Author Notes

HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO THE LAST OF THE EDS! :D

Yay! TLotE hit its one year anniversary this Sunday 16th of August. I'm very grateful to all the nice reviews it got over the year, and lots of love to those who supported this fanfic. As a one year edition, there will be two chapters for this update.

As always, enjoy!

Chapter 9

The remaining Eds, and a young girl, trekked through the outskirts of Peach Creek. They have never been so far away from home, even when they were children. The farthest they've gone was when they were chased by the kids due to a scam failure.

'I'm tired,' Rose huffed and puffed. 'Are we there yet?'

Eddy laughed. 'Kid, we got a long way to go. If you're tired already, then the road up ahead is even more tiring.'

'Is there any shortcuts?' Rose asked.

'We are taking the "shortcut".' Eddy corrected.

'Where are we going? This isn't the way to Lemon Brook.' Ed said, confused.

'We're making a stop-over at Kevin's town.' Eddy replied, 'It's been a long time since I last saw him.'

'Do we really need to risk it?' Ed asked, 'Kevin's town has a lot of infested activity.'

'We'll be fine, word on the street is that he's got a bunch of cars ready in his garage. We can trade something for him.' Eddy said.

'So we're taking the highway?'

'Why not?' Eddy said cheekily.

The campfire lit up the small area they were taking shelter at. They were in an abandoned hotel room, about 3 floors high.

'The height should protect us from infested activity below.' Ed said as he lay down, using his backpack as his pillow.

'I've never seen him sleep early,' Rose said, pointing to Eddy.

Eddy was lying uncomfortably on the ground, but was fast asleep.

'He must've been really stressed out by Double-D's death.' Ed said.

Rose sat down in the corner of the room, far away from the two men. 'I'm sorry for your loss, but it's not my fault.'

Ed saw Rose sitting far away. 'Its okay sweetie,' he said, 'Eddy just overreacted, there are many times like this when you lose a loved one, and you have no other choice but to move on.' He lit up the weed he had, and put it in his mouth. He breathed in; the smoke had never made him so relieved.

'I've got that feeling,' Rose replied, 'Tom left me alone.'

'Come, sit near the campfire,' Ed said in a fatherly manner, 'its cold and you're sitting next to the window.' He exhaled and the smoke blew in the cold infested night air.

Rose did what she was told, and sat near the campfire. Ed watched on, he smiled.

'I always wanted a daughter,' he said, daydreaming.

Rose laughed, 'And you want me to be yours?'

'Maybe,' he said.

There was a short silence; Ed put some more tree barks in the fire to increase its strength.

'To be honest,' Rose said, 'I always wanted a nice father, too.'

Ed smiled. 'Do you mind if I call you sweetie, or cute things?'

Rose nodded. 'But I'm pretty sure he'll get even more angry,' she said, pointing to Eddy.

'Don't mind him,' Ed said, 'he may look angry from the outside, but inside, he's a lovable person.'

'I doubt he'll ever like me.' she said.

Ed smiled, he ran through Rose's hair, and hugged her.

'Damn, this place looks rough,' Eddy said, scratching his beard as he looked around. They had arrived at Kevin's dwelling, an abandoned town some fifteen or twenty miles away from Lemon Brook. The place was rundown, most of the buildings were crumbled, and branches of trees were sprouting through some walls and windows.

Cars were also littered, wrecked and rusted, a few skulls and bones here and there.

'What is this place?' Rose asked as she was getting confused.

'A town, well, it was a town.' Eddy said, 'This territory is now owned by one of my old friends, his name's Kevin.'

Rose kicked a pebble on the road, 'What's he like?' she said, curious.

'Rude and cocky, but a damn good friend,' Eddy said, smirking.

They walked through the middle of the road. Algae and vines were growing on the roads as well. Eddy spotted some stores across the road, and went into one of them hoping for some loot.

The shops were rusted and busted; most of the items in them were probably not even in use after the outbreak. Rose spotted a pistol on the floor; she picked it up, and gazed at it in awe.

'Give me that!' Eddy said, snatching the pistol right from her hands. 'You're too young for this; I can't trust you with this.' He put it in his backpack where it was safe.

'I know how to handle a gun,' she said.

'Just play with your nail-polish until you're grown up for this.' Eddy snapped.

Annoyed, Rose went over to a door, which leads to the side entrance of the shop to the right. Apparently it was a music shop; Ed was in there, looking at some old, dusty music records.

'What're those?' Rose asked.

'Records,' Ed said, 'you listen to music with these.'

'Music?' she asked, taking a look for one of the records herself. 'What's music?'

'Damn, now you're really making me feel sorry.' Ed said, guiltily.

Eddy followed through into the door, and came over to where they were standing.

'We should get a move on,' Eddy said, stuffing backup ammo into his backpack. 'Time ain't on our side,'

They walked through alleyways, hoping of a chance to bump into Kevin.

'Stay back,' Ed said, as he was in the lead of the walking. 'I hear a clicker.'

Sure enough, a clicker came by. Upon hearing footsteps, it ran towards Ed.

'Shit, get back!' Eddy shouted.

Ed backed up, and then they heard an explosion. Blood flew into Ed's eyes, and an amputated arm flew into the air.

'What the fuck was that?' Ed asked, confused.

'Booby trap,' Eddy said, 'Kev's got these all over town, better to watch your step.'

Carefully watching every single step they took, they cautiously entered a building. It was a warehouse of sorts.

'C'mon in, it's cle-' Ed said, but was interrupted as he catapulted into the air. It was yet another of Kevin's booby traps, and this time, it made him turn upside down.

'Oh, shit!' Eddy said, panicking.

'What was that?' Rose asked.

'Another one of Kevin's stupid traps!' Ed snapped.

Silence filled the warehouse, on the other side of the room, was a fridge which acted as a counterweight.

'The fridge!' Ed shouted, 'Get that fridge down!'

'On it,' Rose said, running over to the fridge.

Eddy looked over to the other side of the room. There were two huge open holes. To make matters worse, he started hearing things.

'Ed, get your gun ready.' Eddy signaled. He reloaded his rifle, and aimed. A horde of infected were coming straight at them.

Eddy fired one shot, then two, landing two headshots. He reloaded his gun, Ed had cover on him.

'I'll need some time!' Rose shouted across the room.

'Oh you got all the time in the world, sweetheart,' Eddy said, reloading the clip, 'just hurry the fuck up!'

Among the runners, Ed spotted a clicker. And it went right at Rose.

'Watch out!' Ed screamed. As a reflex he pulled the trigger, and it landed straight on the neck. He shot again, this time a headshot. 'I'm a damn good shot,' Ed said, smiling.

The fridge tumbled over and Ed went higher into the air, Rose started to cut the rope.

'You done with that thing?' Eddy asked, 'I'm almost out of ammo.'

'A bit more time please,' she replied.

The rope was finally cut, and Ed fell from the trap. He slowly got up on his knees, but was greeted kindly by a runner. He fell to the ground. He struggled, and kept punching the runner but of no avail. The runner went in for the bite, and all this happened with a matter of seconds.

An iron pipe with scissors on the end sliced through the neck of the runner. The decapitated head shocked Ed as it almost fell on his face.

'Get off your ass and on your knees,' said a very familiar voice.

Eddy turned around. He was greeted by a tall man, wearing an orange hoodie with a red hat and jeans.

'Pleasure to see you again, Eddy McGee,' Kevin said, winking, 'we'll talk later, we gotta get somewhere safe, follow me.'

Kevin smashed open the door, and was followed by the two men and one girl. He shut it closed, nearly letting a clicker into the safe house. He quickly locked the door. There was a few seconds of silence, as everyone caught their breath.

Kevin then spotted Rose, and with a very suspicious look, he went up to her.

'Well, uh,' Rose blurted, 'that was some… very heroic efforts!' she chuckled.

Kevin immediately handcuffed her to a pipe.

'Whoa, whoa, she's friendly!' Eddy said.

Kevin swiftly made a sharp look at Eddy. 'One of your friends?'

'One of my jobs,' Eddy corrected.

'Oh, so babysitting is your hobby now?' Kevin laughed.

'Let me go!' Rose shouted.

'I can't trust you,' Kevin said.

Ed went over to Kevin and snatched the keys right off from his hands. He then proceeded to un-handcuff Rose.

'What's with lumpy?' Kevin asked, confused.

'He's changed, Kev, we've all changed.' Eddy said.

Kevin went over to the bar area of his hideout, an abandoned restaurant. He checked some of his drawers and pulled out a long piece of paper.

'This is how much you owe me, McGee.' Kevin smirked, 'when am I gonna get these?'

Eddy sighed as he went over to the bar area. 'Listen, I ain't got anything on me now, but I need you to do me a favor.'

Kevin put the piece of paper away and went over to his guns, he reloaded his rifle. 'What kind of favor?'

'We need a car,' Ed said.

'Car?' Kevin grinned, 'You know there ain't any working cars around here.'

'But I know you can fix one,' Eddy said, rolling his eyes.

'Listen, what makes you think you deserve a car, after all the things you owe me?' Kevin asked.

'Yeah, yeah, I know that Kev, but please, I'll try my best to bring them the next time… If there is a, "next time"…'

Kevin broke out a cigarette. He lit it up and smoked it in. He exhaled and thought hard.

'Right, I can get you a car, but I need some parts.' Kevin said.

He took out a map from his desk and put it on the bar table.

'Now, there are some car parts on the other side of town in the school. I want you to help me gather those so we can get you a car.' Kevin stated.

'Sounds good to me,' Ed said.

'Alrighty,' Kevin said, putting away the map. 'This place has a hell lot of booby traps, so I suggest you follow me at all times.'

He turned over to Rose and pointed his finger at her. 'And you,' He continued, 'you better watch your step. I got my eye on you,'

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. 'Yes, I get it.'