Reformation

19: Bad Luck

"Pull over here," I directed Ryan.

He pulled the ambulance in front of an apartment complex. We were running low on gas and supplies, I assumed we were out of Pecos by now.

Wendy, Danny, Orpah, and Sean got out and killed the few creepers that roamed around the outside while Chase, Ryan, Finn, and I went to the doors. Ryan started to pick the lock, then jiggled the handle and opened the door. Five creepers tumbled onto him a as he did so, Chase killed them quickly. Inside were only a few creepers.

The apartment was trashed. Food, papers, weapons, and belongings trashed the place. The smell could curl a crocodile's nose. I heard banging and groaning coming from one of the bedrooms, Ryan and I went to investigate. He opened the door slowly and I stabbed the first creeper, a woman with long, stringy blond hair. A scrawny male creeper launched itself at me and Ryan killed it before it's mouth could close around my arm.

What was laying on the bed was the most awful. A small girl, maybe ten, was snapping her maw, her legs cut off, the stump bloody and infected. At the foot of the bed, laid a baby, no older than a month, dead, but alive, flailing it's arms around. I put a hand over my mouth and let out a quiet sob, it wasn't Hunter, but it might as well could be. Ryan took a deep breath then plunged his knife into both of their skulls. He pulled me close to him and I let it all out. Everything I had held in the last few days. I couldn't take it anymore, I would do anything to get back the smell of Hunter's dirty diaper. Ryan stroked my hair and kissed me on the head.

"We are ok, we are going to find him and we are going to be ok," I could hear the doubt in his voice.

I finally calmed down and we went back into the main apartment area where everyone had already started to clean up.

"We aren't staying here," I said. "We need to keep moving. Look for gas and keep moving."

"Arizona, just for the night," Ryan said.

"No, we need to keep-"

He put a hand on my shoulder. "Arizona," he commanded. He lowered his voice."I know you want to find him, so do I, but we need to take a break."

"Just until tomorrow morning," Sean said.

I shot him a look, hoping he would take the hint that I knew he was planning something.

"We will stay the night," Ryan said. I shot him a look, he knew why, he shrugged then lowered his mouth to my ear. "Just be on your guard,"

Everyone was silent at dinner, except Danny.

"Mom, did you see what I did? I stomped on that corpse! I'm a total post apocalyptic badass!"

"Danny! Watch your language!" Wendy scolded.

"Mom, I've said a lot worse,"

She knocked her knee against his, her eyes stayed on the can of tomato soup in her hand. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. That chuckle turned into a laughing fit, my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Everyone stared at me like I had three heads. I didn't care.

"Zak died, and he wants to go out and stomp another creeper head. What has this world turned into? Oh wait," I laughed again. "Shit. A completely ruined, damned, shitty place."

"Arizona," Ryan mumbled.

"Don't 'Arizona' me, this is our life now. Our life where we celebrate killing creepers because they try to kill us. Great life lesson, in the less shitty world, you would get frigging-"

Ryan grabbed my arm. "Stop talking," he said through clenched teeth.

I pulled my arm away and went outside. The nights got cooler and I shivered as an icy wind hit my face like I had been splashed with cold water. The tears pricked my eyes again, I held them back. One instant, I'm laughing, the next I'm crying. I was grieving, Hunter's loss, my new life, everyone who had died because of the Virus, it sucked. I walked along the outside of the apartments. Creepers from earlier roamed along the road, packed in tight groups of ten. I hope they wouldn't smell me from here.