'the world either breaks or hardens the heart.' nicholas chamfort.

season 2, episode 1
What Lies Ahead

day 66.

When the sun sets, we resort to our primal forms; we are but prey to predators now. And our predators are what we are destined to become. Once the sun rises again, bringing light to the land that is now bathed in blood, those who survived must live this cycle until their end.

That is the new world.

As the dead rose with a hunger for something quite disgusting, the living would fight to keep living.

Sadie Fontaine never had to fight before. She was handed a life in steady hands, given everything in silver, not knowing there was a possibility of it being in gold. She was kept safe and loved with kisses on her injuries. She didn't need to know how to fight.

And she still didn't.

The people she was with - her two best friends, Isaac Arya and Alyson Quinn - only saw her as the girl who daydreamed in math class and cried over dead frogs. The only blood on her hands would only be from an injured animal she tried to care for. There wasn't any reason for her to change in their eyes.

But sixty-five days ago she did change.

But that is a story for another time.

A rhythmic pattern of the driver's sun visor started five minutes ago. Sadie had dulled it out as the names she had already memorized were more interesting. She made patterns with it as if it was a map that would lead her home, to Virginia. five hundred, thirty-two point three miles away.

"Would you quit?" Alyson snapped, glaring heat at Isaac. She couldn't ignore the sounds. Everything had become so loud.

Isaac paused, keeping his hand on the visor as he met Alyson's eyes. One thing about Isaac is that even at the end of the world, he wouldn't stop annoying Alyson. He let go, allowing the visor to snap up one last time. "Happy?"

This happened everyday. Once a day. A fight to annoy the other, to get some sense of normalcy. But there was no normalcy anymore. Nothing could be normal again.

Sadie switched her gaze to her hands. Dirt smudged on her tan palms, indented into the crevasses that only her hands bore. Alyson told Isaac to Choke. She opened the door, letting in the putrid stench of the highway from hell to make that happen. Sadie stayed focused on her hands, taking in her needed air through her mouth.

This happened all the time.

Isaac got annoyed that Alyson got annoyed. She slammed the door, he slammed the door. Both leaving Sadie to be lost in her own mind.

Some things were like before. Sadie's tendency to daydream, Isaac's unknown need to get under people's nerves, and Alyson's anger. They got worse as the days went on. As Isaac and Alyson killed more of the dead, getting blood on their hands, it got worse.

For Sadie, there wasn't really a reason why she sunk into her own head. Maybe because it helped, maybe because it was easier. She didn't know. May she did.

She wanted to help like her friends, getting bloody instead of having to stay behind because they feared she would get hurt. She was only six months younger than Isaac and three months younger than Alyson. Yet, she was treated like a child.

It felt ironic seeing as three months ago, they were telling her she had to grow up in order to face the real world. The world that was once filled with people who expect you to know things, that will only expect the best unless you give them less and if then...well, you're shit out of luck.

The back doors of the van opened, forcing Sadie to adjust to the brightness. Alyson and Isaac stood there with bandanna over their noses and mouths.

"You gonna get up?" Alyson asked in a softer version of her previously annoyed tone.

Sadie sat up with an exhale. This was the new world. She held her hand out for her own bandana, which Isaac tossed. "Anything specific we're looking for?"

Isaac closed the doors behind her, holding his crowbar tightly. "Normal stuff-water, food, clothes. We need new shoes, so look for sizes ten in men's and five in women's."

"Yeah, yeah, we know the sizes," Sadie huffed. Isaac would stay on watch as Alyson and she would scavenge for supplies. They didn't need much seeing as they got a big load from a school that was turned into a place of shelter. Mostly food, water, medical supplies, but still they were stocked.

It was just that some way along the road they might not be.

"Remember," Sadie started, pointing at Alyson.

Alyson quickly finished, "If I find a snickers bar, give it to you and not Isaac. I know."

Sadie smiled and even though Alyson could see it, she knew it was there. "Just wanted to remind you."

She started with a red car, a type of car the girls at her school would've bragged about getting for their sixteenth birthday. Sadie didn't mind the girls at school, they talked about boys and their interests, they talked about which teachers were most definitely screwing each other despite being married. They were fun.

They just didn't like Alyson. Not many people did. She was rude to everyone and her older twin brothers were both troublesome. Sadie liked her though - more than she would ever say aloud - and in Alyson's words "forced a friendship between them".

Sadie wouldn't have had it any other way. Through everything they have been through together, Sadie wouldn't have wanted to let her go. Ever.

The idea of it made her stomach twist. She sat in the front seat after cleaning out the back, attempting to fight her mind. Thinking of what if's always led her down a road she hated. In the beginning, that's all she thought about. And when she spent every night crying herself to sleep, her friends didn't bat an eye. They were doing the same.

Tears pricked her brown eyes, painting the surrounding white parts red as she gripped the steering wheel. The idea of death before, never really crossed Sadie's mind. She basked in her innocence and ignorance, wanting nothing more than to believe she and the people she cared about wouldn't share the inevitable fate of all humans.

Now that death could haunt the living after death - odd, right? - Sadie's bliss was shattered. A raw punch in the face with reality.

"Stop it," she muttered to herself. Her tears continued to well up. She slapped the sides of her face. "Stop it."

The faucet continued to leak. She had always had bad knobs that turned on over the slightest inconvenience. Drip drip drip. Edging her waterline. "Stop it."

"Stop it."

"Hey," Isaac called out from the back of the car. Sadie swiftly put her hands back onto the steering wheel. She tilted her head up to blink the tears away. She never wondered why her friends didn't think she could survive without them when she always knew why.

Isaac placed his hand on the roof of the car, leaning down to get away from the blinding sun. "What've you found?"

"Half of a case of water, gum-want napkins? This guy has a ton," she joked, laughing to ease her mind.

He chuckled, grabbing the napkins from her hand. "Hell yes we need these, never know when the next bathroom we find is out of toilet paper."

"Gross," she winced, thinking of having to use the rough napkins. "I'd rather use Jordan's bathroom...than use napkins." Her voice faltered once she realized what she said, who she mentioned.

"Hey," Isaac said softly, placing his hand over hers. "He's fine. All of them are."

It was easier to believe that. That's the only way they could get by. By believing, pretending.

Sadie nodded, putting on a fake smile, forgetting that he couldn't see. "Yeah. they're all fine. I doubt Al and Elliott would go down easily."

"Exactly," he forced with a laugh, trying to believe it himself. It was the older sibling in him. He believed he had to pretend for Sadie, and sometimes Alyson, in order to keep them from being scared. In reality, nothing could keep them from being scared anymore.

He glanced up to Alyson, who was glaring at them for not working. "Keep searching."

Sadie hummed before searching the glove compartment. The first thing she noticed was the glock. The moment she put it in her hand, she knew it was full. Heavy and unused. Her eyes inspected every inch of it, noting the details that were always on those types of guns. It weighed more the longer she looked at it.

A gunshot echoed in her head. Blood on white walls, following the cracks like crevasses, like rivers on maps. It splattered like paint, staining the walls forever. Just like it stained her mind.

She stuffed it back in the glove compartment and closed it. Sadie gathered the items she found and left the car. Just a few feet away, Alyson stood watching her. Just like that day.

She blinked it away, forcing it to leave her mind.

A part of Sadie wished Alyson would too. Some days she wished she would walk away into the forest and never resurface. Other days, she begged that she would never leave her.

Alyson's mouth opened but nothing came out. Instead, motors sounded from the clearer end of the highway.

The two girls shared a look. Alyson acted first, as usual, pulling Sadie out and towards the ground. She scraped her palms as she went down. Isaac rushed over, hunching to not be seen.

The vehicles were further away, slowly creeping forward and around the destruction of scared humans and the dead. One motor roared. A motorcycle. It continued for a minute, then something sputtered and a white cloud rose and dissipated. It rose enough to give away their location.

Isaac signaled for them to stay quiet, as if it wasn't obvious to do so. He stood up slowly, tip-toeing towards the sound. Peering over a car hood, he could see at least three people and three vehicles. An R.V., motorcycle, and a family car. A group.

He turned back to the two, mouthing that it was a group.

'How many?' Alyson mouthed, furrowing her brows. Her hand rested over the hilt of her hatchet.

He shrugged, looking back. At least eleven people gathered around the smoking R.V. Isaac signaled the amount.

"Problem, Dale?"

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of- okay, that was dumb." It was an older white male who spoke. Dale gazed over the highway from hell, seeing it as a possibility instead of an annoyance.

Meaning Dale and his group would search and find three teens stalking them.

Isaac cursed under his breath when he saw a white man with a thick head of dark locks, holding a gun. He was the one who he first heard. Sounded like an asshole.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." the police officer trailed off.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." someone else, in a thick redneck accent finished.

There were a few things Isaac knew. One, rednecks had a tendency to be a bit biased. Two, cops with guns and an asshole personality also shared that trait. His hand hovered over his handgun. Three, there were two kids. All of that information combined, he waved for Sadie and Alyson to hide.

Once he heard the doors of the van shut, he inhaled. Isaac didn't believe in God, he found the whole religion thing a bit odd. Still, Alyson did. She would pray every night, even if she pretended she didn't. He muttered a little prayer, nodding up to the sky and exhaled. He took a step forward when a hand yanked him back.

Alyson pulled him down to the ground, glaring daggers at him. "Don't be an idiot."

Of course, she sent Sadie to hide and stayed. Isaac shrugged her off, pointing towards the back of the group. "Two cops, two kids, one old man, and one visible gun, okay? There's a fifty percent chance, they won't kill us if we go to them first."

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Or, they all have a handgun hidden, all know how to shoot and aim, and don't give a damn. I'm not risking our lives."

"So, what, you want to shoot at them first in front of their kids? Maybe, kill the kids, too?" he suggested, narrowing his eyes. Alyson faltered, gritting her teeth. She just wanted to live and Isaac knew that. "Exactly."

Alyson licked her lips. "Then, what's the plan, smart one?"

"The plan is to-" He cut himself off, seeing a brown girl, wearing a bandana over her nose and mouth, sneak around a set of cars with a beige sack, filled with items. "What the fuck is she doing?"

Sadie's heart did not only make her weak, but also idiotic. Alyson always said that the girl's heart swayed her mind easily, making it like a curious puppy. When she saw the two kids, hearing the kind voice of a woman who didn't like the idea of taking items from people who left them, she let her heart drive. She gathered fifteen cans from one of the schools they looted a while back; a children's book that was in a nearby car; and water bottles.

Truthfully, she didn't think her heart made her an idiot. She liked that part about herself. Just not the part where she didn't fully think things through.

Her hand gripped the fabric, thinking it would slip from her sweaty hands. The cans clanked against one another. She hissed, grabbing the bag at the bottom to keep it quiet. She was just going to place it in a nearby car then run back to the van. Easy and simple.

Her mind hyper-focused on the task, that it didn't register the footsteps creeping behind her.

Sadie placed the bag on the hood of a dusty, red car softly. Taking a step back, she exhaled.

She readied herself to sprint away. As she lifted herself up a tad, she was yanked up and back into the side of the car, hitting her head on the window. Her vision vibrated.

Her bandana was yanked off. A handgun pointed at her jaw and an arm pressed on her neck, almost choking her. The man glared at her. "Who the fuck are you?" he shouted, purposefully to get the attention of his people.

Sadie knew Isaac and Alyson would have heard that too. They would try and save her. She also knew her fighting skills were limited to kicking balls and punching boobs. Her expertise was running away despite being shit at running. The only thing she had against him was her size and flexibility. And she used all of what she knew.

Lifting her knee into his crotch, the man loosened his hold. Sadie dropped, quickly rising to punch him. She was aiming for the face but landed her fist into his throat. That helped her a lot more than she thought it would. Without a second thought, she slid under his arm and bolted to the van, where she found her two friends ready to go out guns blazing.

"Are you an idiot?!" Alyson whispered, holding an M16, as well as Isaac. She handed one to Sadie. It weighed heavier with her guilt. Isaac had found them back when everything started. Her face was drenched with anger but her words were laced with fear.

"Basically," Sadie responded weakly, tugging out a footstool for herself and Alyson. She was still trying to fix her breathing pattern. The heavy weight of the gun stung her hands. "Do we really have to do this?"

Isaac clenched his jaw, pulling the blinds shut. "You should have stayed hidden."

I know, Sadie responded in her head. She stepped onto the stool and slid open the sunroof. She pointed the barrel of the gun out first, then her head. Inhaling the shitty smell, despising the thought of it being her last.

"We don't want trouble."

"Should've thought about that before you punched me," the thick haired man snapped, aiming his gun right at Sadie's head. Despite his obvious disadvantage, he looked as if he was about to fire. Each teen took a side to protect as the six split off into pairs to surround them.

Sadie held back from gulping and readjusted her hold on the gun. Its heavy weight and the sweat gathering on her palms didn't mix well.

Isaac's voice echoed in her mind. "Pretending is your greatest weapon. Making the other person believe you have no fears, that you're willing to do anything, and it will pretty much get you anywhere." His advice helped her through the first two years of high school, the last few months of their new life, and hopefully the next few minutes.

"How many more of you are there?" he continued, daring to take a step forward. Isaac turned, pointing his barrel at him. It left the center of the group open. Another white man with a Sheriff's hat and an Asian man, who had to be a few years older than the trio.

The Sheriff contemplated his odds, deciding to lower his weapon. "Shane, they're just kids." He nodded his head to the other to follow. They did, like he was their leader.

"I rather not die to a couple of teens with rifles," the Asian man commented, tucking his gun in his waistband. Sadie stifled a chuckle. She made the mistake of loosening her hold.

Shane, or whatever his name was, kept his gun up, still aimed at Sadie. The blonde woman next to him kept her hand over her gun hesitantly. The Sheriff may have been the lever but it was obvious who the spark was. Isaac narrowed his eyes. "Like she said, we don't want trouble."

"That means call off your dog," Alyson told the Sheriff, keeping her eyes on her pair, a Black man and a white redneck.

The Sheriff nodded, holding his hands up as he walked over to Shane. He had to push down the gun and shared a long look with him before turning to the teens with his hands up in surrender. At least he knew how to stomp out the spark. "Neither do we. We just need to get some supplies and we will be gone."

"What type of supplies?" Sadie asked, earning an elbow by who she assumed to be Alyson. She brought down her gun in an act of peace.

They obviously didn't trust them but they also needed things. Scavenging went quicker with more hands. "Car parts, maybe food and water if we can find any. Have you found anything here?"

The teens didn't respond. Mostly because they feared the idea of them raiding them. It happened once, so it was bound to happen again.

"Rick?" a woman called out from behind a large car. She stepped out holding a kid. Isaac sharply inhaled, lowering his weapon. Alyson followed, trying to grab Sadie but the small girl had already slipped down. She placed her gun onto her cot. The brunette knew her friend well.

She grabbed a water bottle, gazing at the cabinet to her side. Cans of food stacked, stuffed in the three shelves. They had more in other cabinets and even scattered behind the chairs. They would hop from school to school in hopes of military forces to help them give them aid, only for them to find more than what the military could have possibly done.

If they needed more, she would give them it. Alyson came down and attempted to snatch the water bottle away. "What are you doing?"

"They have kids, Aly. We can share."

Alyson knew that. Still, she grabbed Sadie's arm when she stood up. Her green eyes glared into Sadie's brown ones. Any other time Sadie would have let her win. She would be lying if a part of her didn't falter. Good thing about pretending is that lying became second nature.

"You could have died."

"But, I didn't." She yanked her arm from Alyson's hold and opened the door. "I'm not gonna be the reason those kids starve."

She came out with her hands raised, eyeing Shane as he hovered his hand over his gun. She went over to the Sheriff slowly, handing him the bottle. "We haven't done many searches, yet. You guys kind of interrupted that."

The woman with the kid carried the bag from earlier. Sadie huffed, her heart pounded in her chest. "I was trying to give you guys that. Keep what's in it."

The man peered inside. His eyes widened at the items, growing a smile.

Isaac and Alyson came out of the van, replacing their guns for a hatch and a machete. The boy used his hand to cover his eyes from the sun. His shoulders loosened with a curl of his lip. "We good?"

The Sheriff chuckled, looking at the food then to his people. He nodded. "We're good."

Sadie raised her hand in front of him. "Sarah but you can call me Sadie."

"Rick." He took her hand and shook it. "That's Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, Daryl and you've met Shane."

"Unfortunately." She didn't fail to notice the side-glare Shane was giving her. Glenn and T-Dog snorted.

The woman and her son came forward, following them was another woman and her daughter, and an old man. She really hoped she was doing the right thing. "That's Alyson and Isaac."

"Thank you," the woman said with a gentle smile. The boy hugged Rick. They were a cute family. It almost made her forget the idea of her turning around and getting her brain blown out by them.

"No problem." Sadie shrugged, turning around. She paused, seeing an image flash in her mind. "Actually, if any of you happen to find a snickers bar, I would happily take it."

Rick grinned, putting his hands on his hips. "I'll keep that in mind."

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AND WE'RE BACK! after rewriting this for the 4th time, I finally feel like this is a good first chapter. so I hope you guys like it!

hopefully I'll be able to consistently update this book, but yknow life is a bitch so you never know.