[002] unlikely hero

                                                                  Tara Matthews has been through hell, and she's barely managing to survive. A lot of the time, she's wishing she hadn't.

                                                                   With a haunted look in her eyes and blood staining her face, hands, and clothes, Tara wanders through the desolate streets of Atlanta. She's not sure how long it's been since the dead had officially come to life and brought about the end of the world. But in the timespan of just hours, the city of Atlanta had become a walking graveyard. The sun was now beginning to set and bring about nightfall. Regardless, Tara's finally decided to leave her apartment in favor of going outside and seeing just how bad it's gotten.

                                                                  Even with the bodies littering the streets and the desolation all around her, Tara still figured it was better than being back at her parents' apartment now haunted by ghosts. Those ghosts being her own family. Their blood was on Tara's hands and even though it had been an act of self defense, Tara was unsure if she'd ever be able to forgive herself for what she had done. She was unsure if she even wanted to live after this.

                                                                 Tara continues walking, her footsteps light and quiet. She barely regards the world around her, the look in her eyes absolutely haunted. But she'd snap out of it in an instant when she heard growling a distance away. Instincts told her to hide and so she did, watching from her hiding spot as one of the dead walked out onto the street.

                                                                 Walking was a bit of a stretch, however. It was more or less limping, seeing as most of its right leg was now gone. From the looks of it, it seemed as though more of those things had eaten it clean off before he ended up getting infected next. Tara releases a shaky breath as she waits for it to be far away before she keeps on moving, walking aimlessly until she manages to figure it out.

                                                                 As she walks in front of a shop, she's finally able to catch sight of her very own reflection. She sees all the blood on her - the blood that didn't even belong to her - before her eyes trail up to her face. Seeing the blood spatter on her face is enough to make Tara begin wiping off as much of it as she could. All it ended up doing was smearing more blood on her face and she gives up, rushing away and trying to will the images of her parents' corpses out of her head.

                                                                 But it doesn't go away. A sob escapes her lips as she keeps walking, her breathing labored and her chest feeling tighter and tighter. She stops right then and there, falling to her knees as she bursts into tears. Tara had been trying so hard to hold back her emotions but it grew impossible, the reminders of what she had done engraved into her mind. There was no way for Tara to justify what she had done.

                                                                 She had murdered her parents just to save her own pointless life. Tara should've just let them tear her apart. She'd either be dead or turned into the living dead, but she wouldn't have to carry this heavy guilt upon her shoulders for the rest of her life.

                                                                 As she continued to cry, she was completely unaware of something approaching her. It's only when she hears the jarring noise of a can rolling close that her sobs come to a halt. With a shaky breath, Tara reluctantly lifts her head and that's when she spots a walking, rotting corpse now approaching her with its arms outstretched and its mouth open with growls spilling out. It looked similar to the same rotter that had gotten her parents, turning them into monsters that Tara ended up murdering.

                                                                Anger takes over Tara as she glares at the creature, seeing red as she rushed up to her feet. She looks down on the ground to try and find some sort of weapon, finding that there was a wrench lying on the ground. Tara figured it would do and so she grabs it, hitting the creature over the head as hard as she could. It falls down but of course, it'd need more hits to stop moving. Tara bends down and stars bashing its head in with the wrench over and over again, letting her grief and anger take over. 

                                                                 When Tara was finally sure that it was dead, she threw the wrench to the side before sitting down on the ground - letting out a scream of frustration. She was angry at herself, she was angry at the world for ending, she was angry at everything. 

                                                                Tara wanted all of this to be nothing more than a terrible nightmare and that she'd wake up at home, her mom making another one of her dumb meatloafs and her dad doing those crossword puzzles while watching the news. They'd probably talk to Tara about how she's been doing since she moved to her own apartment back in New York and why she's yet to bring a nice man around to marry. Tara would roll her eyes and say something along the lines of I'm too busy working to think about relationships which would only be half truth.

                                                                But now that was all over. And Tara could never get any of that back again.

                                                                 The sound of screaming is enough to draw Tara from her trance, making her turn around towards the direction of the noise. She debates on whether or not she should go and help, or ignore it and wallow in her misery before she just ends it all. But the screaming persists and with a soft huff, Tara rushes back up to her feet and runs towards the screaming to see what was going on.

                                                                Tara approaches a restaurant, shocked when she sees that there was a car parked inside of it. The car had crashed inside the restaurant, the sole driver dead. Tara reluctantly creeps inside, stepping over bodies and making sure not to make too much noise. But with the screaming coming from the kitchen, Tara didn't really have to worry about making too much noise since the female screams were much louder.

                                                                 After shutting herself inside of the closet for hours and surviving off of the food inside, Slater knew that she'd have to get out eventually. Being pregnant didn't do too well on your bladder and the little pee bucket she had made for herself was beginning to smell already. So Slater decided to sneak out of the closet, convinced that the coast was clear once she didn't hear people screaming for their lives anymore.

                                                               But that proved to be a mistake once she stepped outside, realizing that there was one rotter that she hadn't accounted for. It went after her and while Slater had successfully managed to get away, the rotter had blocked the door so she couldn't be able to go outside. Slater was trapped and throwing things at it hadn't been enough to keep it away. So, in a last minute ditch effort, Slater had decided to do the only thing she could think to do and that was call for help.

                                                               "Stay back!" Slater shouts as she grabs the chair, waving it around and pointing it in the creature's direction. But obviously, it didn't do much of anything. It still kept coming towards her, reaching for her and getting closer and closer.

                                                                 But before it could get too far, it suddenly goes tense and Slater quickly sees why. Slater watches in shock as the pole goes straight through the creature's head, immediately killing it. The pole gets yanked out of its head and it falls to the ground, remaining a lifeless corpse, and Slater's able to see the person who saved her. It was a woman with blood all over her face and clothes, gripping onto the pole like her life depended on it.

                                                                "I find that it works if you go for the head. They stay down after that," Tara remarked before turning around, preparing to leave.

                                                                Slater lowers the chair in an instant, rushing towards her hero to stick by her side. "Hey, thanks for helping me out back there. I'm sure my baby and I would've been dead... or worse."

                                                               "You might as well be dead. You chose the worst time to get pregnant. That baby's just gonna slow you the fuck down or get you killed. Either way," Tara shakes her head.

                                                               "Thanks for the advice. If I had known that the world was gonna end, I would've kept my damn legs closed," Slater retorted.

                                                                Tara huffed, glaring at the woman from over her shoulder. "Why are you following me around anyway?"

                                                                "Well, you're the only living person I've seen ever since this happened. And even though you've got a bit of an attitude, I appreciate you stopping to save my life. I know I ain't really useful in my condition. But I think we can help each other out," Slater reasoned.

                                                                "How can you help me?" Tara's eyes narrow as she looks at Slater. The woman looked as though she might pop at any moment and not only that, she couldn't even handle one of those things on her own. Slater seemed more like dead weight rather than the help Tara didn't even ask for.

                                                                "I... I'm good with guns. I learned real young from my dad. Obviously, I don't have any on me now but... if I did have my hands on one, I'd be one bad motherfucker," Slater replied, making Tara chuckle. "I'm serious!"

                                                                "How long have you been in here?" Tara questioned.

                                                                "I - I don't know. I... lost track of time. I don't know what's going on," Slater admitted. "One minute, I'm working another shift as a waitress. And the next, dead people are going around eating living people and turning 'em into monsters!"

                                                                "All I know is that one day, the dead came back with a vengeance and killed any living person they could find. Men, women, children, didn't fucking matter. And those who survive this shit... well, they were better off dying with the rest of them," Tara remarked.

                                                                Slater sighed. She didn't necessarily want to adopt the stranger's pessimism but it was impossible to ignore. Looking around, it was enough to make Slater feel hopeless. The world, as she knew it, was gone. She was going to bring her baby into this... desolate wasteland. Well, that's if she managed to live long enough to carry to full term.

                                                               "We have to get out of the city. It's not safe here," Tara then added. "And it's about to be nightfall soon. If things can get this fucked up during the day, I know it'll be even worse at night."

                                                                 Tara didn't really care about keeping herself safe. But with this pregnant woman latching onto her, she felt a need to get her out of the city and to someplace safe. After that, Tara wasn't too sure what'd be in store for her. But she'd have to get through this first.

                                                               "Alright then. But first things first, I'm Slater," she introduced herself, holding out her hand.

                                                               "Tara," the other relented and the two briefly shake hands before pulling away from each other.

                                                                Slater's smile grew. "Okay, Tara. You got a car or somethin'?"

                                                               "Not yet," Tara replied as she kept walking out of the restaurant.

                                                               "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Slater asked as she rested one hand on her stomach.

                                                              "I'll explain in a second. Where's the bathroom in this place?" Tara questioned.

                                                                In the dimly lit bathroom, Tara was able to wash off the blood on her hands and her face using the sink water. And after she packed whatever food and water she could find inside of the restaurant, she and Slater left together.

                                                                Much to Slater's shock and horror, Tara decided to steal one of the vans out on the road. And worst of all, there was still a person inside. Granted, they were dead but that didn't make Slater feel any easier about the situation. Tara, on the other hand, was completely unfazed as she pushed the body onto the road and tried to start the van. It took a couple of tries but eventually, the engine roared to life and the two women now had a working car.

                                                            "What are you waiting for?" Tara asks as she climbed in, glancing at Slater who still stood off to the side. "I'd hurry and get in here if I were you. We don't know when any of those things are gonna come back around."

                                                           Slater sighs before she climbs onto the passenger side, using all her energy to sit down and close the door. Being on her feet for as long as she had been, it felt good to properly sit down again. Even if the car did reek of death. Slater takes a deep breath and closes her eyes as Tara drives off as the sun sets lower and lower, their destination unclear and the dangers awaiting them even more unknown.

                                                          All they knew was that the sooner they left the city, the better off they'd be.

( 🧟‍♀️🔪🚬 )

word count: 2264
notes: ahhh my two babies met! tell me what you all think about this chapter! i hope to update very very soon!