Plagued

[DrTrollinski]

"Uh-huh... I've played those." He smiled. "That's only 'cause dad let me have them, though." He said. Ah, he remembered everything that followed after he got those games. First he got caught with them after he woke up a week in a row because of nightmares every night, and then the news got out that it was in fact his dad that had been buying them for him. It was safe to say his mom never let that happen again... For a couple of months.


"I've got a lot of zombie ones, but... They give me nightmares." He said, and then looked back out of the window. "Please don't tell my mom. She doesn't know." He said out of worry.

 

[CelticSol]

Well, shit. The kid was afraid of zombies. Fantastic. Fucking great. Could this get better? Probably not. Jackie had to use every single bit of her willpower not to smash her head into the steering wheel. She also kind of wanted to laugh at the morbid humour of it all. His mother was probably one of the zombies he feared, and he was worried about his mother knowing he still got nightmares from them.


"I have no better way to break this to you Carl, but since you were honest with me, I'll be honest with you. I don't work with your dad, in fact, I had never met him before yesterday. I lived in New York, and I had to leave because my apartment - the whole city - was attacked by zombies." Saying it out loud made her sound ridiculous, but she plowed through, not letting herself stop. "One of them got into my apartment and I... Well, I got away, in short, then I drove until I found your dad's place, and walked in. You know the rest."


"This is real," She said quietly. "It isn't a dream, and it's not pretend anymore."

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl froze.


He didn't know what to think now. What was there to think? Everything was served up to him on one big silver platter, and that was all there was to it. That's all she wrote. That's all she was ever going to write. The fact that the past twenty-four hours had probably been a lie was quite upsetting to him, but he didn't feel that he had the energy for tears. He didn't know if anything was even worth questioning, or whether or not any of those questions were going to matter at al.


"Are we--.." He gulped, his voice shaking a little. "Does that mean we're all gonna' die?" He whimpered in question, quickly wiping his eyes with shaky hands.

 

[CelticSol]

This time, she actually couldn't restrain her desired movement. Slamming her fist into the dash beside the wheel as hard as she could, she snarled viciously. "Like hell we're gonna die," she looked to Carl, her voice grew less angry, and more determined. "We are not going to die, you understand me? Life isn't over, its just gonna get a little more risky. We will make it out of this alive, all of us, together, you hear me, Carl Greene? Because I will be damned if any of you get a scratch on my watch."

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl flinched when she hit the dashboard, and then continuously nodded with her words just to show that he agreed. In all honesty, he was the slightest bit scared. He wasn't sure if he wanted to agree because of how she was speaking and slamming around, but the promise of safety and not dying meant more than anything. Once she was done speaking he leaned over against her side and gently hugged her, holding onto her for a few minutes while he set his head down against her side.


"Thanks, Jackie... But... I know we're friends, and stuff, but... Why do you wanna' help us? Don't you wanna' help other people, too?" He asked. It wasn't a question asked out of spite. It was perfectly innocent and curious.

 

[CelticSol]

(Merry Christmas!)


She looked over to him, her eyes wide and blinking owlishly. Daniel seemed much more trusting than Carl, but here he was, hugging Jackie. Though he looked a little startled from her outburst, he asked such an innocent and quite sweet question. She ruffled his hair, smiling. "I know I can do more good here. Plus, I'm already here, I think you guys aren't annoyed by me or want to kill me yet, so that's a definite bonus. But just 'cause I'm with you guys doesn't mean I can't help others. In fact, I think we all can help people on the way, y'know?" She grinned then, then teasingly said, "What, you wanna get rid of me already, Carl?"

 

[DrTrollinski]

"No!" He said quickly, but soon realized that she didn't really mean what she said and smiled a little, and then set his head down against her side.


"We wouldn't get rid of you or anything like that." He said. "And yeah. We can help others together... Me and Daniel can be like doctors, and you can be like a nurse that works with us." He smiled thoughtfully.

 

[DrTrollinski]

(And Merry Christmas!)

 

[CelticSol]

"Sure, buddy," She said, "Y'know, I know some first aid stuff that I learned as a kid. I could teach you and your brother, if you wanted."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"That'd be cool." He smiled a little and then yawned. "If you want, we can start learning once we get to our Uncle's house!" He suggested, a bright grin on his face. He knew that his dad knew some basic stuff as well, but he wasn't going to ask him to teach him, and Walter had never really offered, either. Plus, spending more time with Jackie would be nice.

 

[CelticSol]

"Sounds good, kiddo. I've even got a med kit - like the ones nurses and doctors and stuff keep at the house - which will be perfect for learning some stuff." She looked to the road, then to the signs. There was still about an hour or so left of the drive, but it looked like their gas would survive longer than the trip. She was actually pretty excited to spend some time with the boys - after all, it had been more than a year since she had last seen her brother, and he had reached the stage of 'older-sisters-are-lame-get-away', so he didn't really like to hang out with the loser big sister.

 

[DrTrollinski]

(I'll post when I can. On my phone right now and a tad drunk xD )

 

[CelticSol]

(Take your time, man. Turn up, it's the holidays! xD )

 

[DrTrollinski]

"That's awesome." He grinned. ".. I hope we can do that, Jackie... Dad won't mind, because... Y'know, we can use it to help people, and it's good to help people!" He smiled warmly and then set his head back against the chair again. He was wondering when they were going to get to that town in New Hampshire that he spoke of - Time felt like it was ticking on, but really, since he'd woken up to go and pee with Daniel, it really hadn't been all that long at all.


"If I go to sleep... Can you wake me up a little before we get there?" He asked. ".. I wanna' be awake before we drive into town." He smiled and softly shrugged.

 

[DrTrollinski]

(@CelticSol - How was your Christmas? )

 

[CelticSol]

(Ah, it was good. I got a new laptop, and I'm still trying to get used to it. Windows 8 is a bit confusing xD . How about you?)


"Oh, yeah. If you wanna sleep, go ahead. I'll wake you up when we're almost there, or if anything interesting happens."


Jackie focused back to the road, letting out a bit of a sigh, quiet enough that she hoped Carl wouldn't hear it. She only had an hour on her own, so it wasn't as bad as what Walter had to drive through, but still, the idea of being left to her thoughts that long chilled her for some reason. Thinking about everything that had happened since everything kind of fell apart wasn't something she was very excited about, if she were being honest. She ran a hand through her hair, dislodging her haphazard ponytail and letting her wild, curly hair fall down her shoulder.

 

[DrTrollinski]

(It was good, yeah. I got some real nice stuff )


--


"Thanks, Jackie." He smiled and then curled up a little on the seat into a position that, once again, only a kid could make look comfortable, and then shut his eyes. He began to drift off to sleep, but the sadness and fear was still fresh on his mind, and he had this permanent sense of nervousness glued to him. Hell, if it wasn't for Jackie, he was sure that he wasn't going to sleep again.


Walter was still fast asleep in the back with Daniel, and he was sure that Jackie would wake him up and tell him if she needed him to drive. He hadn't slept all night, and it would have been unsafe with him driving on the road, especially when he was exhausted. The last thing they needed was for him to fall asleep at the wheel and plummet the car into an abyss, or something.

 

[CelticSol]

Jackie looked to see Carl entirely unconscious, her expression somewhat stressed. She tapped her fingers against the wheel before she grabbed her bag and began to look through. Finally, she found a CD - one of two - that she had brought from her house. Admittedly, there were more useful things to bring with her, but when she thought about a possibly endless car ride in total silence... Even now, with the music Walter had started to play when he was driving was not only quiet enough that she could be left to her thoughts, but was on it's third loop, and Jackie was going to lose it if she heard the fourth.


She popped out the disk and took out her own, taking Walter's and putting it in her case. Her music started to play, and though she turned it up, it wasn't loud enough to wake anyone up. She eased back into her seat, trying to let off some tension in her back, arms and shoulders. She hummed along to the song playing, trying to keep her mind off, well, everything, which was much more difficult than movies and TV shows and videos games made it out to be. The highway was completely barren, and with the exception of a few abandoned cars she had seen when they were leaving New York, she had seen no one and nothing. Even in towns they'd seen when going over an overpass, she hadn't seen anyone that looked alive, only one or two stumbling zombies.


Jackie flexed her fingers on the wheel, her lips pursed tight enough that they turned white. Everything was different, everything was changed, and suddenly, dealing with the troubles of court and restraining orders didn't seem that difficult. Now, she yearned for life as simple and non-stressful as that.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Everyone was fast asleep, but Walter began to dream of something about an hour after the music changed. It wasn't because of that, no, it was just a coincidence that he started dreaming there and then, but it was a nice dream... or so it seemed. He couldn't really tell, in all fairness. He didn't know if all of this dream was genuine or not, but here's how it went:


"Daddy...?" A voice squeaked quietly. Walter was quick to awake from his slumber, his wife still at this side in the beautiful king bed in their beautiful suburban New York home. It was peaceful, quiet, gentle, surprising. It was a nice thing to be part of, that was for sure. It was quite dark in the room, but Walter saw a figure standing in the doorway. It was the figure of a young boy.


"Who's that...? Daniel?" He called out. Daniel was the one who was most prone to nightmares, but it occasionally happened to Carl. He was surprised to why he didn't wake Carl up before him. Maybe he just couldn't wake him, or he didn't want to confide in him this time. Walter was bound to find out, though. He watched as the young boy walked up to his bed and then climbed in beside him, looked him in the eyes, and whispered something.


"Carl's dead."


"What?" Walter said, a little confused by his words.


--





Walter began to squirm and spurt random words in his sleep.


--


"Carl's dead... and so are you." He said again. He heard a groan. He turned towards Colette, and then she sunk his teeth into his neck.


--





Walter awoke with a gasp. The first thing he did was look to his side. He saw Daniel, but where was Carl? He quickly looked into the front and saw Carl sitting there. It'd been an hour, and both boys were fast asleep, and that's all that mattered. He was glad that they managed to find the time to rest up, even within all this chaos. He looked at Jackie, sighed, and

 

[CelticSol]

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Walter," Jackie said, but then she laughed mirthlessly. "Well, metaphorically speaking, of course. The dead walk the streets, now, don't they?" She paused a second, frowning. "All those noises you were making... I was about to wake you up, you know. Because of the fact we're almost there and... you were obviously having a nightmare."


She drummed her fingers on the wheel. Now, she seemed to be talking more to herself than to Walter. "I... I had a lot to think about, with all the quiet, y'know? Thought about how the world is falling apart and how good our odds are looking..." Her voice dropped to a whisper, her words almost frantic. "They don't look good, Walter. We've got two kids, you, and then me. How much combat training have you had? What if we run into other survivors? What if they want to kill us more than the zombies want to kill us?"


She sighs, seeming to get a hold on herself. "I had to tell Carl about what's happening to everything. I think you should tell Daniel before he hears about it from Carl."

 

[DrTrollinski]

He reached out and gently set a hand down on her shoulder. "Calm down." He said upon noticing how panicked and quick her words seemed to be getting. The last thing they needed was for people to start unnerving themselves. Walter wanted her to be calm, not worried about everything, even though that was quite hard to achieve. ".. Yeah, the nightmare was pretty horrible, but... It's over now, thank god. The nightmare took place four years back in the past, so it's clear it ain't gonna' come true." He said.


"I wouldn't worry about other people... We'll hopefully have more than just us soon, so that should be just fine. We'll have strength in numbers, and let's face it, a lot of people don't have the capacity required to harm children in a dire situation. If anything, they'll feel bad for us, and they won't attack. Plus, it's day one, I think most people are going to be focusing on trying to survive, rather than going out and trying to kill other people - The only possibility here is that there's outlaws who wanted something like this to happen, but chances of that are slim right now, at least now that we're out of New York." He explained. He'd sort of reassured himself by saying all of that.


"I'll tell Daniel now, if we have time."

 

[CelticSol]

"Okay," She whispered. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I just gotta get a grip."


Reaching over, she shook Carl gently. "Hey, kiddo, we're almost there." She shook him again. "Come on, you were the one that wanted to be woken up before we got there."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"It's not really that. You just need to keep it cool, okay? Try and relax, keep your head clear, you'll be better off if you do that." He smiled and then reached over to shake Daniel's shoulder, in an attempt to wake him up. He woke up quite quickly, would you believe it, and instantly went and snuggled up to his father's side. Walter ruffled his hair and smiled a little, and then bowed and kissed the top of his head.


"Hey there, big man... We're almost there, okay? I need to talk to you about something..." He said, and then went on to talk about the whole situation and explain just what the hell was going on. It ended up with a few tears from Daniel's end, but it was nothing major. He wasn't sobbing his heart out, he was just a bit scared, that's all.


Carl looked at Jackie after waking up and then gave a yawn. ".. Yeah... I know..." He said, and then stretched his back. "How much longer?" He asked.

 

[CelticSol]

(I'm sorry this has taken so long, but not only did the website swallow your notification, but I've been crazy crazy busy.)


Jackie pulled off the highway, her brow furrowed. "Only a couple minutes..." She trailed off as they went further down the exit when she spotted something off to the side of the road the others don't see, and she breathed in sharply. "Shit-"


A zombie practically shot out of the trees in front of the car, and even though Jackie swerved, she slammed into it hard enough that not only did it make a sickening cracking noise as the bumper rammed into it, it flew over the roof of the car and landed nearly ten feet behind them. The car finally slid to a stop, with Jackie looking pale. "Are you guys alright? Jesus, I'm so sorry 'bout that."

 

[DrTrollinski]

(I know the feeling, don't worry )


"A couple of minutes? Okay..." Carl said, and then stretched his back with a yawn. He sat up a little bit in his seat, and he felt perfectly awake now. He was quite happy, too. He wasn't quick enough to see the thing come out of the bushes, though, and as soon as Jackie hit it, he let out a quick and sudden scream - he watched the poor 'person' travel up the hood of the car, and then go straight over the roof - He looked behind them, only to see the person splat down on the road, his head cracked wide open (he couldn't see that part entirely, though). What was his first reaction? He burst into tears.


Daniel didn't see it, but Walter did. Walter wasn't all that bothered, just a little shaken up. Carl was bawling his eyes out, though.


"We killed that guy and now we're gonna' to go jail!" He cried, and then bowed his head and covered his face with both of his hands. He kept on crying. This was really getting to be a horrible day, wasn't it?