~ 12 ~ Past Experiences

Sofia walked over to Alan and Mrs. Christina. The elderly woman held the wooden plank in place while Alan hammered a nail into the wall, supporting the plank. Sofia held up the plank and smiled at Mrs. Christina.

"Go sit down, Mrs. Christina. I can take it from here." Sofia said.

Mrs. Christina sighed in relief and said, "Thank you dear." She walked off.

Sofia looked at Alan, watching him hard at work. "Hey." He jumped and looked at Sofia in shock.

"Sofia?" He asked as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "What are you doing here?"

She laughed at his reaction. "I'm done helping with Dan and Dani for now. So here I am."

Alan nodded and went back to hammering. "So? What was there?"

"It was like a freezer that had a BUNCH of frozen foods and vegetables. But… There were also a lot of bodies." Sofia sighed, remembering the sight. Alan stayed quiet and glanced at the girl, worried. She looked at Alan. "We disposed of it outside, so they're burning right now. We also found a safe that we need to crack open. They said that we can do that tomorrow though."

Alan nodded once again. "I see," he said, gathering the information. "Well we didn't get much done on this side, as you can tell." Sofia took a look around, seeing only one other window was boarded up. "Mrs. Christina struggled keeping the boards up long enough for me to get much done. We also don't have any more left to go around."

"So what should we do?" Sofia asked.

Alan said, "We'll have to leave earlier than I thought and get some more planks." Sofia nodded. "Something like the floor from houses should be good. So after this plank is up, we'll go." He looked at Sofia. "I hope you don't mind, since you just finished with the storage room."

Sofia shook her head with a small smile, grateful that Alan thought about her. "I'm okay, thank you though." Alan nodded and within minutes, they finished boarding up another window. Alan wiped the sweat once again as Sofia put a hand on his shoulder, patting him. "Good job. Should we leave after you sit down for a bit?"

Alan nodded, panting lightly. "Yeah, it's been a while since I did this kind of manual labor." The young adults sat by the table, where Mrs. Christina handed them a small plastic cup of water. They drank it to completion, feeling refreshed.

"Hey, Alan?" Sofia called. He looked at her. "What was your high school experience like?"

Alan paused for a moment. "Do you like to think about the past a lot?"

Sofia looked at him, taken back. "What?"

He moved his shoulders around, as if feeling sore. "Why ask about the past in a world like this? Where the dead is eating the living?" He looked at her and paused, waiting for an answer. She just stared at him. He continued, "Some people have very dark and traumatic pasts. It's not wise to ask in a situation where you have to rely on others for survival." He crossed his arms and looked at Sofia with a concerned look in his eyes. "Do you really think you want to know how the past was for others? Do you really think it's rainbows and sunshine?"

Sofia stuttered. "I… I didn't mean it in that way. I was just curious."

Alan shook his head as he said, "Don't you know the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'? In this case, satisfaction might not bring it back." Sofia blinked, seeing a new side of Alan. "You need to separate the past from the present. Don't dwell on it or you'll be consumed by it. Don't let a former serial killer who is now your knight in shining armor cease to be a good guy because of his past. Don't let a former social butterfly who is now a cannibal continue to be a social butterfly just because they were outgoing in the past." Alan stood up, smiling at Sofia. "The past is in the past. I'm ashamed of what I did back then, but this apocalypse has erased everything about me. It gave birth to new individuals."

Sofia nodded slowly, starting to understand his point. "I get it…"

"Good." Alan stated. He picked up both of their cups. "Let's get ready to go then." Alan smiled before walking away from Sofia, leaving her in thought.

'Have I really been stuck in the past this whole time?' She sighed, dismissing the question as she stood up and walked to the front door. Alan arrived shortly after holding two bookbags. He handed one to Sofia.

"Do you have a weapon?" He asked her. She nodded and pulled out the pocket knife. "It'll have to do, I guess." He grabbed the hammer used for the construction and twirled it in his hand. "Let's get some more melee weapons as well while we're getting supplies, alright?" Sofia nodded once again as she slipped the bookbag onto her back. Alan reminded Dan and Dani of their mission before exiting the gas station. "Let's go South a bit." He instructed as he turned to the right and started walking.

Sofia followed him, still a bit lost in thought. "You know where we're going?" She questioned the man.

He pulled out a map from his pocket with a small smile on his face. "I studied geography a bit in high school. Looking at the map was easy enough for me to remember specific locations." He put it back in his pocket and looked forward. "Over there is a plaza a few miles out. There are a couple houses along the way so I figured why not stop by."

"Isn't that…" she hesitated. "Dangerous?"

Alan thought for a moment. "Yeah," he started, "but if it's bad, we'll turn back. They don't run unless they are attracted to your blood." She couldn't tell if he was joking.

She stayed lost in thought. 'If I'm stuck in the past, should I forget about the others? Like the twins, and Monica?' She shook her head violently. 'No, they need help! I need to find them! Then, after that, I'll forget the past.'

Alan glanced at her, noticing her silence. "Sofia?" He called out, earning a squeak in response. "You thinking over there?" Sofia looked away, not wanting to answer. "About what I said, I-"

"No," she interrupted. "You're right. I do think I'm too focused on the past. I should just get my group and start a new life with this apocalypse."

Alan stopped walking and sighed lightly. "Okay look, I think I worded it wrong. Let me start again." He put his hands on her shoulder, serious. "Do not use the past to determine someone's future, and do not judge someone's past to determine someone's present. Do not use your past to restrict your present, and do not allow your past to create your future." Sofia blinked, as if writing his words in her mind. "The past is the past. Learn from it, but don't depend on it. Okay?" Sofia slowly nodded. "Good. But you know," he removed his hands from her shoulders, "you also don't have to listen to me. These are just my opinions. Don't think about it so much unless you really feel like you should change. If that's the case…" he playful poked her nose, "I'll help you out."

"You'll what?" Sofia questioned, rubbing her nose lightly.

"I'll help you out." He repeated.

Sofia questioned, "Why would you do that?"

"Why not?"

Sofia huffed. "You already did a lot, Alan. You don't need to help me anymore."

Alan shook his head. "I want to help as much as I can." He started walking. "That's the type of person I'll always want to be." Sofia's mind echoed Alan's words as she followed him.

A few minutes later they came across a wooden house that was large in size. It had 2 stories, but the second story looked as if it collapsed. Sofia tilted her head. "I wonder what caused this." She muttered. She barely heard the soft groans of zombies from the inside of the house as she tensed up.

"Are you ready?" Alan asked as he pulled out his hammer. Sofia nodded as she pulled out her pocket knife. He walked in front of her, as if guarding her. "Stay behind me."

Sofia frowned as she grabbed Alan's wrist. "No. We're going in together." She spoke, determined, as she walked next to him.

"Are you sure?" He questioned. Instead of answer, she looked straight ahead at the house. He nodded. "Alright Sofia, show me what you got." The pair walked up to the front door as they heard the groans getting louder. "They're at the door."

Sofia nodded and took a deep breath. "Let's go in." She took out her flashlight from her pocket, followed by Alan. He kicked open the door, knocking a zombie on the floor. Sofia shined her flashlight around the room, getting a good glimpse with the help of the daylight through the broken windows. There were two more zombies in the area, in the kitchen. They turned their necks at their new prey and stumbled towards them.

Alan ran past the zombie on the floor. "Get that one!" He commanded as he rushed towards the other two zombies. The zombie on the floor trembled on it's unstable legs as it slow got up. Sofia built up her strength and stabbed the zombie in the head with her pocket knife, killing it instantly. She kicked it off of her weapon and ran over to help Alan. Said man whacked a female zombie in the chin, knocking it down with his force. He twirled his hammer around, exposing the claw of the hammer. He stabbed it into the skull of the second zombie and pulled it out, watching it fall to the ground. Sofia took the opportunity to stab the female zombie with her knife, panting softly.

"Wow." Alan whistled, looking at Sofia who collapsed on the dead zombie. "You did pretty good. Did you see my technique?"

Sofia looked up at him, noticing blood on his cheek. "What technique?" She questioned as she tried to calm her breathing.

He held her hand and helped up to her feet. "I knocked them down before killing them. If they're on their knees on laid down, it's easier to stab to head." Alan smiled warmly at Sofia. "Don't you think?"

She nodded, understanding his method. "You're right. It was way easier. Lucy did it as well, but I don't think it was on purpose. It's easier and I was able to do it in one stab."

Alan said, "It also depends on what weapon you have, to be honest." He took a deep breath. "Welp, let's see what we can find."

Sofia put her hand on his cheek, wiping the blood off, then turning away. "Alright. I'll look around where the other zombie is." Without another word, she walked over to the zombie in the living room, leaving Alan flustered.

The first floor had plenty of rubble and furniture that seemed out of place and disorganized. The ceiling of the kitchen was scattered on the floor as the living room had a queen sized bed on top of the large leather couch. The pair searched the first floor of the house, through all the rubble, finding some canned food and a few chef knives that they equipped instead. After the first floor, they looked at the staircase of the second floor, seeing it partially destroyed. Bits and pieces of the wooden staircase were missing, leaving it a dangerous pathway. Sofia looked at it, scared, while Alan analyzed it.

"What do you think?" Sofia softly asked after they stared for a minute.

Alan hummed lightly. "Well we can see if there's anything up there." He said. "Or we can just take the planks and leave."

"Let's see." Sofia said. She inhaled sharply as she walked over to the staircase, seemingly confident. She lightly pressed her foot of the steps, listening as it creaked loudly. She slowly pushed all her weight on it as she expected it to collapse from under her. It didn't.

"Well?" Alan asked as he walked over to her. He grabbed her arm to support her as she held onto the rail with hope and desperation.

As she waited for the collapse, she said, "I think it's okay. I'll go first, then you, alright?" She reasoned. Alan agreed and slowly let go of her hand as she crept her way up the stairs. The stairs groaned and creaked some more with each movement; she moved left, then, right, then back to left as she dodged the small holes on the staircase. She reached the top where hallway cabinets laid on the floor with it's contents scattered. Paintings were destroyed and vases were empty. Blood printed the white carpet and brown wallpaper. The scene horrified her.

"What's up?" Alan asked as he reached the top floor. He paused and took a look around, sighing softly. He stayed quiet for a moment then looked at Sofia, waiting for her next move.

In a few seconds she took a deep breath and looked back at Alan, composed. "Let's get through this as quickly and thoroughly as we can." Alan noticed how she tried to stay composed. He admired her strength and determination.

He nodded and smiled softly. "Alright. Let's search the rooms together." Alan patted Sofia's back lightly, causing her to walk towards the last room of the hallway.

She opened the door and found herself inside a small bathroom. She flicked the light switch on, then off, and sighed upon seeing no light. She turned on her flashlight and shined it around the room. The tiled floors were chipped and the wallpaper was peeling, but it looked okay considering the rest of the house. She gestured Alan to follow her as she looked around the bathroom. The pair looked through the medicine cabinet, storage bins, and every place in the pockets of clothing on the floor to find anything; they found nothing.

"Next room?" Alan asked, disappointed.

"Next room." Sofia concluded as they both turned around and walked outside the bathroom. She walked into the room on her left. It looked big enough to be the master bedroom, however majority of the floor had fallen into the living room. Sofia looked at the floor in shock. "I see where the bed came from now." She looked at Alan, who chuckled lightly. She rolled her eyes. "What do we do?"

Alan took her hand with the flashlight and shined it around the perimeter around the missing floor. He nodded to himself. "We have to walk around."

"Huh?" Sofia looked at Alan, barely noticing how close they were to each other. "What do you mean?!"

Alan smiled at her. "There's a lovely little dresser over there just calling our name." He pointed the flashlight at the other side of the room, revealing the large dresser that seemed like it could sink into the hole in the floor at any moment.

"But what could be there?" Sofia questioned. She couldn't imagine what could possible be in there that they needed.

"I have my reasons," Alan started, "but this house might belong to the people who own the gas station." Sofia's eyes widened. "If that's the case, and you guys have been looking for something for the safe, then it might be here." Alan gestured towards the dresser.

Sofia looked at the dresser, sighing. "Then you go."

Alan blinked, taken back. "Why me?"

"I…" She hesitated then looked away, embarrassed. "I'm not good with heights. I'm scared I might fall."

Alan snickered then nodded, smiling at Sofia. "Alright. Shine the flashlight onto the floor so I can see." Sofia nodded and did what she was instructed. Alan walked over to the edge then slowly shuffled his way to the dresser with slight ease. Within minutes, Alan made it to the dresser. He opened the top one, then the bottom one, then lastly the third one. He pulled out a small piece of paper and squinted, unable to see it's ink. "I found something.

"Come, let me see!" Sofia exclaimed. Suddenly, a thud echoed in another room, causing Sofia to jump and turn towards the sound.

"Sofia? Where's the light?" Alan asked, worried as he barely made out Sofia's figure.

She pointed her light at where the sound came from; the last room on the second floor.