Surviving, Not Living/Issue 27

This is Issue 27 of Surviving, Not Living, entitled The First. This is the third issue of Volume 5.

Issue 27 - The First
Zach and Ellie waited for Amelia at the dining table, each holding a set of cards. The only light in the room came from a small, powerful, battery-powered camping light. Amelia returned from putting Ava to bed and picked up her cards.

"Ellie, you got an twos?" Zach asked, starting the game. Ellie sighed and handed over two of her cards.

"Amelia, have you got any... queens?" Ellie continued. Before she could reply, there was a banging on the other wall and a child's voice.

"I can't sleep! I'm too worried about Auntie Char!" Ava shouted.

"Go to bed! She'll be fine!" Amelia called back. "Go fish."

The game repeated like this for another half an hour. Zach sarcastically smiled at Ellie, jealous at her lead.

"Guys..." Jackie said, appearing beside them. "Look, they're back."

The car's lights lit up the room, beams of light bouncing from wall-to-wall. The four ran outside to see Bobby driving the car. Amelia realised something was wrong, as soon as she set eyes on her brother. Once the car had stopped, Charlotte climbed out of the passenger seat.

"Where's Ava?" She quickly asked. "She can't see this."

"In bed." Ellie informed.

Slowly, Amelia walked up to the car. She knocked on the side window that formed a barrier between her and Bobby. He reached down and unrolled the window.

"Let's look at the positives. You've got a vehicle that's big enough for all of us." She optimistically told him.

"Danny's the one to thank for the truck." Bobby sighed. "Although, I don't think he's in a mood to talk."

"Why? What happened, Bobby?" Amelia questioned. Instead of replying, Bobby kept quiet and stepped out of the vehicle. The blonde stepped back as the door pushed her away. She watched as a tearful Vicky walked past her. Jackie opened her arms and embraced Vicky.

"I told them." Bobby murmured.

"Told them what?" Amelia shouted, frustrated. "Bobby, tell me what happened. Where's Danny and Jack?"

"There was a herd - more infected than I've ever seen in one area." He began to explain. "We got seperated. Me, Charlotte and Vicky went one way and Danny took Jack another way. By the time that we found them again, Jack was already-"

Bobby was interrupted by someone harshly pulling him backwards. His gun flew from it's place on his belt and under the van. Lying on the floor, Bobby looked at the person for the first time. It was Jack. His grey eyes glared at Bobby as his jaw snapped open and close.

Across the path, Amelia fumbled with her gun. The round of ammunition was stuck in the magazine and wouldn't slide in properly. Finally, a gunshot flew through the air and penetrated Jack's skull.

"Thanks, Amelia." Bobby sighed as he pushed Jack's cold body to the floor. Danny ran out of the van and collapsed over his father's body, loudly sobbing.

"That wasn't me." Amelia admitted, still trying to fix her gun. The group turned to face Jackie who was still holding her gun upright. She quickly turned on the spot and shot another infected, being the only one to notice it.

"Danny." Bobby began, crouching beside him. "We've got to go inside. It's not safe out here."

"Just go away!" Danny screamed in his face. "I can't leave him..."

"We can't bring his body into the house. It'll spread diseases." Amelia told them.

Bobby sighed. He placed one hand on each of Danny's forearms and pulled him back. The younger boy resisted and wriggled his way out of Bobby's hold. He collapsed over his father's body - still crying.

"Zach, can I get a little help here?" Bobby asked. Zach hesitated and then shook his head. "Please?"

"Go on, Zach." Ellie ordered. Bobby held Danny's left arm with both of his hands - Zach did the same with his left arm. At the same time, the men pulled Danny away from his father. Once again, Danny resisted. But, the strength of the two men was too much to wriggle away.

"I'll move the body to the playground." Amelia said as Zach and Bobby dragged Danny inside.

"I'll help." Jackie offered.

Ellie and Vicky followed the other inside, leaving the two blondes alone.

"You've changed your tune." Amelia spoke up.

"It's just... We've seen so much heartbreak lately. I feel like I'm a stronger woman now." Jackie told her as they began to drag the body. "Seeing Jack dead and Danny so sad... Its horrible. My parents died when I was very young - too young to even remember it. It sounds sad but I think its better that way. I don't have to go through what Danny is."

"You're like Bobby in more ways than I thought." Amelia dropped the body to open the gate. "You both lost your parents at a very young age, death makes both of you stronger and you both surprise me, every day. Putting Jack down like that... When I turned around, I didn't expect you to be the one with the gun."

Jackie shrugged, "It wasn't hard. I've been in the same group as Jack for years. He's been such an influence on me. He was the one that gave me this name. Despite all of that, the only thing I've seen him as is a cold-hearted old man."

"He was the one that named you..." Amelia repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"When Jack and I first met, I was too young to remember my own name..."

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Thunder and lightning rock the skies above the Douglas family farm. The farmhouse is lit up like a beacon in the middle of the forest. On the edge of the property, just inside the forest, a hooded figure stood. Under the large red coat, there was a woman who looked nearly identical to Jackie - the same prominent cheek bones and round face. However, this woman was different in one aspect: her hair. It was bright orange.

In the woman's arms, a small baby laid. It quietly sighed, snoring in it's sleep. There was a small tuft of blonde hair, growing from the baby's head. The woman turned her head to look at the house, exposing the left side of her face. A huge chunk of her face had been ripped out. It was obviously a bite from an infected. Suddenly, the woman had a dizzy spell. She rocked back and forth, nearly dropping baby Jackie. After a while, the woman snapped out of it.

Spotting an infected, the woman quickly ducked down. Unfortunately, the infected did not pass and leant forwards to grab the woman. Another infected limped over, drawn by the smell of her blood.

The woman pushed her way through the bushes and began to run towards the farm. The infected followed her, their numbers increasing. She stopped when she reached the porch. The woman had very little time. Whatever she was going to do, she had to do it fast. She placed the baby on the porch and kissed it's head. After this, she knocked on the door three times.

"Good luck, Anna." The woman whispered. The woman then coaxed the infected away from the baby, disappearing into the forest as Jack opened the door.

"Dad?" Danny shouted from inside. "I think there was a knock on the door."

"Don't be stupid." Jack snapped. "Its probably just the rain."

"I don't think so." The younger boy murmured as he stood up and walked to the door. The door opened slightly - only a few centimetres -and a four year-old version of Danny looked over the porch. His eyes and mouth widened when he saw  Jackie on the floor. Danny bent over and scooped up the baby.

"D-dad." Danny stuttered, nervous about his father's response. "It's a baby..."

"What the fu-"

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"Obviously, I was too young to remember my mom or how I ended up at the farm." Jackie continued, pulling Jack's body through the gate. "Jack told me when I was about twelve. I'd like to say that I knew that I wasn't really his child. He always treated Danny different and I always felt... pushed away. Vicky was the next to arrive - she was a godsend."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Amelia told her, as they both dropped the body. "The body will be okay here for the night. The horrible rotting smell is gonna attract some infected, though."

"It's going to have to do. Danny will kill us if we move the body somewhere else." Jackie sighed.

"Come on, lets go to bed. It's been a long day."

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Charlotte opened the door slowly and tiptoed into her and Ava's bedroom. When she turned around, she saw Ava sitting up, rubbing her eyes. Ava opened her arms wide.

"Autine Char, you're back!" She smiled.

"Yeah..." Charlotte hugged Ava but didn't return the smile.

"What's wrong?" The young girl asked, after moving away.

"This is going to be hard to hear." Charlotte began. "Vicky, Bobby, Danny and Jack went on a supply run with me. We went to get a car but there were... complications. Bobby, Vicky and I got split up. When we got back to the others, Jack... He was..."

"...Dead." Ava finished the sentence before bursting out into sobs. Charlotte didn't comfort Ava. Instead, she cried too.

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The next morning, Bobby awoke first. He washed and got himself dressed, before exiting through the back doors. He walked across the playground and towards the little garden that they had set up. It was Danny's turn to pick the fruit for breakfast, but Bobby knew that he wasn't up to the task. The only ripe fruit were the peaches and the strawberries. Bobby jumped when he felt a pair of arms tighten around his waist.

"Good morning." Vicky whispered, hugging Bobby from behind.

"Good morning." Bobby swiveled in her hold and hugged her properly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm... fine. Sad like the rest of us, obviously. But, I'm not gonna give up. We just need to convince Danny to stay strong." She told him.

"You're right." He admitted. Bobby leant down and placed a kiss on Vicky's lips. Infected began to build up on the other side of the fence, watching the pair's display of affection. "That fence isn't going to take much more weight. Do you want to go and take care of them, while I finish up here?" Bobby asked.

"Do you have your knife? I left mine in the room." Bobby took the knife from his belt and handed it to his girlfriend.

Vicky walked over to the gate and stared at the closest infected. It used to be a girl. She could tell by the dirty, blonde hair and torn pink t-shirt. Vicky slammed the knife into the infected's skull and quickly withdrew it. The infected collapsed instantaneously. The second infected was nearly completely rotten. Parts of it's skull had been pulled away, making easy access for the knife.

Twelve infected, five badass moves and ten minutes later, Vicky finally finished with the infected. She walked back to Bobby who was just picking the final few berries. He held his hand out for Vicky and she accepted it.

"I'm famished." She told him.

"So am I." Bobby admitted. "There's not much, though. The nuts haven't grown yet - I think we're gonna be hungry today."

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Alone in his room, Danny quietly sat. He stared out of the window, at his father's dead body. Parts of Jack's hair had already began to fall out, blowing away in the wind. Sleet began to fall from the sky, soaking the dead man's clothes.

Danny watched as Charlotte and Zach walked over to Jack's body. They each took an end of his body and lifted him up. Suddenly, Charlotte dropped the body and began to shout at Zach. Clenching his fists, Zach shouted back. Danny couldn't hear what they were saying but the argument was getting very heated.

"Don't be such a bitch. This isn't about you, it's..." Danny heard some of Zach's shouts. Jackie appeared at the side and scolded both of them. She sent Charlotte away and helped Zach to move the body out of Danny's view.

A knock on his bedroom door made Danny jump.

"Come in!" He croaked. It was Amelia. She walked into the room and shut the door behind her. Amelia walked over to Danny and placed a hand on his back.

"It's time for the burial." She told him.

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Amelia and Danny were the last people to gather on the far side of the school. Jack's body had been laid in ditch, on a small plot of land that had been used as a soccer pitch. A pile of earth had been shoveled to the side. Bobby stood one side of Jack's body and the rest of the group stood on the other side.

"No-one wanted to take this... service." Bobby told Danny. "I hope you're okay with me taking it."

"It's... fine..." Danny said, fighting back the tears.

"I only knew Jack for little over two months, but I found him to be charming, funny and passionate." Bobby began. "Jack always went out of his way to care for others, despite his own feelings. He lived a long and full life, yet was taken from us before he his time. Jack will leave an impression on all of us, no matter how big or sma-"

Ava burst out into tears, interrupting Bobby.

"Come on, now. Be quiet." Charlotte shushed.

"He is now in a better place. He is with our other fallen comrades - Sarah, Doug and, his wife, Marie." The service went on for another fifteen minutes before Danny spoke up.

"Thank you so much, you guys." He struggled to get his words out. "Jack was the first of all of our fallen friends to be buried and I am so grateful for that." Zach began to fill in the grave. Jackie placed a small, wooden cross next to it.

Most of the group returned inside, the cold winter air being too much for them. Charlotte and Ava were the only ones left outside. Out of nowhere, an infected jumped forwards and fell onto the space above Jack's grave. Charlotte reacted quickly and grabbed Ava, pulling her away.

"No, Auntie Char! We can deal with it!" Ava protested. She wriggled out of Charlotte's hold and grabbed the gun from her belt.

"Ava! No! Stop!" Charlotte shouted as Ava ran towards the infected. Ava raised the gun and closed one eye, just like Ellie had showed her. Without hesitatio, she fired. The bullet went straight through the infected's forehead and it fell to the ground.

"Don't ever fucking do that again." Charlotte shouted in Ava's face, grabbing the gun out of her hands. "Who taught you how to handle a gun?"

"No-one..." Ava fibbed.

"Well, it certainly wasn't me. Who was it?" Charlotte repeated the question.

"If I tell you, you have to promise not to get mad, okay? I asked them to do it." Charlotte nodded. "It was Ellie."

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"What the fuck were you thinking?" Charlotte screamed, storming into the main building. Ellie sat at the dining table, with Zach and Amelia.

"Charlotte." Bobby cautioned. "What's going on?"

"Her." She put her finger in Ellie's face. "She taught Ava how to use a gun."

"What's wrong with that?" Zach asked.

"What's fucking wrong with that?" Charlotte repeated. She was furious. "She's nine years old."

"She needs to learn how to protect herself." Ellie protested.

"No, she doesn't, not yet." Charlotte retaliated.

"You think that what you're doing is best for her - shelting her from the infected. But, it's not." Bobby told her.

"I don't want to hear it. And, you two..." Charlotte said, pointing a finger at Zach and Ellie. "Stay away from my family."

As Charlotte stormed, Zach began to choke. He raised a tissue to his mouth and coughed into it.

"Are you okay?" Ellie asked.

Zach pulled the tissue away from his mouth and looked at it. His saliva was red - blood red.