What We Lost

the town

The following morning we had to leave. We had nothing now.

I sling my bag over my shoulder as I watch Grayson carefully go through his things that Jasper had left behind. He had taken the lighter, and left a box of matches. Probably the only useful thing we had. Other than that we had no weapons and no food. He sighs and zips up his backpack, putting it on. "Let's go." He says, starting to walk out. I follow and close the barn door behind us.

It was cloudier out today, like it might rain. We walked along the gravel roads together, keeping an eye out. As im walking I feel something metal clinking in my pocket. I pause, reaching in and pulling it out. My pocket knife.

"He forgot this," I say to Grayson, flicking it open and staring at the dull blade. It wouldn't be much help but it was something. Grayson smiles slightly at me, then looks back down. I could tell he was trying to be grateful with what we had- trying not to worry me. But I knew he was devastated. I reach out and intertwine our hands. He gives mine a squeeze and we continue down the road.

After about an hour a light sprinkle had begun. The smell of rain filled my nostrils. "God, there's gotta be a town somewhere up here. I remember." He says, squinting off into the horizon.

"Do you think there will be Walkers up there?" I ask. He nods. "Probably a few."

I shudder at the thought. My dull knife would be nothing against a group of Walkers. Even a single one would be hard to kill.

"How will we fight them off.." I murmur. He's silent for a little while.

"Always go for the head. Anywhere else won't do you any good. And always watch your back. The other types can be harder to notice."

I swallow. "Other types? You mean, there are different types of zombies?"

He kicks a rock as he walks, and looks over quizzically. "You didn't know that? There are Runners, Clickers, Stalkers.."

I stare at him in disbelief. This made everything so much more complicated. He continues.

"Runners are well.. runners. They are fast. Stalkers tend to keep low and follow you in dark places. They attack you when you least expect it. And then.. Clickers. Horrible looking things. They make a loud clicking noise so they are easy to point out. They are blind but if they hear you, they'll attack." He explains. Clickers stood out to me the most. It sounded terrifying.

20 minutes pass. In the distance we can see a few shops start to appear. "Here- give me your knife." I hand it to him. From as far as I can see everything looks run down and abandoned. Cars lined the streets and sidewalks. There were these long, spear shaped wooden spikes dug into the ground near the entrance. Probably to keep the Walkers out. As we near the town, his hand grasps mine.

"Keep watch, okay? If you hear anything tell me." He murmurs. I nod.

There was broken glass along the streets of the town. Everything was destroyed. A sign in front of us read: Bakerstown. We step carefully over the debris and go into one of the shops. He flicks my pocket knife open, drawing it out in front of him. The shop was dark and dusty. Shelves empty. He leads me out and we go onto the next, which was a hunting store.

"Yes!" He whispers, grabbing a hold of a handgun on the store counter. There had to be ammo somewhere. I search the shelves and pick up a small black box. I shake it. Ammo. I smile, holding it out to him. He sighs with relief, taking a round out of the box and putting it in. "Now we just need to find you one. I'll look behind the counter." As he searches, I see a door to what appeared to be a back room. I twist the knob. Locked. I groan, stepping back before slamming myself into the door. It opens.

The smell is unbearable. Like something rotting. Without a light, I couldn't see anything. I feel for the light switch on the wall and flick it on. In front of me, upon the floor, was a zombie. Buried and stuck under a pile of rubble. When it sees me it lets out a gargling noise and tries to reach me. I stumble backwards. "Grayson!"

He comes running in, gun out in front of him. Immediately upon seeing it he shoots it in the head. The creature goes limp on the floor, blood pooling from it. He pulls me out of the room and shuts the door. He then hands me a gun.

"Use it, Vivian. You can't wait for it to attack. A second could change anything." He says firmly. I nod, thinking back to the zombie. It must have been dying from starvation.

I wanted to be strong. I didn't know why I hesitated, or why I cared after witnessing the death of one. They were monsters. No longer people. I longed for Grayson to think I was capable. What if he got tired of me? What if I get him or myself killed? I needed to get over fears because things were different now.