Chapter Text
He can feel the sweat forming on his face. Living in Georgia, there seemed to be no spring, straight from winter to blazing summer days. He longed to crack open a window, maybe get some fresh air, but he couldn't. Uncle didn't allow windows to be open for stupid reasons such as that. He tried hard to study. He wasn't going to get anywhere without studying. He had just finished training for the day outside. Uncle wanted him to join the military one day, maybe be as good as him someday. Today was one of his longer training days. Although exercising is much simpler than it was when he was younger, he still felt sore quite a lot.
When he was younger, his Uncle would drive him blindfolded and take him deep into the woods. The objective was to find his way home without help. It's been only a few months since the last time he's done it, but it doesn't count since he failed it. He fell down a twenty-foot-high tree and dislocated his shoulder. Although he fixed it independently, he blacked out due to the lack of food. It was embarrassing.
After finishing his daily work, the boy waited impatiently for Uncle to arrive home. He paced around his room nervously, hoping he had done enough to please him. He pushed back his blonde waves from his forehead and waited. The familiar click of the front door made his head snap up. He immediately went to greet his Uncle after a long day of work. Although he was unsure of what his Uncle’s career was, he knew it was important.
“Good evening, Uncle,” the boy greeted with a small smile. The man gave a sly smile back.
“Good evening to you, Hunter,” he gave a sly smile to the boy. “Is dinner ready?”
“Yes sir,” Hunter responded as he grasped his Uncle’s work bags and put them away in their small closet. The man went down to the table.
“You may eat today, nephew,” the man held out a plate for the boy. Hunter quickly got ahold of the plate.
“Thank you.”
He tossed the grain meal onto his plate and began to chew. It was flavorless, but he hadn’t eaten in nearly three days. The growling pain in his stomach started to calm down as he ate spoonfuls of the food. Although he was fairly strong from practically living outside, able to live off the wild plants outside, he was still relatively skinny. Now and then, he could count his ribs, but most days he was okay. Strong with a good amount of muscles.
Hours later, Hunter was in his room. He usually spent the mornings outside training and the afternoons studying. His evenings were spent planning for working on his prayers to the Lord. Sometimes it took him hours, but he usually got it done by the time it was two o’clock in the morning. He didn’t need much sleep anyway.
A sudden burst of yelling startled him, and Hunter dropped the pencil. As the yelling escalated, Hunter realized his hands, covered with brown leather gloves, were shaking. He held his hand with the other and tried to breathe. He didn’t want his Uncle to see him this way. The shouting stopped. Hunter stayed quiet and heard footsteps coming toward his room. He quickly stood up.
“ Shit, ” Hunter thought, knowing exactly what was going to happen. All of a sudden, his door slammed open, making a dent in his wall, the awful scent of alcohol spreading into the small room.
“Do you know who the fuck just came to the door right now?” Philip hissed as he tossed Hunter’s few belongings out of the way.
“No sir,” Hunter’s voice quivered. Philip was standing right in front of him, towering over him.
“Did you call the CPS? Huh? Did you?” Philip shouted at the top of his lungs, face crimson red with rage.
“No! Of course not, Uncle! I would never,” Hunter shook his head and tried to keep a straight face.
“You little shit,” Philip snarled before he banged Hunter’s head against the desk, repeatedly over and over again. Hunter knows enough than to beg and plead. Hunter felt the thick blood running down his face, rubbing into his skin, the yelps from his mouth as his head slammed the desk. Just as he was about to pass out, he stopped. He left the room, mumbling under his breath. Hunter attempted to pick himself up, his arms weak and face bruised. He could feel the sensitive skin of his scars, the forming bruises. His eyesight was blurring in and out. He heard slight ruffling and in the doorway was his uncle. And in his hands was a gun.
The last thing Hunter heard was a gunshot.
The sounds of clattering awoke Hunter. His eyes blurred in and out of focus as he began to wake up. He sprang his eyes open once he realized he wasn't home. He immediately sat up and noticed he was in a hospital room. The dead walls, the bland room, and the sad little chair in the corner. He did notice something else: it was a mess. There were clothes in a pile in the corner, a hospital bed blocking the door, and items scattered all across the floor. He looked at the purple wildflowers on the stand beside him.
“Fresh flowers,” he thought, “someone must've been here earlier.”
He carefully started to unhook the medical tubes from him and he kicked his legs over the bed but just as he got up, he nearly fell. He must've been out for quite a long time if he couldn't handle his weight. Just then, he remembered what had happened. Uncle getting mad, getting his head slammed, and the gun.
The gun.
Hunter lifted the hospital gown and poked at the bandages around his abdomen. It was a little sore but didn't hurt too much. He waddled to the pile of clothes in the corner and checked for something that would fit him.
“They don't smell too bad,” he thought as he held the article of clothing to his nose. It mainly smelled like soil and laundry detergent. He slipped on the t-shirt, jeans, and thin sweater before searching for shoes. He couldn't find socks, but found a pair of shoes that were a little too tight but fit well. No gloves either. Hunter went to the mahogany curtains and took a peek outside.
Surprisingly, it was empty. He decided not to question it. Even though he hadn't been in a hospital in over thirteen years, he felt a little worried that there was no nurse to tend to him. He walked up to the gray door, pushed the bed out of the way, and slowly creaked it open. The first thing he noticed was the blood smeared on the long hallway walls. It sickened him about how it got there. He timidly walks through the halls of the eerie hospital.
“Hello?” Hunter softly called out, scared to speak louder. He turned a corner only to see something his eyes never wanted to see.
There were piles of rotting bodies thrown around in the waiting area. Their flesh rotting away, mouths open like screams, and bullet holes all over their bodies.
He felt tears running down his face, but he wiped them away. His breath became uneven as he tried to leave the hospital. He pushed open the entrance doors and ventured off.
The deserted town felt unfamiliar, but he's been down this street at least a thousand times. He kicked a fist-sized rock down a dark alleyway and it hit something hard. His eyes trailed the path the rock took to where it landed. A humanoid figure was lying on the ground. The boy slowly crept up to it, hoping it wasn't dead. He noticed its foot was trapped in something. A trap, it looked like. When he was about two feet away, the figure turned over, groaning and reaching out for the boy with its rotting hands, the pearly white bones showing. It felt like his lungs had been punctured. Out of instinct, Hunter ran. He sprinted far away, passing the roads, and the old town, all the way until he reached the woods. He collapsed by the tree, out of breath. His body ached and he felt as if he were suffocating.
“ What was that?” His mind screamed as he wiped the tears from his horror-stricken eyes. “ Was that a person?”
He stared at the small town, nearly empty. He saw something in the distance, a group of people maybe. Just as he was about to see what it was, he heard someone talking, no, someone crying. He searched around for what could be the source of noise, and slowly searched the area until he found where it was coming from.
A little girl, no older than ten years of age, was sitting in front of a tree sobbing into her knees. Her skin seemed to be a dark tan, but she was also sunburnt as well. She wore colorful clothing, like any other child, but it was dirty. Her long dark brown hair was tied in a long braid in the back. She looked so scared, and Hunter observed her. He felt bad that he was just being a creep and watching her instead of helping, so he decided to do something.
Hunter peeped out from behind the tree. “Hello,” he softly says, trying not to scare her. The girl's eyes were puffy and her sunburnt cheeks wet with tears. Her eyes widened in fear.
“Who are you?” The girl forces out. She quickly rose to her feet and stepped away.
“I'm sorry, I don't mean to hurt you. I just saw that you were crying and I wanted to help,” Hunter quickly apologized as the girl rubbed her nose on her arm. Hunter grabbed a handful of moss.
“Here you go,” he gave a small smile and approached her, handing her the moss. She eyed it and then looked him in the eye. After trusting him enough, she got a hold of the moss and dried her face.
“My name's Hunter, by the way,” he introduced himself. “Thought you would like to know.”
The girl looks up at him. “I'm Victoria, but everyone calls me Vee,” she says, tossing the moss.
“Alright Vee,” Hunter began, “what are you doing out in the woods by yourself?”
“Oh,” she sniffled. “Well, my mom said that we have to leave our home but I don’t want to.”
“Why?” Hunter asked. Vee looked at him in the eye.
“What do you mean? You know, the walkers?” Vee gestured her hands around. She groaned at the confused face on Hunter's. “Come with me, I’ll take you to my mom.”
Hunter followed the young girl deeper into the woods until they reached a small house along the edge near a suburban neighborhood. The quaint one-story house was a faded yellow color covered in wilting flowers of various colors. On the porch, there was an older woman and a teenager. Both had the same dark tan complexion as Vee, so Hunter assumed maybe that they were her mom and older sister. The older woman put a hand over her mouth and ran towards Vee.
“Oh, cariño, ¿dónde estabas? ¡Pensé que estabas dentro!” She exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around the young girl and hugged her tight.
“I’m sorry Mami,” she apologized. “I ran off, but I made a new friend.”
The other girl came up and pushed Vee behind her.
“Who are you?” she sternly said, keeping a straight face.
“Luz, no need to be rude,” their mother whispered.
“No need to apologize, it’s my bad,” Hunter responded. “My name is Hunter. I, uhh, was in the hospital and I’m not sure what’s happening now.”
“Oh, come inside, before they come,” Camila pushed them all inside.
“Mami, can we trust him?” the older girl whispered.
“Just for now, I don’t want to attract any unwanted attention out there,” she responded as she locked up and covered the front door.
Hunter sat at a small family table, the three house owners across from him. The house seemed quite warm and friendly, but Hunter made sure to mark out his exits in case these nice people were lunatics. He still felt a bit dizzy from the hospital.
“My name is Camila Noceda,” Camila introduced herself, “and these are my daughters, Luz and Vee.”
Luz seemed to have softened up a bit in the past few minutes. “I’m Luz, sorry for being so, blah, earlier. Because you know, this whole world is fucked, am I right?” Luz said.
“Mija!” Camila jabbed Luz’s arm with her elbow, giving her a dissatisfied look. Luz shrugged.
“So what exactly got you here?” Luz folded her hands and laid them on top of the table.
“Well, all I remember is doing life in normal, and ending up in the hospital. There was no one at the doctor's, but when I left my room, there was blood along the walls. It also smelled awful like flesh rotting. I did eventually find the exit but there were these creepy-looking bodies there. I don’t want to describe it, but it scared me. I went off into town, and there was another one of those things so I ran to the woods. Then I heard Vee, and now I’m here,” Hunter explained, skipping out certain parts.
“So you don’t know what's happening?” Luz raised an eyebrow. Hunter shook his head.
“Well, we don’t know much, but these things , we call ‘walkers,’ are trying to kill us, we’re not sure. If you get bitten by one, or infected by the blood, you turn. No one knows how it started, but it's been about two weeks since it started, and Gravesfield is starting to get more dangerous day by day,” Camila explained their side. She added more about what they have been doing. “We’re planning on leaving for a nearby camp tomorrow at dawn.”
“Are you going to come?” Vee asked, eyes wide with a smile. Luz whispered into Vee’s ears which made her smile falter.
“I need to find my uncle,” Hunter sternly stated.
“Honey, I’m not sure it would be good for a boy your age to be out by-”
“It’s fine, I practically camped outside every weekend. I know this area pretty well,” Hunter interrupted Camila.
“You just don’t get it,” Luz added. “These things, they attack you. I’ve seen it first-hand, they rip open another human and eat their insides out.”
“How about you stay the night with us, and tomorrow morning you decide if you want to leave or not,” Camila suggested. “Alright?”
“Yeah, sure,” Hunter thanked her.
“That means I can show you where you’ll sleep then!” Vee excitedly grabbed his hand to lead him to another one.
“ Shit,” Hunter thought. “ My hands.”
Hunter wasn’t wearing gloves, and you can see the scars marking out an illustration along his pale hands, the burn scars popping out on the palms of his hands. Vee didn’t seem to notice, but he saw Luz staring. Although he had scars along his face, they weren’t exactly his number one worry. The biggest one was a long thin gash to his mid cheek, and the smaller one was a little gap in his ear. Vee led him to what seemed like a living room with a pull-out sofa. She opened it up and threw herself on top of the bed.
“You’ll sleep here,” she sighed as she moved over for Hunter to lie down. Since Hunter had nothing, he sat down a lay down beside her. Although it was evening, the sun was brightly shining. Small bits of sunlight fit through the gaps of the black-out curtains, setting little light into the dark room.
“How did you get that scar across your face?” Vee asked as she sat up. Hunter sat up as well. He didn’t want to tell her what happened, so he made up a story.
“Well, I like to camp a lot. Once, I was camping out in the woods, a bear was roaming around. So I was pretty stupid and tried to hunt it, but that backfired and it attacked me. It was on top of me and scratched my face, leaving a large gash on my face before my Uncle had the chance to shoot it in the brain,” Hunter motioned a gun to his hand and pretended to be dead, making Vee giggle.
“How long ago was it?” Vee asked. Hunter stayed quiet as he tried to remember how long ago it was.
“I’m not sure, I was maybe about your age,” he muttered.
“Wow, that’s young. I’m nine, but people say I look older,” Vee beamed.
“Really? I thought you looked like you were twelve at the lowest!” Hunter said, making her laugh.
“No! I’m turning ten next month,” Vee giggled. As the two were goofing off, Luz walked in.
“Vee, it’s time for bed,” Luz softly said.
“But it’s still bright outside!” Vee complained, pointing to the sunlight gaping through the curtains.
“Yeah, but we have to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow, and Mami needs you to get sleep, so come on,” Luz pointed her head in her direction. Vee got up and walked alongside Luz.
“Good night, Hunter,” she said before leaving. Luz poked her head through the doorway.
“Mom said she’ll bring you some blankets soon,” Luz informed him. Hunter nodded. Just as she was about to leave, Hunter said something to her.
“Thanks for letting me stay here, honestly, I mean it,” he thanked you.
“You’re welcome, but thank my mom, She can’t turn away a kid at her doorstep,” Luz left the room and Hunter stayed in the hot room, sweat forming on his face. After what seemed like forever, Camila finally came back.
“Sorry for the wait, I was trying to find a thinner blanket so it’s hot right now,” Camila apologized as she handed him a light green blanket with red cardinals imprinted on it. “If you need anything else, you just come wake me up. My room is the last door on the left, alright?”
Hunter nodded. “Thank you for letting me stay here, ma’am,” he showed his gratitude towards her hospitality.
“It’s okay, no need to thank me. I’m sure Luz already told you, I wouldn’t leave a young boy to fend for himself out in this world, “ she added. “It’s dangerous.”
Hunter picked at his hands. ‘Well then, good night.”
“Good night,” Camila said and left the room. There were no doors, as it was an open-walled room. Hunter lay there wide awake. As hours passed, his sleepiness only decreased, and his eyebags grew darker. He couldn’t sleep, these people were way too nice. There must be something wrong Why would they let him stay at their house? Why would they shower him with care even if they just met him?
It had probably been around three o’clock when Hunter heard the shuffling of feet and soft crying. He immediately got up and peeked out behind the wall. He had a clear view of the kitchen. In the dark, he could make out a girl with short curly hair, which he concluded to be Luz as Vee had longer and straighter hair. He watched her shaky hands pick up a few pills and a glass of water. She put the handful of pills in her mouth and took a mouthful of water. Her hands shook too much as she sat the glass down, and she accidentally dropped it and it shattered into a million little glass shards.
“ Shit,” Hunter heard her mutter under her voice.
“Hey,” Hunter said, startling the girl.
“Oh, uhh, Hunter,” Luz stammered as she attempted to sweep up all the glass. “Why are you up so la-”
Hunter took the broom from her and began cleaning it up. “It’s okay, I can do it. You just go sit down.”
Luz sat in the creaky wooden chair and watched as Hunter cleaned up the mess. Even though there was a whole apocalypse going on, it sounded quite peaceful, with the only noises you could hear were the crickets outside.
“I heard your story with Vee,” Luz broke the silence between them. “I know that’s not what happened.”
“How do you know? We just met,” Hunter mumbled. Luz stayed quiet a bit.
“I know this sounds stupid, but it feels like I already know you. I have never seen you before, yet I feel like I can trust you with my whole life, is that weird?” Luz explained as much as she could without coming off as creepy.
“I guess not, I’ve been feeling the same in a way. I have never trusted anyone as much as I trust you and your family,” Hunter responded, setting the broom against the wall. They both sat at the kitchen table in the dark.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Luz whispered, fidgeting with her hands. “I didn’t know you were awake.”
“What did you take?” Hunter quietly asked. Buzzing filled the silence.
“Pain relievers,” she finally answered. “I started taking them after I came back from the hospital. My dad passed away a year ago, and it’s been hard for me, I’m not sure why.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Hunter said. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t remember my parents much.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did they pass?” Luz asked. “I’m sorry, I’m overstepping. You don’t have to answer, I ju-”
“Yeah, in a car crash when I was three. I’ve been living with my Uncle since then,” Hunter interrupted.
“Oh,” Luz slowly said. They sat in a bit more silence.
“Do you miss them?” Luz asked.
“My parents?” Hunter questioned. Luz nodded. “I’m not sure. I like living with my Uncle, but I wonder how different life would be if they never died, or if my aunt took me in instead. They wouldn’t let her take me because she was a previous prison inmate and alcoholic, but I’ve seen pictures of her. Seems like a nice lady.”
“I miss my dad a lot,” Luz added. “I miss him so much that sometimes I wish I left instead of him.”
“Luz…” Hunter sighed. “I don’t know your dad, but I know that he would be proud of you. I don’t care what you’ve done, but he’s proud.”
“Thank you, Hunter,” Luz said. Hunter couldn’t make out her facial expressions due to the dim light, but he did hear sniffles.
“Do you want to know how I got my scar?” Hunter asked as he tapped the pinkish scar on his cheek.
“Yeah,” Luz’s voice cracked.
“Maybe when I was like eight, I got my uncle mad. I’m not sure of the reason why but all I remember is him smashing a beer bottle on my head and attempting to stab my face. I dodged but he sliced my cheek pretty deep, which is why it’s a scar. But my uncle isn’t bad like that no, he’s a good guy. He works and helps people, under the name of God,” Hunter explained.
“God?” Luz scoffed. Hunter nodded. “Hunter, as much as I respect religions, no man of God will do that. What was his job?”
Hunter thought about it for a moment. Uncle was a preacher at a Church, a man of God. “A preacher,” he stated. They sat in the silence once more.
“This is fucked up,” Luz whispered. She put her head down and nearly instantly fell asleep. Not knowing what to do, Hunter went back and grabbed the thin blanket and wrapped it around Luz. He took a look at her face, it looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Her worn-out face was full of stress and anger. Hunter went back to the pull-out sofa and lay back down on it.
He wondered what misery tomorrow would bring.