Welcome to Paradise // Billie Joe Armstrong // #Wattys2017

Homecoming

We continue the drive in a comfortable silence. I scan the landscape outside, but after a while, my eyes start to get heavy and I zone out almost completely. Outside the car, the dirty mud-roads are being replaced by the hard concrete of the highway and soon, the trees make place for tall buildings and houses.

"We're not in the countryside anymore. I'm sure we'll encounter some walkers pretty soon" I warn Billie, before he turns the car in a suburban area with big, three-story houses.

He tries not to show it, but I can see he's afraid of what might come by the way he tightens his grip on the steering wheel. I'm afraid too.

Billie slows down the car's speed as we pass the gigantic houses. The beauty they once had is all lost now. Front doors are either gone or stand wide open and windows have been smashed to bits. Pieces of clothing, bicycles and other objects are laying scattered over the lawns. The little hope I had that Mike, Tre and Adrienne will still be here, has been dissolved in thin air by seeing the torn-up neighborhood.

I decide to keep shut about it to Billie, hoping he uses his common sense and figures it out himself.

Unfortunately, he doesn't.

"Shit, look at the mess they're now living in" Billie ignorantly states, while extending his neck far enough to be able to see more of the road. I remain silent while contemplating whether or not to warn Billie and prevent him from the disappointment he's probably going to encounter when we enter Mike's house.

But then again, there is a chance they are in the house, just as Billie predicted they would be. I know Mike and Tre as far as the things that are on the internet, but god knows how their survival capacities are. And I know Adrienne the least of all. For all I know they could've set up an entire safety zone for people to live in. Mike would then probably be the wise one making good plans and Tre...

I laugh and shake my head imagining Tre killing a walker with his dance skills, while wearing a pink bra. That nuthead wouldn't last a minute.

Billie turns his head in my direction and cocks an eyebrow at me. "What are you laughing for" he chuckles. "I was just imagining-" I start my sentence, but I'm being cut off by a loud pounding on my side of the car. I hear Billie's screams next to me and turn my head to face the window.

Outside of the car, a rotten walker is gnawing on the door handle, desperately trying to set his teeth in the fresh human flesh that is now so close within his reach. A burning heat sets up from within my stomach, but soon I get my shit together. It's not like this is the first time a zombie approached me. And now, I even have the protection of the car.

"SHIT! What do we do?!" Billie yells.

"Billie calm down, it can't get to us we're in the car" I appease. I take the knife out of the holster attached to my belt and roll down the car window. Unsatisfied moans from Billie sound next to me, but I ignore them. The walker's head pops through the opening inside the car.

I tilt my knife in the air, but right about when I'm ready to insert it in its head, I get a genius plan and tuck the knife back in my holster. I chuckle as I roll the car window back up. The walker produces gargling sounds as its head is being separated from the rotten body it was once attached to. Apart from Billie's disgusted sounds, a short silence overwhelms the car and the upper part of the, now dead, zombie falls in my lap.

"Want a souvenir?" I giggle as I bring the head closer to Billie.

"Oh my god, what the fuck" Billie snorts, crawling up into the corner of the car, getting as far away from the thing as possible. "You are fucking reckless"

We both laugh and I wipe the tears from my eyes as Billie brings his hand up to his face and shakes his head. "What a mess we ended up in" he chuckles. "Did Trump become president in the meantime or something?"

I laugh at his comment and rest my head against the back of the seat, smiling and observing the abandoned neighborhood. My smile shrinks to a numb expression when I think of Mike, Tre and Adrienne. The little amount of walkers in this area tells me that they have most definitely been here, but would they let a new walker come in so easily?

I think not.

Billie finally picks up my sorrowing vibes and turns his head in my direction again, as he too rests his against the back of the car seat. "If they were here, wouldn't they've already come out to see what's going on?" Billie asks. I can hear the sorrow in his voice.

"I have a bad feeling about this, I'm so sorry"

I stare into his eyes for a moment. Behind the shimmering shade of green, I spot the insecurities he carries with him. The question where is wife his, what has happened to him and the world we live in are all intertwined in the green. I feel so terribly sorry for him.

Billie lets out a little sigh and breaks our gaze by opening the car door.

"Let's go find out, I guess" he mumbles as he steps onto the pavement.

I get out of the car as well and pace up to Billie who is waiting for me a little further ahead. As I approach him, more of the big three-story house, that I'm guessing is Mike's, is being revealed. The garden is huge, but has lost all of the beauty it once had. Dead walkers' bodies are spread out over the not-so-green-anymore grass. At least the front door is closed.

I take place next to Billie and observe the imagine in front of us with him, until he turns his head in my direction and gives me a little nod. We're going inside.

A rusty sound escapes the gates as they open. I look around to see if it attracted anything bad, but nothing appears. Billie behind me gently places his hand on the small of my back and leads me forward. With his touch, a small grin appears on my face, but I try to hide it. He would think I'm crazy. Leave it up to me to completely melt from the small touch of a 44-year old guy.

As we stand at the front door, I scan the yard one more time to ensure the safety of the area we are now in, until my eyes meet Billie's.

"Are you ready?" he asks carefully as he places a hand on the doorknob.

"Nope" I sigh. "But I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" I joke.

"Not a single plate of lasagna that could convince me otherwise, love" he winks at me, right before twisting the knob to the right.

A/N hey you guys! the story is really getting to a start isn't it ayeeeee? So anyehway, I'm really excited to write more. My exams are done on the 26th of may so then I have more timee. Lemme know what you think will be in the house when Billie and Aileen walk in *evil face*

Love, Nina