monster | troy otto

part two

From Grace's position in the back seat, she could see for miles. It was nothing but empty desertland for thousands of miles, as far as she could see.

It was silent in the truck, nobody spoke or sneezed or even coughed. They travelled nearly until sundown, which usually was when Grace made herself a camp to settle into for the night. They finally reached a large guarded camp, surrounded by massive walls with barbed wire, and slain corpses lined the outside of the walls. The smell was pungent, but Grace recognized this is a smart defensive strategy to ward off unwanted guests, of both the human and monster kind. 

She looked around as they slowly came to a stop in one of many uniform buildings. "Bring her into the office, Troy will have to decide if she's processed." 

The woman in camo beside her gave Grace a nudge, and off she went, being pushed and shoved into the building they parked in front of. She carefully noted her steps upon entering the building; down the long hallway, past three doors on the left and she was lead into the fourth. 

Questions sprung as she was locked into the office, much to her dismay. Not that she thought she was in trouble, but the entire situation was a little suspicious, to say the least. The word 'processing' came to mind and she wasn't fond of the way it had been said. She began searching the office, looking for anything that could be of use, but the only thing she found was a pen in the desk drawer. She stowed this away into her boot, as it wasn't the most useful, but should she come across any infected, it could come in handy.

She watched the door for hours before eventually giving in to the fatigue that plagued her. 

* * * * *

When she woke again, she came face to face with a man in uniform, although he appeared much more casual than the others she'd encountered. Not bothering to share pleasantries with him, she immediately asked, "Who are you? Where am I?" 

"My name's Troy. You're in my camp because you were picked up along the border of Mexico. Question; were you travelling north or south?" The man said, offering a cup to her. 

She took it, although she inspected it harshly. A quick sniff told her it was fresh coffee and she drank it slowly, savouring the taste. Most wouldn't trust a refreshment so quickly, but at this point, Grace had a disregard for her life. Sure, she killed monsters left and right, but if someone living decided to kill her? She wouldn't bat an eye. Grace was, obviously, in a bad place.

"I don't know. I lost my map a while ago, my watch ran out of batteries a few days ago so I don't even know what day it is today. " Grace voiced, holding onto the cup like a lifeline. 

"Are you a part of a group? Anyone you were travelling with?" He questioned, scribbling something down in the notebook in his hand. 

She had been, at one point, but they were all dead by now. So, she lied, "no, I've been on my own since the start."

He nodded, continuing to write something down. She stared curiously at the little book, raising an eyebrow when she pieced together that he was writing down their conversation. "Do you always take notes when conversing with people, or should I be worried about passing some sort of test?"

"No need to worry, I just like to document things. This may be the only thing future historians can use to piece together what happened to humanity." He explained, "you've already passed through processing, so you'll be free to go in a few hours."

Grace had a bad feeling that wouldn't happen, so as soon as he was out of the door, she began tearing the room apart again, only coming across a screwdriver behind one of the tall filing cabinets. She managed to open the door after slamming down on the doorknob with a chair a few times. The door broke open, and she quietly left the room, screwdriver in hand. 

She made her way outside, finding nothing but chaos. From the looks of things, Troy had been taken hostage by a blonde woman, who was holding him around the neck, with something held to his eye. Looking closer, she noticed it was a utensil actually stabbed into his eye. She grimaced, moving around the building to find a way out of this godforsaken camp. 

She came face to face with a dead one and plunged the screwdriver into its eyes while letting out a small shriek. That's when she noticed even more behind the first, and turned, running back where she came from. Walkers were coming at them from every angle, and she was fighting hard to fend them off. That was when the blonde woman from before let go of Troy, fighting the monsters as they made their way to a truck. 

She screamed when a dead one actually grabbed onto her arm, pulling at the sleeve of her jacket. In a moment, she'd unzipped the jacket and pulled herself free, leaving the monster biting on the fabric just as her arms were bare. She ran, avoiding as many as she could, using the screwdriver when needed, and nearly made it to the truck when she felt a tug on her hair. 

Then, a shot rang out, louder than the others, and she recognized it had been Troy, shooting a monster trying to get her. "C'mon, we gotta go, there's too many," he shouted, jumping into the pan of the truck while keeping a hand to his injured eye. 

Despite her better judgement, she followed closely behind him, still stabbing a few monsters through the eyes with the screwdriver in her hand. 

As they got away from the military base, Grace could see a helicopter trying to lift off the ground, but an undead fucker had grabbed on and somehow managed to keep a hold of the helicopter. She caught sight of Troy's gun, and quickly dove for it, managing to grab it before he could even move.

She lined up her shot and watched the thing drop to the ground. She wasn't sure if she'd gotten a headshot, but she hoped the fall was substantial enough to kill it again if she didn't shoot the brain.

Finally, she settled in against the cab of the truck, sitting next to Troy, her head occasionally bumping against the glass behind her. She would live to see another day, it seemed.