Give Me Your Crossbow (DARYL DIXON)

The Present: Leaving Atlanta

CHRIS POV

I was at home watching the 4 o'clock news when the world turned to shit. Lori had gone to pick up Carl from school while I waited, so I could start dinner when they got home. Rick was still at work, I hadn't heard from him since early this morning, but that was relatively normal. I wasn't even paying attention to the screen when I heard the words 'zombie outbreak'.

'Everyone is being ordered to evacuate the city immediately. This is a nationwide emergency.'

I stood up in disbelief, just as the door banged open and Lori ran straight into the living room.

"Chris, we need to go now! Carl, grab whatever you can."

She ran around the room, practically pulling her hair out with stress.

"Lori! You need to calm down! It's no good to panic in these kinds of situations."

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing else we can do but panic. The whole city is getting infected with this virus and we need to leave as soon as possible."

"What about Rick? Should I call him?"

Lori turned to me, her eyes filling with tears.

"Shane came to see us at the school. Rick was shot on duty, he didn't make it."

My eyes glazed over as she relayed that they were trying to take down a group in a speeding car, there was a third man that they didn't know about and he shot Rick.

"Also, speaking of Shane, he is coming to get us. He just went home to grab his things."

I internally groaned as I thought of my ex picking me up during an outbreak. Shane and I had a rocky relationship, even before. We started dating when he first joined the force with Rick, he wasn't really happy about his baby sister shacking up with his best friend. There was a little bit of a bust up but nothing serious. The first few months were bliss, but I soon realised that Shane was way too controlling and I broke things off. He tried countless ways to win me back but I'm very stubborn, I stuck to my guns and eventually he left me alone. But I knew that he still had feelings for me, even though I wanted nothing more to do with him. He would constantly bug Rick about me, so much so that Rick got really sick of it and finally told him to shut his trap about me cause I didn't want him anymore. I rolled my eyes at Lori, before running upstairs to my room.

****

I managed to get 3 suitcases full of just random things. I rummaged around in my drawers seeing what else I could take.

"Chris! Shane's here! Hurry up!"

I was ready to race downstairs but then I remembered; I turned back to my dresser and pulled out my drawer with the collapsible bottom. Hidden inside was my specialty throwing knives and the holster for emergencies, I figured this was a big enough emergency. I wrapped the holster around my waist and sheathed my knives. I grabbed my bags and ran down the stairs, two at a time. I raced out the front door, right into the waiting arms of Shane.

"Whoa! I was about to come in and get you."

I pushed his hands off me. His face fell and he looked genuinely hurt, but I didn't care.

"I'm fine, just needed to grab a few more things. It's all good now."

Shane grabbed my bags and threw them in the back of his truck. Lori climbed into the front seat and Carl and I got in the back seat. Shane tore away from the curb, immediately heading for the exit out of Atlanta. In the minutes that passed, the city looked like a ghost town. Debris was everywhere and we drove past people, no not people who were stumbling around on the streets. We all looked at these creatures, but still the car was absolutely silent. After a few minutes, Shane spoke up.

"They call them Walkers. This outbreak is the worst thing that the United States has ever seen."