Rock and a Hard Place Ten-Died Without a Name- Fanfiction base on The Walking Dead by Lolita Lynn

Rock and a Hard Place Ten –Died without a Name-

            I stood there over the freshly covered grave breathing hard from the exertion of digging and the severe lack of food. Dana crafted a wooden cross from two broken branches and placed it at the head of the mound.

            This man I buried saved my life and I didn’t even know his name.

            “There. I found these flowers on the side of the road. Paul? Are you okay?” Dana asked me, her face was dirty and her clothes were tattered.  It has been a hard winter with food and water growing scarce. She’s lost a lot of weight, we both did.

            “Yeah…it’s just…we never even knew his name. Now we can’t even put one on his cross.” I spoke. I meet this man several months after the outbreak. I had lost everyone I ever loved and was on the verged of completely giving up. No food, no water, and no transportation to get away from the flesh eating mass that always seemed to be on my heels. Then this man showed up.

            He was mute and couldn’t speak but he was strong and resourceful. He taught me to fish for food, to purify river water, to avoid the wandering hordes. He kept me alive and gave me a new reason to stay that way. Other survivors. There were other people out there that needed help and if this man with no words could save me, then I should save others. But there was something I needed to do first.

            “I found his wallet but the ID is damaged. The name is missing but there’s an address. It’s not too far from here; he must’ve wanted to stick close to home.” I said.

            “Yeah? And?” Dana questioned.

            “And I’m going there.” I stuffed the ragged ID card in my pocket and began to pack up my supplies.

            “Are you crazy? I came from that direction, it’s swarming with a major horde. You’ll never make it there. Paul, please, we don’t have much weapons just a machete and a gun with one clip, it’s not enough.” Dana pleaded.

            “I’m not going to clear them out I just want to make it to his house. Maybe there’s some paperwork or bills that would have his name on it. And then I’m going to put his name on his gravestone. He deserves at least that.” I was determined even though in the back of my mind I was wondering the same as Dana. Will I make it out?

            “Paul, he’s dead. A name won’t change that…”

            “After everything he’s done for us he deserves to be named. To be mourned properly.” I knew the significance of mourning properly. I lost my 17 year old daughter in a car accident just a year prior to the world changing. I would stand at her gravestone and stare at her carved name for hours as if the action alone would summon her to appear in front of me so I could tell her that daddy loved her and I was sorry I wasn’t there.

            The other driver was drunk and swerved into her lane while she was visiting an out of state college for possible enrollment. The asshole lived while my daughter who had so much potential died alone on the pavement. I couldn’t bring myself to attend the trial or even look that man in the eye. I just wished him dead.

            “Dana, a name is important. How else can you remember that person? I’m going. Are you coming?” I asked her. She looked scared but she began to follow me.

            The walk was long and arduous, I could feel my feet rubbing raw inside my boots. On the outskirts, there were only random walkers milling about. I used what I learned to avoid them without a confrontation fairly easy. There was no point in taking them out, using up what little energy I had only to draw more in.

            Moving from house to house, we took this opportunity to gather any supplies we could find. The pickings were slim.

            “Paul, this is crazy. This whole place is surrounded by them, we should leave now.” Dana was nervous. She hadn’t been with them long, we found her on the side of the road only three days ago nearly dead from starvation.  She was in the kitchen and opened the door to the pantry; she let out a scream.

            A walker was inside and lunged at her. I was there in an instant and drove my machete through its partially decayed skull. Shit! The scream. I ran to the kitchen window to see an army of walkers turned in our direction. They were coming.

            “I’m sorry I didn’t think…” Dana apologized. She was shaking.

            “Don’t worry about that, let’s just get out of here alive. Follow me.” I led her out a side door on the other side of the house. The scream attracted them from all directions. I saw Sahara Street in the distance, that’s what I was looking for. We ran for it dodging walkers left and right. 1016 was a small non-descript house with a broken fence and uneven walkway. The door was unlocked and as I walked inside another scream sounded behind me.

            “Paul!” A walker had her arm in its mouth. It ripped through her flesh and nearly bit her arm in half. Another was on her from behind and sank its teeth into her slender neck. Blood gushed and she gurgled a scream.

            I tried to reach for her but the mass engulfed Dana. She looked at me. I mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ and closed the door. I leaned against it. Fuck! I questioned if this was really worth it.

            I turned to the dimly lit room; furniture and books were scattered in the living room. The house was ransacked most likely from other survivors looking for food. A name. All I needed was a name then I would collect whatever was left of Dana and bury her beside him.

            Picking through the papers in the kitchen I came across an old newspaper clipping; it was yellow with age and brittle but it was very significant. It was the article that detailed my daughter’s death. It had her picture.

            “What the hell?” I leafed through more papers and came across a medical record of sometime. The man’s picture was posted above a name, “David Harris”. Why did that name sound so familiar? The medical record documented that David was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor that was not operable. His prognosis was grim, only 3 years to live.

            “David.” I tried out his familiar name. I was still confused about the news article until I found a journal entry in the kitchen drawer.

            I was at my lowest. I had always had a hard time living in this world of words and not being able to speak them. Now this? A brain tumor? I’m dying and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. I guess… I guess I wanted to take my death into my own hands. I didn’t want to take anyone with me though. 17. God. She was just 17 years old. What have I done? I got drunk and just wanted the madness to end. I thought the cliffs would be a perfect spot to drive my car over but I never made it there. The accident was my fault and I lived. She didn’t. Her father wouldn’t even look at me. I tried to apologize so many times but I know it wouldn’t have made a difference. The judge took pity on me since I was going to die in three years anyway, I didn’t go to jail but this house is the only jail I need. This body is my jail. I’ll just sit and wait either for death or a chance to redeem myself. I’m sorry.

            David killed my daughter. But he saved my life over and over again. He died saving me. The horde outside grew larger and there was no other way out. At least I was able to give him a name…and I accept his apology.

Immune 18 -The Heart of the Dead- The Walking Dead Fan Fiction by Lolita Lynn

Immune 18- The Heart of the Dead

            “Don’t take any chances with her. She’s dangerous. We need to move her to the square. I want the people to meet their savior.” The Governor spoke while drying off his hands.

            “What about Merle and the other one?” Martinez asked.

            “Take them both to the square, we’ll have ourselves a little fun first. You,” he pointed to an unsure man in the corner, “get her to the square. Take this and knock her out first. Got it?” The Governor handed the man a Taser already loaded and on its highest setting. “You think you can handle that?” With that, the Governor left with Martinez and a few other men in tow.

            “What the fuck, man?” A man asked the one given the Taser. “Did that really happen?”

            “Shut your mouth, you really want to question a man that could do that? Let’s just get through this.” Vanessa still sat on the floor of the cell; her hands still held the metal bars. She stared blankly at the tub and the legs hanging off the side.

            “Vanessa?” Rick asked “Vanessa?” There was pain in his voice. Rick was a good man who has had to make hard choices, there was a time when Vanessa worried that Rick was losing his humanity with the decisions he’s had to make. Now it seems that Vanessa is the one who has lost everything she tried to hold onto.

            The man with the Taser shot her and Vanessa welcomed the electric agony that came with it and the blessed unconsciousness that followed. “Alright, Cooper, Johnson, pick her up and let’s head for the square. I don’t wanna miss the fight.” Taser man spoke. Vanessa heard them, she wasn’t fully unconscious as she would have hoped. They began to drag her along the concrete floor by her arms on her back, Vanessa could make out the thud of boots.

            Rotating her hands inward she grabbed the two by their wrists and flipped her feet above her head and drove them deep into their mid-sections. Using her momentum, Vanessa was able to roll up on her feet, back to them. She shifted her weight to one leg and twisted around to kick them in their faces with a powerful roundhouse.

            Taser man shot again but not letting the electric current phase her, she simple grabbed him by the neck and shoved him into the wall. He dropped the Taser as Vanessa continued to ram him into the cinderblock until blood appeared on the wall and his body slide down the wall.

            Vanessa stood there over the body breathing deeply. It felt good to kill him and she only wished it was the Governor at her feet instead. The sound of splashing water stopped Vanessa’s breath. A numb feeling fell over her as she immediately knew what the sound was.

            “Vanessa…wait. Just let us out, I’ll take care of it.” Rick spoke from the cell. The look in her eyes was dark and frightening.  Rick watched as the thing that use to be Lizzy began to slosh out of tub. She couldn’t do this. He couldn’t let Vanessa take this on. Having to kill walker-Lizzy would be the final nail in the coffin on what was once Vanessa’s soul.

            “Please Vanessa, let me help you.” Rick continued to plead with a cracking voice but Vanessa knew she would have to do this on her own.

            “I’ll take care of her, Rick.” She spoke in monotone. This Lizzy is in stark contrast to live Lizzy. She used to be so vibrant and alive. No longer. Her skin was pale and somewhat bloated from the water. Her eyes have become gray and clouded and her hair swung about her slumped shoulders. Vanessa let her shuffle closer, she used that time to think about what she had to do.

            Vanessa bent down and picked up the knife from Taser man’s belt; she held it against her leg as if it were too heavy to lift any higher. But it wasn’t the weight of the knife, just the burden of this world that was weighing her down. This dead world that made men into monsters, children into pawns, and friendships into liabilities; was not a world Vanessa wanted to live in much longer. How easy would it be to just end it? To stop the pain and hardships with one bullet.

            The thing that was Lizzy groaned and reached for her. Vanessa held her by the throat at arm’s length as it struggled.

            “Lizzy, I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you. You didn’t deserve this. I’m not sure I have anything left to give this world anymore. But I will do one thing for you, Lizzy. I’ll kill that bastard. I promise, with everything left I have in my heart, I’ll take him to Hell with me. I….I…..oh, God…” Vanessa’s voice trailed off and she spoke in sobs. She let the tears flowed down her face again.

            The knife plunged into Lizzy’s skull quickly and efficiently. Vanessa twisted her wrist to turn the blade inside, ensuring the brain is badly damaged, Lizzy slowly fell to the ground with a wet thud.

            Rick watched as Vanessa wiped off the blade and proceeded to check the fallen bodies for a set of keys to unlock the cell. Her movements were robotic with vacant eyes because there, lying on the floor in a dead heap, was Vanessa’s heart. Her purpose for staying alive in this desolate world for so long when at any time, she could have ended it.

            Rick sympathized because it was the same feeling he felt when his wife Lori died. He had been used to keeping her and Carl alive for so long that he didn’t know what his purpose now was until he realized he still had Carl and now a daughter. He still has his group; his surrogate family. Will the group be enough for Vanessa to care about living? To Rick, she already looked dead.

            The sound of a turning key and disengaging lock shook Rick back to situation at hand. Julian followed behind Rick as he led them to the back stair case that would lead up into an empty part of the warehouse. Vanessa went in the opposite direction.

            “We need to go.” Rick said in an urgent whisper. He still didn’t know how many guards occupied the warehouse or beyond.

            “No, I’m not leaving here until he’s dead.” She didn’t have to say who she meant and there was no arguing with her. Rick, still in pain from his wound, relented and followed Vanessa silently up the front staircase. He understood that she had to do this. She had to face this man and she’ll succeed in killing him even if it means she kills herself in the process.

            Outside the guards were light. Vanessa only came across two that she easily dispatched by snapping their necks from behind. They never saw her coming. She didn’t bother to stab their brains, she’d rather they turned while inside the wall. She was done playing games and taking prisoners. Now, anyone between her and the Governor is her enemy and will be killed. Her own train of thoughts were frightening enough but if Rick and Julian could see the image she had in her head of how she would kill the Governor, they would run the other way in horror.

            A crowd was gathered around a clearing. Along the inner ring of the crowd was a line of armed guards and at its center was the Governor.

            “Fuck my life!” Vanessa cursed. The Governor would have plenty of warning she was coming and enough guards between them to slow her down considerably.

            “I don’t see a way through without being undetected.” Julian surmised. “We should leave. We can regroup and plan…”

            “No. I’m here, I’m doing this.” Vanessa made a move to run for the center when Rick’s strong grasp stopped her.

            “Wait! Look, it’s Daryl and Merle. What are they….they’re going to make them fight each other? We need to stop this.” Rick demanded. “You go now and you’ll be killing them too. They’ll put a bullet in their heads before you get to him.”

            The cloud of rage was dispersing and Vanessa was thinking more clearly. Rick made sense. She was willing to risk her own life, but not everyone else’s. Vanessa handed Rick a gun she took off a dead guard, she handed Julian another. They took up positions without having to even speak and began to spray bullets amongst the crowd. They didn’t intend to kill, just distract to allow Daryl and Merle to escape.

            Screaming people began to run haphazardly. Guards fired blindly into all directions and Vanessa aimed her sights on the Governor. He wore a black patch over one eye and Vanessa secretly thanked the person that caused him pain. He was wondering around the center of the confusion unafraid of bullets or walkers that all flew around him. Vanessa slowed her breathing, quieted her heartbeat and steadied the weapon. She slowly pulled back on the trigger and let the bullet loose.

            Vanessa watched as Andrea walked in between the shot and the bullet entered her right shoulder and exited out her back. The force put her into a spin and just as she turned around, she faced Vanessa. There was pain on her face but also determination. She knew, Andrea knew the shot was fired and she intentionally walked into it. Vanessa could tell she will live from this wound.

            “Fuck.” Vanessa lowered her rifle. The Governor had ducked down beyond her line of sight and the element of surprise was lost. Andrea made her choice and she chose to be between her and the Governor; a perilous position.

To be continued….