Chapter 13, Missing

Face didn't know how many days or weeks had passed. He'd spent most of his time on his feet, carrying Jack or carrying the stupid dog Murdock had made him promise to look after. Murdock. Face couldn't stop thinking about what happened. The memory haunted what little sleep he had, and he found it better to just walk until he was exhausted, passing out without dreams, than to try and get some proper rest.
Liz had hardly spoken to him since the incident, not that he cared. He was still furious, still blaming her. There was no way anyone could convince him otherwise.
'Face, maybe we should stop and get some supplies?' Liz's voice came quietly from behind him. He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder. She pointed at the boarded up supermarket over the road. Face looked down at the plastic bottle in his hand. It was empty.
'Alright,' he replied, ditching the bottle on the floor. It wasn't like saving the planet by not littering mattered anymore. Jack held onto Liz's hand as they crossed the road, a habit, Face guessed, that hadn't been broke despite what was happening.

The conman scanned the surrounding area and, after deciding it was safe, approached the building. He noted the pool of dried blood on the parking lot floor close to the door and hoped that it had been there long enough as a sign that the creatures had been and left again. Liz walked around the side of the building, looking for a way in. Face walked to the other side, Jack following, and spotted a gap big enough for them to squeeze through.
They agreed that they'd be straight in to grab supplies they needed and then get out again. Water was the main priority. All of the fruit and vegetables were perished and Face could smell the rotting good before they'd even got inside. He gagged at the smell, covering his mouth when he got inside. Hundreds of flies were scattered in the air, feasting happily on the once fresh produce.
'Jack, you wait here.' Face ordered, holding his arm out to stop him from coming inside. Not questioning it, Jack nodded and stepped back. Liz had found another way into the supermarket and walked down an aisle with tins in her arms.
'I found a load of tinned fruit,' she explained once she'd spotted Face walking around too. 'Everything else has gone bad; we just need tins.'
'And water.' Face reminded her, heading down another aisle pushing an empty kart he'd found. The conman filled the kart quickly with whatever he deemed useful, including medicines, before taking their findings outside with the help of Liz. He began pushing the kart in the direction they had been walking when he heard Liz cry out.
'What are you doing?' Face hissed, not wanting to attract attention.
'Jack!' Liz shouted, looking around.
That's when Face realised Jack had disappeared.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

'Look, we can't just stay here and watch him.'
'Steve, seriously, shut up.'
Murdock's eyes fluttered open slowly, and though his vision was blurred, he could just about make out two figures sitting beside him. He tried to speak, but a dried croak was all he could muster.
'He's turning!'
'Oh my God, would you shut up!'
Damp material found Murdock's forehead, soothing it. He welcomed the coolness and his eyes closed again.
'Where 'm I?' He managed to whisper, licking his dry lips.
'You're…' There was a pause. 'Well, we don't actually know where we are, but you're safe.'
'Nobody is safe.' The man grumbled in the background, his arms tightly folded across his chest.
'Ignore him,' the woman's voice said. 'I'm Zoe. That's Steve.'
Murdock tried to move, but struggled. 'I can't feel my leg.'
'Your leg is okay, I think. We had to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. You've been bitten pretty badly, but you haven't turned or anything. Usually you would have done by now.' The Captain went to get up again and Zoe helped him to sit up. 'You need to rest.' She continued. 'We have time, it is okay.'
'I ain't puttin' you guys in danger if I turn.' Murdock struggled to shrug Zoe off as she kept him seated. 'I ain't doin' it. Get off!'
'Let him go if he wants to!' Murdock heard Steve say behind him, but Zoe was right. He couldn't even fight her off let alone fend for himself. He sighed, defeated, and sunk back into the ground.
'We'll stay for another hour and then we have to get going again. If we had the car we'd leave now but we ran out of gas a few miles back and there's no point looking for any around here.' Zoe gestured around them, the forest dense on one side, a road and mountains on the other.
'Where are you headed?' Murdock asked, feeling a little stronger.
'We don't know, we're just… surviving, y'know?' Murdock nodded, silently understanding. 'Where are you going?'
'I gotta go see my buddies. We're tryin' to find a camp, somewhere we can stay until we figure out what to do. We split up 'cause the kid we had with us got hurt but when we got to a hospital a bunch of those walkers got us and I got bit. I had to make Faceman leave me behind to look after the other two. I don't know where they are now.'
Zoe looked over at Steve whose face seemed to have softened at Murdock's story. They were all experiencing difficulties with this event, and they had to stick together. Steve understood. He nodded, holding his hand out to Murdock to help him up. Grateful, the Captain took it and stumbled to his feet.
'We lost a bunch of guys too,' Steve said calmly for the first time since Murdock had suddenly come into their lives. 'It was an ambush – no one stood a chance.'