Episode 19

Bella sat on the pool's edge and sipped from her water bottle. She and Dale finished their morning workout and were about to jump in the spring to cool off.

"So, you gonna go out on runs again soon?" asked Dale, sitting next to her, and she smiled, nodding.

"Yeah. I've been wanting to go, but my Dad decided now was the time to turn into some overprotective nutcase and leaves me behind to help with the chores."

"Your Dad loves you, and this scared him, Bell. He'll get over it soon," he said, and Bella scoffed.

"You have officially crossed over to the dark side. I don't think we can be friends anymore."

Dale laughed, and Bella gave him a set look.

"Oh, you're being serious. Well, in that case, little bird, you're the one who pulled me to the dark side and can't get rid of me that easily. You're stuck with me," he said, searching her eyes, and Bella smiled shyly.

Dale scooted closer, lifted her chin, and smiled.

"But you don't want to get rid of me, do ya?"

Bella bit her bottom lip, smiling, and shook her head. Dale played with one of Bella's braids, and she gave him a clever look.

"No, I don't want to get rid of you. If I did that, then who would I have a round to harass?" she asked.

Swiftly, she grabbed Dale and threw him into the pool, but Dale grabbed Bella by the waist and pulled her into the water with him. They surfaced laughing, wiping water from their faces, and Bella splashed Dale.

"You weren't supposed to pull me in with you," she laughed.

"Aw, little bird getting rusty?" he teased, and Bella dunked him under the water.

Dale surfaced, laughing, and pulled her close. He rested his forehead against hers, and she smiled. They looked at each other, and Dale's eyes trailed to her lips. Bella leaned closer, about to kiss him, but they heard a crackle over the radio. They looked at the radio and sighed.

"Papa bear to little bird, do you copy?"

Bella looked at Dale with wide eyes and blew a breath.

"Damn it. I swear they have cameras out here," she whispered, and Dale shook his head.

They swam to the edge, pulled themselves out of the water, and grabbed their towels. They walked over to the bikes and began drying off.

"Papa bear to little bird. Do you copy?" asked Abraham again, and Bella sighed.

"Yeah, Dad, little bird copies," she breathed, and Dale laughed.

"You and Dale get back here now. There's a horde of them things heading up the road and coming straight for the farm."

"We're on our way."

"So much for a quiet, sunny day," said Dale, drying his hair.

Bella nodded, getting dressed and putting on her knife holsters.

"Yeah, I don't think we get that luxury," she said, sliding her knives into place and getting on her bike.

"Come on, big bird. Let's go save the day."

Dale laughed, nodding, and they sped off.

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Andy, Teresa, Steve, Liam, Wyalon, and Abraham stood in front of the gate, ready to fight the oncoming mutants, and Mike and Sarah ran out of the house with their shotguns.

"Are they on their way?" yelled Steve, pointing his gun, and Abraham nodded.

"Yeah."

"They better hurry," said Teresa, stabbing the first straggler with her spear.

Suddenly, they heard the bike's engines, and Bella revved her motorcycle. The decaying mutants turned around and started moving away from the farm. Bella and Dale drove down the road, circled, and jumped off their bikes, shooting the disgusting creatures. Bella was out of ammo, and she threw her gun. She ran to her cycle and pulled off one of the side choppers. She began swinging the massive weapon like a sword, slicing through zombies like they were butter.

Andy, Abraham, Teresa, Steve, Liam, Sarah, and Mike began attacking the back half of the horde, moving quickly, stabbing and bashing the creatures. Blood splattered everyone and everywhere, and the group met in the middle of the pile of bodies. They looked at each other, breathing heavily, and Abraham chuckled.

Andy, Teresa, Mike, Liam, and Sarah started laughing, and Dale and Bella snorted. Steve looked at everyone like they'd lost their minds and scoffed.

"You people think this is funny?" he yelled, and the group ignored him.

"Hey, you're pretty good with that, well whatever that is," said Sarah, pointing at the chopper, and Bella grinned, looking at her creation.

"Everyone thought I was crazy for making them, but I got an A on the class project. I used to train with these at the Base. Gave me something productive to do."

Suddenly, a mutant's head popped up from the pile of bodies and bit Bella on her hip. She glared at the creature, dropping the chopper and grabbing her side knife.

"You son of a bitch!" she snapped and stabbed the creature in the head.

The zombie fell to the ground, and everyone stared in horror. Bella pulled the hem of her bloody shirt up and saw the bite.

"Bell, no!" sobbed Abraham, and she looked at her Dad in horror.

Dale stepped closer, looking at the bite, then shook his head, looking at her blood-stained face.

"No…You…" he stuttered and walked away sobbing.

Bella watched him walk away as tears fell down her cheeks, and Abraham approached his daughter.

"Take me to the truck," she whispered, and Steve scoffed.

"You know what needs to be done, Bella. You've been bit. We all know what happens after that," he said, and Abraham glared at him.

"No, you don't get to make the decisions around here. She is my daughter!" he yelled, and Steve scoffed, walking away.

Abraham looked at his daughter sadly, and she nodded.

"He's right. We all know what needs to be done," Bella sobbed.

"Yeah, he's right, but we don't have to do that right now," he said.

"I'm going to tie myself to the back of the truck and get stupid drunk and stupid stoned for the rest of the day."

Abraham huffed a sob, and Bella stumbled. He caught her, and she leaned against his chest.

"Set up the camp tent. I'll spend my last day in there," she breathed, and Abraham nodded, helping her to the truck.

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Abraham put Bella in the passenger's seat, and Andy, Teresa, and Mike helped him clear the back of the truck and set up the bed camper. Bella grabbed a couple of liquor bottles, packs of cigarettes, and some weed and climbed into the back of the truck. She tied a strap to the bed, giving her enough slack to move around, and tied the other end to her wrist.

Her father left the sides of the tent open for ventilation, and Bella sat on the thin mattress Sarah brought from the house.

"You sure you want to do this?" asked Abraham, and Bella nodded.

"Okay, we're going to move the bodies. I'll be back soon."

She nodded, took a sip of a bottle, and put her thumb in the air. Abraham walked away, and Charlie crawled into the back of the truck.

"Hey, kid."

"You got bit?" he asked, and she nodded, pulling her shirt up.

"Yeah."

"Eww, that looks nasty," said Charlie, and Bella saw her stepmother walk toward them.

"Mom?" she asked, and Megan climbed into the back of the truck with a bowl of water, a cloth, and a package of bandages.

"I figured you could use and wipe down and your wound cleaned," she sniffed, and Bella looked at Megan sadly.

Bella knew her mother was trying to hold everything together and decided not to give her a hard time.

"Sure," she said softly.

"So, where's Dale?" asked Charlie, watching their mother wipe the blood off his sister's face.

Bella shrugged sadly and sighed.

"He walked off after I got bit, and haven't seen him since. He's upset, and I don't blame him," she mumbled, fidgeting with the strap.

"I'll go find him," said Charlie, jumping out of the truck.

"Charlie, no," said Bella, but he ignored her and ran off.

Megan cleaned the blood from around the wound and gasped, seeing the bite wasn't spreading.

"That's weird," she said, and Bella looked down.

"What, Mom?"

"The infection isn't spreading. I've seen someone get bit before, and the infection spreads quickly. You should have black spider veins coming from the wound, and you don't."

Bella looked at the wound and noticed it didn't look anything like she'd ever seen before.

"I'll cover it for now, but you let me know if anything changes," said Megan, and Bella nodded.