending to Duck.
Katjaa looks worn out, I could tell she has been crying her eyes out for quite some time. I notice her hands trembling with an uncontrollable twitch. Her clothes are drenched in blood.
"What happened out there? How did this happen?" I ask.
"After the wreck Duck got scarred. He ran away. I couldn't get Ken or you up so I had to go after him. When I found him he was cornered against a wall... I didn't... I didn't have anything to fight the walkers off with so I grabbed him and we ran into an unlocked minivan. We barely made it out alive..." Katjaa says with sorrow filling her tone.
"I found them screaming for help as a bunch of walkers circled around the van. I put all the attention on myself and shot them down." Kenny says.
"How'd ya do that?" I ask. I haven't seen anyone kill a walker before.
"Do what?" Kenny responds. He is definitely confused on what I am talking about.
"Stop them. This guy I was with tore walkers up with his pistol, but nothing would kill them." I say.
"You gotta destroy the brain. It's the only way." Kenny says.
Duck starts coughing, Katjaa wipes his mouth off with a handkerchief. I see that there's blood on it now.
"Kenny..." I say, putting my hand on his shoulder.
"Don't do that, Jayden. My boy is gonna survive this, you'll see. He's gonna make it..." Kenny says.
Kenny and Katjaa focus on Duck, looking very gloom and depressed.
"Is there anything I can do?" I ask.
"Some water would be nice. And a blanket he's getting cold." Katjaa says.
"I'll see what I can do." I say, walking away.
I check the cells, I see a bed that has a blanket on it. I pull the blanket off. ARGHH! A walker lunges out of the bed towards me. I'm knocked down due to the shock. The walker tries to sink it's teeth into my face. I push it away.
"Shit!" I say, grunting.
I grab the walker's head and slam it into the wall. I quickly pull my knife out stab the walker in the side of the head. I actually killed it! Kenny is right; this is the only way. That was a close call I think to myself as I stand back up. I spot a mug underneath the bed. I bend down and grab it along with the blanket and walk back to Kenny and Katjaa.
"How'd ya make out?" Kenny asks.
"I found this blanket. It should keep him warm for now. Although, I don't know where I can get water from." I say.
"Looks like there is a water fountain over there. Try that." Katjaa says.
I walk over to the water fountain and turn it on however nothing happens. I press in the button a few more times.
"Water is turned off. Sorry." I holler over.
"Thanks, Jayden. You tried. Don't let it beat yourself up." Kenny says.
I take a look at Duck. His skin is fading color, almost matching a ghoul's complexion. There is dried blood by his mouth which is where the blood was running out from before. I know how this is going to end, but does Kenny?
"Uh, Ken? You got a minute?" I ask.
"Sure thing, man." Kenny says, walking off to the side. "So what's up?" Kenny asks.
"When I was looking for that blanket I ran into some trouble. A walker almost got a hold of me." I say.
"Shit, really?" Kenny asks.
"There could be more in the station for all we know. We have to be extra quiet from now on." I say.
"Or we can look around and take them out. I don't know about you but I'd rather go to sleep at night knowing they aren't in here with us." Kenny says.
"We have the tools for it. Are you coming?" I ask.
"I'm afraid not, Jayden. I need to stay here with my family. They need me, Jay." Kenny says.
"Did you just give me a nickname?" I ask with a chuckle.
"It'll stick." Kenny says along with a laugh as he walks back to Katjaa and Duck.
I take a seat in the same chair I fell asleep in earlier. I take a look at Duck. He wasn't looking too good. As the seconds went by the worse he looked. Even though he is going to die, his family is lucky to be able to see his kid grow up, unlike I was able to. I see Kenny checking out the rest of the place. I get up to go talk to him.
"Hey Ken, need some help?" I ask.
"Sure thing. Go check out the room to the right." He replies.
I nod. I grab my knife. I slowly open the door. I look inside to find no threat. All I see is a bunch of uniforms, bullet proof vests, and some ammo. I look on the ground to see a pistol. I pick it up and examine it. It has "survive" carved into it. I pick it up. I look around for some 9MM ammo, since the gun I picked up is a 9MM. I find a box of rounds.
I load a couple of clips and slip them into my pocket. I put one clip into the pistol. I find a holster lying on the ground. I pick it up and put it on. I look on a chair and see a leather vest. If one of those white eyed things bit into that, there is no chance it is breaking through to my skin. I slip it onto my body. I walk back outside the room.
"Find anything useful?" Kenny asks in a sorrowful voice.
"There is a shit ton of ammo back here. Also some bullet proof vests." I say.
"Great. We are gonna be here a while, so we better find a secure place to sleep in this police station. I say we use the room you just found." Kenny says.
"Sounds good to me. If you need to talk I'm here Ken." I empathetically say.
"Thank you, but no thank you." Kenny says.
"Just... just spend as much time with him as you can. Trust me." I say.
"I'll be spending plenty of time with him after he gets over this." Kenny demands.
"Kenny I –
"Spit it, Jay. He'll be fine, he needs time." Kenny insists.
"Okay, okay. Just go sit with him. I'm gonna set up the beds." I say.
Kenny nods, and goes over to Duck. I walk back into the room I was just in. I grab a couple of the uniforms off the hangers. I start to form the uniforms into a bed type shape. I do this four times, one for each of us. I then make a pillow out of the uniforms for each of us. I lay down on my 'bed'. Thoughts flow through my head as I drift off to sleep.
"Welcome to prison, buddy." A man says next to me, all tatted up.
I am in prison after getting charged for assault.
"Not very happy to be here." I say back.
"You'll get used to it. At least you aren't here for life. How long is your sentence anyways?" The man asks me.
"A year since it is my first time and it was a doctor." I reply.
"I killed a dude. He raped my daughter so I beat his ass to death. I didn't want him to have a chance to live, you know?" The man says.
I get chills at the thought of killing someone. I could never see myself killing someone.
"What's your name anyways?" I ask.
"My name is Simon. What about you?" Simon asks me.
"Jayden Armstrong." I say.
"Nice to meet you. Badass last name by the way." Simon says with a few laughs, shaking my hand.
"Uh, thanks. I guess." I say, giving him a laugh back.
"What's the fuckin ruckus? I just wanna sleep." A man says in the corner of the cell.
"This here is Jayden. He is gonna be our cellie for the next year." Simon says.
"Oh, how fucking wonderful. Can we save this little swaray in the mornin? I'm trying to sleep here ." Nate says.
"Nice to meet you too." I say.
"Whatever." He replies, lying over on his bed.
I was about to ask something to Simon, but he shakes his head.
"Don't ask about him. That's the typical Nate for ya. Give him time. He'll come around." Simon says. I nod.
"Alright, well I'm beat. Goodnight, assholes." Simon says, hopping on his bed.
I hop on to my bed, and look up at the ceiling. Prison. How did I get here? I think back to the doctor that got in my way. I wish I never would've done what I did. My little girl is never going to see me again. I'm a no-life embarrassment. I close my eyes hoping to get some sleep.
"Jayden... it's your turn for watch." Kenny says, shaking me awake.
I nod, and get up. I see Katjaa holding Duck close. Kenny lays down in his bed. I walk outside the room and out into the main room. I see a chair and shotgun lying on it. Kenny must've loaded it for us to use. I pick it up, and sit down in the chair.
I hear the white eyed people groaning outside. They are banging on the windows. Those windows are eventually going to crack if we don't board them up. Chances are they will last until the morning.
A few hours have passed since Kenny cane and got me. I watch the moonlight shimmer down onto the streets.
"AHHHHH!" I hear Katjaa screams. I run into the bedroom with my shotgun locked and loaded. I see Duck on top of Katjaa trying to sink his teeth into her neck.
"Get him off me!" Katjaa yells.
Duck is very close to Katjaa's neck. I push Duck off of Katjaa before he could bite her. He falls over and hits the wall hard. Katjaa runs into Kenny's arms, both of them are crying. Duck walks toward me, his eyes completely white.
"Not... yet..." Kenny cries.
I push Duck back against the wall again. Duck is gone! This has to be done now. There's no other way to come back from this.
"Do you want me to... uh... do it?" I ask.
"No... it needs to be me." Kenny says, pulling out his pistol.
I go back against the wall. Kenny aims his gun at Duck. He starts to cry even more.
"I'm sorry, son... I'm sorry Kat... I'm sorry Jesus." He says to himself. He then aims the gun at his head.
"NO!" I scream. I tackle Kenny to the ground. BLAM! The gun goes off. He didn't even fight back. He just laid there on the ground, crying. I grab his pistol.
I push Duck back one more time. I look at Katjaa, who is now consoling Kenny. She nods at me. I aim the pistol at Duck.
"I'm sorry, Duck." I say to Duck. He stares me right in the eyes with his cream white eyes. I see a glimpse of my daughter in his eyes. A tear rolls down my cheek. I wait until the gun is up against his head. BLAM! Duck goes flying back into the wall. Brain matter is splattered everywhere.
"No... no..." Katjaa says crying.
"You fucking bastard!" Kenny screams getting up. He pushes me against the wall. "YOU KILLED HIM! YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM!" Kenny screams at the top of his lungs. He kicks me onto the ground. He starts pounding my face in.
I see Diana looking at me, shaking her head. "You did this to yourself... this is your fault." She says. She fades away.
I feel every hit Kenny applies on my face. Click! I hear. Kenny stops his fist in mid-swing and looks back.
"Stop now, Ken." I hear. It is Katjaa holding a gun to Kenny's head! He backs off of me, then collapses to the ground. He crawls over to Duck and hugs his corpse.
I get up off the ground. My face is definitely cut up and bruised badly after the beating I just got. I look at Kenny, crying and hugging Duck, just mumbling to himself.
"Kenny..." I say, kneeling down beside him. Kenny continues to sob over Duck's lifeless body, his eyes still open. I put my hand on Kenny's back.
"This wasn't suppose to happen... Why isn't he moving, Jayden? Where is my son...?" Kenny sorrowfully asks.
I feel horrible for Kenny. Out of all people I know what it feels like to lose a loved one.
"I know what it feels like to lose your kid. I've been there... I wish I could say it gets better, but all we can do is keep moving forward. It's what Duck would've wanted. He would want us to live." I concernedly say.
"You have a kid...?" Kenny asks, looking over at me.
"I had... a daughter. She... she was taken away from me. I've looked for her for years. Eventually, I just gave up..." I disappointedly say.
"What?" Katjaa asks, shocked of how I gave up.
"I know... but Kenny, you are not a quitter. You are very protective over your family. And right now Katjaa needs you. You need each other. Spend as much time as you can with her before it's too late. I wish I had done so..." I say, looking away.
"You're right. Thanks, Jayden." Kenny says, standing up.
He looks back down at Duck with his arms wrapped around Katjaa from behind.
"I want to burry him. He deserves that." Kenny says.
"We'll handle that in the morning. Let's try and get some sleep. It's been a long day..." I say. Kenny nods.
I walk over to my bed across the room from Kenny and Katjaa. CLANKK! The glass out of the window shatters. The white eyed people start climbing through. CLANK! Another window breaks.
"Holy shit! We gotta go!" I shout, running to Kenny.
"I ain't leaving my boy!" Kenny shouts.
"Go get the truck started. I'll get him." I say, sternly and with command. Kenny looks at the walkers and then back at me, he nods.
"Come on, Kat!" Kenny says, running out the building.
I grab the shotgun off the table and cock it back. The shell comes flying out, it's time. KPOW! KPOW! KPOW! KPOW! I shoot pieces of their heads clean off. I quickly go over to Duck's body and lift him up and over my shoulder, struggling.
I make a run for it, I make it out the building. I put Duck in the tailgate of the truck.
"Kenny, help me get what we can! We can't leave all this stuff here. Not after all we went through to get here." I say.
"Kat, honk the horn if you need us." Kenny says.
We both run back inside. The walkers flood the room. Kenny and I load our guns. KPOW! KPOW! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! KPOW! BLAM! KPOW!
"I gotta reload! Watch my back!" I say. KPOW! KPOW! Click! Click!
"Fuck, I'm out too!" Kenny says. "Shit! Look out!" Kenny yells.
A walker knocks my gun away along with the ammo. It's inches away from biting into my wrist. Another one comes over to me and knocks me back against the wall. A knife pierces through the one's head. Kenny quickly grabs the other one and throws it to the ground. He stands over top of the fallen walker and begins to repeatedly stomp on it's face.
"Thanks for saving me." I say.
"I've lost enough today as it is. I'm sure as hell not losing another. Especially, a good friend." Kenny says. Kenny helps me up onto my feet.
"Let's get those supplies." Kenny says.
We quickly scavenge what we could find. HONK! HONK! HONK!
"Katjaa!" Kenny says.
We both run outside and see walkers surrounding the truck. I pull out my knife and start clearing a path for us along with Ken's help. The first chance Kenny gets he hops into the truck. I jump into the tailgate. Kenny slams down on the gas pedal. We're safe. For now...