Bite Me

0.2

It was starting to get colder every day. Kay had survived winters before in this house, but she was cold. Just downright cold constantly, it was worse when she would be going out for supplies. Sometimes it would even snow!

She was down at the little river by her house washing her clothes, probably for the last time until spring. The sun was now falling behind the trees and Kay's breath was beginning to show in front of her. Once her teeth started chattering, she packed up her clothes and went inside to hold onto the little warmth she had left. Setting the clothes on the railings overlooking the stairs. She walked into her bedroom and shut the door. Staying in her slightly dirty, grey sweats she laid down in her comfy bed, and set the knife from her hand onto the bed next to her.

She snuggled up under the comforter and hugged the other blankets towards her body. Her warmth was slowly coming back and Kay finally began to relax.

——

Coming up from a night of light sleep, Kay stretched.  It was fully dark out now but her eyes were fully adjusted. Hearing a noise from downstairs, Kay grasps the knife beside her and readies herself to kill a Roamer. She pushes the blankets off her relaxed form and stands. Though, when she reaches the door to the bedroom, it whips open and she is staring straight at the point of an arrow. His flashlight momentarily blinds her. She backs away and takes her gun from the desk frantically. If anyone was going to shoot first, it'd be her.

"Hey kid, put the gun down and he can talk this out. We don't want any trouble." The man speaks, making no move to lower his weapon.

We? Kay thought. No way was she going to give her things, that she had nearly died for, to a group of strangers.

Her aim didn't waver as she spoke, "Bite me." The man scoffed, Kay cocked her gun and her eyebrow. She was showing this man that she wasn't afraid to shoot him. Her finger inched towards the trigger, her aim never wavering.

"Daryl what are you- Dad!" A voice from the hallway exposed more people in her house. Footsteps echoed through the house and soon enough, Kay had three weapons trained on her. Fuck me.

"Drop it." The man spoke again. Darin? Who cares. Kay darted her eyes between the three weapons and sighed. She didn't want to give this place up. She'd been living here for the past two years, she'd grown up with this house, she'd survived in this house.

Kay held her hands up in a surrender motion. She wore a defeated expression, for she was. She audibly turned the safety back on.

"On the floor." She bent down slowly and placed the gun on the floor. One man stepped forward and grabbed her gun from the ground. He handed it to the man with the arrows behind him.

"I'm going to check you for weapons now, nothing sketchy." He assured you. Like how all the damn Roamers aren't sketchy either.

Kay rolled her eyes, "Dude I was sleeping why would I have another gun." The man said nothing, he only began patting her down. He went from her arms to her hips to her legs.

"She's good." He reassured his comrades. They lowered their weapons. "We'll just need to stay here for a day or two, catch our bearings, find more supplies."

"Yeah, okay. Why can't you just go down to the houses down the block and just leave me alone." Kay remarked sitting on the bed. The guys had filed out of the doorway and were just looking at her. The one with a weird cowboy hat surveyed her room, while the other two just looked at her.

"It's the middle of the night, kid, we're not going to risk it. Plus you could maybe show us a little kindness and give us some supplies." The same man who patted her down spoke. He had kindness in his eyes and little malice in his voice.

Kay couldn't have rolled her eyes harder, "Find your own damn supplies and get the hell out of my house." She spat. God, I want nothing to do with these people. She thought while a nasty glare played with her features. All eyes were on her now.

"Now you are not in the best position to make demands here." The man she saw first spoke up.

"What's your name?" The youngest one wondered aloud. His groupmates' eyes turned to him, but he only responded with, "What? If we're staying in her place we might as well know her name."

"Why should I tell you?" She was just being difficult for the sake of being difficult now.

"'Cuz you're not dead yet." The scruffy-looking man seemed not so fond of her.

"You first."

"I'm Carl." Cowboy spoke up again, he was eager to know someone close to his age. Obviously.

"I'm Rick Grimes, his father." The word 'father' struck a nerve in Kay. She did her best not to let it show to these strangers, but she visibly tensed. She moved her eyes to the third man - though she might know his name already. Rick, Carl, and Darin.

"Daryl." He grunted. Carl, Rick, and Daryl. Carl, Rick, and Daryl.

"Kay." She spoke. The room went silent. Are they just gonna leave? The three made no move to leave. What do they want? The man - Rick answered her question like he was reading her mind, "We're gonna be staying here tonight. Not in your room, but in the house. If you want to show us where that's fine. Then tomorrow we'll either ration your supplies or scavenge some more. Is that okay with you?"

"We're going out tomorrow and you'll find your own supplies." Rick nodded. "You can follow me for more beds." As Kay walked through the door she took her gun back from Daryl and nobody made any remark about it. Their flashlights illuminated the way in front of her, though she knew the layout of her house like the back of her hand. She led them down the short hallway. There were two more rooms. "Downstairs there's a couch if somebody wants it." The two adults seemed to communicate without any words.

Daryl pushed passed her and descended the stairs. Rick took the liberty to explain that he would be sleeping on the couch that night. While the father and son conversed about which room they were going to take Kay became jealous. It was awful to admit but she was jealous that Carl's dad was alive. She wanted her's here instead of underground in the backyard. She would get bit just to spend five minutes with him again.

"I'm gonna take this one," Carl pointed to the room on the left, "and my dad will go to this one." He pointed to the room on the right. "Is that cool?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Okay thanks. Goodnight."

"Yup." Was all Kay responded with, she turned around and headed back to her room. Her footsteps became quicker as she heard Rick and Carl talking. It's like they were sent here to rub her dad's death in her fucking face! Putting the gun down in its original spot, she shut the door and belly-flopped on the bed, the unopened knife she placed there earlier dug into her side. Kay groaned and flipped herself around. Why couldn't they have gone to the house across the street? Jesus fucking Christ. Kay was beyond annoyed, she just wanted to survive the goddamned apocalypse in peace. These guys have come this far, she just hopes they knew how to carry their own weight.

1302 Words