Trapped Within Ourselves (A Walking Dead Fanfic)

The Beginning of the End.

"I'm pretty sure Jackson Roberts was staring at me today" my best friend Annika bragged. "Congrats" I mumble flipping through a fashion magazine. "I'm pretty sure Lacy likes him too though, I just don't want to hurt her feelings" she gloated as she applied another layer of lipgloss onto her, already pink lips. I rolled my eyes as I turned the page "And what if he likes Lacy instead of you?" I ask with a laugh. Annika spun around I'm her chair so fast I thought she was going to fall off. "Natalia! You did not just say that!" She screeched. "Oh I did" I smirked as I stood up "And I'm proud, and I thought I told you to call me Tali, I mean you aren't my teacher." She glowered at me for a moment before laughing with me. "Hey you want to go to that new yogurt shop down the road?" Annika asks "I need something sweet." I laugh "Sure just let me comb my hair." She pulls out her pink iPhone and begins typing to someone as I pick up her hairbrush. I pulled it through my already silky, light brown hair until it looked just right. I already had on make up so I put on some more lip gloss before standing up from the beauty stand. "Ready?" Annika asks. "Sure thing" I say picking my phone up off the floor and we leave her room.

We descend the stairs still talking and laughing until we get to the bottom. The room was like a whole other atmosphere. Annika's parents ,who both had the same dark hair and dark skin as Annika, were sitting in front of the TV watching the news. Some kind of breaking news was on, but then again there's always "breaking news." "Hey mom we're going to go to that new yogurt shop down the road, we'll be back in a hour or so" Annika called as we headed to the front door. Annika's parents both came into view. "Where exactly is this new yogurt shop?" Her father asks. "Right in town" she says slipping on sandals. "I don't know sweetie..." Her father murmured but Annika's mother hit his shoulder. "Marvin, it can't possibly be true, just let them go its not that far" her mother quietly said. He sighed but nodded "Alright, you can go...just stay safe, run from danger" her father strictly said. Something about the tone in his voice caused me to wonder what were they so concerned about. "Um...okay bye!" Annika said as she pulled open the door and stepped out. "Gosh what was that about?" I asked her. Normally her parents let her go anywhere. She shrugs as we start down the sidewalk. It didn't turn out to be a very long walk and before we knew it we had our yogurt. We sat underneath the canopy outside at one of their little tables as we ate. We gossiped about the boys in class and who we might be interested in when we heard a noise. I turned my head towards the noise which appeared to come from an alleyway between the yogurt shop and a hardware store. It was the sound of metal clanging and constant moaning.

"Annika, do you hear that?" I asked her. "Hear what?" She asks through a mouthful of yogurt. "Never mind" I mumble before I hear it again. This time Annika hears it too. We both cautiously stand up and move towards the alley. Taking slow steps to the side I finally reach the edge. I peer down the corridor to find nothing but a man digging through the trash. "Eww" Annika basically shouts as she observes his actions. The man slowly lifts his head and turns towards Annika and I. We both gasped at what we saw. This man wasn't...normal. His skin was a nasty gray color, his eyes bloodshot red. A hunk of something was hanging in his mouth. "Annika" I quietly murmur. "Yeah?" she whispers back. "Was there anything about Zombie Apocalypses in the news lately?" I ask as the "thing" begins to move towards us. "Yes...but I thought they were bluffing" Annika squeals. I shake my head "They weren't bluffing! Run!" We both turn and begin running back in the direction of Annika's house. We sprinted until we got back to her house. She flung open the door and we both raced inside. I slammed it behind us, locking it. The slam caused such a loud noise both of Annika's parents came into the room. "What's wrong?" Her father asks as she falls into her mothers arms bawling. I was gasping for air as I spoke "Zombies...out...there" Her parents exchanged glances with horrified expressions amongst there faces. "I knew this day would eventually come" Her father states "Good thing I prepared." Annika and I turn to face her father. "Prepared? For a Zombie Apocalypse?" I ask. He nods "Give me five minutes to pack up the van and we'll be out if this town" he states as he heads to the door of the basement. "Leave?" I ask "Where are we going?" Right before I got an answer there was a vigorous knock on the door. "Open up! I need to see my sister!" a familiar voice called out. Annika's mom went to the door and unlocked it. All at once the door burst open and the familiar face of my brother waltzed in.

"Evening Daryl" Annika's mother said trying to sound happy though we all knew she wasn't. My older brother was Daryl Dixon. It had always been him and me right from the start. My other brother Meryl left us almost a year ago. My mother died after she gave birth to me and my father died around a year ago from cancer. Though he's more into hunting and shooting while I'm into shopping and partying, we still get along really well. It was funny how he was all tough who heavy lifted things while I was the girl who used her muscles to carry shopping bags. He ignored her and his eyes landed on me. "Tali we've got to go" he said aggressively. "Daryl! We're going with them" I ushered to Annika's family "They told me." He looked over at Annika's mother. "Is this true?" He asked. She nods "My husband always knew this day would come, he's saved everything from batteries to sleeping bags, we're prepared." I turned to my brother"I want to get things from home." He nodded. "Meet us at our house in a few minutes we'll get our things." She nodded as we headed out the door. I only lived a few houses down from Annika so I ran to my house. I grabbed a backpack from my closet once I reached my pink room and began to fill it. I packed clothes, stuff to smell good, a bit of makeup though that was the least of my worries, a family photo album, pictures of me and my friends, and an old stuffed animal I had since I was a baby.

My father told me my mom had picked it out for me. "They're here!" I heard my brother call from the front door. I pulled on the backpack and with one last glance at my room I shut the door and headed out front. The car was huge. It had a huge trunk and then could seat up to 7 people. My brother had his crossbow slung over his shoulder as he loaded some stuff in the back. "We've gotta go!" Annika's father exclaimed. I turned to see a whole mob of these zombies headed down the street. I climbed in the back seat with Annika and her mother. Daryl climbed up front with Annika's father and the engine roared to life. He began to drive down the driveway but as he did another mob appeared on the other side of the road blocking our exits. "We're trapped!" Annika's father yelled. Annika's cries filled the car as her mother rubbed her head. For the first time since this began I felt a worried tear appear out of my eye. They were coming both ways and most likely we would end up dying. There moaning got louder as they limped towards our car with looks of crazed aggression on there face. I heard my brother say something to Annika's father but couldn't quite make it out. I only heard

"Whatever you do, keep her here, don't come back for me, get her safe." Daryl turned back to me with a concerned expression. "I love you baby sis" were the words he spoke and then before I knew what he was doing he opened his car door and walked into the zombies. I started screaming instantly. I knew he could never make it. I tried to open my door but it was locked. Annika's mother protectively grabbed me around my shoulders so I wouldn't thrash as I saw my brother shoot and kill the zombies. All the zombies started heading towards Daryl so a path was cleared on the road. I screamed even louder as I felt the car moving away from my brother. As we started driving away leaving my brother alone with over twenty of those flesh eating demons.