The Dead Don't Talk (Book 1)

Chapter 7: Tomorrow

We kept on walking and it was at least noon at this point. I remembered that Christian had given me a few things of water. It was so hot out here, I had never been out this long in the sun for several hours since I was at least 4, maybe even younger because I never went out a lot. And neither had Angela up until the apocalypse had actually happened. Back then I had remembered her talking to her friends and her boyfriends on her phone, she seemed to have a new one every week.
But now that had changed, she had been dating the same guy up until he disappeared along with the other group. I liked Tyler a lot, and I appreciated him for standing up for me yesterday afternoon. I never understood why Angela would never give him a chance.
"Kid stop thinking so much and keep walking... The more you think, the more likely you are to get killed." Christian said to me from ahead. I listened to him, I had really always had a problem with thinking too much. My mother used to tell me the same thing, I wouldn't be paying attention and one of the dead would sneak up on me.
"Sorry... And my name is Benjamin by the way... Like Benjamin Franklin." That was the only person I really knew about from the old world. I remembered how he had created eletricity. We still had a bit of that in our community, just a different sort of that. We had solar panels that were all over the community, but we weren't really aloud to use to many of them besides a few rooms in the house at the same time. We couldn't find anymore, and we had gotten them from the old group, they were supposed to give us more with my sisters trade but all of those were destroyed. Another reason why my sister believed that another group attacked them. But no one would believe her or really listen to her.
"People wont believe what they don't understand." she had told me. "They think the world is still all nice and friendly." She said. I knew even that was not right, I had heard of scavengers and wanderers getting killed because of people attacking them.
Yep whatever buddy, Im just gonna keep calling you kid. You learn someones name in this world and care about them... That's when your heart breaks. I've been through it too many times, so I call you kid, and you call me trainer, master, whatever feels nice to you." Christian responded to me. I almost wanted to give him a smart comment like, "yes master" but I let in roll through my head, I know he wouldn't like me saying something like that... This didn't seem like one of the guys you could mess around with.
We continued walking and then he stopped me. Pointing in a direction, but I didn't see anything anywhere near what he was trying to show me.
"See that, caught some squirrels, that's about 3 of them come on." He told me. Ew... Don't tell me he was eating those and actually thinking they were good. I remember my sister had told me she had to eat one of those when she was out on a mission with our stepdad, she had told me that it wasn't all that bad... But I didn't believe her.
"You're not telling me that we are about to eat that right?" I said to him. He laughed and then began heading towards it, pulling them off of the little trap he had set for them. Now that I think about it, Angela had told me it was Christian that had taught them how to do that.
"Of course we are, you're going to get real hungry really soon... They really don't taste all that bad... Just ask your sister, Peter had told me she actually kind of liked the first time that she had squirrel. Peter being our stepdad of course... This isn't your time, people have probably always told you that you can't eat them, but even before this all happened I was hunting squirrels with a BB gun." He told me. I had no clue what a BB gun was but it did sound really painful, surely that would just tear the squirrels in half right? Sounded like some sort of shotgun, or something along those lines.
"I mean I guess, but are you sure its not going to poison us or anything?" I asked him. He let out another laugh, I wasn't to sure what was so funny to him. I didn't want to die from eating one of those. If I was going to die, that most definitely was not going to be the way I went out, I would go out with a bang... Fighting something, or maybe even someone to save other peoples lives.
"Maybe if you just eat it raw... But you don't eat any of that chicken raw do you?" He told me. I shook my head no, which sort of made since what he was saying, I don't know how I could be so stupid. "Alright there's a little cabin in those woods, we are going to head towards those and maybe or catch a deer or something. There isn't many undead out it the woods. They don't want to get split up from their heard."
It made since... But I had always been told that the undead were really dumb and that's why they only ate people, they didn't go after any guns to shoot us down, the world would have been gone within a year if that were so.
You could die and not get bitten, its like her friend that had attacked me last night, she had died and not gotten bitten, Liam was wondering why there wasn't any blood on her. Maybe she was poisoned, Angela said that Shannon was doing that to people that were trying to take her down and she was one of those women. I hadn't ever really met her but she was trying her hardest to try and stop her.
I wondered why I never really had seen the evil side of Shannon until now... Angela said she was a good leader, but if anyone tried to take her down then she would take them down. And the way the had been talking earlier, I guess I didn't notice it until now... She should be taken down if she was killing people in our community.
After a few moments of me just thinking to myself Christian then finally got the last of the squirrels out of the trap and then we began heading to that cabin that he had told me was in the woods.
"Now one thing you must know is, not all the time you are out here means that you will be killing the dead, unless you have a lot of supplies you will need to get some food and water, or else you want be able to go very far like the wanderers." He told me. I nodded and we kept on walking till he began talking again.
"Now, we put up some stations here and the with plenty of food and water from some wagons, we restock those every few months. You going to have to learn where all those areas are. For now you have me, and will for a few months after Im done training. But after that I'll give you a map, you should have a warrior with you, but they aren't always good with the areas you are in. They're just more to follow you and help you kill in case someone attacks you or there is a small heard on you. Even I always have a warrior on me, your sister sometimes doesn't but she is lucky." He told me. Really? I had always thought that Shannon always made a warrior go out with you if you were going to be out there for several days. I guess Shannon didn't really care about Angela so it would make sense.
We then made our way to the cabin... It looked a bit familiar but I wasn't sure where I had seen it from. Probably just my imagination I thought and then shook those thoughts from my head. We then headed to a campfire right next to then cabin.
"Me and Peter used to come here about once a month and meet up, but you know what happens when I have friends..." He said to me, looking down at the ground sadly. I didn't really have any friends so I couldn't really know what he meant by that at all.
He then put a little bit of charcoal from a nearby bag and put it on the fire. We sat down for a little bit and just didn't say a single thing to one another. I didn't really have anything to say to him, and I didn't want him to get even more upset.
"So kid, tell me your story... How did you get here and all of that... You must have been like 2 or 3 when it all happened... No doubt that you probably don't remember any of it, parents used to be the leaders... I lost all of my family right off the start. Saw my own wife tear apart my young child, tore me apart... I was broken for a long time, Peter brought me back into the light." He said to me. I didn't really have anything to say. I missed my mother and stepfather greatly, my father I never really remembered.
"So I don't really remember it all that much besides running and hiding in gas stations... That's where we food get our food and all of that." I said to him, he nodded telling me to continue on with the story.
"I just remember running and hiding everyday, my parents would always tell me to not go near those things, I always just thought they were sick and just needed help." I told Christian. He was looking down sadly, and I almost didn't want to continue the story because I knew it was making us both depressed.
"Didn't we all kid, that's how I lost my child, maybe he would still be here today... Maybe not, maybe he would have died on that storm like your parents... That killed hundreds... We had to clear out that place for over a month." He responded to me. I looked down like he was, I didn't really like talking about it or hearing other peoples stories but I would listen to him I suppose.
"Think the negative, then negative things will happen." I said back to him. He just laughed and then let out a bit of a cough, probably from all of the smoking he used to do.
"And kid, you're telling me you're all positive and positive things happened to you?" He told me. It was a good point but we just held a bit of a silence for a while before Christian finally stepped in.
"Alright kid, continue the story, I don't got much to talk about besides training you, to be even better than me is my hope." He said to me. I didn't really want to keep going on with the story because just thinking about it made me sad but I would tell him.
"Don't really remember my dad all that much, I was about 5 when he died, Peter was a great guy and he loved my mom, they made a great kid... Wish that they hadn't died the way they did." I said back at him. He then began to pick up the squirrels from the fire pit.
"Yeah Angela told me all about it, how they were slowly torn apart. Glad I was the one to have to end them, I don't think your sister could have done that no matter how tough she is. I couldn't do it and I had a gun when it happened to my child, I ran like a coward, and now they are probably in that same house today." He told me. It gave me an idea that we might be able to do.
"How far away is it? We can go do it now if you would like." I said to him. He shook his head sadly and I saw a tear drop from his face. Something I would have never thought I would ever see from this man.
"Its only about 5 miles out, I can't do it though... Im not a perfect person that can do everything, people expect greatness from me and I just have to pretend that I can do it." He responded to me. I never thought he was great, and I always thought that he was just a bit of a dick but I was glad that he was finally opening up to someone.
"I can go and do it if you'd like..." I said to him. He didn't say anything for a while and he took one of the squirrels from the dead fire pit. He then began to bite into it.
"Nah kid, I don't even want to be near that. Maybe when you get a bit older..." He told me. To be fair I was in no shape to be doing something like that and I was a bit young for something like that... I had even failed to kill the first undead that I had gotten in contact with. "You don't even know how to kill one... We wont go more than 2 miles out within the first week. Here at least try a squirrel."
He then handed me one of the squirrels and then put the 3rd one in his backpack. I didn't want to really try one but I suppose I would... I then grabbed it not really knowing what to do with it.
"Cmon kid, just eat it like its a normal piece if meat... If you need to close your eyes like I did the first time then go right ahead." He told me. I didn't need to close my eyes, I wasn't sure that it was going to make me feel any better. "You wont get a chance for a while, I don't normally catch these but once a week, and I know you are hungry, you didn't eat anything back at my place." He told me. I shrugged my head, to be fair I wasn't hungry then, but I was hungry now. Screw it... I bit into it...
Then I spit it out, it was absolutely disgusting... He then began to laugh, I knew it was a joke, and I knew Angela was going to trick me with that too.
"C'mon kid, you'll get used to it, the first one isn't the best one, never seen anyone have quiet the reaction that you just had though." He said to me. That was probably the worst thing I had ever eaten besides those sweet potatoes that my mother used to give me before all of it went down, we still had those but they were never at my place.
"Yeah sure, you just wanted to get a laugh out of me, how can you stand to eat that!" I said back at him. He then began to laugh again.
"C'mon it ain't all that bad, you cant be telling me that, the first one isn't great but you will get used to it, I got traps all around these parts, I eat these nearly once a day." He said to me. I truly doubted that I would get used to something as nasty as that. And thinking of eating those nearly everyday almost didn't want me to have this job anymore.
"Please no, Ill take a sandwich with me any day. Not that though..." I responded to him, he then finished off his squirrel and then picked mine off the ground and began eating it.
"Well I was going to share that as a snack on the road as the 3rd one, but now that I am eating yours, I don't think that I will be all that hungry, oh well, it'll be dinner for tonight, more food for the rest of the community." He said to me... It disgusted me just even thinking about that squirrel, I had no idea how he could even dare eat that thing. "You're going to have to try another one of these tomorrow, they aren't chicken or steak, but they certainly are pretty tasty."
"No thanks, Id rather eat dog shit." I said to him. He laughed and then got up from his spot on the log/bench. He then told me to drink some more water which I did not realizing how dehydrated I was. I then went over and peed on the ground. Making sure that Christian was not watching me. It would be a bit weird.
I used to go hiking with my family, before all of this had started, and there were no toilets or bathroom places nearby us. So my dad would always sit down together and just begin peeing out there. My sister and mother found it disgusting, they always told us to not drink before before we went hiking but we always did.
We would go out to eat after that, we did that usually once a month besides the winters.
I then pulled my pants all the way back up and then headed towards Christian, he was doing the same thing and I looked away before I could see anything. He then began walking over to me with a goofy smile on his face.
"Alright lets go ahead and make our way back, its around 3 right now, we should make it there around 4 and time for you to go pick up you little brother, uh what's his name Leonard?" He asked me. I shook my head, he should know his own best friends childs name. But I guess after Peter died, he wasn't really friends with Angela besides a few times that they had talked.
"His names Liam, and he is super smart, its a shame that Shannon is the leader, he would make a good part of that group, but he's also big and since he's smart he could do great out here." I said to him. He went ahead and nodded and then told me to follow him.
I would definitely need that map for a while until I figured out the entire landscape, the wanderers always needed a map from the state, one time they had even crossed into Virginia but they said there was nothing really nearby that they could get. Some day we would go hundreds of miles out, but so far we had explored basically everything within a 40 mile radius, that's how we had found that other group.
It had to mean that there were other groups maybe not in the state but at least somewhere in the country or the world. Im sure someday a group of wanderers might pass by another group and they might meet. I never understood why people thought we were the only living things left on this planet. Surely there were other people smart enough to make a community like us... And if there were people out there that we were still finding then that meant that there had to be other groups.
We kept on walking, but then Christian held me to a stop and then nodded, I had no idea how he could hear or see those things, if I didn't find out sometime soon then I would be one of those things too. But I couldn't think thoughts like that, or thoughts like that might turn into a reality.
"How do you see those?" I asked him, he just grinned and then waited a few seconds to respond.
"Sometimes I see them from far away but most of the time I hear them from around 50-100 feet out, like that one right there, the other one I saw earlier... That's why I don't let warriors come with me... They are loud and I cant hear. Besides, im a bit of everything so I don't need one watching me, I let Peter come with me a few times however." He said whispering to me. I then noticed that I was a bit loud and I was lucky that it didn't hear me because that's what they were good at. "They don't walk right, they stumble and all of that other shit, they aren't hard to hear if you pay attention."
I then began to pull out my machete and was ready to head towards it. Christian then stopped me, holding me back. Did he think I wasn't ready?
"Kid stop, remember what I showed you earlier, you were soft with that shot and it fell of your hand, got stuck in its head but didn't kill him. You have to hold on to it right and hit it in this spot." he showed pointing at my head. I nodded and then began to creep up on the thing.
It then heard me from not far away and i went with my natural instinct and then ran up on it. I smashed to right through the skull but then realized that it wasn't exactly the right spot and it was stuck inside my head i tried pulling it off.
It worked but I fell back like earlier when I pulled it off. I tried swinging at its legs but the realized how stupid I was because I knew that everyone had told me how to kill them. Shot to the head...
Suddenly Christian ran in quickly like he did earlier and then hit it in the correct spot. I looked down sadly, a little disappointed. I had failed once again and looked like an idiot, he probably thought that I was an idiot.
"Nice try kid, took me a while to kill my first one, hell it took everyone else even longer, and some have never even killed one. You just barely missed the spot, and I don't blame you for smacking it when you were down, it was a natural instinct." He said to me. Which actually sort of surprised me because he was a bit of a dick earlier but this time he had nothing wrong to say about me. He then grabbed my hand and then pulled me up.
"Thanks I tried doing what you had told me but after it had saw me, I just wasn't too sure what the hell had gone through my head." I said to him. He nodded and then we kept walking. I could see the gates from about half a mile away, the sun was drizzling down and making it a bit wavy, it wasn't near night time but it still was going down in the sky.
"Hey you did well today kid, Im proud of you, way better than your sister did, it took her a while but I bet you'll get one tomorrow."