Loving a Wounded Huntsman

Chapter 1: The Start

Our campsite was small and falling apart. After the rising of dead people, we decided that our home was no longer safe.

And by we, I mean my stupid mother.

She was an ignorant, rude, and terrible lady. As sad as it is to say, I hated my mother.

It was probably around two weeks ago when I had decided to send her away from our campsite. She had stolen food from me and my young sister, Casey. She even tried to kill me so she could have the old mattress we found hidden in the back of the old canoe shed.

My sister Casey and I are staying out at Lake Coclon Campsite in Sander, Georgia.

Its exactly 10 minutes out from the major city of Atlanta, where one of the biggest breakouts was occuring.

It still seemed like a better option then this dump.

The dead people would always come out from the woods at night beating at our cabins. It kept us up, and caused more noise tempting a herd to come our way.

By morning we would have to go out the back way, and kill every single one, and burn them. Wasting our matches and daylight.

Today, however, we were lucky enough not have any dead banging on our cabin doors.

"Casey. Do you hear that?" I asked with a jolt of excitment. For the first time since we moved out here, we heard the robins tweating and the water rushing into the lake behind us.

I turned to see Casey's bed empty, and the back door open.

"Casey?" I yelled out out the back door.

"Shhhh! Shut Up Zahi! Dont wanna attract more, do you?"

I scowled at her. She knew how much I hated the nickname Zahi, and how worried I got with her.

My real name is Shay Williams, but Zahi is my middle name. It was supposed to be a meaningful name that I would carry throughout my life, but by age two, I hated it. It means beautiful, and I'm pretty sure I lost that by age two.

"Isn't it just beautiful outside?" Casey said in her melodramatic way.

I chuckled and went along with it.

"Why it sure is lovely. Quite lovely." I said in a British accent, covering up my big country accent.

Casey looked at me joyfully. We both jumped at the sound of twigs cracking.

"Casey get my bow and arrow." I whispered to her quickly.

Casey was fetching my bow and I looked around the thick Spanish Moss, draping the forest like a window curtain. I saw large feet in some old, torn cowboy boots.
I acted as if I saw nothing and asked my normal questions for when it came to strangers.

"Are you friendly?" I asked to the unknown person, hoping for an answer.

No sound came from the thick oak forest in front of me.

"Are ya friendly, or not?!" I asked louder this time, more anger in my tone.

Still nothing in response.

I walked back up, and looked around the moss once more and saw no signs of the cowboy boots.

They must have left, thankfully. We were in the clear.

"False alarm Casey." I said to her.

No answer.

I ran back to the cabin to see her packing up her stuff in the small Hello Kitty backpack she managed to keep.