Section 8 - Stealth Mode

I sat there on the rock, feeling the evening breeze, enjoying the sunset. "I guess I'm going at night" I say to myself. Since there is still alot of time, I could just enjoy this breeze. It was almost fall, so the air was pretty cool. And I liked it. At first, I had my back to the sunset, but I slowly turned around, to realise that I was near a cliff. I thought about it, and I realised that maybe, just maybe- this could be really cool if I sat there.

I would go sight-seeing all the time back in the day... a little while after the group, when I became a loner. And I loved it. I had this rope that I would tie myself too a tree or something, and I would just relax on the high branch, or a cliff, and just enjoy nature for once. I'm in nature so much, and dealing with this whole zombie apocalypse thing, to the point where I forget to enjoy it sometimes...

I got up, and I slowly walked over to the cliff. When I got to the cliff, I lied down on my stomach, so I could crawl really close to the edge, too see how high it was... It only seemed like 30 feet steep. Not as much as I expected, but it'd still kill me if I fell. All I saw were trees at the bottom, probably leading to another part of the forest.

I decided that the best way to safety-pin myself, was to use my braclets on my arm. I had 4 of them, which probably wasn't safe. 2 of them were able to connect and disconnect from each other, so I use the loops on my jeans, where the belt goes- and I put the string inside of it. I scoot over to this thick root that came out of the ground, then back into it. Like a circle. When I connected both of my braclets to other sources of safety-pinning, I sit upright, and I look below, letting my feet hang off the edge.

"Wow... this is so peaceful." I whisper to myself. This would be a great time too just reflect on my life... to remember who I am... I guess I could just, start off anywhere.

I remember, when I would be able to go outside into the back part of my neighborhood, and just play around. I lived in a condo, and it was surrounded by trees, it was pretty much like a forest. That's why

they called it Treetop. It was up on a hill.

I remember, when I would be able to leave my section of the neighborhood, by myself, and go explore the other sections. Just that feeling of being free, without being put in danger, it was so amazing. I was like 4 or 5 when I would just stroll out of my house, and into the world. It was amazing... then, it all changed after school started. School slowly started stressing me out. I turned into this monster... and it was all because of school.

I recieved F's and D's, and my mom slowly started to loose her shit over it. And I just didn't want too take it. Ever since I was 9, it became too much of a big deal for her to ingore. The school called, saying how off-task I'd always be. Ever since that point, until the point of the outbreak- she was heartless. She changed, and she became more and more mentally abusive. And it sucked. At times, she'd even hit me. Too the point where it could be considered physical abuse... and on top of it all, I never really had friends 'till 6th grade. Those people pretty much saved my life...

I stop thinking for a moment, too look around, and make sure there weren't any walkers or people around, because I realised that I became defenseless for a moment there- but I believe I should be safe, if I just don't screw up.

I went back to thinking about my friends... First, there was a girl named Lauren. Lauren, out of all of them, just gave me hope to keep on going. After going through grade school, having social problems (and a learning disability), she taught me how too let loose, and stop being so close with myself. Too this day, I can admit that without her- I wouldn't have the balls to talk to any strangers.

Then, there was Matt and Eowyn. Matt was pretty funny, and he also had an awesome imagination, like me. He didn't tend to fall into his imagination like I do, since I am a maladaptive daydreamer and all, but we both had the trait of creativity and imagination that we shared.

Me and Eowyn didn't talk too much alone, but she was real close friends with Lauren, so I slowly got used too her. It was kind of weird how we left off- I remember, it was the last day of school. And when the outbreak happened... I was into the 2nd month of summer leaving the 8th grade, moving onto highschool in the 9th. But back to the last day of school... I remember how sad she felt when she left. Before that day, I honestly didn't think she'd be as sad as she was. Ever since that day, well, within the 2 months after school, we had the chance to talk to each other in this Facebook chat we were in. We all joked around about this sensation sweeping the internet... MLG and Shrek... Yep. I joked around about that. And I am deeply, deeply sorry, but at the same time: shameless.

And then, there was CJ. Well, let's just say that we... we had our differences. Alot of them. But we tried ignoring them as we slowly became friends. We kind of left off of a low-end note, but at least we don't have to talk to each other anymore.

For all I know, all of my friends could be dead... what? I'm just trying to give out all of the possible outcomes. Knowing my friends... I would think only Matt had a chance at surviving. We've played enough video games too know what we're doing... or have had a first look before this shit broke out. My life was almost dedicated to video games. Yeah, sure- you could call me one of those 9-year-old COD players. And I am very ashamed of it... Let's move on.

As I spectated my life, just going back too my roots- I realize that I was hearing a noise, and I didn't register it until it became loud enough to be worried about. I look behind me, too see some lights shining up into the trees, and moving around- it had to be someone with a flashlight, maybe the people who took my bag! I had to get out of here, or at least hide...

I look to the braclets, and I quickly unbuckle them. I grab them all, with barely enough time to hide behind a tree. About a minute after hiding, the voices were close enough to register the words, but I could tell the people were still far away. They were definatly talking. First, I heard a girl's voice, it sounded so soft, yet upbeat. It was amazing. But what she says, terrifies me.

"Oh yeah... I mean, there was this girl that we found when we were traveling. She looked as if she just died, her body still looked fresh. She had a hoodie on, with jeans, but we were too scared to check the pockets. There was also a bag not far from her, so we just grabbed it, and went on with it."

"Aw... that's sad," I heard a man's voice say. "How old did she look?" There was a pause, but then the girl replied with, "Uh... can't be any older than 14 or 15. It was pretty sad." She said. Well, she wasn't that far. I've had people guess my age before, most say I look older for my age, I'm actually 17, possibly 18.

"... Well, if you were really wanting too- she can't be far from here, right?" The guy says, "and it's been some time. Maybe she has some important stuff on her, and if she's been dead for long enough, we could go see if she has some important stuff on her?"

When he said that, they came into vision. When I saw them, they came in crossing on this tree-branch. "Oh, be careful" The guy says.

What I see, is something so unreal. At first, I had to look away for a couple of seconds, but when I look back, I almost gasp... was that fucking Markiplier? And... who the hell is that with him?! What the hell? Is that seriously Jen Ledger? From Skillet, what...

At this point, I came out from behind the tree, but I was far away enough for them to not notice me. I was still trying to process what I was seeing... Jen, Jen from Skillet... and Mark, from youtube, were walking, together? Alive? In a zombie apocalypse... I could see how Mark was here but... Jen...? I sit down, and I watch in amazement. They were just casually walking... like friends.

"Well, I don't know... I guess it's worth a shot" she said. "But before we go, I think my flashlight is running out of batteries. Can you hand me some?" She says. "Oh yeah... sure." Mark replies, putting his hand in his pocket. "Uh, I do have some- but let's wait until your flashlight goes out. We can save supplies." Jen nods her head, and they start going towards the direction where I was at.

"... I should tell them I'm alive. I mean... they don't look hostile. The only thing is though, is that if they are- I'd be screwed. Well, I mean- I'd be screwed either way, because of the bite..." I say in my head. I pull my sleeve up, to cover up the bite. I guess, I have no other choice. They were already walking away from me, their backs only noticeable. I decided now would be the best time...

I get up, and I start following them, slowly. Then, I yell out, "Hey... hey!" too which, they turn immediatly. "Uh, were you talking about me? Because if you were, I'm alive." I say, already knowing there'd be awkwardness.

The man that I claimed was Mark, quickly pulled his gun out, aiming at me. "Who the hell are you?" He said, and quickly going into his next sentence. "I said, who the hell are you? State your name." At the sound of this, Jen gives him a worried look. "Mark, that was the girl I was talking about earlier! Oh goodness! Put the gun down, let her explain herself!" She said, her voice straining.

By her command, Mark slowly puts the gun down. I guess I should tell them the only weapon I had was a knife. "Hey, there's no way I can hurt you over here. I only have a pocket knife." I said aloud. Only the breeze filled the silence that happened for about 5 seconds. "U-uh, I heard you guys talking about a bag that you took... that was mine. I don't want any trouble. I just want my stuff back, and I'll be on my way. I promise."

I could tell that Mark didn't want this shit. He had the most negative face I have ever seen him have, it was really scaring me. I ran out of things to say, so I guess I could tell him I know his youtube personality? "But uh... yeah. Do not be freaked out by this, but I seen your youtube videos, before the outbreak happened. You were pretty fun-" I was quickly interrupted by him. "Don't bring that up..." he said, in a serious and scary-sounding tone. Quickly, he finishes it with, "... I'll give you your bag. But I'll be staying right here with you... Jen, go back to the base, and get her stuff." He says to her. I heard her talking, but she lowered her voice so I couldn't hear, since they were both at a distance from me.

She sounded very intimidated, and worried at the same time as she spoke. Mark replied with, loud enough for me to faintly hear, "I don't care. For all we know, she was really here to get in and hurt us. Me and you have a baby to raise, and 7 other people to run... I don't want you getting hurt." He said the last part very smoothly, compared to the first part of the sentence. "I don't want her going to our camp. For all we know, she was scavenging, and she could be apart of some kind of group trying to kill for supplies. I would feel terrible if you got hurt, or anybody else- so just please... please go get it?" He said, smoothly as well.

Jen stared at him, and it kind of looked as if she was gonna cry, but at the same time, looked as if she had enough will to keep it in. Her voice sounded even quiter now, and she muffles something short. She goes over to hug him, too which he gives a hug back. They hug for about 5 seconds, and then give a light peck on the lips. Mark hands her a handgun, and she puts it in her pocket. On her way out, she stares at me for a second, smiles, and leaves. That left only me and Mark.

Right now, I could already tell that Mark probably didn't like me. You know what, take away the probably. He HATES me. He stares at me, as he walks over too where I was standing. When he got close enough, he gave an intimidating sense of fear. "Drop your knife. And any other weapons you have. If you were lying earlier, there's gonna be consequences." By his command, I obey immediatly. I reach into my pocket, and say "Just put it on the ground...?" He nods his head, and I place it about 3-4 feet away from me. That was really all I had.

Mark asked, "That's all?" I nod my head, and he hesitantly walks over to pick it up. "You'll get it back when she returns with the bag." He said. He sighs, and let an awkward silence fill the enviorment for about 10 seconds. Then he continues with "Well, we can't just sit here in silence... what's your name?" I slowly lift my head to stare right at him, because I was kind of staring down to the ground in fear.

I felt like crying, you could tell I was already shaking. "I'm... I'm Blake." My voice sounded like it was straining. Mark could tell, because his face went from serious, to concered immediatly. "Well uh... hi Blake. I guess you already know who I am..." another silence, for about 3 seconds, "I'm sorry if I gave you a scare, but we just can't have people knowing where we are. You look like a nice kid, honestly... and don't worry, unless you threaten to hurt us, I won't hurt you. Pretty much an eye for an eye, y'know?" He smiles a bit, but I don't smile back. I slightly nod my head, and I sit down.

He gets a little closer, about 6 feet away from me, and sits down. "... You are actually the first person I've met who has seen my videos, that's alive... I saw a walker wearing one of my t-shirts... it really broke me." I was still scared of him, and pretty much I was tired. I slowly let my head hang down too look in my lap, and then I notice there were tears in my eyes. Just knowing what happened to him since this all happened... hasn't it been almost 4-5 years?

I nod, and quickly use my shirt to take out the tears in my eyes, and I look up. I nod to his statement, and another silence, but it was alot longer. After the awkward silence, he says "It shouldn't be long. Should only take her 10-15 minutes, and then we can all be on our way." Almost immediatly after, he says "... I can tell I really scared you. I just feel like an asshole now... you can go ahead and cry, just to get it out." He gets up, and walks pretty far away.

"How did he know I wanted to cry?" I think, as I look back down. There's still no way he was nice. He's just saying this so when Jen comes back, he won't dissapoint her as she returns to me crying. I let my tears out, for a lenthy 5 minutes. I could sometimes see Mark over in the distance, he would stare right at me though- then look away.

When I saw his youtube channel, he looked like the most coolest guy I knew. His physical appearance changed alot, he let his beard grow out. He also looks a lot less skinny, and more muscle. His personality, well, it definatly changed too. To be honest, I lost all respect for this guy after that run-in. And that won't be changing anytime soon.

*10 minutes later*

I saw Jen coming back, because of her bright colors that she had on her, and I kind of differentiated from looking down, too looking to her. When she came up the small rocky hill, I saw my bag. When she came to level ground, she stopped, looking for Mark. Mark immediatly came from the darkness, but now, instead of looking for him- she looked at me, dead into the eye. Mark walked over, hugged her, and she stopped staring. I knew that she knew I was crying. My eyes were still a bit puffy. Mark also knew after a couple of seconds.

Mark grabbed the bag, looked at me, and said "Here, take it." and he threw it in front of me. "... Now go." he said bluntly. He turned away, and started heading away from me, back from where they came from. But Jen looked at me, and without hesitation- walked over. "Hey look... I'm sorry for him. He likes to do all the 'alpha male' shit..." she hesitated, staring at me, now very emaphetic. "I noticed that you were low on food and medicine... there was some iron pills in there, so I suspected you needed more. And a couple cartridges of inhalers."

At this point, Mark noticed Jen didn't follow, so he was waiting. "Cmon, Jen." He said, annoyed. She looked too him, and said "Just hold on a moment, alright? Give me a few minutes." His face went a bit red, and he stepped back in the darkness, but still watching.

"And I also put some food in there... Just some energy bars, an apple, and a PBJ sandwich. I do feel bad for you, honestly..." There was a small pause, and then she said "I also put some medicine wrap in there, so-" All of a sudden, I heard a voice. It wasn't Marks, or hers... it was a voice very familiar.

It first sounded muffled, but I could also hear some running. We were all very alert now, looking into the direction. "... *muffled sounds*... Wait!... BLAKE!" It sounded so familiar... All of a sudden, a girl comes into view. And who I saw, was something so unreal...

When I looked up to get a good view... I gasped...

It's been 5 years. 5 years since we've seen each other... me and her went to the same middle school. We were best friends... and she was here... in front of me... it was Lauren. Tears were in here eyes, and she was smiling... shaking.

Right behind her, came a guy so tall, I had to really look up. Was that Luke, her bf...? But right now, I had all of my focus on Lauren. I got up, slowly, noticing the surprise on everyones faces. I quickly let go of that thought, and I sprang towards her. And when I reached her, we hugged. I let more tears out, I smile, and we stay this way for a little while.

Once we were done hugging, we step back a couple of feet. Instantly, Jen said "... I guess you two know each other, huh?" I nod, but not looking at her. I look at Lauren, and she gives a little smile. "Welcome home."

I say, "Thanks... it's great to be back." We both stand in silence for a couple of seconds, then the guy behind her, Luke, says "Well... it's night. You're probably exauhsted! We need to get you back to the base." At that moment, I look at Mark- and I give him a look. His face turned red in an instant, looks away, and says "... Yeah.

He looks to me, and says "If you want too. You and Lauren can catch up. And you can reunite with some other old friends..." and he gives a mischevious grin. I instantly knew what he was talking about. "... Lauren, are our old friends back at your base..." I give a grin. She sniffles due to the crying, and says "Yes... Yes!" I smile, and I say "Alright... I'll come!" Lauren smiles, and I can feel everyone getting ready too move. I was coming home!

They all start walking away, and I quickly tag after them. Lauren leaves Luke's side, as she comes towards me. By the way, we are heading towards this bridge, that was actually a tree that fell over the creek. "So uh... how ya doing?" She says, casually, but I could feel her excitment. "I'm... i'm doing great... goodness Lauren, so much shit happened in 5 years... but I am so glad you were alive... I was so scared, I thought you were dead." Lauren looks forward, and says "Yea, same... me and my friends would talk about you from time to time, most ofthe time the conversation ending with crying from all of us."

Wow... she was telling the truth. This was amazing... "Wait... do the others know I'm alive? And how did you know I was alive? I heard you screaming my name miles away." I ask, concerned. "Oh, that... no, Jen told me about you. She described you very well, and when she said you had a black hoodie with red letters on, it instantly reminded me of you... to be honest, I thought I was kidding myself chasing after you. I thought that there was no way in hell it was you." There was a small pause, then "Then when I actually saw you... my heart dropped. In a good way. I was so relieved that you were alive..." She stopped again, for a breif second, and said "... And no. No one knows about you. She JUST told me... and I know what you are thinking." We both grin at each other, and we both say "A surprise." after, we laugh a bit, which slowly broke into silence.

When we reached the bridge, we all go on, one by one. Mark goes on first, saying "be careful!" as he urged others to get on. Mark helped Jen on, in which they start heading down. Then comes Luke, helping out Lauren. Lauren urged Luke to go on, and she helped me on.

I'm usually good with heights. I'm not scared of heights, I'm just afraid of falling off if there is not enough restraint. Like at a ride at an amusement park, I wouldn't care how high it is- as long as if I felt strapped into the seat well enough.

When I got on, I felt the branch kind of shaky. She says softly, "be careful. I felt that too." as she slowly turned around, too walk down the bridge. The rest of them were already waiting, but Luke was just getting off. Eventually, when I got into the middle, I looked at the others. All of a sudden, I had too stop. I felt it. I felt the shake, the shake that would make me experience the enevitable...

I slowly feel myself tip over, and slowly let gravity pull me down... then, everything became blurry, but all I remembered, was that I was in pain-

But I knew what happened. I fell, and I landed into the creek, with a bunch of rocks comforting my fall. When I realise what happened, I saw figures over me, and a couple of screams. I felt a terrible pain in my arm and leg...

And then, everything goes black.

-End

EN: No, this is not a decision. Putting decisons in stories is sometimes too hard to handle.

And also, yes- I have been wanting to put real life characters, including my real life friends, inside of my fanfics for a long time now. I chose Jen Ledger (From skillet) and Markiplier (From youtube) to be in this, because A: They are my OTP B: I look up to Jen and Mark C: Jen is pretty, Mark is handsome.

I chose Lauren, her boyfriend Luke, and many more real life friends as the story progresses to put into my fanfics, because all in all, I couldn't ask for better friends. They deserve to be in my fanfics.