IMPORTANT: This is the second part of my other fanfiction called "Guidelines." If you read this first, it won't matter for they both start and end tied together, but this follows "400 Days," "Guidelines," as you could probably guess, takes place in season one of The Walking Dead Game. If you would like to read it first, it's on my profile.
READ: Just to clear something up, 'breaking the fourth wall' is just when a story transports a character from the real world into a fictional universe. Such as television, books, or games. So, when I said, "as much sense as breaking the fourth wall makes," I was simply referring to Michelle's placement from the real world into the game. Sorry for the confusion on that.
"Do you even know where you're going?" An all too familiar, arrogant whine came from behind her. She rolled her eyes and carried on through the dense forest, pushing back branches and vines as they got in her way, not sending a glance toward him.
"I don't have to," she responded angrily, "as long as we're miles away from what ever those... Things were."
"They're called zombies, genius, and they're awesome!"
She stopped shortly and turned to face him, surprising the boy. "Awesome?! You think that was awesome?! You didn't even get a good look at them!"
"Because you dragged me away before I could!"
Her irritation grew at the kid's stupidity. "This isn't an amusement park, Owen! We're in danger! Are you so ignorant you can't see that?" She spun back around and trudged ahead of him.
He stood where he was and watched her for a moment with wide eyes then ran after her through the thick underbrush. "Can we at least take a rest? My feet are killing me!"
"I'm gonna kill you if you don't shut up and quit your whining! Don't you understand that we're not safe out here?! You're being a little brat!" Owen instantly fell silent, which meant she had hurt her nephew's feelings. She sighed and calmed herself down; she was scared, but, for his sake, she could not let him know that. "Look, I'm tired, too, but we need to find somewhere safer than here. And, when we do, I'll tell you a story, okay?"
"I'm not a baby," he said "...But, thanks." He waited a few minutes before speaking again, "This isn't Minnesota, ya know."
She could hear the fear in his voice, but did not let it shake her. If Owen got the sensethat they were in peril, then they truly must be. "Thanks, Dorothy, I knew that."
"Well, where do you think we are...?"
She wished she could tell him that she knew exactly where they were and where they were heading, but the truth was, "...I don't know." It did not make any sense; she had been in the front room of her older sister's house playing a game just awhile ago, listening to her nephew babble on and on about his opinions on it. She remembered the smell of roast chicken in the oven and the clattering of dishes in the sink, then, it seemed like she blinked and the cozy little home she was spending the summer in transformed into a strange, unfamiliar place with hungry monsters everywhere she looked. Now, she would give anything to be back there.
She balled her hands into fists; she had not been able to think clearly when she first saw them, her mind going only on instinct, and her instincts had told her to run far away from them and what ever it was they wanted inside that prison bus. She shook her head, they had not even seen her and she ran. Thinking back on it, it seemed like it would have been so easy to run up and help whoever was screaming and she felt stupid and disappointed in herself that she had fled instead of trying to save a life. She did not understand why she had done it, and blamed herself for being a coward.
"Bailey..?" came a whimper at her side, "It's getting dark..." She looked up at the sky through the tangled mess of branches and saw he was right, she had been so caught up in her self-scolding, that she had not even noticed that they would soon be engulfed by darkness with those creatures out there looking for them.
"Great..." she muttered; a tiny raindrop dripped off a leaf and onto her nose, being the first of many as it began to pour. "Even better..!" She turned to Owen, and, even though his face was soaked, she could still see that his green eyes were puffy and red from tears. "Come on," she told him gently, "we have to find shelter." She tried to make it sound like she knew what she was doing as to not frighten her eleven year-old nephew, it seemed to work, but Owen never really thought anything through in the first place. Although he normally had incredible optimism, the boy had a tendency to do his own thing, and if something did not go his way, which did not happen often, he would not scream and throw a fit, but he would complain and whine for hours on end until he got what he wanted. Not his best quality, but they had grown up together, her birthday being just three years before his, and, out of all of the friends she had, he was her best friend, shared with a family bond. Bailey searched between the trunks for a glimpse of civilization and found it, red and yellow lights shining through the trees. "Owen," she whispered, "you see that?" She turned and saw that he had already spotted it. "Come on, maybe they can help us."
They followed the lights out of the darkening woods and onto a deserted street, and could only stare in complete horror at the words on the sign high above the children's heads. Gil's Pit Stop
"That's the gas station from the game!" He exclaimed.
"No it isn't!" She barked, unable to believe such a ridiculous thing could happen. "...Right?" Then again, they still did not know how they got there or what was happening.
"Yes, look! It's exactly the same!" She stared at the building for a long moment, trying to figure it out. She would have to be really stupid to believe such a child's tale, but she could not deny the similarities of her current surroundings and the game's. She had thought about it herself when they had ran from that prison bus, but had pushed it out of her mind because those sorts of things do not happen in real life. Although, the zombies had been a deal breaker for that also could never happen in real life, yet, she had seen them with her own eyes, and there was no denying that, either. Her nightmares could not create something so gruesome, even if she had only caught a glimpse. There was no other explanation other than it had to be real. However, if they really were in the game, and the world had fallen, then she knew she could not trust anyone but herself, and her main priority was to protect her young nephew; with all arguments aside, they still needed a place to stay, and it looked like it had to be there. She just hoped it would not be a mistake.