Low on Time/Issue 41

This is issue forty-one of Low on Time, entitled: Birthday.

Issue 41; Birthday
3 Months Later

A zombie walked aimlessly inside a broken down old house. His grey skin was illuminated as he passed the window, the small amount of sunlight attracting it closer to the window. It peered out the window, looking around aimlessly for hopes of a next meal.

As it turned away from the window, it is met by a sharp metal blade, which goes through it's forehead. As it falls to the ground, Kelly looks over it, sighing. She is visibly skinnier and weaker, her arms trembling as she wiped the blood from the blade. Manning walked slowly behind her, a large machete in his shaky-hand, as he walks over to the doorway.

"Clear," he said, looking back at Kelly.

"Wait for the signal." she said, walking toward him.

"We're clear!" the voice of Jake called from upstairs.

Kelly nodded, looking at Manning. "Go get the others." she said, to which Manning nodded, walking away.

Trevin, Olivia, and Jake walk pass Manning, walking over to Kelly.

"Took out one of the infected upstairs." Jake said, rusty crowbar in hand.

Trevin and Olivia just sat down on the couch behind them, putting their weapons, a crowbar and steak knife respectively, on the coffee table in front of them. They all looked exhausted and weak, like they haven't slept in weeks.

It doesn't take long before Manning comes back into the room, Ryker, Ike, and Julia close behind him. The three were all carrying big backpacks on their back, which they all set down before sitting down.

"It's starting to get dark..." Trevin said, looking out the window.

"We'll shack up for the night here," Kelly said, looking at the rest. "I'll go out on a supply run, we're going to need whatever we can manage to get for our journey to Nebraska."

"I'll go with you," Ryker said, standing up.

"You sure? You're not looking that good, kid." she said.

"I could say the same about you." he replied, smirking.

"Fair enough," she said, before looking toward Manning and Trevin. "Can I count on you two to stay awake on guard duty while I'm gone?"

"Yes, ma'am." Trevin said, leaning back on the couch.

"Alright, we'll be back in a couple of hours then," Kelly said, looking at Ryker who was walking toward her.

"Be safe," Olivia said quietly, looking up at the ceiling, to which Kelly just nodded.

"You too," she said.

Manning sat on a chair by the front door of the house, staring out the small window into the sunset, when Olivia walked next to him, pulling a chair from the kitchen with her. She sat next to him, crossing her legs.

"You okay, kid?" she asked, to which he just shrugged his shoulders. "You haven't talked to anyone since, well, you know..."

"Whatever," he simply said.

"C'mon... remember when you were that sweet and innocent kid from the farm?"

"My brother was like that too... you saw how that turned out. Ella was so sweet and innocent too-- it got her killed."

"Doesn't mean you have to shut everybody out,"

"If it means not having to grieve later? Then yeah, I do." he said, before standing up and walking away, leaving Olivia to just sigh, shaking her head.

Kelly and Ryker walked along the now-dark streets, using the light from the moon to navigate where they were going. There was a big gap in between the two, as Ryker struggled to keep up with Kelly.

"So," Kelly said, looking back at Ryker, as she continued to walk. "Why'd you come?"

"Oh, you know, uh, reasons." he said, as Kelly stopped in front of a street sign, giving him time to catch up.

"Which are?"

"I just-- I feel like such a burden on the group." he said, as they started walking again.

"Now that's not entirely true," she said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Yeah it is. Both Julia and I know we're liabilities."

"C'mon, Ry, you give me that extra moral support I need." she teased, looking back at him.

"Haha," he said, looking at her. "Very funny."

"No, you look after Julia-- that definitely counts as something."

"But-- I wanna do something more to help out, everyone else does."

"We're here." she said, looking at a gas station in front of the two.

Ryker just looked at it, and sighed. "Alright, I'm ready," he said.

"Uh-huh," she said, as they walked closer to it. "Prove it."

''Jake walked through the pitch black woods, clutching onto his arm which is badly cut. He looked around wildly at his surroundings, nothing but trees and leaves as far as he could see. Suddenly, Jake starts to hear a series of wild laughter, both guys and gals alike.''

''Creeped out, Jake spins around and starts sprinting in the other direction. Looking over his shoulder at every chance he gets, fear is seen all over his face. His eyes, the way he mutters "Fuck," to himself, and as he ran through the woods, the sound of something flying past his hear causes him to stop short, tripping over himself in the process.''

''Quickly standing up and brushing the leaves off of him, Jake spins around to see three silhouettes slowly making their way toward him. He backs away slowly, freaked out, but they somehow have super natural speed. As the three come into focus, Jake drops to his knees as Amanda, Trent, and Langston slowly approach him.''

''"No, no, no," he muttered watching them walk toward him. "You're dead-- this isn't real."''

''"That's right, we are dead." Amanda said, eyeing him.''

''"That's because..." Langston started.''

''"You. Killed. Us." Trent finished, not taking his eyes off of Jake.''

"I-- I didn't me to..."

''"Doesn't change the facts." Langston said, as his eyes, along with Amanda's and Trent's, go completely white.''

''"I am so sorry..." Jake said, eyes starting to water up.''

As Jake's eyes flies open, he sits up, breathing heavily. He looks around, seeing that he was alone in one of the bedrooms in the house. He sighs, and quickly reaches on the side of the bed, bringing up a bottle of liquor, which he clenches in his hand. He quickly opens it, taking a few big gulps. As he puts the bottle back down, the bedroom door opens, and Julia hops in. As Jake sits up, Julia takes a seat next to him on the bed.

"You okay? You sounded like you were having some problems..."

"I'm fine," he lied. "Is Kelly and the kid back yet?"

"Not yet..." she said, looking over the side of the bed, noticing the opened bottle. She nonchalantly picked it up, examining it. "You sure you're fine?"

"Of course," he muttered, again, another lie.

"Uh-huh," she said, not believing him. "I'll leave you to it then."

As Julia handed Jake back the bottle, and left, Jake just blankly looked at the bottle, thinking about his nightmare.

Ryker quickly packs a couple of cans of beans in his small bag. He's working as fast and as quiet as possible, and stands up, making his way over to the checkout counter. He quickly finds a chocolate bar that was still in it's wrapper, and puts it in his bag as well.

As he turns around, he is face to face with a red-haired, gray-skinned zombie, which quickly takes him down. Ryker awkwardly falls on his back, knocking the wind out of him. As the zombie goes to take advantage of this, snapping it's jaw as it goes for Ryker's chest, a blade goes through it's head, and it drops dead.

Kelly stands over the two, sighing, and quickly helps Ryker up, who's just lying on the ground in shock.

"Sorry," he said, coughing as he talks.

"No reason to be sorry." she said, patting him on the back. "You okay?"

"Peachy," he muttered, putting his hands on the back of his head.

"Find anything useful?" she asked, as the two started to head out of the gas station.

"Not really, some beans... that's about it."

"Yeah, same." she muttered, throwing her arm around Ryker. "So, how does it feel to be the youngin' of the group?"

"Is it supposed to make me feel different?" he asked.

"Yeah, you're like the baby of the group. Gotta always care for and protect..."

"Don't you start with that..." he muttered.

"Sheesh, I'm only kidding kiddo. You gotta lighten up, chill... want some weed?"

"No thank you." he said, as the two turned a block. "How is it like being the leader of the group?"

Kelly only chuckles, before messing around with Ryker's hair. "Leader? Yeah, right. This is easily a democracy..."

"Well, if this is a democracy then you would've been elected president a while ago. Say what you want, but it was your idea to go to Nebraska. You seem to have a lot more experience then the rest of us, Jake and Ike included, and they were with you when this whole thing started."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." she muttered, trying to think of something else. "So, just a question, have you ever listened to Maroon 5?"

"Not really..." he said. "I'm obviously not a rock kind of guy..."

"Then what is your genre? Pop?"

"Well, uh-- yes..." he said, admittedly defeated.

"Alright, who'd you listen to?"

"What does it matter?" he asked.

"C'mon, Ry, I'm trying to find ways for us to bond... not much else to do anyways."

"Fine," he said. "You gotta promise not to laugh..."

"Of course," she said, smiling.

"Ugh, can't believe I'm admitting this but... I am a huge fan of Daft Punk."

"Really? That's not that embarrassing... I used to date this guy who would listen to Katy Perry on replay. And he was a big, buff dude too."

Ryker let out a faint smile, and looked to the ground. "You kinda remind me of my sister."

"Really?" she asked, a little taken back. "I didn't know you had a sister."

"Yeah, it's something I don't talk about much-- leave the past in the past, y'know? Miss her like hell, but, what can I do about it?"

"Well, there's always that chance you'll see her again..."

"Nah, I'm perfectly content that I won't have to see her die."

Kelly just nodded, forcing a smile. She knew what it was like to lose family, people she loved, and how much she would have rather not know what became of them. But at the same time, she was grateful of the time she was able to spend with them before they did die.

It didn't take much longer for Kelly and Ryker to make it bag to the house, where Manning, Julia, Trevin, and Olivia were waiting for them. Trevin immediately brings Kelly in for a hug, while Ryker, Julia, and Olivia start going over the food they got from the supply run.

Trevin and Kelly walked away from the four others, and into the room where Ike was sleeping. Kelly and Trevin sat together on the opposite couch, and just sat in silence for a while.

"We're going back out on the road first thing in the morning." Kelly randomly said, breaking the silence. We need to make sure we get the hell out of this town and into the countryside as quickly as possible."

"Alright, I'll make sure it happens." he said, nodding his head.

"Go get some sleep, I'll stay up on watch for the night with Ryker or Manning or someone."

"You need to sleep too..." Trevin started.

"And I will, in the car. I ain't a good driver anyways. I'd rather have the driver not as sleep deprived as the passenger."

"Fair enough, Kel, wake me up when you wanna go then." he said, standing up, and walking away.

Kelly sat outside on the front porch, pistol in lap, making sure no zombies came near the house. She was going over every last scenario that would come to her mind while contemplating their journey to the countryside. What if they run into a herd? What if Jake or Trevin dies? What if we come across another group of survivors? What if...?

As she thought about all of the different variables and factors, she hadn't realized that Julia had made her way outside, standing in the doorway next to her.

"Kelly," she said, pulling Kelly out of her state of mind.

"Yes?" she asked quickly, as Julia took a seat next to her.

"Oh, just wanted to see if you wanted to talk..." she said, sitting next to her.

"About what?"

"Oh, anything really. I'm awfully bored inside, Manning is completely ignoring me and everybody else is asleep."

"Alright," Kelly said, letting out a faint smile. "What do you think about the plan to get to the country?"

"Better than staying in towns. They're just death traps, plain and simple."

"Exactly how I feel about them. So, how you holding up?"

"How am I holding up? As well as can be expected given the circumstances..."

"You sure? I noticed the last couple of days something has been bothering you..."

"It's nothing," she quickly said, although not too convincing for Kelly's liking.

"You sure you don't wanna talk about anything? I've been there, done that, it might be helpful if you need anything to ask me..."

"Well," she started. "My birthday was two days ago, the 28th, and I don't know-- I've just been thinking about the past and everybody I miss so dearly."

"Well, tell me about them." Kelly said.

"About my family?"

"Yup,"

"Oh-- it's just that I had a really shitty relationship with my dad, and I know most girls my age normally do, but he just-- he just hated me so much. He prized my smarter, athletic older brother and he always looked down on me... that fucker." As Julia finished, she found herself boiling with anger and the desire to just-- hit something. So she did, she punched the wooden wall that was behind her, barely making a dent.

"Let it all out..." Kelly said, as Julia just clenched her fists.

"I wish I could-- but look at me! I only have one goddamn leg! I can't go-- make myself feel better with violence, I have to let it all out through tears and I am so sick of crying."

Kelly nodded, thinking of something to say to the young woman. "How about this," Kelly started, catching Julia's attention. "First chance we get, I'm bringing you to the gym, those fucking punching bags help release so much-- so much anger that you'll end up feeling good no matter what kind of a day you're having."

"Yeah, and when will we come across a gym?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders.

"Don't know, but with how far we have to travel I would be surprised if we didn't come across one."

Julia nodded her head. "Fine," she said, getting up. "I guess I'll go get some sleep then."

"You do," Kelly said, watching as Julia hopped to the door. "And Julia," she called.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning around.

"Happy birthday."

As the sun rose the next morning, Kelly, Ike, Jake, Olivia, Manning, Ryker, Julia, and Trevin all hurried to their two cars, a Humvee and a big Toyota, where they quickly started to drive away.

As they passed a sign on the highway, "Welcome to Indiana!", Kelly could only smile from the passenger seat. They were closer to their destination, and she could only hope that safety comes along with it.

Credits

 * Kelly Gay
 * Olivia Bell
 * Jake Munoz
 * Ike Dennis
 * Julia Riley
 * Ryker Daniels
 * Trevin
 * Manning

Deaths

 * None