The First Winter
Rochelle was walking down the snowy road with the others. The Survivors- Nick, Ellis, Josh, and Coach. They’d been together probably as long as Zoey, Francis, and Louis have been. Rochelle didn’t mind having them join her group- the more the merrier, right?
She knew the mood of the little rag-tag crew was dreary, because the weather was cold. It was expected, though, considering they wouldn’t exactly be able to just fly to somewhere warm.
But she couldn’t quite understand why everyone else was so sad. Wouldn’t death by frostbite be preferable to death by Green Flu? What of hypothermia?
She wanders over to the snowbank, walking in the snow. Nick looks at her like she’s crazy, but she didn’t care. He could loosen up a little. Rochelle was accustomed to snow, growing up in Ohio where it was there one day and gone the next.
She enjoyed the sound of the snow crunching under her boots. It was light, so it wasn’t very satisfying, but it was comforting somehow. She followed the flow of the group, and soon enough, Zoey was walking in the snow, too.
She smiled, and Rochelle bumped into her playfully. Zoey laughed, almost sliding before uprighting herself and pushing Rochelle. Rochelle almost fell and laughed, too. The guys share awkward glances, and the girls can’t stop laughing. Zoey says, “I like this.”
“I do, too,” Rochelle admits. Nick was still walking, not bothering to even enjoy anything. The others resumed walking, so the girls followed them.
No longer messing around, Rochelle shoulders her shotgun uneasily. She hadn’t been one for shooting guns, so she wasn’t very educated with the weapons available to them, but Ellis was more than happy to teach everyone. Most of them were learning, but Nick was a professional.
He wasn’t even supposed to own a gun, so it was a little scary to think that he could be a felon- isn’t that the only reason he wouldn’t legally be allowed to own a gun?
Even happy-go-lucky Ellis seemed down today. What was wrong with everyone? Snowflakes began falling, landing on the group and around them. Rochelle watched them fall gently into Nick’s hair and on his shoulders, he was unphased.
Like a kid, Rochelle stuck her tongue out to catch one- one of her favorite things to do. Even though it’s hard to actually catch one, and that they don’t have any taste or anything and there’s nothing special to it, she always does it. It’s instinct.
Nick had refused to get a thicker coat, only dawning his suit jacket and trousers. He was going to freeze if it gets too cold, but he wouldn’t listen to anyone insist he dresses warmer.
He trudged along through the snow, Josh distancing himself from the group, but close enough to avoid danger. The two men had some sort of vendetta against each other, and Rochelle figured her name is big ammo between them.
But she liked Nick, wanted him, but she didn’t want to upset Josh. Because then it upsets Ellis, then it upsets Zoey, then Francis, and it would be this ugly chain reaction. So she pretends to not love either of them.
Also, Jacob might still be alive. She had tried calling and texting when there were little bits of power and WiFi, but there was never an answer. In her heart, she knew he’s either dead or with someone new.
The feeling you get with someone? Where you have these feelings even if you can’t prove them? She doesn’t feel those anymore. The bond was broken, and she was a little bit grateful.
She hadn’t realized he was a monster, who shoved women around and ordered her to act as though she had no rights. She had refused often and ended up with black eyes, but she never told her family.
Louis was a quiet man, and he never caused problems, but he would get angry at Jacob and fight for his sister, even if he was her little brother. Coach would probably blow his brains out, then feed what was left to him.
The group stopped in a safe house, and no one said anything. Rochelle sighs as they eat different versions of soup and Ellis with a can of Spaghettios. He swears they taste the same without heat, and insists beggars can’t be choosers.
Hopefully the gloomy moods are just from the weather and not from them giving up hope- surely they would find safety soon. Even if they don’t, why can’t they stop to enjoy the weather? Sure, it’s cold but who doesn’t like snowmen, and making snow angels and snowball fights?
Rochelle throws her can away and smiles at them, hoping she doesn’t match their melancholy expressions. “We’re getting close, you guys. The cold is killing some of them off.”
Nick nodded, not looking up from the soup he was stirring around, but Josh said, “Yeah, but it’s too cold to be happy and energetic.”
Those two poor southern boys, who sat shivering in thick winter coats whilst eating their soup. Everyone else was accustomed to it.
Rochelle nodded in agreement, feeling kind of like an elementary teacher, or maybe even some sort of therapist or something. “Maybe it is cold, but we can make the best of it.”
Nick looked up at her, an eyebrow cockily raised. He has something to say and it’s not nice. Oh, well, let’s hear it. Him and his motor-mouth. Rochelle will turn his motor off and see how he likes that.
“Nick, do you have something you’d like to say?” She asks, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow back.
Something flickers on his face- surprise? Amusement?- “No, I was just wondering what the fuck you think you’re on about.”
Well, ouch. Okay. She smiles at him, making sure he knows just how sincere it is. “Well, we should have fun, and enjoy the time we have here. It snowed way early, so we should enjoy it. We could stop running for our lives and take a moment to live. We only get one life and we’re wasting it trying to find somewhere better to live.”
Nick rolled his eyes, and the others seemed to ponder what was being said. Rochelle will knock his eyes back and get them stuck like that- his asshole attitude gets annoying sometimes!
It’s their first winter together (not counting families), shouldn’t they enjoy it? Shouldn’t they take a moment to appreciate the beauty of what’s around them? There are hardly any zombies around, so they could have a little bit of fun and still manage to get to safety.
Nobody mentioned it again before going to sleep. In the morning, they continued the walk to the “rescue” pick-up - if the pilots were even alive. They hardly ever are, and both groups have had an experience of shooting a pilot.
Ellis and Nick once got into an argument because Nick shot the pilot, and Rochelle had to side with Nick that time. Usually she has to stop Nick from bullying Ellis, which gets annoying, but it seems as though Ellis has begun to grow on him.
She trailed along behind them, still wishing they would brighten up a little. Come on, it’s snow! Who doesn’t like snow? Not even to look at?
She’s just happy to be alive. They could be laying on the ground, dead and decaying or turning into a zombie. But they’re walking to a new life, hoping there will even be one.
Soon the food would run out, and they would start to fight, and everyone would die. Maybe. It’d be like they were stranded on an island because they’d run out of supplies- it’s bound to happen.
After a while, Rochelle sighs. No one even looks at her, except for Zoey who smiles sadly. The cold is annoying and a little frustrating, sure, but maybe if they did something to make it not so cold…
Rochelle stoops down to pick up a snowball, shaping it and aiming for Nick. She hesitates, knowing it will most definitely piss him off, but then she doesn’t care. The snow plops into the hair on the back of his head and he turns around angrily.
“Why the fuck did you do that?” he yells, and she flinches slightly before smiling. Ellis turned away and laughed, a hearty laugh that had the rest of the crew at least smiling.
“Do what?” She feigned innocence as she was hit with a snowball. Soon enough, everyone except Nick was included in the fight- though Nick was a target.
He ducked and yelled at them, saying they were being little kids as everyone was aimed for him. “Don’t you dare.” He says, turning slowly. Everyone had a snowball aimed for him.
“Come on, Nick, join the fun!”
Nick shakes his head. “I am a grown man.”
“I am, too,” Ellis counters.
“I’m an old man!” Francis calls. “C’mon, Colonel Sanders, get a snowball.”
Nick sighs, squatting and putting a snowball together. He stands and looks around, so many people to choose from… He stops on Rochelle, smirking.
She grins back, launching her snowball, and everyone throws theirs. Nick yells, turning and cussing as he throws his.
It completely misses Ellis and Louis- his closest targets- but he makes another and launches it at Francis, hitting him. They were all laughing and out of breath by the time they settled down.
Nick was smiling- smiling! And Ellis and Zoey were laughing. Everyone was happy again, and Rochelle was glad she cheered them up a little- all with a snowball fight.
When they continued to walk, she caught up with Nick, bumping into him playfully a few times before he slid on ice and fell into the snow. She covered my mouth in shock and he glared at her, but those who saw began laughing.
The badass went down- what a shocker! She laughed as she helped him up, but he continued to glare.
She couldn’t help but smile at him.
“You really are a menace, huh?” He asks, and she kisses his cheek. He smiled warmly, something rare for him.
He acts like he’s so tough, but you can see in his eyes that he’s hurt, and he wants someone to love him and help him heal.
When we begin walking again, he bumps into Rochelle. She steps on his foot, and he smiles, taking her hand as the group walks down the road to the next safehouse.
She looked up at him, thinking about how his hand felt right in hers and hoping he was thinking the same thing.
She wished they could’ve been open about how they felt, but she didn’t want to hurt Josh and turn them all against her. Soon they would know anyway- Nick had gotten her pregnant in November, and it would start to show eventually.
She wondered if the others would judge her, considering the situation at hand wasn’t exactly the best to be reproducing in. Nick didn’t know, not yet, and she wasn’t ready for him to.
There was a very tiny part of her that hoped she would miscarry, like she usually does and so she could grieve for a little and move on instead of having to bury anything. But the rest of her, most of her, was excited.
She’d been pregnant a few times before, first at seventeen and a few throughout adulthood, but none of them had made it. They all ended up as a miscarriage and causing internal pain to her.
She wished they had, she wanted a family of her own for the longest time. But sometimes she remembered it was best, because if Jacob abused her, what would he do to the kids?
The group stopped for water, and Ellis sighed. “I don’t like snow.”
Zoey smiled, wrapping an arm around him. “Get used to it,” He would have to.
“Rochelle?” Nick mumbles, and she looks up at him. He hadn’t looked down at her, so it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.
“Yeah?”
“I think we’re gonna be okay.” He says, looking down at her. She smiled, kissing his cheek.
“I think so, too. Nick, can I tell you something?”
He nods, looking down at her again.
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“I just don’t know how to let Josh down. I don’t want to turn everyone against me, I would hate for us to be outcasts.”
“Who cares? We’re close to safety anyway.”
“We think.” She reminds him. “We think.”
“And hope,” Nick adds.
They continued walking, the thought of freedom, the goal to get there, looming over the group. They were determined, no matter what obstacles they would face they would be okay.
