The Rocking Dead (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 4: An Old Friend and The Truth

Tom's POV: As we walked inside our new community, I was surprised at the appearance of the place. It looks like a small neighborhood untouched by the apocalypse outside. Well-kept houses, children running around playing, gardens, it baffles me how this place has survived this well.

"Follow me and we'll get you guys situated." Rick said.

"Do we have enough houses?" Michonne asked him.

"I believe so," Rick answered, "if not we'll just pair them up."

"Just don't stick me with Blackie." I said, "I don't know how long I can put up with him in a confined space." Blackie slapped the back of my head after I said that. "Dickbag." I mumbled so only he could hear.

"Jeff." Rick called. We all walked up to a man taking inventory of one of the gardens.

"Yeah?" He asked, not turning around. He looks like someone who belongs with us. I only say that because of his long, frizzy brown hair. That combined with his relatively short stature reminded me of my Jeff. Part of me hopes he just got lost and didn't die out there. He was the only member of Cinderella who survived with me.

"We've got some new additions. Do we have enough houses for them?" Rick asked.

"How many are there?" Jeff asked, still not looking at us.

"Six." Rick answered.

"Oh yeah, we've got plenty. I'll show them to their new humble abodes." Jeff said. He finally turned around to face us, and I looked at him in shock. He looked at me the same way.

It is my Jeff.

Without hesitation, we hugged each other, holding back our tears of joy.

"I thought you were gone forever you fuck." I said as I pulled away.

"I thought the same about you." He said, "When I went back to the shop awhile back you were gone and you didn't come back for days. I thought someone got you. Luckily I found this place and they took me in. Oh thank God you're ok." He hugged me again, "Why don't you stay at my place? I've got an extra room."

"I'll do that. We've got a lot to catch up on." I said.

"You two know each other?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, he used to be my band mate and then my partner in all of this." I explained.

"Rick I promise you can trust these guys. They were all my friends before all of this. Even big bad Blackie over there." Jeff said. Blackie looked at him with a snarl.

"Well then, I guess we really can trust them. Welcome to your new home. Get yourselves settled, then we'll introduce you to the others later tonight." Rick said.

"Thanks again." I called as he walked off. He raised his hand as if to say "You're welcome".

"Well, follow me." Jeff said. We all did as he asked.

•

Once we were all settled into our new homes, I decided to start walking around in order to familiarize myself with the place. I passed Blackie, who was sitting on the front steps of his house, watching Penelope play. He did tell me her name by the way. He looked happy watching her, but a little upset.

"You ok Blackie?" I asked, walking up to him. He seemed to snap back to reality as he looked up at me.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine." He said. I obviously wasn't convinced.

"Why'd you run back to get her?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, "It was the right thing to do. I wasn't gonna let a kid die."

"No Blackie," I responded, "Why'd you really do it? I know there's an underlying reason. And look how much you've connected with her already. It's like you've been her father all this time."

"I don't want to talk about it." He said.

"Blackie-"

"I said I don't wanna talk about it!" He snapped. I held my hands up and leaned back.

"Geez, sorry." I said. He quickly calmed down.

"No. I'm sorry. It's just-" he trailed off.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." I said.

"No, no. Maybe if I do it'll take all this guilt of my chest." He said.

"Ok, just take your time." I said. He was silent for a while.

"Her name was Ella," he finally started, "It started off the way you think it would. I fucked a groupie backstage in '78 and thought that was the last of her. Nine months later she showed up again, handed me a baby, said it was all mine, and walked out. I didn't want the kid. At least I thought I didn't. I was a rockstar, how could I raise a kid with my lifestyle? The thing that made me realize I really wanted this baby was the ensuing custody battle." I was entranced by his story. Blackie Lawless had a kid?

"Despite the fact she dumped the baby with me and wanted nothing to do with her," he continued, "we still legally had to figure out who got custody. The court for some reason leaned towards the groupie the whole time, and I supisingly fought as hard as possible to keep this baby. That's when I knew I wanted her. In the end, I was granted sole custody. When I looked into her brown eyes after everything was over, and she smiled at me, I couldn't have been happier to have her."

"That's sweet Blackie." I said, a small smile on my face.

"It was. Until that day." He said. My smile faded, and I could see tears start to form in his eyes.

"She was four. I was driving her to her ballet class. Everything was fine. She was in the back singing her made up song, and I was driving with a smile on my face. Then someone ran a red light and-" he choked up, "hit us on her side." I had a horrible feeling where this was going.

"I woke up in the hospital with only some scratches and bruising. When the nurse walked in with a 'bad news' type of look on her face, I knew something went wrong. My first reaction was to ask were Ella was and if she's ok." He paused, trying his damndest to hold back his tears.

"She told me she died on arrival. They tried to save her but couldn't. The trauma was too much for her little body to handle." At this point, he couldn't hold it back anymore, and was full on crying. "Seeing her little body one last time was the worst thing in the world. She was only four. Four. She had so much ahead of her. But one stupid fucking person took that all away."

"Blackie, I'm-" I couldn't find the right words to say.

"I see Ella in Penelope. I want her to have someone here for her, and make sure she has a good life under these horrific circumstances. That's why I saved her." Blackie said.

Suddenly, we saw Rick and another girl carrying Maggie on a makeshift stretcher. That can't be good...