A/N: Okay long author's note coming up...
Thanks everyone for reviewing, hats off to those who got the references! They were Lee and the cop crashing the car, Kenny and his family fleeing from Atlanta (remembering Kajtaa saying how Kenny simply drove at Hershel's farm, leaving so many people and driving over bodies? Thought I'd make a reference to that) third reference was Vince and Danny just after they escaped the Prison bus (I know you have to save Justin to get Vince to go to Howe's but in this story let's just say he went because the rest of the group left. And finally there was the Dale, Andrea and Amy scene from the comics.
More references to characters we have seen will be present in all 5 stories.
Now, reviews for last chapter were surprising but also very helpful, a lot of you quite like Wilbert despite his flawed nature which Is what I was hoping to achieve. Whereas JJ on the other hand didn't get such a good reception... so I'll have to work on his character when we next see him, his developments shall hopefully be interesting to read about.
Also about the small debate on the George A Romero films existing in this world... I am just going to say they do exist (in this fic at least) but are mentioned only very briefly and we'll stick to "Walkers" from now on.
Also too clear up confusion the OC group are the group seen at the very end of GTR when Clementine is having her first day at school. Their given brief descriptions but that is all.
Okay... now finally we have the main group consisting of 10, this OC group I've created that will total in 10 and finally... I'm asking for your OC's.
Ruin To Redemption is going to be my biggest, most epic, heartbreaking, shocking story yet. I want to keep with the core cast, while developing a new OC group here. While also engaging the readers by including their own OC's into the mix. I want a large cast of potential allies and villains in the final story (to test and hopefully improve my standard of writing and to sort of experiment myself on which characters I grow on and what I can do with them).
So if you want to submit an OC, please PM me. I can't stress this enough but don't leave OC descriptions and all that in your reviews here, because I like reviews focused on the group I'm introducing and then reading about your OC's in PM's. (It just makes it easier for me) anyway if this comes across as pushy or demanding I apologise. But RTR is my most ambitious project yet and I'm kind of all over the place just too make sure it hopefully raises the bar even further than NGB and GTR (I love to challenge myself!)
Anyway, I've rambled on for way too long now, on with the chapter, I think everyone will know who this OC is as the chapter goes on... he played the biggest role in the final chapter of Going to Ruin?
Enjoy!
Day 4- Luis
The obese 13 year old Mexican boy clung onto his mother fat fingers as the waddled through the steaming streets of mexico city, the stench of death and decay was as stifling and as stuffy in his nostrils than the usual sweaty stench of the overcrowded population here.
"Mama, where are we going!?" Luis asked his mother, fear prominent in both of his large brown eyes, he was completely drenched in sweat so much so that his eyes stang because beads of salty sweat rolled into them.
His chubby mother gazed down at her son, she looked as scared as he did as she gazed in horror at the street ahead of her. Nothing but death and destruction littered the narrow streets. The "Deceased" as they were labelled in this area, were rotting, reanimated corpses that devoured the living. Then whatever was left of the living came back as one of the "Deceased" whatever the hell this nightmare was... it had spread so god-damn fast... apparently when you were bitten... you turned into one of the "deceased".
It hit this city today and already people left, right and centre had been turning into more of those things... people had fled in desperation (or attempted too). Luis found it hard to believe that just this very morning he was hanging out on the streets with his friends, enjoying another normal day. Eating his breakfast, being cuddled by his overprotective, maternal, yet stern mother Maria as he went about his day to day activities.
and then in the space of hours... the sound of sirens had floated over to the fat boy's eardrums, an unnatural tidal wave of the warning noises placed a worrying stone in Luis' gut. This was only made worse as news spread like wildfire by the word of mouth by the time he and his mother had heard everything the dead were already stumbling up their neighbourhood. He remembered his mother simply dragging him out of their small excuse of a house.
It was basically a one roomed house located in the large slum outside of the city. Although compared too many Luis and his mother had it easy, she worked on dying cotton for days on end that earned a reasonable enough income to keep herself and her son very well fed. In slums you'd expect to find nothing but skinny kids, yet in Luis' family that rule did not apply. Both he and his mother were envied due to the fact that although they were overweight they certainly got enough to eat and looked healthier than 80 per cent of the slum's population.
"Pregnant boy!" was a taunt Luis had gotten used too, due to his weight. Even his friends referred to him as that, along with "Fat Bastard, The Whale, Luis the large..." yep he had learned to laugh off the insults thrown at him.
But Luis... despite the fact he was simply the slum's cool fat kid... in a situation like this... he... he lost his head. He froze up as those things approached while his mother had to drag him out of their house. He didn't even get a chance to say goodbye... crashing into the ocean of people clogged up trying to flee the scene. He was numbly aware of himself screaming...
"MUM! STOP MY LEGS HURT! MUM STOP! MUM...!"
She didn't stop, no matter how hard Luis tried to dig the soles of his worn and torn trainers into the ground. He was exhausted, he had never exerted himself this much before. His chest was searing in pain and he was finding it impossible to breathe... at points he started choking, spluttering out fluids from his mouth. But his mother didn't stop moving, as she ran along with the mass crowds... screams echoed everywhere.
"MUM... I... I CAN'T BREATHE! MUM! I WANT TO STOP! I WANT TO FUCKING STOP NOW! I WANT TO FUCKING STOP! I CAN'T FUCKING BREATHE!" Luis was sobbing and screaming in equal measure. The emotional outpouring of his words mingling with his tears and sweat and whatever fluid leaked from the corner of his mouth. Now the crowds had pushed them towards the city, where even more chaos was reigning.
No one knew where to go, or what the hell to do. Where was the escape? There were "deceased" outside of the city, they were "deceased" inside the city. At this initial stage of the outbreak no place was safe. No where at all and in the initial panic that's why so many people died.
Luis' mother Maria wasn't like that.
Maria may have been in her late forties and not the fittest fiddle, yet she ploughed herself and her son through this madness, ensuring that they would survive. That nothing would come to hurt her son, she knew if they stopped the deceased would swarm them in seconds. She had to keep on moving, to stay silent and strong although she wasn't immune from her son's desperate pleas to stop, she could handle them.
Back on the street, when Luis asked where they were going, Maria had to truly evaluate the situation... they were stuck in a frying pan here. A frying pan... she couldn't go into the city and she couldn't go out...
It hit her like a ton of bricks, why not try rising above the frying pan? Avoiding the fray from up above? She saw a block of flats to her left, with a black fire-escape plastered at the side of the building.
"This way! We have to go up!" Maria yelled, going against the tide of people who sprinted in the opposite direction. Fighting against the current of humans she approached the block of flats, night had long since descended over Mexico City and the only reason people could see, was because of the still working street lights and fire's that were starting to set the city ablaze in a ball of sunset orange. Yet in the darkness and confusion Luis began to fell his body shutting down as people crashed violently into his pudgy form...
Antonio, Cesar, Juan, Marco... names and faces of his friends played in his mind as the gravel floor of the city drew in and out of focus to the obese boy. Were they dead? Were they alive? Luis only saw them a few hours ago before they departed as normal friends would, promising to see each other tomorrow and then... everyone kicked off. Were his friends alive? Running through the city? Fleeing the city? Were they already dead? Were...
A burly man crashed into the space where Maria and Luis' hands were interlinked, a frail Luis simply slumped onto the floor, as Maria stumbled forwards hitting the ladder to the fire escape. A few seconds later she realised her son wasn't in her grip as she turned back towards the street and saw Luis gazing at the ground... his head drooping.
She ran forwards to get to him, but she was too late.
One of the deceased emerged from the crowd and fell on the 13 year old, he had just enough time to regain his senses and cover his neck with his right arm. Yet that didn't stop the deceased man from chewing away on Luis' arm, biting into it, as Luis' skin burst and blood rained down his arm and onto his clothes.
"AAAHHHH! GET OFF! GET OFF! GET OFF...!" Luis could scream no more, he was out of of breath completely, he coughed violently, blood spat from his mouth as everything seemed to ache... breathing was an agony this man was crushing him, he was about to reach for his neck...
and then the man was gone, Maria dragged her son along the ground, she had managed to push the man backwards and into the stampede behind him. Maria dragged her son to his feet, as he vomited onto the ground. His stomach empty, his body searing with agony and blood flowing openly from his arm.
"Son! You need to climb the ladder..."
"Ladder... can't... don't make me... can't..." Luis was aware of himself muttering, to say he was slightly woozy was an understatement. He just wanted to collapse on the ground and rest his heavy bones for a few hours... why... why was he climbing when his arm hurt so much? Why was his mother pushing him up this ladder... oh... oh yes level ground.
He must have passed out. Maria could only drag him up one staircase to the fire escape, before she wheezed in exhaustion.
"Your mother's home-made recipes haven't been helping you I see..." she thought to herself to try and lighten the mood, because she was faced with a horrible dilemma and she couldn't bear too... no. She had been so harsh on him tonight, hearing him cry and now... now she had too...
The bites. If you were bitten you turned. That was spread by the word of mouth, that had to be a true rumour. No one knew how to stop it, but Maria had one theory. One desperate theory she had to try, she had already taken off her upper layers of clothes. Leaving her topless, not that she cared as the moonlight exposed her drooping breasts. No, as long as her clothes served as bandages for what she was about to do.
"Mama, I'm... I'm tired..." Luis groaned massaging his head as yellow vomit leaked from his mouth again... he couldn't... he felt awful.
Maria let a single tear fall from her eye, although topless she still wore he silver crucifix, kissing it she prayed to herself "My father, who art in heaven, watch over him please. Forgive him for what I am about to do. Jorge, Jorge if you are up there. Please help me. Please watch over our son and spare him and if he doesn't make it here on earth, welcome him with open arms into the kingdom of heaven. A-A-amen" Maria choked up on the last line.
She lifted the blunt metal bar she had found (stacked in the corner of the fire escape) and prepared to deliver the first blow.
"Mum... what... what are you doing?" Luis asked, suddenly aware of his mother... lifting a metal bar, her eyes were locked on his bleeding arm.
"I'm sorry son, but keep still and... and... be a good boy. I am so sorry".
"Mum... what...?"
She struck him the first time, the blunt bar piercing a few inches of skin as he roared in agony and screamed "OH GOD! JESUS! MARY! NO! NO! NO..." he withered in agony as he held his arm, but that didn't stop Maria from striking her son again, leaving a deep gash just above Luis' bite mark.
"NO MORE! PLEASE NO MORE MAMA! LET ME SLEEP! GIVE ME A BREAK! LET ME...!"
No matter how many times he screamed and begged for it too stop, Maria didn't stop. Not until 34 strikes later, when the last blow caused the bare white bone connecting Luis' upper arm to his lower arm, snapped and splinter, Luis throat was dry from all the screaming he had done, now he passed out in pain. Certain that he was dead, the pain was too much... it had completely consumed him as he thrashed wildly yet his mother somehow managed to cut off his arm completely and he didn't even know why.
Maria focused on bandaging up her son's arm, blood seeped through the layers as Maria added her son's own clothes to add more layers to the make-shift bandages. She applied them as tightly as she could, she would need proper meds in the near future but right now the bleeding simply had to stop, it seemed like it had slowed. Her son was still breathing although his forehead was plastered in sweat and he was burning up...
"My sweet boy... I am sorry, I am so so sorry..." she crooned, tears falling freely from her eyes, as she rocked her now (pale from the large amount of blood loss he had received) obese son in her motherly embrace. She could only hold onto him as she felt herself fall asleep as well, physically and emotionally exhausted by the insane and horrifying day they had both experienced.
Both of them didn't slept on, as the city burned around them and people were slaughtered and devoured in the streets below them, too many this should have been the end.
Yet, it was only the beginning.
Day 297- Luis
"Juan, I should have died that day"
Luis' best friend Juan gave him an accusing look, as he slapped his friend on the shoulder and snarled in Mexican "Are you fucking stupid!? Luis you're the toughest son of a bitch I've ever known in my entire life. Losing your fucking arm is a sign of being a badass man! Not a weakness so don't blurt out that stupid shit you hear me?"
"I hear you, but I'd prefer it if you didn't call my mother a bitch" Luis responded as both teenagers laughed at his comment.
"So come on, stop sulking here Luis. The group needs you, just because you dropped one bag of supplies to the ground, it doesn't mean your disabled, or worthless" Juan encouraged him, as he helped a somewhat depressed Luis find his feet once again.
"I don't know, I can't even write, with my right arm gone..."
"We barely had any education back in Mexico. Jesus fucking Christ Luis, you're the one whose learnt English the fastest. Being bi-lingual is the only form of clever we need now days, writing is as good as dead". Juan words made Luis crack a smile as they both walked out from where they Luis had gone off to sulk in a nearby patch of woods and back towards their small home.
Their shelter was a small hostel located on a highway in Georgia. About 20 of them were holed up here.
"You're back I see" was one comment he got from the Asian woman carrying the supplies around their small camp.
"Yes Kelly, I'm back, ready to fuck this up all over again" Luis responded, his voice somewhat snappy. Kelly was the latest person to join this camp. A fairly level headed woman who used to own a flower shop, she had been with a few groups before but was now slowly settling in here.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. George appreciates your effort, but it must be hard, living without a right arm. It will take years getting used too..."
"I know. I know, guess I have to keep trying" Luis said, lifting a heavy cardboard box with his left arm, although difficult (and many members of his group saw this) nobody dared interfere. They knew that Luis would only angrily roar at them, if they asked if he was alright, or if he needed help. He hated being patronized because of his... impairment.
George was their leader, a patronizing, arrogant, 40 year old cop. Juan was the only one of Luis' friends to survive the events in Mexico City, by some sort of miracle chance, Luis and his mother stumbled into Juan and George the day after Luis' arm was cut off. He was surprised to wake up that morning still alive, as he could only stare at his limb lying on the ground next to him. and his new stump of an arm, he just felt numb... he just felt so numb... none of this felt real.
"You were bitten son. I did... I did what I had too" His mother told him sadly, there was nothing else to be said. Luis was still dizzy and sick from the previous night, so he and his mother now went down into the eerie streets (where a few of the deceased still stumbled around looking for fresh flesh) before they bumped into Juan and George.
Juan's exclamation of "WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM!?" Snapped Luis back into reality, his friend was still alive, he no longer felt numb. He had been bitten, that's how you turned. His mother had to cut his arm off to remove the infected limb in an act of desperation. Yet Luis' mouth was too dry to formulate a reply, so his mother spoke on behalf for him.
"He got bitten on the arm. I had to... I had to do what I could..." she mumbled sadly.
"How do we know it's going to work? He could be ready to turn, look at him! His as pale as a sheet...!" the cop behind Juan spat, pointing a wild finger at Luis.
"It's because of the blood loss man and if he would have turned, he would have done so by now. Don't be such an fucking ass and try and throw my friend under the bus" Juan defended Luis fiercely.
Juan's parents had died in the madness, in which Maria sympathised with a grieving Juan (as she was friends with his parents) running in the madness, he was saved by George, A moody cop who ran away from his post in the fray and took pity on the struggling boy in the crowds. George quickly became leader, refinding his police car they drove out of the city and into pastures anew (while they found Luis the medical supplies he so desperately needed).
"There's no killing off the pregnant boy is there?" Juan asked of him with a raised eyebrow.
"No fucking way" Luis mused in response.
"Ah well, I guess you're pretty armless now anyway..." Juan made the pun as Maria smiled back at the pair of bickering boys, she thought the world was over last night. But now... her boy was safe, he had a friend who was also still alive, things were looking up.
"Thank you for sparing him, God our father and you Jorge. Thank you for watching over our son" she thought silently to herself, smiling shyly and clutching her silver crucifix.
The four of the found this group soon after they left Mexico City, crossing the border into the USA (Where hopefully things could be better, Luis and Juan spent hours playing by the border, reciting every joke about border controls and the lack of it now) yet they drove on to find nothing but more death and misery.
Finding the hostel, a friendly group invited them to join their ranks, bossy George quickly became leader (he loved being in power and even more so bossing around Juan and Luis. Luis would get angry whenever George criticised his one armed status and how it held the group back. Luis felt worthless, he wanted to prove himself more than ever. George's goading only lit a fire of determination in Luis' eyes to prove George wrong).
To prove, that he was a survivor.
Juan was very calm about George's taunts, usually he'd be the one calming down an angry Luis, while Juan just let the insults pass over his head. Yet Luis worried about his friend, he knew Juan was probably hurting inside and covered this up very well.
Maria was usually busy doing chores around the hostel or conversing with others, she was close to her son and knew what George could be like (hence she scolded him a few times) but Luis did not want his battles fought for him and she soon understood that.
They joined the group at an unstable time, some jumpy man had apparently shot a man called Dennis. The jumpy man and his fat friend (who were the comic relief's to this group apparently) had fled. While Dennis' friend hopped into his truck and chased after them, the trio had not been seen since leaving an uneasy void in the group, that George's arrival patched over this void as he took control.
All was well for days, until... until the day Luis life would be truly turned upside down.
Day 300- Luis
Waking up that morning, nothing unusual simmered in the cold morning air. Luis got up as usual and began his work on the barricade that stretched around the hostel. Most of the group were still inside, or having breakfast. Luis had already munched away on a cracker so he was filled for the day. His cravings for food had been large in the first couple of weeks this apocalypse went on. The sudden lack of it and the stomach pains that followed, kept Luis awake for days, he wanted more food... he needed it.
Yet slowly over time, his body adapted to the change, the rolls of fat began to sag on his skin. His usual clothes grew more baggy, he was still large but slowly but surely losing a hell of a lot of weight and he knew he'd only continue to grow thinner as time went on and food grew more scarce.
"Funny how you live in a slum in Mexico and your the fattest bastard in the world, but when you're in a cosy Hostel in America you finally start starving" Juan told him in light humour a few days back, a fact Luis had funny and very ironic. He thought back to the friends he had lost, the city he had lost as he hammered planks onto the barricade that morning, how much would they give to be here? Too finally step onto American soil?
"Oh I see you're up" came George's snarl, as he paced around the barricade looking for any sort of weakness, he tugged on a plank as it creaked and clanked on the gravel floor.
"Lousy work, but I can't expect any better from the one armed cripple and his crybaby friend" George told a glowering Luis. The word "cripple" was something of a trigger that would set Luis off. He hated the word, he despised it and George knew it.
Reigning in his anger, he inquired of his leader "What do you mean crybaby friend? Where the hell is Juan...?"
"I told the boy a few home truths and he ran off crying like a little girl, into the woods there, just like you do every week..."
He got no further Luis was storming towards him, as the boy squared up to the man and snarled while looking directly into George's hardened black eyes "Why us George? You saved Juan when all of this started and every fucking day you go out of your way to make us miserable..."
"I do it to hammer some lessons into your immature little brains! You need to learn to be tough! You think losing a fucking arm makes you badass? No, it doesn't. Your mindset has to change if you want to keep a group this big safe. That's why I treat like you do, you want to run off and cry about with your friend in the woods? Then be my fucking guest, but I keep this damn group together and you know it".
Finishing his explanation, George glared back down at Luis, the pudgy boy, one armed boy sighed in defeat he knew George was right in the aspect he kept the group together but he still wanted to last word.
"Doesn't change the fact you're an asshole" Luis muttered, while walking away from a glowering George and into the woods, looking for his friend.
He found Juan 10 minutes later.
He was surrounded by a group of men, dressed in hoodie's and face masks... bandits. But what kept Luis frozen in place wasn't the fact that Juan was surrounded by these bandits.
It was the fact, he was with the bandits.
They were laughing and kicking a man with dark skin and hair who whimpered on the floor, blood leaking from his mouth. He watched in surreal horror as Juan himself grabbed the man by his short spiky black hairs and hauled him to his feet.
"Come on then... Danny... where the hell is Vince and that guy Russell he was with? They had a lot of supplies we need here..." Juan told the man sinisterly as Luis blinked rapidly from where he was concealed in the bushes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"They got away... I made sure of that. You... you fucking lose... asshole..." the man called Danny grunted, yet he managed to smile in a small sort of victory, as Juan's face crumpled in rage as the bandits from both sides of Juan yelled to the boy "KILL HIM BOY!" or "FUCKING FINISH HIM YOU FUCKING PUSSY!" goaded by these taunts, Juan's hands locked around the grown man's head.
By some ungodly means, the 14 year old black haired boy twisted Danny's head to the side, there was sickening snapping noise. As Luis gasped and covered his eyes as the man fell to the muddy floor. Neck broken, as the bandits cheered, one of them even had to nerve to urinate on Danny's corpse, as the said bandit laughed mindlessly.
This was... barbaric, Luis wasn't aware of his legs moving, but when they did he suddenly realised he was standing in the middle of this circle of madmen and facing his best friend, as everything went quiet.
"Did it... did it get so bad you had to do this?" Luis asked, praying this was a dream and that he'd wake up.
"Who the hell is cripple Juan?" a bandit snapped to his right.
"He... he is a fr... well part of the group I'm with" Juan replied, his eyes finding the floor as he shuffled uncomfortably.
"You... you're spying on us aren't you!? You joined this group of bandits in exchange for your life... you... you... promised them to lead them to our hostel didn't you? Didn't you!?" Luis demanded, as Juan finally looked up.
"They w-would have killed me, I was out hunting and then... I found them. I promised them I would spy on the group, give them a small dosage of supplies whenever they needed it. But only so small so no one knew supplies were missing, it... it all went well, besides soon were taking that hostel Luis. and we, we are fucking going to kill George, you hear me?"
Luis backed away from Juan in horror.
"What's with the we Juan?" Luis asked.
"Yeah, we don't need this fucking cripple, probably can't shoot a gun for shit" one bandit snarled at Juan, as the boy gulped and tried to calm himself down.
"You... you I will admit this. You are my friend. My best friend (he ignored the bandit who let out a patronizing "awwwwww" at this point and carried on speaking) you can join us. George treats us both like shit, we can take over the hostel today. Kill him and the other useless people inside..."
"Other-useless-people. Like who... THE WOMEN!? THE ELDERLY! THE CHILDREN! YOUR GOING TO SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU MAN! YOUR MEANT TO BE MY FRIEND! YOU... THIS ISN'T WHO YOU ARE...!" Luis exploded, as Juan looked up at him, his facial expression was becoming darker.
"They are useless though Luis, here. Me and these guys, were like brothers. We kill to survive, that's the way the world is now..."
"No, I don't believe this" Luis muttered emptily, this couldn't be happening, not so suddenly. Yet what Juan said next broke apart their friendship for good and forever.
"NO! THIS IS FUCKING HAPPENING LUIS! THESE GUYS SPARED ME! THEY LOOKED AFTER ME!? WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME!? EVERY TIME GEORGE HAS BEEN ON MY ASS YOU'VE JUST SAT AND DONE NOTHING! YOU NEVER ASKED HOW I WAS DOING! YOU NEVER GAVE ME ANY SUPPORT! BUT I ALWAYS HAD TO FUCKING WORK FOR YOU!? WIPING YOUR ASS, HELPING WITH YOUR FUCKING ARM! BEING THE SUPPORTING VOICE OF REASON! YOUR WEAK! YOUR PATHETIC AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU...!"
Luis was stunned into shock at this outburst of honest emotions from someone he thought he could trust with his life. So much so he could only helplessly stutter "Juan I... I always worried about you man... I... I am so sorry I should have been there for you... I..."
"Sorry don't mean shit now, Luis. If you aren't joining us. You're against us. I can't let you go back to camp and tell everyone about this" Was all Juan had to say, these words ensured that a few tears leaked from Luis' eyes, as the bandits smiled wickedly and one of them punched Luis hard in the gut, one of them punched his cheek... it went on for a short while, before a bruised Luis was held up by both of his limp arms.
"Stop fucking crying, it's fucking pissing me off" a bandit above him snarled to a weeping Luis.
"With this asshole dead, (the bandit kicked Danny's head) we aren't getting supplies anywhere else other than that Hostel Juan. I think it's time we busted that joint..."
"Yeah I could eating a fucking cow and all it's fucking shit right now...!"
Luis' head was dizzy... he...he could see a glint of sliver near to his eye.
"He can't see the world for what It is Juan. Best way to symbolise that is that you do this..." a bandit handed Juan a deadly looking dagger, as the bandits laughed and cheered in anticipation.
"AN EYE FOR AN EYE!" was the deafening chant that rang through Luis' ears. He saw Juan above him...the dagger shaking in his hand.
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS! PLEASE JUAN! THEY'LL ONLY USE YOU! THEY'LL USE YOU TO GET THE HOSTEL AND THEN THEY'LL KILL YOU! WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT!? PLEASE! DON'T... I NEED YOUR HELP..." Luis pleaded, but these words removed any last traces of his best friend as Juan's face darkened even further.
"I am fucking tired of giving you my help" Juan spat.
and then he wormed the dagger underneath Luis' skin, right by his eye, as Luis roared in pain, with a devilish grin Juan tugged the knife upwards, the pain that soared through Luis' bones as half of his vision went black and he felt the watery globe of his brownish eye be spilt into two as a range of seemingly molten hot liquids rained down his face... it was... it couldn't be described in words. Losing an arm was hell... this was even more so. He squealed to the high heavens above and thrashed wildly trying to get away from all this... but the bandits held him tight and Juan continued to torture him until he pulled something from Luis' face.
"Here boy, look at your pretty little eye" A bandit teased him with, his now single tear filled eye looked at the removed limb. His removed eye looked slightly like an egg, the bandits laughed and crushed his torn out eye in his sturdy fingers, showering Luis' face with more soggy liquids.
"Come on! We'll come back to finish him off later! He ain't going anywhere! and if he does it will make the hunt more fun. Consider it a favour Juan as he is your old friend..." a bandit shouted, as they all laughed an cheered. Juan amongst the monsters as they marched on back to the hostel, ready to kill George, his mother and all of the children there, the old people, Kelly...
He was pushed to the ground where he lay still, in a numb sort of agony as his friend's sudden betrayal had left him lifeless. This time Luis had to accept both George and Juan's words, he was weak. He was pathetic, he was ready to simply bleed out and die here. He was so tired of struggling and moving onwards...
"Luis!" came a panicked squeak.
Luis didn't how much time had passed, but he knew the bandits had left him in the clearing, and out of his single eye he saw the blurry form of his mother crouch over him.
"My God... My God... Juan how could he... how could he do this to my baby..?." she gasped in disbelief as she cradled her son's head in her lap.
"Mum... you... you followed me out here...?" Luis asked, his world going dizzy.
"George told me what happened, I got angry with him and went off to look for you and then I saw everything and..." she muffled a sob as Luis groaned "Mum... I'm going to die aren't I?"
"No my dear. I always carry the group meds on me. I can patch you up, but you have to move Luis. I can't drag you, they'll be back soon and the group... the group..." she muffled another sob, as Luis muttered "Forget about me. Get back to the group mum, you can still get there before those assholes do. Warn them about the attack and get the hell..."
"NO!" Maria screamed, hugging her son ever tighter as it hit Luis, the group he was so comfortable with. They were all going to be slaughtered like pigs and he and his mother could do nothing but flee... leave them all behind. He may not have liked George but... that stable group. That stable group was shattered, his friendship was Juan was shattered, Luis couldn't do it. He sobbed into the earth as his mother (once again) had to drag him to safety in the woods.
Dabbing at his eye and cleaning it with meds that made Luis' empty eye socket sting worse than ever. The cool bandages gave him a bit of relief as he lay slumped against the tree. Watching his exhausted mother curl into herself and try to sleep on the cold forest floor, she only carried meds and a few clothes on her. They lacked food, drink and blankets to keep them warm and their stomach's full. As Luis' empty stomach growled he blankly asked his mother "Do you think any of them escaped?".
"I don't know son. I hope so" was all Maria had to say.
Maria fell asleep in exhaustion while Luis waited. Were the bandits going to hunt him and his mother down tonight? Were the hostel group still standing? Was Juan dead? Was George himself dead? Luis shuddered to think as he realised how much could change in the space of a single day.
"I have too...I've got to become tougher now. I know what you meant now George" Luis muttered through chattering teeth, he gazed up at the full moon through the branches of the treetops and then back towards his mother, she had been so strong for him. Dragging him through a hell he no longer wanted to be dragged through, but she never gave up hope for him and he was simply a useless sack of a liability, being dragged around like a rag doll...
"No more, no more trusting others! No more of that shit! I... am... going... to... survive... this!" Luis promised himself, his hands balling into fists, as the 14 year old boy gazed at the ground in hatred.
Day 478- Luis
It was satisfying.
Returning to the hostel in caution, his mother picking up supplies from the now deserted place. Luis found them both, George as a walker with bullet wounds littering his corpse as he stumbled towards the 14 year old, using the small knife that Maria had attained from the now empty hostel, and that she gave to her son. Luis used his knife to put George to sleep for good.
But when he found Juan as a walker, with the same dagger he used to tear out Luis' eye now still lying in the back of his neck, Luis massacred his old friend. Bellowing hatred one minute to laughing hysterically the next, until Juan was nothing but a mess of bone, hair and scraps of meat, Maria stood over crazed son. Deeply disturbed by what she had seen.
"I found water" was all she could say, as Luis pulled the silver dagger out of Juan's back. He had been betrayed by the bandits then, it severed him right. Luis felt so good at the justice that had prevailed, that sent his former best friend to an early grave.
In present day, Luis and Maria sat around the campfire, they had been alone for long time. Drifting from one place to the next, Luis didn't trust anyone, anymore. Although Maria wanted to join a group she eventually gave into her son's demands as they moved on alone. A year and a half into the apocalypse and they were still alive.
He heard his mother muttering a prayer to his absent father, as Luis crudely spat on the ground and snarled.
Whatever puppy fat was on him before had long since been lost and turned into hard muscle as the labouring days grew longer to find food. Luis always fully exerted himself, survival his key goal. The boy he once was... he was long gone. Luis had gotten taller and more lean, traces of facial hair began to grow on his chin and cheeks. His once curly black hair had been cut down to a spiky buzz cut so walkers wouldn't grab his hair, he needed no bandages to cover his lost eye or arm anymore, preferring to let his scars show.
"That's rude son" Maria told her son, after he spat into the ground.
"I don't care, carry on praying to father. He doesn't care, he doesn't watch over us, he only watches over his damn drugs..." Luis snarled, as Maria angrily faced her hardened son.
"Do not say that about your father!" she roared, as Luis merely shrugged.
"It's true though and you know it" Luis informed his mother. He didn't know much about his father, other than that he died before Luis was born in some sort of gun related incident. Maria didn't like to speak about it and Luis had come to the conclusion that his father was a good for nothing drug dealer and died in some sort of conflict relating to that. He didn't get why his mother prayed to a scum-bag.
"You know! Do you really want to know who your father was!?" Maria roared, as Luis leant back, grinning to himself.
"Go on then, who was he?" Luis inquired.
Maria sighed as she began her tale "Your father Jorge, I worked as... as an escort then son. You know what..?."
"Yes it's a prostitute who grows around shagging rich men..." Luis said coldly, Maria flinched before she carried on.
"Then I met your father. Jorge. He was a wealthy businessman. Admittedly, yes he did a lot of drug dealing but... then he met me and... and I saw the sensitive, kind man under the image of that tycoon. He kept inviting me back, we fell in love son. I fell in love with your father and he fell in love with me, a poor escort from the slums. When I got pregnant he promised to leave his life of crime and wealth behind. He just wanted a loving family that was all, no matter how poor he was. I adored your father Luis, but then some of his colleagues weren't happy with the life he left behind, they tried to make him come back and then he refused and... and they..." she paused there, as Luis remained silent. Gazing at his mother.
"He'd knew you'd be a boy. He wanted to call you Luis, he always loved that name. He... he wanted to see you son. He wanted to see you be born... he..." she paused there, as she gazed back at her son.
"I haven't told you this, because you don't believe me, do you?"
Luis nodded, confirming that he thought his entire mother's story on his father was corny bullshit.
"I thought so, no one ever believes me. No one understands what a great man he was. He was flawed but great. You are the spitting image of him Luis you are flawed too but an amazing young man with so much determination in you... I couldn't save your father Luis, but I will try as hard as physically can to save you. Because I know how great you can be..."
Luis listened on, he supposed this explained why his mother had dragged him from state to state. Never giving up hope on the liability he once was. He sensed his mother disliked how he had hardened to the world, but she had dragged him through it and now he had simply adapted. Maria had already saved Luis and despite his new nature he still loved her. They had been through so much together, his mother was the only person on earth right now he trusted.
However unlike his idealistic minded mother, he was a realist.
He was now a survivor.
