"Here's one" A feminine voice resounded, pointing to a deceased man handcuffed to a radiator. The walker snarled and snapped, trying desperately to break free of its restraints to eat the meal presented to it. Broken glass coated its legs, a broken vase next to it. A dead walker sat a few feet away, a single bullet messily shot into its skull.
"You sure you want this guy?" A broader man clad in Kevlar, wielding a pump action shotgun questioned.
"Yes, I'm sure. Muzzle him, and let's go. If this is successful, we might be able to reverse this entire thing" The woman smiled, watching as the armoured bodyguard put a piece of metal around the walker's head and tied it to the gnashing teeth, before uncuffing the monster and dragging it by the shoulder out. The walker feebly tried to claw at the armour, to no avail.
"Let's go, before I take anymore jewellery" The woman joked, leading the broad man out the back entrance.
"Winter! How long?!" Kris hollered, the weight of an inevitable attack weighing down on his shoulders.
"Right now!" Winter's shaking voice caused Kris' head to snap forward, seeing the 30 or so bandits march carelessly onto the front grass.
"Samuel! Get out here, now! I don't want this to get ugly!" The large man dressed in full black and a plain black ski-mask hollered.
"Go fuck yourself!" Sam snapped, his teeth bared as he aimed his gun at the leader.
"Ah, there you are Sammy boy! Come, let's talk about this civilly. See, I'm still a bit… how would you say, pissed off? Yeah, pissed off. I'm still pissed off that you stole from me and killed two of my best men!" The leader snarled, stopping a few meters away from the tables.
"You had it coming! The supplies were stolen, killed for! I couldn't keep my family there, I had no other choice!" Sam retorted, keeping his pistol aimed high.
"No other choice my ass! Either you get out here, or me and my guys are going to fucking torch this place and leave you and your two sluts to the walkers!" Sam's face shifted rapidly, so fast even Kris couldn't see the expression.
"Don't. you. dare speak about my family like that!" Sam roared, firing once and clipping the leader in the shoulder, throwing him to the ground. The man hit the ground with a painful thud, groaning in pain. The other bandits looked worriedly to each other, not sure what to do. The leader turned and noticed every one of his goons with their weapons holstered and glared every form of sharp object imaginable at them.
"The fuck are you twats waiting for? A big sign?! Shoot them!" The leader roared, snapping his men out of their trance. At once, they all drew their respective weapons and took aim at Sam, who ducked behind cover.
"NOW!" Kris roared, popping out from behind the table and firing at the bandits. The others followed in his footsteps, each of them shifting and firing from behind their own makeshift covers. The bandits, realising their mistake, all ducked and ran blindly, searching for any cover. This left them completely open, which was exploited. Kris and Jake worked in tandem. While one fired, the other reloaded. When the shooter ran out, they would duck down and the other would pop out, repeating that infinitely. Lily and Kenny did nothing similar, each standing next to each other and firing at the bandits. The lucky few who made cover peeked and fired at the group. The others were gunned down.
"Fuck. FALL BACK! The leader bellowed, pushing himself to his feet. The other bandits obliged, grabbing their weapons and retreating down the hill, save for one who was lying down behind cover, determined to get at least one person. The leader began limping away, but barely made a few meters away before a rifle shot blared, and a single round went through the leader's calf, throwing him painfully to the ground once again. A second, slightly quieter, shot rang out, and the same bandit that was hiding rolled out of cover, a single bullet through his head.
"Jake, grab him!" Kris hollered, watching the leader trying to crawl away.
"On it!" Jake ran fiercely, grabbing the leader by the shoulders and hauling him over his shoulder, before turning and nodding. Slowly, the rest of the survivors stepped out of cover.
"Damn, gold star for fucking everyone. Good work people" Kris complimented, smiling at the people around him.
"What should we do with him?" Jake questioned, motioning to the dying man on his shoulder.
"I got an idea" Kris grinned.
"YOU CRAZY FUCKS! LET GO OF ME NOW!" The leader bellowed, loud enough for anyone to hear. Kris' apparent idea was to walk the injured leader right to a walker.
"Woah, Kris. Chill, we still need info from him" Jake warned, grabbing his gun and pointing it at the walker.
"I know. I have a plan for that too" Kris grinned sadistically, dropping the man to the ground and sauntering over to the reanimated corpse. A swift kick to the knee dropped the walker to the ground, which was then followed by a boot to the head, crushing its skull. Carefully, Kris flipped the dead walker over, opening its mouth. Thankfully, a lot of the mouth was still mostly intact, which Kris took advantage of as he carefully used his knife to cut one of the walker's teeth out.
"See this right here? This is a walker tooth. This little thing contains the virus that makes you into a walker. When it bites into you, a small amount of the tooth chips off, releasing the virus into your blood. Holding the tooth is fine, just don't eat it. Well, try not to anyways" Kris grinned, grabbing the leader and picking him up.
"Now, either you are going to tell me exactly what I want to fucking hear, or you are going to enjoy a nice snack" Kris threatened lowly, holding the decayed tooth dangerously close to the leader's mouth.
"Jesus, Kris! Calm down!" Kenny called out, trying to break Kris free from his trance.
"I ain't telling you a damn thing!" The leader snapped nervously, sweat forming on his forehead.
"Strike one buddy. Two more and it's snack time" Kris warned, grabbing the injured man by the throat. His eyes began to pop out of his head, as his airflow was cut off.
"Y-you wouldn't actually force me to eat that right?" The leader croaked even more nervously, glancing at the other survivors in the vain hope one would help him.
"Try me dickstick. Are you going to talk?" Kris questioned threateningly, applying pressure on the leader's neck to force his mouth open.
"MM… FINE! I'll talk! Just get that damn tooth away from me!" The leader wailed in despair. Kris smiled and threw the tooth over to the corpse.
"Good, glad to see you wanted to help after all. So, tell me. Why did you find it fit to attack us?" Kris interrogated, forcing the broken man to the ground.
"Cause of your little friend there. Sam used to be just like us, then decided it was "morally wrong", killed two of my guys and stole our supplies. Too bad the idiots forgot about the Martolos, who robbed them blind a day later" The leader coughed, earning a death glare from Sam.
"So? The fuck do I care about that? You don't attack me, or my people. I don't give a damn if Sam is a convicted fucking murderer. If he's chill with me, I'm chill with him" Kris snapped, before kicking the injured man in the stomach.
"Listen man, I'm sure we can make a dea-" The leader tried to bargain, only to earn another swift kick in the chest.
"Nope. In all honesty, I have everything I wanted from you. You're alive right now because I don't have the effort to kill you. Now Sam here, he might be a different story" Kris grinned, motioning for Sam. Cautiously, the survivor obliged, moving slowly next to his companion. Without a word, Kris bent down and broke a piece of wood off the deck and handed it to Sam.
"We'll meet you inside" was all Kris said as he and Sam took the leader and dragged him away.
"Hey Jake, I need to talk to you…" Jake spun on the spot as he entered the cabin behind Kenny. He spotted Winter upstairs, motioning for him. Shrugging, he obliged and walked across the decked floor and made his way to the second story.
"What's up?" Jake asked, seeing Clementine asleep on the cot and immediately lowering his voice.
"It's the kid. Clementine. She's come down with something, and I don't think it's due to a normal illness" Winter explained, laying her hand on Clementine's head.
"Then what do you think it is?" Jake questioned in a hushed tone.
"I think its stress. I'm no doctor, but my mom was. She used to take me to work with her and I could watch the less intense things as she worked. And a few times, she had this old guy named Daniel come into the clinic and say he was feeling ill, but every time it was just stress" Winter explained, crouching next to the cot.
"Well… stress from what?" Jake looked at the state Clementine was in and felt immensely bad for the child. All of 12 and fighting for survival every day.
"I think it's from the constant fighting, y'know? And I don't mean just physical fighting" Winter answered.
"So, you're saying the group is causing this? She hasn't looked at all sick or in pain during the walk, or back in the truck" Jake pried, sitting down on a raggedy old cushion on the ground.
"I was talking to Kenny earlier, and he said this is the biggest group either of them has been in. He also explained her idea of groups isn't that good as both of her previous ones all died" Jake listened in silence as Winter explained the happenings of her first group, as well as Kenny's recount of the second group.
"So, everyone she's ever known has died… Damn" Jake sighed.
"Yeah, it's kind of tragic to be honest. Not only that, she apparently watched her guardian turn and saw her already dead parents wandering the streets of Savannah"
"The more you know I guess…" Jake sighed, laying his head against the wooden wall.
"So why are you telling me this then? Isn't this Kenny should know?" Jake asked.
"He already knows. Just seems like the kid likes you a lot, so I made sure you knew as well" Winter responded, smiling. Jake returned the smile and stared out the back window at the descending clouds. It looked like a storm was coming.
"…so, you're an upside downer?" Jake almost failed to hide the sudden laugh as he heard this.
"The fuck did you just call me?" Jake chuckled.
"An upside downer. Y'know, someone from Australia?" Winter shoved Jake slightly, pushing him off balance.
"On ya. Well yes, I am from Australia. Grew up in a town on the coast, meaning I wasn't in the middle of the outback. Was right near a major city too" Jake explained, sitting up and pulling a second cushion out and laying it in front of him.
"Good area?" Winter plopped down on the other cushion across from him.
"Yeah, it was. Central to a lot of things, though the kids. My god, the kids. I swear, you hit 13 and you lose any sense of "perhaps I shouldn't be a fuckwit"" Winter's giggles bounced around the room, surprisingly not waking the child a few meters away.
"Man, that's gotta suck" Winter replied.
"It really did. Though, in the city was a different story. Same hustle and bustle that you'd expect, but there was a massive like shopping centre in the middle of the city. There was even this really good bowling alley with laser-tag and karaoke" Jake explained further.
"I gotta say, Australia is sounding more and more interesting by the second" Winter sighed, still quietly laughing to herself.
"Hey, since I answered something for you, it's only fair I ask you something, too right?" Jake asked curiously, leaning back against the wall.
"Seems fair. Fire away, what do you want to know?" Winter shrugged, laying back on the floor.
"Why do you always prefer to be Winter? That can't be your real name, can it?" Jake noticed Winter's hands tense up for a moment before releasing.
"I guess I should tell someone. Just, promise me you won't laugh, or tell anyone else. I'm serious" Winter warned, sighing.
"You have my word. And that's a powerful thing; I don't go back on shit I say" Jake promised.
"Alright. In all honesty, my name isn't Winter. It's Hannah. I go by the name Winter because… well, it just seems right. I've always loved the snow, and skiing and shit. My dad used to take me all the time, every Christmas. We lived in the outskirts of Savannah, but never really went too far into the city, since Dad never liked the area. So instead, we'd travel outside of town to get groceries and shit. Mom used to criticise him for it, saying "You're too paranoid. Just go into town, it's easier than driving 20 miles out of town every Thursday for groceries". That used to get him riled up to no end. No matter how much he hated that city, or rather, cities in general, he'd always put it aside during winter, so we could go to my Grandma's. She used to live near some major city, I don't remember the name though. She lived in the suburbs and would always help me build snow men on Christmas Eve" Hannah explained, wiping a tear away.
"So that's why. Damn. Sorry if I opened any old wounds" Jake apologised, grabbing Hannah's hand and running his thumb over it soothingly.
"It's fine. I guess it's nice to finally get that off my chest" Hannah smiled, sitting up and facing Jake.
"Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, come find me" Jake offered.
"Thanks. Now c'mon. Let's go downstairs and leave Clem to sleep" Winter stood up and pulled Jake to his feet before walking quietly to the stairs and descending them, Jake in tow.
"Hey, where's Clem gone?" Kenny questioned openly to the others in the group, who were all huddled around the fire hoping for any kind of warmth.
"Upstairs, asleep. She was feeling ill, so I put her in the cot upstairs to sleep" Winter explained.
"She feeling alright?" Kenny questioned, moving towards the stairs.
"She's fine, just needs rest. She has a blanket and shit like that. It's from stress, she just needs to get a good nap in, and she'll be on her feet in no time" Jake answered.
"Fair enough. Anyone seen Kris? He's been out there with Sam a long time" Kenny asked, stepping away from the stairs.
"Haven't heard from him. I'll see if I can go find him" Jake shrugged, walking out of the room. The rest of the group sat still around the lodge, idly chatting and enjoying the moment of reprieve, calming down from the mass group of bandits they had encountered hours ago.
"Kris! You out here?!" Jake hollered, searching the exterior of the lodge for any sign of his companion.
"Over here" Jake rounded the corner and saw Kris leaning against the wall of the lodge.
"Where's Sam? It's getting late" Jake questioned.
"Went off into the forest for something. Just sorta told me to "wait here" so… yeah" Kris shrugged, flicking something in his hands.
"Wait, is that the knife you bought back before this all went down? I thought you lost that thing?" Jake finally noticed the object was in fact a sizeable knife, curved the entire way.
"It is actually. And before you ask, it's called a karambit. Cost me a damn fortune, but it was worth it. This thing still slices like the day I got it" Kris smiled, spinning the curved blade in his hands.
"That's because you-" Jake started, getting cut off by a cry emanating from the forest.
"Shit, was that Sam?!" Kris grabbed his knife, holding it ready to attack.
"Jesus, can we not catch a damn break?" Jake groaned, drawing his gun and motioning for Kris to follow. The two sprinted into the dense foliage, searching for Sam. Trees flew past, almost tripping the pair multiple times as they scoured the area.
"Sam! Sam, you out here?!" Jake hollered, ignoring the fact there could be walkers in the forest.
"S-Somebody help me!" Sam's voice rung out.
"Over there!" Kris pointed out, seeing Sam hiding inside an abandoned minivan as a group of walkers surrounded him.
"There's no way we can take that many on, not without making a whole lotta noise" Jake whispered, crouching down.
"What about that thing Winter went on about? The guts? If we can get one alone, we can do that and get the rest of them silently" Kris realized, scanning immediately for a lone walker.
"That one over there is all alone" Jake pointed out, seeing a lone walker lumbering towards the group.
"I'll get him" Kris nodded, then slunk away in the tree-line, moving towards the walker. Once he was a few meters away, he stood up and threw a rock at the walker. It bounced harmlessly off the decayed beast's head, but it did the job and got the walker's attention. The monster growled hungrily, forgetting the trapped survivor and instead hobbled over to the trees, where it was grabbed and immediately killed.
"Oh, fuck me…" Kris gagged in the distance, using his knife to slit open the walker's stomach. The smell hit him immediately and he turned around and vomited, before grabbing a handful of the rancid entrails and smearing them across his body. Once he was completely covered from head to toe, he nodded to Jake, who nodded back and aimed his rifle at the group in case they turned on Kris. Without a word, Kris crept out of the thick foliage into the clearing, keeping crouched with his bloodied knife ready to deal with the undead monsters. None of the walkers seemed to pay him any mind as he got close behind them and began clearing them out with ease. Corpse after corpse fell, until the van was rid of the dead.
"Shit, thanks man" Sam huffed, climbing out of the van.
"What were you doing out here alone Sam?! You could've gotten yourself killed!" Jake questioned, holstering his rifle.
"I came out here to calm down mostly. I was still pissed off at Brian for attacking us, so I decided to come out here and get some fresh air, so I didn't go back in a raging mess" Sam responded.
"You should've come and got me, I would've come with you. I did some work experience at a psychologist's office, I know a few things about helping people to calm down and all that" Kris offered.
"I'll keep note of that. Now c'mon, we should get back to the group"
*A.N.
My god I'm horrible at this. So, uh, hey everyone. No, I'm not exactly dead. I'm still here, just took an… extended vacation. And by that, I mean I forgot completely to do anything. I do apologise for this. I know it's a shitty excuse, and this chapter is much shorter than it should be. But in reality, I really couldn't think of much to fill this chapter after the incident in the forest. I'll try my hardest to get you guys a longer chapter next time around, but for now this'll have to do. Also, to answer a few things;
The thing with the truck. I'll agree, it was dumb, but at the time I thought it had some plausibility.
The thing about me having no clue, yeah, ill admit its quite true. This is my first time around writing fanfictions and even now, it's pathetic. So, my b, I guess.
I'm not going to bother asking for anything here. I'll try to have another chapter soon, but I can't promise anything. Just don't behead me please, there's always room for improvement, right?
~ Exfinty