We'll Fall Together (Austin Carlile)
Chapter one
The air was cool as a breeze flew by the young woman, her blonde hair being blown in her face. She didn't think anything of it as she continued trudging through the thick brush of the forest. She let out a sigh as she looked up, the sun peaking through the continuous layers of tree branches, the light cascading down and the heat from the sun warming her chilled face. Days like these were what she lived for; getting away from the problems that seemed to overwhelm her, and forgetting about the stupid little things.
But all those stupid little things flooded back into her mind as the all-too-familiar ring of her phone began to echo through the woods.
"Why didn't I just leave my phone at home?" Sadie asked herself as she pulled it out of her pocket. She looked at the screen to see who was calling.
Austin.
Why was he calling her? They have barely talked these passed few months. She almost swore Austin wanted nothing to do with her. Maybe she was wrong?
"Hello..?" She said, bringing the phone up to her ear.
"Sadie!" Austin almost yelled. "Thank God you're okay."
"What?"
"The city.. there's riots.. and people are going fucking insane. There's SWAT teams and - holy shit! The National Guard just showed up," Austin told Sadie. "Shit is going down."
"Is that why you're calling me?" Sadie questioned. "To tell me this?"
"No - well, yes," he began. "I wanted to know you were safe. You weren't at home, so I went down town to your work and you weren't there either."
"Wait.." Sadie said, confused. "You wanted to know I was safe?"
"Well, yeah," Austin replied. His end of the line went silent and all Sadie could hear was the muffled commotion of whatever the hell was going on down town. "So where are you?"
"On my way back home, I guess," Sadie asked, now walking back to her house.
"Okay, good," Austin said. "Pack your things, I'm coming to get you."
"Why?"
"Because it isn't safe!" Austin almost yelled again. "I have no fucking idea what is happening out here, but it's not safe. I don't want you exposed to this."
"What's even happening?" Sadie asked, still making her way through the brush. How the hell did she have service out here?
"People are being shot and killed. Police are beating people. The National Guard is downtown and they're shooting up the place. I almost didn't get out of there," Austin told Sadie. "I saw a man take a bite out of an officer. Like, he pulled him down and bit his fucking throat. For a second I almost thought he was a zombie.. maybe he's just on drugs."
"Maybe it was a zombie," Sadie said sarcastically. "You know how all of those Jesus freaks have been saying the end is near."
"How are you so calm about this?" Austin questioned, his tone of voice telling Sadie it obviously frustrated him.
"I don't know," she replied, stepping over a fallen tree. "But I'm sure if you're not bullshitting me, I'll be scared out of my mind once I see what the hell you're talking about."
"I'm at your place," Austin said. Sadie could hear Austin opening his car door and slamming it shut as he stepped out. "Where are you?"
"I'm almost there," Sadie told him. She could see her small house through the trees. Austin's car was parked in her driveway, and she could see his tall figure pacing back and forth on the concrete. "Calm down before you wear holes in your shoes."
"Wha - Sadie!" Austin shouted, noticing the blonde peaking her head out of the forest. He brought his phone away from his ear and rushed over to her. He pulled her into a hug, not giving her a chance to respond.
"So about the whole shit is going down thing.." Sadie spoke up after about thirty seconds of silent, seemingly-awkward (on her part, anyway) hugging.
Austin jolted back, giving Sadie an apologetic look. "Sorry.. just haven't seen you in a while."
"It's fine," Sadie brushed it off. "So.."
"Right.. so, like I told you, it isn't safe whatsoever," he started. "I got ahold of Alan and we're planning on getting everyone down to the cabin in Riverside." The two began walking to Sadie's house. "It's safe, away from society. We can stay there until everything dies down and goes back to normal."
"What makes you think I wanna go there with you guys?" Sadie asked, unlocking her front door and stepping inside.
"Have you seen what's going on out there?" Austin asked Sadie as he followed her inside. "It's dangerous, and if you stay here all that chaos will reach your part of town."
Sadie turned on the small television in her kitchen and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge, not really believing what Austin was telling her.
"It'll die down within the next few days. Riots only happen in cities, they never stray into the outskirts of town," Sadie said taking a sip of her water. "Meaning I'm safe here."
"Breaking news!" A news anchor said. "Riots have broke out in downtown Los Angeles. Police say over forty civilians have been gunned down. At least nine buildings have been set on fire, and rioters have destroyed multiple police cruisers." A video of a group of people pushing over a police car came up on the screen. But something else caught Sadie's eye. She grabbed the remote and pressed pause. She stepped closer to the small screen and noticed a man on the ground, while another hovered over him.
"What is it?" Austin asked, confused.
"He's.." Sadie trailed off. She looked more closely at the screen. "He's eating him." The blonde turned around and faced Austin. "Is that what you saw?"
"I didn't see the officer being eaten, all I saw was the man bite his neck," he answered. "I drove off before I could see anything else."
"This is crazy.." Sadie said in disbelief. "Does that mean... like, if he was eating him.. does that mean he's like.. a zombie?"
"I wasn't bullshitting you," Austin told Sadie. "So will you come with me?"
"I.."
"Sadie.. please?" Austin asked. "I'll - it will keep you safe."
Sadie sighed once again. "Fine."
Austin let out a breath of relief. "Thank you," he said. "Wanna go pack?"
"Yeah.." Sadie nodded, still dumbfounded. She began to head for her bedroom when the sound of police sirens stopped her in her tracks. Austin pushed passed her and looked through the window facing the street outside of her house. Sadie could see nearly a dozen police cars racing down the normally quiet road.
"They must be sending cops from out of town," Austin observed. He turned around and looked at Sadie. "That's telling us we need to hurry up and get out of here."
Sadie nodded. "Right." She then jogged into her bedroom and began packing clothes and other essentials. It didn't take long before she emerged into the living room with a full suitcase.
"You ready?" Austin asked, eyeing the suitcase Sadie dragged out.
"Yeah, I think so," she replied. "Wait!" Sadie went back into her bedroom and crouched down next to her bed, pulling out a safe. Austin had followed her into the room and watched her as she set the safe on her bed and quickly unlocked it. Inside held a M1991 pistol, followed by two boxes of ammunition and some important documents. She didn't think of the papers and went for the pistol and the bullets, and set them next to the safe. She closed the safe and slid it back underneath her bed.
"Now I'm ready," Sadie said.
"When did you get a gun?" Austin questioned, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. Throughout the many years he had known Sadie, Austin never once thought she'd own a gun.
"Doesn't hurt to have protection," Sadie shrugged, now walking back into the living room.
"Do you even know how to use it?" Austin asked from behind Sadie.
"Of course I know how to use it!"
Austin almost laughed. "Okay, okay. Sorry."
"It's fine." Sadie shrugged, unzipping her suitcase and placing the gun and ammunition inside it. "Should I pack food?"
"Already done," Austin replied, pointing towards the paper bags full of all the canned food that Sadie's now empty cupboards once held.
"So you just go through my cupboards without asking?" Sadie asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I knew you'd suggest it," Austin said with a smirk. "Plus, who knows how long we'll be stuck up there. The guys will be thankful you brought this stuff."
"Yeah, yeah," Sadie muttered. "Let's get everything in the car."
It took a few minutes, but the pair eventually got everything packed into the backseat of the car. Once Sadie locked every door and window in her house, the two set off for Riverside.
Notes
Yoyoyoyo! So, I started writing this story back in like August/during the summer, and never got around to actually finishing it. Why, you may ask? I hated it. It was poorly written and made no sense. So, here I am, right back it again. (Sorry I thought it was funny). Anywho, I really, really, really would like for this to actually go somewhere, and not just write a few chapters and delete it.
Comment, vote, subscribe, all that nice stuff. c:
@HeavenlyHeartbeats
thank you! i hope you continue to like it, too (:
12/28/14