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celestiawritess · 3 days ago

Text

Trust

Synopsis ✧ It’s the end of the world. Or better yet, it has been for the past three years. You’ve survived perfectly fine on your own, moving from place to place without much trouble. Until you meet a man who’s got an issue with sharing and an ego bigger than the sun- who happens to be travelling to the same place as you.

Warnings ✧ Rafe Cameron’s ego, lots of death, zombies, gore, violence, mentions of SA, protective Rafe, slow burn, eventual smut.

Word count ✧ 4.3k

Next chapter ➜

When the world had ended, you’d had thought that the brutality of it was awful. People who once looked at others as friends, family, acquaintances- turned on one another, unable to trust. As much of the population succumbed to an illness that the governments claimed was under control- the rest of the world focused on survival.

Eventually the governments fell silent, unable to control what they claimed they could- and the world fell with them. Until the dead began walking again.

You’d been locked in your family’s home, sat on the sofa with your sister and mother, both of them crying and in complete fear as to what to do next- your father in the other room with the illness that had claimed many. That was a day you’d never forget, as the tv began to play safety alerts for those who were still alive- and your father stumbled out of the bedroom.

Except it wasn’t your father. It was what was left of his body, but it was not your father. It was not your father when he ripped into the side of your mother’s throat, her blood spraying over her cream sofa that she loved to keep clean. It was not your father when your mother’s body slumped to the floor, your sister clambering ontop of her, screaming at your father. It was not your father- eyes wide, hands gripping the edge of the sofa as the thing reached for your sister too- and she tried to fight. It was not your father when you finally snapped out of it and reached the stairs, pounding up into your room and shutting the door.

They weren’t your family as you cried softy to yourself in your room, a soft groan and pounding against your door which kept you situated for days.

They were not your family as you climbed out of the window of your bedroom, too afraid to face what they had become.

You sigh, shaking the thoughts from your brain as you listen to the birds chirping through the night. The pistol that you’ve learned to use weighs heavy on your thigh, can of cold beans doing no justice to your empty stomach. The rooftop that you’re perched on gives you a perfect view of the walkers down below, snarling and stumbling after the nice and rats scrambling about the city below.

You wonder to yourself how you’ve made it into this situation, stuck. You hated that word, hated admitting defeat. It’s not like you could rely on anyone else to save you- phone a friend if you must. There is no one else. As far as you know. The last group of people you’d met- you’d been a naive, scared young woman and they’d given you the opportunity to change that.

That was a while ago now. The apocalypse had been here for three years, and any promises of this being over seemed less and less likely. You’d stopped believing in a cure when walkers tore your first group apart. You’d not bothered with people since then.

You’d seen the awful, inhumane ways people had resorted to. It made you feel sick, people turning on other people- fighting, killing, for space, and resources.

You’d have no part in it. You moved silently, in the shadows, keeping to yourself until you got to where you wanted to. You had a plan, one that you were sure would work. You open your bag, which is laid against the wall next to you, grabbing your notebook.

Inside it’s got your map, of which you’ve been loosely tracking where you’d traveled, a big star marking where you’re trying to get to. The outbreak had begun in Florida, almost immediately wiping the population out there and not giving those who were still alive time to get out before the dead began walking again. You were hoping to avoid Florida.

Any of the other states that bordered on the ocean would do you fine. So far, you’d travelled from Wisconsin down to Illinois, on the border of Kentucky. At this rate, you’d hoped to aim for North Carolina, or south- each of the states known for extensive sea access and boats. You’d take one and sail off onto the water, where you’d never have to worry about walkers again. Or people, rarely.

You sigh, drawing the line from where you were yesterday to where you are today. You’d come across a hoard of walkers just before sunset, and not having the arsenal to take it on- nor being stupid enough to try, you’d had to divert.

You finish your can of beans, placing it and the spoon on the wall and looking back down at the city. The walkers like to come out more at night time, you’ve found. It’s a long while until sunrise, the winter months making the nights longer and the days shorter. Nature was against you.

Somewhere in the distance of the city, gunshots ring out. They’re far enough away for you not to worry for now, but close enough to put you off from sleep. Your eyes strain to look as far down the street as possible and you’re sure you see something weaving in between the hoards of zombies- almost looking like a human.

There’s no way someone would survive that, though. It’s a death wish. You reach down for your rifle, leaning down on two knees to get the scope set up on the wall and look where you think you’ve just seen someone.

It’s mostly walkers. There’s a few gaps where they aren’t but for the most part they take up the entire width of the street, making it impossible for anyone to get through without being torn to shreds.

Until you see it again. It’s a flash, a whip which makes you readjust your scope on the wall, scraping your fingers against the rough brick as you try to find whatever is flashing inbetween the groups of walkers. Could it be the same person who fired off the gunshots?

You’re not sticking around to find out. You scoff, leaning your rifle against the wall and you roll up your sleeping bag in no time, attaching it to the clasps at the bottom of your bag. You reach up for your spoon, knocking the can of beans off the wall and listening as it clambers to the floor of the alleyway down below. The snarls tell you that the walkers are alert now.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you curse, shoving your spoon in the side pocket and reaching for the strap, slinging it over your shoulder. You reach for your handgun, shoving it in the waistband of your pants and then your rifle, slinging it over your shoulder before rushing over to the wall at the other side of the building.

It’s a good eight stories to the floor below, yet you think someone must have lived here before, on this rooftop, because the fire escape had been blocked off, a plank of wood stretching across the gap to the next building. Your ears strain as you can hear someone trying the rooftop door, small growls slipping out of the gap. The lock was busted, but that didn’t stop you from propping an old wooden pallet in front of the door for occasions exactly like this. You’d watched, observed the walkers. They retained some of their skills from their past life, you thought- like being able to open door handles, or listen out for noises and eventually figure out where the noise had come from.

You click your tongue, head tilting to the side as you hop up onto the wall, wood already creaking beneath your feet. The growls intensify behind the door and you’re sure you hear the scraping of the wooden pallet, deciding it’s now or never to cross the wooden bridge.

You’re halfway across the two buildings when the pallet gives way, shuffling feet sounding out on the rooftop as you hop down the wall on the other side of the wood. You spin, seeing at least ten walkers all following each other on the rooftop as they try to sniff you out. You push the wooden bridge, letting it fall of the wall and slip in between the two buildings and clatter to the floor below.

The walkers turn and growl as the slump towards you, stopping at the obvious gap between them and their next meal. You roll your eyes. Maybe they’re not as smart afterall.

By the time the sun rises, you’re struggling to keep your eyes open, the city behind you now. It was in your best interest to not stay there anymore- cities are never a good idea anyway. The main road that you’ve been walking along to get out of the city is littered with walkers, but not too many to the point that you can’t deal.

You decide to find somewhere to sleep, somewhere quieter along the back roads that will keep you a bit safer. You couldn’t travel much today without the promise of sleep. Along the road, to the left, there’s a little diner that looks fairly looted. It’s to be expected, so close to the city.

Still, you decide to take a look, on the off chance that some looters are picky and have left you some bits. The door sways slightly in the breeze- or what’s left of it, metal bent and shards of glass all over the step. The glass crunches under your boots as you slide through the gap in the door, hand gripping your pistol in your waistband.

The inside of the diner is exactly how you expect it to look. Everything is all over the place, tables turned and windows smashed. The glass still crunches underneath your feet, remnants of salt shakers and ketchup bottles kicked to the side as you make your way around the counter.

There’s a picture on the wall that catches your eye, surprisingly untouched despite the rest of the wreckage in the little establishment. It’s a picture of an old woman and man smiling together outside what looks to be the diner- freshly opened. Back when the world was normal.

Moving past it, you swing round the corner into the kitchen, all the cupboards and fridges swung open, any signs of food here long gone. You sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose when you hear a noise. Crunching glass.

Someone, or something was in here with you. Your hand immediately snaps back to the gun in your waistband.

“Wouldn’t grab that gun if I were you,” the voice is rough, like it’s the first words they’ve spoken in months. Slowly, you raise your left hand, right tightening on your gun as you think of an action plan.

There’s a door in the back left corner, an island of counters blocking you. It’s not worth the risk, you think- you’ve not seen the person, and you don’t know if they’ve got a gun pointed at the back of your head right now or not.

“Put the other hand up too, now,” your teeth latch onto the inside of your cheek, contemplating the back door escape. “Are you deaf? Now, or I blow your brains out,”

Your fingers unfurl from around the gun, raising your hand slowly. You feel as they begin tugging your rifle away from your shoulder- and you spin. Your elbow flies to their gun, knocking it out of their hand as it clatters to the floor and skids under one of the fridges. Immediately, you reach for your own gun, aiming it at the person.

You’re sure he can see the look of pure disgust on your face. His hands are now the ones raised, covered in blood. To be precise, his entire outfit was covered in blood. Dirty, shiny black blood.

“You’re infected?” You surprise yourself with your own voice. Your grip tightens around your gun as you take a few steps back, gaze never faltering. He shakes his head, pretty quickly, matted hair following in clumps.

You wave your gun down his attire, eyebrow raised. “Got caught in a hoard in the city back there. Had to cover myself to get out,”

The sentence clicks in your head and you remember the night before on the rooftop when you saw something zapping through the hoards. It must have been this guy.

You laugh, breathily, still keeping the gun raised. “Makes sense, I saw you.”

He smirks, dropping his hands to his sides. “Gotta do whatever to survive,” you can practically smell the ego from here, even over the pounds of walker blood.

You scoff. “That include threatening to blow my brains out?”

He clicks his tongue, shuffling his bag on his shoulder. “You were about to find my stash. Friend or foe, it’s mine.” You glance around the picked clean kitchen, noticing finally a piece of drywall that was slightly pulled to the side.

“Well, foe, I’m good. I’ll go find stuff elsewhere.” You move backwards, keeping your gun up, towards the back door. He shuffles forward, but you wave your gun.

“Stay put until I’m gone. Don’t want anymore trouble.”

He nods, and you can tell he wants to say something else but holds his breath as you reach for the door handle. It’s stuck, probably from not being used for so long.

“Why don’t we stick together? Some pretty cool moves you’ve got there,” he says, gesturing to his gun that’s still on the floor. You shake your head, finally unsticking the door handle and swinging the door open. Despite being winter, the Illinois sun beats down on you almost immediately.

“I’m good. I like being on my own.” You don’t let him say anything else as you jump down the back step, slamming the door behind you.

You shove your gun back into the waistband of your pants as you circle wide enough around the building to join back onto that road. Of your map was right, following this road today would take you past some fields and into a smaller town. Smaller meant less, but also meant less chance of being completely picked clean.

It’s quiet, sun high in the sky already- midday. You didn’t have long left until the sun would disappear, and you’d need to find somewhere to hold up again. You can feel the exhaustion seeping through your bones, and your feet ache from the broken soles of your boots. Still, they’d not let you down yet- you couldn’t find the heart to part ways with them until they were truly gone.

It was one of your bad habits. You reach down into your thigh garter, pulling your knife out as a walker snarls and stumbles towards you. It tumbles over its own feet, falling onto you. You lodge your knife into its head, pulling the knife back and pushing the zombie to the floor.

There’s a little house to your left, seemingly picturesque and untouched. It’s in the middle of the fields, and when you glance over your shoulder, the city is like a mirage in the distance. If things would have been normal, this house would have been ideal. Close to the city but far enough away to keep from the city life.

Although the sun is lowering quicker than you would have liked, you decide not to stop. Ideally, you’d like to put as much distance between you and the guy from the diner, presuming he was following you.

Your feet are killing by the time you reach the first part of the small town. There’s a few walkers littered around but nothing to make a fuss over yet, all easily avoidable. You pick the first store you see, an old hairdressers, which looks fairly safe and secure. No smashed windows, boards covering them so no one can see inside. If it had roof access, even better.

The door groans loudly as you open it, under the pressure of being secured shut for so long. The stars are on your side, however, as a glance over your shoulder shows that none of the walkers on the street heard it. Inside is exactly how you expected it to look- dusty.

Everything is pretty intact, aside from the cash register picked clean. It makes you scoff, wondering what the person who took the money is doing now. Money had no means anymore. Not to you at least.

There’s a door at the back of the small salon which you push open, to be met with the tiny fenced in bin yard. There’s a rickety wooden chair placed in one corner, next to a ladder which leads up to the roof of the one story building. The ladder creaks under the weight of you climbing, obviously close to breaking.

You swing one leg over the edge of the roof, seeing an old sleeping bag crumpled up in one corner, remnants of a fire nearby. It’s obvious someone’s not been here for a while, and you ponder what could have happened. It doesn’t stop you from stopping your bag to the floor, groaning as your shoulders free from the extra weight.

You can see the rest of the small town from here, mostly little businesses that you’ve never heard of before and something that you’d hoped for- a mostly intact supermarket. Only the doors looked like they were smashed, the windows also boarded up.

Taking a seat next your bag, you pull out your notebook and mark off your journey from today. The sleepiness seeps through you as you’ve finally stopped moving, reaching to unclip your sleeping bag and roll it out on the roof top.

As you lie down, looking up at the stars, you think about how much you’d kill for a massage right now.

When you wake, it’s dark. There’s etchings of light creeping up on the horizon, which makes you confident that it’s morning. There’s little to no moaning out on the street below, and a look confirms that most of the walkers from yesterday have wandered away somewhere else.

You make quick work of rolling your sleeping bag back up, clipping it into place before gathering your bag and slinging it over your shoulders, along with your rifle. There’s a renewed sense of energy around you as you slide down the ladder, pushing open the bin yard gate and walking down the side of the building to join back into the Main Street.

Most of the buildings along the way to the supermarket hold little to no value to you. They’re full of little trinkets or other items that are practically useless nowadays. The supermarket is littered with walkers, of which all crowd through the smashed doors when you tap the glass. They fall over each other, making it easier for you to pick them off.

Once you’re inside, you’re not so surprised to see almost everything is gone. There’s a putrid smell, and you’re not sure if it’s the brown mush of the refrigerated products left or the pile of corpses in the corner, burned to a crisp. The black soot travels up the wall and onto the ceiling, the tiles crumbling and hanging towards the floor.

There’s a few tinned goods left dotted around, and it makes you wonder if people had been picky when scavenging. It wasn’t really a luxury to pick and choose what you are nowadays, as you shove as many tins into your bag as possible.

Once you’re satisfied, you make a circle round the store, making sure there’s nothing you might have missed. You’re sad to not be able to fit everything into your bag, but the weight, ten times heavier than the previous day, makes you grateful.

It’s raining when you clamber over the walker bodies at the front of the store. You almost do a double take when you see someone stood at the window of the store, greying to look in through the cracks on the boards.

Your hand reaches for your gun, pulling it out of your waistband. The person turns and almost immediately you scoff. It’s the guy from yesterday, albeit a lot cleaner than you had last seen him. He grins when he sees you, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Anything good?” He asks, causally, like you’ve known each other for decades. You roll your eyes, turning away and walking in the other direction. You actually needed to go the way that he was stood, but you simply just didn’t want to pass him.

You can hear his footsteps on the cracked pavement as he jogs to catch up to you.

“Look- hey, I think it’d be good for us to stick together.” His statement makes you turn, throwing him a look that you’re confident could kill.

He raises his hands in defence. “I’m serious. You’re obviously going somewhere important and I’d like to come too.”

“Like I told you yesterday, I’m good. Stop following me.” You brush past him, not walking in the right direction. The sun is now fully on the horizon, casting the town in a soft orange glow.

“Whoa. Firstly, I’m not following you. We just happen to be going in the same direction. Secondly, it’s not safe for you to be alone,” you fight the urge to roll your eyes as you cut down a side street, hoping to find the highway close by quick enough so you could make a straight beeline for the Kentucky border. You’d make it today, if you weren’t being pestered so much.

“I’ve managed perfectly fine on my own, thank you.” His hand wraps around your wrist to stop you from loving and immediately you slam the handle on your gun onto his fingers, causing him to yelp out and let go.

“Okay, there was no need to be like that.” His yelp alerts the attention of some walkers nearby, a fairly sized crown which begins stumbling towards you.

“Great,” you mumble, shoving your gun back in your waistband in favour of your knife. One zombie comes close enough to allow you to shove your knife deep into its eye socket, falling limp and to the floor. The other four come all at once, causing you to stumble backwards as one grasps at your raised hand. You manage to stab it but don’t have time to reel back for the other three- until the persistent guy lurches forward, using his own knife to swipe at two of them. The final one swerves around for you but falls to the floor, giving you the opportunity to bring your boot down onto its head.

You breath out heavily, turning to look at the guy. “Groups bring unwanted attention. I’m good on my own.” You begin walking away again, sheathing your knife back into your holder. You can hear him jogging to catch up again and you sigh.

“Cmon. I’ll do anything. I’m just trying to get home to my family.” The comment makes you stop for a second, the memories flashing through your brain briefly before you push them away.

“And I wish you the best of luck with that. I can’t help you.” It’s his turn to sigh now, and despite your best efforts to speed up, he manages to keep your pace.

“I’m not asking for help. I’m asking for companionship. Once I’m where I need to be, I’ll be out of your hair.” You falter, considering. It would be nice to not have to watch your own back all the time.

“And where do you need to be?” You ask, wiping your brow.

He cocks a grin, which you notice out of your peripheral. He must be thinking he’s got you hook line and sinker right now.

“North Carolina. It’s where my family will be.” You turn toward a field behind a house, the highway situated at the other side. Either way, you’d both be going the same way.

Except he had a family to go to. That, he seemed so sure of. He was hopeful. Hopeful he still had his family, that they were alive. You’d left yours a while ago, not that you’d say anything about that. To anyone. The thought of it gives you a headache and you reach for your water bottle, taking a tiny sip. Water was sacred now.

When you reach the fence he offers his hand to help you over but you shake your head, climbing over yourself and dropping down into the soft grass. You pan your eyes up to his face. He’s still got that soft grin plastered over his features, watching you as you readjust your rifle strap and bag. His hair is no longer matted, soft bangs falling unkept over his face. You wonder where he’s found the time or resources to wash all the blood out of his hair.

You hated to say so, but thinking about him using walker blood to get through a hoard was resourceful. The way he took down those two walkers too. He wouldn’t be dead weight. And he’d be out of your hair in a months time.

“You’re gonna follow me even if i say no, aren’t you?” You ask, and he grins wider, nodding his head. You sigh, pulling out your notebook to check your map. Right on track.

You don’t say anything else, though, walking forward with a small nod of your head.

“Lord help me.” You mumble, wading through the grass to the highway.

Something a little different for the Rafe AU scene. Let me know if you’re enjoying and want me to continue cos I’ve got some ideas🕺

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