Southern Illinois
Bailey was looking out the window of the house they'd been bunking in, Addy and Mack were in the front yard finishing up their watch shift. Mack had picked up Addy and was spinning her around as she laughed. For a moment it felt like they could stay here forever, the house was well protected thanks to an electrical fence that ran along the perimeter of the property, there was enough space for all of them and the house held a certain homely charm Bailey thought she'd never feel again. She gave a sigh as she turned away from the window thinking about other feelings that had come to the surface of her thoughts lately. She walked through the kitchen where Garnett and Warren were making coffee, Warren playfully called Garnett honey as they laughed and Bailey couldn't help but feel a strong desire to have that kind of happiness. She tried not to think about it too often but she wanted what Addy and Mack had, she wanted someone to cuddle with at night, she wanted someone to hold hands with when the truck ran out of gas and they had to walk for miles, she wanted someone who could smile at her and brighten her day no matter how many zombies they'd run into. But just like every other time she started feeling this way she shook her head and repeated her own self-given advice, Remember Bailey, the more people you love, the more you let in, the more you have to loose.
She walked into the living room where Doc and Murphy were playing cards and sat down at the table with them opening her notebook and clicking her mechanical pencil and kept writing. She looked over Doc's shoulder to where Cassandra was napping on the couch in the other room and 10K who was sitting in a chair reading Metropolitan magazine. Poor guy, she thought looking back down at her notebook, anyone of the stories she'd written was probably much better than what he was reading in that magazine especially given that the article titles on the cover were 5000 sex tips and How To Tell When He's Lying. Not that she'd ever let him read her notebook, her stories were very personal to her, they were from the deepest part of her imagination and she never shared them with anyone, not even Addy. The only reason she wrote them down at all was because she found it calming, it helped her keep her sanity in a world that had crumpled and fallen to the insane. She looked back over at 10K one more time taking in his features, they'd all had a chance to wash up since they'd found this place and she was surprised at how different 10K looked without the dirt on his face, he seemed younger, more innocent somehow. She shook her head and returned to her writing.
"Friends, I'm talking about mean weather coming in fast." Citizen Z's voice came on cutting off the music that had been playing on the radio. "Some reports of tornados, find shelter and take cover. It's dangerous out there, more so than usual. Now back to the soothing sounds of the apocalypse." He said wrapping up and turning the rock music back on.
"You know after he was so wrong about that chopper, weather man's a pretty good job for that geek." Murphy said as he shuffled the cards making Doc chuckle. Then Addy and Mack came in from their shift ready to switch off after the long night.
"You're up." Mack said.
"All good?" Garnett asked with a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Peaceful night." Addy said with a nod.
"Your stalker said there's a storm front coming in." Warren said leaning on the counter, the corner of Bailey's mouth rose in a smirk when she referred to Citizen Z as Addy's stalker. "How is it out there?"
Addy shrugged, "Cloudy with a chance of zombie."
"Okay you two get some rest." Garnett said and they both smiled.
"You got it." Addy replied not needing to be told twice. The more you have to loose. Bailey repeated in her head as she turned back to her notebook not really in the mood to write so instead she'd been doodling in the margins. Mack followed the red head upstairs as Garnett and Warren went outside to take watch. Bailey let the music on the radio fill her head and take her out of the apocalypse, she let all her guard down as she drifted into her imagination, she was brought out of it though when she heard 10K's boots hit the floor as he took his feet off the coffee table and put down the magazine he'd been reading. Bailey glanced up to see him move to kneel by Cassandra and try to fix the blanket that was falling off her. Try was the key word, as soon as he moved the quilt an inch Cassandra had her knife impaled in the cushion not an inch from his hand.
"The blanket. . . I was just. . ." he stuttered, "Sorry." He finally settled on as he moved back to his chair and picked up the magazine again.
"Scared of that one." Murphy muttered.
"Best not to mess." Doc said looking at his hand of cards.
"You know. . ." Murphy continued, "If we breed those two, it'll be all over for the zombies."
At Murphy's comment 10K looked over to Doc who was chuckling and Bailey slammed her notebook shut, stuffed it into her messenger bag and stormed out into the backyard where there was a small patio area partially shaded by an awning. What's wrong with you? She asked herself, you have to keep it together, nothing else matters but survival, why are you so distracted? Get it together, get it together, get it together –
"Hey, are you okay?" 10K asked from behind her and she turned around startled.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said adjusting the strap of her bag. Neither one said anything else but 10K kept looking at her like he didn't believe her, she could tell by the look in his eyes. The color of his eyes makes it look like he's always deep in thought. Probably from sniping, he's always analyzing his surroundings, but how are his eyes so perfect – GET. AWAY. FROM. HIM. The logical side of her shouted snapping her out of it. Once she realized her odd behavior she turned and headed for the garage at a quick pace, thankfully 10K didn't follow her.
Addy POV
Addy pulled her tank top on while Mack made himself comfortable under the covers in the bed. The red head was just able to catch sight of Bailey out the window as she stormed into the garage by herself, immediately a red flag raised in her mind and she turned to go after her best friend. Mack reached out and grabbed her wrist gently.
"Where are you going?" he asked playfully and she smiled down at him.
"Don't worry, I'll be back for round two." She said, "But I think Bailey needs a best friend right now."
Mack let go of her wrist and held her hand, "Have I ever told you how hot it is that you care so much?"
Her smiled widened, "You can tell me all about it when I get back Lover Boy." She said kissing his hand before letting go and leaving the room. She headed downstairs and passed 10K who was coming back inside from the patio.
"Hey." She said stopping him, "Were you out there talking to Bailey?"
"Yeah." He said hesitantly, "She was acting weird, I just wanted to make sure she was okay."
"Definitely a job for the best friend." Addy said under her breath but 10K still heard her and looked confused. Addy didn't say anything else just made her way out to the garage to find Bailey. It wasn't hard to find her, she was sitting on a lawnmower, one of the nice ones that you could ride, swinging one of her legs back and forth. She was tying knots in a jump rope she'd found and looked deep in thought.
"Hey Bay." Addy said softly, drawing her attention, "You okay?"
"I'm fine." Bailey insisted but Addy could tell something about her was off.
"I ran into 10K on the patio. He wanted to make sure you were okay." She said trying to get to the bottom of whatever was weighing on her friend's mind.
"I told you I'm fine." Bailey said again only now she was making sure to avoid eye contact with Addy. The red head moved closer to her friend until she could lean against the lawnmower, she crossed her arms and waited for Bailey to look at her. Addy had been having sneaky suspicions ever since they left Kentucky about her friends change in demeanor, a change that only seemed to get worse with each day. Bailey had seemed to become more closed off, spending a lot of time deep in thought, not speaking up much and when an answer was needed from her her responses were short and simple. Addy couldn't understand what had caused the change, unless something had happened when they went to rescue Doc and left Bailey alone with 10K. Then a grin broke out on Addy's face.
Bailey POV
"You like 10K don't you?"
"No I don't!" she denied but after the words left her mouth she seemed to know she'd only confirmed Addy's suspicions.
"Bailey –"
"It's nothing." She insisted, "Probably PMS, my hormones are crazy or something, that's all. Give it a week, it'll go away." She shrugged trying to downplay it but Addy only continued smiling, though now it looked more like a mischievous smirk and Bailey worried her friend would try and play matchmaker. "Addy please," she begged, "it's the middle of the apocalypse, I don't need boy drama right now."
Addy's smile dimmed as she bit her lip trying to make it go away, "Okay. . . but you know if you need to talk, about anything, I'm here."
Bailey smiled and hopped off the lawnmower, "I know." She said wrapping her arms around Addy who returned the hug, "Thanks Addy."
They made their way back into the house, Bailey taking the jump rope with her as she kept tying knots. Addy went back upstairs after rubbing Bailey's shoulder reassuringly and Bailey went into the kitchen and sat on the table, keeping away from the others for a while.
But, in true apocalypse fashion, the peace didn't last. Warren and Garnett came running back in not much later, Warren was shouting, "Puppies and kittens! Time to go! Everybody out the back!"
Bailey hopped off the counter as Doc and Murphy dumped everything that had been on the table into Doc's bag. Cassandra dove off the couch as 10K slipped his ammo belt over his head and across his chest turning and grabbing his rifle from behind his chair. Bailey hesitated in the door turning just enough to see Addy and Mack run down the stairs and follow them. Warren was next and Garnett took up the rear. Bailey heard his gunshots as he gave some of the Z's mercy, then he met them in the truck as they took off, 10K sniping a few and adding to his count.
"1,237."
«»
They passed a sign that said 'Welcome to Castle Point' as the weather turned even worse. Bailey hugged her dark yellow leather jacket closer to her more out of nervousness than cold. She wasn't a big fan of unfriendly weather, zombies at least she could fight or outrun, but a tornado not so much. It all made her uneasy, what was worse was 10K kept looking at her like he wanted to make her feel better which had the opposite effect. She wished she could feel the way she did when they were driving through Kentucky, when she and 10K had started to get close over their ridiculous little game. Stupid girlish hormones, she swore in her head.
Warren parked the truck and she and Garnett went over to what looked like an old bulletin board, Bailey wasn't sure why they'd stopped here but she was grateful when 10K stood and stepped up onto the roof to get a better view of what was around them. Cassandra was now the only one in the bed of the truck with her and she seemed to notice Bailey's discomfort as the wind picked up and the sky got worse.
"Hey." She said with her arms crossed as she approached her, "You okay?" she asked and Bailey nodded.
"I just don't like bad weather. Even Pre-Z. Hurricanes, tornados, ya know? The stuff that can kill you no matter how hard you fight or how fast you try to outrun it?"
"Well we're in tornado alley." Cassandra said, "So there should be a shelter or a safe house that we can find." She put her hand on Bailey's shoulder and gave a small smile, "We'll be alright."
Bailey nodded again looking back at the sky. "Does it seem a bit. . . unnatural for a natural disaster to you?"
"Yeah. . . it's so green. I've never seen a sky like that. I've only seen tornados on TV." She said as Doc got out of the vehicle and rested his arm on the side of the truck.
"I don't like tornados. I'm pretty sure they don't like me either." He said, then Warren and Garnett joined them.
"Shelter's this way." Warren said.
"How do you know?" Bailey asked.
"I grew up here. Born and raised. My house isn't far, we can take shelter in the basement."
«»
Warren had a nice house. It was mostly brick and looked sturdy. Bailey looked at the sky again and walked at a quick pace to the front door with the others. They all looked through windows trying to tell if there were Z's inside.
"10K come on." Addy called as Mack started ramming his shoulder into the door. Then Warren pulled a spare key out of its hiding place and unlocked it.
"If he's in there and he's. . ." Garnett began.
"I will not hesitate." Warren said opening the door. They must be talking about her husband, Bailey thought, poor Warren. Then she said a silent prayer that they wouldn't find him here- unless he was alive. Mack went in first followed by Addy and Bailey who all went to check upstairs. From over the rail she saw 10K make his way through the living room with Cassandra following him with her knife ready.
"Upstairs is all good." Addy said when they went back down. Then they heard a muffled coughing coming from the kitchen and Warren drew her gun as Garnett followed her with his hammer. Bailey heard a soft conversation before they returned with a young couple, the man was bleeding from his head pretty badly. They laid him on a loveseat as Doc looked him over.
"We need to get out of here before this storm hits." Murphy said looking out the window where the trees were now whipping back and forth in the violent wind.
"And go where, huh?" Garnett asked.
"What are we supposed to do, just sit here and hope it misses us?" Murphy snapped.
"Go out there and you're likely to get sucked up by it." Bailey said pulling the curtain back as she looked outside.
"The basement is secure." Warren said as Mack and Addy appeared from downstairs.
"And clear of Z's." Mack added.
"We can ride the storm out down there. Let's just gather some supplies before it hits." Warren said calmly, clearly having been through this before.
"Kitchen was pretty well stocked up." 10K said as he and Cassandra returned from scoping out the rest of the house.
"There's water and canned food. No medical supplies, no batteries though." Cassandra added.
"We need to get our communications up." Garnett said turning to 10K and Cassandra, "You two go out in the neighborhood and see what you can find. But don't go far, be sure to get back before the storm hits."
"Janey?" the man with the concussion asked, "What are all these people doing here? My parents will be home for diner any minute."
"Is he going to make it?" Bailey heard Garnett ask from her place between Murphy and Mack. "Is that a serious question?" Doc replied in the same hushed tone, "I don't know. He got cracked on the dome."
"Okay, I for one do not want to be trapped in a basement with this guy when he starts craving brains." Murphy said loudly making the girl – Jane - stand up and look at him with a glare. Bailey had to admit she was impressed, she didn't think the weepy woman had it in her to be menacing. Warren stepped forward and helped calm her down.
"Don't mind him. His mama didn't raise him right."
"Well, if I had the proper meds or a first aid kit. . ." Doc trailed off trying to be helpful.
"You know, the fire station may still have first aid supplies." Warren said as Garnett waved Mack over. He had his rifle in his right hand leaning it on his shoulder.
"Hey, lock up the basement." Garnett instructed, "If that kid turns, I want you to be right on that."
"Yeah, of course." Mack said with a shrug.
"Keep an eye on Murphy." Garnett said turning to Bailey, "We'll be back before the party starts."
After they left Mack, Bailey and Addy started moving supplies into the basement. A roll of thunder cracked shaking the house and Addy dropped the food she was carrying and slammed her back to the wall.
"Addy. Addy!" Mack called from the bottom of the steps where he waited for her but she was spaced out and not responding. Bailey put the cans of food in her hands on the step and moved so she was standing in front of Addy with her hands cupping her face.
"Addy!" Mack called again and she seemed to snap out of it.
"What?" she asked before taking in their concerned faces and pushing past them and continuing downstairs. Mack turned to Bailey looking for an explanation.
"Don't look at me." She said, "I don't know what that was." Then she picked up the food from the step and handed it to him. "I'm going to go check on Murphy."
«»
She found Murphy in the bathroom looking himself over in the mirror, he'd left the door open behind him so she kept herself partially concealed by the frame as she watched him. He'd taken his shirt off and was looking at his bites. She'd never seen them before but she was pretty certain they weren't supposed to be blue. They looked a bit grey too like zombie skin and her eyes widened as Murphy ran a hand through his hair and a chuck came out in his palm. He seemed surprised too, as he dropped the hair and looked closer at his face. He pulled back his eyelids and lips looking deeper at his pupils and teeth, then he noticed Bailey behind him in the mirror. She turned and made her way back down the hall but before she got near the basement door she was slammed into the wall and roughly turned around. Murphy was staring at her with a wild look in his eye.
"You can't say anything." He said desperately.
"Murphy –" she began but he brought a hand to her throat, he didn't press down hard but his actions were clear.
"You can't tell." He said again and she kneed him in the groin before bringing up her left elbow and giving him a good blow to the face. He stumbled back and landed on the ground with a hand to his face.
"Don't touch me again." she warned in a low voice, "Or I swear it will be the last time you have hands." She threatened with her right hand resting on her hatchet strapped to her thigh. Screw what Garnett told her about watching the jerk, she thought as she headed back to the basement. When she threw open the door she saw Mack comforting Addy at the bottom of the steps and knew she must have had another episode.
"Addy," Mack whispered softly, "What is this?"
She paused before answering, "I don't know." She said in a frightened whisper, "I don't know."
"I think I might." Bailey spoke up and they turned to her, she made her way down the steps and took Mack's place beside Addy as Doc called Mack over to help him.
"Go, I've got her." Bailey assured him as she rested an arm around Addy's shoulders. She rubbed up and down her arm in comfort.
"Remember that awful psychology class they made us take in school?" she asked getting a small smile out of her friend, "I never thought I'd need it, but Addy. . . I think you have PTSD." She said softly and the red head looked over to her, "Which is understandable, you've been through a lot –"
"We all have." Addy said, "But no one else is going through this."
Bailey immediately knew where Addy's thoughts were leading her and did her best to shut out the bad, "Addy, this doesn't make you weak." She said sternly, "It just means you're mind is processing things differently than others. Don't fight against it, let it come so you can find out how to work through it." She said and Addy rested her head on Bailey's shoulder. "If you want me to talk I'll talk, if you want me to shut up and listen I'll do that too, and if you need a shoulder to cry on, hey, you've done that for me when I needed it most, if that's what you need then go for it, cry away. You be the judge of what you need and just tell me how I can make it better." She said and heard Addy sniffle before looking up at her.
"Thanks Bay." She said quietly before resting her head on Bailey's shoulder again.
As she sat with Addy she heard Murphy come down the steps. She looked over her shoulder at him intending to glare but was instead shocked to see that he'd cut off all his hair and shaved his beard. He glared at her and she glared back until he passed and went into the basement where Doc was trying to do something to help the guy - Rick – with his concussion. She tried to block out the noise of a drill when she heard it and focused on Addy, made sure her breathing was steady, made sure to rub her arm every few minutes so she knew Bailey was still there, that she was supporting her even in their silence.
Bailey didn't know how much time had gone by when Garnett finally came bounding down the stairs but Warren wasn't with him. She heard him go back and slam against the door begging Warren to open it and come downstairs where it was safe, but Warren never came.