"Help me god dang it! I can hear you, help!" A wheezy male voice called out.

The trio of friends immediately tensed up. Bobby and Joseph both pulled out hunting knives.

"Whose there!?" Bobby shouted.

"God dang it, HELP ME!" The man pleaded.

Bobby and Joseph shared a look, then approached the trench slowly. The trench was roughly eight feet deep all around. Sitting at the bottom, nursing an injured leg was a sweaty white bald man wearing a dirty torn button up shirt and office pants. Beside him lay a suitcase. Buck Strickland had seen better days.

Bobby was surprised and taken aback for a moment, but then caught himself.

"Who are you? Are you infected?" He demanded.

"What?! No! Can't you see I need help! Who digs a goddamn trench in the middle of nowhere!" Buck shouted back.

"I don't trust him" Joseph said.

"It's Buck Strickland... he's my Dad's old boss" Bobby whispered to Joseph.

"We can't just leave him down there!" Connie pleaded. Joseph shook his head, "He's from the wasteland. Dad says only bad people wander out there!"

"John Red corn says a lot of things" Bobby said. Connie looked at him shocked, but Joseph didn't notice.

"We should wait for the convoy to get back, I don't care what John Redcorn says, my Dad will know what to do with him" Joseph argued.

"He'll die of exposure if we leave him, come on guys, we have to do something!" Connie said desperately. Bobby looked back and forth between Joseph and Connie.

"Come back boy! You gotta help me!" Buck Strickland cried out, "I think I sprained my ankle when I fell!"

Bobby ignored him, "Connie, go back to my place and get Peggy, she'll know what to do, we will stand watch" he ordered. Connie nodded, then ran off. Joseph had walked over to the trench to take a good look at Buck Strickland.

"Is that an Alamo beer? Come on boy, lend a man a drink! I'm dying of thirst!" Buck Strickland shouted. Joseph looked down at the sweaty man, and then at the beer.

"Dude, he's weak" He said to Bobby, before taking a sip of beer. Buck Strickland let out a desperate moan.

Bobby looked back down the trench.

"Don't worry , my mom will know what to do!"

"How do you know my name?" Buck Strickland said, squinting his eyes at Bobby. The sun was directly behind Bobby, making it impossible to distinguish Joseph and Bobby.


Peggy and Nancy sat on two lawn chairs in front of the Hill residence, enjoying a couple alamo beers and watching the neighborhood.

"It feels so good to finally have real supplies! I've been getting sick of having to work every single day" Peggy said, stretching.

"I kow how you feel Sug, For the first time I can finally just relax" Nancy replied absent mindedly.

"Oh, I know you've been taking breaks all the time, we all see you going over to John Redcorns trailer" Peggy said sternly.

"Oh that? That's nothing, A girl can have fun, can't she?" Nancy replied, giving Peggy a look.

"You know Dale or Joseph will figure this out sooner than later, right?" Peggy warned.

"I got away with it for ... about fifteen years now? I don't think they're going to find out anytime soon" Nancy said dismissively.

"Nancy, there's only fourteen of us left! IT's not the same anymore!" Peggy stated aggressively.

"Just relax Sug, don't get involved. I don't get involved about... you know, Luanne's habits..." Peggy looked away uncomfortably, "And besides, just look at him" Nancy gestured towards John Redcorns trailer. He was outdoors, topless, washing his clothing in a steel basin. Peggy couldn't help but look at his rippling muscles. A slight breeze flew over the wasteland, blowing his long black air in the wind.

"That's right Sug, I see you looking at him" Nancy said with a smirk, then let out a laugh. Peggy looked for another second, then joined in laughing.

"Well... he may have certain qualities about him... but I prefer Hank over John Redcorn any day. I like em old fashioned... and the other men here, don't get me started!" Peggy said, laughing.

"Hey, Dale can put on quite a show, as long as he doesn't start talking about capping some zombie in the middle of it. And Boomhauers been looking better then ever" Nancy said, sipping her beer, "I wouldn't really count any of the other men though." She nodded across the street, where Kahn was shouting at Minh in aggressive Laotian. They weren't quite sure what he was angry about, but he kept pointing at garbage on the lawn and then trying to wave Minh down. Minh ignored him, too busy watching from the perch. Eventually Kahn gave up trying to get her attention, proceeded to stomp in a circle on his lawn, then noticed Peggy and Nancy watching.

"What! You Rednecks never seen a domestic dispute get resolved! You always think every argument lead to fist fight, drunk on the lawn?! Pow Pow?!" He glared at them. Nancy waved.

"ARGH!" He shouted, then stomped off into his home and slammed the door.

"Kahn's not taking his new life well" Peggy noted.

"At least he doesn't.. .you know..." Nancy mimed smoking a meth pipe.

"There's a real winner. Sometimes I just wish I could shoot down that filth. He doesn't deserve Luanne!" Peggy growled. Her grip tightened around the empty beer can, crumbling it in her calloused hands.

"And then there's Bill. Did you hear him farting last night after he passed out?" Nancy asked, quickly changing the topic.

"Barely got any sleep, I have no idea how Hank can stand that man. Maybe I'm being too harsh, he did help build the house" Peggy said.

"He's also got that crush on you still" Nancy smirked. Peggy said nothing, but the twitching around her eyes revealed her disgust. She was about to say something when Connie came running up, shouting " ! ! Come quick! There's someone in the trench!"

Peggy and Nancy looked at each other, then jumped out of the lawn chairs and grabbed two nearby rifles leaning against the wall.

"Is he infected?" Peggy asked sternly.

Connie shook her head, "I don't think so."

Peggy nodded, "Take us to him."


Bobby and Joseph continued to watch Buck Strickland moan as they nursed two Alamo beers.

"Come on boys, give me a beer! Please! I'm dying out here!" He pleaded.

"Dude, maybe we should" Joseph said.

"We don't do anything until my mom gets here" Bobby said.

As if on cue, Connie returned, with Peggy and Nancy in tow.

"Alright, where is he?" Peggy asked.

Bobby pointed into the trench.

Peggy looked over, preparing for the worst, but was caught off guard by who she saw.

"Buck?... Buck Strickland?!" She gasped.

"Yeah... who are you? How do y'all know my name!" Buck demanded, trying to shield his eyes from the sunlight, "Is that... Peggy? Peggy Hill?! OH thank God, please help me up, where's Hank!?" He demanded.

"Not so fast" Peggy growled, "Have any zombies bit you? Are you infected?" She demanded.

"Do I look infected?! I've been wandering for days! I'm all out of food, and then I fall into a pit and break my leg in the middle of the night! I've been through hell and you're not helping!" Buck Strickland wheezed out.

Peggy narrowed her eyes, "Why were you out at night? How did you find this place?" She asked.

"I could hear people shouting and singing for miles! I saw the light in the distance, I've been wandering alone for so long! I've been calling for help all night, but no one heard me!" Buck Strickland pleaded, "Please help me , God dang it, I'm just a human being!"

"Come on Sug, help the poor man" Nancy said.

"Alright, Can you stand up?" Peggy asked.

"What do you think?! I broke my god dang leg!" Buck Strickland shouted.

Peggy sighed, pulled out a clip of ammo, then lowered one end of the rifle down to him, "Grab the rifle, don't even think about stealing it, or you're dead" She ordered.

Buck Strickland reached up and grabbed the end of the rifle. He gripped firmly while Peggy pulled him up. Once he was halfway over the edge, Bobby and Joseph joined in, hoisted him up into New Arlen.

"Woah , I didn't know you were that ... strong" Connie said with a look of surprise on her face.

"The end of the world can do that to a body" Peggy said proudly, stretching her arms out, "Connie, check his leg" She ordered.

Buck Strickland lay down on the ground while Connie inspected his leg.

"Does this hurt?" She asked , putting her arms on his ankle.

"Argh! Hell yeah!, It's broken, I told you, girlie!" Buck Strickland roared out.

"Don't talk to her that way" Bobby said, glaring at Buck. He seemed to shrink a little under Bobby's glare.

"Bobby, is that you?" He asked.

Bobby nodded his head, still glaring at him, "You forgot your briefcase" he growled.

"Forget about it, it's empty" Buck said quickly, "You look ... different" He said, with a slight hint of fear in his eyes. Bobby nodded.

"Alright, good news, you're ankles sprained, not broken. You'll be able to walk in no time" Connie said happily.

"Well alright, some good news for once. Now how about you get me a drink?" Buck asked, looking up at Peggy and Nancy. They looked back down at him with a look of disgust, "alright... maybe not. Can I at least have some shelter? Ive been out under the sun for days!"

Peggy nodded, "Joseph, Bobby, help to the house. He won't be running anywhere on that ankle."

Bobby and Joseph nodded, then helped up and took him away, Connie following.

"Do you really think he can do anything to help here?" Nancy asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"No. And I've got a couple things to say to him before Hank gets back."


Buck Strickland sat in the living room of the Hill residence, drinking a glass of water. He sat on an old couch that had remained somehow intact after the apocalypse. Hank had found it scavenging, and it reminded him enough of his past life to take home. Bobby leaned against the wall, watching Buck.

The door opened as Peggy entered.

"Bobby, can you wait outside for a minute please?" She asked. Bobby left the room, leaving the two alone.

"So... whats on the menu tonight? You got real food here?" Buck asked.

"Shut your mouth. You don't belong here, and you might never belong here. You are weak, and you have always been weak, and you're lucky there were witnesses earlier, or I would have put a bullet in your head and dragged your corpse out into the wasteland to be eating by the dead."

Buck gulped.

"But I didn't, because I know how much Hank thinks of you. I don't know why he thinks you're the greatest thing to ever walk the earth, but to me, you are garbage and scum. And there's already enough scum here. If you try to treat my husband badly, or talk down to him in any way, or get him to do anything for you, even if he offers, you'll wake up tied up in the wasteland, and no one will find you" Peggy stared into his eyes.

He looked like he would piss himself.

"Do I make myself clear?" She growled.

He nodded his head.

"Say it out loud. Do I make myself clear?" She asked again.

"I understand... I'll be good" Buck Strickland wheezed out.

"Good" Peggy said sternly. Some commotion could be heard outside. The sounds of a truck, and cheers.

"Because Hank just got back, so you better not fuck up."