[PENNSYLVANIA]
[ AMISH COUNTRY ]
"Amish zombies. Really?" Addy mused as 10k took the two bearded corpses out with his slingshot. I'd been shocked the first time he used it as I kept a similar one tucked next to Romeo along with several marbles and miscellaneous metal items.
"Really?" She repeated.
"They tried to quarantine themselves from the rest of society. Keep the Z's from spreading the infection." Garnett explained from the middle of the road.
"That's before we knew Romero had it right." Mack scoffed from under the hood of the truck. "We were all carrying the virus. Didn't matter who you were or how you died."
"Course the real zombies emulate the classic movie lore." I groan from where I was resting my head on Juliet in the back of the truck. "Go fucking figure."
"Night of the Living Dead. Great movie, shitty reality." Addy mumbled in response. I swear this group had more one liners than a crappy comedy sitcom.
Scratching Juliet on the head I tuned out the rest of the conversation on theory's about the spreading of the zombie virus. When it came to the apocalypse I tried not to concern myself with the hows and the whys. It happened. Can't change it. I just focused on keeping myself and my babies alive.
"I'm tellin' ya, there ain't nothin' there." Doc started up the conversation in the back of the truck. "No thoughts, no memories. No soul. Nothin'."
"Well they're not dead. They want something." Cassandra said, her input forever grim.
"Yeah. Brains." Doc nodded making me stifle a small laugh. 10k gave me a strange look before Cassandra spoke again.
"You can't want something if your not conscious, if you don't have a soul."
"When my pa was wounded, he told me to tie him up before he turned." 10k said, joining the conversation for the first time, still focused on the knife he was twirling in his fingers. "Made me promise to show him mercy when he died. Kill the brain, ya know?" He paused looking out at the field.
"I couldn't do it. I couldn't hurt my pa, no matter what he'd become. I stared into his eyes for the longest time, just looking for some sign he was still in there."
"Did you see anything?" Cassandra asked
10k just shook his head.
"What did you do?" Doc asked, voicing my own question.
"I killed it." He said his voice somewhat stern.
"Damn, kid." The genuine sympathy rolling out of Doc. "You had to put down your own dad?"
"I didn't kill him. Killed it." 10k said again. The tone of his voice forcing his emotions back.
"But if it's not alive, how did you kill it?" Cassandra piped up.
"Piked it." His voice grew before settling again. "Right here. My first kill." He said swinging the knife to gesture towards his forehead. "I always wish he knew, you know, somehow that I kept my promise."
"He did." I said breaking the somber silence.
"What?" He asked turning to me.
"Parents. They know. Somehow, no matter where you are or what your doing, they always know, like a super power. So he knew." I nodded staring up at the sky. "Your lucky, you know."
"How does that make him lucky?" Cassandra turned to me a slightly shocked look on her face.
"At least he had that time with his dad. I didn't even know where my parents were when the apocalypse started." My voice seemed to be working on its own. Sharing secrets I didn't really want to divulge. " I'd been living on my own for about a year, when the world ended." I told them. "I ran away a little after I turned 15."
