Survival (A Fear The Walking Dead fanfiction)

Episode 2.5

This is a chapter that explains Audrey, Nick, and Calvin's past... I'll be posting the chapters for the other episodes soon... Enjoy~! \(^_^\)
Ps: I lied XD
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A five year old with chocolate hair and eyes looked around the bright and colourful room.
"Everyone... This is Nicholas Clark, he's a new student..." Said his kindergarten teacher with a giant grin plastered across her face. "Say 'hi'!" She ordered kindly.
"Hi, Nicholas!" All the kids greeted, before quickly getting back to playing their board games.
"Nicholas, you can go sit by Audrey." The teacher spoke softly, "Audrey, raise your hand, please."
A pale young girl with short black hair raised her hand obediently.
Nick walked over to her nervously and sat down in the seat next to her.
"Hi! I'm Audrey!" She beamed.
"I'm Nick. It's nice to meet you." He mumbled.
"It's nice to meet you too!" She smiled at him, turning back to her board game. "When I win, I'm going to get your bag of gummy worms." Audrey stated giddily, speaking to her friend.
*First grade*
"Why, hello!" Nick greeted, sitting down next to his best friend.
"Hey." Calvin greeted. "Are you excited? It's the first day of school!"
"Yup! Hey, where's Audrey?"
"She's over there, that cry baby. She won't let me talk to her!" He crossed his arms and pouted, shaking his head to show his innocent disapproval.
"I am going to go check on her, then, Calvie." Nick mumbled, walking over to his other best friend who's head was rested on her arms and her entire body was trembling from crying so hard.
"Hey, Audrey, what's wrong?" Nick asked, hugging her.
"My daddy is going to fight a war... And my mom is being mean to me and him..." Audrey cried.
"I'm sorry..."
*The December of Audrey, Nick, and Calvin's 8th grade school year*
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" A man in a Porsche yelled because he had to stop suddenly due to Nick and Audrey crossing the street without warning.
"Sorry!" Audrey apologized loudly, running across the street quickly to get out of the way but still trying to keep the same speed at Nick.
"Seriously, tell me what you're moping about, it's starting to freak me out." Audrey demanded.
Nick stayed silent.
Audrey sighed, "you know, that's not fair to me. I bet if Calvin were the one asking you this instead of me- you'd be spilling your guts out with no problem doing so."
"My dad died..." He said, choking back a few sobs.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry, Nick!" She hugged him tightly.
Nick started to let himself cry.
Audrey rubbed his back in a comforting manner.
"Hey guys! You're late! You told me you'd be here ten minutes ago! C'mon we've gotta run, the bus'll be at the stop any second, now!" Calvin called, running out of the house they'd stopped in front of. He slowed down, his big grin shrinking immediately once he'd noticed Nick shaking uncontrollably with tears streaming down his face, his eyes were very red, as he was being held by Audrey. "What's going on?" He asked, very concerned. Never in the entire time he'd known Nick, had Calvin ever seen the boy cry. Not even in kindergarten, when the school bully had stolen his most prized possession. No, even then, not a single tear threatened to streak down his cheeks. He didn't cry, instead he beat the school bully up.
Making Nick cry was like breaking titanium with your bare hands.
After a few moments of silence Audrey spoke up. "Would you like for me to tell Cal, Nicky?"
Nick barely managed to nod, but he did and Audrey turned to face their best friend.
"His dad died."
"Oh shit, bro. I'm so sorry that happened!"
"Hey, I have an idea. It's probably the worst idea I've had, yet. But, desperate times call for desperate measures..." Audrey began, earning a nod from Calvin, signaling her to continue. "Let's ditch school today. Let's take a break from the school work and the stupid kids, okay? Let's head to my place. My mom is at work right now, she works till 6 tonight, so we can hang there..." She concluded her suggestion.
"Sounds good to me. Nick, how do you feel about it?"
"I guess we can do that," Nick sniffled, looking up, "I mean, how often do you hear Audrey tell us to skip?" He attempted to make himself feel better.
"C'mon. I didn't forget the keys this time." Audrey stated proudly as they walked in the direction of her house.
"Ffffuuu---fliiiipp!! My keys are in here somewhere!" She moaned, scavenging her back pack. She'd literally pulled two binders, three thick books, five composition books and two spiral notebooks out of the bag and still couldn't find her keys. Audrey groaned as she pulled a bag that contained her P.E. clothes out of the book bag. "If it's not in here, I swear I'm gonna be so- aha!" Audrey beamed, holding up her house key. Calvin and Nick couldn't help but laugh at the scene that had unfolded in front of them.
"Oh, shut up. Help me put this stuff back in my bag."
"Sure."
Once they were done with that, they stepped into the house.
"It's a bit of a mess, sorry. You guys know how my mom is." Audrey sated awkwardly as they stepped into the household. There were pillows all over the floor as well as papers, bags, plates, shattered glass.
They heard odd noises coming from her mother's bed room. And, to their horror, they heard her bedroom door open and close.
"Hide!" Audrey whispered, quickly running to hide behind one of the couches. Calvin and Nick quickly followed.
Audrey's mom walked toward the kitchen half naked and opened the fridge.
"Need anything babe?!" She asked loudly.
"Dad's home?" Audrey thought.
"No, I'm fine! Get back over here, honey!" An unfamiliar voice called back.
"That's not... That's not dad..."
"I'll be right there!"
Ailene made her way back over to her bed room. Audrey, Calvin and Nick stepped away from the couch. "We should go..."
"This was a bad idea, I'm sorry you guys saw that..." Audrey apologized once they'd left. "We can still make it to school without having them question why we didn't come in with our parents... We'll just tell your mom we missed the bus..."
"Look, it wasn't a total bust-- we're just gonna have to find another place to hang. Don't give up yet. I mean yeah, we were a bit horrified by what we saw, but that shouldn't ruin our day. We ditched so Nicki could have fun and take his mind off things, so that's exactly what we're going to do!" Calvin smiled, "to the arcade!" He announced.
*Two days before their first day of school*
"Hey! You excited for our first day in highschool?" Audrey asked through the minute phone her mother had kindly given to her after a heated argument.
"Nope!" Nick laughed.
"Well I am. A summer with this crazy bitch makes you do things, Nick." Audrey laughed nervously, making sure to keep her voice down in case her drunk mother was listening to the call. "I can't wait to get away from her." She spoke once more, her voice incredibly lower than before. Nick barely heard her.
"You spent the majority of the summer at my house! Even your brother and sister came with us! Hell, they're still here!"
"Don't judge me, one minute with this woman and I have this longing to kill myself. Honestly, I don't even know how I managed to do anything with this psycho bitch either breathing down my neck to check what I'm doing, kicking my ass, or making me do things I'd rather not speak about..."
"You're at home, right?" Nick asked randomly.
"No, I'm at Starbucks taking care of a drunk psychopath." Audrey answered sarcastically.
"Cool, I'll tell my mom to go swing by Starbucks to pick you up. I'll make sure to tell her to say hi to the drunk psycho~!"
Audrey heard fast footsteps heading her way. She panicked. "Nick, I need to hang up, bye. I'll see you later..."
"Hi-" Madison's smile faded and she looked concerned.
"Hey." Audrey spoke softly, standing by the door.
"What happened?" Madison asked immediately, staring at Audrey's black eyes and messed up hair, and the cuts on her face.
"The usual... Erm... I left my stuff in my room... But my clothes and stuff are ready... I'll go get it-"
"No, Andy, I'll go get it, you go wait in the car. Nick came with me so you can talk to him. I might take a while." Madison ordered. Audrey was about to open her mouth and argue against it, but she knew Madison wouldn't listen to her. Audrey simply nodded and did as she was told.
Madison slowly walked into the disgusting house and found Aileen injecting herself with what Madison assumed were drugs.
"Aileen!" Madison called, Aileen head shooting up immediately, spotting Madison standing in front of her. Quickly, Aileen hid the illegal substances she had on the table, even though it was no use, Madison already saw what she was up to.
"Aileen. You need to stop. It's not healthy for you- or most importantly your children-"
"Blah blah blah. You know that bullshit isn't gonna work on me, Maddy." The woman laughed groggily. "What are you doing here, anyway?" She asked, stumbling as she stood up.
"Getting your poor daughter the hell away from you! You know, one of these days, you're going to lose Audrey." Madison began.
"Do I look like I care? I'll still have Jackson."
Madison looked at Aileen with disgust. "Are you seriously saying that you care about that stupid man whore more than your own children?"
Aileen giggled, "yes."
"So, has Calvin told you yet?" Said Nick suddenly, catching the girl's attention as they sat in the back seat of his mother's car.
"Told me what?"
"I have a girlfriend~!"
Audrey smiled, "cool, Nicki! I was starting to wonder if you were gay or somethin'!"
"How's Min Ki doing?"
"Heh... He's fine. He's going to the same school as us, so that's really cool." Audrey paused, and looked over at Nick. "Who is your girlfriend, anyway?"
"Delphina, duh!" Nick answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, flicking his friend's forehead. "Hey, you should get a boyfriend soon or I will start questioning your sexuality. We'll see how you like it."
"Oh, shut up. We all know you're bluffing. You know I'll kick your ass if you do." She laughed, cracking her knuckles in a menacing manner.
"Really? I wish a bitch would!" He laughed as well, pretending to be the bravest person in the world. But he knew deep down, if Audrey really wanted to hurt him, she could. But, she was a lover, not a fighter. Then, he made the worst mistake of his life. "Ultimate Death Wrestle in three... two... GAH!!!"
Immediately, Audrey wrestled him. But then after a few seconds, she awkwardly glanced down at Nick and blushed. Nick blushed as well whilst Audrey quickly scrambled off him.
"Heh... Sorry..." Audrey apologized anxiously, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I'm telling you, dude, this girl is bad news!" Calvin yelled into his blackberry phone, "I can't stress it enough!"
"She's not! I've known her since the seventh grade!" Nick defended the main subject of this phone call, Delphina. Audrey was listening intently, attempting to keep her ear on the other side of his phone, but Nick made things more difficult by flailing his arms around passionately, almost managing to whack the girl in the face.
"Whoops, sorry!" Nick apologized once he saw the venomous look on Audrey's face, which quickly softened and smiled. "It's okay! Now, Calvie, tell us why you think she's bad news." Audrey requested.
"Well, one, she's older than you," He began, causing Audrey to snicker, "and two, I saw her buying drugs from our local drug dealer. The one your mom gets her shit from..." Calvin answered gravely.
Audrey's smirk fell, "Nick, I'm sorry, but basing my stance on personal experiences, I agree with Calvin..."
"Well, has Calvin told you-"
"Nick, that's not gonna change my mind about-"
"That he's a dealer, too?"
"What?"
They heard Calvin sigh on the other line of the phone. "I've gotta go..."
"Nononono, you're going to stay and explain this to m-"
"I'll see you later."
With that said, Calvin hung up.
A few minutes after the phone called ended, there was a knock on the door.
"Calvin, hey! It's been a while!" They heard Madison say.
"Hi, Mrs. C. Are Nick and Audrey here?"
"Yeah. They're in Nick's room."
"Thanks. May I come in?"
"Yes, of course."
Through the very thin walls, they heard Calvin approach and they opened the door before he got an opportunity to knock.
"Look, guys, I- OOF!" Calvin groaned as Nick and Audrey yanked Calvin into the room, causing him to fall on top of the two.
"Owww.... I told you that was a bad idea, idiot..." Audrey moaned in pain.
"You went along with it, though... That makes you even more of an idiot for going along with my idea..."
"So, does this mean you forgive me, Andy?"
"Nope. I still need an explanation. Which means that your fat ass needs to get the heck off of me and shut the door."
Calvin proceed to obey Audrey's rather rude command.
"Listen--"
"We're listening," Audrey interrupted whilst crossing her arms.
"My family is kind of in a sticky situation... My mom just lost her job and we're trying to keep the house... Quick thinking led to a quick solution--"
"Drug dealing? Seriously? Are you out of your fucking mind? And your mother put you up to this?"
"No! Hell no! She thinks I have a part time job somewhere! She really appreciates my help--"
"You really shouldn't be doing this--"
"I know, but this is the smartest thing I've ever done and the most I've ever done to help my mom out with something like this..."
"You need to tell her--"
"NO! I CAN'T! IT WOULD TEAR HER APART!! Please don't tell her! I just want to help out..."
"You're too young to be doing something like this..."
"I know... But it's something I need to do... I owe it to her... My dad's working two jobs but it's still not enough to pay the rent... Especially considering it's his first month working this job... Once his job is steady enough... I'll stop..."
"It's not something that you can just pick your shit up and say good bye to... People die because of stuff like that... It's dangerous. You're my best friend, and I don't want you to be in danger..." Audrey cried.
"I know, Andy... I'm sorry... But I have to do this for my ma... I know you understand... Promise me you won't tell my mom..."
Audrey shook her head.
"Please!" Calvin begged until finally, Audrey wiped her tears away. "You're my brother, Calvie... I don't want you to get hurt..."
"I won't get hurt, Andy. I promise. Promise me you won't tell my ma..."
She nodded and closed her eyes once Calvin hugged her tightly. "Thank you..." He said.
"Hello! You must be Delphina, Nick has told us all about you... Come inside, please." Madison said with a smile, moving away from the door for Delphina to enter.
"Thanks, Ms. Clark..." Said Delphina as she entered the household.
"Nick is in his room with his friends, so if you want to hang out with him, that's the place to be..."
"Thanks..."
"Hey- until we meet this girlfriend of yours- in person, willingly stating she's your girlfriend- you're still gay to us!" Said Baek Min Ki, a friend of theirs they'd met in the anime club at their middle school. He had short blonde hair -which was obviously dyed- and big brown eyes. He wore a Naruto shirt that had almost all the characters on it.
"That's totally true! I've been preparing for two years to hear the words 'I'm gay' come out of your mouth. Yet, nothing of the sort has passed your lips." Said Kim Min Ah.
Kim Min Ah is a girl with bright red hair and a cute face, she was also Korean like the other boy. She also met them at the Anime club in their middle school and had been dating Baek Min Ki for over a year now.
"If you're not gay and this girl isn't your girlfriend, you're Audrey's boyfriend." Calvin chimed in.
"Ew, no." Audrey said immediately, her scrunching up as if she'd taken a bite straight out of a lemon.
"You answered too quickly, that means you like Nick!" Kim Min Ah announced, pointing at Audrey accusingly.
"No it doesn't!"
"Yes it does! Nick! Nick! I think we found you a REAL girlfriend." Yelled Min Ki, shoving Audrey right onto Nick. Nick blushed and stared straight into Audrey's eyes.
"Sorry..." Said Audrey, her eyes darting all over the room once she pulled away from Nick's suddenly tight grip.
Min Ah's fan girl session quickly ended once she'd noticed Delphina standing in the door way with a pug face.
"Ahem," Delphina cleared her throat, standing in the door way.
"Hello! You must be Delphina. Nick's friend...?" Baek Min Ki asked with a grin, waiting to see if she'd correct him.
"Girlfriend. I'm his girlfriend..." She corrected him.
"You've got competition!" Said Min Ah, obviously not bothering to think of Delphina's reaction. Audrey instantly glared at Min Ah. In response to Audrey's death glare, Min Ah shut her mouth.
"Well... I guess we really did lose the bet... Here..." Min Ki spoke sadly, breaking the awkward silence, taking two ten dollar bills and handing each one to Audrey and Calvin. "Thank you," Audrey smiled, taking his money and her mind off the awkward encounter with Delphina.
She turned to Min Ah, "where's our money? Pay up." She giggled.
Min Ah sighed and handed over the same amount of money as Min Ki.
"Wait- Hold on... You guys made a bet out of this?" Nick asked.
"Why do you sound so surprised? It's nothing new." Calvin asked whilst laughing, making sure Min Ah gave him the right amount of money since she paid her ten dollars in singles instead of with a ten dollar bill.
"Okay..." Delphina mumbled, rolling her eyes.
"So, tell us about yourself, Delphina..." Madison made a jab at starting a conversation in the dinner table.
"Oh, umm.... I'm a sophomore... I play the French horn in the marching band at school. I listen to K-Pop sometimes--"
"Oh! You should definitely hang out with Audrey, Min Ah, and Min Ki, they love that."
"You have good taste in women, Nicki." Audrey nudged his arm with a smile. Nick blushed softly.
"Okay... Um... I'm sixteen. I love rap and hip hop-"
"Yup. She's definitely perfect for you. Not many girls like that crap." Audrey chimed in.
"You mean YOU don't like hip hop, but a bunch of other chicks do."
"Okay, look, I like rap and hip hop, but I can't stand half the shit they make now, I like the old school one."
"You're sixteen and in the tenth grade?" Madison asked.
Delphina nodded, "yeah... I was absent from school... A lot... So I failed last year... I had good grades, but my attendance was crap."
"Why? Sorry for asking you so many questions, I'm just trying to get to know you since you're dating my son..."
"I was helping a struggling family member recover from their drug addiction..." Delphina spoke timidly.
"Is that family member doing well?"
"He's dead... He committed suicide because we wouldn't let him get back into drugs...."
"Oh my god... I'm so sorry...." Madison and Audrey spoke in unison.
"Don't be...." Delphina answered, glaring directly at Audrey.
  *A few months later*
"I want you to stay away from Nick. He's mine not yours. Get that through your thick skull." Delphina stated, pulling Audrey's hair.
"Ah! Fuck!" Audrey screamed, sending daggers at Delphina. "Why do I need to get it in my head, when it's already been embedded in there? He's my best friend, and, in case you haven't noticed, he talks to me. First, you get him into drugs, and now you're chasing his friends away? Honestly, what's your obsession with him? Weren't you cheating on him not even five minutes ago?"
"I'm not chasing them away," Delphina huffed, "tell him about all of this-- and I'll murder you." Letting Audrey go, Delphina barged out of the girls' locker room. Audrey slid down the wall of lockers, sat on the floor, and cried.
"Who's this intervention for this time?" Nick asked as he walked into the quiet room.
"You, dumbass. Sit." Min Ah commanded. This was extremely out of character for her, so Nick knew this was a serious matter.
"We don't like what you're doing to yourself..." Audrey stated suddenly after debates on who should start the meeting.
"What? Experimenting?" Nick snorted.
Audrey glared at him, "no. We don't like the fact that all you do now, basically, is devote your love and time to Delphina. We also don't like the fact that Delphina has got you into doing drugs. Because that's also taking up all your time."
"I didn't think you guys would corner me like this, like I--"
"Nick, cut the victim bullshit. We're fed up with it." Calvin interrupted.
Nick looked at Calvin with hatred in his eyes.
"How can you of all people be telling me this?!" Nick questioned angrily.
All the eyes in the room moved from Nick to Calvin. Everyone except for Audrey was completely out of the loop.
Calvin nervously shrunk down and shut his mouth.
"Look, Nick- I know you're still hurting because your father passed away... But--" Audrey began.
"But what? Now I'm not allowed to channel my emotions into something? Now it's not okay for me to depend on drugs like you depend on me and my family? Now it's not okay for me to be a leech and nothing but a pain in the ass for drugs like you are to us? Why the fuck are you here, any way? You haven't talked to me for weeks! You keep blowing me off! You ignore my calls- my texts!" Nick ranted. She stared at him for a few seconds before sighing and turning to look at Madison.
"You guys can deal with him. I don't even know why I bothered coming back here. Thank you for all you've done for me Madison." She hugged Madison and Alicia, then turned to face Nick.
"Thanks for being my friend up to this point. Good bye and have a nice life." Audrey spoke quickly, grabbing her keys and speed walking out of the house and into her car, driving off over the speed limit.
Madison glared at Nick.
"What are you looking at? Huh?" He asked aggravated at himself for the most part, but his pride wouldn't let him say anything about it.
"An idiot." Alicia insulted, storming off to her room, making sure to bump his shoulder.