Chapter 2

Mike

After what felt like forever, the sun finally started to rise. Mike sat up, twisting his back and then cracking his knuckles. Bonnie was standing up by the door, the morning sunlight shining on her face. Arvo sat on the ground beside the lantern checking his rifle ammo.

Mike got up off of the ground, still gripping on the small gun in his sweat shirt pocket. He had held it like that through the whole night, causing the sweat of his palm to get all over the handle. Now the handle just felt cold due to the morning air.

They exited the one – room cottage and kept on moving, with Mike in the lead. He dragged his feet across the ground, his shoulders sulking. Dark bags were visible under his eyes.

"We really gotta find some food. We ain't gonna last much longer out here." Bonnie said. Mike didn't look back at her, he just kept to himself and proceeded forward.

Soon enough, a walker came limping right towards them. Arvo spit something in Russian while Mike sighed. He walked up to it and, not wanting to waste any bullets, brought his foot up and kicked the walker square in the chest. It fell over, the snow forming the shape of its body as its back lay there.

Mike sighed. With no other options, he brought his foot up and then brought it back down on the walker's head. One stomp didn't do the trick though, so he continued. Again and again and again.

Once he was done, he sighed again and looked at his shoe with a look of disgust. Blood was now caked on his calf and ankle, while more blood was soaking his sock. Even if hygiene didn't really matter anymore, Mike hated getting that dirty, especially with blood.

The three of them kept moving, starting to pick up the pace now. Their stomachs were growling, they needed food as soon as possible. Mike's eyes stayed on the path ahead, but inside he was mentally praying to god that he would be able to eat soon.

…

Some hours passed, but nothing changed. Mike kept on walking with Bonnie and Arvo, but all they had come across was a couple of more walkers that they easily took down. Mike stopped and looked behind him, estimating that they were at least 5 miles away from where they left Kenny and the rest of the group.

It was silent, the only sound was the snow crunching under their feet, then it happened. A twig suddenly snapped from a nearby tree. Mike immediately turn his head, gripping onto his gun tighter. His eyes moved back and forth, scanning his surroundings.

"Drop the rifle!" A man barked from behind Arvo. Arvo slowly put his rifle down, then slowly backed up. A man stood there with another rifle in his hand. He was tall, having muscles on his arms. He had dark hair, with the beginnings of a dark beard on his chin. An intense look in his eyes was clearly visible.

Before either Mike or Bonnie had any time to react, three more people came out from hiding behind the surrounding trees. One was an unarmed chubby man who looked worried. The other two people were woman, one holding another rifle. The unarmed one looked as worried as the chubby man, and had dark hair and glasses resting on her nose. Cracks could be seen on the glasses. The armed woman's facial features looked similar to the armed man who had told Arvo to put his rifle down. She had dirty blonde hair.

"You! Take your hands out of your pocket!" The armed woman ordered firmly. Her voice sounded like she meant business. Mike sighed, then slowly pulled his hands out of his sweatshirt pocket. His small gun could be seen now, dropping low in his pocket. The armed noticed that.

"Empty it!" She ordered, referring to the pocket. Not having any other choice, Mike slowly took out his small gun and dropped it to the ground, defeated.

Bonnie wasn't even armed in the first place, but that didn't stop these people from checking her too. Once they were done, the chubby man asked a single question.

"What do we do with them?"