Zombie Country. Chapter 2.

"Should we all go?" Splash asked.

"No, that'd be too dangerous." Vex sighed, he looked at Arya and then her body, Arya gave him a look and Vex caught it.

"No, no, maybe you should go because you're smaller." Vex suggested and Splash scoffed.

"But she's a female!"

"That doesn't matter. She's smaller so she has less a chance of being seen and-," Vex started but Splash cut him off.

"I don't care if she's smaller! I'm smarter!" Splash hissed.

"If zombies go after her, she probably has a chance of slipping between small spaces and getting away. Or even hiding." Vex hissed and Splash folded his arms.

"Fine."

Arya opened the back of the truck, the streets were deserted and a few of the shops windows had been smashed open. Vex handed her a large bag, "Just incase you find anything. Just get things that you think we'd need."

She slipped out of the truck with her bow in hand and the bag strapped to her back. Vex and Splash watched her as she pushed open the stores door gently and slid inside.

~

Arya ducked low as she began piling items into the bag, not really caring about labels or what they were for. The bag was about a third full when she heard noises coming from the back of the store.

She set the bag down and had her bow poised as she neared the noises. There was a loud smash and a gurgle that made Arya's skin crawl, she closed her eyes once and then rounded the corner, her eyes drew wide as she saw a zombies head get smashed in right in front of her eyes. Blood splattered over her face and her body froze.

A gun was suddenly pointed towards Arya's head, her brain shouted commands to the rest of her body but she was just unable to move.

"Blimey, you scared me half to death. I thought you were another one of those things." When the gun was lowered, she realized that she'd been holding her breath and Arya looked to the owner of that gun.

He wasn't much older than herself, his hair was black and reached his collarbones, he had shark bite piercings and she could just see some tattoos down his arms under his t-shirt.

"Get that thing out of my face. Hello?" He placed his hand on Arya's shoulder and dodged past her bow, she lowered it slowly and watched the guy.

"What are you doing here? I thought everybody would've made a run for it." He questioned but Arya was just frozen in place.

"I-I-," Arya stuttered and then the guy threw a rag at her.

"You've got blood all over your face." Arya set her bow down slowly and wiped the rag over her face, she peeked at the mysterious guy as he grabbed a few things off of shelves.

"I was getting supplies for my group, they're waiting for me out there. I was packing things when I heard noises so I went to investigate." Arya gasped.

"Be glad I didn't pull the trigger." He said, "My names Brutal, how about you?"

"Arya."

"Sweet." Brutal said, he continued grabbing things and Arya moved back over to her bag.

She shoved more things in there and then looked out the window for zombies.

"Hey! I have no ride out of here and no one else-," Brutal called from behind a shelf and Arya sighed, "You could tag along with us, just come outside and I'll speak with the rest."

She took long strides towards the truck and handed Vex the bag who was waiting patiently, "I found someone else in there, he nearly shot me in the face but he's a pretty decent guy, he's coming out now."

"He nearly shot you in the face and yet… he's a pretty decent guy?" Splash laughed and jumped out of the truck beside Arya as Brutal left the store with a bag of his own.

"Yeah, I invited him to come along." Arya raised her eyebrows as Vex jumped out too.

"Hey." Brutal nodded towards Splash and then Vex, Splash's eyes darted from Brutal's head to toe as he studied him intently.

"What's your name?" Vex asked.

"You can call me Brutal, you?" Brutal held out his hand.

"Vex." Vex shook Brutal's hand and then looked at Splash who still had his eyes glued on Brutal.

"How about you?" Brutal looked at Splash.

He didn't reply, his mouth was skewered into a tight line and his eyes were cold.

"He's Splash." Arya sighed, she jumped up into the back of the truck.

"Why do you call yourself Brutal? What's your real name?" Vex asked.

"It was my nickname on xbox live. I'd prefer that you didn't know my real name." Brutal sighed.

"That's okay." Arya assured, she sat down in the truck and rested her head in her hands. "Are you okay?" Vex asked her.

"Yes, I just have a headache and…" She whimpered as images of her father being torn apart by the hungry dead rushed through her head, she punched the floor of the truck and the cool metal vibrated beneath her.

"I did nothing to save him!" She cried.

"Save who? What?" Vex jumped up next to her and rested a steady hand on her shaking shoulder as Splash and Brutal watched on in confusion.

"My father. He was screaming for me to help him and I did nothing!"

"Sh, it's okay." Vex sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Splash, Brutal, take one of these bags and gather some more supplies from any of the shops." He added.

Splash groaned and he grabbed the bag, "We wont take too long." He hissed.

Brutal shrugged his shoulders and followed Splash into a small abandoned shop across the road.

"Now, that isn't your fault. If you did jump in and save him, you could've been killed." Vex squeezed Arya's shoulders and she looked up at him through thick strands of her hair.

"I shouldn't feel so guilty for that slob, but I just can't help it!" She cried; Vex hushed her.

"I know, I know." Vex cradled her as if she were a small child, she cried into his shirt and her hands clenched the fabric on his back.

"It'll pass." He hushed again.

"He was such a bad father to me, he used to beat me if I didn't complete things up to his standards." Arya whispered.

"Then you shouldn't feel guilty, Arya, I know this sounds bad, but he deserved to be torn apart, every single inch of pain he felt, he deserved it for what he used to do to you. But you don't have to worry anymore, he wont lay a finger on you." Vex hugged her and then pushed her back to look at her face.

"Trust me, my mother used to beat my younger sister when I still lived at home. I wanted to smash her face against a wall. I hope to god that she got what she deserved." Vex looked into Arya's eyes with his own and he grabbed her chin.

"I'll protect you, Arya." He promised.

She gave a half smile and he stood up, he smiled down at her before jumping from the back of the truck and moving to where the others had gone.

Arya stayed put and she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, she was about to move to sit in the passenger seat but something caught her eye.

Her head darted to the side and she gasped in horror, lumbering around the corner, was a giant mob of zombies.

And they were headed straight for the store that the boys had disappeared into.