As tempting as it is to just run, once again, you don't really have anywhere viable to run to and now you'd have a horde of those things possibly dogging your steps if you did, so you're going to just be satisfied with short term safety and keep optimistic that things aren't as hopeless as they seem.

You run up the stairs and into the trailer. Donna slams and locks the door, and then you both shove a couch in front of it. You look up at the ceiling of the trailer and see the sun roof open which naturally explains how Jimmy Ray got up there. You can hear him firing and swearing.

"Okay, I think we should be safe now." Donna remarks.
"I wouldn't count on that. I mean yeah, they'd have a hell of time breaking through the door, and granted the windows are high enough that they might have trouble breaking and climbing into them, but I still don't feel safe cooped up in here." You say and start looking around for more furniture and start moving a table under the sunroof.

"Suzy, what're you doing?"
"I'm going to go help your boyfriend if I can. You got a weapon down here?"
"There's Jimmy's bat and some knives in the kitchen, but he really doesn't need your help. You should stay down here, I mean what if they try to break in like you said?"
"Well I'll be able to shoot them from above a lot better from the roof. Climb up if things start getting grim." You say and start climb through the roof.

When you reach the roof, Jimmy notices you as he's in the middle of reloading his weapon.

"What the fuck are you doin' up here, get back in the trailer with your sister!" he says.
"I'm here to help." You say scanning the area.
"I don't need any help, now…"

You interrupt Jimmy, when you look over the other side of the trailer, see one particularly sneaky freak skulking near it and shoot him.

"You aren't even paying attention to the other side of the trailer. You need to be aware of your surroundings!" you say.
"Aw, he couldn't have gotten up here, and I would've heard him had he tried." Jimmy remarks. "Fine, stay up here, but don't get in my way!" he then adds realizing that you aren't going anywhere.

From on top of the trailer, you can see a good deal more of the park in general. You and Jimmy actually aren't the only ones standing on a trailer, you see several women with guns doing their best at fighting off this horde. You even see Tina when you look back towards her trailer.

The situation isn't quite as grim as it once appeared as you see a group of hillbillies from the east side of the park making their way back and soon start helping out with mopping up the freaks that have infested it.

Jimmy and yourself mostly keep to picking off the ones that come too close to his trailer. He actually compliments you or your shooting at one point. To be honest, it's sort of weird to you how much of a natural you are at it.

After few more bloody minutes, it's mostly over and the…well you still don't know WHAT they are exactly, but they're no longer the threat they were.

"Whew, I think we got the last of those sons of bitches." Jimmy says.
"Yeah, well I'm not in any hurry to check. I'm out of bullets anyway, so I'm just going to go back into the trailer with my sister."
"Okay, I'm gonna keep an eye out from here. Um… I wasn't sure about you at first, but thanks for yer help."

Suddenly Donna's head pops up from the opening in the roof.

"What's going on up here? The shooting has mostly stopped, is it over?" Donna asks.
"It's over in the sense that I'm guessing we aren't in any danger of being overrun. Was everything okay down there? We were trying to keep them from clawing at the trailer too much." You say.
"Yeah, a few got as close as the door and then one of you guys shot them." Donna says.
"Shit, let's get back down in the trailer." Jimmy suddenly says walking over to where you and Donna are.
"Did you just see more of those things?"
"No, I see…

"There you are, ya slackin' piece of shit! Where the fuck were you when we needed help over on the east side of the park. Nearly got my ass eaten and not in a good way!" Mel shouts from the ground as he walks with a couple of other men behind him.

"Aw Mel, I didn't even know about it until it was too late, I was uh…"
"You were thinkin' with yer dick as usual. Is that…is that blondie there I see? Holy shit, didn't think you were fool enough to fall fer this idiot's charms." Mel says.
"I didn't…I was looking for my sister and I helped her and Jimmy out here."
"Is that right?" Mel asks.
"Yeah, it's true! I was with her sister…and um, by the time I knew what was goin' on I couldn't leave this trailer because it was surrounded by those things! I was pickin' them off with the shotgun and then Suzy came here and helped out. Good thing too. There were a shitload of them, as you can tell by the bodies!" Jimmy says and begins pointing at them.

Mel stares at the bodies that Jimmy's pointing to and doesn't seem impressed.

"Jimmy, yer so full of shit right now, yer eyes are brown. By the number of bodies here and their various distances from the trailer, it wasn't THAT surrounded. Whatever, doesn't matter, come on down, you're comin' with us."
"Where are we goin?" Jimmy asks.
"We're gonna go try to fetch some medical supplies from town. We got some people hurt pretty fuckin' bad an' other than a few half used basic medical kits that a few people scrounged up, all else we got is a shitload of alcohol. You'd think those military trucks woulda had some medical shit in them, but no. I suppose SOME people here got some meth, crack and a few other unconventional drugs, but last thing we need is more goddamn junkies runnin' around here." Mel says glaring at Dan.
"Town? Um…don't ya think it'll be pretty fucked up there?" Jimmy asks.
"Of course it's gonna be fucked up there, but it needs to get done. Or we at least need to try. So come on Jimmy, get yer ass down here, what about you blondie?" Mel asks.
"What about me what?" you ask.
"You gonna come with us? Obviously you're good enough with a weapon to take care of yourself an' we're a little short on that at the moment."

As Jimmy kisses Donna on the cheek and tells her something about coming back to her, you briefly consider Mel's offer. While you've certainly "grown" past being the wallflower you tended to be, you know you're not some action heroine badass.

"While I appreciate the offer Mel, I think I'd be better off staying here, I'm still not as skilled as you guys are when it comes to shooting. I wouldn't want to be a liability." You say.
"Hm, I guess that's an honest assessment of yourself. Alright then, keep an eye out on things here. As for the rest of ya, come on let's round up a few more folks and then let's see just how fucked the town is." Mel says and he and the rest walk off leaving you and Donna who duck back inside Jimmy's trailer.

"I'm really glad you didn't go with them. I mean that's gotta be a suicide mission." Donna says.
"Well it will certainly be dangerous that's for sure." You say.
"So you still think it's a good idea to stay here?" Donna asks.
"Still want to leave huh?" you say.
"Don't you? I mean we just went through TWO major attacks at this place now! Who knows what the hell is gonna hit us next! More of those freaks probably, but I'm thinking that we got a better chance if we do leave this time."
"How's that?" you ask.
"Well Jimmy Ray's got a truck that he parked between his trailer and the next one as a poor man's barrier of sorts and he didn't take his keys with him. In fact they're over on the table over there. That suggests to me that we can easily take his while he's gone. In fact, Mel and most of those redneck assholes will all be gone and the others are nursing their wounds, so now would be the perfect time to get the hell out of here."
"I used up all my ammo fighting off those cannibal things. What about weapons?"
"I guess we'll have to get by on close combat ones for awhile, but Jimmy's probably got another gun in his bedroom somewhere. Look, I'll search this place and you go grab your bags from our trailer. I still got a bag packed near my bed from yesterday, so you can grab that one too."

You chuckle a bit at Donna's suggestion of completely robbing Jimmy Ray blind and take her plan into consideration.

You continue to stay

Once again, you can agree that it isn't the safest place, but you still see no viable alternative of where to go because you're getting the impression that it's going to be fucked up no matter where you go.

"Still probably safer than getting on the road right now. I think we need to stay just a little bit longer." You say.
"Jesus Christ I can't believe you're still willing to stay. (Sigh) Well, at this point I guess I've got no choice, but to stay too. I mean I think it's pretty obvious by now that I can't go it alone. I'm just not adapting well to this series of events like you seem to be." Donna remarks.
"I dunno if I'm adapting or just so overwhelmed by what's been going on this week that I'm just going with what my instincts are."
"Well you're a far cry from the wallflower you were." Your sister says.
"Yeah, I suppose, but I'd actually rather be on my couch in the basement back home."
"At this point, I'd rather be on that couch right next to you." Donna laughs.

You and Donna leave Jimmy Ray's trailer and head back to yours. Along the way you bump into Tina who is carrying two big meat hooks.

"So, you and blondie survived, glad to see it, because there are a shitload of bodies that need cleanin' up." Tina says.

Tina looks at you as if that's the last thing she wants to be doing.

"Um…" Tina starts to say.
"Uh, my sister is still really shaken up by the attack, nearly got eaten an' all you understand. She needs to lie down in the trailer, but I'll be glad to help."

Tina shakes her head at Donna and turns her attention to you.

"Come on then blondie." She says and you tell Donna you'll see her later.

You follow Tina where there are more than a few dead bodies of those things and two other women are standing by with meat hooks. One of the women is a little bigger and taller than everyone else and has short hair like a buzzcut. The other one is similar to Tina except with curlier hair.

"K, this is Mary Lou an' the giant over there is Butchie Billie. An' this one here with me is our newest addition to our wonderful community, blondie."
"It's Suzy, actually." You say.
"Yeah, whatever. Let's start moving these dead fucks before Mel gets back an' bitches about it. Nevermind, the fact that Mel and the rest of his fuckin' friends should be here doing this instead of traipsin' off to town." Tina says as she digs a meat hook into a body
"Well they said they were going for medical supplies." Billie says following suit.
"Damn fool thing to do really, I told him so too. I told him that right now he should focus on rebuilding the barricades around this place. I mean yeah I know more medical supplies would be useful, but really we got enough to get by for now and for those that got all bit up…well…" Tina trails off, but you know what she's getting at.

"You…think we should kill them?" Mary Lou asks, shoving her own meat hook in.
"I didn't say that. I'm just sayin' that perhaps wastin' medicine on them isn't the best idea because they're probably goners anyway. I mean don't you think so? I mean those crazy fuckers biting people had to have been sick with something right? How do we know it isn't spread through biting or even worse just being close to 'em? At least Mel had the sense to put all those folks in one trailer though."

You're having a little difficulty putting in your hook. It isn't like you've done this before.

"You need help there blondie? You're holding us up." Tina asks.
"No, I…got it. There." You say as the hook sinks in.
"Okay, lift everyone." Tina says and all four of you do so. Billie's probably doing the majority of the work though.

As you carry/drag the body to the open field behind the trailer park, Billie continues the conversation.

"Well I admit, them possibly bein' infected is a concern for me too, but I'm sort of surprised Mel didn't shoot them just to be safe, I mean we all know he isn't excessively compassionate." Billie remarks.

Tina laughs a bit.

"Well that's true, in fact I almost guarantee if they were anyone else he might've just done that, but one of Mel's few endearing traits is he's got a sense of loyalty. And I know he feels like he should at least try to help those that watched his back during the recent battle. Not to mention he is drinking buddies with most of 'em, despite the fact he doesn't think very highly of 'em. Oh well, hopefully he'll be successful with his trip."

You almost ask, but then stop yourself. Tina however has already noticed your stifled attempt at continuing the conversation.

"If you got somethin' to say blondie, say it." Tina remarks.
"Well, I was just gonna ask, do you think he'll even come back?"
"Shit blondie, that's a pretty fuckin' grim ass question. And if I were anyone else I'd probably be pretty upset by the implications, but I'm not worried about Mel. He'll get back here some how. Everyone else might be dead, but I'm confident he'll come back."
"Hey didn't Jimmy Ray go with them? I hope he comes back too!" Mary Lou remarks.
"Heh, guess you're a little late on the update there Mary, but blondie's sister Donna currently has her own hooks in Jimmy right now."
"What!? That asshole told me how I was the only one for him last week!" Mary Lou exclaims. "Hey blondie, tell your homewreckin' cunt of a sister to keep her hands off my man!"

You briefly wonder why Mary Lou who also having blonde hair is calling you blondie. (Granted hers is out of a bottle unlike your natural magnificence)

"Yeah, I'll pass it on to her." You remark apathetically.

At this point you reach your destination where a few other bodies have been placed and the four of you unhook the body and make your way back to the park to presumably get another body.

"Hey, Suzy isn't it?" Billie suddenly pipes up.
"Yeah?" you ask turning your head a bit to look at Billie who is walking behind you.
"Do you have an older sister by the name of Kelly who participates in the fight clubs in town?"
"Yes, I do. How did you know?" you ask.
"Because in the locker room she used to constantly bitch about having a pretty blonde sister by the name of Suzy that didn't do shit around the house and another one by the name of Donna that was a complete whore. I took a shot in the dark that you and this Donna were the same ones that might be related to her."
"Oh. Well you got it right. Wow, didn't realize she complained about us at…her work."
"Eh, she mostly complained about you. I mean ALL the fuckin' time. Most of us were sick to death of hearing her bitch. So where is Kelly anyway?"
"Dunno. Don't really care either. Knowing her she's probably surviving this bullshit somehow though. Were you and her an item or something?" you ask.
"Fuck no! I hated that cunt. That bitch knocked out three of my teeth in our last match! I almost had her, but I know that cunt spiked my drink with something before the match! Anyway she was straight, but I figured you knew that."
"Hm, sort of surprising. Just figured she was a lesbian. My whole family did actually." You say.
"Nah, she tried to get with so many of the guys at the fight club it was actually kind of pathetic. She actually would've been a whore like your sister Donna had she actually been successful. As it stands she was more like a rapist since she'd routinely intimidate some of the scrawny audience members into having sex with her."

This revelation about Kelly is pretty interesting, but you don't think you need to know too much more.

"Yikes, is all I got to say about that." You remark.
"Yeah, but I will say this, her physical description of you doesn't do you justice. You're much prettier." Billie says and them smiles with a couple of missing teeth.

You turn your head back away and close your eyes in horror at such a thought. Tina glances over at you and smirks.

"Kinda disturbin' to think she's been starin at yer ass this whole time isn't it blondie?" Tina says.
"Now that's not true, I've been starin' at yours as well." Billie laughs.
"Pfft, honey, EVERYONE stares at my fuckin' ass." Tina says puffing up slightly in pride.

When you get back to the trailer park, Mel and the rest have already returned. In the distance you see him slamming his truck door and hear him swearing.

"I guess it didn't go well. (Sigh) Let me go see what happened. As for the rest of these bodies, you can keep moving them if y'all want, but as far as I'm concerned Mel and whoever survived their trip can do it instead. I'm done with this mess."

At this point Tina leaves and seeing as you don't particularly want to move any more bodies you head back to your trailer. Eventually you arrive and collapse on your sofa.

"Suzy?" Donna asks coming from out of her room.
"Yeah, it's me. Man, I'm tired. I think the stress of the day is really catching up to me. Oh Mel's back, guess it didn't go as planned if he's back already."
"Is Jimmy Ray with him?"
"Dunno, I just saw Mel getting out of his truck and cussing up a storm."
"I guess I'll go check. Hope so…"
"Wait a minute, weren't you just ready to rob the guy blind a moment ago?" you ask.
"Well that was a different situation. I mean if we're going to stay here, it's best I latch on to the best looking guy here right? Isn't that what you said?"
"Actually I said becoming self-sufficient, but I suppose grabbing one of the guys so you're only sleeping with one as opposed to several works too. Well good luck. Oh there's a girl with a bad bleached blonde job by the name of Mary Lou that's got her eyes on him, so you might have some competition."
"Pfft. They haven't made anyone that can compete with me. Let alone around here. I mean come on, it's not even a contest." Donna remarks.
"Well glad to see your confidence still remains strong in all this. Have fun and be careful. I'm going to get some rest."

And with that you leave Donna to her own devices and turn over on your side to get some sleep. As you drift off you figure you'll only get a few hours before someone wakes you up to do something, but as it turns out, you sleep through the entire night.

Next day...

FRIDAY


"HEY BLONDIE! GET YER ASS UP!" you hear as someone pounds on the door waking you up.

It sounds like Mel, but at least it isn't those awful Ground Zero commercials.

You groggily get up and through bleary eyes you see that it's actually still morning. You haven't been up this early in a long time…and it's a horrible thing.

You hear more banging and yelling causing you to respond in kind.

"Alright! Alright! Goddamnit, I'm up! I'm up!" you say and go to the door.

"What?!" you ask though Mel doesn't look too happy that you're even asking that question.
"What? Whadda ya mean what? Yer fuckin' sister and that cowardly motherfucker Jimmy Ray just skedaddled outta here with a perfectly good truck that was also actin as a temporary barrier! That's what!"

This remark isn't quite comprehended by you in your current groggy state.

"My sister fucked Jimmy Ray in his truck and what?" you say.
"Jesus fuckin'…I said…bah, I'm not fuckin' repeatin' myself! Shit!" Mel shouts and walks away banging on the door one more time. You briefly step outside and see Tina standing nearby.

"I'm guessin' you didn't know nothin' about it anyway considering you're still here." Tina remarks.
"Okay, someone tell me again what happened? What about my sister and Jimmy Ray now?"
"Apparently your sister convinced Jimmy Ray to leave this place in the middle of the night. Guess she really laid it down good, but then Jimmy Ray's always had a tendency to get stupid over a gal who knows how to work it."
"Wait. Wait. Wait a minute she's gone?!"
"Yeah, she's fuckin' gone with a perfectly good truck! I actually don't even give a shit about Jimmy Ray, he was more useless than tits on bull, but we could've used that fuckin' truck for…" Mel says.
"Oh for fuck's sake Mel, we got a shitload of trucks here and aren't you converting those army trucks into some sort of road warrior deathmobile anyway?"
"Yeah, but it's the fuckin' principle of the thing! Not to mention we still gotta find some medical supplies! Goddamnit, Dan was supposed to be keepin' a look out and…"

You leave Mel to rant and head back inside trying to process this new information. You can't believe that Donna would just leave you like that. There was no indication she was going to just take off like that.

You check her bedroom and see that her bag is gone. You don't know if she took that just after you fell asleep, or if she came back for it before leaving or what. Was she planning it right from the start or did she just see the opportunity? None of it matters you suppose, she just ditched you and didn't even have the courtesy to let you know.

So much for "sisterhood."

While you're thinking about this, someone enters the trailer and calls out to you. It's Tina.

"Oh there you are. I'm guessing you're pretty upset right now, but I found this in Jimmy's trailer. Figured you should have it." Tina says and hands you a note.

Dear Suzy,

Sorry, I just couldn't stick around. Good luck to you in this shithole.

Sincerely,

Donna

You actually chuckle a bit and crumple up the note.

"What's so funny." Tina asks.
"Oh just thinking that she was the one that convinced me to come here in the first place. Anyway, it's done and she's gone. We were never really close to begin with, though I thought that was sort of changing this week, but I guess not. Still, at least it felt like someone was on my side. I imagine I'm not too well accepted around here."
"Meh, I think you're about as accepted as anyone else around here. I mean I think the general assessment of you is that you're a big tease that thinks she's better than everyone else, but I mean its not like you're a nigger or something." Tina remarks.

You give Tina a strange look.

"Um, lucky me then I guess. Just out of curiosity what do you think about Donna leaving? She kept going on about how you two were friends." You say.
"Me? Eh, I don't really care. I mean I knew your sister on and off for a few years when I use to do strip jobs over at the parties at the place she was livin' at before. An while she was a funny girl that made that particular job a lot more enjoyable, so I didn't mind helping her out with a job when she asked, but it wasn't like I ever considered her a real friend. Hell, I didn't even know she had a sister until a few days ago. Anyway, always knew she was flakey. To be honest I didn't even see her lasting long as a stripper and living here either. She probably would've latched on to first sugar daddy she could find and ditched everything."

"Sounds about right." You say and toss aside the note.

"Well I'll leave you alone blondie. And I wouldn't worry about your status here or lack there of. Quite frankly so many folks here have died or are wounded that nobody's really in any position to antagonize someone who actually has been making an effort to contribute around here. Speakin' of which I need to go talk to this crazy man that's probably still ranting about a fuckin' truck." Tina says and leaves.

You take a shower as you're thinking about how you're going to proceed next. You go back and forth on whether to do what your sister did, but knowing your luck, you'd end up getting caught so you ultimately abandon the idea.

As you're getting dressed and figuring out what your next plan of action should be, you suddenly hear banging on the door of your trailer again. You go to the door and see it's that methhead Dan.

"Hey blondie! You're needed for a vote!" Dan exclaims.
"Vote? Vote for what?" you ask.
"We need a tie breaker to shoot the ones that got bitten or not. Billy Ray in particular ain't lookin' too good." Dan remarks.
"So what are we doin' if we don't shoot 'em?"
"Guess we're goin' back to town to try for medical supplies again. If that's the case, I hope we have better luck, cause it was a cluster fuck last time." Dan says.

As you walk with Dan, he's looking at you a lot and while some of that is predictable ogling, he's also doing a lot of twitching and it's making you nervous.

"Dan, I know you have to take a glance at me every now and then, but between the staring and the twitching it's making me uncomfortable. Makes me think of those things that attacked us yesterday. It doesn't help that you're about as clean as they were too." You say.
"Oh. Sorry blondie. I just…I need a fuckin' fix. Just to put me at ease. The shit that's been going down for the past couple of days has really made me scared y'know? I went through most of my shit after the National Guard showed up and then I used the rest up immediately after the freak invasion."
"So where's the meth lab? Don't places like this usually have one?" you ask.
"Hah, I wish. I mean we used to have one years ago, but it blew up and caused a lot of damage. After that, the old owner sort of cracked down on that sort of thing."
"Well there's no law anymore, you could just start making it again."
"Hah, yeah. But again with everythin' that's gone on, isn't like there's been time to do that. Not to mention Mel's been ridin' everyone non-stop. He's already pissed at me for fallin' asleep yesterday. I didn't catch Jimmy Ray an' yer sister taking off in the night. Guess he figured if anyone would stay awake all night it would be me, but I just sort of crashed because like I said I didn't have my shit anymore to keep me alert."
"Yeah, well it's tough all over." You say unsympathetically.

Before you even get to the meeting, you can hear the arguing, which is mainly consisting of a lot of shouting and swearing. By the time you arrive, you're met with mixed glances.

"These are our friends, we can't just fuckin' kill them!"
"We need to fuckin' kill 'em before they infect us all!"
"You're one cold hearted sonofbitch you know that? What if I just decided to kill you?!"
"Try it bitch!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP ALL OF YOU!" Mel shouts.

At this point all eyes are on you.

"As you can see blondie, we're involved in the democratic process and are in need of a tie breaker." Mel says to you.
"Aw Mel what the fuck we need her vote for? She ain't one of us and her sister fucking stole a truck!" some redneck woman says.
"I said shut it! The only reason why I even entertained this process is so you fuckers would quit bitchin' about me bein' a so-called tyrant even though I'm the only one around he trying to do anything at all! So however blondie votes, will break the goddamn tie and we can move on. So what's your vote?"

Not that you're especially close to any of these people, but if you vote to shoot you know it's going to cause a lot more problems and you being an "outsider" are going to catch all the hell for it. Besides, last you remember Mel was trying to keep these folks alive, best you vote on his side.

"Well I vote not to shoot because…" you start to say before Mel interrupts again.

"That's all I need to know. Didn't need the reasons. Hear that folks? We ain't shootin' any of them! I dunno why you pussies are scared anyway, we got 'em all locked up and barricaded inside a trailer. They ain't getting out even if they do turn into something."

At this point there is more grumbling, but democracy has won this day and nobody gets violent about it, though you have a question.

"Um, has anyone actually looked in on these bitten folks since they got thrown in together?" you ask.
"Yeah, I did. Like I said, Billy Ray ain't lookin' too good. Neither are some of the others. They're all mostly just lying there not doing much though." Dan says.
"Well was any first aid actually applied to them? I mean maybe they're not infected, but just really wounded. Any aid might help."
"I threw in some bottles of whiskey an' pain killers to ease the discomfort. I threw in some bandages in there, but I wasn't gonna get close enough to actually bandage them." Dan replies.
"And that's it? Nobody else has seen to them since they've been shoved in a trailer?"
"Nope."

This is nuts, these people that have been bitten could very well be DYING due to neglect more than anything else! Nevermind the fact that the reason some might not be moving is that they might've very well ODed from the alcohol/pill combo.

In any event Mel breaks up your question period.

"Alright what we're gonna do is fetch us some more medical supplies an whatever else we might find. Thinkin' we should hit up that carnival a few miles from here." Mel remarks which sort of takes most by surprise. You especially since you weren't even aware there was a carnival in the area.

"If the National Guard stopped here, chances are good they stopped at that carnival too. Maybe that detachment had more supplies and I also figure it's gotta be easier than tryin' to go back into town again." Mel reasons.

Mel's suggestion is met with mixed results, but the people seem to be okay with it. Probably because a carnival does sound a lot less dangerous than going back into town, which they assumed would be the case.

"Okay, we're taking three trucks an' y'all that came with me last time are comin' with me this time as well an I'll be pickin' a few more so don't nobody go too far. That means you blondie."

"Wouldn't it be better if I stayed here and looked after things? I mean you don't want to leave this place totally undefended." You say.
"Oh it never is. I'm sure you saw that everyone is fully capable of defendin' themselves here when those freaks attacked. But I can't just be takin' mothers ya know? I mean it's bad enough most of the snot nosed bastards round here that survived ain't got fathers and that's before all this shit went down. Can't hardly deprive 'em of mothers as well can I? Someone needs to keep 'em out of my way and look after them."
"Well isn't someone like Butchie Billie better suited for something like this than me?"
"Butchie Billie is probably our best welder and mechanic. I'm not gonna risk taking her. Besides, she still needs to work on converting our newly acquired army trucks. And some of the other guys I'm not takin' are better at workin' on the generators or digging some extra outhouses."
"I don't have a weapon or least not any with ammo. I ran out of bullets during the last attack." You say.
"Oh don't worry about that, if there is one thing we've got a lot of, its weapons and ammo."

As you struggle to think up another excuse. Mel stops you.

"Look blondie, you knew you were gonna have to start paying yer dues. And since I KNOW you were tryin' to avoid bein the new fuck toy around here, it's either this or you can just fuckin' leave."

You don't see yourself making it on your own…at least not yet. You still need to be in the safety of numbers, so that means you're going.

However you question if Mel's plan is even a good one. You could very well get to this carnival and not find anything, you sort of wonder if it wouldn't be a better idea to actually head back to town. You figure the town is probably already half looted and lawless by now, so you might well go in and get the best stuff you can before its completely gone. Not to mention you might know the town a little better as far as which side streets to take to get to certain locations quicker. Like say small pharmacies and other stores near where you live.

Of course putting yourself in more danger isn't necessarily desirable either.

You go with Mel's plan

No need to make this more dangerous than it needs to be.

"Alright I guess we're going to the carnival." You say.
"Good. be ready at the trailer park entrance in a few minutes. Someone there can probably hand you a weapon as well."

When you arrive at your destination, a group of rednecks are already there checking various rifles and handguns. It really does look like they got enough to take on an army. Their attention turns to you.

"Well now if it isn't blondie. I'm surprised Mel is riskin' his piece on the side like this." One of the sleazier rednecks says.
"I know that's right Ray. If she was mine, I'd be wantin' to keep her safe." Another says.
"Piece on the side? Is that what Mel told all of you?" you ask which is followed by a lot of snickering.

"Not in so many words honey, but we ain't the idiots that he thinks we are. Why else would he tell us to lay off of ya if he wasn't stickin' ya? Sonofabitch already has Tina, don't see why he gets ta have TWO fine pieces of ass while some of us ain't got none." Ray remarks.
"Could I have one of those rifles please?" you ask ignoring Ray's comments.

Ray snorts at your request.

"Don't think so blondie. Maybe you think yer warrior princess or some shit cause you got lucky shootin' a couple of those freaks, but I ain't impressed and you ain't getting any of these rifles. Here, take one of these instead. Should be more than enough for you seein' as all yer gonna be doin' is hidin behind Mel the whole time anyway." Ray says and hands you a smaller pistol.
"Fine, I don't need a big weapon anyway. I don't have to over compensate for something." You say taking the pistol.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Ray asks.
"It means she's sayin' you probably got a small pecker Ray, now quit givin' the girl a hard time and let's all get goin'." Mel sudden remarks as he walks up with a couple more people.

Ray doesn't say anything and just glares at you before leaving for one of the trucks. Everyone else does likewise. Predictably, you have no wish to ride with any of them, let alone in the back of one of the pickups with a bunch of them so you ride up front with Mel especially since you want to address something.

As the trucks pull out from the trailer park, Mel fiddles with the radio, but he doesn't get anything except Ground Zero ads.

"Goddamn Ground Zero shit. I'm tellin' you like I've said to everyone else, it's a fuckin' conspiracy goin' on with them. In fact all of this shit goin' on is government related." Mel says turning off the radio.
"Yeah, probably. Hey Mel, is it really necessary for you to lie and tell everyone that we're having sex?" you ask.

Mel starts chuckling a little bit.

"Who said I did that?" Mel asked.
"Well first of all a few days ago Tina flat out asked me if I had any intention of fucking you, and I had to clarify that I wasn't. She believed me, but she said you told her that I flirted with you. Then Ray just said that I was your piece on the side. Everyone else seems to believe that as well." You say.
"Okay, first off I'll admit that I might've said you were flirtin' with me to Tina, but there was a good reason. We're just makin' up from one of our many bad fights and I figured it might be good to get her a little jealous. Y'know so she doesn't take me for granted and that she could possibly lose me if she isn't careful. Knowin' Tina she probably thought it was bullshit anyway, which is probably why she just flat out asked you as opposed to just clawing yer eyes out if she thought it was remotely true."
"Well she did say that she didn't believe it."
"Exactly. She knew a girl like you wouldn't be interested in someone like me. Still, it was a good gesture on my part to show her I still care."

At this point you're not going to decipher hillbilly love life logic. You just continue to listen to Mel explain himself.

"Now as for Ray an' the rest. All I told them is to lay off of you a little bit since you were new to the trailer park an' you were doin' your best to contribute. I really can't help it if everyone jumps to conclusions."
"But you're not exactly dispelling those conclusions either."

Mel laughs again.

"Well, I suppose yer right about that, but think of it this way, if they all think you're my squeeze on the side, they're actually all less likely to try anything because they won't want to answer to me. I mean right now all they do is stare a lot and make the occasional cat call. Now I could tell them that we're really not doing anything, but after interactin' with Ray, do you really want him or some of the others sniffin' around on a regular basis?"
"Ugh, I suppose not…just wish there was another way."
"Man's world, blondie, deal with it."
"Trust me, I am. I just don't like it."

You and Mel continue to drive in relative silence until you get to the carnival destination.

"This should be coming up to it soon."
"Didn't even know there was a carnival nearby."
"Yeah, set up shop I think last Saturday. Most of us from the trailer park went there earlier in the week. I didn't go mainly because I was too busy fightin' with Tina at the time and I didn't wanna run into any clowns. Hate those creepy fuckers." Me;
"Really? I always liked clowns. I even briefly thought about wanting to be one when I was little. Oh well, guess that will always be the dream." You say causing Mel to give you a look like you just creeped him out a little.

You drive up to the carnival, which looks like it was in the middle of being packed down, but other events got in the way and given the ones you suffered, you can sort of imagine what those were. The place looks like a warzone and there are several bodies lying on the ground

"Looks like I was right, the Guard was here." Mel says pointing to a military truck near a dilapidated tent.
"Don't think they're still in charge here either." You say.
In the distance you see a few small figures near a large tent and then they run into it when they see you pull up.
"Well looks like whoever is still in charge here is going to be meetin' us real soon." Mel says and stops the truck. The other trucks following stop as well.

You see several people now step out of the big tent. Some of them are armed, but then again so is your side.

"Get ready, but stay in the truck. I'm gonna actually try to handle this without a gunfight, but I'm not hopeful about that." Mel remarks and gets out of the truck.

You see him motioning and shouting to the rest to hold fire and then he addresses the carnie crowd who seem to mostly consist of midgets and the main one addressing Mel is dressed in clown clothing, though he doesn't seem to be wearing the makeup.

"It's okay, it's okay. Ain't nobody lookin' for a fight." Mel says.
"Doesn't look that way, given that you've come with three trucks full of armed men." The midget clown says.
"Heh, well I'm sure given your own heightened state of awareness, you know things are getting' dangerous nowadays. Anyway my name's Mel, I'm guessin' since you're the one talkin' you're in charge here. Ringmaster or something like that?"
"Look, we don't want any trouble."
"And you won't get any trouble. You…uh…got some military gear here too I see. That truck over there."
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Oh nothing, but that brings about the question of where are the guardsmen…heh yeah they tried to tell us what to do too. Didn't work out so well. The second amendment says you got the right to pack it after all. Government can't just do what they want."

At this point more people come out of the tent, which in turn makes more people get out of their trucks. You get out too, though you're taking cover behind the door. Your people and the carnies are both starting to eye each other waiting for someone to fire a shot.

"Look let me cut to the chase shorty. I'm assumin' you might know by now what's been happenin' back in town. Besides the government tryin' to pull their shit, there's a bunch of freaks runnin' around tryin' to eat people. A bunch of them attacked us last night and while we fought them off, some of us got badly hurt and are in need of medical supplies. Now of course we did try goin' into town first, but was just too fucked up there an' we didn't make much head way what with the freaks AND the guard all over the damn place. Then it occurred to me today that your circus might still be around and the National Guard probably would've been here as well so we decided to investigate. Now the group of weekend warriors at the trailer park had shit for medical supplies. So I'm hoping your detachment had more in that department."
"We ain't got anything! Just go away or we'll open fire!" the midget clown says.

Mel isn't convinced and in any case he has no intention of backing down now.

"Now you might get a few of us, but I'm bettin, most of us are better shots than y'all, so if you give us what medicine supplies you do have we'll leave here in peace, if not well…"

While Mel is probably doing the best he can in trying to resolve this without a gun battle, but you know how this is going to go down. It's just been that sort of week.

Suddenly someone fires a shot and then another from one side and then it's a full-blown shoot out. (You mainly hide behind the truck, firing every once in a while)

The carnies aren't holding back, but your side does indeed have much better aim and midgets are falling like flies until they all fall back into the big tent again.

After some more shooting which is completely one sided now, Mel calls a halt to it.

"We can fire all day into that big tent, but we can't be sure if we're actually hitting anyone since we ain't got x-ray vision an' I don't want us wastin' anymore ammo. We gotta do something else." Mel says.
"Why don't we just throw grenades at it? We got some from the Guard that was fuckin' with us." Ray asks.
"Because they might have medical supplies in there ya idiot. We start blowin shit up, an it defeats the whole purpose of the trip. I think we need to spread out an creep up then just rush in." Mel says.
"So your solution is to go in there like a SWAT team an' possibly get our asses shot off? Fuck that. I'm blowin' that motherfucker up."

At this point Ray and a couple others look and nod at each other and start heading towards the big tent with grenades in their hand. Mel tells them to stop, but his orders are ignored and met with a couple of swear laden sentences of being tired of him always telling them what to do.

Mel is visibly angry; though you're surprised he isn't doing more to stop them from disobeying his orders. As much as Mel isn't exactly your favorite person, you'd hate to see this as the first sign of a "change in leadership." Especially if it's going to be Ray.

You let them blow up the tent

Opening fire on anyone other than carnies probably isn't a good idea, at least not on your own. Maybe if Mel gave the order it might be different, but again he surprises you and doesn't do such a thing.

"Ray, you're a goddamn idiot." Mel shouts and just watches as Ray and the two others quicken their pace towards the tent.

All three of them get half way to the tent and then prepare to throw, which they do. Two of the grenades hit the tent, but one manages to roll inside it. Unfortunately for them one of the carnies steps in the tent entrance and throws it back!

"Holy fuck! Run!" is all Ray manages to shout which is then followed by a bit of gunfire from the carnie who threw the grenade. He's hit the leg, but that's not the worst of it since he's not that far from the grenade when he falls to the ground.

Mel, you and everyone else take cover behind the trucks in preparation for the explosions soon to follow, all three of them.

When the smoke clears and everyone slowly looks out from behind their cover.

It's a devastating mess. The big tent is partially gone, though surprisingly still standing. One can see inside most of it now though and there are a lot of bodies…

Speaking of bodies, Ray's is in pieces since he failed to get away from the blast in time. A crater now exists where the grenade fell and Ray's body parts aren't too far from it. The ones who followed Ray faired better and managed to get away from the blast.

"I fuckin' knew something like that was gonna happen. Come on spread out and head towards what's left of that tent. Careful though, they might still have some fight left!" Mel shouts with nobody really mourning the loss of Ray.

You all cautiously proceed forward with weapons raised and taking cover as much as possible. While it's always better to be safe than sorry, there isn't much fight left in any of the survivors who are now a mixture of wounded, dying or just plain scared.

"Please! We surrender! Take whatever you want, just don't kill us!" one of the midgets shouts from amongst the carnage.
"Goddamn right we will be! None of this woulda been necessary had you just given us whatever medical supplies or medicine you had! Now besides this fuckin' big top, is there anyone else lurking around that we should know about?"
"Uh…um…"
"That's not a fuckin' answer!"
"I dunno! I mean yeah, maybe! There might be a few people hidin' in the trailers, just don't kill anyone else, please!"
"Some of you search the rest of this place, but keep an eye out for more carnies! If anyone gives ya too much trouble, you know what to do." Mel shouts.

The remainder of your time is mostly spent looking through what remains of the tent which actually did hold some medical supplies though not many and some of them were obviously destroyed by the grenades.

As their belongings and supplies are looted and they are "herded" into group, the carnies, the carnies make no attempts at resistance and if there were any hiding in the trailers, they must've ran for the wilderness or were really good at hiding, because nobody finds anyone else.

Several make an attempt to beg you to leave something, but these are met with verbal commands to shut up before they suffer further. Another pleads to Mel to think about their own wounded, but this is met with smash to the gut with Mel's rifle. It's the only physical abuse that occurs before they realize they're receiving the only mercy they're currently experiencing.

Your own personal feelings on the current situation is that it's certainly not "right" but what can you do?

After looting the carnival of what useful stuff they have, you leave the demoralized carnies and head back to the trailer park.

"Well that went better than expected, just lost Ray, I'm sure you're really broken up by that." Mel says.
"Crushed. Surprised you didn't shoot him for directly challenging your authority though." You say.
"I was more concerned with the carnies than Ray at that point. Any other time I might've given him a beat down, but I wouldn't have fucking killed him. Sheesh blondie, haven't you learned by now that just because I'm an asshole to everyone, doesn't mean I'm some fuckin' heartless killer? I mean the whole point of this fuckin' endeavor was to get medicine for folks who are bitten. If I was that cold, I woulda just shot 'em like some people wanted me to do. Shit, I didn't even enjoy any of what I had to do to those carnies. I mean I know they had their people to look after, but so did we an' I ain't sorry for it."
"Hm, well I suppose you're right. Guess we're all a little more complex than appearances would seem."
"So, you see us all a little more than stupid trailer park trash now blondie?" Mel asks.
"Actually I've more or less discarded that view since I've been staying here besides I'm hardly in a position to talk seeing as I'm living with you all."
"So K' blondie, we needed someone to fill out the snobby tease role in the community anyway."

You chuckle.

"I'm really not though. I'm just selective about my standards." You say.
"Don't need to justify anything to me. I got a woman." Mel replies.
"The thing is despite it all, so far you lot have been at least been cordial with me as my own family was. Dunno if that's funny or sad."
"Well depends. Stick around long enough blondie an' you might just become part of our family."

You start to outright laugh.

"See, you should fuckin' laugh more around the others. It makes you seem less snooty." Mel replies.

"I guess anything's possible. Doesn't look like I'm going anywhere anytime soon." You remark.

You and Mel continue to converse on the way back to the trailer park. It's mostly about nothing of major importance, but eventually he goes on about how the next step on the agenda is to contact his cousin Clem who apparently owns a farm further past where the carnival was located.

"Figure we're gonna have to do something about our food soon and instead of riskin' killin' ourselves going into the town for whatever scraps are left, it might be best to enlist my cousin's help in that matter." Mel says.
"So you really think order won't be restored by the government?" you ask.
"Pftt, fuck no blondie. Considerin' how the National Guard came in last time, I'd just as soon not want government assholes around anyway. But my guess is things are gonna be fucked up like this for a long time so self-sufficiency is gonna have to be a priority.

Pretty much the assessment you and most others have had. Still, it's a good sign that Mel's at least thinking ahead with the food situation.

Eventually you get back to the trailer park where things appear to be running smoothly. The bitten folks are finally seen to properly. The good news is the bites don't seem to be infectious at least not in the "zombie bite" sense. The bad news is not all of them make it and Billy Ray dies of his wounds, depriving the trailer park of yet another member with "Ray" in their name.

As for other things of importance, mostly everyone who is able is pitching in to help in some way. Still realizing you've got to work with these people now, you volunteer to keep look out near the entrance for the remainder of the day and part of the night (Which is thankfully uneventful) until eventually some guy named Bob tells you that they're taking over the graveyard shift.

Having been relieved of your duties, you return to your trailer, which is starting to feel more comfortable to you. It's no basement, but it's home.

Next day...

SATURDAY


You groggily awaken to the sounds of a bunch of giggling outside, a few bangs on your door and what sounds to be a thumping sound on the side of your trailer.

You look out the window and see a bunch of children playing outside. While you knew there were kids here it was weird that you never really saw them grouped together until today.

Making sure you're decent, you step outside where upon one of the smaller kids suddenly stops bouncing his ball against your trailer.

"See, I told ya that Tina said that pretty blond lady lived here." One of the boys says.
"Why the hell are all you kids doing around my trailer?" you ask.
"Tina said we should come over here where we were out of the way since most of the adults are either workin' on the new barricades or that tank lookin' thing in the field over there." One of the kids says and points in that direction.
"I don't understand what that all has to do with me." You ask.
"Tina said you'd look after us."

At this point you drop your head in defeat. It's too early in the day for this.

"You okay lady?"
"Yeah I'm fine kid. Just re-evaluating what my position is in the community here."
"Um…yeah anyway, I told Tina that we didn't need some baby sitter, but then Mel shouted at all of us so we ran over here, before he got madder."
"Huh, I wasn't scared. I just didn't feel like helping that ol' asshole anyway." A slightly older kid says attempting to puff up his chest.

So you've been assigned to baby-sitting. You aren't sure if that's bad or good. On one hand you're tempted to take it as a good sign since the folks here are obviously trusting enough for you to look after their offspring.

Then again they may just not give a shit and these kids could be little hellraisers that their parents want nothing to do with.

"Hey lady, did you kill any zombies a couple days ago?" one child asks you.
"Tommy, they weren't zombies ya moron! They were just crazy people!" a girl shouts.
"How do you know Jenny?" Tommy asks.
"Cause my mama shot one in the chest and it died! Zombies only die if you hit 'em in the head!"
"Yeah, an' the people who got bit didn't turn into zombies either, not even Billy Ray an' he died!" another kid exclaims.

At this point the children begin arguing about zombies until you interrupt.

"Okay quiet down kids, but to answer your question Tommy, yes I did kill a few of those…well whatever they were." You say.
"Were you scared?! I was scared when they attacked! I hid under my mama's bed!" the kid with the ball admits.

At this point the oldest boy, who was claiming he wasn't afraid of Mel, boldly comes up to you. He looks like he might be thirteen at most

"Hah, I wasn't scared. I even shot one of those things right in the face! Pow! See, I'm not a scared little kid like the rest of them here." The boy says puffing up again and making gun gestures.
"Hmm, I see. Back up boy." You say.
"Why?"
"Because you're invading my personal space." You answer.
"I wanna invade more than that." The boy says laughing at his own innuendo. One of the boys laugh along with him; the Jenny girl rolls her eyes. All the rest of the kids look confused on the matter. Considering you're used to hearing similar from the older knuckle draggers around here, you're hardly surprised to hear it from this snot nosed brat.

"Well, better save that idea for your wet dreams boy, cause that's never going to happen." You remark frankly, which causes Jenny to laugh a bit.
"What are you some sort of dyke like Butchie Billie? Come on I like older women…" the teen says and at this point tries to grab your chest, but you easily grab his wrist.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing you little shit?! Have you lost your fucking mind?" you say and start digging your nails into his flesh.
"OWWW! Lemme go you crazy bitch!" the boy cries and then you twist his arm behind his back.
"That's right I AM a fucking crazy ass bitch! My uncle was a goddamn serial killer, my ex-boyfriend was a cultist, and I killed several of those fucking cannibal freaks without blinking. Now get the fuck outta here before I do worse to your little ass!" you say in his ear and kick him off the steps of your trailer.

The boy goes face first into the dirt and while he quickly picks himself up, he just glares at you and runs away. It's obvious he's going off to cry somewhere.

"Hahahahaha! That was so cool what you did to Alan! Can you teach me to do that?" Jenny asks.
"Was your uncle really a serial killer?" Tommy asks.

Before you can answer a bright flash followed by a loud noise in the distance grabs everyone's attention. A couple of the kids scream about their eyes, fortunately you weren't looking in the direction at the time, but it was still really bright.

You then look to the west and in the far distance you see it. A mushroom cloud.

You're not feeling any tremors or aftershocks, a wave of fire hasn't engulfed you, so you're guessing that it wasn't excessively close, maybe it was even a small one. Still, you can't help but wonder if you're in some sort of deadly radiation radius though. If so there isn't much that can done about it.

"So…they finally went and did it." You say.

Oddly you don't even feel any fear. You're a little anxious you suppose, but the events of this past week have probably helped in putting you in a "doomsday" mindset already.

At this point several of the children huddle together a bit, a few run off to presumably find their parents. A couple of them are visibly crying.

"Are we going to die soon?" Jenny asks.
"Eventually perhaps, but not today." You answer.

At this point you see several women running towards your direction presumably the mothers of these children (oddly you see no fathers, you don't know if that's because they're busy or none of these children have one).

After the various mothers either scream at you for not looking after their child "properly" (Never mind the fact that they should have been doing it) or are actually pleasant and thank you while they calm down their child, you see Tina briskly approaching, she waves at you.

"Hey blondie, we've got an important meeting. Your presence is required." Tina remarks.
"Glad to see I'm being included in these major decisions unlike this morning." You say walking towards Tina.
"Hey, you got to sleep in late and barely had to look after all these brats due to nukes, I'd say you got off easy as far as work is concerned."

As you walk with Tina, you can already hear the shouting from the crowd gathering around Mel's trailer.

"So how bad off are we?" you ask.
"Well if Mel's cousin ends up helping on the food and water front, like Mel thinks he will, I suppose we'll be fine. Just need to travel up to his farm. Mel's thinking we'll probably still have to make another attempt into town though for shit. Might as well give you a heads up blondie, but I think you'll be going on one or the other of these trips today." Tina says.
"Figured as much. Honestly, I think I'd rather do that than be a baby sitter."

With Tina chuckling at your remark, you briefly think about your past life and realize it was just as well you enjoyed your "good girl" basement dwelling years as much as you did. If you'd actually done anything with your life, it would've likely been for naught anyway considering current events.

You sort of wonder what happened to your siblings and even your ex-boyfriend. Are they all dead now? Are they alive? Do you even care at all? Not really, though you're pretty sure that you're going to beat the shit out of Donna if you ever see her again.

You also wonder if you'll ever leave this place eventually since you can't really ever seeing yourself being "one of the crowd" here. Still, you'll have see how things play out.

In any event, this is all stuff for a possible future and you'll worry about it then, right now you have to worry about surviving the day.
Trader of TRASH


The Future…

"So that Bobby guy was really your ex-boyfriend? He was fucking creepy." Jenny remarks as you drive away from the compound.
"Yeah, well being head of a cult will do that I suppose. He wasn't quite as creepy when I met him though. In any case it's good that his sister Diana's not in the picture anymore. I guarantee if she was still alive, this little peace between us and the Cult of Tiamat wouldn't even be possible. Mel should be pleased about that." You say.
"Yeah, we even got some good stuff from them. I'm surprised he gave us as much clean water as he did….you think he still likes you?"

You laugh.

"No, I'm fairly sure Tiamat is the only love of his life, with his sister Helen trailing behind, though maybe he did remember the good times we had together and decided to be generous with the supplies…or maybe this is all a trick and he actually poisoned the water with something hoping it'll kill everyone."
"Oh shit! I didn't even think about that! You think so?!" Jenny remarks.
"Nah, I'm just joking. I mean I suppose it IS possible, but that's not the cult's style. Besides, if Bobby DID do that, he most likely would've secretly warned me so I don't drink it at least."
"So you think it's safe?"
"I dunno. Doesn't matter anyway since I'm going to go trade it to New Security for their fizzy soda. Can't get that anywhere else and it's not like we need anymore water, we currently have a good supply."
"See that's why I like coming on these runs with you. It's more interesting than just staying home listening to people argue all the time." Jenny remarks.
"Hm, trust me if I could, I'd rather stay home all the time, but unfortunately that's not the way the world currently works that allows me to relive the days of my more carefree youth." You say.

At this point Jenny asks you again about your "former life" but like you always tell her, there isn't much to it. You didn't do much, but you get the impression she's just fascinated by the fact that you went from your humble beginning to what you currently do now along with all your survival skills you've acquired. Maybe it's a bit inspiring for her, you don't know. Though sometimes when you think about it, it is a little impressive.

"Hey you ever think about revisiting your old house just out of curiosity?" Jenny asks.
"Actually when all the crazy shit in town died down and there weren't crazy cannibals running around everywhere, I did. I sort of made a detour there during one of my solo runs."
"Really? I never heard about that."
"Why would you? I never told anyone about it before. Anyway, I sort of went there partially out of curiosity, but also because my brother Ben built an underground shelter in the backyard of the place. Probably nothing the scale of one of those Ground Zero shelters like they used to annoyingly run ads for in the old days though."
"Yes, but didn't you tell me your brother killed himself?"
"Yeah, but knowing him, he probably still had that thing well stocked, so I figured it was worth a shot to look for. Unfortunately I looked and looked and looked in that backyard for hours and I couldn't find the fucking entrance. I don't know how the hell he moved it around and hid it like he did, but he did and like I said, I couldn't find it. Who knows? Maybe it's completely collapsed now anyway."
"So nobody was squatting in your house?"
"Not that I could tell. There were a couple times where I felt like someone else was there, but nobody ever showed up. While there were some signs of natural decay and some things had obviously been looted everything else was mostly intact. My own room was completely vandalized though. I mean it looked like someone even tried to set the place on fire and there was some graffiti with the usual vulgarity on the walls. Sort of weird really and I didn't stick around too long there. Guess it's like they say, you can't go home again."
"Well you have a new home anyway." Jenny remarks.
"Eh, I have a place to put my stuff and sleep, but I dunno if I'll ever feel at home at the trailer park. I mean I get along better with everyone there now than I did, but I still just don't fit in. The further I travel on these trading runs, I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't just strike out on my own. I certainly have horded enough shit to be a travelling trader if I wanted to."

Jenny at this point gives you a concerned look.

"But you wouldn't just suddenly leave like that would you?"

You look back at Jenny and you think about telling her that you don't really have much attachment to where you live. It's not even your long lost basement that you once loved so much. You also think about telling her you have even less attachment to most of the people who live there. Sure some of them are okay, and some you even get along better with than you did with your own family, but it's not enough to keep you around.

But then you think, maybe that isn't entirely true.

Jenny is about the same age you were when Donna just suddenly abandoned you. You remember when that happened you were a bit numb. Some of it wasn't surprising, but nevertheless you did feel a great sense of betrayal due to believing you were building a new and stronger relationship with her at that time. You got over it pretty quickly mainly because there were so many other fires to put out at the time, but you didn't ever forget.

Whatever happened to Donna you suppose you'll never know. Maybe she died, maybe she's living well. Who knows?

What you do know is over the years Jenny has sort of followed you around mainly due to her own mother basically not giving a shit about her and then later dying in an explosion due to Dan's failed attempt to create a new "meth lab."

You suppose she probably believes the pair of you have a bond too. Probably a bit more of misguided "hero worship" on her part and her ties to you are probably stronger than yours to her, but you aren't going to do what Donna did to you.

"Nah, I just think about it sometimes that's all. I'm a bit too old to go traipsing across the nuclear wasteland, sleeping in a truck and worrying about fuel and the like on an everyday basis. However, if I ever do decide to leave, I'll be sure to let you know." You say.
"So I could come with you?"
"Yeah I suppose it would help to have someone watching my back if I was going to do it."
"I think that would be great adventure! And I don't think you're too old. If my mom was still alive you'd only be like a couple years younger than her. In fact sometimes I think of you as my…"

You tense up. You don't want to hear that…

"Stop. Just stop right there Jenny. Don't even finish that sentence. I am NOT your mom." You say with a stern look.
"I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say I sometimes think of you as my big sister that I never had." Jenny remarks.

You cease being tense.

"Oh. Well…okay. Yeah. I suppose that's okay. I guess in some ways you're like the younger sister I never had." You respond with a smile.
"But you did have a younger sister."
"Yeah and she was a slutty and ultimately selfish cunt. Like I said, you're the younger sister I NEVER had."

With a couple of minor chuckles from you and Jenny about this comment, the pair of you begin speaking about various things as you drive to your next destination.

You never imagined you'd wind up as a trader/scavenger for a trailer park community, but in the scheme of things it's not that bad of a life in this new harsh world.