The Apocalypse

Chapter 5

Jamie. That name haunted me every time I heard it. I continue to remember that dreadful day. "Do you remember her, Manny?" Peter asked. "All too well." I looked up to the Overwatch and said, "He's clean. He will stay with me." She nodded her head in approval. I showed Peter everything that our little community had to offer. "It ain't much, but this is what our life is now." I said. I looked to where Larson was, and to my surprise he was still laying there. I walked over to him and said, "You doin' alright, Larson?" He didn't move. I had grabbed a stick and I started to poke him, still nothing. Peter started to walk towards Larson. "Stay back, he might be turning."

When I had shot Larson, I wasn't planning to kill him. Just fatally harm. Then again, this wasn't the first time Larson had tried to kill me. I remember those times all too well now that my memory is coming back. Carl came running. "I heard gunshots, is everything alright over here?" I looked over to him and said, "You're a little late, Carl." He looked down to Larson, then back up to me. "Did he try again?" I nodded my head yes. Carl gave a sigh and went to go grab a shovel. "Look away, Carl." I said. I then put my revolver over Larson's head and fired. BANG. 

"Have fun in hell, Todd." I said as I kicked Larson's body over. "You can look now. Carl will take care of that stuff." I started walking towards my little hut. "Was that the Todd Larson from the baseball team?" Carl asked. "Yeah, the dumbass who almost lost us the championship." I opened my door and was surprised to see a note on my bed. It read: Dear Manny, I went to go scavenge for some more food. I will hopefully be back around sunrise of tomorrow. Signed, Richard.

"Richard is our scavenger. And ever since I showed up here he has been my best friend." I said to Carl. "What happened to you? What happened to Josh? What happened to everyone?" Carl asked. Josh. For some reason that name felt so familiar to me. "Who is Josh?" I asked. "Your brother." He replied. That was when I remembered everything. I remembered the tall, kinda slim guy I called my brother. Then I remembered my two other friends, Robert and Isaiah. However, where they went I couldn't remember. And this Abby, I don't remember her either.

"What happened to my sister?" Peter asked. I froze for a second, then I looked at Peter with tears in my eyes. " She turned." Was all I managed to say. "Did your parents know?" I asked. "My parents.....they uh....well? When this all star-" BANG BANG BANG. I quickly picked up my revolver and bolted out of my door. I looked to see how many bullets I had in my gun. "Two. That should be enough for a bit." Then I looked to see if I remembered my knife. I did, thankfully. "What happened, Chief?" "Manny! Get the hell down!" As soon as he said that I felt a bullet graze my head. "FUUUUUUUUUUCK!" I poked my head out and found the guy that shot. I aimed right at his dumb head and fired. BANG.

"Mother fucker hit me." I said as I started to reload my gun. Chief looked at me and said, "After this attack we have to get you to the doctor. We can't lose another. Not this time. I lost my daughters and I won't lose you." He stood up, grabbed a grenade and chucked it. BOOM. I stood up and poked my head out a little to see how many more there were. From what I could see, there were two more dudes. "Chief, I'm gonna get the one on the right you get the one on the left." He nodded his head in approval. We stood up, aimed, and fired. BANG. BANG. 

However, it weren't just my gunshots I heard. In addition to the four of us, there was another. But it wasn't a pistol, it was a sniper rifle shot. I ducked behind the wall I had been using for cover. I looked over to the Chief and I saw something I wish I had not. His head was half on and the other half split into two parts. "How in the fuck?" Then I felt a gun being pointed at my head. "I wouldn't get up if I were you, bub." I dropped my revolver and put my hands in the air. I couldn't do anything, because as soon as I had looked around I had noticed there were four more people surrounding us.

The man cocked his gun, and fired.

I woke up breathing hard and sweating a lot. I looked around me and saw that I was in my same room I had brought Peter to. I look over to see Peter sleeping in the bed that normally belonged to Richard. I put my pair of sneakers on and I walked outside. It was dawn. There was a banging on the front gate and I went to go see who it was. The Overwatch saw me and asked, "Rough night again, Manny?" "Yeah. It was about Chief. Who's at the door?" I asked. She opened the gate and revealed Richard, a tall, skinny man who had been scavenging for the night. 

"Oh, Manny is awake. I wasn't expecting you to be up this early. You never are." He laughed. I gave a fake laugh. "You find anything, Dick?" I asked. His smile faded. Overwatch and I laughed. Richard came closer and we shook hands. "Welcome back bro." I said. "Glad to be back." He replied. He looked at me and said, "While I was out there I found something." He handed me a wallet. "I believe this belongs to you." I opened up the wallet and it revealed a picture of Jamie and I when we went to the beach in California for her 18th birthday.

"How did you find this?" I asked. He shrugged and started to walk towards our hut. "Richard, there's a kid named Peter sleeping in your bed. He's safe, don't wake him up." He said "Sure." and walked into our hut. I looked back down at my the picture in my wallet. I took the picture out and kissed it. I turned the picture over and was surprised to realize there were words on it. They said: I wouldn't go to that hut if I were you.

I turned around and started sprinting towards my hut. KABOOM! The explosion knocked me back several feet. Everyone got out of their homes and went to go see what happened. BANG. I turned around to see Overwatch fall over from her tower towards the ground. Then splat. "GET INSIDE EVERYBODY! NOW!" Someone yelled. I ran into the nearest house and immediately shut all of the windows and doors. 

While I was upstairs I heard a baby crying. Then I realized whose house I was in. Instantly I regretted ever coming to this house. This house belonged to the Chief and his family. I immediately ran to the baby's room to see that he was being held by someone who didn't belong here. He looked at the baby, then at me, then back to the baby. "Gorgeous creature, ain't it?" He said. He took out a machete and put it against its neck. 

"Take another step and the baby is gonna get it. Just like its parents." I looked to the bed where the Chief and his wife lay, dead. The man chuckled. I charged at the man and he took his eyes off of the baby and dropped it. I grabbed my knife and I started slashing at the man. I managed to slice at his throat, and he got me pretty bad on my arm. The man dropped his machete and started to grab at his neck. I picked up his machete and jabbed it into his throat.

He dropped to his knees and looked up at me. I took the machete out of his neck and then I kicked him out of the window. I quickly looked down at the baby. And luckily the baby had managed to land on a pillow. While it wasn't completely safe the baby managed to make it out just fine. I walked over to the Chief and his wife and I grabbed the Cross they had above their headboard. I put it in between them both and I said to them, "I will make sure your son makes it. I will make sure nothing bad ever happens to him. I promise." I walked back to the baby and I picked him up. On his blanket was the name "Charlie". I looked at the baby and said, "So your name is Charlie eh? Just like your father." I smiled and left the house, baby in one arm and machete in my other.