Don't Be Afraid

Chapter 7

It's been almost two weeks and Issac refuses to stop and take a break. I think we're in Tennessee right now. The last time I checked the map we were in Ohio and that was two or three days ago. We've only stopped four times so Issac could rest, but that's only when I forced him to. If I don't force him he'll keep going until he falls asleep behind the wheel. It's happened twice and let me tell you, it's almost as scary as running into a freak.

My stomach grumbles, but I try my best to hide it.

"I heard that." Issac says. His eyes have dark circles under them and his skin isn't as bright as usual. I probably look the same. This is all so stressful.

"I'm fine. We can gather some supplies in the next town." We're out of food and only have one bottle of water left. We haven't eaten in about two days, but lately we've been a little too busy to search for supplies. We've been arguing about what our next move should be. I want to go to Florida, where the shore is, and get a boat. He wants to go to a thick, wooded area where we can hide and hunt. I don't know how to hunt, but he keeps saying he'll teach me. After a whole day of arguing I agreed to the forest. "We'll try it, but if we run into too much danger we're out. Gone and headed to the shore." I said. He happily agreed, but I had a bad feeling in my stomach.

"There's a town about a mile ahead. We'll stop the car and go to the nearest store. We need to find some food, water, and ammo. We're dangerously low right now." I nod my head and lace my boots up. Can't have any strings hanging out in case we get ourselves in a tight spot. I pull the strap on my gun over my shoulder and tie my hair up into a bun. I don't need any distractions. We get in and we get out. Nothing more, nothing less.

"You know what to do. Canned foods and water. Simple things that can't spoil easily."

"I know. I've done this before." He stops the car in front of a Walmart. We climb out  and stand in front of the doors.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Yup." I respond and step on the mat that triggers the doors to open. Before we walk in Issac throws a ball and let's it bounce. About five or six freaks walk towards us. We don't use our guns. They'll attract too much attention. Instead we use our hunting knives and take them out, one by one.

"That all?" Issac quietly yells over to me.

"I think." He walks down one of the isles and I go down another taking a cart with me. The lights are off so I have to use my flashlight to see what's on the shelves. I grab a bunch of cans of soup and some crackers. I walk to the end of the isle and stop. There's about three more freaks. I don't yell for Issac. Three isn't that bad.

I pull my knife out and creep up behind one. Grabbing its neck I shove my knife through the back of its skull. It falls to the ground. The other two are still occupied, so I take my chance. I stab the second one in the leg and it falls. My knife is stuck and the third is coming at me. Instead of wasting my energy on getting my knife, I lunge at the guy. We both fall on the floor and I start beating his head against the ground. I keep my mouth closed and squint my eyes so none of its blood can get in. It stops fighting and lays still. It's dead. I wipe my face and get up. The second man that I stabbed is clawing at the ground, not able to get up. I lift my foot up and slam it down on the guys head and do it again repeatedly until the head is nothing but mush.

"Rest in hell." I say and rip my knife out of the guys leg and wipe it on my pants. When I walk away something grabs my arm and slings me to the ground. Some woman is on top of me and blood is coming from her mouth. She tries to bite me but I hold her back.

"Issac!" I shout. The woman tries to claw at me and I use one of my hands to hold hers. For one of those things she's pretty strong. She must be fresh. 

"Issac!" I shout again. I hear footsteps thumping against the floor and the woman is ripped off of me. The man I see isn't Issac. The guy stabs the woman in the brain. When he's done he holds his hand out. I take it.

"You okay?" I wipe my hands off on my pants.

"Okay as I'll ever be. Thanks."

"No problem." Issac runs up behind the man with his gun held high.

"Linda are you-" He stops mid sentence and stairs at the new guy.

"Okay... who's this?" I shrug my shoulders and move to stand beside him.

"I'm Hunter. Pleased to meet you." He sticks his hand out, but Issac doesn't shake it. The guy pulls his hand back and sticks it in his pocket.  "What's your name?"

"Issac." I could feel tension, but I didn't really know why there was any. I walk over to Issac and check his arms for any scratches, making a distraction.

Hunter notices this. "Well it's nice to see people that aren't trying to eat you. I have a group. They're waiting close by." Issac puts his gun down.

I let go of his arm and speak up. "We'd like to meet them. If you'd be so kind to let us,  that is."

"Sure. Just let me finish up and we'll go." He walks away towards the frozen food section leaving us in the soup isle. When he's gone, Issac grabs my arms and starts looking me over.

"Are you okay?" I pull my arms away.

"Yeah. Hunter got to me just in time. Are you okay?" I raise my eyebrow and cross my arms.

He shakes his head. "Of course I am. I'm not the one who just got attacked. Don't worry about me." He gives me a hug, but ends it after a few short seconds. I hear footsteps and turn to see Hunter. He has a cart filled with stuff like cookies and pizzas. My eyes go wide. I wish I could eat this stuff again.

He smiles at us. "Are y'all ready to go?"

Issac answers, a little ruder than necessary. "Yup. We'll follow behind you in our car."

"Okay..." He walks past us and we start pushing random things in our cart, rushing to catch up.

"You'll love our place. There's food, running water, and a warm bed for anyone who needs it."

I nudge Issac and smile. "Running water!" I squeal. He laughs and pats my head like a kid.

"I heard." Hunter gets in his car and we get in ours. He heads towards the middle of town and stops at a hotel. He parks his car and we do the same.

He stops us at the entrance, a smirk playing on his lips. "Oh and if you're thinking we're staying at a hotel...don't. It's what's under the hotel that's important. So follow me." We listen to his instructions and follow him in. Halfway into the lobby he stops and pulls the rug up, opening a secret door. I gasp.

"I know. Pretty cool huh?" He winks at me and gestures for me to go.

"Ladies first." I climb down the latter first, followed by Issac, then Hunter. He places the rug over the door carefully and closes it.

He leads us down a couple of hallways and we stand in front of a huge door.

"Close your eyes. Both of ya." Hunter instructs. We do as we're told and hear the big door open.

"Okay.... you can open them now." When I do my mouth drops. Issac' s does the same.

"Welcome to Paradise."

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A/N

Hey guys! I updated on time.. kind of. Hope you enjoyed. Oh and I need suggestions on names for some extra people in this book. If you have any tell me. Bye :)