Chapter 3 - It's Only Just The Beginning

One Week Later

"Night Bree."

I look up from wiping the table in front of me and see Marcus the cook walking out with his apron over his shoulder and I give him a warm smile, "Night Marcus, say hi to Betty and Thomas for me."

He nods his head, "Will do. I think Jerry's still in the back."

I glance back towards the office and see the light on, "Should have went home hours ago, he knew he was sick." I state.

He shrugs his shoulders, "You know Jerry, he'll work even after he dies." He says with a chuckle.

I let out a weak laugh and nod my head, "Yeah. Night Marcus."

"Night." He says as he turns and walks out of the diner.

I get back to finishing cleaning the tables, it being the last job of the night. Soon enough I'm finished and walk back into the storeroom, putting the cleaning things away. I grab my handbag and jacket from under the counter and put on the jacket before slinging the handbag over my shoulder. I look towards the office and decide to go and say goodnight to Jerry before I leave.

I walk over and knock on the door lightly, "Jerry, it's me. I'm heading home." I say.

There's no response and my eyebrow cocks up in confusion, "Jerry?" I ask again.

I hear nothing and I reach for the door handle, opening it slowly. I peek my head around the side of the door and see his back facing me from his chair, "You alright?" I ask.

He doesn't say anything and I open the door wider, walking further into the room. He remains perfectly still as I walk towards him. I reach forward and place my hand on his shoulder as I look around at him, "Jerry-"

Suddenly his hands latch onto mine and he turns up to look at me, emitting a loud growl. I scream and try to pull my hand away when I notice his face, "Jerry?" I screech.

It's Jerry, but it isn't him. His eyes are a cloudy colour, lifeless and empty. Blood stains are down the side of his mouth and the front of his shirt. He smells disgusting, the stench almost knocking me out. He grabs at me and tries to take a bite out of me and I step back. He lurches forward and knocks me over, my hand pushing things off of the cluttered desk.

He falls on top of me and I hold my hands up to push him away, him snapping at my face, "Jerry stop it!" I yell, grunting against his force.

He continues to snap at me and I reach an arm down, feeling for something to hit him with. My hands grip the blade of scissors and I reach up, stabbing them into his shoulder. He doesn't even flinch, continuing to try and bite at me. I pull the scissors out and continue to stab at him, blood flying all over me. I scream as he nears my neck and I use all my strength to push him off of me.

I sit up quickly and shuffle backwards as he crawls after me. My back hits the book shelf and fear consumes me, his empty eyes locked on me. He crawls forward and out of fear I throw my hand forward with the scissors. It lands in his eye and blood sprays everywhere and it slows him down somewhat. He goes for me again and I do the same. I push him down on the ground and straddle him, stabbing him in the eye socket multiple times. After a few more tries he completely stills underneath me.

I look down at him in shock, tears streaming down my blood stained face. As I stare at him I realise that he is dead, that I killed him. I let go of the scissors, which remain in his eye, and I shuffle back in complete shock.

"Oh God, oh God." I whisper over and over again my hands running over my face.

I stare at his body for a moment before I get to my feet, grabbing my handbag before running out of the room. I don't even bother to lock the diner doors as I run out to my truck quickly. I climb in and search through my bag, looking for my keys. I can't feel them and I tip the bag upside down and grab them off the seat. I shakily reach to put them in the ignition, struggling for a few tries. On the fourth time they go in and I start the car, putting it into gear and pulling out immediately.

I speed over to the my house, my eyes barely focusing on anything. A constant stream of tears slides down my face and I let out weak sobs as I attempt to process what happened. I killed Jerry. But he wasn't Jerry, he was something else. The Jerry I know wouldn't attack me, let alone try to kill me. I did what I had to do, it was self defence.

I pull up into the driveway uneasily and I run over my letterbox. I quickly park the car and turn it off when I hear the front door of the Dixon household swing open. I lay my head on the steering wheel and try to calm my breathing.

"Bree?!" I hear Daryl yell.

The door is opened and both men's voices become more clearer, "Bree, are you alright?" Merle asks.

I let out a shaky breath and sit back, turning to face them. Their eyes go wide as they take in the blood caking my face and uniform. Merle looks around the street for a moment before turning back to us, "Get her inside."

Both men reach forward taking one of my arms and help ease my out of the truck. Merle grabs my keys and handbag before locking up the truck and running up the front steps. Daryl steers me by my elbow until we cross over the house threshold. Merle has switched on the lights to illuminate our path. Daryl leads me to a dining chair while Merle wets a cloth at the sink. I stare blankly at the ground, still trying to process what has happened.

Someone sits down in front of me and lifts my chin up with their finger. I look at them and Daryl looks over me for a long moment before he speaks, "What happened?" He asks.

Flashes of Jerry lunging for me and blood come to mind and I feel my stomach lurch, "Merle get the bucket!" Daryl instructs.

I feel the bile begin to form in my throat and soon enough a bucket is held in front of me. I instantly feel it come up and I throw up into the bucket, getting it all out.

Someone pulls my hair from around my neck and I feel a large, warm hand placed on my back, "You let it all out sweetheart." Merle says soothingly.

I am sick for a few more moments before I sit back, taking deep breaths. I feel that my forehead has become sweaty and that I'm hot all over. Daryl reaches forward with the wet cloth and wipes at my face, getting rid of the blood and sweat. The cloth is welcomed and I close my eyes at his touch.

"Bree, you need to tell us what happened." Merle says, pulling up a chair to sit beside me.

I open my eyes and meet the beautiful blues that search mine for answers. I take a deep breath before I begin to speak, "I w-was finishing w-wiping up the t-tables," I begin to stutter as I try to process everything.

"M-Marcus had just left and it was j-just me and J-Jerry. I went to g-go and say g-goodnight and he was just..." I trail off, seeing him empty dead eyes in my mind.

"Oh god, I k-killed him!" I cry out, burying my head in my hands.

Though my head is in my hands and I know that they're exchanging a look. I take in a few shaky breaths to try and calm myself down and it works slightly.

"Bree, what do you mean you killed him?" Daryl asks.

I look up and wipe at my eyes, "He attacked me and I fought back."

"What do you mean he attacked you?" Merle asks, placing a hand on my knee.

"I mean he lunged at me and tried to take a chunk of my throat out. I knocked everything off the desk in my fall and I felt around on the ground, grabbing the scissors. I stabbed them into him but it was almost as if it didn't faze him in the slightest. He just kept coming after me." I explain.

Pictures fill my mind of the scissors entering his skull and I nearly gag, the smell coming back to me too, "I threw my hand forward in haste and the blade went through his eye. That affected him and I continued to do it until he was dead beneath me."

It's quiet for a long moment and I see them processing the information. Eventually Daryl speaks, "Why would he attack you?" He asks, some emotion hidden behind his tone that I can't quite place my finger on.

I shake my head confused, "That's the thing. When I first saw him, he looked so different. So much more paler, his face sunken in. He also reeked, smelled god awful. And his eyes..." I trail off, them filling my mind, "His eyes were empty, almost dead like. Nothing like the Jerry I've worked for for the past ten years. He wouldn't respond to me at all, almost as if he didn't recognise me or even his name. I was so scared."

"You're fine now." Merle states and I nod my head before a thought hits me, "God, I have to ring the police."

Daryl and Merle exchange a look and I look between the two of them, "What?" I ask, suddenly feeling nervous.

"You shouldn't call the police." Daryl states.

I look at him confused, "I have to report this Daryl, I can't just leave him there. They're going to find him soon enough."

Merle shakes his head, "You call the police and you have the risk of going to jail Bree."

I look at him in disbelief, "I have to call them Merle, Marcus knows I was the last person there. They're going to know it was me. Besides, I owe it to Jerry after everything he did for me."

Daryl shakes his head, "Bree, I'm telling you don't do this. Whatever this is, whatever happened. It has to stay between us."

"Dare-" I begin to argue when he cuts me off, "Bree, please just do this for me."

I look at him for a long moment, our eyes locked together. His eyes are pleading with mine, begging me to keep my mouth shut. Though I know I should tell the police, I decide to go with Daryl. I nod my head, "Fine, I won't call the cops."

His shoulders relax slightly and he nods his head. Merle looks at me, "Why don't you go have a shower? Clean yourself up?" He suggests.

I nod my head and get up from my seat, much less shaky than I was before. They stand up too and I walk towards the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I turn the light on and walk over to the shower, turning it on to warm up. I look over at the mirror and see myself, terrifying me to my core. I am completely covered in blood, it in my hair, on my face and all over my clothes.

I pull off my clothes in a hurry and dump them in the sink,  filling it up with water to soak. I turn and climb into the steamy shower, the water cascading all over my grimy body. I stand there for a long time, watching as the blood washes off of my body and swirls around the drain on the shower floor. It disappears and I can't help but feel frightened. I have no idea what's going on, but something about this seems so familiar.

I quickly wash at my body, washing my hair and body throughly to make sure there is no trace of blood. I turn off the water and squeeze the excess water out of my hair before I step out of the shower. I wrap my towel around myself as well as one for my hair. I step out of the bathroom and shut the light off behind me.

The guys glance up at me from the lounge but I just walk past them into my bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I turn on the light and make my way over to my drawers to get dressed. I decide to dress in comfort clothes, pulling on sweatpants and a sweater. I leave my hair up in my towel before I walk back out to the living room.

The guys are standing up and they turn to look at me when I walk in. I look at them confused and Merle looks at me, "We're going to head home, let you get some rest." He states.

I look between them and shake my head, "No. I don't want to be alone right now."

"Bree, you need to rest-" Merle begins to argue but I cut him off.

"No, look I'm riled up right now and scared witless. There is absolutely no way I am getting any sleep any time soon. I really don't want to be alone right now. So please, stay with me." I say, my heart beat picking up pace.

They look at me before glancing at each other, a silent conversation passing between their eyes. Daryl looks back over to me, "You sure?" He asks.

I nod my head, "Yeah."

He nods his head, "Okay."

They both take their seats back and I walk towards the kitchen, "Anyone want coffee?" I ask.

They both shake their heads and I nod, turning on the kettle and I hear them turn on the TV. I grab down my mug and fill it with a spoonful of coffee and two sugars. The jug soon boils and I pour in the water, adding a bit of cream. I stir it up and place the teaspoon in the sink before walking into the living room. I take a seat beside Daryl on the couch and bring my legs up to rest beside me on the couch. 

I take a sip of the coffee and settle back into the couch as we watch some mindless sitcom. None of us say a word but no one needs to, us just being comfort level in each other's company. I feel safer now that they've decided to stay, feeling a little less shaken up now that I've talked to them about the whole incident. I take a long sip of my coffee when the TV program is interrupted.

"Breaking news. The President has addressed the nation tonight on the growing attacks that are effecting the nation." The platinum blonde news anchor states.

It cuts across to a conference room and Barrack Obama stands behind a podium, addressing the throng of news reporters, "Our nation has been ravaged by these horrific attacks that have become more frequent with each passing day. More and more reports of similar incidents have been submitted. Today there has been detailed video footage released that have given us a better understanding of what we are up against. Here is some of that footage."

The screen cuts to a camera phone quality video. The arm is held out over a red and white police tape, filming the events before them from barely five metres away. Two police men are arguing with a woman, who is stumbling towards them. They repeat for her to stop but she doesn't, the only other sound is her groaning as she reaches for them. The camera zooms in on the woman, providing a better look on her features. Her face is rotting, skin hanging down from the side of her face. The camera focuses closer on her face and I see her eyes and I freeze on the spot. Her eyes are so familiar, empty. Dead.

"Oh my god." I whisper, placing my feet on the ground and leaning forward, my elbows resting on my knees.

"What is it?" Daryl asks.

"That's what Jerry looked like, the eyes. Those are the eyes he had as he attacked me." I whisper, fear consuming me.

The woman walks forward and the police warn her as she snarls and tries to grab at them. Suddenly a gunshot is heard and there are screams from the people surrounding the scene before them. She continues forward, the gunshot not fazing her. Multiple gunshots sound again as she continues forward and the screams grow louder.

The police continue to shoot until she is shot in the head and she falls to a heap on the ground. Everyone continues to scream and the police look around. One of them spots the camera and storms forward, yelling at the person. The camera is shut off and Obama fills the screen once more, his face covered in fear.

"Due to these disturbing events I have decided to issue a nationwide alert. This situation is much worse than we had realised. These people are dangerous and must be avoided at all costs. Evacuation centres have been set up within major cities for your safety. We advise that you make your way to the closest evacuation point within your area. There will be military personnel within each city to protect you as you make your way to refugee centres that have been set up. If you decide to not make your way to an evacuation centre than please stay in doors. A list of the refugee centres will be released after this speech. Stay safe." He concludes.

The camera goes back to the news anchor as she looks into the camera, "Here are the list of evacuation centres that have been set up within the major cities." She states and the camera flicks to a screen scrolling through the list centres.

We all look on and we see that all the states are listed in order, listing the different evacuation centres within the state. I bite at my thumbnail nervously until I see Georgia come up and I look for the closest one to us.

"Atlanta." I mumble, finding that that is the one closest to us.

I turn and look at them, "What do you think?" I ask.

Daryl looks over at Merle who shakes his head, "I don't know if it's the best idea."

"What do you mean? The president has even stated that we go to one of these centres." I say, trying to talk some sense into them.

"The roads are gonna be filled with drivers who are gonna be too scared to watch what they're doing. I say we just stay here and wait this thing out." Merle counters.

I look over at Daryl, "Dare, come on. You know it's not safe here." I state, hoping to make him understand.

He looks at me for a long moment, his mind thinking over the situation. After a long time he turns to Merle, "I say we try to go to this refugee centre." He says to his brother.

Merle gives him a look and they stare at each other for a moment before Merle sighs, "Fine, whatever. But we leave it for a couple more days. I don't want to be stuck in traffic with all those panicking pansies tomorrow."

"Thank you." I say, giving him a grateful smile.