Springfield Illinois.
Zombies were everywhere. Like usual. 10K stood upon a car and used his slingshot to take out z's. Warren was with Vasquez to my right fighting back to back. Addy and Doc were on their own. Murphy was cradling his baby. I was in front of the vehicle 10k was on top of. I was using my blades as much as I could to avoid wasting ammo. Murphy threw Lucy, his baby, to Doc over the zombies. Doc ran into a bus but then needed our help. Once we got him out, Doc threw Lucy to Addy who threw her to Warren. These people out here playing hot potato with a damn baby.
With my blades in my hands, I began stabbing the zombies in the head and moving on to the next Abe Lincoln looking zombie. We all took safety from the z's in the woods.
"Hey. Is anybody else worried about the baby?" Doc asked.
"I don't know whether to be worried for that baby or afraid of that baby. You see the way she attracts Zs?" Warren said.
"That baby, and I use the word loosely, is gonna get us all killed," Vasquez said.
"Bro, she's a baby. Relax." Addy said.
"Yeah. A baby sprung from Murphy's loins." Doc said.
"She's not just a baby. She's something else. She could grow up to be the savior of the human race or the queen of destruction. And we need to find out which and do what we got to do." Warren said. Her and Addy left going off to probably find Murphy. I stayed back with Doc and Vasquez. Not long after Warren left Vasquez did too.
"And then there were two," I said. Doc chuckled.
"So, you and 10k" He started.
"Me and 10k" I repeated.
"What's up with that? You guys act like you like each other and then yall don't talk for two weeks." He said.
"I don't know Doc." I sighed. "He's my best friend. Nothing changes that." I said.
"But clearly your feelings have changed." He said. I looked up from my boots that I found very interesting at the moment.
"Doc, we flirt, all the time and smile and laugh, but how am I supposed to know if it's real? I can't control my feelings anymore. It's hard being around him and not saying all the things I want him to hear. I'm trying my best to act casual, but all I can seem to do is get lost with him." I said honestly finally spilling my guts to someone.
"You know kid, the more you hide your feelings, the more you fall in love. You two were meant to be. It's the zombie apocalypse, don't wait too long to tell him you love him though." Doc said. He patted my leg and walked off. I was left alone with my thoughts. Standing up and brushing the dirt off my butt, I set off to find the others.
"Caught some trout," 10k said as he came back to the group.
"Kid, you are a fishing guru," Doc said. "What's your secret?" He asked.
"Be one with the fish," 10k responded. I laughed and he sat down beside me. I passed him my water and he took a sip.
"Far out," Doc said.
"Atta boy" Warren congratulated him. She was at my feet sharpening her blades. She passed the brick to me and I did the same. 10k crouched to my left. My back was leaned up against a tree.
"Well, I got some foil in here somewhere. We're gonna fry one of them bad boys up." Doc said. His voice was distant as I wasn't really paying him much attention.
"Hey, we need to get a look at that baby." Warren lowered her voice.
"Yeah, well good luck. Super Dad over there won't let anybody touch her. I'm guessing he's afraid we're gonna leave her behind. Which isn't something that we're actually considering doing, right?" Addy asked.
"Something tells me she's gonna outlive us all," Warren said.
"Where's Vasquez?" She asked out loud.
"Disappeared again," Doc said after looking around.
"I passed him in the woods. Heading south toward town." 10k said.
"Well, I'm gonna find out where he keeps disappearing to. And you two see if you can't get that baby away from Murphy." She said as she got up.
"Hey 10, let me check your face," I said as I reached out and touched his shoulder. He turned to me and nodded taking a seat in front of me. "Feeling any better?" I asked.
"Yea, it doesn't hurt as much," He said. I nodded and took a piece of cloth out of my bag. I poured water on it and dabbed his almost healed wounds. As I was concentrating on cleaning his cheek I couldn't help but notice him staring at me. My cheeks heated up and I looked down.
"All good here," I said and leaned back against my tree, hoping he would move so he wasn't so close to me. He didn't. Doc and Addy came up with a plan to try and get Lucy. 10k went with them but I chose to stay here and not bother with the baby. I looked around the house the curiosity getting the best of me. There wasn't much around. The house was burnt and black. Some photos with the edges darkened by flame, lots of fallen wood. I reached down and dug through the burnt surroundings. I pulled out a hard rectangle case. It had fire damage but wasn't too much. I sat it on the makeshift table and opened it up. It was a guitar. I brought it back to my tree and played with the strings until I got it tuned.
"Hey kid, you found a guitar!" Doc said excitedly. I nodded and continued to pluck the strings.
"I think we got to go after him. He shouldn't be out there alone. Especially not with the baby." Addy said.
"What about little miss sunshine over there? He told her to stop us." Doc said.
"She can't stop all of us at once, "10k said.
"Well, I dunno. I think we should wait for Warren and Vasquez. They'll be here soon." Doc said.
"Yeah, but we don't even know where they are. And what if something happens to the baby? Or Murphy? He didn't take any food for the baby. Why would he not take food for the baby?" Addy said.
"Oh. He wouldn't do that, would he?" Doc asked.
"We don't know what he's capable of. He's more zombie than he is human." Addy said.
"Well so is that baby," I said.
"Look, there's three of us and one of her. If she tries to stop us, we'll do what we have to do." 10k said.
"What does that mean?" Addy said harshly.
"She's not Cassandra. Not anymore." He looked to Doc.
"I don't know, man. She is getting weirder. And you've seen how strong she is." Doc said.
"She would not hurt us. Not really." Addy defended.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Doc said.
"We all run in different directions. She'll grab one of us, and the other two can go look for Murphy." 10k explained.
"All right. We're doing this." Addy said. We all stood up and faced different directions.
"I hope she doesn't overreact and do something crazy," Doc whispered. We all waited until the time was right.
"Now." Addy whisper-shouted. We each bolted in the directions we chose. She first ran after 10k but deeming him too fast she came after me. She stopped following me and went to someone else. Screams from everyone's favorite redhead could be heard through the air. Shit. I turned around and ran back the way we came. Addy was on the ground. Apparently all of us had the same idea. 10k and Doc were here too.
"Cassandra, stop it!" Doc yelled. "What the hell are you doing?!" Doc yelled. Addy ran to us and I wrapped my arms around her.
"Nobody leaves," Cassandra said in a weird haunting voice.
"I told you. It's not her." 10k said.
"How's the arm?" Doc asked Addy.
"Feeling's starting to come back." She said.
"What are we doing about it? We can't just stay here. Who knows what Murphy's up to." 10k said.
"Could we try talking to her?" Doc asked. Always the civil.
"I don't think she's in a talking mood," Addy said.
"She'll talk to me," 10k said. He laid his knife on the ground and took off his pistol. He then took off his jacket that carried the rest of his weapons. "Get ready to run." He said walking off.
"What the hell is he doing?" Addy asked looking to me. I shrugged my shoulders and tied my boots. Doc did the same with his red converse.
"I don't know. But when somebody tells me to get ready to run, I get ready to run." He said. He walked over to Cassandra and crouched in front of her. He started talking to her and she kept looking at us. 10k looked down at the ground then back to us.
"Go now," I said quickly. We ran away from the scene behind us and weaved between trees. we kept running until we saw a rag on the ground.
"Uh oh Well they've definitely been here all right," Doc said.
"God Okay. All right. Well, where did they go from here?" Addy asked. My stomach turned and I had a bad feeling.
"It's hard to say. I wonder how 10K's doing." Doc asked.
"He's all right. She wouldn't really hurt him." Addy said. A scream sounded throughout the trees.
"I'm going back. Find Murphy." I said taking off not waiting for protests. I ran back to the camp to see 10k laid on the ground with Cassandra over him. I raised my pistol up and aimed at her. Before I pulled the trigger I saw him move her off him. He laid next to her. I tucked my gun back in its holster.
"Tommy!" I yelled. I rushed over to him and slid beside him on my knees. I grabbed his face and looked at his injuries. He pushed me off him and sat up. I looked behind him and saw Cassandra's dead body. He killed her. He did what he had to do. He lifted her body off the ground and silently took her away. I didn't follow. He needed time to mourn.
"Karma Let's go," Warren said as they passed me. I grabbed my sniper and we left. My eyes locked onto 10k. He cleaned the blood off his face. We began walking headed towards the river. Something brushed my hand and I looked down. 10k's hand was close to mine, only our knuckles touching. I smiled a little and grasped his hand. He didn't look at me but he didn't pull away. This was my way of silently letting him know I was here. He doesn't have to talk about it and he doesn't need to.