El's Thiccarl stories

"JLS" Julia and Enid

Take a breath, take a step. Take a breath, take a step. Take a breath, take a step.

A five minute break, timed on a cracked watch and half a mouthful of dirty water from brook ten miles back.

Take a breath, take a step. Take a breath, take a step. Take a breath, take a step.

A five minute break, timed on a cracked watch and Julia eats her last can of peaches quickly, watching for the dead.

Take a breath, take a step. Take a breath, take a step. Take a breath, take a step,

The sun is beginning to wane when she finally sees one of them. She was young when she died, long dark hair is matted and greasy and her bare arms are scratched and bleeding in places. Julia followed her at a distance, watching her stumble slightly as she wandered aimlessly forward, following a sound long since past. Julia is struck suddenly by the thought she is rather looking in a mirror.

Julia doesn't know whether she has the energy to kill the walker but she remembers herself, remembers who she was. She drags her long blonde hair up and out of her face, better to put the thing out of its misery, its what she'd want for herself. Taking a deep breath she sped her feet up, extracting her hammer from her pack. As the distance closed between them, Julia's boots crunched against the leaves and she noted how fresh the girl looked, a survivor, must have only turned days ago.

She turned, finally, as Julia raised her hammer and met a bloody stained mouth and two dark brown, very clear and very alive eyes. Julia is so shocked she forgets to be surprised at the fist that flies up to meet her and the darkness that follows it.

---

Julia woke up, sat up, and immediately regretted it. She fell back groaning, clutching her aching head and feeling her nose; definitely broken, definitely sore. She's laying on her back, wooden planks beneath and above her, a treehouse then, Julia discerns with as little movement as possible. A few minutes passed as she tried her hardest not the throw up, eyes screwed shut against the pain in her head and the ringing in her ears.

She was disturbed as she became aware of a scratching sound a few feet to her left. With great, insurmountable effort, Julia lifted her head and turned.

There she was: the 'not-walker', the girl from before, the reason her head felt like it was splitting open. It took a few seconds for Julia to realise what she was doing. Again and again the girl dragged a knife, Julia's knife, into the wooden wall by the exit to the treehouse, carving something. In her addled state, Julia didn't consider that startling the girl was probably a bad idea: "thats mine". Immediately the girl turned around, holding Julia's bowie knife in front of her, eyes wide and scared.

Julia glanced frantically between the knife and the feral girl, trying desperately to think of a way to diffuse the situation. Her throbbing head wasn't coming up with anything creative so she went with what she knew, "um hi, I'm Julia, I'm from northern Ohio". And as an afterthought, "I like your treehouse"

The girl continued her stare but after a few moments said, in a voice crackling with disuse, "I'm Enid, I'm from Virginia. I killed the little girl who owned this treehouse" Then Enid turned round, coughed once and began her carving mantra again.

Julia's exhausted mind and body begged for rest and she groaned, falling back with a thud. A rattle came from her left and a bottle of pills rolled into view, "for the pain, I hit you pretty hard", Julia stared at Enid.

"Well thank you, I uh really appreciate it"

Enid grunted in slight affirmation. Silence stretched between them.

"I'm well I'm sorry, for..."

"Trying to kill me?"

Julia chose not to answer, uncapping the bottle and downing two aspirin. Her throat stung with the effort of dry swallowing the pills. "Do you have any...", a bottle of water rolled towards her from Enid's corner. "Thanks".