Z-Nation Imagines

Mara

The smell of rotting flesh was never something I got used to. In all three years of the z-pocalypse, the putrid odor of hot zombie still brought bile racing to my throat. So this situation my group and I were in had me pulling my bandanna higher on my face to escape the puke-inducing smell of dying Zs.

We were somewhere in the Midwest in the middle of July, trying to get Murphy's sad ass to California, when we got ourselves stuck in the middle of a town that must have been having a festival when the Zs took over. To be fair, we wouldn't be stuck if Murphy hadn't tried to make a run for it....again.

"Seriously", I looked at Addy as I freed my machete from another Zs head. "What kind of town decides to have a festival ENTIRELY DEDICATED to weed?"

"My kind of town," Doc said wistfully, swinging his crowbar down on another zombie.

I rolled my eyes playfully and smiled lightly at him. "Well maybe we'll get lucky and you can find a souvenir from the festival. I kinda want one of those hemp shirts, myself."

Doc smiled back, eyes crinkling. I grabbed Addy's hand and pulled her back over to Warren, who was just finishing off her own group of Zs with 10k and Mack.

Warren looked at us sternly as we approached, cocking an eyebrow. "Any sign of Murphy?"

We shook our heads and I pulled the cover off my face. "We have GOT to plant some sort of tracking chip on that blue son of a bitch...."

"Yeah, well, we have to find him first. 10k, go with Doc and Mara and take the west side of town. Addy and Mack, you'll come with me to the east side. We're going to find Murphy if it kills us."

"It just might," I grumbled, starting off to the West. Doc and 10k trailed just behind me as we swiftly covered ground, chatting softly.

I stepped up to one of the stands lining the street and grabbed up a large tye-dyed tee, stuffing it into my bag, before I tossed two more at Doc and 10k.

"Now we can match," I grinned widely, bringing a flush of pink to 10k's dirty face. Doc shrugged, head tilting to the side, before stuffing his tee into his own bag.

We looked through two more abandoned buildings, piking a few Zs along the way, when we got surrounded by a group of about 20 zombies. Doc had just found his "souvenir" at another one of the stands, when the dead came pouring in from alleyways and streets next to us.

I swore under my breath as I grabbed my machete from my hip. I should have paid better attention to our surroundings. We were running dangerously low on ammo, and I always liked to keep a few extra bullets handy as a last resort for the group, so I knew my gun was not an option. 10k pressed his back to mine, bringing his icepick up, and doc followed suit with his crowbar.

Then we started killing.

It took a good 20 minutes to dispatch all the Zs, with several close calls for each one of our small group. I piked a Z that was just about to snack down on 10k just as Doc picked off another coming up behind me, and then they were all dead.

I groaned, plopping to my hands and knees and retching on the sidewalk. Doc and 10k panted as they plopped down beside me and passed around a canteen.

"Well, there's still no sign of Murphy", Doc drawled, standing, "and the sun's starting to set. We should meet back with Warren and the others and see if they've had better luck."

I nodded and 10k stood, offering a gloved hand to me. I took it gratefully and stood, blushing slightly at 10k, before we headed off to find the others.