Surviving the Plague 2

Jay stomped over and kicked the zombies head, making the head snap backwards. She got pissed and kept kicking it, then spit on it. Her heart was clenching again in her chest. She walked away with her branch stick and started bashing it against a tree and bushes before she threw it away into the darkness. Jay screamed loudly, then suddenly stopped. She looked up at the sky for a long moment. She kicked the sand and sighed heavily. There was a long pause. "Thanks."

Watching her awkwardly at a safe distance, Andy just simply nodded at her gratitude. He put the fire on his stick out, smothering it into the ground so that it was no longer lit. Jay was pretty scary when she was angry... His eyes wandered to the poor abomination, wondering who it had been before and what sort of life it had lived... He sighed and he kicked it into the bushes where he didn't have to look at it anymore, but that did take a long minute to do. Once it was successfully concealed in the brush, he turned back to Jay and the fire and wandered back to his previous seat. "Do you think we should move on...?" He asked her, sticking the water she gave him into his bag and shrugging it onto his shoulder.

She turned to Andy and, oh man, he looked so perfect lit by the campfire with his backpack. She took a breath and thought about moving on, however she hardly even had a break. But that's what's so hard about surviving, always being on the move. "Yeah." She dragged it out like a little child. She walked to her pack and picked it up putting it over her shoulder. "Put the fire out, then we'll move out." She gathered her pistol she dropped and her rifle. "Hopefully, those things can't hear." Jay put the safety on and tucked the pistol in her waistband.

"Well, if they can, your tantrum screaming is sure to attract more of them sooner or later." He teased her, but threw her a quick 2 second smile. He glanced down at the fire and started stamping it out, throwing some dirt on it as well. It took a few minutes, but after a while, it was completely dark. Andy glanced up at the sky. The moon was just a sliver in the sky, not giving them much light to go on.

As they came to the clearing of the dark, cold forest, Jay squinted her eyes from the sun’s light rising over the horizon. After her eyes focused, she saw a building. It took her a long moment to realize that it looked like a church, crumbling and old, but with the large white cross on the point of the roof. She also noticed that, in the distance, a storm was brewing. She always hated storms and didn't want to get stuck in it. "We have to see what's in that building, maybe there’s some food or something." Jay looked over at Andy. He looked tired and Jay felt like quitting. Her face felt droopy and her arms were tired from carrying her stuff. Hearing the thunder from the black clouds made her jump and whip her head around.

Andy could feel his lungs giving out on him again, just from walking such a distance. He tried not to make a big deal about it, but his chest was aching and it was starting to get hard to breathe again. He tried to pretend that he didn't see Jay jump. Andy was often kind in these ways... He didn't want her to feel stupid for her natural reaction to the loud noise. He nodded slightly in agreement and, shrugging his bag more securely onto his shoulder, strode ahead of her and closer to the building. There were vines on the building and the paneling had been torn off in some places, but it seemed stable and maybe habitable.

The only put off to any possible residents, however, were the zombies inhabiting each corner of the structure. He took in a large breath of the moist air and held it in his chest as he scooted by the zombies slowly. They didn’t really seem to register that he was even there. They were intent upon simply tugging on the ropes that they were secured with. Making it safely to the door on the side of the church, Andy pulled his hand up to tap his knuckles just lightly on the door. That was when it started raining; sprinkles of drops were pattering onto the ground and onto Jay and Andy. After a long moment with no answer, he knocked again, slightly louder. "Hello?" He called into the door, leaning up against it slightly to press his ear against the cold wood. He thought he heard some movement... Then suddenly, the door was opened, and Andy almost fell over. He caught his balance, however, and looked up at the tall man in front of him with the too-wide smile on his face. Andy almost frowned.

Jay freaked out at the opening of the door and she pulled her pistol out, aiming it straight at the man. The glint of the gun glistened in the rain. The rain was already pelting onto them, making Jay soaking wet and filthy. But this man was dry and warm. "Hey!" She shouted at him.

The man's too-wide smile downsized slightly but he raised his right hand. "Hello, wanderers. May I welcome you into God's house? We have food being made by my daughters and running water so you can shower." Jay lowered her gun and looked the man down. So he was a priest or reverend of sorts… He looked like he was a little too nice, maybe even a bit creepy, but what could she do about that? He had food and water… and a place to bathe.

Glancing back over his shoulder to Jay, Andy swallowed. As long as the man had resources they needed, they should stay the night... Even though he was oddly happy for being surrounded by zombies and undead, they couldn't take the risk of going on without any rest. Andy looked back up at the Reverend and nodded his head at him. "Um, yes... We need a place to rest and clean up..." He murmured to him, trying not to look uncomfortable in the rain even though he was.

The man's smile was instantly back again and he opened the door and gestured them in. "We have plenty, come in, come in." He said cheerfully, but he eyed the gun in Jay's hand with a harshness that was obvious. Andy did step in, his shoes squeaking on the tile floor.
Jay put her gun back in her pants and watched the Reverend as she entered. The smell smothered her nose, the sweet smell of rice and breads. She moaned along with her stomach. "That smells amazing, what’re we havin'?" She rubbed her hands together as she smiled, longing for the taste of real cooked food.

The Reverend was still smiling as he ushered them both in. "I'm going to have to ask you both to leave your weapons on this table. We don't allow weapons in Our house." Jay gave him a look and she raised her eyebrows.

Shaking his head dry, Andy focused on dropping his wet backpack on the floor in the corner and unzipping his soaked jacket. He threw it with a loud slap of wet fabric into the corner as well and straightened his shirt out as he looked at the Reverend. “I don’t have a gun or anything…” He said and he glanced at Jay who had obviously revealed her weapon. The Reverend tapped the surface of the table lightly, beckoning her to give it up. Andy was sure they wouldn’t need it anyway in the house, the zombies were all outside. Andy spied movement on the other side of the kitchen where the food was being prepared.

Two girls, fairly his age. One was sandy blonde and tall. The other was a brown-haired girl that was a bit shorter than the other, but they look almost identical when it came to facial features. The Reverend cleared his throat a bit. “Well, we have some rice, and even though we don’t have butter, it should still be good. We also have some fresh bread baking.” Andy slightly wondered how that was possible, but he got distracted when he saw the girls giggling at him. He almost blushed and looked away from them, ignoring the tightness in his chest. He coughed.

Jay heard the tiny giggles from the kitchen. She felt her thoughts control her face, contorting it into loathing. These girls were stupid, giggling at the first man that they had even laid their eyes on. Jay composed herself, smiling but definitely bothered. She slammed her pistol on the table and swung her rifle’s barrel around so she could hold it as she took it off. She lifted the strap over her head she kindly put the gun on the table. She also dropped her bag, but that cheesy smile remained on her face. “I’m going to see if they need any help.” Nice words had to squeeze through her tightly bound teeth.

“Wonderful,” The Reverend held his hands and gestured her off.

She was certainly quick enough. Stomping her soaked self into the kitchen area, the fake smile still on her lips, her eyes flashed to the girls. “Do you ladies need some respect beat into you?” She growled down at the girls. The blonde female looked especially like a whore; her makeup was unkempt like it had been on for days. She wore a dress that wasn’t modest in the front showing most of her tiny breasts and it was a pastel pink color with dirty stains on it. Her apron wasn’t even an apron; it wasn’t protecting her from anything, anyways.

The blonde smiled wide like her father, but had a sense of ‘bitch’ to it. “I think we are fine here.” Her sister wasn’t looking up at all; she was bent over to look into the fireplace and checking on the bread. That’s when Jay noticed that she had no shoes on. She probably thinks it takes too long to take them off, stupid girl. This floor is freezing. Jay’s head snapped back up to the blonde who was still smiling. “Your brother is very handsome. What’s his name?” Blondie’s cheeks flushed and she played with her hair like an obvious ditz.

With wide eyes and a flushed color to her cheeks, Jay shouted. “He's not my brother!” She clenched her fists at her sides. "We don't even look alike!"

The brunette peeked up and looked from Andy to Jay several times. “I can see it.” They both chuckled, an obnoxious laugh that echoed through the room. It was high-pitched but nasally at the same time.

Jay raged, stomping out of the kitchen. “Where is the bathroom? Do you have a shower?”

Feeling extremely awkward and not really knowing what to do, Andy grimaced at all the yelling Jay was doing and slipped off into the other room with her. The Reverend was happy to appear out of nowhere and tell them exactly where it was. "Oh, well our bathroom is sort of neglected at the moment, but I hope you find it better than most around here... There is a standing shower. It's just to the right, the door in the corner there." He directed with his hands, still seeming to be very priest like in all of his movements, a small habit which perplexed Andy.

The boy looked at Jay almost sheepishly and tried to ignore his dripping hair, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, you can shower first, if you want..." He mumbled at her and he glanced back into the other room, wondering what he was going to do. There were only two options: Hang out with the Reverend, or be in the same room as those two weird girls. He pursed his lips.

Jay walked over and passed Andy, glancing at him. Before she could blush, she jogged down to the bathroom. Jay’s stomach flopped over and she closed the door, leaning against it with her back. She sighed heavily and smiled wide. Control yourself. You aren't like those girls… She thought, however her smile remained as she put her bag down. Her face wasn’t used to smiling, but it felt good in a way. There was water in the sink for face washing and not-so-clean towels for drying. What more could one ask for in this situation? Jay washed and rinsed the dirt from her face and picked at her skin in the mirror. Then she walked to the shower and turned it on. Cold. That would be horrible for her; she couldn’t stay warm for shit. Slowly taking her wet clothes off, her skin rose in bumps. She crept in the shower, not touching the water, but gradually she tip-toed closer. The water stung her skin and she yelped.

Awkward. That was everything that described Andy. This situation, however, even Andy felt odd in. He wasn’t necessarily religious, and the fact that he was sitting at a small table with the Reverend made him sweat a little. His hair was still dripping and making him feel conscientious. Every time a drop got on the table, he’d wipe it off with the back of his hand and look up at the Reverend with a careful glance. He was always smiling… It made Andy frown. “So, um, those are your daughters…?” Andy asked. At least he hoped. He cringed, his stomach clenching at the disgusting thought but he shoved it away and tried not to make it look obvious.

The Reverend either didn’t seem to notice or took the child’s cumbersome inferiority as endearing. “Yes.” He said proudly, that smile still pasted widely across his face. Andy wondered if his cheeks ever got sore. “The eldest is Bailey, and then there is Lisa.” Frankly, Andy couldn’t tell which one was which. They both looked the same age to him… He simply nodded and tried to act friendly.