The
Wall Ten
“So I
caved her in. There was no saving her…she’d been bit; it was only a matter of
time…the only gift I could give her was to spare her from being a walker.”
Trinity spoke solemnly while staring at the concrete. She spoke to Jen about
her twin sister, Trisha, but her story was nothing new. Many survivors had the
same story but it’s one that needs to be told, less for the stranger’s inquiry
and more for the storyteller’s sanity.
“I’m
sorry.” Jen said sitting beside her on the wooden post in the front yard of a
nondescript home. They had been traveling all day, dodging walkers left and
right, it was nice to take a break.
“Yeah,
I’m sorry too. Well, should we go, I think we’re close to your house.” Trinity
spoke.
“You’re
lucky you know.” Trinity spoke. “You still have your dad. Someone on this
miserable planet that loves you. You’re lucky.”
A small
herd of walkers appeared from the North heading their way. The two girls stood
casually and dusted the dirt from their jeans as they began to walk south. They
were tired and didn’t get much sleep last night. They had spent the evening
sleeping on top of the disabled bus with a few others. It was safer than
stumbling around after dark.
In the
early hours of the morning when it seemed like night was trying desperately to
cling to the city, the girls made their way further south towards Calhoun
Street and Jen’s home. Not one of the adults wanted to come with them and
headed off on their own with one man choosing not to leave the bus at all. Fear
made people do stupid things. Trinity and Jen knew the only way to stay alive
is to keep moving.
Some
people think building a makeshift shelter would be better but a shelter can
only get surrounded and with no way out, the walkers would just wait you out.
They won’t starve to death, they won’t move on unless prompted, they don’t get
tired, they don’t sleep…they just eat.
“There
it is.” Jen exclaimed, a smile crossed her face. The word home came to mind
when she and her father didn’t have much of a home before. She didn’t
understand why the older people would get so attached to certain places or
buildings. They called them home but she never fully understood what that
meant, home is where you’re safe for the night. Where walkers can’t get you for
a few hours, not a place to live forever.
Now, she
understood what home meant to them and she wanted desperately to see her father
there when she walked in the door but she only found an empty disheveled house.
“There’s
no one upstairs. I couldn’t find anything we could use.” Trinity reported as
she came downstairs.
“We
haven’t been here long, I guess we didn’t bring much stuff with us either.” When
traveling you always had to stay light on your feet, so carrying too much stuff
would be a death sentence, Jen thought. Her thoughts also returned to the
walker that killed Jiff and Robbie. It was different from the others….it fought
back.
“Dad,
please be okay…please.” Jen whispered to herself letting silent tears roll down
her sunken cheeks. She rarely cried since losing someone you love was the norm
but in that moment Jen realized that she can’t lose her father. Not now in a
city that was supposed to be safe.
As if
thoughts of the walker had it materialize from thin air, it burst through the
door and only the sound of Jen’s rapid heartbeat filled her ears. She couldn’t
move, so stunned that this thing followed them here, Jen couldn’t move a
muscle. It walked with purpose, not shambling or sliding dead feet but a full
stride towards her and locked onto her with dead eyes. Finally, Jen let out a
piercing scream.
Hank
heard the scream and instinctively knew it was his daughter. His feet seemed to
be made of lead, he couldn’t get them to run fast enough to reach her. Damn his
legs and arthritic knees, hurry…hurry, he told himself. Hank’s chest burned
straining for a deep breath, he wouldn’t allow it. He would run his body into
the ground if it meant getting to Jen a moment sooner. His house finally came
into view with the front door hanging from the hinges in pieces. Hank jumped
through not caring about the wood splinters attacking his face.
“Get
away from her!” The walker stopped its pursuit and turned to face him; Hank’s
heart dropped into his stomach. The walker from before, the one that gave him
the chills. “Jen move quickly!” Hank order her as she ran to another girl on
the stairs, they pressed themselves against the wall. A single arrow shot from
behind grazed Hank’s neck causing his short cut hair to flutter. Unfortunately
it missed its mark as the walker casually moved its head to the left allowing
the arrow to sail by unused.
“Come on
you bastard. You want me? Come get some.” Hank glared at it and slowly walked
backwards out the door egging the creature to follow. With determination, it
obliged him. Hank watched as Jen and the girl made their way out the back door.
He knows she will come around to meet him but he’s got to get this thing out in
the open where the group can take it down.
Hank
didn’t get a chance to learn much about Daryl but from what little Marla told
him Hank knew he was deadly with a crossbow and a brave leader. Surely, working
together they would be able to take out this anomaly. In hindsight Hank wished
he had told Daryl about this walker but who would believe such a story? He wasn’t
even sure himself of what happened in that hallway.
“Easy
Hank, easy.” Daryl spoke as the group formed a semi-circle around the front of
the house. Hank was confident, there’s no way this thing stands a chance.
Before Hank could get it out into the front yard, the walker jumped through the
broken door and over Hank’s head. It landed on the walkway on all fours like a
cat but with so much force the ground shook violently knocking the group off
their feet and pushing Hank forward into the front stairs.
It let
out an ungodly cry that wasn’t human or animal. The arms and legs began to stretch
with the sound of tearing clothes as the material tried to accommodate its
growing size. The face elongated and ripped at the mouth tearing it wide open.
A long tongue slid out of the mouth and whipped back and forth.
Finally
the stun silence broke as Daryl fired another arrow still missing the head. The
others in the group raised their weapons and let loose a hail of bullets. The
creature moved with lightning speed effectively dodging the bullets, it allowed
them to hit its body but protected its head with the long arms.
“Fuck
me.” Daryl whispered as he too joined in the firing squad. The creature shot
out with its tongue and grabbed a man by the ankle, dragging him close then
stomping on his head spilling the contents out of the top. It did the same to
another man, dragging him closer then biting his neck to rip his head off, it
spit the head out like one would a watermelon seed.
From
behind three canisters flew over their heads and landed close to the creature.
They exploded sending big plumes of white smoke into the air engulfing it in a
thick haze.
“Run! This
way, hurry!” A deep voice boomed in the distance. Hank realized it was a smoke
shield to allow them to get away. They ran towards the voice, Hank grabbed Jen’s
arm who was standing in the distance, thankful she was still alive. But there
was no time for hugs, they had to get away from this thing.
Coming
around the corner Marla ran into the arms of a man. “Carl! Thank God!” This was
the man she spoke of, the leader of the Dead Heads.
“We need
to go, we’re not safe here.” Carl spoke as he prepared the group to leave.
“Shit,
with that thing around, we’re not safe anywhere.” Daryl said solemnly as the
group began to move. No one spoke, no one commented on what they saw. Fear
drove them to move quickly out of the area only the sound of their labored
breathing filled the air.
To
Continue…
