CHAPTER TWO,
chupacabra

FUCK YOU, GEORGE romero. She said it every morning like a prayer, but there was no hope or desperation within those words. It was made of frustration and vexation, a rebuking to the man that birthed the undead genre.

Go to hell, George Romero.

It had been a week since the world had gone silent, but that's all it took. A week for society to crumble.

It was a sick joke to Samantha Walsh, a dark comedy that her life has been made into. It had taken humans - a species that had evolved for thousands of years to build up a society obsessed with law and order - only a few days for humanity to succumb to their end and abandon what they spilled blood for so vainly.

It might as well be as pointless as the Vietnam war was.

But in all honestly, the world had been already ending long before; The society humans created; the wars; global warming.

The virus was just the push that triggered the already ticking bomb.

Samantha stuck her head out of the tent, the Georgia sun baking down on her ebony head and she glared.

"Eat shit, George Romero."

Lori was heading her way with Carl and Sophia on her tail, her eyebrows furrowing at the younger Walsh's attitude. Samantha turned to her, and immediately tensed up.

"The kids want to go play near the quarry, but me and Carol are busy with the laundry."

Samantha rose a brow at her. "At twelve I didn't need a babysitter," She stated, before her eyes fell onto her godson and Sophia. Her soft spot for children basically scolded at her, and she sighed. "Just don't get me wet."

The two preteens rejoiced, and Lori sent Samantha a grateful smile, but the brunette didn't feel any towards the mother. In fact, she felt quite the opposite.

It was a no brainer that there was deep, rocky tension between the two, who would've considered one another best friends once.

"Hey! Wait up!"

When Samantha saw Glenn rushing down the hill she felt a genuine smile reach her lips, happy that he wasn't avoiding her anymore. The two adults sat near the quarry as the children played in the water.

A week Samantha kept repeating, disappointed in the human race. A week.

Glenn looked at her with one eyes closed as the late summer sun glared down at her "I'm sorry about what happened." His voice was shaken with guilt, and Samantha frowned.

Resources had started to run out, and Glenn knowing Atlanta like the back of his hand, he led supply groups in and out of the city. It was a dangerous trek, a suicide mission for all those who volunteered, yet Samantha had been the first to do so.

Unfortunately, it had been her last. She had come back unconscious, her lip busted and her head oozing with blood. No matter how hard she racked her head, she couldn't figure out what had happened out there, but whatever did happen it wouldn't save anyone from her brother's wrath.

Shane never had a good temper, and he only had a twig of patience to try and handle it, but when it came to his baby sister, that twig would snap. Glenn had been the one he dug his anger into the most. Ever since, the Korean had been avoiding her like the plague.

Samantha shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I was probably being reckless again, it's not your fault." As much as she changed, that didn't. She was a very impulsive girl at times, but her teenage self was much more hazardous.

"My mama told me that everything is going to turn alright in the end," Sophia chirped happily behind me. "If its not alright, then its not the end."

Carl scoffed. "That's stupid."

"Well, you're mean and stupid."

"Guys-"

She cut herself off when she noticed the yellowish purple bruising flawing Sophia's arm, a cold reminder of what kind of a person her father is. Everyone knew this, but nobody does anything to put a stop to it, and it pissed Samantha off to the point where she was close to doing it herself.

Shane knew her utter hatred for men like Ed, he could see it on the anger that red her face and the burning in her eyes, which is why he made Samantha promise to not do anything.

"I don't want you to get involved," He said to her, and noticing her look he quickly added, "I know you can fight, but Ed doesn't do it fairly."

And she had promised. Promises were sacred between the two siblings, it keeping their strong bond intertwined with one another.

"What?" Carl asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he and Sophia stared at her.

She cleared her throat, forcing a grin.

"Y'know, there's some frogs around here somewhere. Maybe Shane could take you frog catching."

His small face lit up with excitement. Her grin turned into a genuine smile, her love for her godson obvious to Glenn.

"Really?"

"Of course, but I'm definetly not joining." She stuck out her tongue, and Sophia giggled, saying, "Frogs are gross." With a gag.

"You guys are such girls." Carl chuckled.

The two begin to splash water against one another, and Samantha turned back to Glenn to see he was already staring at her with a knowing look in his brown eyes.

"That was a nice save." He said, gesturing towards Sophia.

Samantha's face dropped, rubbing her head. "I can see it in her eyes, Glenn. No child is supposed to have that much pain in their eyes."

The Korean nodded, understanding. "I know, and I would gladly watch you beat Ed's ass, but he's a very violent person."

Samantha scoffed loudly. "Clearly he hasn't met me yet." She declared, and Glenn chuckled.

Sophia suddenly squealed. "Sammy! Look!"

Samantha pushed herself from the ground and stepped closer to the water, following Sophia's finger. But before she could ask what she was looking for, both Carl and Sophia grabbed her by her forearms and pulled her into the crystal water.

Samantha yelped, water filling up her nostrils and blue taking over her vision. She resurfaced, her hair clinging to her face but she was able to make out Sophia, Carl, and even Glenn doubling over with laughter.

The brunette bit back her grin. "Very funny." She rolled her eyes, splashing water at them. The children squealed and ducked away as she stood up, stepping out of the water.

Glenn's face was beet red as laughter fell from his lips.

"This was your evil plan all along, Glenny?" Samantha asked, her hands on her hips, but before Glenn could answer, his face suddenly twisted into confusion.

"Did you hear that?"

Samantha looked at him, opening her mouth to speak but he quickly shushed her. After a few moments of listening, that's when she heard it - a engine roaring to life. She would've chalked it up to someone in the camp, but she heard motorcycle and that's when she knew that these sounds didn't belong to any vehicles in camp.

The kids stepped out of the water, having heard the same sounds too. "Are those more people?" Sophia wondered.

"Shane is gonna be pissed."

Samantha's greens flashed to Carl's blues with a scowl. "Don't say that."

Carl stared at her stubbornly. "But you say it." He argued.

She ruffled his brown hair. "Once you hit the digits with teen in it, the whole vocabulary is yours," She glanced at Glenn, and he nodded. "Cmon, stay close."

The walk of the hill was suspenseful, not knowing who or what was going on, but as they edged closer, they heard loud voices that turned into shouts. There was a mixture of voices, some Samantha could distinguish and others she couldn't. Her hand fell to her waistband but she couldn't feel her gun, and that's when she realized she left it at camp.

But being the smart gal she was, she always had a concealed dagger in her boots, just in case there was an emergency. She was hoping this wasn't an emergency however. She just wanted to worry about the dead and not the living.

As the four edged closer they saw the men holding up their weapons, their shouts clear now.

Nathan was the first she heard, his voice a bark. "Just leave, we have too many mouths to feed as it is!"

"Give me a reason." Shane sneered, cocking his shotgun.

"And leave this friendly little commune? Nah, we wanna join the party."

Her eyes drifted to the two strangers that barged into their quiet camp. There was an older looking man dressed like the typical hillbilly that her brother would lock up, his face rough and showing signs that life had been hard on him. Next to him was a man looking a little bit younger, having sandy brown hair, an attractive yet tired face, and stubble around his mouth. His crossbow was raised, aimed right at her brother.

The older one found Samantha quickly.

"Well ain't ya a pretty thing, huh?" The older one breathed, his pale eyes roaming up and down her body. "Ya all wet for ol' Merle?"

Anger boiled her veins and was quickly met up with a feeling of repulsion. She stepped forward, ready to give him a piece of her temper but she caught her brother's urging stare. Samantha sent him a glare and hid behind Shane, who's shoulders had gone tense at the redneck's inappropriateness.

"Merle, man, shut up!" The younger one snapped, and Merle held his hands up his mock surrender. "We just need a place to camp out. Ain't gotta be all shitty about it."

"Oh, hell no," Andrea voiced. "Its more mouths to feed."

"She's right." T-Dog agreed, staring at the two strangers in pity. She glanced at him in shock. He was never the one to leave survivors to rot, always the one to bring them back.

"We can always steal from you folks, but we tryin' to be kind." Merle said, a crooked smirk appearing on his features.

Nathan cocked his gun and raised it. "Is that a threat?" He challenged.

Merle's crooked smirk somehow grew wider. "Nah, I'm just educatin' ya of a possibility." He quipped.

Shane wasn't putting up with it. "Listen here, pal-"

"Who are you anyway, the leader?"

"Deputy Shane Walsh."

Merle snorted loudly. "Deputy?" He turned to the other man with an expression that loudly read can-you-believe-this before turning back. "Well, Shane, ya ain't gotta be deputy dipshit about it."

Samantha's eyes trailed to the one beside him. From his dirty shoes, to his dirty clothes, and then to the crossbow, she could faintly notice they arrows attached to the weapon, this causing something to click in her brain.

"Shane, it's okay," Her voice made Shane freeze, and he turned to look at her in disbelief.

"Sammy..." His voice was low, saying stay out of this.

Stubbornness was Samantha Walsh. "No, these guys are hunters, dumbass," She argued, gesturing towards their weapons. "Whether you like it or not, we need them."

Glenn stepped forward. "She's right," He agreed. "If we put our resources together, we don't have to worry that much about food."

"Ain't Chinese people supposed to be smart? We ain't gonna-"

"Merle, shut up!" His partner snapped. Samantha was fuming at his downright ignorance.

Hesitation and conflict clouded her brother's eyes, but he still didn't protest against it. Dale came forward, surveying the two rednecks before he gave them a smile. The two didn't return it. "You two can get your stuff settled and find a spot. We can talk resources later." He said kindly, yet his nature obviously wasn't appreciated by the strangers.

She could tell just by their demeanor (or maybe just their attitude) that they appeared to be outcasts, lone wolves that didn't follow the pack. "If you fellas want to set up camp away from everyone, you can." She added.

Everyone soon lost interest and went back to what they were doing previous. Shane turned towards her with his shotgun to his side.

"You sure that was a good idea?" He asked her, glancing at the two men with clear dislike on his face.

Samantha nodded. "Rednecks know how to survive." She stated with a shrug.

Shane stepped closer to her, bringing his voice to a whisper. "I don't like the way he was lookin' at you, so if he gives you trouble-"

"I know how to take care of myself, deputy dipshit." She interjected, her chuckles infecting Shane as he begun to chuckle too.

Shane brought his hand up and ruffled her hair, and she shoved his hand off before she watched him walk away. Deputy dipshit, I should use that more often.

"Not just a pretty face, huh?" The drawl of a southern accent said from behind her, and she turned, her smile dropping at the sight of Merle's crooked smirk.

"Hm, it's as if I have a brain too." She quipped sarcastically, placing her hands on her hips and Merle sniggered.

"He ya boyfriend?" He questioned, gesturing towards Shane.

Immediate disgust pinned her face. "My brother." She corrected, restraining a gag.

"So, deputy princess?" His smirk widened, and she felt annoyance flutter at the nickname. "I got a brother too. Daryl. He's the ugly one that came with me."

Samantha's eyes trailed to the second stranger, noticing the similar features that the two shared and the same, pale blue eyes.

"Are you sure you aren't the ugly one?" Samantha retorted, tearing her eyes away from Daryl and letting them rest back on Merle.

"Damn, you goin' sweet on ma brother," He stepped closer to her, his eyes trailing her up and down. "I thought we had somethin'."

Samantha took a step back. "We've barely spoken for five minutes," She said, her stomach churning in disgust. "If you think that's going to get me to open my legs, you got the wrong idea - do you even know my name?"

"Don't matter if you're gonna be screamin' mine." He said, his flirtatious smirk still remaining strong.

Samantha laughed in disbelief. "How about this," He can't be that stupid. "Once hell freezes over, I'll happily screw you."

She turned on her heel to walk away, but not before hearing Merle's booming laughter and his final words,

"Guess I'll wait till winter!"

━━━━━

The moon replaced the sun and the stars took the spots of the clouds, shining down upon the adults that stayed after the children went to sleep. They told stories of times that seemed simpler, happy, ancient - despite it only happening not that long ago.

"- And after he gave her the gun, that's when I realized that if this doesn't get better, people are going to start giving up," Glenn's tale was traveling through all the intent wars of the survivors near the campfire. "I left that group after that, moving onto Atlanta."

Everyone was silent, eating up his story and processing the details and swallow it whole. Samantha's head fell in respects for those that lost their lives in Macon, or those who have lost their lives in this hell altogether. Everyone that has suffered from this cruel twist on life also suffered from the same tragedy, it would be selfish to think that they didn't.

"Shit." T-Dog cursed, finally digesting Glenn's story.

Nathan reached forward and patted the Korean's shoulders. "I'm the happy part of this story."

Amy let out a girlish giggle, staring up at Nathan with obvious heart eyes. It didn't take rocket science to figure out something was going on between them. Samantha thought they were cute, but knowing her best friend he was probably using her.

Morales was hugging his wife closely. "That was depressing," He remarked, looking across the fire. "What about you, Jim, anything interesting?"

"Mechanic." He murmured, the tip of his hat concealing his eyes.

Nathan chuckled. "What a wild life you had there, Jimbo."

Amy giggled.

A mischievous grin curved Samantha's lips. "Not as wild as the time Nate got punched by a bouncer." She announced.

Nathan sent her a look. "We don't have to talk about that." He tried to wave it off, but everyone's attention was pulled.

"I gotta hear this!" T-Dog laughed.

Everyone's attention was on Samantha now with eagerness. "Back in high school, me and Nate were a rebellious bunch," She began, the large irremovable grin hurting her cheeks. "We gotten bored with teenage parties, so we wanted to take things a bit further. We made fake IDs and got into a club in the city."

"During high school I stayed home watching Disney..." Glenn sighed loudly.

"Nate was a bit of a Casanova back then, which I never could quite understand why, but as soon as he walked in girls were all over him. It was so disgusting,"

Nathan was unable to hide his sheepish grin, his pale cheeks dusted with rosiness.

"He was insanely drunk, and the dancing didn't help either, so Nate barfed all over the girls,"

Everyone gagged and moaned, laughter mixing in. Her best friend covered his face, embarrassment flooding in.

"Dude, you lost the game!" Morales teased.

"That was a 60$ leather jacket." Nathan mumbled into his hands.

"That's not all!" She added loudly. There was a long paused so she continued, "The girls caused a scene, so when this bouncer with a beard came to escort us out, Nate shouted, 'Hagrid, you're real!'. That is the day Nate got his first broken nose."

The group thundered with laughter. Nathan came from hiding, small chuckles slipping from his lips. Samantha was smiling in bliss, finding it a miracle that they could find moments like these especially in a world like this.

Shane was gazing at her. "You made fake IDs?" Shane asked, a look of recollection on his face, as if she had just reminded him of something nostalgic.

Dale shook his head with a smile. "Millennials." He complained.

"It isn't just us millennials," Samantha corrected, wiggling her eyebrows. "Shane slept with my track team coach when he was younger," She turned to look at him. "How old were you then, big brother?"

Glenn spluttered, choking on his water. "What?" He gawked.

"Was she fine?" T-Dog asked, Jacqui hitting his chest in disapproval.

With Shane's ears becoming pink with embarrassment, Samantha felt a sense of victory. It was payback for having to deal with her coach for four of the most awkward years of her life.

Sadly, her small victory came to an abrupt close when Merle decided to include himself. His appearance made everyone's joy falter and dwindle.

Merle was laughing. "That was a pussy story." He claimed.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "You got a better one?" He asked, glaring into the fire.

"Nah, pretty boy, but ma brother does," He glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, Darlina, hows 'bout you tell them a little somethin'!"

From the light cast by the fire, Samantha could see that his back was rested against the tree behind him, one arm holding his crossbow and the other holding a cigarette between his fingers. She could faintly smell the smoke poisoning the air from there and she held back a cough, her disgust and hatred for those things never ceasing. Daryl's head slightly moved to look at them, barely acknowledging their existence. "Hm?"

"Yer chupacabra." The way he said it made Samantha wonder if he was mocking his brother. The younger Dixon's attention was now pulled, his eyes squinted at Merle, as if he were upset that he had mentioned it.

"The chupa-what?" Amy wondered.

"Ma baby brother claims he saw one out in 'em woods while huntin'." Merle continued, a large smirk plastered on his rough features.

"Oh my, god," Nathan laughed like he had just registered what was being said. "You thought you saw a blood suckin' dog?"

Daryl scoffed. "Ain't gonna tell it if you're gonna judge it."

Samantha scanned the survivors, then back at Daryl. "Well, I wanna know." She had come out a bit too eager, the redneck glancing at her with a strange look.

He shrugged. "I was squirrel huntin' and saw one." Daryl summarized it, taking a drag from his cigarette. Samantha felt a little disappointed that he didn't include details.

"Probably had a sniff of some of ma goods that day." Merle snorted.

"I saw one." Daryl snapped through his glare.

"I mean, it could be true," Morales agreed. "We all thought the dead wouldn't come back, yet here we are."

"So, you're saying aliens exist now?" Andrea asked, sarcasm lacing her words.

"Well, actually-"

"Shut up, Glenn." He unfortunetly was cut off.

The night continued on, but as laughter died out and people went to sleep, Samantha was left alone with her thoughts as she snuggled into her cot. Her brother was taking watch, so she didn't have anyone to confide in about about thoughts - and maybe because of that, those dark thoughts manifested into her nightmares.

words ; 3514
edited ; ✔️