Clementine x Male reader : We Are Monsters

Chapter 46

In the middle of November 2008, roughly five years after humanity got wiped off the map by the Plague, a boy and his dog are watching a little town down the valley from where they are standing from. Leading to that little town, there's a small road snaking its way through ravaged fields and farmlands. It's been so long that they're contemplating the scenery that the hood of the Land Rover they're sitting on has gone cold. A cold breeze coming from West is making the naked trees all around the road and mountain they're on gently swing left and right.

Somewhere, a crow manifested itself before flying away with its wings flapping loudly in the silence regularly filled with ghost-like howls from the wind sneaking through tree branches. It's early in the morning, the sun is already on the right cheeks of our two protagonists, but it's not warming anything up and it won't for the rest of this winter. The sky is covered with thick grey clouds, moving really fast thanks to the violent winds up there. 

Unfortunately, the charm of the scenery got ruptured when shuffling steps accompanied with low gurgling noises made their entrance on the overlook along Skyline Drive. With a grumble, the boy jumped off the hood as his dog started to growl and bark at the ragged monster slowly limping its way towards them, attracted by the earlier engine noises like a bee with nectar. The boy calmly walked up to the creature without giving a damn and swung his spiked baseball bat at its left temple. A terrible and loud crack resonated in the air, and although the monster collapsed with a humid thud and its left arm twisted at a weird angle, the boy kept looking at his weapon.

The bat had already seen a lot up to this point, but never looked like it needed more than a few new nails and eventually a little bit of duct tape on the small cracks along it. But right now, it doesn't look good at all. From the top to half way down, a huge crack got created by the impact, when nails got pushed inside the bat. There's no fixing that, and it'd probably break apart completely with two or more swings. It's with a little bit of emotion that the boy touched the bat, running his index from top to bottom, feeling every bump and crack. He looked at the stained and worn out leather grip already falling in pieces and held together with some adhesive tape, then sighed and let the baseball bat fall on the tar with a sad last dry crack as it got even more damaged. He had a little bit of trouble keeping his eyes off it, there's so much they've been through together, and the only reason he didn't give it a name is because he'd sound insane if he did so.

He finally sighed and turned around, headed to his vehicle, leaving the bat behind like an old friend. He has a machete at his belt so he won't have to face biters with either only a knife or his bare hands, but he's way more experienced with blunt weapons than with any kind of bladed weapon. Guess he'll have to learn, and practice. It's not that bad after all, this machete holds an even bigger place in his heart and life. It'll probably be a little painful to wield it and think about its precedent owner at first, but he'll get used to it. It'll be like if his old love is protecting him, in a way. That's romantic. And poetic.

With a whistle, he got his dog to jump in the passenger seat. He installed himself behind the steering wheel, turned the key in the ignition and left the overlook, following Skyline Drive towards the US-211, which will lead him out of Shenandoah National Park and right to this little town. It's a shame that it's winter, else the trees would be beautiful to look at. At this time of the year, it's just depressing. Rows and rows of tall skeletons as far as the human eye can go.

This little road was always pretty deserted, so he can speed up a bit without fearing to hit an old wreck. The engine is roaring and running smoothly, the cabin slightly wobbling left and right at every sharp turn. He quickly arrived in front of the exchanger with the US-221, but instead of turning left, passing by an entrance station and going down the mountain, he kept driving straight, across a bridge, then turned right and parked in front of a little gift shop in which he settled down during for the previous eleven days which he marked each with a notch on the wall of the bathroom he's been sleeping into. He left his dog in the Land Rover, walked to the doors while appreciating the noise of gravel getting crunched by his boots, and went inside.