My babydoll

Jackson is the closest thing you could get to a paradise in this day and age. Warm beds, clean clothes, good food, friendly people, it's pretty fucking awesome to say the least. A massive fenced off town in the middle of a mountain clearing. It's strong and fortified but beautiful and clear. I found this place a year ago. Before I found it I had been alone for years, but long before that I was with my mom and dad. They died when I was 14 though. Dad never came back from a supply run, mom didn't want to believe it. She went out after him, but she didn't come back either. I waited for them for days until I knew what had happened and had to accept it. I couldn't stay in that damn house any longer, I was starving and cold. There was nothing left for me there so I left and had to go find supplies on my own.
    I found my parents a few days after I left. Infected and shot. Still together though, they were inseparable even after death. I buried them, said my last goodbyes and went on with my life. It was hard at first, I had to grow up very fast after that. Fend for myself at the age of 14 against whatever asshole tried to kill, rob or rape me. Infected or not. I always managed to come out on top. I was surprisingly good at the whole survival thing for being so young, my dad taught me how to shoot pretty much any gun and fight hand to hand combat. My mom though, she taught me survival smarts. What I could salvage to make anything useful, how to read a zone, when and when not it was safe to move. Useful shit.
    For 5 years I was alone. I grew up into what you could say is a total fucking badass. Strong, smart, fast. But all that loneliness for 5 years, it does things to you. It builds up a wall of coldness, making it nearly impossible to connect with anyone after a while. Because of that, I never stayed with anyone or in one place for too long. I was nothing but a cold killing machine for those 5 long years.
    I had traveled for God knows how long across the continent, I had ended up in Wyoming one week. It was fucking freezing but that never slowed down the Infected. I was in what looked like a small shopping mall where I got jumped. 5 runners came out of nowhere and nearly killed me. I managed to shoot 3 of them without too much trouble, the last two were trickier to manage. One grabbed me from behind, their hand was over my face blocking my vision. I was able to grab my dagger from my jeans and stab the fucker through the head and he fell lifeless on the floor causing me to lose my balance. I stumbled. That's when the last one ran right at me and pushed me back into a wooden spike. It pierced right through my left hip and I wailed in agony. The adrenaline kept me upright though and I managed to take out the other one with a quick stab through the head as well.
    All the runners were down but I was stuck on a damn wooden spike in the middle of nowhere. Luckily it wasn't too big, I was able to rip myself off of it pretty easily. Blood started gushing out of me like a damn water fountain, I taped myself up as best as I could with what I had. Which wasn't much. I walked west, minutes went by and I started to feel dizzy from the pain and blood loss. Fumbling down mountains and walking into trees. Then I saw it. Jackson. Of course I didn't know that at the time, all I saw was a 15 foot tall wooden fence. I stumbled over to it as best I could, hoping that whoever was in those walls was friendly. I tried to scream for help but my voice wouldn't work. I was too weak and too tired. I collapsed to my knees, the last thing I remember were the sounds of muffled voices in the distance and creaking wood.

    I woke up in a fright, sitting straight up quickly causing the hole in my side to scream at me. I looked around, it seemed I was in a makeshift hospital of sorts. No one was around though. I looked down at myself next, I was all patched up. Rather well I noticed. My clothes, weapons and backpack were on the table next to me and I had been changed into a large hoodie and sweatpants. I wanted to get up and walk around to see if there was anyone but my body refused to move. So I laid back down on the extremely soft and cozy bed, eyes heavy. I looked out the window to my right, it was dark out so I assumed everyone was sleeping. I did the same, actually feeling safe for once in my life.
    I was woken up a second time by a shake on my shoulder, shocked I sat up quickly, pain again striking my side. I ignored it. It was a man and a woman, middle aged but still good looking. The man sitting next to my bed and the woman standing at the foot.
"Hey there," the man said to me in a friendly tone.
"Hi." I said back as warmly as I could, voice rough with fatigue.
"You feelin' any better? You looked real rough when we pick ya up from outside." He asked.
I nodded and smiled at him. "Thank you for saving me out there." I responded.
"Oh that wasn't me," He chuckled "That was our top scout Jesse who spotted ya out there."
"Oh. Well then would you thank him for me?" I asked
"Why don't you do that yourself when he gets back from patrol." He said as he stood up walking towards the woman.
"What's your name, sweets?" She asked me.
"Y/N."
"Wonderful to meet you Y/N, I'm Maria and this is my husband Tommy." She smiled back.
I grinned, not sure what to say next, "May I ask where I am?"
"Of course, this is Jackson. A small city of the only good people left in the world." She said, "I'm the leader here, along with Tommy of course."
"Jackson? Never heard of it."
"Well we like to keep a low profile as much as possible." She giggled in response. "How long have you been on the run? You alone?"
I swallowed, my mouth unbearably dry. "Yes, I'm alone. I've been alone for 5 years."
"What happened to your family?" Tommy asked me.
"Infected and killed." I said simply. "I've been on the run since I was 14, never stayed anywhere for too long. It always ended badly."
"Oh sweets I'm so sorry." Maria said, sitting down on the foot of my bed.
I shrugged in response. "Nothing can be done about it. Well, thank you for helping me and letting me sleep here but I suppose I should get out of your hair."
I started to move to stand up but a firm hand was placed on my shoulder.
"Hey where do you think you're going young lady?" Tommy said, surprised.
"Leaving?" I questioned. "I don't want to be a burden. Seems like you two already have enough people to worry about."
"Sweets, you are in no condition to go out there on your own again." She motioned to my wound. "Plus we are always willing to help someone in need and there's only one of you. Which is why Tommy and I are here to begin with." Maria said.
I looked at her puzzled.
"Normally groups come through here. Groups of 3 to sometimes 9. We help them and they leave because they have each other. Of course we can't take in a group that big, we do have to look out for our own people. But for you, there's only you and we can take in one person. One in your condition especially, and you obviously can take care of yourself if you've been on your own for 5 years. What I'm saying is if you want to stay, you are more than welcome to." She smiled at me.
Tommy smiled as well and nodded in agreement with his wife.
"You're saying I can stay here?" I asked, shocked.
"If you want to. You said you don't like to stay in a place for long, so it's up to you sweets." She assured me.
"We'd be more than happy to give you a home. The people here are more than welcoming, trust me on this one." Tommy said kindly.
"I...I don't know." I said unsure.
"How about this, why don't you stay until your wound heals up. If you like it here, then you're more than welcome to stay. If not, then you can go on your way." Maria suggested.
"I'd like that a lot. Thank you Maria." I said.
"Not a problem, sweets." Maria smiled back. "It's still pretty early, why don't you get some more sleep." She told me.
I agreed and lied back down on the bed, Tommy and Maria said their byes for now and left me in the room. I smiled to myself for the first time in months. I had a feeling I was never going to want to leave this place.