Between Life & Death [Midnight x Fruit]

[Fruit]

 

[Fruit]

Leah Evans​

F

November 5th, 2014. Lakewood, USA.​ A breeze of cold bliss surged through her spine the instant she swallowed the pill. She shuddered on the ground as she hugged herself; her face pink, then blue, then almost purple. Her eyes grew more red-hued with every blink. The world went mute around her except for her heart - Her heartbeats lingered in the air as she twisted and moaned in her place, and then she sunk into deep sleep. Her movement slowly subsided, and her moans morphed into long, restful breaths. She dreamed of butterflies, of birds and squirrels. Of bustling cities and cheerful people, of friends, of family, of her childhood. Then she woke up. Ah for fuck's sake. Someone was shaking her body violently. As if I needed more shaking. "LEAH!" Courtney sounded frantic. She wrestled the corpse for half a minute before Leah regained her consciousness. "What is this?!" Courtney roared in a mixture of anger and confusion. "Give me that!" Leah defensively hissed when she was done processing the situation. "My god, Leah, are you doing drugs now? You're lucky I found you! You could've overdosed!". Yeah, you sure saved my life. "You can't overdose on Rave. Girl, its completely harmless. Please just.. give it back and don't tell anyone." She didn't. Courtney ran outside the room with the box of red pills, and the drugged girl couldn't catch up to her. When Leah got to the living room her stash was already in the fireplace. She fell to her knees as she watched her poison engulfed in flames. "You bitch!" Leah bellowed at her, "Why are you here anyways? Did you just sneak in our house?". She shook her fists in frustration. Drugs were the only thing keeping her sane in this shitfest of a farm. "Your dad sent me to call for you. He's at Falkowski's. Also, just be grateful I'm not telling him about this." Half drugged, Leah wrapped washed her face and went outside. She walked across the farm wrapped in a poncho covering her from the cold winds of November. Beneath the red vale, she wore a white shirt and jeans shorts that exposed most of her legs. She was one of those girls who were impervious to cold from the waist down, but that never stopped her father from scolding her whenever he saw her wearing shorts or skirts during winter time. The sun was setting. In its dying breath, it cast an orange shade across the sky. The winds were calm and gentle; they sent the leaves rustling and the tree branches swaying like a dancer's hips. She walked past The Williams' house. Priest Gavin Williams was the farm's pastor. He held service every Sunday but every other day, he, and his daughters Ashley and Courtney, alongside his wife Samantha, worked the farm. They watered, plowed, and harvested the fields. Leah's father had a habit of sending her there every so often to help with their chores. She had spent many mornings plucking tomatoes and green peppers with that family. Never again. Not after that bitch stole my drugs. She left me nothing.. Where can I find more Rave out here... The Walkers lived in the house neighboring the Williams. Joshua Walker was the community's teacher. He had been a chemistry teacher before the world turned to shit. Leah's father only let him stay in the settlement after he explained he could help educate the kids in elementary science and math. Leah herself never took a class under his tutelage; she had graduated high school before this epidemic started. I wonder if Todd can ask his father if he knew how to make Rave. That was a stupid thought. Aside from schooling the kids, Joshua and his sons, Todd and Steven, often participated in hunting parties Leah's father would organize. His wife Donna Walker ran a small shop in their house in which she'd sell bracelets and hand-sewn dresses for whatever item you have to offer in exchange. Leah smirked when she heard familiar footsteps from behind her. "Why hello sweetheart" she bent down to pet Elvis. A year ago, the kelpi found himself drawn to the farm's lights in a rainy night. Leah had heard his barks from across the farm and had to beg her father to let the dog in for close to an hour. After losing a rigorous debate, her father finally agreed to welcome the dog in only after he'd personally go outside with a flashlight and see if he was healthy from the virus. The residents of the farm were weary of Elvis for weeks. They preferred to keep their distance from him, and even from Leah, till they were convinced he was safe - a learning process that took them close to a month. For them, the notion that someone from outside the farm was safe and healthy was difficult to digest. "That's some good wind, aye Leah?!" Luke Millers waved at her from a distance. She smiled and nodded his way, "Should be enough to keep us all win'er!". He was joking, if they were lucky and the winds persisted all night long, that would be enough to power the farm's electricity through the night. The Millers operated the windmill in the farm. They called it "Heavenly Hope", which Leah thought was a cheesy name. Todd called it Heavenly Dope, she giggled. Most of the power went to lighting, and yet in many windless nights, the residents of the farm would resort to using gas, coal, or lumber as a light and heat source. Due to his knowledge in electronics and machines, Luke also operated the HAM radio which was used to communicate with other settlements in the area. How he powers that thing is beyond me. He'd often get reports of missing people or zombie attacks. Luke's family, his wife Jessica and his sons Kevin and Stewart, were in charge of herding the cattle and taking care of the hens. They supplied milk and eggs, and when they were feeling generous, some beef or chicken. Finally. Leah sighed as she knocked on the door. Little Patrick opened the door for her. "Hi Leah!" the boy cheerfully exclaimed. She bent down to pinch his cheeks lovingly, "Hello handsome! Is my dad inside?" she messed his hair and kissed his forehead. "I'm here, come in Leah. I see you're all winter on top and summer on bottom again". Mark Evans greeted his daughter with a smile as she stepped inside the house with her dog. "Hey babe", Todd kissed her when she sat next to him. "Hi everyone" she greeted the rest of the people in the house; Joshua Walker, Gavin Williams and Maddie Falkowski. Later, Luke Miller joined them. With that, the heads of the five houses were in meeting, alongside Todd and Leah, whom their fathers judged old enough to attend. The mothers felt little interest in attending these meetings. This council was regularly held in Maddie Falkowski's house, particularly because it was quiet enough for the leaders of the community to hold meeting. Patrick promptly went to his room in the attic to let the grown ups talk. Maddie started the meeting with her usual speech. "Welcome everyone. Its nice to see everyone's faces here. I know some of you are dying to go back to your homes, have a nice dinner and sleep" she smiled towards Leah, as if suggesting the girl looked tired and sleepy. I wonder if my dad usually fucks you before or after the meetings. "So for that, I'll try and quickly read the reports. Pastor Williams is asking for volunteers to help take care of his farm. His daughter Ashley is feeling under the weather, and he is thinking of expanding the farm to include lettuce and melons. Now I don't know about you folks but I got bored of tomatoes and green peppers, right?" "Leah can do it" Mark sipped from his water. Fuck. "Can't someone else do it? Farm work is so fucking boring" she protested. Her father told her to watch her language and insisted she does something productive for the community. Yup. As if Maddie here is what's keeping the farm going. All she does is read reports and spread her legs for you. She sighed. "Its okay Leah, I'll help too" Todd offered. "Well. Aside from that, Mrs. Walker is announcing her new collection for the season if anyone is interested in dropping by her shop". Finally! I can't wait to trade in a bottle of scotch for a pebbles bracelet, Leah thought sarcastically. "I got news too" Luke Miller announced "The folks over at Boone reached out this morning. They wanted to speak to the 'leader of the Lakewood settlement'. You weren't around, Mark, so I stepped up. I'm sure you understand. 'Nyways, turns out they were expectin' a shipment of medical supplies and gasoline that was supposed to reach them this morning. It never go there. So they told me it left Pacific City headed towards them. They're offering half their supplies if we agree to help them recover it since its prolly in our territory, as well as two shotguns with twenny shells". "What's stopping us from keeping the loot? The way I see it, we're closer to it than they are". Medical supplies and gasoline were the most expensive, rare, and useful supplies at the time. Settlements could produce their own food and water and could worry less about electricity. But medicine was difficult to procure, and gasoline was even more scarce. "Nothing, Mark. But if we do that then we skip on the arms", Luke answered. "Double the risk too since we'd be doing it ourselves with no information on where the shipment is" Josh observed. The discussion took close to an hour, and at the end it was agreed upon that the best course of action was to dispatch a party to seize the supplies before anyone from Boone showed up. Mark was to go with Luke and his son Kevin. Joshua Walker would be left in charge of the settlement till the party returns. Leah asked to accompany them but her plea was met with refusal. No matter how much she begged, she was told her presence in the farm was necessary. ​

 

[Midnight]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cassandra Knight: Female | Status: Nominal | Autoimmune response: Promising |

​

Cold... why was it always so fucking cold... Cass curled up on her cot in a vain attempt to warm her body, pulling her knees to her chest and squeezing her eyes shut trying to fall asleep. She couldn't remember the last time she slept... honestly she couldn't even remember how long it had been since she woken up in the tiny cell that had become her home whether she liked it or not. Slowly she sat upright in her little cot and examined her "room". The Cells as far as she knew were all this tiny, one toilet, one meager little cot, no TV, no heater, not even a fucking pillow.

The walls were made of grimy metal and the floor was concrete, with only a drain in the center of the cell to channel away any fluids should one of the captors commit suicide or... turn... The hallway outside was also lined with doors just like her own, a whole network of prisoners stuck in the exact same shitty situation as she was... well... or at least she assumed. She sat up fully and pressed her ear to the wall, listening carefully. She had two neighbors, one male and one female. The man in the room on the other side of the wall opposite to her bed was a fighter, and had gone quiet what she assumed to be days ago - more concerning however was her neighbor on the other side, a girl... she sounded like she couldn't have been older than eighteen by her screaming and crying, begging for her family. The crying had also stopped, maybe last night... Cassandra leaned on the wall and gently tapped her knuckles on it three times. No response... her heart began to sink into her stomach... she was gone too, more importantly that means it wouldn't be long before they came after her again.

She had no idea why they had taken her in the first place, but either way it was all her fault. She had gotten foolish, desperate, and decided to trust people who claimed to want to protect and feed her. They seemed nice at first, and the food was better than the junk food she had looted from vending machines, but then came the ether and the sedatives and now because of that foolishness she had been locked in this cell for god knows how long. Maybe they were keeping her for when the shamblers outside all vanished, protecting her in this twisted way, or maybe she was just a prisoner of some cult. Ever since the outbreak people had all gone insane... there was no telling why. What she did know was that she was not alone.

She figured she was somewhere underground, not once had she seen a window in this place in any of the times they had dragged her out of her cell, the rest of the building was almost like a creepy hospital, people with guns in black fatigues or dirty hazmat suits always dragging her through the hallway. In the first couple of days she had fought too, but even now she was running out of hope, of patience. Her time here had taken a toll on her, too, maybe that was their intent... 'as if living out there wasn't hard enough' her thoughts turned dark as she lifted her hands, looking at her naked arms, at the pockmarks from needles and the tiny scars from scalpel cuts. She lifted her hands and ran them through her hair - the only tell she had for long long she had been there was how long her hair had grown since they took her. She probably looked like a mess; her captors considered hosing her off sufficient to keep her clean, so her hair was dirty and unkept and her clothing was in tatters. She had once been wearing a pair of relatively nice black jeans on her lower body, a halter top covering her upper body and of course a nice jacket and shoes. She had no idea where her jacket and shoes had gone, and her clothing was torn and had more holes than even she would like and she didn't even want to guess how much weight she had lost.

She tried to lie down again, but was distracted by another sudden sound that made her heart leap from her gut to her throat, the telltale sound of her door being unlocked. The girl's eyes immediately went wide and she sat bolt-upright as the heavy door flew open, revealing a heavily-armored body on the other side. He looked like he was wearing gear meant for wrestling rabid dogs and of course had in his right hand the implement of torment that they had been using to shock her and her fellow prisoners into submission. The man took one step forward and time seemed to slow. Cassandra hardened herself and gathered her legs underneath her, when he took another step towards her she lunged.

By this point even she wasn't certain if she was lunging at him or trying to get around him, both of them seemed hopeless, as sleep-deprived and weak as she was. Either way it was a useless gesture, only greeted by laughter from the person inside the suit as a strong arm wrapped around her neck, in one moment cutting off her wind supply before that way too familiar sensations of dual-pinpricks followed by surging pain as he stabbed her in the neck with his shock-stick. In that instant it was like her hole body turned to rubber, falling and hitting the floor hard while two others in white hazmat suits scurried into the cell, binding her arms in front of her crossed over her chest and lifting her onto the gurney. In this state she couldn't think clearly much less hear what they were saying, but she could hear the person in the suit laughing. "You think they would learn to just stay still the first time" and one of the people in the hazmat suits scolding him before the second brought in the needle and jabbed it into the sensitive flesh of her neck, injecting her with whatever they used to keep her from moving during their tests.

What followed after was almost a montage, flickering in and out of consciousness and the voices of the people around her muted warbles of sound her brain could not understand, only as the sedatives begin to wear out could she hear talk about infection and the states of her and other prisoners. The faceless visage of one of the hazmats hovered over her and a light that was far-too bright hovered over that faceless visage, blinding the poor girl now strapped to the operating table. She came to just in time for him to pry her eyelids open and hold an even brighter light directly before hearing him call for some more sedatives while another went to go retrieve them. Still woozy and weak. Cassandra lifted her head to see two more men in black at the door, guards, and again in time for the second needle to near her. The second pinprick didn't come though, as everything went into chaos. The disturbance was as sudden as it could be, all four people in the room suddenly jerking their vision up and out as sharp cracks, almost like fireworks could be heard, then the floor rocked violently enough to send the tray of instruments sailing to the floor along with that syringe, her body jerking in time with the shockwave. Immediately the two men with guns were out the door, followed by one of the hazmats. The one who had been looking after her hesitated before running out, then all she could hear was the sound of distant gunshots and shouting from deeper in the facility as slowly pulled on her binds, left alone in a sterile room.

"The fuuck" Her vision was still swimming and her body was still numb and cold, but she slowly sat up on the table... 'wait... what?' She looked down at her arms and then at the door. The door was sealed firmly shut but she was not tied down heavily at all and a couple of firm wriggles after she was free of the table and with a drugged cry her body hit the cold floor. Surrounding her were the instruments that they had been using to poke and prod at her, some still covered in her own blood and of course that large syringe lying where it had been dropped. Free of her bonds she reached out and grabbed it, struggling to her feet and reaching down when her eyes noticed another peculiarity. Where the first Hazmat had been standing was a card, a keycard. She did not second-guess her lucky and quickly snatched it up, wobbling to the door and slashing the card, watching the door open and slipping out, following the wall around from the sounds of battle further inside. The place did look like a creepy hospital, the walls were all clean and at least this area seemed totally abandoned. Still recovering from the sedatives, the young woman struggled her way down the hall, seeking anything that resembled an exit and only pausing to the nausea and dizziness.

 

[Fruit]

Leah Evans​

F

November 6th, 2014. Lakewood, USA.​ That fucking bitch. It took Leah an entire night to comprehend her calamity. While watching her treasured stash erupt in flames filled her with rage, she had been too drugged to make sense of her dire situation. It was only at the break of dawn when Leah managed to wrap her head around the severity of that problem. She was addicted to those red pills, she needed them, and she could only deny it for so long before she found herself looking for pills under her bed and between the cushions on the couch. That bitch... She flipped her mattress upside down and flung the couch cushions to the other side of the room. She looked under the carpets, peaked beneath the bed, and searched around the fireplace for any lucky survivors. Nothing. She found nothing. I wasn't harming anyone. Those pills made her feel happy. They made her forget that she lived in a small farm surrounded by hordes of zombies that grow larger everyday and evolve stronger every few months. Without the drug dipping her consciousness in pure happiness, her brain was free to contemplate on her sorrows and pains. Her father had set out that morning leaving her the entire cottage to herself. Hopefully they'll find the loot before the sunsets. Her nails brushed her hair as the thought of losing her father crossed her mind for a second like a passing cloud proclaiming darkness. Leah took a deep breath and went outside to clear her mind. It only six in the morning. The sun was still shyly peering behind a veil of clouds like a bashful virgin hiding beneath the bed sheets. Only babies and Starbucks employees are awake now, she joked to herself as she walked across the farm. There was dew on the grass from the rain last night. Hopefully the rain stopped before dad left today. He must have left at four in the morning, when sunlight was nothing more than a thin strip of light in the horizon. He took the F-150, she noted from looking at the garage. There were normally three cars there; a white 2010 Ford F-150, a brown 2005 Chevy Trailblazer, and a blue 1998 Jeep Cherokee. Not exactly an arsenal of vehicles, but it sufficed for most hunting trips their community needed. With how scarce gas was, these cars barely saw action regardless. The rooster behind the Millers' house crowed like a war siren. It roared three times before it solemnly stopped. The houses remained dark and silent as a grave. Only Elvis, who had been sleeping near the gate, barked at her and went back to sleep. The morning mist surrounded Leah in her stroll; she walked along the row of houses staring at dark windows and closed doors. When she reached the Walker's house, she ran into her boyfriend. "Did he wake you up too?" Todd asked. Leah giggled, "I don't know how you can sleep with that thing just a few feet away!" They hugged. He sniffed her hair as he whispered "I don't. Sometimes he crows at midnight. I wonder if he's high or something". He made her giggle again, and they kissed. "Um, morning breath!", he teased as soon as they broke the kiss. "Sorry! I didn't eat anything yet!" Todd went back inside his house and returned with an apple for her. They strolled the farm together holding hands and talking. When she told him what happened to her Rave, he sighed. "I don't think she'll tell on you. She wouldn't have burned her only proof if she wanted to tell your dad" he squeezed her hand. "But like.. I don't have any left, Todd. You don't know how that makes me feel". She spent the next five minutes whining to him while he attentively listened and tried his best to calm her down. "Do you think that shipment will have some Rave pills? I think some hospitals use them as anesthetics". It was wishful thinking from her part, as using Rave was generally considered unethical due to how addictive the drug was. In that kind of economy, however, it wouldn't be a shock to see a doctor resort to the red pills if no other alternative presented itself. "I don't know, babe. I don't think your dad will bring you drugs anyways". True... "What if I just follow him? I could get my hands on some pills and bring them back". "You're kidding, right?". When she shook her head with a sly smile, Todd stopped to list off the dangers of her plan. "What about zombies? Other people? What if you get lost, or run low on gas? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?". Leah took a deep breath and started calmly explaining, "They went to Boone. That's just east of here, I saw it on the map. If I just drive towards the sunrise, I should find them. Its very hard to miss a loud Truck. They only left two hours ago.. I bet I could catch them before they even find the thing" she sighed, "I'm sorry honey. I.. really.. really.. could use a pill right now. I just have to go. This could be my only chance, like.. ever..". Todd could only put up an argument for a few minutes before he succumbed to her wishes. His only condition was that he goes with her, which Leah hesitantly accepted. She was the drug user, it wasn't exactly fair to put him in danger but she couldn't stop him from following her if she'd tried. They met up at the garage half an hour later. Leah got the car keys from her father's bedroom. The doors had been locked but she managed to pick the locks open; one of the many skills she learned with her free time in the farm. Todd helped her siphon the gas out of the Chevy and put it into the Jeep just to make sure they had as much gas as they need. "Here goes nothing" her boyfriend whispered before he tried switching the car on. It groaned for a few seconds then roared alive. "Yes!" Leah cheerfully exclaimed as she opened the front gate for the car, then closed it behind them and hopped in the car. "Do we have food?" "Some canned food. Potato chips. Water... What about tools?" "Ahh.. a flashlight.. rope, binoculars, a baseball bat.. and.. yeah, an army knife" "Compass?" "Oh yeah, that too" They drove towards the sun in the horizon, between trees and bushes, chatting and eating chips. "There shouldn't be any zombies this early in the morning" Todd said, but that was a weak claim at best. While its true that the stronger, more vicious types of zombies roamed the forest at night with their packs devouring humans and animals alike, the ones that wandered the forest in the morning were by no means feeble. Todd's words were meant to reassure Leah that they were going to be alright, rather than strictly guarantee that their trip was a walk in the park. The road twisted to the right and left like a snake. They passed by swamps and lakes, dead corpses, and exotic plants Leah had never seen before. Ever since her father brought her to the farm, she had only left the establishment a handful of times. All of which were with hunting parties around the neighboring area. This time she was driving further out into the forest; this time she finally got to see the world after it died. Hills and mountains of corpses made the atmosphere, their stench forcing the couple to cover their mouths and noses despite the windows being rolled up. "Its raining" she announced when she saw the drops of water landing on the windshield. The further they drove, the more it started to rain, as if the forest was trying to push them back where they came from. The rain intensified and started to clog on the windshield obscuring Todd's vision. WHACK! Something smacked the door behind Leah. "What WAS that?" She asked frantically, oh god oh god.., Todd answered by speeding up. "Is it a zombie?" she asked again clearly panicking. WHAACK! This time it slapped the car from Todd's side, shaking the Jeep to its core. At that time the sky was raining so heavily, Todd didn't know where he was going. Rain ran down the windshield like a waterfall, but it had mud, maggots and leaves trailing down with it. The winds shook the car, the uneven ground sent it jumping up and down like an angry washing machine. But Todd drove on towards the small dot that he could only guess was the sun. When the third WHACK! hit the bumper, the couple screamed as their vehicle descended bumper-first into water. ​

 

[Midnight]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cassandra Knight: Female | Status: Escaped | Pursuit teams searching. |

​

Cass kept going, despite with every step her legs feeling more and more like rubber, it seemed that the sounds were getting closer and closer despite her best efforts to move in the opposite directions, the gunshots, the screams... Shit, those weren't normal screams either, they were the screams of people being eaten. In a sane world, one shouldn't be able to recognize that sound but a world where the dead walk, or run, and eat the living was certainly not a sane one. Cassandra had been more or less at ground zero on what she called "Z-day" When Zombies all of a sudden showed up in the city and began to eat people. No one liked calling them Zombies sure, but any hunk of rotting flesh wandering around eating people was a zombie in her book, didnt need a college degree for that. She had snuck into enough movies to know how to deal with that at least, one of the reasons she figured she wasn't out there shambling about herself.

She spared no more thoughts, as the sedatives wore off she was even able to run faster with less risk of falling over and braining herself on the wall, the sounds of her own footfalls and heartbeats soon drowning out the sounds as she ran through, the beginnings of a panic beginning to seep its way into her mind. She moved quickly, only pausing to hide long enough for a pair of soldiers to barrel through the hallway in the opposite direction, towards what she could only assume was sheer carnage, catching a sign that pointed to stairs, which she tackled with gusto. It was only a matter of time before those men in hazmat suits came back and found her missing or without a monster eating her face, and she figured they wouldn't take too kindly to an escapee.

'Oh please be underground, oh please" She hoped the old cliche of underground prisons and labs to be true, heading up... Several flights up deciding that if she was in a building and emerged several stories up she would jump, better than being recaptured. 'Shit shit shit' Fortunately that wasn't the case. She managed reached the tops of the stairs and ducked by a series of empty barracks, not even bothering to think that there might be guns or helpful tools inside; her mind entirely focused on escape. By this point the alarms were stilled and the gunshots had stopped, whatever disturbance had allowed her to escape.

The voices were coming her way. She swiped her stolen card by the door and almost cried out in joy as the cursed thing hissed and swung open, greeting her with the almost unpleasantly cold air outside for her do duck into. She jammed that card into her pocket as unsurprisingly that shrill alarm began AGAIN this time dragging all the attention to her.

Still this was as far as she had ever gotten and she was not going to give up any time soon. Cassandra was now outside for all that implied. It was raining, as always and the cold rain actually felt good on her parched skin. Her eyes frantically looked around, taking in her surroundings as best as she could in the dark. The sun was just barely beginning to come up, the night finally over, and there was enough illumination for her to see where she was. The bunker was more or less a concrete wall with a door built into it in the side of a hill, and the courtyard she was in was filled with debris, trash and detritus that made the place look like it used to be a dump or maybe a scrapyard or something. Along the fence to the side closer to her was the ruins of some sort of car and a huge pile of trash which the girl could smell from where she stood.

She went towards it. Cassandra hurriedly ran to one of the fences bordering the zone, the closest one she could find to the door. It was tall, maybe twelve feet tall and of course topped with the obligatory nasty roll of razor-wire. Upon seeing this her eyes went wide and she cursed loudly, grabbing at the chain links and briefly shaking the fence. "Fuck!" They had to have barbed wire, they always did, but at least it wasn't electrified. She turned her eyes further down into the yard and began to search for an easier way out when she heard a sound that made her entire being go icy cold and eyes go wide, she heard it despite the pouring rain.

Barking. Angry barking coming right her way. Cass had never liked dogs, in fact she had never once had a good encounter with them... Her parents had hated them even before she was kicked out onto the streets and got the oh-so pleasant dealing with vicious strays and of course guard dogs, some of the scars on her right leg she got thanks to the latter. They sounded like guard dogs, like animals prodded by humans to be even more aggressive than usual, but at least they didn't sound... wrong... like the dogs that had been consumed by the infection.

Her heart leapt up into her throat and she made a split second decision. She could practically hear their claws on the tile inside the facility and her body, having recovered from the sedatives finally received for the second time in the day a massive boost of adrenaline. With a grunt of effort the terrified girl grabbed a large piece of soaked cardboard off the ground, likely the remnants of a once proud box and threw it over the fence. She leapt up onto the wreck of the car by the fence and adjusted it, jumping up and grabbing onto the fence and with her fingers and toes, ignoring the pain as the thin metal began to cut into her fingers and began to climb.

The dogs tore out of the bunker just as Cassandra reached the peak of the fence, giving her a little extra motivation to roll over the soft cardboard and take the sheet of wet material with her as she cleared the barbed wire. Well most of it. A scream of pain tore from her as pain lanced up her right leg and then another one as her body hit the ground all the way on the other side of the fence, knocking the wind out of her. For a moment the entire world was spinning and the sounds of human shouts and baying dogs blended into one horrifying sound. Even though she was still dazed, she quickly got to her feet and rolled away from the fence as what had to be six or seven hundred pounds of doberman plowed into the other side and visibly bent the links toward her, threatening to tear a hole in the damn thing, panic and terror guiding her and conveniently forgetting that there may be undead nearby as she struggled to her feet and ran as fast as she could into the woods, towards the city in the distance.

 

[Fruit]

Leah Evans​

F

November 6th, 2014. Lakewood, USA.​ She found herself facing an old, rotten tree with moss grown around it like sea around an island. It's dark and silent shade engulfed her in a world of solace; nothing to see nor hear. When she moved her hand over the bark, she could feel its warmth beneath her touch. It pulses, she thought in confusion. She rubbed it fondly, and the warmth grew stronger. "Leah.." the tree whispered through its leaves, and Leah's heart leaped to her throat. Mom, her legs quivered when she recognized the voice, and before she could say a thing, the leaves started raining down on her. The world quickly became colder, light shone from every angle, and soon she found herself facing a leafless tree in a bright day. The winds hit her from every side, "Mom!" she pounded on the cold wood, "MOM!" she yelled as tears fell down her cheeks. "Please answer me!", now she realized she had been naked the entire time. The last time she smacked the tree, a splinter gave her a cut on the palm of her hand, and she woke up. When her eyes fluttered open, she saw Todd patting her cheeks and rocking her. "Thank fuck you're alive, Leah". The sun was setting down. It had stopped raining but the mist lingered in the air. They were sitting on a riverbank, and their car was turned upside down and stuck in-between two enormous rocks in the middle of the river. "Babe, we have to move. The sun is coming down and we're trapped in the middle of the forest". He was right, but it was obvious he didn't know where to go. She had blood moving down the side of her head, and when Todd stood up and started limping, she noticed his jeans were soaked with blood near his right knee. "Do we have any of the tools? Food?" she barely managed to mutter, and only managed a sigh when Todd explained to her what he managed to retrieve from the car. "A knife and flashlight". That's it. his words echoed in her brain for a while as she started looking around. "Well, we were on course when we drove into the river. We should just continue our way.." she explained. Her boyfriend chimed in with more good news, "We don't know if we hit this side of the river or the opposite side. I tried looking around for any skid marks to know where we crashed but I couldn't find anything". Leah exhaled loudly, "Well, lets go this way. We're either back on course or we're returning to the farm". They traversed the foggy forest. The rain turned the soil into mud covered by leaves and branches. That made the only sounds in the vicinity; foots stepping on mud and breaking branches. There wasn't a bird's tweet nor a squirrel's chirp to be heard, only their footsteps and breaths lingering in the air. Todd was limping and biting on his lips, while Leah was shivering and frantically snapping to her right and left whenever she thought she heard something. "Do you think we'll run into any of them?" Leah asked, and her boyfriend shook his head and rejected her speculation. "They can smell blood, you know". Why am I saying this? How is this helping us? That was true enough, some zombies can sniff out blood within half a mile radius, or so her father had told her. "They don't smell good enough when its raining. The water throws them off. Lets just hope we get there as soon as possible". He didn't specify where there was. Even Leah didn't expect him to. They were taking a shot in the dark by walking there to only God knows where. And she had only herself to blame for that. It was her own addiction that got her in this mess, and she even dragged out Todd to die with her in this damned forest. She shuddered in disgust at her own weakness. I'm nothing but a slave to a red pill. A red pill was somehow worth dying for. The more that thought churned in her brain, the more she found herself thinking of Rave. She bit her lips as she imagined taking a pill, losing herself in a blissful heaven, but the thought only made her crave the drug even more. "What was that?!" Todd's voice cut her trail of thoughts making her snap back to reality. She flicked on her flashlight to where he was pointing, and a pair of red eyes stared back at her. The monster was around her height, black as burned wood, with two massive hands like boat rowers. It has no mouth. It wasn't difficult for Leah to know that this thing had been a person before. It walked like a person. Stared at them like a person. But it also stared at them as if they were his to devour. "RUUN!!" Somehow, Todd found it in his heart to run like a deer being chased by a tiger. They ran and ran and ran. Her face must have hit twenty branches along the way, leaving a brand of blood on every tree they passed. The zombie was chasing them relentlessly but it wasn't nearly fast enough to catch them. It was like a man trying to catch a car, but the more they ran, the more red eyes emerged from the shadows and gave chase. At one point, Leah saw four monsters on their trail. How can they eat us if they don't have mouths?. She wasn't keen to find out. After running for what seemed like fifteen minutes, they were finally far from the zombies. "I think.. humph.. humph.. we lost them". The couple were panting frantically. Leah could feel her legs growing stiff and her sweat mixing with her blood and making her scars burn with pain. Todd's leg went numb as it started gushing out blood. "I thought your legs hurt!", she whispered to him between her pants, "Leg.. just one leg". They hugged and caught their breath, then Leah noticed the lights in the horizon. ​

 

[Midnight]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cassandra Knight: Female | Status: Escaped | Pursuit teams searching. |

​

So far so good, well at least it seemed as good as it was going to get; she was out of that hellhole, and the dogs seemed to have been called off, quite possibly to avoid their frantic barking alerting the infected to their presence... In time all she could hear was the rain and her breathing, feeling the cool water on her skin and the chill slowly settling in on her barely half-dressed form. She had been lucky, of this she was certain, she didnt know if the infected had any reason to be outside the city at night, but she was at least aware that the zombies got much more active after dark, it was at nights that she lost the most of her friends and allies after all, and had some of the most horrifying experiences of her life.

But, for now she didn't smell carrion, or hear their rasping moans, or even see their staggering, slow bodies moving between the trees as much as her exhausted mind tried to convince her she did. As she approached the city her footfalls slowed and she paused to allow herself to catch her breath. This close to the city's limits the trees and hills were becoming more sporadic, a gradual but increasing downslope that revealed steadily the lush and dark expanse of trees being steadily broken by lines of buildings and streets. Before everything had fallen apart, this place would have a wonderful view of the sprawling city, its glistening lights and glass spire, but no, right now the city in which she lived was as much a living corpse as the monsters that roamed the countless crisscrossing streets. Cass couldnt help but grimace at the thought.

From her position she could see pretty far through the haze of rain, to the lights still glistening from fires that never seemed to stop burning and of course a few lights that were on in buildings. Those buildings were to be avoided, either overrun with the undead, traps, or survivors stupid or ballsy enough to leave lights on at night. She could see more of these in the city's heart, as well as the glow from either fires or places where electricity hadn't stopped flowing fanning out from the dark heart of the City, street lights and old buildings. Certainly less lights than she had last seen last time she had been this far from the city.

Shit, how long had she been down there? The people of Pacific City were resilient, even in the face of the Apocalypse, but even Cass didn't know how many were left after she had been gone so long. She didn't have long to ponder this thought before she resolved to press on; she was cold and tired, but relative safety was only a couple crossings ahead of her. She began to very carefully pad her way down the hill, trying to avoid muddy patches in the wet grass that might send her screaming and spilling down the rather sharp incline that lead to the barrier of streets and freeways that separated her from the city limits.

She grew closer and closer, reaching the bottom of the hill and finally in sight of a few of the buildings, now approaching the backyards of small industrial yard. The warehouses and other buildings this close to the treeline were all abandoned, and the infected had probably already moved in closer to the city, or at least she hoped warehouses didnt stand out in her mind as perfect holdouts, this thought unfortunately didn't last long as she almost reached the first fence. Almost instinctual panic rose in her as soon as the movement caught her eye. Further down the hill, almost between herself and her objective she could see the movement that made her drop to a lower stance, one that made her eyes go wide and heart still. Two figures made her almost instinctively crouch, then breathe a sigh of relief followed by a stifle gasp once she figured out exactly what they were.

Two Deer were by the fence to the yard, and one was eating the other. Once again, she had gotten lucky as the standing cervine had its head buried in the guts of the fallen buck, shredded flesh scattered about the wet grass. The standing deer was clearly infected, bulging muscles were exposed in his legs and his flesh had been peeled from the majority of his skull, giving off a nightmarish appearance. Busy eating the creature was both a potential threat and a grim reminder that no living thing seemed to be immune to the virus.

It hadn't noticed her, but that didn't stop her pulse from increasing to a hammering race as she finally descended to the fence and began to climb. Making it over before the thing lifted its rotting head up to listen for more prey, and she was in the yard before it could detect her. In previously inhabited areas the challenges were different than out in the woods, her eyes had adjusted to the dark as well as they could, but there was always the threat of impaling her feet on rusty metal or more barbed wire, because it was pitch black. Cass knew now it was important to keep low, while the zombies she had encountered were usually slow and dumb she wasn't going to take any chances, she quickly approached one of the smaller buildings in the yard felt her way around the wall and breathed a sigh of relief finding that not only were none of the important windows broken, but the door wasn't even locked! She crept inside the building and with patience and speed scouted the interior for supplies. The building was small but looked secure, perhaps a storage unit of some kind before Z-day, the lock on the door even still worked!

Once she was out of the rain and inside a set of walls, the adrenaline of her flight began to wear off and the all-too familiar sensations of exhaustion and pain began to creep up on her. The inside of the shack was practically barren, only a few lengths of metal and large wooden crates littered the floor, each of which the young woman crept up to and checked for potential threats and supplies, almost cheering she she found several sheets of soaked cardboard in one and a rag in another. She had made it to the outer limits of the city, and found shelter for what remained of the night, giving her time to rest and recover, to check her wounds and rest her wary feet... some shoes would be nice, but it was unlikely she would find any until she got further in. In the meantime though Cassandra limped over to the far wall and slid to a sitting position, tying the rag around her injured leg as a makeshift bandage and trying to get some rest. Resting in the corner of the room she grabbed the sheet of cardboard and tried to wrap it around her form the best she could to both hide herself and in a vain attempt to shield herself from the cold long enough to fell into a restless sleep.

"If I can wait until dawn my chances to get further in are better" she whispered to herself, mostly to reassure herself that she might be able to get to her little hideout intact. Still, this was in the middle of the city's heart, and traveling would only get more and more treacherous once she crossed the first freeway of Pacific City's Sprawl.

 

[Fruit]

Leah Evans​

F

November 6th, 2014. Lakewood, USA.​ "That's not Boone!" Todd declared amidst their pants. He's not lying, Leah thought as her eyes studied the looming city. "That.. is Pacific City" she told him as she took a step closer to the lights. The winds grew fiercer, her breath subsided and she contemplated on the best course of action. "Lets go in" she proposed as licked her dry lips and tasted blood. "Are you crazy? Listen, babe, we have no business here. We were supposed to go to Boone and meet up with your father.." Todd urged. You sound just like him.. she thought as her boyfriend started listing off reasons why they should never set foot in that cursed city. "East.." she mumbled, deaf to what Todd was saying from behind her, we were supposed to drive east.. how the fuck did we end up here? She was deep in thought as she walked towards the city. "I wonder if.." she whispered to herself as she climbed past a big rock and moved towards the lights. "LEAH! Come back!", her boyfriend hissed at her but she continued walking like a child drawn to a candy store. Todd managed to catch up to his mesmerized girlfriend and proceeded to talk some sense into her. "Babe.. babe.. we're both hurt and bleeding. The city is filled with zombies. This is where the epidemic started, 'member? Its suuuper dangerous.. we can't just walk in there, we can't". He had his hands on her shoulders the whole speech. She nodded in agreement, "We are hurt. Which is why we shouldn't walk back into the forest. God knows where we could end up.. at least we can hide in the city, and we might find something to eat there. Besides, its raining.. lets go". She was right. At stupid as it intuitively seemed to just walk into the most plagued city in the state, it was even more dangerous to flee back into the forest this late at night. There were bound to be survivors in Pacific City, and the lights in the horizon only testified to that. Yet there was something about Leah's eagerness to limp into the city which, even from that distance, reeked of death that made Todd uneasy. Within the hour the couple were strolling in the easternmost part of the city where they grew up. They made their way down Huron St. to Baker St., then turned left at the intersection towards Carpenter Rd. They winded up walking along the harbor in the industrial part of the city, and all sorts of memories flooded Leah's mind like a swarm of bees fighting for passage to the nest. She remembered her mother taking her to the harbor every weekend. There was a frozen yogurt store over there she reminisced fondly, I used to get the caramel flavored one. Mom liked the purple one.. raspberry, I think. She knew Todd was on his own trip down memory lane as well. They didn't talk; they walked silently as ghosts as they each played different film reels in their heads. They passed by The Landing shopping mall which her family used to frequent on the weekends. The place looked more a cemetery than a shopping center; all of its windows were shattered and the walls looked as though they were burned to a crisp. Then again, most of the city looked dark and seared. It was as if a volcano had erupted and engulfed the entire city in lava and smoke. This city is dead she hugged herself in conciliation. Todd noticed his girlfriend's desolateness that mimicked the very city they were in, and reached over to hug her close to him as they walked beneath the showers. "How's your leg?", she broke the silence. There was no longer left a trail of blood behind them, That's good. We don't need them sniffing after us the moment it stops raining. There was no telling which of these buildings housed zombies or how many zombies there were in that part of the city. Something told Leah every building had at least 50 zombies in them, but that was an frightening hypothesis she didn't wish to entertain. "Its better now that I don't feel the scar. A bit stiff but I think I can walk. Lets just find a place to rest". She nodded in agreement and as they turned on Oakdale Dr. the sky turned from sobbing to weeping. "I used to go to a school that was a mile down this road. I think we can spend the night there", and again Leah nodded in consent. They walked for five minutes before Leah noticed them. "TODD!" The monsters were twice as tall as Todd was. Their shapes resembled the ones that were in the forest, only taller and with longer hands. One of he four monsters had no head, and one of them was limping on one leg. Their long hands ended with sharp blade-like attachments that glistened under the moonlight. If they hadn't smelled the couple they definitely heard Leah's cries. One of the monster's, the tallest one, roared so loud that Leah had to cover her ears lest they'd pop, and bat-like shrieks answered the war cry from every alley around them. The couple bolted, as fast as their injured legs allowed, and the infected gave chase. Whenever they passed by an alley a new monster would emerge from its darkness and join the horde of pursuers. By the time they got to Dillard Blvd. they had ten zombies on their heels. "The road's blocked!". There was an 18 wheeler that had turned over and blocked the entire intersection. "Quick, come here!" she replied to her boyfriend. They walked into an industrial zone and quickly closed the fence door behind them and locked it. The zombies shoved themselves against the fence, squeezing their bladed hands through the holes trying to reach for flesh. "Do you think it'll hold?" The swarm was growing in numbers rapidly as they rammed the door. "I ain't staying to find out!" They ran inside the complex and when they were about to enter one of the buildings they heard the fence door fall slam into the ground. Oooh boy. Once inside the building they locked the door behind them and blocked it with a desk. Todd found a chain which he tied around the door handles. "That ought-a do it" he said, panting and falling to his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. It was a dark, damp building but there was a room down the corridor that seemed to have moonlight coming from one of the windows near the ceiling. "Look.. she's not infected" Leah whispered into her boyfriend's ears as she tugged on his jacket to grab his attention. There was a woman lying on the floor, and while she was injured, she didn't appear to have any visible bite marks. "I don't think she has a weapon", Todd examined, "Lets take turns sleeping and keep an eye on her. Don't be afraid to use your knife if she pulls some shady shit. You sleep first, I'll wake you up in four hours". And in three hours, Leah woke up to the sound of her boyfriend snoring. He slept with his head resting on her right shoulder. What the fuck have dragged us into? She took a deep sigh as she watched the stars from the window. We need to go back to the farm, I'm not gonna find any pills around here. Gahh, Dad's gonna be furious.. I wonder if we could walk back the way we came from, she started caressing Todd's hair. He doesn't deserve this. I brought him all the way here.. I'm such a selfish little bi- She's waking up! "Todd! Todd! She's up!" ​