OKWAHO -the walking dead

ONE

WHEN THE DEAD BEGAN TO WALK, things became different. Homes were destroyed, streets were crowded with multiple dead bodies, families were separated, and souls were kicked out from their bodies. Wives and husbands were separated from each other and children were left alone to be eaten and rot. The streets became unsafe and people were forced to survive or die.

The Okwaho family was fairly small. The group consisted of a beautiful fifteen year old young lady, a fierce widower, and a loyal cat.

Now, it wasn't just the small family who lived on the large farm at the edge of Suches, Georgia. More people lived with the small group, hoping to survive. Herds of cows, goats, and turkeys walked around the large fields gave the people company and food while foxes and deer roamed the woods surrounding them.

A large wooden cabin stood at the edge of land. Children and women slept there while some warrior women and men slept outside in tents.

A small campfire had been lit beside the house on the long gravel driveway. Everyone sat around on the wooden benches. The small children were cradled in their mothers arms. The young ladies sat beside their mothers or with their siblings.

The head of the tribe sat beside his daughter. It was usually his wife who sat in that seat but she had died early during the apocalypse. She had lead her people with pride and made all of the decisions to keep their tribe alive. All she ever wanted was for more people to learn about their ways, and after she passed, it was her daughter who convinced Hania to let people into their land.

Hania, the head of the tribe wore red and black designs on his face. He had three feathers tied to his mohawk in honor of his strength and wisdom. He wore animal skin as clothes and so did the people around him. Even if they weren't of his blood he considered them family and a part of his tribe.

Adira, his daughter, sat beside him. Her dark golden skin was illuminated by the fire. Her dark brown locks rested below her shoulder blades. The women of her tribe never cut their hair. It was only when they mourned that they sliced their long and beautiful hair. There were beads braided into her hair by her little cousins.

Before the apocalypse began, Adira was a loving and very energetic friend. Only if you knew her of course. Those who didn't know her thought she was just a quiet girl who lived on a ranch and played volleyball. The teen had started playing volleyball in sixth grade and had caught the attention of many recruiters in just her sophomore year.

Volleyball was her escape. Every day at home she would put on a happy act, like she loved living on a ranch. She wanted to go have fun, live in the city, hang out with her friends. But her parents were strict on that. In their words, "you don't have friends. Friends lead to disappointment."

The young lady had a stripe of red paint stretching from one cheekbone to the other and across her nose. Her mother's bead necklaces laid across her collar bone and chest. Every time the wind blew onto her face, the long bead earrings she wore clattered together and made her want to rip them out.