Take Us Back (1D)

A Trip to Walmart

Zayn's POV

"We should just let her go." My breath hitches. How could Liam say that? "Think about it. She wanted to leave. She wanted to be on her own. And I feel like she's hiding something from us."

"Aren't we all?" Harry's eyes are tired. "Hiding something, I mean."

I look to Ray, sleeping on the hard linoleum. I walk into the main room and scoop up Ray, setting her down in a booth. I stare at her beautiful hair and perfect face. I remember just a few days ago when I tried to be reserved towards her.

I walk back into the kitchen, running my hands over my face.

"Let's let her go." I say to Liam.

"What?" Harry looks astonished.

"She can obviously do fine on her own. She obviously doesn't want to be here...and she obviously doesn't care about us."

"Okay. I'll go get her." Liam nods.





"W-what?" Ray sounds surprised. "You guys are letting me go?"

"We think it's for the best." Liam looks away.

"Here. It has everything it did before." I say, passing over her backpack.

"Harry?" She calls, but he doesn't look up. She sighs and looks away. "Well, I guess this is goodbye guys. Good luck." She slings the old backpack over her shoulder and goes out the door. I rush to the window to watch her jog away. Just when I think she won't look back, I see her sneak a glance. I smile, and sigh.







Ray's POV





"W-what? You're letting me go?" My emotions are so high. They're letting me go! I can't help but feel a twinge of sadness, but it really is for the best.

"We think it's for the best." Liam looks away.

"Here." Zayn hands me my backpack. "It has everything that it did before." The whole time, Harry is sitting at a table with his arms folded on his chest.

"Harry?" I call, but he doesn't look at me. I wonder if it was what I said last night. I let out a big breath and say, "Well, I guess this is goodbye guys. Good luck." I am quickly out the door.

I start to jog towards the road, sneaking a glance back at Gil's Pitstop. Zayn is standing in the window, and it makes my heart leap. I will really miss him.







It has been hours since I left. I haven't eaten any of the food because I need to save it for when I need it. I haven't encountered many walkers along my way, but I did have to smash a skull or two.

I pass by a couple knocked over wooden crates and some crashed cars. A few of the cars have travel gear on them and bicycles attached to the back. They must have been going on a vacation.

My feet crunch against the barren asphalt and random debris. It is the only noise that fills the air other than my breathing.

Out in the trees, I spot a man with a bright orange backpack.

"HEY!" He yells. "HELP! PLEASE! STOP!" He starts to run after me, so I break into a sprint down the road. "PLEASE!" As much as I want to help the man with the desperate cries, I cannot take the risk of talking to him. I also need to save the food for myself.

When I get a good distance away, I start to walk normally again and my breath slows down.

The trees rustle and a few birds start their beautiful song. It would almost be serene if it weren't for the crashed cars, blood, and bodies scattered along-side the road.

I come across a walker that's stuck under the tire of a car. It's sad to think that this walker was once a human being with a family. Or a group.

I move on until I face probably the biggest road block possible right now.

A bridge, 100 feet above the road below, completely blocked off by a 18-wheeler freight truck.

"Great." I mutter. "Just what I need."

I walk along the side of the truck. There is absolutely no way over the ten foot tall truck that is on it's side.

I remember the crates that I saw a bit back. I can probably drag one over to the truck and use it to jump over.

I turn around and start going back up the hill, the way I came. I see fresh blood, trickling down the asphalt. As I continue up the road, I gasp.

The man who was wearing the orange backpack was on the ground. His stomach was ripped open and his guts were spilled. His face was slashed and his mouth was stuck in the shape of an 'o'. There was one, ugly-faced walker chewing on the crimson flesh of the poor guy.

I grab a sharp piece of metal from the nearby car and stick it through the walker's head.

"Walker scum." I spit on it. I take the metal back and stab it through the hiker's skull as well. The orange backpack is nearby so I take it and look through the contents, taking what I need.




"Ugh." I grunt as I push the wooden crate down the hill. Each side flips onto the next. The sweat rolls down my face and I lean my forehead on the box. Just a few more pushes and I'll be there.

One push.

Two.

Three.

When I'm finally at the truck, I inch the box up against the side. I lean against it to take a breather.

A few walkers appear from the woods. One spots me and sounds a bubbly growl. It's speed increases and soon all of the walkers are headed for me.

My eyes go wide. I grab a crowbar on the ground then hook my toe on the plank of wood attached to the side of the box and lift my other leg over the top.

"Oof." I pull my body up. I have built up quite the upper body strength, hoping it'll save me in a situation like this.

I stand on the metal truck. As each walker approaches, I stab the crowbar into their brains and pull it out, ready for the next. I huff.

I stuff the crowbar in my pack. My fingers grasp the edge of the truck, running over the painted bolts. I hang onto the truck and dangle my feet, then jump down to the other side onto the ground.





It feels like I've been walking for ages, before I come across a Walmart.

It could possibly have food and it could be my shelter for the night. My only problem is that there are walkers loitering about the parking lot. I could easily lead the walkers away if I make a ton of noise.

I sneak away back up the street. Opening my backpack, I spot the mini bullhorn that was in the hiker's backpack. Next, I pull out the duct tape and cut off a large piece. I kneel down to the ground, and tape the button of the bullhorn. I throw it and pop off my knees, sprinting away.

I run around the back of the store and watch as the walkers are attracted to the bullhorn.

With my back in contact with the wall, I stand by a large window. I hit the window as hard as possible with my elbow. After a few seconds, a walker presses his face against the window.

"Here I go."

I open the door to the Walmart and I'm met by ten wandering walkers. The crowbar lodges into the first walker's head and blood gushes out as it drops to the floor. I hit the next one with even more force. As each walker drops to the floor, I feel a burst of satisfaction. I am strong, and getting stronger.

Once all of the walkers are dead (again) on the ground, I start to drag them out the door, one by one. I see the five walkers' bodies left. I raise my head and my heart skips a beat as I fall back on my hands.

"W-who are you?" The guy asks. I do not answer. "Did you do this? Were you the one to lead the monsters away?" I nod.

"I just cleared them out, hoping that there might be some food and shelter here." I try a friendly approach.

"Oh. Well let me help with this." He grabs the legs of a walker and drags it out the door, leaving a trail of blood. His brown hair falls in his face making him look very attractive.

When all the bodies are clear, he wipes his hand on his shirt, sticks it out, and offers a wide grin.

"Louis."

"Ray." I raise an eyebrow, shaking his hand.

"You hungry?"

"I could go for something." I smile back.

"Well come on!" His smile seems to get wider, if even possible. I shadow behind him and he leads me to a small table between the furniture section and food section. "Sit."





"So where are you coming from?"

"A little South. I've only been walking for a few hours. And you? You're British right?"

"Yeah. Me and my friends were taking a trip over here before this whole thing started." Kind of like Zayn, Liam, and Harry. If I could only remember the names of their other friends. Louis couldn't have possibly known Zayn, Liam, and Harry... Right?

"Well, welcome to America." I say with a bitter laugh.

"You know it is quite pretty here, despite the monsters hanging around all the time."

"You haven't seen anything out in this country. I wish you could've seen New York City."

"Have you been there?"

"Once." Suddenly my hands become very interesting.

"When?"

"When I was about eight. That's a whole nine years ago."

"Sounds like you had a good time, right?" I nod. "Who took you?" This kid really isn't afraid of pushing it.

"My mom. Yeah, she took me a few months before she died." Orange and yellow beams of light shine inside as the sun sets.

"Well I'm glad you could have some fond memories." Louis smiles again. "Come on. Let's go look at the sunset!" He grabs my hand and drags me towards the window. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah. It really is. It's hard to find beauty these days."

"Ah, but beauty is all around, Ray. People are beautiful, the flowers are beautiful, the sunset, as well as the poster of Megan Fox I found in the poster section." He smirks. Louis is relentless. I know what I said about trusting people, but Louis just draws me in. Plus he claimed the only place suitable for shelter in miles.

I laugh a real laugh.

"I would love a poster of Channing Tatum."

"Channing Tatum!? Why have a picture of him when I'm right here?" He presses his palms to the sides of his torso and does a little dance. I laugh again and accidentally snort, which in turn only makes Louis burst out laughing.

By the time I'm clenching my stomach, the sun is completely set.

"I'm so dirty." He raises an eyebrow. "Not like that!" I hit his arm. "I've been walking around all day, and boy what I would do for some clean water right now."

A light seems to spark in Louis' eyes.

"Clean water? I know just what you need! Let's go!"

He grabs a few flashlights and a towel before leading me to the back corner of the store where a step stool stands behind a curtain against the wall. The curtain is on a semicircle shaped rod.

"This, this is my homemade shower. Sadly they don't sell showers at Walmart," he frowns. "But they do sell shower curtains!"

He hands me the flashlights and towels before stepping up on the stool.

"Can you shine one of the flashlights up here?"

"Sure." I flick on a flashlight and point it at his hands, which are holding a matchbox. I was confused before I saw him raise the little match of fire up to a water sprinkler on the low ceiling.

When the smoke clouded around the sprinkler, the water clicked on. Louis smiled and climbed down the stepping stool.

"It's not exactly hot, but it's fresh!" Louis takes the towel from me and hangs it over a chair. He takes each flashlight from my hands and closes the shower curtain. He turns on two flashlights and sets them on the floor really close to the curtain. The flashlights illuminate on the white curtain. "Go ahead." Louis smiles.

"Thank you so much." Louis nods and walks away.





I step out of the 'shower' and dry my body with the fluffy towel. I get back into my tattered clothing. As I run the towel through my hair to dry it, I walk around to find Louis. I stop dead in my tracks as I spot something that confirmed my suspicions.


Louis...


______________________

So hey guys!

I tried to make this chapter as long as possible, but short enough to leave a small cliffhanger.

Please tell me what you think! Will Ray realize that Louis was once part of One Direction? Why is she so drawn to Louis and so open to him?

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF LOUIS??

Please let me know if you spot a typo.

Hahah thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a like and fan to follow my story today. I'll see you later bros.

Meh heh!!!

~Zaynsiphone