Daughter of the Fallen

Claimed

I read my book as we drove down Crook Rd. Tara and Glenn sat in the bed of the truck. Glenn was still unconscious.

I was surprised that Tara agreed to ride with us. At first, she kept going on and on about how Glenn needed to find someone named Maggie, who was Glenn's wife, I guess, and that she would get him to her no matter what.

I looked up in confusion as we pulled to a stop.

My dad turned back to me. "There's cars blocking us," he explained. "I'm gonna go clear them quick."

I nodded and continued to read as he got out.

"Watchya reading?" I heard Rosita asked, taking a break from cleaning her gun to look at me.

I honestly didn't know. I found the book in a store during a run and just took it.

Keeping my page with my finger, I closed the book and looked at the cover.

"Um," I breathed. "It's called From Bad to Cursed. It's about this girl named Alexis that has to deal with ghosts."

She chuckled. "Sounds stupid."

I shrugged. "It's actually pretty good." I lowered my head and continued to read. "But I can tell it's a sequel; I have no idea what's going on."

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Once we had gotten moving again, we had been driving for around an hour when I suddenly heard banging on the window that looked out into the bed of the truck.

I turned around in surprise to see Glenn, awake, shouting at us to stop the truck as he continued pounding the window.

I saw my dad flip him off out of the corner of my eye.

"Dad, just stop the truck," I told him.

He chuckled and shook his head.

"Come on, Abraham," my mom ordered.

I listened as Glenn's shouting got louder and suddenly the banging started cracking the window.

I turned around again in shock to see him ramming the window with an assault rifle.

"Dad, stop the truck!" I shouted.

He groaned in frustration and slowed to a stop.

The 5 of us got out of the truck to see Glenn getting out and him and Tara starting to walk away.

"Where the hell are you going?" my dad yelled. When Glenn didn't answer, her turned to Tara. "Where the hell is he going?"

As the pair continued to walk, my dad, Rosita, and I followed them while my mom and Eugene stayed with the truck.

"Hey," my dad went on. "I don't know what your lady friend told you about the special nature of this mission, but this shit is time sensitive and we're already way behind schedule, so I need you to turn your ass around and get back in the truck."

He got in front of Glenn, blocking his path.

Glenn stood there for a moment before simply saying, "I gotta go." He tried to get around my dad.

My dad put his hand on Glenn's chest, stopping him again.

"It seems like neither one of you have been paying close enough attention to the hell on earth we've been in," he said. "So let me tell you how to best avoid becoming just another dead-alive prick. You find some strong, like-minded comrades and you stick together like wet on water. We need people. The more, the better. We need each other, partner. Even with all that gear over you shoulder, you won't last a night. Not by yourself."

After a moment, Glenn sighed. "I'll take my chances," he said, his voice monotone.

He tried to start walking again, but my dad just pressed harder on his chest to stop him, making Glenn grab his wrist.

I stepped toward my dad protectively.

"I'm gonna have to insist that you hold the hell up," he tried. "Believe it or not, the fate of the entire damn human race might depend on it."

Glenn shoved my dad's hand off his chest.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked and turned to Tara. "Who is this guy?"

"I'm Sgt. Abraham Ford," my dad introduced. "And these are my companions. Rosita Espinosa, Dr. Eugene Porter, my daughter, Bree Ford, and my wife, Sasha Ford."

I gave a fake polite smile as my dad introduced me. I didn't really like this Glenn guy.

"We're on a mission to get Eugene to Washington D.C.," my dad explained. "Eugene's a scientist. And he knows exactly what caused this mess."