Always the Quiet Ones
Chapter 10: A Cold Dark Stormy Night
A/N: Okay, so the next few chapters will take place during the few days (if you chose to wait a few days to move on in the game)

"Where are you going?" Luke asked Nick. It was in the middle of the night and he was leaving the place with his backpack. Luke didn't really understand where he was going.

"I gotta get some medicine for Sarah, she ain't feeling well." Nick answered.

"Nick, it's too fucking cold. It's gotta be like negative twenty degrees." Luke said, crossing his arms.

"Why don't you go back to sleep with your girlfriend?" Nick replied harshly.

"Nick, how many times do I have to tell you-" Luke began say, but Nick turned to face him, raising his hand up.

"Don't. I'm just pissed. Sarah can't even walk anymore.." Nick said, frowning at the ground.

"C'mon, let's just - go get some painkillers. Should be a small camp up around over there." Luke said, pointing towards a small treeline.

"How do you know?" Nick asked, curious. They hadn't been there before.

"Dude, you guys are going on a run? Let me come with you. I could really use a jog." Eddie came out of nowhere, already having his shoes, and a small weapon, Nick couldn't determine what it was, but he assumed that Eddie knew how to use it.

"I suppose. Hopefully we don't wake anybody up. Let's walk outta here, nice and quiet." Luke said.

"Why are you saying it like we aren't supposed to be here?" Nick asked.

"Y'know, the baby and all. We don't need a baby cryin' for lurkers to come." Luke replied, shrugging as he grabbed his machete with the holster, he then slung it over his back and the three of them started walking. They walked down the stairs, heading towards the small treeline that had a little campfire around it. Nick could see the snowflakes falling from the sky. It was gonna start snowing, and snowing hard.

"Do you guys think this will end up becoming a blizzard?" Eddie asked.

"What, you think because it's snowing for the first time in a long time it's gonna be a blizzard?" Nick asked.

"Nah man, I just mean - we don't have Ron Burgundy or Jim Flowers, Y'know?" Eddie said.

"Yeah, but -" Nick stopped talking as soon as he heard a rustle as they entered the trees. Nick pulled out his pistol, and Luke pulled out his machete, and Eddie kept his weapon in hand.

"What was that?" Luke whispered.

"No idea. Keep your eyes peeled." Nick whispered back, slowly inching towards the tree. Once Nick had reached the tree, it was too damn dark to see anything. He could only see the snow. Eddie was on the other side of the same tree, but he had no idea where Luke was.

"Nick, Ed-" Luke's voice was echoed among the trees, but then was stopped in the middle of saying Eddie's name. He let out a yelp, and then he heard a gun smack against a tree, then some whispering.

"Oh shit, get down." Nick whispered as he spotted a few strangers grabbing Luke's unconscious body and pulling him. Nick ducked down against the tree, and then crawled backwards and was laying in the snow right next to Eddie.

"Shit, they got him. We gotta go help him..." Eddie whispered.

"Nothing we can do. We gotta come up from behind them. Shoot them or something." Nick whispered.

"The floor is all yours, Rambo." Eddie rolled his eyes at Nick's ridiculous plan. Nick slowly got up off the ground, holding the pistol in his hand and he crouched down, treading through the snow. He could hear his feet marching through the snow, he then slowed down his walking in case they ended up hearing him.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing!? Let him go, okay?" A woman said.

"He was sneaking around! You know what we do when a stranger lurks around!" A man, presumably a young adult.

"That was what BILL did. Not Us. Let the guy go. I mean, c'mon!" The woman responded.

"Shel, you ain't the boss." The younger man growled.

"That's enough all of you. I'm tryin' to sleep here, and I gotta hear this? What's going on?" An asian man walked over to the younger man and the woman named Shel.

"Russell decided to just knock this guy out." Shel scoffed.

"He was lurkin' around! I had to do somethin'! Vince, c'mon man!" Russell replied, in his own defense.

"It's the goddamn woods, Russell. Let him go." Vince retorted.

"What is wrong with you people!? I'm trying to sleep!" A teenager grumbled.

"Becca, go back to bed. You don't need-" Shel began to say.

"Really? I'm not a kid. I don't need to- Who the hell is that guy?" Becca asked.

"It's some guy Russell found. He knocked him out and brought him here. And now you are going to apologize when he wakes up." Vince said.

"Whatever, man. You didn't see what he was doin'." Russell rolled his eyes.

"Why, what was he doing?" Becca asked in curiosity.

"He was sneaking around! Probably knew where we were, and wanted to steal our stuff!" Russell stated.

"How do you know that?" A bearded man named Wyatt joined the conversation. Nick recognized him, he was the guy Eddie was talking about.

"Wyatt!" Eddie yelled out.

Damn it, Eddie.
Eddie ran into the camp.

"Oh, great!" Russell sighed.

"Eddie! What the hell, man?!" Wyatt questioned, in shock that Eddie was there, right at that moment. Nick just shrugged and walked towards the campfire and revealed himself.

"Whoa!" Russell reacted as Nick walked forward, pointing the gun to his chest.

"Hey, calm down. You took my friend. We want him back." Nick said.

"We're sorry about that. We really didn't want to cause any trouble." Vince replied.

"You guys were at Carver's?" Nick asked. Vince nodded, crossing his arms. Becca gave Nick a dirty look, and Nick didn't even bother looking at her because she obviously wasn't very nice. Shel was standing next to Becca, and Nick had presumed that was her daughter, considering she told her to 'go back to bed.'

"You were with these guys?!" Wyatt questioned.

"Yeah, man. Jesus. Why'd you leave me back there?" Eddie asked.

"I – That guy in the truck attacked me! I had to…" Wyatt said, with a sad expression. Remembering when he left Eddie behind back at that place.

"Look, we just wanted to go past the treeline and find some medicine for some of our group members. One of them can't walk, another just gave birth to a baby, and one might have an eye infection because Carver beat the shit out of him." Nick explained.

"Oh, so… shit. We were at Bill's, we've been wanting to leave for a while now… we couldn't stay. We first got there all five of us, with a woman named Bonnie. She –" Vince was interrupted by Nick.

"Bonnie?! Red head? She's with us." Nick said, pointing his thumb back to the small observation deck.

"Oh, great." Becca rolled her eyes in disappointment.

"Becca." Shel growled. Becca sighed and looked down to the ground.

"I don't think we can trust these guys!" Russell said.

"Well, I trust them. Because Eddie is with them." Wyatt crossed his arms, smiling.

"Well, I suppose we could make room for you guys, if you'd want. You seem like nice enough people." Nick shrugged.

"Nah, we don't need to join YOU." Russell retorted.

"Russell, enough." Vince growled.

"If Bonnie's really with y'all, then bring her out here. Then we'll trust ya." Russell tried to negotiate.

"Really? This isn't a negotiation. Come with us or don't, I don't care. Just give my friend back." Nick said, holding out his hand. Luke was still unconscious on the snowy ground.

"Well, Russell you can stay out here, while we go with this guy. I want to see Bonnie again." Wyatt said. Russell rolled his eyes as Vince grabbed Luke from off the ground, carrying him on his back. Wyatt then followed Nick and Eddie, and soon Shel and Becca also followed.

"Oh, come on…" Russell sighed. He then stood in the snow for a few seconds, then heavily sighed and then followed them.