First Steps | A Zombie Apocalypse Story (Completed)

Day 20.4

Jerry

I can just read it on her face.

Grief.

Clarissa is trying so hard to keep it together. She's trying to be strong for the group. But her emotions are just gonna eat her alive if she doesn't process them. She hasn't been trained to properly process her emotions in dire times where every step is a risk and could be your last one. She's a very determined woman, and I just know that she is built for this world. But this world is a world of change from being a high school science teacher.

This world is new to all of these folks.

I look toward Bobby with concern etched in my brows. He's red at the face, yet dry in his lips. He's gonna kill himself if he keeps up. He doesn't have much food in his system as is, and breaking his back by digging in the clay-like dirt is only going to wear him down further. I have to intervene. I know he ain't happy with me right now, or with himself either, but I feel pulled to do something about it.

I walk toward him in a hasty line, ignoring the sharp, bloodshot eyes Clarissa is giving me right now. She doesn't want me to talk to him, but I ignore her silent pleas.

"Bobby, you need to stop," I say, my voice low and stern as my hand points out in front of me, palm flat and facing the ground. He continues to dig. 

"I said stop," I add, my voice raised. 

"I need to bury my sister," he replies without facing me, his shovel hitting the hard soil with another crunch. I pull an arm over his chest, stopping his arms and snatching the shovel away from him.

"What's your problem?" He asks in a whiney voice, fighting against my arm but failing miserably.

"You're gonna get yourself killed by not taking a break," I say in his ear in a low voice. "You're not stupid, right? Prove it," I add, meeting Clare's disapproving eyes. I let go of Bobby, causing him to stumble forward almost into the pit. Clarissa may not approve of my tactics, but sometimes you've gotta show some tough love. I open Clarissa's bag and pull out a half-empty water bottle.

Bobby snags the water bottle out of my hand roughly when I offer it to him. His eyes remain sharp as daggers as he quickly drinks through the entire bottle, throwing it on the ground when he finishes. He wipes his mouth, glaring at the hole in the ground. His chest begins to steady as he breathes more slowly.

He stands up and passes by me, slamming his shoulder against my own before rummaging through Clare's bag and grabbing a granola bar. He tears it open, dumping the granola crumbs in his mouth before eating the rest of the bar

"Benjamin," I say, instantly getting his attention as his medium-length hair moves back when he looks up. "Start digging. If you need water, there's some in Clarissa's bag, but be mindful of what you drink," I bark out. He instantly straightens his posture like he's coming to attention.

"Clarissa, Theodore, and Paxton, y'all come with me," I add, motioning them toward me. I walk back to the church, the trio following behind. I figured I'd leave Chris, Gloriana, and Matthew with Benjamin and Tori to watch over them. They're more than capable. Besides, I'm not sure if Chris would withstand this work the best. He had been struggling after he ran over to me earlier to help me, all out of breath and shit. And Theodore seems reliable, and if he proves not to be, I know any of us would handle him in an instant by whichever means necessary.

The light of the outside floods into the banquet room where everything happened. Dead bodies are on the ground, dropped dead like flies. Blood is poured out everywhere, starkly contrasting the white floors. And the smell; the only thing worse than the smell of a living, rotten corpse is a ton of twice-dead rotten corpses. Everything in me fights not to gag, but I see that Clarissa didn't win. She spews out the little food in her stomach across the floor, and Theodore instantly rushes over to her, pulling her disheveled hair back and rubbing her back.