# Chapter 3 “How the hell am I not dead?” [[_Ava Rose|Ava Rose]]asked herself aloud. She was supposed to be doing inventory but she found herself rubbing the bite at her ribs, below her right breast. The bite happened 2 weeks before, a week after the world ended. “Hey Rose, how’s inventory looking?” [[_Rhett Kane|Rhett Kane]] asked, peeking his head into the office she was in. *God, is he ever handsome.* Rhett lead their group of survivors. He was 4 years her senior, but she still had a thing for him. His wavy black hair and green eyes contrasted rose’s own short blonde hair and blue eyes. The group resided in a [[furniture store]] off of Atlanta highway, in Athens Georgia. They’d done well in gathering food and weapons early on. “It’s been better. We're low on water.” “That can be fixed.” He said, squatting next to Rose. “More importantly, how are you?” He looked into her eyes. *Ugh.* Ava felt bad for lying to him. Since that night, [[Ronnie Whitlow]] had succumbed to his bite. Before he turned he had a horrible fever, chills, and lost all energy. One night he woke up, one of the slackjaws. “I’m alright.” Rose said blushing slightly, lifting her shirt just enough to see the gash she had, not high enough to see her bite. She was wearing a cut-off shirt, otherwise it would have been awkward to just pull her shirt up like that, in front of Rhett. He touched her other nasty gash with a couple fingers, quickly pulling them away. *Dammit.* He said, rubbing her arm with his thumb. After a few moments, he stood, offering her his hand to her. She took it. “Wanna join a scavenger group?” “If you're in it.” She smiled sheepishly, and the pair exited the office to speak with the rest of the group. Rhett had been staying at a friend's house when the world fell. They’d been in a DND session, when they got word of the outbreaks. Everyone left for the sanctuaries advertised in Atlanta, except Rose. She’d met Cole Chambers, online, and decided to join him and his friends in some DND. She’d met Rhett twice there before it all ended. The pair were lucky to meet [[Greg Maddox|Gregory Maddox]] the next day, he and some friends gathered together in the furniture store after he raided the gun store he worked at. He gathered as many firearms and ammunition as he could fit in his truck. As Ava and Rhett entered the showroom, Greg had a slight smile when he saw the pair. His wife [[Flora Maddox|Flora]] was next to him, the pair were both late 50s early 60s, hair starting to turn from gray to white. Across the room, [[Cody Whitlow|Cody]] and [[Jessie Whitlow]] were teaching their son Rowan learn a bow and arrow, into an ottoman. [[Beth Clarke]], a former nurse, watched intently as Rhett and Rose passed. She was patching up a slice on Stacy Baker’s hand. Stacy herself was a baker before the fall, now acted as the de facto chef of the group. “[[Violet Esmeralda|Violet]], get me a beer,” [[John Fouts]] barked. *Bastard never speaks kindly to his wife. The world fell, and the bastard wants a beer.* Violet Esmeralda did as her husband requested, straight-faced and silent. “Rhett, Rose,” [[Henry Creek]] greeted. “Raid?” Hank was a middle school teacher before the fall. He was a serious prepper, so the group only had to do supplemental raids in the last few days. “Yep, get Cody.” Rhett nodded. Cody, Henry, Rhett, and Rose walked out the building together. Around the warehouse, the crew had moved abandoned cars from the dealership across the street, in staggered lines. They'd slashed the tires and siphoned the gas, now they had metal and wood pikes and poles driven through the outfacing doors, a handful of slackjaws caught in them. “How much range do we have?” Rose asked, stealing a glance at Rhett. “Well, 60 on the [[ford X4|X4]], but we got 10 more gallons of gas in the tank in the back. But per Violet, the Titan has 130.” “I thought it was at 70?” Rose said, eyebrow furrowed. “Well, it's been charging 2 weeks with its solar roof, we haven't been using it at all. If we had a [[Vanguard solar array]], we could charge it in less than a week, every week. Of course, this is all per Violet.” “I vote we save the [[Titan EV]] for now. We are bound to find some older EV’s. Tesla and such.” “I really should have got one before the fall. I was on the fence about it.” Henry lamented. “Well they were very out of fashion here post fall. Just not reliable enough for daily use.” Rhett said. “I almost got one when I turned 16.” “Post war I think everyone just dismissed electric. Production slowed till like 3 years ago. Nobody expected the world to end.” Cody said, opening the back right door of the X4. The Ford X4 was part of a new Ford line from a decade before. The Ford company split after the civil war, some 40 years prior, the Union Ford bitched and complained about the southern Ford keeping the Ford name, but Dixie did not recognize the northern trademark. Most companies had very quickly registered their trademarks with Dixie, but Ford was tied up in union government dealings to do that in the south. The X4 was boxy, like a very old F150, but with the modern bells and whistles. *Modern, vehicles haven't changed in 60 years.* Rhett drove, Rose sitting behind him, Rob in passenger, and Cody in rear. Aside from the cars the crew used as barricades, they hadn't ventured out very far. During the second civil war, Athens was bombed pretty heavily, it was only in recent years the city had begun to grow again. Most of the commerce had relocated to Statham and Madison, and Crawford exploded with growth. The plan was to raid the cars around the loop. So they took the exit west, opposite the heavy traffic fleeing Athens for Atlanta. “Golly, looks like others have gotten most of them.” Cody commented. “If I were a raider, where would I start?” Rose asked aloud “Well, everyone is desperate. These ain’t raiders.” Henry commented. *Just regular people.* After a half mile, there were less shattered windows in the cars, less shit scattered around. “Here’s a good spot.” Rose said, touching Rhett’s shoulder. *Almost right between exits.* Rhett pulled the X4 through the median, and across to the eastbound's left shoulder, facing west. Rose’s door slammed into the mirror of the car they parked next to, “Shit.” Rhett chuckled. “Guess it don't matter anymore.” Cody and Henry took the far lane, Rose and Rhett took the left lanes. *Oh lordy. Why me.* She thought to herself. Just being alone with him made her heat up inside. She fought off a blush and got to work. She used a glass breaker on the window of a small sedan, “Fuck!” Rhett stormed over, grabbing her arm just in time. A slackjaw'd successfully grabbed her forearm, head heading down for a bite. He pulled a knife from his belt, pushing the creature’s forehead as he slid the knife into its eye. Rose felt the hands go limp, and she collapsed onto the ground. “Rhett. Thank you.” She said between breaths. He put his arms around her shoulders, sitting next to her. “You're okay. Don't scare me like that again Rose.” after a moment, he stood, helping her up. He looked into her eyes, kissed her cheek and smiled. “Gotta get back to work.” She didn't fight the blush this time, instead she nodded and opened the sedan door. The corpse hit the asphalt with a nasty squelch. She shivered, but stepped over it, climbing through the car. The pair worked together in silence, occasionally broken by a knife impaling an eye. She would steal glances at him only to notice him doing the same. *Oh i’m gonna have a word with that man about that.* She smiled. *Cute bastard.* “I swear, none of these people even tried to prep.” Rhett complained. “Not one bottle of water, not one-” A bottle hit his face, plastic crunching against the ground. Rose smiled to herself, tossing another, and then a third, which he caught. He laughed and tossed it back, walking over. He’d been a few cars away, breaking the handle of a 1990s Mercedes. *Shame.* “Case of 42. Way to go!” He smiled, tossing the second bottle across the highway, toward Henry. “Hell yes.” *An hour of work for that? That isn't nice.* Rhett seemed to notice her doubt. “We’ll find more girl. Don't you worry.” He took her hand, leaving keys in it. “Pull the truck down this way, we’ll go ahead and load that.” She walked the hundred yards or so to the Ford, opened the front door, and got in. A voice behind her said “We don't mean harm. We just want information. Keep your hands on the wheel.” [[04 Jerky]]