Living Among the Dead

Troy - Lonely Road

Day 44

"The city. Where we stayed about two weeks ago. There was a place. They called it a safezone. Go there. I'm gonna get rid of those two and try and get back to you." the short chubby man with balding hair whispered. Troy nodded, brushing back his dark brown hair and stuck his hand out.

"Thank you for everything Jeremiah." Troy said

"Don't thank me yet." his good friend said, shaking his hand and patting him on the shoulder. Troy then put his hands on the strap of his backpack and began walking away from the small campfire that was warming the area. He looked at the ground, following the tracks that he, Jeremiah, and the other people in his former group had created. He glanced back and saw his friend talking to the younger girl of the group and then saw the two leaders who were basically holding the others hostage.

"Assholes." Troy muttered, turning his head back around and following the tracks. He looked down at his left hand and move around his fingers, wincing slightly. His knuckles were bruised after punching Wesley.

. . .

Making his way out of the woods, Troy felt his stomach flipping in circles from the lack of food. He stopped for a moment on the side of a dirt road that was covered by snow. He threw down the backpack he had and opened it up. Inside was a single water bottle that was only half full, along with a small switchblade knife. He pulled the water bottle out and took a small sip. Troy sighed and threw the bottle back into the bag, zipping it up, and then picking it back up. The sun was beginning to set and there was no shelter for miles. He slowly began to walk again, having to guess where to go at this point since snow now covered the footprints he and his former group had left.

. . .

Troy sat against a sign that read "Delaware County". It was the one thing that let him know he was headed in the right direction, since his group had passed it when entering the woods. He used his bag as a pillow and rested his head on it, staring up at the pitch black sky. His teeth chattered together while his body shook from the freezing night air. He wrapped his arms around himself and brought his knees up close to his chest.

"Got on my deadman's suit..." Troy softly spoke to himself, trying not to stumble his words while also doing his best to recall the words. "... and my smilin' skull ring."

"My lucky graveyard boots, and a song to sing." he continued to softly sing to himself. "I got a song to sing. It keeps me out of the cold." he sang, right as a chill went down his spine.

"And I'll meet you further on... up the road." Troy said, closing his eyes slowly. His body continued to shake as a strong gust of wind picked up in his area, causing snowflakes to fall on him.

. . .

Day 45

"Troy!" a girl's voice shouted out. Troy's eyes remained shut, but he winced in his sleep.

"Troy get up!" the female voice shouted out to him again.

Suddenly Troy was standing out in a field. Everything around him was white, and there was nothing in sight for miles. He took one step forward and the sound of snow crunching under his boots echoed out. He looked forward and saw a woman standing there, one arm extended out to him.

"Troy! Troy come on!" she shouted to him. Troy cocked his head to the side, squinting his eyes to see a woman in her mid 40's with short dark brown hair.

"Mom?" Troy asked starting to smile while taking another step forward. The woman smiled, but another figure was quickly approaching her from behind. Troy's hopeful expression soon turned to fear and worry. "Mom! Behind you!"

"Troy we need to go!" she called out to him again as the figure got closer. The figure grabbed her and tackled her to the ground right in front of Troy. He attempted to run forward but found that his body couldn't move. Troy struggled and was forced to watch as the figure bit into his mother's neck, causing her to scream out in pain.

"Run Troy! Run!" she shouted out as her last words.

. . .

Troy's eyes snapped open, and he found himself staring up at an undead creature hovering over him. The zombie chomped it's teeth together right in his face. Troy scooted away to see that part of the zombie's shirt was caught on a part of the sign, and it had somehow kept it from falling on top of him. Troy let out a sigh of relief just as the shirt snapped, and the undead creature was set free.

"Shit!" Troy muttered to himself, scooting backwards in the snow. The zombie fell down, right at Troy's feet and began grabbing at his boots. Troy kicked at it, reaching around in the snow for something to use. His left hand felt something cold and hard, and lifted it up. Troy looked at the rock in his hand and back at the zombie who was about to bite at his foot. He slammed the rock down into the zombie's head over and over until nothing was left. Once the threat was taken care of he dropped the rock and fell backwards.

"Oh my-" Troy turned his head to the side in the middle of his sentence and threw up. He coughed, and felt a tear roll down his cheek. Slowly he stood up, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. He spit on the body of the dead zombie and walked back to the sign and grabbed his backpack. Walking past the corpse, he began following the trail of abandoned cars that littered the untouched white blanketed roads. He took a deep breath and zipped up the light jacket he had.

. . .

Day 47

Finally, Troy had reached the city and had created a makeshift base inside one of the many abandoned buildings. He sat in the lobby on what he assumed was an office building and stared at the glass doors. Bags had formed under his eyes from not sleeping after witnessing the nightmare about his mother. His elbows rested on his knees as he leaned forward. His hands were cupped over his mouth. Troy blinked once, then shook his head, fighting off the feeling of being tired. He took a deep breath and sat up, shaking his arms and rolling his shoulders.

"Stay awake man. Stay awake." Troy whispered to himself, slapping himself in the face lightly. He leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms over his chest. Staring at the two glass doors his eyes began to flutter, and his head slowly began to droop to the side.

An engine roared from the heart of the city, causing Troy's eyes to shoot open. He jumped up from his chair and felt his heart racing. Two bright lights filled the street outside, which belonged to a large army truck that quickly drove down the street. Hanging onto the back of the truck were soldiers with large assault rifles.

"Holy shit." Troy said, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "It's true. They're still up and running."