The Waterbender's Love and the Mechanic's Passion (Korrasami fanfiction)

Ch 0.29 Surviving Death - Zombie AU Part 4

Several deep groans could be heard through the forestry. Soft footsteps cautiously crunched on the snow to avoid detection. The traveler's bag was partially full from her current scavenge for supplies. She paid no mind to the monsters. They were a regular thing in their current world now. Nature had decided the fate of even the fittest and smartest of mankind. She didn't know how she continued to survive every day but she pushed herself to live still. As she marched forward, a cluster of groans could be heard to her left. This only urged her to keep moving, until she heard a piercing cry. She froze and glanced back. Were her ears deceiving her? She knew it was stupid, but she had to check it out.

Riko brushed some branches apart and came upon an abandoned house in a clearing. She grit her teeth together as the crying continued to agitate the dead. She circled the house for a way in with fewer zombies in the way. Both front and back doors were crowded. She counted bodies and decided that the back door had better chances of survival. Plus the cold weather slowed them down. She snuck up from behind and stabbed a few in the head until she had a clear path inside.

Once inside she shoved the fridge over to barricade the door. She quickly surveyed the house to make sure it was safe. She sooner rather than later found herself upstairs and opening each room in search of the noise. In the last door, she finally found it and her eyes widened. A basket laid in the middle of the room with a faded gray blanket thrown over top. She slowly peeled back the material and gasped. An infant laid crying in the makeshift carrier. A tag stuck out against the handle.

'I'm so sorry sweet Olivia.'

Riko's heart dropped into her gut. Someone had left their child behind to die in order to save themselves. They probably couldn't afford to have a crying baby if they didn't have a permanent home and were traveling. Babies attracted walkers like moths to a flame. She sighed and then grimaced when glass could be heard shattering downstairs. She needed to move fast. She looked for better means of carrying the child in order to use both arms to make it out alive but found nothing. However, she did find baby supplies on the nightstand. She swept the supplies into her backpack and took off her coat. She placed her coat underneath and around the child to keep her warm. The walkers finally busted down the front door. Riko quickly pushed over a bookshelf to block to bedroom door. She swiped the basket in one hand, and rammed open a window with her other hand.

This was completely stupid. She was going to get herself killed over an orphaned baby. Internally she knew that the only way for their world to continue was to have someone to leave it to.

Riko kneeled on the roof and searched for a way down. There were fewer walkers on the front side now that they were coming in. This was her chance. She tested the sewage pipe's strength on the side of the house. It seemed rickety but it would have to do. With a firm grip on the basket she slid down. It began ripping away from the foundation halfway through her descent and she dropped to the ground with about ten feet to the ground still. She landed on her feet, constraining her knees to take the force of the impact. While it was beginning to snow, there was only a tiny layer so it didn't help cushion the impact by much. She grunted in pain and surveyed her surroundings with a wince. Her free hand grabbed her gun as some zombies noticed her and advanced. There was no point in being sneaky now that she had a crying baby in her arms. She fired her gun twice at walkers who got too close and forced herself to run for a successful getaway.

"We were supposed to meet up after we split during the run. Why isn't she back yet?" Karina asked aloud to Mako.

The man shrugged and continued to maintain his guard duty over the eastern wing, though he did think it was strange that Riko still wasn't back. Karina's footprints lined the roof from her pacing. "I'm going to look for her. Something must be keeping her up."