Day's End

Life Without Living

        This was the moment they regretted bringing Bailey along. The dog's barking and growling caught the attention of the walkers, and, before they knew it, an uncountable horde of the walking hide was stumbling towards them. However, Sidney and Bailey did agree on one thing: getting the hell out of there. The rotting bags of flesh, of course, were slow by themselves, but a horde as big as this one was more than intimidating; Sidney and Bailey could only run for so long, after all, especially with the weight of their backpack.
The static from the walkie-talkie flickered for a second before Regan spoke, "Sidney, is anything happening?" 
They lifted it up to their mouth, "Oh, yeah. Bailey went nuts and unleashed the entire horde on us, so, uh, yeah." 
"What? F*ck, Sidney." 
"But- But I'm running- so, I should be fine- if I get somewhere- safe." It became increasingly hard to breathe, what with Sidney sprinting as fast as they could and the overwhelmingly disgusting scent of rot; they couldn't believe what it must be like for the dog. 
"You could try to lose them somewhere, can't you? [Are you talking to Sidney?]," Azalia's voice joined in the conversation. 
A pause followed, and Sidney guessed that it was Regan talking to Azalia; they weren't very surprised to hear Azalia's scornful tone next, "Sidney, what the hell did you get yourself into? [Chill, man.]" 
"Well, I- I was looking for you, and, I- I guess, I just- got lost." 
"I really don't know what to do, Sidney." They heard her sigh. "It's all you." 
        Sidney waited for something else, but simple silence remained. Azalia must have taken Regan somewhere else, which was predictable. She knew that something was blossoming between the two, and they both knew she didn't approve of it. Lafayette liked to make fun of her uptight persona when he was with the two, but Lafayette was the only person she would excuse of the act. Despite this, she made one damn good leader; if Andre had been out of the question, there's no doubt she would've led Three Spires. 
        They were so caught up with their thoughts of getting away that they had hardly noticed the throbbing, burning sensation in their legs and feet. Bailey was far better off; she barely looked winded. Sidney slowed down to a walk; their breathing was rapid and uneven. Bailey jogged next to them; her tongue waggled out of her mouth, and her paw prints were wet with perspiration. Sidney didn't dare to look back. The volume of the groaning and snarling the walkers made was enough to convince them not to. 
        With the time they had spent walking, the horde had only drawn nearer, but they were far too worn out to run again. Was it just them, or was it getting warmer? The temperature seemed to have skyrocketed since the morning, and the layers of clothing they wore certainly didn't help. Even if the horde stopped following Sidney directly, nothing stopping it from dragging itself this way through the forests and buildings, murdering everything in sight for food and doing it all over again once it moved on. They prayed that they were going in the right direction originally; that they had set up camp past the wreckage. If they hadn't, and the camp was in the direction they were going now, they were all screwed; unless, somehow, the horde was stopped or killed. As much of a waste as it would be, they knew what they had to do. 
        They had remembered the way back to the house, and most of the horde had remained intact while little groups had broken off along the way. Sidney gently forced the dog through the broken window and climbed in themselves. Two, small creatures such as themselves weren't enough to divert the entire horde, but it was enough to capture the attention of a small group. They swarmed the house, and a few of them almost made their way in through the smashed window pane. Again, nobody was in the house, which gave them permission to execute their plan if they could get it done before the rest of the horde wandered away. 
        Sidney rummaged through the cabinets, drawers, dressers; anything that might have what they were looking for. The snarls of the walkers still hadn't died down. Then, they found it- matches. They wagered that they didn't need lighter fluid. The hot, dry weather was enough. Sidney stood in front of the window and struck a match, but it didn't light. Their hands shook with the nervousness of standing in front of monsters trying to claw their way toward you to rip you open and tear you apart. The third match caught flame.
        They threw it into the group, and it went up in flames. The walkers hardly seemed to notice, even when their already droopy flesh peeled off of the bone, and their brittle bones broke down, scarred and charred by the fire. Even when the rest of the horde down the road noticed the house burst into flames and stupidly threw themselves into the inferno, they hardly noticed the life that made their way outside and over the fence. The walkers didn't care. They couldn't think; they could only hear and see, and the only thing they saw was the orange waves engulfing their skulls in a hellish dance. 
        Sidney didn't look back as they retraced their steps all the way to where they started- the camp. Most of the remaining walkers had wandered off, likely in pursuit of their fiery demise. One of the tents was shaking; the movement gave shape to the deflated fabric, like a person moving around. "Hello?" Sidney threw caution to the wind. "Who's there?" They made their way around a horse's corpse and a walker who was too preoccupied with feasting on said horse's organs to notice them. Of course, it was just a walker. They stabbed it without another thought, except- who was that in the distance? 
        The figure made odd movements with its hands while simultaneously aiming a gun right at them. Though it was quite hard to tell through the intestines hanging about her shoulders and the blood smeared on her coat and skin, the figure was Lea. "Sidney, watch out!" She shouted as loud as her lungs and throat would allow. But it was already too late. By the time Sidney had turned to spot what she was screaming at, the walker had already sunk its teeth into their skin, painfully tearing off a chunk of flesh. 
        Before they allowed themselves to cry and scream in pain and realize what this meant, Sidney thrust their knife into its forehead. "Sidney!" Regan shouted through the walkie-talkie, "Are you alright? Lafayette helped me sneak away from Azalia's work so that I could talk to you."
        They didn't know how to answer. They didn't know if they could. Sidney's throat seemed to go completely dry as they stared at their bleeding wound, and they didn't even look at Lea as she ran up to them and hurriedly set something up; her hands were shaking almost as much as Sidney's. "I- I'm-" was all they managed to choke out.
"Sidney?"
"I'm bitten," they whispered, hardly noticing the sharp pain of Lea injecting something into their arm. 

And, all at once, everything seemed to stop.