Eddsworld The Apocalypse

•Chapter 5•

•Edd's POV•

The muddy olive sky was painted dark as heavy clouds blanketed over our heads. A chill fall breeze brushed my skin, dirt and dust drifting across the cracked pavement. Emptiness grew inside my chest. The feeling made me squirm, I glanced towards Matt, his eyes shone like emeralds, brimming with hope. Through this I found reassurance, as long as Matt was here, nothing could go wrong.

My attention shifted as time seemingly paused. We stood at the end of a narrow street. Littered with rusted vehicles and trash. Hollow buildings that could hardly be called homes lined the edges. The wind sang in a quiet dissonance carrying along the stale stench of rotting flesh.

With a breath I managed to find a handful of courage and carried on, pushing aside my screaming urge to run away.

Details of the decaying town revealed itself as we passed. Every crack, every hole, every stained wall or window. But, the one part that got me was the thought that people used to live here.

I slowly found my previously gathered courage withering away as my gaze dropped to my feet.

In an attempt to distract myself, I slipped out one of my 9mm pistols from its designated spot. The silvery handle was ice cold in my palm.

A small mumble from Matt reached my ear, looking up I was slightly startled. It had been deathly quiet, so quiet, in fact, I hadn't noticed our surroundings. Slouched figures with torn clothing lingered around the corners of every building, luckily, they hadn't seen us.

I motioned with my gun to follow, as my other hand held Ringo's cat carrier and a duffle bag full of food and clothes. Bringing my gun flat against my chest, I swiftly hunkered down behind a nearby vehicle. Matt followed silently, plopping the other duffle bag next to me.

"What's the plan, Edd?"

Glancing through the filthy window above my head, I replied, "Hopefully, we can head through town using no ammo if possible. It would be best to avoid any unnecessary encounters. Then once we've found a place to set up camp, we can head back to the car for our stuff. Just like we had planned earlier."

He seemed uninterested, stating he didn't want to walk all the way back. I shook my head, and I checked around the car once more before we crept across the street. Keeping my breath as silent as possible.

"Maybe we'll find a quicker way to get there later, but we need to focus for now." I dismissed his complaint with a wave of my hand. Matt nodded understandingly, furrowing his eyebrows. A new seriousness I had yet to see with his ordinarily bright expressions.

We continued stealthily up north. Along the way, we had encountered a few lone zombies, but a bash to the head dealt with them well enough. And before we knew it, we had found our temporary settlement.

It was a two-story house, crooked wood fences lined the property. A single wooden gate creaked open invitingly. Foliage, dirt, and grime, decorated the house but otherwise, it seemed pretty stable. Inspecting further there were very few holes, and a few boarded off areas.

Matt checked his AK-47 as I set down my stuff next to the entrance. I slid out my pistols before turning to him. Gesturing a 'go' we began to search the house. Through the front door, I was smacked square in the face by a horrible stench, though it wasn't strong it still made my stomach churn. The smell of death always made me slightly lightheaded.

We continued to clear each room, killing off a couple zombies and blocking off useless rooms that could potentially cause trouble later. We collected whatever we could find useful, and we soon grabbed our things, settling up in a room on the second floor.

It was quite spacious, most likely the master bedroom thus indicated by the king-sized bed. Its features were quite luxurious if you ignored the peeling discoloured paint. A large window was boarded up next to a door opposite from the one we had entered. Peeking through the boards, I noticed an uneven balcony. Even the slightest gust of wind made it lean.

This would only be useful as an emergency exit, I concluded. A rusted dresser hid in the corner of the room and, shoving it from its place, I dragged it in front of the exit to the balcony.

We laid down our things, unrolling our sleeping bags on the mattress ugly with stains. It would be comfier than the floor but I'm not touching the filthy thing.

Setting my backpack by my side of the bed, I opened Ringo's Carrier, she padded out, stretching her tiny legs. She gave a happy mew, glad to be out of the cramped box. It was difficult taking care of a pet during these times. She was so strong, I smiled as I pet her proudly. Ringo was a brave cat.

"We should have just stayed at the gas station, this place sucks!" Matt whined, plopping down on the squeaky bed. I nod in agreement, the building was covered in gross stains, and the stench was horrible. It probably wasn't as safe even after our small modifications. The walls were thinner and very few doors had proper locks. Our only other exit from this room was quite a fall.

Maybe we actually should have stayed back for a little while...
Guess it's too late now...

"Welp, let's eat real quick then we gotta go get our stuff from the car" I stated, sliding my bag over to my feet.

Matt jumped up. "Wait, we're going back!?"

Had he already forgotten?

"Yes, now eat." I handed him an opened can of cold ravioli, he regarded the can with a frown. Grabbing the can, he pulled a fork from his bag. Grabbing another can, I twisted the can opener, popping open the lid. I searched for a utensil, shuffling through my bag for a while.

"Here," Matt tapped my shoulder, holding another fork out.

I smiled, taking it. "Thanks."

As we ate, I noticed the scar on Matt's face, right across his nose. He was pretty upset when that happened.

I was quite fond of Matt, he was especially courageous when going into a fight. You could count on him to help you up in the most dangerous situations. He'd never leave anyone behind, even if the conditions weren't in his favour.

He actually got that scar because of me. It was pouring that night, and it was super foggy. Matt and I were working to grab the last of our things and move it to the swat van when we had first discovered it.

I was carrying one of our larger duffel bags, sprinting through the haze. I wasn't paying much attention, and I tripped on uneven pavement. I knew I had landed funny on my foot and I couldn't really stand. Before I had realized what had happened, a zombie pounced on me.

We hadn't known how serious it was to carry a weapon on you at all times. So, without my pistols, I attempted to shove the zombie off me, but it wouldn't budge. The rotten corpse threatened to bite my face off. Matt was coming from the same direction with his bags, and he noticed me struggling. Without a moment's hesitation, he threw one of the bags knocking off the zombie. But, we had already been surrounded by a small crowd. Matt got tackled to the ground, it scratched at his face multiple times.

The rain flooded the streets as we fought to get them off us, Matt smashed the bloodthirsty thing with the other bag, scrambling to his feet to kick another one off me he quickly helped me up. He gave me the bags and scooped me up bridal style. Matt carried me as I held the three bags in my lap.

I remember how much he complained about the stupid zombies afterwards, but never once had he blamed me for tripping, for not paying attention, or for spraining my ankle. I smiled softly, finishing the last of the can.

Almost time to go.

//word count 1374//

//Sorry for the wait!//