Chapter 2

Xavier couldn't see a way out of this predicament. There was a barrel pointed down at his head and his Bo staff was 8 feet away from him. Seeing as how his fate was sealed, he closed his eyes and waited to be sent to heaven. But then he realized, he never went anywhere without his 9mm pistol which he carried with him just in case. While the man was distracted by the sounds of Allyson's faint crying, Xavier slid his hand down his back and grabbed for the handle of his pistol. His eyes glimmered with hope as he pulled it out from behind him, and shot the man in the leg. Blood splattered on Xaviers face as the man fell, grabbing his shin in pain. Xavier kipped up and held his pistol at the man's head, and he kicked the man's rifle out of reach. The man looked up knowing he himself was now screwed; fear and pain rushed into his eyes. But Xavier wouldn't kill. Never a human. All life was precious to him, no matter how bad they were or much he got hurt by them. Instead, he neutralized the man by kicking his head and knocking him out. If the man was lucky, a walker wouldn't find him before he woke up.

Xavier slid the pistol back down his pants, and went to pick up his Bo staff. Retracting the full length of it, he carried it back to the car. Inside the car, Allyson was still in the back seat, crying. Xavier opened the driver side door, and leaned back into the back. Allyson looked up, and saw her older brother was alive and well. She leapt up and put Xavier in an embrace, which he gladly returned.

"Alright, let's get a move on." He said, pulling away from hug. He allowed Allyson to sit in the front seat this time, so she could be closer to the safety of her brother. Backing back out onto the highway, a totaled car that was crashed into a tree caught Xavier's eye. He dismissed it as it had been there since before the dead started walking, and continued down the road. He looked over at Allyson, who was still wiping tears off her eyes. He knew they couldn't stay on the road forever; they need some sort of stability.

Suddenly, a warning light came on the dashboard: Low Fuel. Oh, crap, Xavier thought, and soon the car came to a stop, much to the sibling's dismay. Xavier groaned and slammed his head down on the steering wheel, multiple times. After he calmed down, he and Allyson grabbed as many supplies as they could carry from the car, and continued down the paved road on foot. It wasn't long though, as the sun was setting which would multiply the danger by 10. Xavier looked around to see if he could find any sort of shelter, but as far as the eye could see there were trees upon trees upon trees.

"What are we gonna do?" Allyson said in a small voice.

Xavier sighed. "I don't know, sis. We may have to just camp here for tonight."

"I don't wanna stay here. Monsters will get us, Xavi, I know it!" Allyson exclaimed, as tears started to stream down her face.

"No, no, no, no, no, don't cry! I'll think of something, just gimme a minute."

Xavier wasn't about to stay in a place that made his sister feel unsafe. As bad of times these were, he still was going to try and make it better for her sake and everyone else he came into contact with. Upon searching, he found another dirt road which lead deeper into the forest. He knew that was a probably a bad idea, considering it may be swarming with walkers. But he didn't have much of an alternative that didn't involve Allyson bawling her eyes out, so he grabbed her by the hand and started their trek into the forest.

By now, the sun had already gone down, and night covered the landscape in a thick darkness. There was very little light, except for the occasional moonlight that beamed through the openings that the branches and leaves of the trees didn't cover, which provided just enough light to let the kids keep going. Allyson yawned and started to drift to sleep while walking. Xavier then picked her up and carried her over his shoulder. It was then Xavier realized how tired he was as well, for his eyes grew heavy. He slapped himself across the face before he could fall asleep, and tried to keep going as much as possible.

Then, in the distance, he could see some sort of building; it looked to be at least three stories, and it was surrounded by a fence at least half that high. As he grew closer, he could see a gate as well, but it looked to be pretty worn down, as was the rest of the place. He roused that he and Allyson could stay here at least until morning, after they all had a decent nights rest. He crept through the gate, with his sister still asleep on his back, making his way into the schoolhouse-looking building. Inside the gate, he realized this place was pretty well kept, as there was a fire pit with a cauldron set above it on one side, and there were picnic tables close by. There were small structures that looked like barricades, probably for fighting back the walkers, and up on the steps of the schoolhouse slept a Pitbull. A huge, intimidating Pitbull that looked like it could snap Xavier like a twig if he got caught between its jaws.

Xavier's breath was shaky as he crept as quietly as he could up the steps, past the dog. The dog shifted a little in its sleep, making the teen jump, but it slept soundly. Once he finally got inside, Xavier let out a sigh of relief. Inside, the school house walls were in ruins. Holes, tears in the wallpaper, graffiti, were all over, making this place look like a warzone more than it already did. He walked through the silent halls, looking for a bedroom of some sort or at least a place suitable for sleeping. Soon, he found exactly what he was looking for: two beds on both sides of the room, with a dresser underneath a window in between. It was still dark, and he couldn't see much, but he could see the beds.

He placed Allyson on the bed on the right side of the room, tucked her in, and made his way to the other bed. He pulled back the blankets, and laid down letting the soft, warm embrace of the mattress surround him. He sighed, happily relaxed. But upon spreading out his arms, he collided with a lump on the other side of the bed. He brushed it off with the thought that it was just another pillow or a lump in the mattress, and slowly drifted to sleep.

The next morning, Xavier was awakened by sunlight protruding through the bedroom window and the sound of birds chirping as they flew by. He yawned and looked over at Allyson who was still asleep. Something on the dresser, in between the two beds, caught his eye; an old, ratty-looking baseball cap with the letter, "D", sewed on the front of it, but the "D" was slowly peeling off. How long has that been there? Xavier thought, as he turned over to on his other side, to discover two sky blue eyes staring back. A girl, who looked to be Xavier's age, was staring at him with confusion and maybe even fear. She had short, curly brown hair that was pulled into a small bun at the bottom right side of her head.

Xavier didn't know what to do, and from the looks of it, neither did the girl. So he did what he knew how to do at the time. He screamed. Loud. The girl followed in suit, as Xavier quickly rolled out of the bed. Still screaming, he stood up and flipped out his Bo staff, but before he could flick it out to its full length, his legs were grabbed from below the second bed and he went down. While he was down, the girl got up out of bed, or hobbled for she only had one leg, and got on top of his back, holding a knife to his neck, as a young dark-skinned boy crawled out from underneath the bed, straightening his afro out.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" The girl growled, pushing the knife into his skin drawing a little blood.

"Chill the hell out!" Xavier exclaimed, staying as still as possible despite the pain in the back of his neck. "I thought this place was abandoned and we needed a place to stay!"

"Wait," the girl said, lifting the knife up. "'We?'"

The girl and the boy got distracted by shuffling sounds coming from the bed, and then Allyson poked her head out from underneath the covers, to discover a teenage girl held a knife and was sitting on top of her brother and a dark-skinned boy held a small pistol, aimed at her head. Then, Allyson burst into tears and started to sob uncontrollably.

"Awesome, guys. Really awesome…" Xavier sighed, sarcastically.

Xavier took this chance to flip up, knocking the girl down, and grabbed his Bo staff. He extended it, and spun it around. The boy took aim at Xavier, but before he could pull down the hammer and pull the trigger, Xavier quickly kicked the gun out of his hand and jabbed the head of the staff into his stomach, sending the boy to the ground next to the girl, clutching his belly in pain. Suddenly, another dark-skinned teen wearing a tan jacket burst into the room.

"What the fuck is going on in he-" The teen was stopped short by the staff being flung into his forehead knocking him out.

Xavier grimaced. He didn't mean to knock him out, it was just a reflex. It happens when you live in a world like this. Turning back to the matter at hand, he grabbed his sister and pulled her to his side. The teenage girl started to slowly get up, which Xavier allowed. Her knife was already on the ground so, he doubted she could do much harm, given that she was basically crippled.

"Will he be alright?" The girl asked, pointing to the unconscious body behind him.

"Uh…" Xavier turned to look behind him "I'm not sure… I didn't mean to hit him that hard; he snuck up on me. I'm sure he'll be fine."

The girl didn't react. She stood there as best she could with her right leg, looking down at the young boy next to her. She looked back up at Xavier. "What do you want?"

Xavier rubbed the back of his head, after sheathing his Bo staff. "Well, the reason I came here in the first place, was because our car ran outta gas and we needed a place to sleep. Here was the nearest place."

"How'd you get past Rosie?" The young boy asked, never taking his eyes off Xavier's weapon.

"You mean that dog?" Xavier replied, throwing his thumb over his shoulder. "I just snuck past her. I swear, it was by the grace of God, she didn't wake up and eat me."

The girl rolled her eyes in response to his statement, and grabbed her crutches that were leaning up against the wall. The young boy picked up the girls knife off of the floor, making Xaviers body tense up, just in case another fight broke out. The girl must've noticed Xavier's body language and said, "Don't worry. If I was going to kill you, you'd already be dead."

Xavier raised a brow in response. He looked over her body, mostly her missing leg. She didn't seem to be in much of a position to be a threat. Maybe she was at one point, but not anymore. She only got the upper hand the first time because, he had gotten tripped by that brat of a brother she has or nephew or cousin or whatever he was to her. He kinda snickered at the thought of the girl, hopping around a battlefield with only a knife for protection. It was kinda pathetic.

"What's so funny?" The girl asked, furrowing her brow, as if she knew what he was thinking. Xavier didn't want to start another fight or hurt her feelings so he kept his mouth shut and shook his head.

"Anyways," Xavier started "If you want us to leave, we'll leave. We don't wanna intrude."

"Seems like you've already done that." The girl replied, sheathing her knife.

Xavier chuckled, nervously. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't realize the bed was taken."

"Jesus, will you stop making excuses?" The girl walked past him, to check on the unconscious boy who was still lying on the floor.

Xavier kept his mouth shut once more.

"We're not gonna let you go, with a kid as little as her without at least some food." The girl said, kneeling down to check the older boys pulse.

"Thank you." Allyson said, finally speaking up.

The girl turned to her and smiled warmly, as she stood herself up with her crutches. "Not a problem. We have plenty of leftover stew from yesterday."

Xavier smiled a little. Who knew the girl who he mistakenly slept with would not only offer then some food, but let them leave alive? He followed the girl and the young boy out of the bedroom, with Allyson attached to his leg with an iron grip. The siblings followed the other two through the silent hallways, and out the big wooden doors of the school. Outside, more kids were out walking around either cooking food for the others, like this red-headed overweight girl was doing, or standing guard on the watchtowers posted near the wall.

It wasn't long, before he and Allyson's presences became noticed. Then, it escalated to where everyone now had weapons out and looking like they were ready to pounce on them, making Xaviers hand go to his Bo staff handle.

"Everyone, wait!" Exclaimed the girl. "I'll explain everything in a minute. But first can we at least have some food?"

Then, the group of kids murmured, hesitantly, but complied with the girls command. Damn, she must be the leader or something, Xavier thought, and continued to follow the girl to the picnic table, he had seen the night before. After being able to detach his sister from his leg, Xavier sat her down next to him, but she still had a firm grasp on her brother's arm. He watched as the girl conversed with the red-head, probably about whether or not they could stay. Ah, Xavier, don't get ahead of yourself. You're lucky her kid didn't kill you earlier, he thought, shaking the thought out of his mind. The two girls soon joined them at the picnic table, with bowls of what looked to be rabbit stew.

"You're tellin' me, that you woke up in this girl's bed?" The red-head asked Xavier, with her thick southern accent.

Xavier gulped. "Not intentionally. I wasn't paying attention. You got any idea how abandoned this place looks at night time?"

"Next time, y'all check the beds before you decide to go sleepin' in 'em." She replied, slurping down her own bowl of soup. "You coulda gotten yerself killed by our Clementine, here."

Xavier looked at the other girl, who he assumed to be Clementine. He smiled to himself. Clementine. A cute name for someone of her liking.

"AJ!" Clementine called. "Breakfast is here."

The dark-skinned boy soon walked up to his place at the table and started to eat. AJ looked up at Xavier and Allyson, menacingly.

"You better not make any trouble." He said "Because if you do, I'm gonna have to kill you."

Xavier burst into laughter. He couldn't be serious. Sure, he had a gun earlier this morning, but he didn't look like a killer. He wiped his eyes, after calming down

"Wow," Xavier said, chuckling a little. "That's a good joke, little man."

He looked at the two girls, who were not laughing, but instead looked at him with very serious expressions. The smile fell from Xavier's face and he dropped his head to look at his bowl of stew. He guessed he probably shouldn't take serious things like that like a joke. But a kid of AJs age? A killer? It couldn't be. But then again this was basically the apocalypse.

Anything could happen. But right now, it's time to focus on the matter at hand. They didn't seem too eager to have any more people join their group. But he didn't want to keep having to put Allyson through all the stress of being on the road, where the next meal isn't promised. If they stayed here, Allyson could hang out and play with kids her own age, and they could contribute to the group. The only thing he could do now is sit back and see what happens