Safe and Sound | TWD

Chapter 9

                     -Silas' POV-

The first time I saw the broadcast, I was in my college dorm. Packing my clothes for a trip back down home. My father had gotten ahold of me, informing me that my step mother, Annette, has come down with some sort of illness.

The broadcast talked about a virus going around. High fevers, pale clammy skin. I didn't think much of it. I thought it was another strain of the flu. I thought that's what Annette had.

He sounded so worried over the phone, and I didn't want my sisters to freak out, so I started packing.

The drive home usually took at least an hour from Atlanta down to Senoia. That day, it took almost four.

The road I usually take was one that isn't very popular, and rarely busy, but it was that day. Cars upon cars were piled onto that narrow back road, all packed to the brim. It confused me.

I hadn't watched the news or listened to the radio since I left Atlanta, so it was unnerving to see a usually dead road full of people.

The first time I witnessed a person come down with said virus, I was stopped on the side of the road along with everyone else. Wondering why it was backed up, what was going on, and how long it'll be.

The male with a bandage across his arm was slowly turning manic. Raving on and on about how someone had bit him and tried to eat him. I thought he was crazy.

I remember thinking maybe some lunatics escaped from the psych ward and the police blocked the road to search vehicles.

He began to sweat profusely, his skin was ghost white, his eyes wild and frantic.

By the time the road started to clear and the cars began moving, the man was gone. I didn't pay much attention to where he went.

When I arrived home, greeted by hugs and solemn silence, is when I found out what was really going on.

The news was on, reports of panic, riots, people attacking other people. Eating the flesh off of bones. I was trying to be brave, trying to keep my head clear for my sisters, for my dad.

When the bombing started, the broadcasts stopped. Dad insisted it was terrorists. The only explanation  that was realistic for the bombing of Atlanta.

The moment I realized that my life back in college, my friends, football, was over, was when Annette died.

We were all gathered around the bed with her, Maggie holding a crying Beth, dad holding Annette's hand, silent tears falling from his eyes. Jimmy standing in the door way and our stepbrother, Shawn, on the other side of the bed.

She went slowly, I hope peacefully.

I was never really close with her. We had a couple conversations about college and things but, we never had a relationship like she did with Maggie and Beth.

They needed a mother, and she was there.

Shawn and I became as close as one could while away at college. We talked on the phone some days, mostly about how much of a hard-ass dad can be. That's really the only thing we bonded over.

I was the only one he came out too. It was an accident really. I came across his magazine collection while packing up to head to Atlanta. We shared a room at the time and...well let's just say we do not have anything in common in that area.

We became closer after that. I'd tease him about boys and we'd bond over dad.

When Annette died, he was completely broken. He was lost. That was the first time he ever hugged me. I don't know if he was looking for comfort, or if I was just the first person he saw. But either way, I was there for him when he needed me.