Already Dead✔️

Chapter 5

It was around six o'clock in the morning when I was woken up by growling and clanging of metal. I knew that it was a dead one and immediately became alert and got up. The small group's campsite was surrounded by wire with cans attached to it, so when a dead one came toward them, it would cause the cans to collide and wake us up. The problem was the group awoke slowly, and if we were attacked by a herd, they would probably be dead by the time they got up. This however, was just a single dead one. Thank god.
            I calmly walked toward the decaying walking corpse and put it down with a quick stab to the head with my Ka-Bar. I then studied it for a moment.
            It was the carcass of a young girl who had worn a gray sweatshirt, a pink shirt, blue jeans, and black boots when she died. On its neck, there was a large wound. I could see the bone and muscle.
            "What—what happened?" Evan asked, groggily and rubbing his eyes.
            "Dead one," I replied, bluntly.
            At the sound of this, he immediately perked up and got up to his feet. "Where?!"
            "I got it already, go back to sleep you slow poke." I sheathed my Ka-Bar as the others got up.
            I shook my head. Man, they need help surviving. Seriously how did they get this far?

*later that morning*

            "Okay, so you said that you'd teach us to survive and fight the dead ones, Hayley. How are you going to do that?" Dylan demanded.
            "Well,  for starters, always be prepared. Be ready to wake up to the sound of your cans and deal with the dead," I replied. I looked around at our surroundings. "There could be more dead ones around here, and the sound of the cans will attract them here. We should probably move out before they come." I motioned first everyone to pack up their stuff and went over to my bag.
            "Where?" Kelsey wondered.
            Without a word, I stepped outside of the boundary. The group followed me to the road where four dead ones were passing by. I stopped the group and silently instructed them to stay quiet.
            "Ugh! I can't see! Evan, move!" Kelsey complained.
            "Kelsey! Calm down it's not like we are watching a movie!" Evan chided her.
            It was too late. The dead ones had heard her and were coming for us. I unsheathed my kukri and began taking them out one by one. I was startled when a gun went off and shot a dead one near me in the chest. I put it down immediately and turned around to see Dylan holding a gun. I shook my head and turned back around to put down the last dead one. I gestured for them to follow me.
            "What were you thinking back there, Dylan? You could've killed her!" Evan scolded as we walked down the street.
            "But I didn't. I saved her," Dylan protested.
            "You didn't save me," I said. "To kill a dead one, you have to aim for the brain. Shooting it in the chest won't do anything. Maybe it'll stagger back for a second from the force but that's it. Decapitating them doesn't kill them since the head still lives, but decapitating does stop them from walking."
            "Oh. Alright then," Dylan replied, quietly.
            "So where are we going, Hayley?" William asked.
            "Somewhere that can serve as shelter," I answered.
            "Do you know where you're going?"
            I looked at down the road we were on. I've been out in these woods many times for camping trips with my family before the end of the world came, so I knew my way around well. I knew what I was searching for. I glanced back at him and nodded.
            We walked for a few miles until the woods ended. There were a few stores that could serve as shelter, but they weren't what I was looking for. Plus the windows were broken. We finally came upon a Bass Pro Shop.
            "Well that's convenient." I chose Evan to come with me into the building and clear out any dead ones inside before bringing in everyone.
            I took a flashlight on display and banged it against the wall.
            "What did you do that for?" Evan demanded. "If there are corpses in here, they know that we're here!"
            "That's the point," I replied. "We want them to find us, so we can take them out quickly and not by surprise. If there are too many for us to handle, we can just leave since the door is right behind us."
            We waited for a few minutes before I banged the flashlight against the wall again.
            "If there are any dead ones in here, they should be coming. If none come, we have to go through the store and kill the one that must be immobilized," I said.
            After another few minutes of going through the shop. We found and took out about five immobile dead ones before returning to the rest of the group. "Damn I'm good at this."
            "So what are we doing here?" Dylan asked as Evan and I lead the group further into the store.
            "This is where we're going to stay," I answered. "There are firearms, ammo, targets, and knives that we can use. I'm surprised that there are still some in here, not a lot but enough."
            After boarding up some walls and blocking unnecessary doorways, I started their training immediately. I first taught them how to clean their guns, and then I moved onto loading and shooting. We found earmuffs and targets. I demonstrated how to shoot a gun and helped each of them as they practiced. They also tried out a few bow'n arrows but no one really had a knack for it.
            After watching them, I decided to take Dylan hunting with me at around noon since he seemed to be the best shot. We both took shotguns with scopes and ammo before we left the Bass Pro Shop.
            "So what are we hunting for?" Dylan asked.
            "Anything pretty much," I replied.
            In the evening at around six o'clock, we came back to the Bass Pro Shop with a deer for dinner. Kelsey was totally grossed out but it was funny none the less. Before I turned in for the night, I thought about what I was going to teach them the next day. I kind of felt like a professor teaching a Survival Skills 101 class. It was nice to have a purpose.

Flashback
"Well, you and your family seem quite prepared for this world," a man commended.
            "We can only hope that we survive," my mother said.
            Kyle was still in his bed across the room last I looked. It surprise me when he when he tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see him standing next to me. "You're so quiet it's creepy," I thought to myself. "Kyle, what are you doing?"
            "The same thing that you are doing," Kyle replied.
            I sighed. "Fine, but just be quiet. Not like that's hard for you."
            Suddenly, I heard a woman scream, "BEHIND YOU! DEAD ONES!"
            I peered out of the window and saw a large herd of dead ones coming from the woods. I watched as most of the adults began to panic and my dad tried to calm them down while shooting as many as he could in the head with his pistol.
            Instinctively, I shut the door and locked it. I didn't like leaving my parents out there, but I had to protect my brother, we all talked about this. "When trouble comes, protect yourself first." Dad always said that even before the apocalypse started. I upholstered my Beretta and unsheathed my Ka-Bar knife that were left on the table and took Kyle back to our beds where we waited. We heard banging on the door. Screams of agony, the sound of flesh tearing, and growling came from outside. The screams finally stopped, and the growling quieted down, only the shuffling of feet. Kyle and I sat there on the RV floor in silence, but after a few minutes, Kyle got up and ran to the door.
            I got up after him, but before I could stop him, he unlocked and opened the door. He stepped outside and began calling for our parents, but as I stepped into the doorway, I saw Kyle being surrounded by dead ones and torn apart. I tried to kill them with my Beretta as my poor brother shrieked, but it was no use. His screams died down before I could kill all of them, and I knew that he was gone. I killed the last one and stepped out of the RV to see my brother's mutilated corpse. Blood and bones was all that remained of him. I dropped down to my knees in grief and sobbed. I looked around at the other bodies, survivors and dead ones alike. Dead. All dead.
            I looked back down at Kyle's corpse. "I'm sorry, Kyle. I tried to protect you, but I failed. I'm sorry." I positioned my Beretta on his forehead and shot him to prevent him from turning. I went around and did the same for the other members of the group. I came upon my parents' bodies that were lying side by side on the ground. They weren't my parents anymore, instead they were changing into the dead before my very eyes. I stared at their gruesome bodies as I put both of them down.
            "I'm sorry. I love you both so much."
            *Bang. . .Bang*