BITE ME ➼ C. G. 〖 #wattys2016 〗

Chapter 2

SOTC: Centuries by Fall Out Boy
• Some legends untold. Some turn to dust or to gold. •

After stopping to lay down camp at a roadside, I unpacked my bag onto my thick, black blanket, checking off all my items in case somebody found my bag while I was gone.

There was a family picture of Dad, Mom, Marshal, Rusty and me at the autumn campsite three years ago. Paper and pens nestled next to a squat stack of flannel shirts, white tank tops and jeans. Marshal's cargo shorts and t-shirts. Emergency trail mix and water bottles. My old iPod shuffle that I used to listen to during the early days of the apocalypse. One dagger, which used to be part of a pair until we took the other to Terminus. A machete wrapped up in a bloody towel, which Marshal had used to clean it. Ender's Game, which is one of my favorite books. And then tampons. Running low. I made a note to run into the next pharmacy and get some more.

When night fell and everybody was either asleep or almost asleep, I let my hair out of its frizzed braid. I picked out the dried blood clumps and large knots, then synched it back again and packed away my stuff, save for my pistol.

I wrapped up in the blanket, gripping the gun in my hand (safety on, of course). Soon, all I could see was the inside of my eyelids, and the haunting memories that swam before them.

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A/N: For future reference, big blurbs of text in italics mean that it is a dream/flashback. I tend to do these a lot during this story... Letting Keira's dreams flesh out her backstory. The first few dreams are too recent to be interesting but as the story goes on, the flashbacks get wayyy more important. :)

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I pounded my feet against the door for the umpteenth time, kicking and punching and making my limbs go all bloody. My flannel shirt clung to my arms with sweat. I clawed against the tightly-knit panels of steel, trying to unscrew bolts to no avail.

Thoughts swirled through my head as I sank down, curling up into a ball and shivering.

There was no escape. And because of me, Marshal was dead.

•••

I woke up when the cans started to clink together, a zombie dragging its face against the barbed wire. Blood was spewing everywhere. He grunted loudly, and so I ripped my covers off, taking the machete out of my bag and jogging over to the line, swinging the knife into the side of its face.

"Shut up." I spit onto its rotting carcass. Then I whirled around and came almost nose-to-nose with Carl himself.

"Hi," I whispered, quickly stepping back and crossing my arms, looking down. That was a tad bit awkward.

"Hey." He smiled, putting away his knife. "Sorry, I didn't hear you get the walker."

That's quite unlikely, but I let it slide.

"Well, good night." I said, before brushing past him to my blanket. Sleep is sounding really good right now.

When I was about roll over bed, I noticed a pair of eyes looking at me from across the campsite. Then they flickered away, and I curled up and slept.

•••

The clanking thud of the door opening roused me from my dark dreams, and a sack of apples was thrown in. As the door closed again, I pounced on it like a rogue animal, ripping and tearing at the dark skin like it was the first meal I had eaten in weeks, which it was.

•••

I sat bolt upright, eyes wild and then squinty at the bright sunlight. I spotted the others packing up, letting down the strings of cans.

My eyes drifted over to Carl, who was down near the lakeside. He was fiddling with this hat, picking at the edges.

I shouldered my bag (which was actually pretty light) and jogged over in his direction.

"Hi."

He looked up, smiling. "Hi, Kee."

"Oh, so that's my new nickname!" I grinned, plopping myself next to him. "Not as exotic. More classy."

"Hey, just as good." He drew his knife and began to fidget with it.

The half-silence drew on. I poked the toe of my converse into the water. "How about your favorite color?"

He scoffed. "Oh, now you've crossed the line." (A/N: Are you, are you coming to the tree)

We cracked up. It was nice to have a good laugh. I realized Carl was somebody you could easily make friends with.

"Blue," he finally said. "How generic, I know."

"What kind of blue?"

"I guess this color right here." He prodded the water with his toe. It was green-blue, sparkling in the sunlight.

"Good choice." My favorite shade of blue would have to be the icy shade of eyes, but I didn't say that.

"What about you?"

"I like 'em all." I fiddled with my bag. "Orange is cool. I like dark green, and blue as well. But mostly orange. I think." I didn't say black, the color of bulletproof jackets.

"I guess nobody likes red anymore. We've all seen just so much of it."

I just nodded, looking down at my burgundy converse.

"So what's your real story?" I asked, looking back up at him. "The ups and downs, the thrills, the deaths. You know, everyday life."

He laughed, then pointed at the man who had welcomed me into the group. "Remember Rick? That's my Dad. My Mom, she-" he paused. "She's gone. And the baby? My sister." He seemed real proud on that one. "We started at a camp in the mountains, then met Maggie's family over there." He pointed to the girl who had grabbed the strap of my bag. She was laughing with Glenn. "Then there was a prison, we were there for a while. Then we were scattered, had to find each other again. We all found Terminus. You know the rest."

My turn. I tried to wrap my entire life into a sugar coated package, but I couldn't. "My brother, my dog and I started in Atlanta. We headed inland because... We didn't want to be cornered by all the big cities on the coast. We found Terminus and... I was the only one that they wanted to keep."

He looked down. "I'm sorry. That must've been pretty hard to handle."

I smiled tiredly. "Well, I'm here now, aren't I? The day that this apocalypse kills me is the day that the universe caves in on itself."

But I don't know if I can keep that promise.

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Hey y'all! I'm dedicating this chapter to ToCrazyForMyOwnGood being the first to comment on my story! Thank you!! <3

I cannot thank ANY of y'all enough for even clicking on this story!

Take care, fluff nuggets! :)

•••

Word count:
1163

Edited 12-30-15
Edited 1-8-16
Edited 2-22-16
Edited 8-3-16