Downfall Of The Living: An Anthology Series

The Hitchhiker and The Stranger: Chapter 5

V

Present day...

Gasp! Cody inhaled a huge gust of air, breathing life into his lungs as if he was brought back from the dead.

Cody wakes up from in a daze that lasted about a few moments. The world spun violently, everything was a blur, as dark shadowed figures approached him.

One of the figures kneeled down towards Cody's leg. He blinked a his eyes and the clarity of his vision was rapidly fixed. It was a roamer that had wondered into the garage and was about to bite into Cody's leg.

This realization was a great wake up call for Cody as he started to kick the roamer in the head to free himself. He grabbed his pistol on the ground and fired at the roamer. More roamers were fast approaching the sound of the gunshot.

Quickly, he scrambled off the floor and into the house, shutting the door behind him. He was sure that more were on their way after the first gunshot.

Gunshot, Cody thought. The first gunshot was from Kelly, that hitchhiker from earlier today, or yesterday. He couldn't make heads or tails on what day he was in. Kelly had taken all of the supplies from him and shot at him.

He checked his head but no bullet scraped his head. He pats his chest, nothing. He was relieved but frightened of how close he was to death. Shaking off the close call, Cody steadies his breathing like he had many times before. He looks at his pistol, still in his hand. Out of all things that was left behind, he wouldn't have assumed his pistol being one of them.

Kelly must've planned something, or just wasn't sure that Cody was really dead. Nonetheless, he needed to get out of the neighborhood and regroup with his friends.

Banging on the garage door persisted. It was just until now that Cody had felt the door was being slammed and hammered by the undead fist. He looks around for something to block the door, but any useful furniture was out of reach and far too heavy to push to the door.

Cody let's go of the door and dashes down the living room out the back sliding door. Outside the moon was hanging high in the sky. The low light barely illuminating his surroundings.

Cody hopped the fence and fell onto the ground. Ahead of him was a small lake, looked almost man-made in design. He didn't see any roamers around the lake, he was finally catching a break.

Taking a moment for himself, he mapped out in his mind that the neighborhood was close to the supermarket they raided. He points his finger towards its location as if he was looking at a physical map and draws an invisible line from the supermarket, to the neighborhood, and finally to where the road would likely be.

Got it, Cody thought. He had a mental image of a map of his surroundings, he figured he was making progress and began to start his journey. A roamer turned the corner of the fence, it hadn't noticed Cody yet. That one roamer was enough to push him to move faster.

Getting up, he starts to jog along the backyard fences.

-

About several hours have passed, the early morning sun had began to rise. Cody was exhausted as he walked in the middle of the road. His mind began to wonder as he tries to understand his current predicament.

First, was trusting another stanger. He had done this so many times when he was with Joseph and David. Perhaps it was the benefit of strength in numbers that allowed him to trust strangers.

For example, there was the woman with the baby. She didn't trust Joseph or David when they rescued her but she was very friendly and welcoming with the help. It's not easy to trust as a parent, especially in the state they found her in. Thinking about that woman made Cody wish they stayed longer. Maybe in another world, he would've gotten stuck with them and wait at the rendezvous.