After traveling all over the country and back again, the small towns and rural roads all seemed to blur together. 10k often had the sense of déjà vu that he had been on this particular street before, even though he wasn't quite sure what state he was in, let alone what city. It had only been a few weeks since the team had failed to prevent the Black Rain from spreading across the world; 10k was feeling rudderless and out of sorts, so he welcomed any semblance of familiarity.
Welcome back to Anytown, USA. I wonder if they have a cheese wheel?
10k leaned his rifle against a chimney and took a sip of water from his canteen. Ever since the Black Rain, the sky had a continual dark tinge to it, like an electrical storm was always brewing on the horizon. It made it difficult to judge what time of day it was, but 10k figured based on the position of the sun that it must be late afternoon. Doc and Murphy had set up camp near the edge of town, while Sarge and 10k split off in separate directions to do some scavenging and reconnaissance within the city limits.
From his rooftop perch he scanned the abandoned city block looking for signs of movement. Luckily they had not encountered any Zs in the area, a blessing after they had barely escaped a huge throng of dead Girl Scouts the day before. The little Zs were always the fastest! Unfortunately, none of them had any boxes of cookies and 10k's stomach was rumbling. He hadn't had any luck scoring supplies from the apartment building he'd just searched. Hopefully Sarge had fared better. He'd scout around for another few minutes, then head out to reconnect with the others.
After the complete failure of their mission, 10k had been tempted to head out on his own to find Red, but none of them were sure yet how the Black Rain had changed things. He knew his chances of survival were higher if he remained in the group, so 10k reluctantly agreed when Doc and Sarge asked him to stick around to help search for Warren.
So far they hadn't seen any sign of the drone ship. Murphy had assured everyone that she was still alive, that he could feel her and use their special bond to track her down.
We better find her soon, because I don't think I can take much more of Murphy acting like he's the boss of everyone!
It worried 10k that Murphy's strange abilities were making a comeback, and that he now looked like a demon straight out of Hell. The old nightmares about Murphy biting him had returned with a vengeance, but 10k was too embarrassed to talk about them with anyone. They dredged up a flood of uncomfortable memories of being trapped in Murphy's thrall; he never wanted to feel that violated and powerless again.
I miss you, Red. When I was broken, you were the one who pieced me back together. I'm so sorry I failed you when you needed me.
10k tried to shake off a pang of guilt. So much had been weighing on his mind lately, he was grateful for a bit of privacy to try to sort things through. It wasn't just Murphy he was worried about. Although he'd promised Red he'd move on with his life, after all these long months he still longed to find her. He didn't want to admit she might be gone forever. But becoming intimate with Sarge had complicated things even further, and he was having a difficult time figuring out what he wanted.
Despite Sarge assuring him that it was okay to "keep things casual," he had no clue how to do that. He was never good at shutting off his feelings, and it wasn't for lack of trying. Since the Z outbreak he had often wished he could be numb to everything. The truth was he liked Sarge…a lot…yet he also felt like he was taking unfair advantage of her.
Especially when the nightmares returned, and he'd reach for her in the middle of the night. Under the cover of darkness he'd pull her close and imagine he was back in Red's arms, back in the idyllic meadow of his fantasies where she'd stroke his hair and whisper that he was safe and that everything would be okay.
He knew it was wrong. Sarge was an incredible woman, she deserved better. He wasn't proud of himself, but he kept up their trysts because those moments together were the only times he could push aside his grief and pretend he was happy again. Until she'd kissed him that first time he never knew how much he had needed that release. Joy is precious, Doc had once said. He'd told 10k to hold onto it when he found it because you never knew when it would be stripped away and replaced with some new variant of zombie hell.
So he'd held onto her and let himself enjoy the simple pleasure of being close to someone. But it pained 10k to know that one day he'd have to make a difficult choice and either let go of Red, or let go of Sarge.
Hey, wait a minute…what was that noise?
10k roused himself when he heard someone shout and what sounded like a scuffle coming from the street behind him. He grabbed his rifle to check things out. He crept over to the roof ledge and used his scope to locate the source of the sounds.
In an alley down the street he could see an older white man in denim overalls carrying a baseball bat tussling with a clan of Enders. It looked like he'd already taken out one Ender based on the bedraggled form slumped on the ground, but he was outnumbered and the feral attackers would soon have him cornered.
"Shoo! Stay back!" the old man yelled at the Enders. He swung his bat at the approaching Enders who snarled angrily at him.
10k had no desire to kill any of the Enders, but he couldn't let them hurt the old man. He aimed his rifle above their heads and fired a warning shot.
As soon as they heard gunfire, the Enders panicked. They grabbed their unconscious companion and scampered back down the street, muttering and howling incoherently.
"No, wait…" the old man yelled after the departing Enders. "Aw, God dammit." His shoulders slumped.
10k deftly clambered down the fire escape. "Hey, mister, are you okay?" he asked when he got to the bottom. 10k was confused when the older man looked more disappointed than relieved. He was panting from exertion but otherwise looked unharmed.
"I will be." His frown upturned into a smile. "Thanks to you, young man!" He clapped 10k on the shoulder. "You showed up just in the nick of time. But we best skedaddle, before any more of those fellas come back." He pointed his bat towards the street. "I live not far from here, so let's go!" While they hustled down the alley, he thrust his hand at 10k. "Good to meet you, son. I'm Fred, by the way."
10k returned the handshake. "I'm Ten Thousand. I helped you, so maybe you could help me. I'm looking for a friend of mine. Maybe you've seen her? Pretty black woman, long white hair, total bad ass? She might have passed through here recently."
"Huh. White hair you say?" Fred searched his thoughts. "I don't think so. We don't get many survivors around here anymore, except for some pesky Enders now and then. But when we get back to my place you can ask my daughter, Darla. Maybe she knows something."
"Great! Thanks." 10k checked out their rear flank, and it did not appear that they were being followed. The Enders were all gone, but gunshots could also attract Zs, so it was best to be careful.
When they emerged from the alley, Fred motioned 10k towards a brick townhouse down the block. "Right over there on the corner. Darla was taking a nap when I left, so she should still be there."
With his rifle raised, 10k quickly scanned the perimeter looking for additional threats before approaching, but the coast looked clear. He took note of the pharmacy – it might be worth looting before he returned to his friends.
"Hey, you said you were looking for a pretty black woman. Is that her?" Fred pointed behind 10k.
"Warren?" 10k excitedly turned to look, but there was no one there. Before he could say anything else, something hard smashed against his skull and then everything faded into darkness.