(A/N: Huge shoutout to ChaosFlash912, who is working with me on this story. Enjoy :3)
Abraham swung his rusty, worn-out axe into the walker's skull, shattering it in two. Rosita stood behind him, scratching her chin.
"Abe, I just don't get it," she muttered, "Where did these things come from?"
Abraham looked back at the wave of mindless creatures approaching. "I don't know, Rosita, but one thing's for sure. We have to run."
Rosita rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Captain Obvious." The duo picked up their stuff, and started jogging west at a slow pace.
Abe gestured towards the forest, and Rosita nodded.
Then, there was a sudden rustling of bushes, and Abe freezed, pulling out his gun.
"Stand back," he ordered.
Rosita did so, setting her bag of supplies down. What Abe would see was a man who looked mid 20s, brown hair neatly combed with a dirty, long green shirt, blue jeans and black shoes walk towards him. He didn't look like the walkers, and had a professional demeanor about him.
"No need to shoot, sir." He commented.
Rosita made a face, clearly unhappy with the man's presence. "Who are you?" she questioned.
"Ethan." The man told her. "And I'm just wondering what the hell my old man was thinking…" He added that last part to himself in a low mumble.
Abe stepped towards him. "You mean…..the walkers?" Rosita sighed.
"Abe, he clearly this guy doesn't know what in the world you're talking about." The two glanced back at Ethan.
Ethan shook his head. "Look, I think I can help you. All I need to know is that you can trust me."
Rosita closely examined Ethan. "Unbutton your shirt for me." Ethan did so without question.
"I would have advised doing this somewhere away from these things, but whatever floats your boat." No scratches or anything that would have shown he was infected was present on his person.
Rosita rolled her eyes, and looked at Abe. "So?"
"Well," Abe spoke gruffly, "he looks OK."
Rosita walked back to him, giving him a quick hug.
"Ethan," Rosita questioned, "one question. Why were you stumbling through the woods like a drunk man?"
"It's not what it looks like…" He shook his head.
"You said something about your old man…." Rosita narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah, I did. My dad. You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Ethan responded, staying calm.
6 hours earlier…
We would cut to the interior of a mid-class bar, a man with fair skin and black hair standing behind said bar. He was wearing a blue dress shirt, black slacks and similar colored dress shoes. He was using a worn rag to clean a shot glass at the time. Ethan walked in and sat at one of the stools, the wood painted mahogany.
"Hello sir, how may I help you?" The bartender asked.
"Just get me a tequila. Nothing too fancy." Ethan requested.
"Sure thing." The bartender then got to work making one, doing all sorts of tricks mixing the drink up. "Sorry, it's a force of habit."
"No need to apologize." Ethan reassured.
All of a sudden, a black-haired woman stumbled in. "Uhg…Where's a damn bathroom when you need one?"
The bartender pointed to where the bathrooms were to the woman.
She bolted towards the door, crawling in.
"Hey, buddy...I'd be on guard if I were you." Ethan warned.
"Why's that?" The bartender asked. Ethan looked around and said to the bartender,
"Listen buddy. I may not look like a smart guy to you, but she just seemed a bit...off."
"Really? Off as in how?" The black haired man looked a little concerned.
A retching noise was heard from behind the door. Both men winced upon hearing the noise.
The woman screamed out, likely in pain, startling them both. And they were, though Ethan motioned to the bartender to get something. Ethan already was holding the barstool he was sitting in as an improvised weapon.
"What's that for?" The bartender asked.
"You'll see in 3...2...1…" Ethan grimaced, but kept his cool.
The door creaked open, and an arm blasted through the doorframe, frightening the bartender.
"What in the hell!?" He shouted. "What is that?"
"It sure ain't friendly." Ethan bluntly informed, slowly moving towards the door. The bartender quickly ducked behind the bar, seeming to be grabbing for something…
The bartender jumped a bit as the ill woman wrecked the door, pulling it out of its hinges. She stood up, and the men saw that her face was shriveled and bruised.
"Yup, definitely not friendly!" The bartender suddenly agreed, shakily holding a handgun. Ethan wasted no time swinging the barstool at the ill woman's head.
She stumbled, a bit stunned, but immediately continued rushing towards Ethan.
"Aim for the head!" Ethan shouted, pushing her back with the barstool, which was now damaged from the attack. The bartender didn't need to be told twice as he took the safety off and shot at the ill woman twice.
One bullet strayed, going towards an abandoned bottle of whiskey on a stool. The other went straight through the woman's neck. However, it didn't disturb her even the slightest bit. She growled, sharply turning, and lunged at the black haired man, grabbing hold of him. Ethan spotted the now broken bottle, grabbing hold of the top half and jamming it in the ill woman's head. He didn't want to deal with two of these...things.
The woman made an odd gurgling noise, blood spurting out of her mouth. Ethan shoved her to the floor. The two waited a few minutes, and the woman made no sign of activity.
"W-What just…" The bartender, a bit of the mouth blood staining his shirt.
"Look, that was not human. What we need to do now is get out of here. Are there any weapons stashed here?" Ethan inquired. "And uh...name's Ethan."
"Danny...and I think we have some in the office." The black haired man responded. Danny led Ethan to the back room, where both men found a stash of a few handguns, a shotgun, and a couple things of ammo stashed there. "Hey Ethan...how do you know what to do?"
"I've been in this kinda situation before, Danny." He explained. 'Thanks a lot, Dad.' Ethan thought to himself. 'I'm so gonna hurt you if I find out you're responsible.' With that, he grabbed a handgun and put a thing of extra rounds in his shirt pocket. Danny did so as well, except he put two in his slacks' pockets.
"We're going out the back, right?" Danny asked, still shaken up from all this.
"That's the only way." So with that, the two men left the bar, exiting out through the back and through a forested area out of the back entrance.
Present time…
"And that's what happened. Danny should be around here somewhere." Ethan concluded his explanation.
Rosita frowned at him. Abe just glanced back at the walkers, the pack just yards away. Ethan handed Abe the extra ammo he still had.
"I trust you're a better shot than me." He said.
Suddenly, Rosita pulled out her pistol, aiming at Ethan's head and firing, sending a puff of smoke out. Then, she and Abe collapsed with laughter upon seeing his expression.
Which was rather confused. "Uh...lady? You alright?"
"Man," Abe chuckled, "you should've seen your face."
Rosita worriedly looked over her shoulder. "We should go.."
Abe and Ethan then also looked at the horde of walkers.
"Follow me. I spotted another path back the way I came. Maybe it'll lead us somewhere safe." Ethan told the two. "And hopefully we'll run into Dan again…" Ethan seemed to have taken a liking to shortening Danny's name down.
"Where did he go anyway?" Abe questioned.
Ethan looked at Abe and answered, "Well, he went down that path saying it lead to one of his usual after work haunts."
Rosita and Abe trotted over to the path.
"C'mon, business man, get a move on." Rosita stated. Ethan trudged along, keeping pace with both Abe and Rosita.
"This path looks untrustworthy." Abe muttered.