The cool, pristine barrel of the handgun could always bring his mind into another state entirely. Abraham caressed it subtly yet roughly, feeling every curve, edge, or imperfection. This had become a fairly regular act of self vitalization for him. He had every aspect of the object memorized, to the point where he could feel it without it even being there. It was almost as if it was the one tether connecting him to the world, to the devastating reality that was is current existence. Through his trance , he glazed over the world. However, he could hear a vague sound, that seemed muffled into a cold harmony. The sound repeated like a lulling melody, and had it not been followed by a sensation around his arm, he might have just ignored it.
Snapping out, Abraham turned around to see that the sound had been coming from a walker coming towards him, who had not latched mercilessly onto his relaxed arm. Nonchalantly, he shot it though his head without any show or motion of fear. When you're living your nightmare, there's not much left to fear.
"Hello?" said a figure softly, emerging from the woods in front of him.
"Rosita," He muttered hoarsely, "What are you doing out here?"
"I heard a walker," She said. Abraham didn't look up, but instead continued to caress the barrel of the gun. She walked over to him.
"You're name is Abraham right? Like the president?" She chuckled, "You don't seem like the honest type." She joked. He continued to ignore her. In response to his silence, she placed her hand on top of the gun and lowered it from his perspective.
"Look, as the new guy to this group, you're not making the best first impression. It doesn't really help that you were a two-for-one deal with that backwards talking nerd," She said honestly, "Now why don't we go back to camp and maybe work on that honesty by telling the group what this mission is that you two seem so dedicated to."
Abraham looked up at her for a second. After the exchange of glances, he nodded and then walked back through the woods to the camp. Rosita followed close behind. Before he even reached it, however, he could hear raised voices.
"What are you talking about? Why do you mean you don't shoot?"
"Well to be quite frank, my scientific mind has not blessed me with a secondary ability of the kill."
"How are you even alive? What are you doing here?"
"I believe it has already been stated that my partner and I came through this area on our own mission. You happened to come upon us and take us in. I cannot be held accountable for the decisions made by your group."
Abraham and Rosita could now see that by two large trucks on the road, Eugene was arguing with a tall yet lanky man. The rest of the group had gathered around them. Eugene looked over to Abraham.
"I'm sure my dear friend can attest to my reasoning." He said shakily. Abraham looked around warily.
"What's going on?" He asked. The opposing man from Eugene responded in an irritated voice.
"This mullet-head over refuses to carry a gun with him, because he doesn't shoot," He stated, "How is he even alive? Why did you bring him here?"
Abraham looked to Rosita, then Eugine, then back to the man.
"It's Kevin, right? You're the leader of this group?" Abraham asked. Kevin nodded in response. Abraham turned to the entire group.
"None of you question this man, you hear me?" Abraham commanded in an intimidating tone, pointing at Eugene, "If you do, you'll have to deal with me."
Abraham looked down and clenched his jaw. Then he looked up and saw the faces of the group in front of him. Everyone looked dirty, sad, confused, but most of all, tired. Tired of not having any hope. And reluctantly, he felt sympathy for all of them.
"Look, this son of a bitch may be a babyfaced moron," He stated.
"Don't hold back," Eugene murmured.
"...But he's the smartest man I've ever met. You people want to know what our mission is? We're on our way to washington. This man says he can cure the infection, and I believe him. If you're all on board, we can all keep going. We can get to washington, we can end this shitfest. We can allsurvive if you just follow us. I promise." He said, and couldn't help but crack a coy grin.