Til Death Do Us Part [10kxOC]

6. Hell-icopter

~Hailey's POV~
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Driving further away from Philly, I stayed in the bed with 10k, Doc, and Cassandra. Doc would sometimes bring up something he did Pre-Z or a movie he had seen.

Sometimes we would stop for a break to use the restroom or eat some of our food. But other than that, we just drove. Drove on West to nowhere.

When we had all finished using the restroom, getting back into the bed of the truck, Doc and Cassandra had started a conversation about how alive the living dead really were. I didn't really understand it, or even really care about it, so i just opened my book once again and started reading at a random page.

"I'm telling ya, there ain't nothing there." Doc said, looking out at the zombies that we passed, laying dead on the ground from 10k killing them.
"No thoughts, no memories, no soul. Nothin'."

"Well they're not dead. They want something." Cassandra spoke back.
"Yeah brains." Doc half-joked. Even though he was being serious. It seemed that all any of the zombies wanted was to eat. Eat and eat and eat until there's nothing left in the world.

"You can't want something if you're not conscious, if you don't have a soul." Cassandra said again taking a sip of water from her large, green canteen.  10K was staring at his knife, holding it between his fingers. Sometimes he'd spin it, just lightly, before making it stop again. But he never once looked up. His eyes fixated one the knife.

"When my Pa was wounded, he told me to tie him up before he turned." 10K said and I looked up from my book slighty. Not really wanting him to know that I was listening too. Taking small glances at him and my book, then back at him. Before i'd lay my eyes on my book for just a few seconds.

"Made me promise to show him mercy when he died. Kill the brain, you know." He said before looking back at his knife, twiddlingit between his fingers.
"I couldn't do it. I couldn't hurt my Pa. . . no matter what he'd become. I stared into his eyes for the longest time, just looking for some sign he was still in there." 

"Did you see anything?" Cassandra asked softly leaning closer to get an answer. 10K just looked up at them and only shook his head. 

"What'd you do?" Doc asked. 
"I killed it." He said sternly his voice cold. 
"Damn, Kid." Doc said in slight awe, yet also in a caring tone "You had to put down your own dad?" 

"I didn't kill him." 10K snapped at the group, almost offended that they had said it. "I killed IT." 

"But if it's not alive, how did you kill it?" Cassandra asked. 
"Piked it. Right here." He tapped his knife to the center of his forehead. "My first kill." Then he looked back down at his knife again, gripping it harder this time, his knuckles going whiter.

"I always wish he knew, you know, somehow, knew that I kept my promise." Then he turned to look over the side of the truck clearly not wanting to make eye contact, or even talk, with anybody. He caught me staring at him from his side, He turned his head looking at me. With slight anger and sadness, both overwhelming him all at once.

"What?" he asked. Less cold than when he was talking before. I just shook my head and looked back down to my book. I had realized that after listening to Ten Thousands story, I hadn't changed the page. And that was 10, or maybe 15 minutes ago. And 10k noticed it too, scoffing and turning back to the trees and leafs that pasted by. After hearing 10K talk about his father, ot made me feel sympathy for him. I didn't want to. But it happened, and it started making me think about what my life was like during the first few weeks of this apocalypse. I cringed before turning the page, a page that I could recite from memory, all of the pages. I have read this book more times then I can count. And I'll continue to read the book. It's special, the person behind it, maybe not. But the book itself is.
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