Living with the Dead

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Andy's POV

We haven't had an attack here in about three weeks. By attack, I don't mean a death, I mean one walker walking into the street, being seen and put down by a guard. All of the older men and women take shifts to secure our street. We work together like we're a small town. Everybody does something to help.

Everybody here is happy. Cameron has her family. So does Quinn. But me and Mike? We lost ours. They were torn apart by those things. Ithappened right in front of us. We had no clue on what we should've done with them. They lay there, dead, bleeding. It was a horrible sight, but it wasn't the worst part. After about an hour of silence, they got up. Mike ran to them, screaming in excitement. Something about them just wasn't the same. Their eyes were bloodshot red and they were growling, as if they hadn't eaten in years. "MIKE! STOP!" I shouted. I knew what had happened. They got bit and they came back as one of them. It could happen to anybody.

Mike and I agreed not to talk about it. It seems like he agreed not to talk at all because nobody hears a word come out of his mouth. He IS a 14 year old teenage boy. Everybody goes through that. I get the feeling that he can't stop thinking about mom and dad. I went through the same thing he did, but I don't let it get to me. I can't. This place we live can easily be overrun by a herd of walkers. I think I'd like to enjoy what we have before it's gone forever.

I was sitting in Mr. Fernandez's classroom (it's actually just a house). He was a teacher at my high school before the apocalypse. He's everybody's friend. You could be 10 years old or you could be 90 years old. He will become friends with you. He's a very good person. And he contributes so much for this town. He tries to teach all the kids about the stuff we'd learn in a real school. Most kids hate going to school but here on Winchester St., we love going to his class. I was looking around, daydreaming when he came up to me.

"Andy, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I've just been thinking about Mike. He doesn't talk and I hardly see him leave our house. I understand that he saw our parents get ripped apart, but I don't know what to do with him. He acts like one of those walkers out there. Lifeless. I wish that he could forget about them. After all, there is no going back," I vented.

"I'll talk to him. Make sure everything's okay in his head. You gotta remember not every 14 year old boy watches their family get murdered by flesh-eating monsters."

I let out a chuckle. "Thanks, Mr. Fernandez. I really appreciate it."

"No problem," he said and I left the house.

"Hey Andy!" Quinn has been my girlfriend since before the world went to hell. I really like her. We met in school, of course. We were both nobodies, meaning we didn't have much friends nor did we play sports. We had almost every class together, probably because we both were taking all AP classes. She's shorter than me, maybe about 5'4". She has green eyes and dirty blonde, wavy hair. She says that the small mole she has on the right of her nose is ugly, but I think it's the cutest thing.

"What's up?" I said grabbing her hands after she ran up to me. We were standing in the middle of the street.

She smiled then changed her tone to a serious one. "They just put down another walker."

"What?! It's been three weeks!" I noticed how frightened she looked. "Hey, hey", I said, with my hand pulling her chin up so she'd look at me in the eyes. "Everything's going to me okay. I will keep you safe if it's the last thing I do." I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

She was blushing. "I believe you. Can I ask-" Her eyes grew wide. She screamed. "WALKERS!"

I turned around. Tim lay on the ground. He was guarding the edge of the street, but he must've looked away at the wrong moment. Two walkers were staggering through the street. My heart began to race. I turned to Quinn. "Get inside. Tell anybody you see to get inside their houses. We can't lose anyone else." I pulled out my pocket knife and walked quickly towards them. I gripped the knife in my hand and swung my arm. It entered the side of one of walker's head causing it to fall to the ground. I nearly tripped as it's body fell. The other walker wasn't far behind. I tugged the knife out of it's head and swung towards the other walker. This one had a dress on and had long hair. I wonder what kind of of life she had before she was bitten. I missed it's head and stabbed it's neck. It wrapped it's arms around me causing me to fall to the ground. "HELP. SOMEBODY HELP ME." My heart was beating so fast. This is it. Once this monster bites me, it's all over. There's no way to save me. "I love you Quinn", I whispered. The walker's mouth was slowly opening and closing as it came closer to my neck. Growl. Just then, a sharp edge began to appear through the walker's forehead. Then it pulled away. The walker fell to the right of me. What was happening?

"Andy! Are you okay?!" Cameron pulled me up to my feet. I felt really dizzy. I looked at her eyes. Fear. I was just attacked and she saved me. She saved my life.

"YOU SAVED MY LIFE!" I screamed! I was actually smiling. Cameron is my best friend and has been since even before me and Quinn met. We met in first grade. I was new here in La Feria, Texas. My first day here, she was the only one who spoke to me. We have been inseparable ever since. She was my height, 5'7", and had dark brown, wavy hair. We have done everything together.

"You're welcome," she said, putting a smirk on her face.