Alive Inside (Book one)

Choice Part Two

Ch. 12

'Choice Part two'

[Chattanooga, Night]

The city was mostly quiet aside from the periodic sound of walkers or small animals in the nearby buildings.

Amanda limped ahead of the group; a crutch with signatures and stickers covered it; her dirty blonde hair looked like it had been cut recently.

Summer figures she could use a haircut, but so could Trevor with his brown curly locks.

Genevieve walked in the back of the group, her shoulder hung low, her head looking down at the ground.

Corrine walked beside the little girl. "Everything alright, Genevieve?" Corrine asked quietly.

Genevieve was at first slow to answer but eventually looked up to the woman with a glum face. "I don't think Summer likes me," Genevieve confided somberly before returning her gaze to the road.

Corrine furrowed her brow, then looked at Summer's back and remembered her attitude towards Genevieve at the store. "She might not have meant it," Corrine said calmly, hoping the child would understand.

Genevieve's heart sank further at the woman's words. "Maybe," Genevieve answered before closing up mentally.

Amanda limped on towards the destination that only she knew. "So," Amanda turned her head to speak over her shoulder, adopting a somber tone. "I don't see him," Amanda started gently. "So I'll guess..." Amanda tried to find delicate words for her question.

Summer nodded her head slowly, a saddened expression on her face.

Amanda turned back to the road, surprise showing on her face. "Wow, big guy, Rest easy," Amanda whispered to herself.

Summer shed a silent tear hearing Amanda's words.

The group made it to the northwestern side of the city, dodging walkers and the group of bandits from before, which had splintered off and became several factions fighting for dominion; they had an enemy in common, though, Amanda.

Amanda ducked behind cover; her injured leg kept straight. "Get down; I keep walkers near the house as a form of defense... and camouflage," Amanda explained in a hushed tone.

"How do we get by?" Corrine asked, crouched against the car.

Amanda picked up a half-beer bottle and threw it at a window. "Like that," Amanda said as the walkers approached the sound with murderous intent.

The group slipped in through the double pull doors and followed Amanda up the stairs; at the top of the stairs, Amanda pulled out a set of keys and put a key in the door with the number "three-zero-two" on it and let everyone in before shutting and locking the door behind her.

"Whoa! What the fuck! Shoes off at the door," Amanda snapped when she saw everyone with their shoes on.

Everyone took their shoes off and set them in a small shoe closet next to the front door without raising an argument.

After removing her shoes, Amanda grabbed her crutch and stood in front of the group. "House rules, number one; shoes off at the door," Amanda said, gesturing to the closet. 

"Second, this place has power from a generator because this was the administration building, the TV works, volume stays at ten or below if you can't hear it, there's two headsets on top of the TV," Amanda explained while leaning against her crutch.

"Third, those are blackout curtains; they are to be closed at ALL times while it is dark; if you need a light on, the curtains are closed, do we all understand this rule?" Amanda asked before moving on with her speech, receiving nods from her audience.