Zompocalypse Diaries (QUICK edit finished)

December 7th, 2012 (Carrie)

Dec 7th, 2012 (Carrie)

Journal,

We woke before dawn this morning, needing to get out of the house and well out of sight before the previous days visitors returned. I had J.J. stowing away in my duffle bag, I doubt Jordan will mind too much when he finds out since we crossed paths with a much more important member of our little family.

The shrill ringing of the alarm in our room roused me from sleep when the moon was still hanging in the sky. I snapped the alarm off and took a quick glance over at Jordan to be sure he was still asleep. After reassuring myself I had a bit of free time, I ran to the bag we had with the extra clothes and took out a few items, just enough to make a nice spot for J.J. to lay on while we traveled. He looked up at me with his intelligent, green eyes as I quietly zipped him into the bag, warning him against any unnecessary mews.

I knew Jordan would notice sooner or later that I'd kept the cat but I hoped it would be much later, after we were well on our way and he had no choice.

The second bag was also already packed with what little ammo and the two handguns we had left, one of Jordan's infamous death bats and my crowbar, along with a hefty stock of canned and boxed items taken from the kitchen.

I shook Jordan awake, pointing at the clock which now read 3:47 a.m. We had to get dressed, fed and on our way within the next hour and I was worried that even that was cutting it close.

He jumped out of bed, alert and ready, a first for Jordan since I'd known him. Usually it took a lot of prodding and promises of food to pull him from his slumber.

"You should have gotten me up sooner." He grumbled. "We could have left already."

"I was double checking the bags before we left, sorry." I looked away, hiding the guilt I knew was visible on my face.

"Come on, let's just get ready and go." He grabbed the clean pants and sweater he'd laid out the night before and I followed suit, grabbing my own jeans and a thermal shirt to go under the plain black T-shirt I laid out.

We dressed quickly and carried the bags to the kitchen, deciding on one last bowl of cereal before we didn't have the luxury of milk.

We jumped to our feet, only halfway through breakfast when we heard a shout from out back. Knowing our time was up, we grabbed the bags, I made sure to take the bag with J.J. in it.

Jordan flipped off the lights and motioned for the front door, quietly moving in front of it. I wondered why he wasn't rushing out but didn't ask, knowing he had a plan.

On the sound of the back door being pulled open, Jordan opened the front and we slipped out, covering the noise of our door opening and closing with the sound of theirs.

"Good stuff." I whispered, not knowing if there were others from the camp around.

"I know, right?" He whispered back. "Just thought of it last minute, I had a feeling they'd come in the original way they found."

We moved silently up the street, trying to stay in the shadows as the day was growing later and the sun was beginning to rise. Jordan pulled us into alleys and behind hedges at every turn, taking care to constantly check our surroundings before continuing on our way out of town. I wouldn't admit it to him (his head is already big enough) but I felt much safer with him around. When he wasn't acting like an over emotional toddler he was actually pretty smart, good at planning and logical thinking.

We came to the turning point, did we go to the road where we could be easily seen but had a clearer view of what's around? Or tuck ourselves into the forest where we could hide but risk the chance of someone from the camp also hiding?

Jordan had me crouching next to him, behind a pair of aluminum garbage bins against a fence.

"Where to?" I whispered.

"I was just wondering that myself. Road or forest? They both have their conveniences and they're both equally unsafe. I think it's just a matter of where we're more comfortable at this point."

I opened my mouth to answer when a soft, muffled mewl came from the bag I'd thrown over on my shoulder. I covered it with a cough and shifted the bag to my other shoulder, further away from Jordan.

"Did you hear something?" He asked, glancing suspiciously around us.

"No." I grinned. "You're just hearing things."

He narrowed his eyes at me but didn't push the matter.

"Let's head for the road but stay close to the trees." He suggested after eyeing me a moment longer. "If we see anything, we can duck back into the forest."

I nodded in reply and followed him from behind the bins and across the street to the main road beyond.

We weren't walking for long before we heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. A Humvee came barreling around the corner, giving us barely enough time to dive for the trees. We stayed put for a bit as a second quickly followed the first.

Another soft but angry sounding meow came from inside the bag. Jordan zeroed in on it before I had the chance to cover it up again.

"You brought it?" He asked, seething.

"Meow?" I asked, mentally face palming my own stupidity.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh ya Carrie, THAT'S going to work." He pulled himself off the dirty forest floor and started back to the road.

"Jordan, wait." I hurried to catch up. "I'm sorry, I couldn't just leave him there. He doesn't take up much room and he wont eat much. I'll just share my food with him."

"You got attached to an animal, an evil animal at that. You're damn right it's your food he'll be sharing. Keep it away from me or his new name will be bait." He stomped on ahead of me, leaving me alone with a smile on my face. He took it much better than expected.

I caught up to him after a moment, about to open my mouth and apologize but, again, I was cut off. Not by a meow this time though.

"Jordan!" A familiar and much missed voice screamed out. "I'm out! I'm here!"

My mouth dropped. Well I'll be damned, Jordan was right.

He ran toward the forest, scooping her up and laughing.

He turned his head back to me and grinned, the first real grin I've seen from him in days. "Carrie, I TOLD you she'd come back for us!"

I happily admitted I was wrong and ran to join the reunion, crushing J.J. a bit between Bre and myself.

"Mew." Came the disgruntled sound of my J.J.

Bre quickly stepped back and glanced at my bag. "Is that a cat?"

I nodded and dropped my head, prepared for another lecture.

"I love cats."

I heard a groan from Jordan and looked up in time to see him rub his face in exasperation.

I smiled at her and linked my arm through hers, trying to pull her to the road.

"Maybe we should stay off the road, they're looking for me." She took in my confused face. "We have a LOT to catch up on."

"Tell J.J. and me all about it."