Chapter 12 (Panic)

Chapter 12: Panic

Arwen Swanter

Unknown, 2029

About 7 years after outbreak

Miami Coast

Season 3

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"Maverick, we gotta go."

"I'm working on it!" The dead got closer.

"Fuck, Maverick, we have to leave now!"

"The fucking door's jammed!" I pushed him aside and slammed my body into the door, dropping the match causing everything to become pitch black. It budged slightly and Maverick backed up quickly to do the same. It moved more and he threw himself into the door multiple times frantically, his breathing out of control and his body shaking. The door opened enough for us to squeeze through, I went in first and Maverick handed Andie and his backpack to me, I hadn't even noticed that Andie was screaming. Maverick followed behind right as the dead got to the door, one grabbed his left arm as he squeezed though. I heard one of the dead appear out of nowhere from behind me, pulling me backwards and snapping me out of my tunnel vision. I held back his ravenous jaw back by shoving my elbow into his shoulder, his throat had once been slit and from the pale glimpse of moonlight coming into the small window in the room I watched as his blood dripped onto Andie who was slipping out of my arms. When Maverick got to the other side of the door he wasted no time to move the desk that had been blocking the door back. He walked towards me and the dead with his knife wrapped so tightly in his fist his hand was shaking. His face was drenched in blood and fury as stabbed the blade into the skull of the dead. He pushed me aside and brought its corpse to the ground before ripping the knife back out, covering himself and the wall beside him with more blood splatters. He got up from on top of the dead body and stood back up slowly. He breathed in a heavy breath of air before resting his hands on his knees as he sighed in relief.

I pulled Andie from the backpack and tried to comfort him until he stopped crying. I wiped the blood off of him with the bottom of my t-shirt. Maverick took a seat on the floor in the corner of the room and laughed breathlessly to himself. He grabbed a few things from the ground, it was too dark for me to see what it was. He lit the supplies on fire and rested his legs in front of it so his clothes could dry.

"This passageway will lead us to another canal and we can take that way to the edge of the city and get the fuck away from here."

"No, we need to get out of here, Maverick, we almost just died!"

"I know but like I said, it's more dangerous on the roads."

"I think it's equally as dangerous! why didn't you tell me it was like this?"

"I thought you could handle it and you did, none of us were bitten."

"You should have told me."

"I'm sorry, okay? But the whole fucking world is like this, Arwen, you're gonna have to get used to it. We're almost there, I'll feed Andie and then we'll go." He took his backpack from off the floor and I handed Andie to him after he took the baby food out."

I stared at Maverick in silence. He glanced back at me with a frustrated stare and ignored the hurt expression on my face. I stepped closer to the fire and took a seat on the ground facing across from them "I didn't know he could eat solid foods," I said quietly.

Maverick let out a sigh."Yeah, he's still a little young but it's easier to find than formula. He likes carrots, he's kind of a picky eater."

"Are we really gonna go all the way to Texas, we don't even know if there's something there?"

"I don't know what else there is, Arwen. I'm just trying to do the best for him."

"We could go back home, back to Ohio. We could take the same roads that we came here on, we know the way already."

"We went here because you thought Valentine would be better not living in the place Cole died in. Cole was my best friend."

"If there is a place in Texas do you really think it'll be worth all this? You're putting your son's life in danger right now, what if the dead had gotten him back there, they almost did?"

"But they didn't and we can't live on that beach forever. I'm doing what I have to do now so that later he can be happy. Don't you want to be happy?"

"I was happy on the beach."

"Don't be like that, Arwen, you were miserable. Every day you went to his grave and it only made you feel worse. We lived with each other for five years and in those five years you hardly said a word to me, or the others when they were still alive. I've never seen someone be so depressed. I didn't recognize you when you held that gun to Blake, I know you don't like that gun. You would always turn away when I took it out, you never wanted to look at it but you picked it up without hesitation. That's when I knew something had to change with you, you were gonna get yourself killed and I was afraid you'd kill yourself. I know Andie will always be my first priority but I'll always care about you too."

"Just because we're off the beach doesn't mean I've moved on, Mav, and it doesn't mean I'm for sure going to either. I wasn't going to kill Blake, I just hadn't seen another person since the day they killed Skylar, I knew you were afraid of him too."

"I was, and I know leaving the beach might not fix everything but I think it will at least help. It doesn't mean you're abandoning him, I know it can feel like that. Skylar's buried a few feet away from him and saying goodbye to her still hurts me. I didn't say goodbye to her before we left because I knew I couldn't handle it. I think Valentine would want you to leave. He did love you. I wish you could have had the time you deserved with him, I still am sorry I took that from you. I think we should rest here tonight, we can't see in there anyways and Texas isn't going anywhere. Feed Andie for me please, I'll make sure this place is secure."