Surviving The Walking Dead (BOOK ONE IN THE SURVIVING THE WALKING DEAD SERIES)

Trailer Trash Mountain

     When we finally reached his house I was in utter shock, it was a mess. The trailer was a shit brown color with broken windows and a missing front door. Beer cans littered the yard, a truck was parked off to the side with cinder blocks where the tires should be, a small rusted charcoal grill, gardening shed, and a large pile of un-chopped wood sitting next to a dirty axe and chopping block. It almost reminded me of when I lived with my dad, but something was different, I just didn't know what. The sound of the sputtering truck echoed throughout the mountains and the brakes screeched like nails on a chalkboard as we came a stop.

     "Well c'mon now, git yer shit." The man spat as he shoveled a large pinch of tobacco into his mouth. I grabbed my things and followed him into the trailer where he took me to my room. It was as ugly inside as it was outside. The carpet was stained and torn up, the living room only had a tattered recliner and small black and white TV, and the kitchen was littered with dirty dishes, cockroaches, ants, and the occasional rat.

     "Listen here youngin'," he said as we approached my room. "You are ta put away yer shit and keep yer room clean. You and I are gonna go huntin' later and while I'm guttin' the deer yer gonna chop up some firewood for the wood stove and yer gonna cook dinner. Is that understood?"

     "Yes sir." I answered. "Great," I thought to myself. "I'm a servant now."

     "Ain't none of this sir business, you can call me Paw."

     "Yep," I thought to myself once again. "I'm in Hell."

     "What did I just say? Put yer shit away and let's go huntin'." I finally walked into my room. 

     "AAAAAH!" I screamed at the sight of a Raccoon sitting in the right corner of the room eating away at god knows what.

     "Don't mind 'em, that's just Roscoe. Don't touch 'em though, he bites." I shooed Roscoe away after Paw walked off to his room and shut the door behind me.

     The room smelled like piss. My bed was small, but I was just happy to even have a bed. I figured he'd just have a blanket and pillow on the floor for me. I unfolded my mom's quilt before I put my clothes in the dresser, at the bottom of the bag sat my mom's book and Philip's business card tucked inside it. I hid it under my clothes, but as I was about to put my bag up a small card fell out of it. It was the photo I found in the book. I picked it up and looked it over for a moment and smiled. "I wish you were here." I whispered out loud.

     "What the hell is takin' ya so long?" I jumped and quickly hid the picture in my pocket as Paw entered the room. "What the hell's in yer pocket?" I didn't answer. "Ya stealin' shit from me ya dumb bitch?" THWACK! He backhanded me causing me to stagger, my face burned and throbbed as he dug in my pocket. He unfolded the photo and smiled. "Aww, do ya miss yer maw and paw?" He pulled out a match and burned it in front of my face. I don't know what made me do it, but I lunged at him, I tried to hit him, but I missed. Paw grabbed me by my throat and slammed me against the wall.

     "Listen here ya bitch, I ain't havin' none of this bullshit around my house. Quit bein' a pussy and let's go." I fought back tears as I followed him down the hall. The last memory I had of my childhood, gone... just like that. We walked around the woods for an hour and finally found a deer, he pulled out his 20 gauge shotgun and shot it, but he missed and the deer took off. I wasn't about to let my dinner get away. I quickly stood up and shot it, an arrow right in the heart. I smiled as I approached the deer. I went to pull my arrow out of its chest, but Paw grabbed me by the shoulder and turned me towards him. THWACK! He backhanded me and I fell to the ground. "I had that buck." My cheek burned with intense pain as I staggered to my feet.