Chapter 36 - Stay Frosty
"Stay frosty, gents." Ava tells us as we approach a large building.
"What's that mean?" Gabe asks.
"Keep your cool." She clarifies for the boy. Suddenly, she stops, and darts behind a wall. Instinctively, we do the same. I peek out, and a stocky guy around my age walks out, looking around outside before walking away.
"Looks like they've got Bob on duty. I'll distract him to get you guys in. I'll meet you in there. But be careful in there, there may be more of them." Ava tells us, still peering out and watching him.
"Got it." I whisper to her as she walks over to the front door, where Bob sits, smoking a cigarette.
"Remember what she said, guys. Keep your cool." Javi reminds us as Gabe scoffs.
"I know. I've done this before, Javi." But Javi shakes his head.
"No, Gabe, you really haven't. Some decisions, you make them in a split second and then you have to live with them for the rest of your life. You understand?"
Gabe hesitates, looking down at the ground, before looking back up to his uncle and nods. "Yeah. Yeah I think I do."
"Good. This won't be easy. But if you just keep your head, we'll get in and out nice and quick."
"Ok." He responds as our attention shifts to Ava, walking off with this man, Bob. There's our chance. As I lead the way toward the door, I hear Gabe ask another question.
"How do we know Ava won't turn us in?"
"She's gotten us this far, hasn't she? I think we can trust her. If she fucks us over, then that's it. But it's a risk we're gonna have to take. I trust her enough, so far." I respond.
"He's right, Gabe. And besides, your dad vouched for her. We trust him, don't we?" Javi agrees.
Gabe nods. "Yeah, of course."
"Then we should be ok… I hope."
"Alright guys. Here's our chance. Let's get some guns." I tell the others as I lead the way.
The giant wood doors slowly creak open as we walk into a large corridor, and Javi leads us deeper down, to where Ava told him to go. At the end of the corridor, a dimly-lit room labeled 'Armory'. Jackpot.
Javi reaches for knob, but of course, it's locked. Because why wouldn't they lock their weapons? Without saying a word, Javi reaches for an old fire extinguisher. He bashes it down on the knob, sending a loud ringing noise echoing down the corridors. Again, he bashes, and the ringing echoes. A third time, and the lock breaks, the door slowly creaking open, and we get a great view of just what these people have in terms of weapons.
Shelves of automatic rifles, shotguns, handguns, and a flurry of other guns and weapons fill the room, magazines piled up on tables and in boxes. These assholes are ready for a real fight. I start looking around for a weapon I like. As I walk around, getting a look at my options. As Javi and Gabe pack rifles into duffel bags, a handgun laying on a shelf catches my eye. A Colt M1911, nickel plated, pristine condition. An absolutely beautiful gun, pretty damn powerful, too. I tuck it away in my back pocket as my sights turn to the rifles. Lots of AK-47s. I shrug and pick one off the shelf, getting a feel for it. The stock is well-worn, but everything else feels perfect. I grab a few rifles and place them in the bag, also grabbing some spare magazines, filled with ammo. As I look at what else we have available, footsteps slowly enter the room, and Gabe gasps. I turn to see Ava, looking at us with a smirk.
"Sorry I scared you. When we get back to Eleanor's, we need to talk to those people about doing right by this place." She grabs one of the bags and starts walking out of the room.
"I'll meet you by the front door. Don't take too long." She leaves us with that.
I take one last look around the room at anything we could use. Anything at all. But it looks like we cleaned the place out pretty good. With that, I take the second bag full of guns and walk out with Javi and Gabe.
We make our way down the corridors towards the front entrance, our footsteps echoing down the halls as Javi suddenly stops. Another set of footsteps echos from a separate corridor. He quickly turns and ducks into a supply closet, and Gabe follows. I run back, past the door they went, sliding around the corner just as the person turns the corner. I slowly peek out, a single guy, maybe a little older than me, walks down the corridor, right towards me. But, he stops. Looking at the door, and slowly reaching for the handle.
"Freeze!" Gabe yells as he immediately crashes through the door, rushing the man. With little effort, he tosses Gabe to the side, drawing his gun. With that, Javi rushes him, slamming into him and knocking the gun away, forcing the man to take out his knife. As the two men struggle, I slowly creep up behind him, pulling out my gun, as I see the man sink his blade into Javi's shoulder. He cries out in pain as the man takes this opportunity to overpower Javi, pinning him to the floor. As I approach the man from behind, I grab my pistol by the barrel, bringing my arm back, and swing it as hard as I can, smacking the side of his head and knocking him out cold.
"Say 'Goodnight'" I mutter, looking at the man slumped over on the floor.
Javi slowly sits up, favoring his shoulder as the knife falls out, blood pouring from the wound.
"You alright?" I ask him, helping him up.
"I'll be fine." He assures me.
"I can't leave you guys alone for two minutes, can I?" Ava impatiently remarks as she sees the sight of what just happened. "Is he still alive?" She asks, pointing to the guy lying on the ground.
"Yeah. He's still breathing." I tell her.
"Jesus Christ. I'm starting to think siding with you guys wasn't the best idea." She scolds us before turning to Javi's wound. "You're gonna need that wound taken care of. You should go see Dr. Lingard. Don't worry, he and David are close friends. He'll help you, if he's sober."
"Ok, let's go. But make it quick." Javi agrees.
"I'll take care of Sleeping Beauty and the rest of the mess here." I volunteer. "Where should I meet you guys?"
"Meet us back at Eleanor's. This might take a while." Ava instructs me. I give her a nod as the three of them walk away.
The dude I knocked out is a pretty hefty guy. I try to pick him up to move him to the supply closet, but to little avail. He's probably got a good 50 pounds on me. So I do the next best thing, dragging him on the floor, through the blood and dirt that covers it, dropping him down in the closet floor. I take his gun, shining in the moonlight, as well as his knife, and drop them in a desk drawer.
With that, I make my way out. As I look up at the night sky upon exiting, my mind starts thinking about all this. We're really doing this. We've got guns, we've got people coming, hopefully, we're really about to take these people on. We are literally getting ready for war. We may be outmatched, we may be outgunned, we may be out of our minds, but this is happening. I'm ready. I'm ready to fight. For Prescott, for Wellington, for everyone that I've lost, I'm ready to fight this for them, even if it means I lose my own life.
I sigh as I reach the apartment building, opening the front door and walking upstairs to Eleanor's apartment. Slowly walking up the stairs, I can't help but think about Kate. How does she feel about this? Shit… I don't know. I'm almost nervous about it all. I'm ready to lose my life, but I'm not ready to lose her. Is it that I literally care about Kate more than I do myself?
I finally make it to the apartment, and with a deep breath, I walk in, not sure what to expect, but Tripp and Eleanor sitting together, they clearly worked out the debacle from a few hours ago.
"Hey!" Tripp greets me with a gracious smile.
"Hey guys. How's everything back here?"
"Just fine, man. Kate and Conrad are getting some shut-eye, and Eleanor and I have worked everything out."
"Glad to hear."
"Yeah, so where's the rest of them?"
"They should be here soon enough. Javi ran into a bit of trouble back there, so they're taking care of it. But they'll be fine. You don't gotta worry about it."
"Shit, man. How about the guns?"
"We're gonna be armed to the teeth when this shit hits the fan. These assholes are loaded when it comes to weapons. Just take a look for yourself when they get back."
"Sounds good, man. Can't wait."
With a yawn, I set my sights on a guest room. I need some sleep. I walk towards one of them, cracking open the door to see Kate sound asleep. I turn away to close it as I hear her voice.
"Ian…?"
"Hey Kate, didn't mean to wake you-"
"Come in, and close the door."
I do as she tells me to and I walk in, quietly shutting the door, waiting for any further instruction.
"Come in bed with me. Please." She motions me over to her. Hesitantly, I do it, cuddling up next to David's wife. She lets out a soft sigh as she cuddles into me.
"I've been thinking a lot, lately. About David, about you, about life." She tells me. "It's not easy, being with someone like David. Someone who's hard-headed, but still tender enough to not drive me totally crazy. I thought he was gone, and I think I was ready to accept that. And I was fine with that. I had Javi. I had Gabe. I had Mari. That was good enough for me. But it really wasn't. And then you come into my life. This random guy, just trying to survive like the rest of us. You could've been an asshole like everyone else, but I just had a feeling. You were different. You seemed like a genuinely good guy, in this world of bad. I could see it, Javi could see it, and Mariana even saw it. At the scrapyard, when we were getting shot at, you got me out of there, all while shooting back at them. You were willing to die for me, someone who didn't have much of a chance to begin with. You helped me with the surgery, even as Eleanor was fishing through my guts to find a bullet, you were there for me, and something about that look in your eyes, I knew I was gonna be fine. And when the New Frontier left me to die, you came for me, and you carried me in here, even after all that's happened with these people. After the things they've done to you. You did it because you care. And I need you to know that-"
"Javi! You're back!" Tripp exclaims from the other room, and our attentions turn to that. As much as I want to hear what Kate has to tell me, the both of us know we need to see Javi. The two of us roll out of bed and walk out of the guest room to see Javi, Gabe, Ava, and Clem. I guess they found Clem on the way back. Tripp, Javi, and Eleanor seem to be talking about his injury as Gabe proudly pulls out all the guns we got, making sure to give Clem a gun of her own, despite her already having one. The signs are pretty obvious, the kid's got a crush on her.
"So what took you so long?" Tripp asks as he inspects an M4 Carbine.
"We went to go see Dr. Lingard." Javi explains, much to Eleanor's surprise.
"At night? I'm surprised he was even sober."
"He was out of it when we got there. Poor dude. He needs help."
"It's fucking pathetic." Clementine snaps, crossing her arms in frustration. I look at her with some surprise. Javi walks over to her, whispering something to her, before she walks over to Kate to talk to her.
"The sun's gonna be rising in a few hours, and Joan's people know we're holed up here. It'll only be a matter of time before they come looking for us." Javi announces to all of us, the room going silent for a moment.
"Well that's just great. And we're not going anywhere with those walkers blocking our exit." Tripp groans, frustrated.
"Hey! We still have time to get in front of this before Joan can do anything. Now I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna sit around and wait for her to find us."
"I'm likin' what you're saying, Javi. But we can't just cut and run. Not with those walkers out here. Like it or not, we're stuck in Richmond. So how the fuck do we put the brakes on this thing?"
"Joan and her people are gonna be in the square, right? So we need to bring the fight to them." Ava tells us. Tripp smiles in agreement.
"We go after Joan, our problems are solved."
"Great… So... How exactly do we do that?" Eleanor asks.
"Good question. She'll be insulated from us and anyone in Richmond who doesn't agree with what she's doing. She'll have a full security detail."
"If there are good people left in Richmond who are against what Joan's doing, we need to ask for their help. If we can talk to them, plead our case to them, we might not be in this alone." Javi suggests to us. "We light the match, the people do the rest."
"After we take Joan out, we're gonna need a way out. And we really don't have much room in terms of running. So… what do we do about that?" I ask the important question, but once again, Ava has the important answers.
"We've got a couple truck we use for walker defense. They're a little busted up, but it's a whole lot better than nothing."
"That'll work. How far away are these trucks?"
"Not far. Let me show you." She points out the window. "We've been expanding the safe zone. I can't guarantee the walkers have been cleared out, yet, but that's where the trucks are kept."
"I could spit and hit it!" Tripp excitedly claims. He's not wrong. It's not very far at all. A quick walk over, and the truck's ours.
"We steal that thing, and we're golden." I say, trying to get an estimate of how far away it may be. Honestly, maybe not more than twenty minutes to there.
"Steal what?" Kate asks us, coming back and joining the conversation. "What's going on? Javi, is that blood on your shirt?"
"Things went a little sideways at the end, Kate. But it's fine. It looks worse than it is. Clem did a hell of a job stitching me up."
"Eleanor, can you at least just give it a quick look to make sure it's ok?" Kate asks her. She gives it a quick look and confirms it's not a big deal, so long as he keeps it clean. But Gabe groans, frustrated.
"Can we all stop making a big deal about it? God, it happened, ok? Move on, already!"
"Chill the fuck out, Gabe. She's just making sure he's alright." I tell the boy, but he shakes it off.
"What we need to be talking about is the plan! I have a bunch of ideas. I wanna be the one to go after Dad. Just give me a gun, and I'll do whatever!"
"Woah! Slow your roll, kid. You're thirteen. This isn't some desperado, action movie kinda bullshit. This isn't a fucking video game. This is real life. So don't get ahead of yourself with this. If you start planning how you're gonna be a hero, that's how you get shot. We gotta plan how we're gonna do this before we even think about David."
"Yeah, who's to say you're even coming along?" Tripp asks.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He looks around the room, seeing a lot of serious expressions. To this, he yells out in anger. "This is bullshit! I'm not staying behind!"
"Chill out, Gabe." Javi tells his nephew, who remains fired up about this whole issue.
"He's my dad! I'm going."
"Gabe, it is dangerous out there. I don't want you getting hurt." Kate tells her stepson.
Adamantly, he stands his ground. "If it means saving Dad, then it's worth getting hurt."
I nod, but remain firm. "I admire the sentiment, but putting yourself in that kinda danger for some self-validation is not worth it. David won't be upset if you're not there to rescue him, but he will if you get shot or bitten."
"You don't get it! Family, it's worth dying for!"
This strikes a chord with me. My family already died. Mom, Dad, Mick, Mia, I've lost my family. It's easy for him to say when he has family alive, but he has no fucking idea. I grit my teeth to avoid firing back. Javi notices this and tries to defuse the situation.
"You need to calm down, Gabe. You've been trying to hard to be the hero lately. That shit back at the armory, and now this? We're not gonna let you be a martyr. No one is."
"Before you all make any decisions about who's coming and who's staying and who's gonna do what, I just wanna say… I'm sitting this one out. It's not that I don't feel bad for David, but I really don't particularly care about what happens to the people here in Richmond, that's all. Not my community, not my problem." Conrad shrugs to us, shaking his head.
"I get it, man. You got what you came for. But it's not done yet. There are people out here who need our help. Good people. You're just gonna walk out on them?" I ask him, but he remains firm.
"Look, man, I ain't walking away for good. But, I just can't go along with this. I'm gonna grab some things and wait out the herd myself. I'll attract less attention by myself."
"Conrad-" Tripp says, before he's cut off by his friend hugging him.
"Hey, no goodbyes."
With that, he walks out, gone.
"So, who's still in?" Javi asks the rest of us.
"Hell yes, brother." Tripp's the first to answer.
"I promised David I'd always have his back." Ava says.
Clem's next. "Let's do this."
"Without Conrad, you guys need me, and you know it." Gabe quips.
"It looks like the six or so of us against a whole army. I like our odds." I grin as I pick up an AK-47.
"Alright, so Me, Kate, Ian, Clem, and Gabe will go after the truck. Tripp and Eleanor, you guys get supplies."
"Here, take a walkie." Tripp hands the device to Javi. "I'll let you know when things kick off."
"Ava, you take one and keep checking in." Javi says to the woman, as she takes one from Tripp, too.
"I'll get my stuff and meet you at the square."
"Okay guys." Let's move out."
Well, I'm not dead. Not yet at least. So anyways, I suppose I owe you guys an explanation why this chapter took 3 weeks to write. Well, when you're a college sophomore who's also an athlete AND in a new relationship, it's hard to make time to write, especially when I maybe have a couple hours of time to balance when I'm not in class or at practice or asleep. Plus I like to party on the weekends, so I'm not gonna write when I'm drunk or hungover. Faithful readers know that this story has been something I've been doing for fun, and that school and shit has always been my top priority, this story being a side project I've been doing with my free time. Unfortunately, that's still how it is, and being an athlete, the abundance of free time I had as a freshman suddenly goes away when I factor in practices and workouts and games. I'm still gonna try my best to keep at this, and I promise it will be finished EVENTUALLY. If I had to guess, there's maybe 5 or 6 chapters left at most, including what I have planned and mostly already written for the final chapters. When it'll be finished, I don't know. But I can promise you, it will be done and it will be worth the wait.
Hopefully I'll have another chapter done Thursday, but no promises. As I write this, I literally JUST finished this chapter 15 minutes ago, if that is any indication.