zompocalypse

Ash pov

I sat up in the office with Wallflower in my lap as I leaned in my chair. I had finished writing some papers out for my crew. I smiled as I wrapped an arm around her.

“Knock knock!”

I looked up at the door and sighed as I yelled out. “Come in!” Spoiled walked in and laughed into her hand as she looked at the still half asleep.

“It’s time to send Mark off. Filthy wants as many guys he can get in case Mark tries something.”

I nodded then moved my arms around then picked her up as she started to fall back asleep. I nodded over to the side door. Spoiled closed the door then walked over and opened the door for me. I laid her down in the bed then walked back out. I closed the door and Spoiled put a hand on my chest then pulled out a box and letter from under her coat. I took it and then looked down.

“Filthy need to talk to you and Shining.”

I nodded then walked over and sat the box down and opened it. There were some bullets in the box. I looked at her and smiled at me. I nodded then pulled my Glock out then pulled my clip then loaded it up then put the rest of the bullets into the lowest desk drawer. I walked back around and Spoiled kissed my cheek. I laughed then shoved her a little and she laughed. “Alright, we need to go and get this done. Wallflower will be mad if I’m not back when she wakes up.” She laughed as we walked out of the room then started walking down the hall.

“So, you know the counts are still good with food but the bullet count is low. From what I’m hearing the old man is setting up a team to help spread the walls out using the trees. Even talking about making a waterwheel to get some power again.”

I laughed as I nodded my head before bumping shoulders with her. “Hell, we’d better off getting some of those solar panels. Get the houses back up using those.” She walked into the yard seeing Mark's hands tied in front of him, the men around making sure the engine was good. I saw Filthy over by the gate with the jeep. I walked over to him and he looked over at the jeep then opened the door letting me see Flash.

“I need you two to make sure he leaves.”

I nodded but he stopped me before I got in.

“If he won’t go you do what you have two understand?”

I pulled out my Glock nodding then got into the driver's seat then closed the door. The guards forced Mark into the car then threw the door shut and locked it behind him. They used a steel pad then brought the key over to me as Mac got into the car’s driver seat.

“Ash!”

I turned back and Gilda came running with my bow and two slings of arrows. I smiled as I took them and the bow. I set them in the back of the jeep then turned to her and gave her a kiss before I jumped into the jeep. I looked over seeing Flash looking at me with a smirk on his face.

“Haha, so got names picked out yet?”

I laughed as I nodded my head then opened the slot for viewing. The gates opened and we drove out. I watched the trees go by as we rode down the road.

“So, how do you think this will go over?”

I sighed as I put up the Glock in my hand, “I think this is how this is going to go over. We both know he’s not going to get away without a fight. Mac knows that and that’s why we had his hands tied. Hell, we need to name a replacement for Mark now. We need someone to help lead the zone while the rest of us are gone. Shining’s got his hands full with the guards and Filthy can’t handle everything by himself.”

“Well, who do you think should take over for him?”

“I think the old-timer would be best. Or maybe we could get Twilight to help him since she’s smart.” I looked over at him and he seemed to be thinking about it.

“Ya, Twilight would be good at that.”

We laughed as little then he punched my arm as he drove. Flashed looked back ahead through the open hatch then spoke up again.

“You know, a lot of people would be happy if you’d step up and take his place. You command more respect than you think you do Ash.”

I nodded my head as I watched the trees run pass. “Ya, that would be nice but then who’s going to save your ass from the dead?” He burst out laughing hitting the steering wheel as he drove.

“Ash, come back.”

Mac stopped the car and we stopped as Flashed stopped laughing as I picked up the radio.

“What’s up Mac?”

“We got a group on the side of the road right on the corner. Four men, two women, and a little girl but it doesn’t look like they’ll be any trouble. They haven’t seemed to notice us yet. What do you want to do?”

I licked my lips as I looked up the road as best as I could. An RV and large truck on the side of the road. The little girl was off to the side playing with something with a big guy sitting on the top of the RV but not looking our way. I pressed down on the button then spoke. “We have a few days worth of food and water. Let's see if we can bring some of them back with us. The old-timer wants to build that wall soon. Mac, you come up with us but keep Mark’s mouth shut.” The car shuck and Mac came back over the radio.

“Ok, he’s out.”

I laughed as I looked over at Flash. Seeing him laughing his ass off as I leaned over the steering wheel.

“I- Haha! I love Mac sometimes!”

We laughed for another minute then I waved my hand as we got underway. We turned down the street up to the RV. The man turned his head looking at us as we pulled up twenty-foot away. I got out Glock in hand above my head as he and everyone else but the kid pointing guns at me. I smiled as I looked at them. “Hey now, I came to ask you something.” The man on the RV jumped down a high power rifle pointed at me.

“What do you want?”

I smiled as I took the clip off the popped the one in the chamber before putting it back into my holster. “Well, I’m not going to dance around with my words. I want you all to come with us back to our safe zone. We’re planning to expand once winter is over. We have food in water to hand out even if you don’t want to come with us.” He looked at me for a second then lowered his gun as he looked at me.

“Your fucking with us. Nobody just hands out food and water these days.”

I laughed as I waved him over to the back of the jeep. He slowly followed me while his others watched our weapon at the ready. I opened the back and he looked in nearly dropping his rifle as he looked at the four boxes we hand with six gallons of water.

“We can really have all this come or not?”

I smiled and nodded as he looked at me, Flash laughing in the driver's seat.

“You can believe Ash when he tells you something you can believe his words are good as gold.”

“Ya, it’s yours come with us or not.”

He looked at me and I noticed something about him. His face and hair looked a lot like Gilda’s, even had the same purple highlights but his hair was yellow. I turned and looked at him for a second then I noticed the other woman had white hair with the same eyes as Gilda.

“Um, son you ok?”

I blinked as I looked at him then nodded as I pointed at him. “Um, hey do you know a girl named Gilda?” His eyes widened so he dropped the rifle then grabbed my shirt.

“That’s my daughter's name!”

I laughed as I put my hands up as I looked at him. “Well, she’s at the zone and um…”

“He knocked your daughter!”

This guy's face formed a snarl as he looked at me.

“Shut up FLASH!”

“YOU WHAT!?”

“FUCK!”

Gilda pov

I sat next to the fire with the Pound in my arms. I smiled as I held him and his sweet little smile on my face as he looked at me brought a warmth I’ve never known. ‘I wondered if my child would bring me this warmth.’ I looked at the gate waiting to see Ash come back wanting to talk with him about going to get some stuff from that fancy baby store in town. We all looked at the gate as it opened up as the gate opened up and the jeep came with a large red truck with what looked like my parents old RV. I jumped up Pound in my arms as the jeep came to a stop. Ash got up as I ran up to be stopped when I saw he had a black eye with some dried blood under his nose. But his right hand looked hurt too. “As…”

“My baby!”

I looked to the RV seeing my mother running over with arms open wide. She hugged me and Pound, shocking me to the core. Then I saw my father stumble out his whole right jaw swollen with a huge bruise on his face. I blinked then looked back over at Ash’s hand. My mother laughed as she let me go then looked at him.

“Ya, that boy of yours knocked your father out with one savage hook after your father punched him. But, one to a more serious point: when will my first grandchild coming?”

“You want to get the fuck knocked out of you again!”

“The fuck did you say!”

We looked and saw Ash and my father in each other face Ash with his hurt fist pulled back my father with his left ready to punch.

“You two stop it, oh and Brase you're too hurt to be fighting like this. Besides, Ash’s already proved he’ll knock you on your ass if you over step.”

They looked at us as Wallflower and Trixie came walking over. But, they stopped when they saw the two of them about to rip into each other. They walked up to us looking at the two of them waiting to see what was going to happen. They looked at each other for another second then Ash’s snarl faded as he let out a long breath. He let go of my dad then started to talk.

“Look, you are in our zone. You have to listen to me and the others who lead this place. Besides me there are two other leaders. Shining and Flash both have a say if you stay or not. Bu, before all that you go into quarantine for a week our doctor and nurse will look you over.”

Ash grabbed his shirt collar and got in my dad’s face shocking me.

“But, I think for even a second you're going to do something or hurt someone. I will personally beat you to death understand?” My dad looked ready to fight but he huffed then shoved Ash back.

“Fine, but if I don’t think your or these others are up to the task of leading I’m taking my whole family and leaving.”

Ash narrowed his eyes as he looked at him.

Ash pov

I glared at this fucker then nodded, pulled my belt buckle off dropping everything. I kicked the knife and gun away as I looked at him. “Fne, you want to play the big bad motherfucker. I’ve laid you ass out once already in the two hours I’ve known you and I’m about to do it again.” He looked at me for a second fist clenched, eyes locked with mine. After a second he unclenched his fist and lowered his gaze. I huffed as I walked back and grabbed my stuff then put it all back on.

“Ok, everyone who’s in there come with me and we're going to look you over.”

I looked up, seeing a red heart walking over a clipboard in hand. The rest of their group followed her but Gilda’s father stood in front of me clearly not happy.

“Dad go.”

Gilda walked up beside me and he huffed as he kicked the dirt on me before he walked off. I sighed as I nodded my head then looked back over at the jeep. I walked over to the back then got my slings of arrows and my bow.

“Ash?”

I looked at Wallflower as I knocked an arrow. “I'm going hunting wallflower. I saw signs of deer and hog actively near the abandoned bridge about a mile out. There are lots of old houses out that way I’ll see if I can find anything.” I put a large backpack on then started to walk over to the gate.

“Hey Ash.”

I looked back seeing Applejack with a piece of paper in her hand. I turned then grabbed the paper when she held it out to me. I looked down at the paper and saw she needed bads and sets of panties. I looked up at her to see a blush on her face.

“Were out and um…”

I held a hand up as I looked at her. “Got it, I’ll see what I can find Aj.”

“Thanks”

I nodded as I slapped the gate then it opened up slightly. I walked out the gate closing behind me as soon as I was out. I started to jog down the road then slipped into the woods. I slowed my jog to a slow walk. I looked around knowing the dead were all over the forest. ‘I’ll check my traps while I’m out here.’ For the next hour I grabbed six rabbits from my traps and four more with the bow. I looked and smiled as I came across a fresh set of deer tracks.

“Ragh!”

I stopped as I heard the grounding of the dead. I turned around and looked for anything moving.

“HEY!”

I looked to my left seeing a guy running while holding his arm. Two dead were behind him and one looked like it had just turned. I pulled my bow back and aimed at the close one. I shot and put the arrow through its head and the arrow went straight into the neck of the second one. It dropped to the ground but was still moving around. The man stopped beside me looking back at the one still moving. I looked at him seeing hair a lot like Trixie’s with slightly darker skin and from the way, his clothes hung he’d lost weight.

“Thanks…”

I dropped my bow and slammed him to the ground pressing my knife to his neck. “You bitten!?” He nodded and uncovered his arm letting me see a deep cut with some metal still in his arm. I pulled him up looking around to see if any more dead were coming. “Name now.”

“R-royal Pin.”

I nodded then pulled him back onto his feet. He looked around as I pulled a large rag from the side of my bag. “Keep an eye out I need to pull out the metal or you’ll keep bleeding.”

“Wait!”

He held up his hands as he looked at me.

“I’ve got a camp not too far from here. Some others and I went out on a run into town to try and find some food. Things went from bad to worst when one of those army hum-v’s came up. They started shooting when we would come back to the hospital. Please if you can help me back you can have anything you want. We don’t have a lot of food but we do have two doctors if you need any help.”

I put the knife to his neck again, shutting him up. I put a finger to my lips as I looked down at him. “You're talking too loud and too much. I helped him up and pulled out my knife. He took it then nodded his head as he started to lead the way as I knocked another arrow. “To your camp now.”

“R-right.”

He started to run through the woods on a well-used trail. I ran behind him looking around as we ran out onto a dirt road. We were going the opposite way I should be going back. I needed to get him back to his people and If they were good I could bring them back.

“Just up ahead kid.”

I nodded as we ran up to a large barb wire fence. A young woman and a guy around my age were stabbing the dead through the fence. They sat us coming and they opened a hole in the fence letting us run into the area.

“NO!”

I turned seeing that a dead man had grabbed the open hole they opened. I dropped my bow grabbing my knife from Royal then ran up and stabbed the dead woman in the head then kicked the body back out. She closed the fence then looked back at me as I looked around the area. It wasn’t the largest area but the fence was maybe three or four layers thick.

“PIN!”

I turned ready to stab but stopped as I saw a man running up a thirty-eight in hand. I sheathed my knife as he ran up to us. He grabbed Pin pulling him over then started to talk as I got my bow then unknocked the arrow then set the bow over my back with the string pulled tight over my chest. I looked around seeing a half-burnt house with a few tents.

“Do you need any help?”

I blinked as I turned my head seeing a man with a set of knives on his belt. I nodded as I looked at him then saw a few kids looked at me from around a tree. I smiled as I pulled the rabbits off my shoulder and kneeled down looking at them. “Are you two hungry? I got more than enough for two strong and brave kids.” The older one a girl came out from around the tree, definitely scared but wanting them. I held them out to her and she touched the rabbit. She looked at me for a second then took the rabbits as she looked at me. I smiled as she looked at me then smiled.

“Thank you.”

She whispered before turning and running off back to the tents. I laughed as I watched them run off while others knifed them through the fence. I smiled as I stood back up seeing the kids as the big guy walked up to me thirty-eight in hand.

“My Daddy forged that but he’s gone now.”

I drew the sword seeing a razor sharp blade with a rope of some kind wrapped around the handle. I put the sheath in my belt and a small block of wood stopping it from falling out. I smiled as I sheathed the sword thinking of hanging it in the office. I looked back at the man and nodded as I looked at him. “How many people do you have here?” He frowned as he crossed her arms as he looked at me.

“I don’t think I should tell you that son. How about yourself?”

I crossed my arms as I looked at him. “About eighty or so if I’m not wrong. With more than enough firepower to stop anything or anyone who wants to take on our walls.” His eyebrows raised as he listened to me.

“Walls?”

I smirked as I leaned back on to a tree as I looked at him. “Yes, a good ten foot tall wall.” He looked at me for a minute then spoke up again.”

“Thirty-four before now we're thirty.”

I nodded as I looked at him. “I see well, we're open to trade or help once winter is over we're going to start expanding the walls so we need more manpower. I also need more power on my scavenge crew so we can get into that farming store. Getting some of those tools and a tracker build a farm and large grazing area for the cows and a nice big pin for the pigs.” He seemed to be thinking as I turned and started to talk back over to the area that could be opened. “If you’d to talk you’ll find me about a mile to the east in a tree with a homemade tree stand in the morning.”

“Ok.”

A man opened the gate for me and I started jog off.

Ash pov four hours later

I hummed a tune as I dragged a doe and the buck that was after her back to the zone. I pulled them up to the road and stopped as I looked at the smoke coming from inside the wall. I saw a few of the guys on the wall looking down on the road waiting to see who or what was coming. I smiled as I walked out onto the road and smiled as they opened the gate for me. Flash and Mac ran out helping me pull the deers in as a few of the slower dead came out of the forest. We pulled them in and the gate slammed shut before any dead could get in. I let the rope go then looked at the gate.

“Is that a sword?”

I looked back over seeing Shining as he walked up to me. I laughed as I looked at him then I walked up to him, my arm resting on the handle. “Well, I found another group and traded ten rabbits for information and well this.” I patted the sword and smiled as I looked at him.

“What do they have? What is the count and skills?”

“Thirty and two doctors among them. They made a nice area with layers of barb wire keeping all the dead away from then all the way around. I think the age of walls has returned to the world.” He laughed then pointed back over his shoulder to the tents.

“Gilda’s father is going to make life here hard.”

I crossed my arms as I looked at him. “Why?” He sighed as I heard yelling from the tents.

“What do you mean I’d have to work under that brat if I join the scavenging team!? I’m more than twice his age he’ll listen to me if that's what you want me to do!”

I felt my eye twitch as I looked back at him.

“He’s not joining my team. You brought him here, you deal with him.”

I sighed as I rubbed my face then nodded as I looked at him. “Ok, ok I’ll handle it. But, you with your team have to deal with him for the rest of the week, not me.” He frowned then narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.

“Touche Ash, touche.”

I laughed as I pulled my knife then turned around. “Go get the grill ready We got over three-hundred pounds of deer meat to cook.” He nodded then turned and jogged off to the crew who helped when we needed to move. I shook my head then got on my knees and started skinning the buck.

“Um, Ash?”

I heard Applejack’s voice and I pulled the bag from my side. I held it out as I looked to see how much fat was on these guy.”

“Thanks.”

I nodded as she walked off and someone else walked up to me.

“What can we take from these?”

I looked up seeing Silver as I started to skin the right hineleg. “Well, besides the back straps, legs. The liver, kidney, and heart are all edible and, when properly prepared, can be incredibly tasty but It’s been a long time since last I’ve had anything like that. But, how is your mommy doing today?”

“She’s good, and I like how quiet it is now that my daddy is gone.”

I frowned a little at that then nodded my head as I started to skin the other leg.

“What are you going to do with the skin?”

I smiled as I looked back at her as I stopped cutting. “Well, I was thinking of trying to tan it but I’ve never done that before.” She nodded then turned and ran off as the heart fell out of the chest. I laughed then started to work again. “Sweet girl.”