Chapter Text
Rey Niima is tired.
It’d been four months since the outbreak. Since everything changed. All of it.
March 2nd was when it happened. When the first case broke the news. Someone bit another person. That someone was going ‘crazy’. Acting ‘insane’. They looked like they’d been in a bad accident, face scratched with chunks of skin missing.
Then, the other person—the person who was bit—started to look and act the same.
And then they bit someone else.
And more started to get infected.
And more.
So yes.
Zombies.
Or as they call them now, the Dead.
Rey watched the world turn into mush as the Dead kept growing. Neighbors turned into the Dead.
She shot them with the gun she kept for protection.
She used to protect herself from men.
Now, she protects herself from something not too far off from men.
The Dead.
Cell towers stopped working. She stopped hearing from friends while she hid out in her apartment.
She ran out of food, all alone.
It’d been two months.
So, Rey took a handful of her things in a duffle bag, grabbed her gun, and set off. Looking for something. Someone. It was about time anyway. Might as well be now. She was a year late, anyway. To find them. To see them.
So, she set off.
It wasn’t hard making it through the city. It looked like it’d been cleared out pretty well. She wondered if they pushed the Dead to the outskirts. The suburbs.
She only killed three of them while she walked. That was good. At least there weren’t mobs.
It was two months into the outbreak and a day after she left her apartment when she stumbled across a camp outside of the city.
The fence was high and there were guards.
They examined her for bites.
All clear.
They took her gun. She wanted to fight them, but decided not to. That wouldn’t be smart. Rey just complied. They told her if she made the decision to leave, she could have it back when she left.
Which was good.
When she arrived, it was nearly dark.
So that meant dinner.
Everyone was friendly. It was weird. They tried to talk to her and reassure her and—
It was all so stupid, so she ignored them.
They had food, though. She took comfort in that her first night.
Everyone chatted with each other except for Rey.
She sat alone for dinner.
Until a girl came to sit with her.
“Hi.”
Rey peeked up from her food to across the table. “Hi.”
“I’m Rose.”
Rey squinted. She didn’t know why this girl was talking to her. She didn’t want to be talked to. She just wanted to survive and get out. Get where she needed to go.
“...I’m Rey.”
The girl—Rose—stuck out her arm, outstretching it across the table. “Nice to meet you.”
Rey ignored her and kept eating.
Rose put her hand down.
“How old are you?”
Rey ignored her.
“Are you—Did you come alone?”
Rey ignored her.
“Where do you come from?” she asked.
Rey sighed. “You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?”
She looked at Rose now. Rose was frowning.
“I—”
Rose stopped.
Then.
“I just thought maybe you could use someone, is all. I’m here alone, too. My uh—”
She bit her lip.
“My partner turned.”
Ah.
Turned into the Dead.
Rey twisted her mouth. “Sorry about that. That’s awful.”
Rose blinked away tears. “It’s fine.”
Then.
“So, you look around my age and I watched you enter, and I just thought maybe we could be friends?”
Rey pressed her lips together. “I’m not staying long.”
Rose frowned. “Where are you going?”
“New York.”
“That’s a long way away.”
“I’ll find a car.”
Rose cocked a brow. “It’s been two months since the outbreak. You won’t find any cars that are of use.”
Rey shrugged. “I’ll make it.”
“Stay for a few weeks at least. Get some food in your belly. I’m assuming you were on your own for the last few months? Surviving on barely anything? At home?”
Then.
“Sorry. You’re just really small.”
“You’re right. I was alone,” Rey told her. “And I’d like to stay that way. Until I find what I’m looking for.”
Rose swallowed. It seemed like she got the message.
“Right. Well, if you need something, anything really—I’m here. But please—Just stay for a few weeks.”
“Maybe.”
:::::
Rey decided to stay for a few weeks, like Rose suggested.
And Rose did not leave her alone.
And after a while, Rey started to not mind. Rose was really nice. Kind. They talked about her partner, Finn, and what he was like. They talked about her family. How she had no idea where they were. If they were okay.
And that made Rey start to talk.
Why she was going to New York.
They were in bed one night. Bunk beds. Rose and Rey were both on the bottom, having to sleep together to save space for the other people. Families were here. Little kids. It was really depressing.
Anyway.
They were both on their sides, facing the other.
They were whispering.
“Can’t believe you’ve been here for six weeks.”
“Me either,” Rey said. She sighed. “I should leave soon, though.”
“Why?”
“I have to get where I’m going, Rose. I told you.”
Rose made a face. “Well, you haven’t told me why you’re even going.”
Rey sighed again. Deep breath in and out. She rolled onto her back.
“It’s—”
Then.
“Do you really want to know?” Rey asked.
“Of course I want to know why my new best friend and only friend in this stupid fucking world is leaving.”
Rey laughed quietly.
Then.
Then, she told her.
When she was done, Rey peeked over at Rose.
“So yeah.”
“Wow.”
Yep.”
Rose whispered, “I didn’t know.”
“I know. It’s not like I’m an open book.”
Rose giggled.
“Be quiet! We’re trying to sleep,” someone muttered from another bed.
“Shut up, Mitaka,” Rose muttered back. She spoke to Rey again. “Anyway, I think that’s really sweet but it’s dangerous, Rey.”
Rey rolled back on her side. Looked at Rose in the dark room. “I told you I was leaving since the beginning.”
“I know. I’ll just—I’ll just be really sad.”
“I know.”
Rose didn’t say anything.
Neither did Rey.
They just laid there until they fell asleep. At least, Rose fell asleep.
Rey was busy thinking about when she’d leave.
:::::
Today was the day.
It’d been two weeks since that conversation with Rose. Since she told her why she was leaving.
And now, it was time to say goodbye.
“You can come with me, you know,” Rey said. “You can totally come.”
Rey knew she never would. Rose was terrified of the Dead. She wouldn’t stand a chance. She’d freeze up, just like she did when they got Finn. She didn’t know how she made it out alive.
“No, I can’t,” Rose sniffled. She was crying. “I just—I can’t go out there. And all my memories with Finn are here. In Chicago.”
“I know.”
Rose wiped her tears. “I’m going to miss you so much. You’re the only cool person here.”
Rey giggled. “I know.”
Then.
Rey wrapped Rose up in a hug.
“I’ll come back one day,” she whispered.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“What if you stayed?” Rose asked.
“Rose, I told you that I need to be with th—”
“What if they’re—”
“Don’t,” Rey said sternly. Then, quietly, “Don’t.”
Rose looked at the ground below them. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too,” Rey said. “Thanks for sitting with me at dinner.”
Rose started to cry again. She hugged Rey once more. “I’m gonna cry!”
“You already are,” Rey laughed.
“Don’t get bitten.”
“I’ll try not to.”
Rose broke the hug. She wiped her eyes with her forearm. “Okay. Bye.”
Rey bit her lip. She took Rose’s hand. Squeezed it.
“Bye.”
Rey turned around and secured her duffle bag over her shoulder. She went to the gates and one of the men guarding them gave Rey her gun back. They even gave her some extra bullets to put in her stuff.
The last month and a half were really great.
But she had to go.
Had to get where she was going.
So, Rey left.
She left through the gate and turned around, watching as it closed behind her.
She gave a final wave to Rose who was on the other side, still crying.
Rey couldn’t cry. Not now. She had to focus.
Focus on getting to New York.
No blurry eyes. No distractions.
She’d cry later.
Rose really was her best friend.
:::::
Rey made it to Cleveland.
She saw a few Dead on her way there, but they weren’t bothering her. They were too far to notice her. A good thing about them was that they walked. Didn’t run.
Which was nice, because Rey Niima was not a track star.
But even now—walking was hard—mid-June in Ohio was hot. As fuck.
So yes.
Like she mentioned earlier: Rey Niima is tired.
She checked every car she came across. A lot were burned. Most had no gas, even though she hotwired them.
Made sense.
She’d just have to keep trying.
Rey had sunscreen from her place that she brought along, which was a lifesaver in this hot sun. She lathered it on every day. She’d have to check the local drugstore soon for more.
Rey got into the suburbs.
There had to be a Walgreens nearby.
She also knew that this was probably where the Dead were.
She bit her lip and got her gun ready.
Rey walked the streets quietly. She didn’t want to be heard. Especially not by a bunch of them all at once.
She’d be dead.
Literally.
Turn into them.
She found a CVS. Rey stepped on broken glass to get inside—the doors busted open. Most of the place was looted.
Not the sunscreen.
Turns out, most people don’t think of skincare during an apocalypse.
Rey grabbed all the bottles they had and put them in her duffle bag. She put some on herself, too.
She found a few hidden cans of soup and grabbed those.
Then, she left.
As soon as she turned the corner, a Dead walked up to her, making that awful sound—like groaning. It was right in front of her and immediately grabbed her arm. Rey didn’t scream. Shout. Nothing. She just shot it in the head with her other hand as soon as it started to open its mouth to bite her.
Rey internally groaned.
Great.
The sound of her gun would probably drive more her way. She noticed a ladder leading up to the CVS roof and climbed it, going to the top. Maybe she’d sleep here tonight instead of in a car like she’d been doing.
It was almost dark, anyway.
And sure enough, Rey was right.
A few Dead came out and groaned at the CVS.
If you would’ve told her this would be her life six months ago, she would’ve laughed at you in the face. Dead people. At CVS. Rey. Her duffle bag full of sunscreen.
Yeah.
No.
Rey slept there for the night.
Except she didn’t really sleep because she was woken up by gunshots. A bunch. Rey stayed on the roof and blinked.
A person.
In the wild like this, you stay away from those.
You can’t trust them.
People are almost worse than the Dead.
When it was morning, Rey peeked out. She didn’t see anyone. The Dead that had gathered below her were all dead. Dead dead.
She grabbed her things and went down the ladder.
She thought she heard something snap behind her. When she turned around, she didn’t see anything.
Rey swallowed thick. It was fine. This was fine.
She was really fine after walking for a while.
Rey saw a creek close to downtown. Rey decided to bathe in it. She hadn’t in days.
So, she went in the creek and stripped. She washed her body with the bar of soap she stole from the camp and got nice and clean.
Rey air-dried and then put on her clothes. She’d have to wash those another time.
She went going again.
And once more, she heard something behind her.
Rey snapped her head around and saw nothing.
Hm.
Not a Dead. They wouldn’t be so sneaky.
Maybe it was nothing.
Rey kept going.
She made it past downtown and kept going on the Interstate, East. Rey checked all the cars again. Still no luck.
Shit.
Whatever. She’d find one eventually.
Rey was reapplying sunscreen when she heard another snap behind her.
She whipped her head around again and saw something move near a car. Rey squinted. She put away her sunscreen and walked over there, her gun out.
But there was nothing there.
She felt like she was going crazy.
She felt like she was going crazy for the rest of the day, too.
She kept hearing things. Like someone was walking behind her. Not too close. Not too far. Far enough to where they could hide. Close enough to where they could see her.
Rey just kept walking.
It was probably no one.
Until it wasn’t.
It was dark now. Rey was ready to stop for the night and sleep in a car.
That’s when she heard a snap.
She turned around and saw something move behind a car. A shadow.
Definitely not a Dead.
A person.
And Rey—
Rey had a plan.
She settled into a truck bed for the night. Kept her eyes open.
Rey heard the other person get in a car. She couldn’t see them, but she could hear them. She could tell they thought they were being sneaky.
They weren’t.
Rey laid awake until the sun started to come up. Barely. It was still technically dark outside.
Rey crept around, going backward from where she needed to go. She checked all the cars, tiptoeing around.
Looking for her lurker.
She eyed each car until—
She spotted them.
Also in the bed of a truck.
Sleeping soundly.
They were a very bad lurker.
And it was—
Rey swallowed thick.
A very handsome man.
A very handsome man with thick, black hair, a long nose, nice lips, and he was very big.
It was a shame she’d have to kill this very handsome man.
Rey snuck up on the bed of the truck. She pointed her gun in his face.
Then.
“Wake up!”