Over a year….yikes. I won't even make defenses for it, it's just been a while.
Three weeks had passed since the motel shooting. The shock of Eva's death was a large one and was only just subsiding. It was very humbling and eye-opening to see someone so strong lying dead like the rest. It did good for the group though, and they were tougher for it.
There was still no sign of Izzy, Harold, Bridgette, Geoff, Brick or Shuie, and everyone had guessed they hadn't made it out of the woods. They had stuck around one night to wait to see if they had come back, but had to clear out soon for fear of the strange men returning.
Currently they were in Maine, USA. They had driven north in hope that the cold of the impending winter would slow the zombies down, but had yet to face any real hordes. That suited everyone just fine.
The group was taking refuge in an abandoned camp ground, eerily similar to Camp Wawanakwa. They had come across too newcomers who seemed like good enough folk, a scrappy, pretty young girl named Sky and a beefy, doofy romantic named Rodney. They both pulled their weight well and played well with others, so things were relatively calm.
"Y'ever heard of the Portland Poachers?" Rodney asked Chef one night at dinner. The whole group was dining around a huge circular wooden table in the main building of the camp. When Chef shook his head, Rodney continued, "they're some mean sonsofbitches I tell you."
"Oh really?" Gwen said skeptically, "I've run in with some really fucked up guys, I doubt these guys are worse."
Rodney flushed. He had an odd habit of doing that when girls talked to him. "W-well you see they come across real nice, they split off and join groups of other survivors, then they kill 'em in their sleep and take their stuff."
"Great," Sky piped up, "make them distrustful of new people, good thing we're such veterans of the group," she said sarcastically.
"Nah, not us," Rodney said dismissively, "see, they got these tattoos hidden on them somewhere of a moose, see they play games. If you're clever enough to notice it before they strike they'll leave you well enough alone, and let all their little members know you're off limits."
"How do you know all this?" Noah asked curiously.
"Ran into a guy named Shawn a couple months ago, smelly guy, but real street smart," Rodney explained, "it happened to us. Some dude came up to us and offered us food for a place to sleep. Everyone 'round here had heard of the Poachers since the beginning, and Shawn knew real early to keep an eye out for em. As the guy was rummaging around in his backpack Shawn yanked his shirt up and we saw the moose, right there where a tramp stamp goes. The guy smirked, pleasant as you liked, gave us the food in his backpack, and wished us a good day."
"So you're off the hook if the Poachers come?" Justin piped up.
"Well, I don't know…" Rodney said hesitantly, "one things for certain, Shawn ain't…"
There was a moment of silence around the room, before realization dawned on Jo's face. "That Shawn guy killed the Poacher."
Rodney nodded gravely, "as the guy was getting up to leave Shawn pulled his knife, tackled him, and stuck it to the hilt in the guys throat. Really freaked me out, I left that night when it was my turn on watch, never seen Shawn since. Dunno if the Poachers associate both of us with the killin' of our guy, or if they don't even know what I look like…"
Beth shivered, "scary…"
"Most people deal with 'em now by having newcomers strip naked," Rodney turned a brilliant crimson, "not that I'm saying Sky should strip, er, I mean…uh…" he trailed off awkwardly as several people laughed.
"I'm certainly not stripping." Sky crossed her arms defiantly, "at least not here in front of a bunch of men." she added.
"Don't worry, no ones doing any stripping," grumbled Chef irritably, "finish your dinners up and get moving, we got chores to do. Its gonna be a cold night and we gotta make sure we got enough firewood."
There were four cabins on the campground, each with its own nice fireplace. They had been sleeping with fires blazing as the temperatures were now nearly below freezing at night.
"The firewood is fine," Duncan rolled his eyes, reclining in his seat, "I made sure all four cabins were stocked this afternoon."
It was true. Everyone in the group had stepped up a lot since the motel, but most noticeable were Duncan, Courtney and surprisingly Justin, along with the ever-authoritive Jo.
"Good, good," Chef nodded, "well then, I'm glad we got these paper plates so there ain't a lot of washing to do. Make sure everyone cleans their silverware spick and span.
Their biggest find in the three weeks since the motel was a crashed truck full of high-quality toiletry bags. They were stocked when they found them, and contained a roll of toilet paper, a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, deodorant, a razor, shampoo and soap, and, most importantly, small containers of rubbing alcohol and iodine. The group had put other things in their bags as well as there was plenty of room, and each person had their own silverware and bag of matches in addition. The kits were about the size of a small backpack without the straps, and most kept them tied around their waist. It could also fit a handgun and many used them as holsters, as holsters were a very rare commodity.
The bathrooms were packed. Everyone was getting ready for bed, using their toiletry bag supplies and water collected in small water bottles, also stored in their toiletry bags, from the well in the middle of the campground.
"Man, it's real cold tonight," Trent shivered in the guys bathroom, clad in a dark green hoodie with the hood pulled up. "Too bad theres no fireplace in the bathroom."
"Right?" Ezekiel agreed, standing next to Trent as he brushed his teeth, "wer nawt gunna ve able to shtay mooch longer," he added with a mouthful of toothpaste and brush.
"Yeah," Noah added, "Maine gets real nasty during the hard winter, and its only November."
"How far south do you think we'll go?" James wondered, "not like, way south, right?"
"No, we'll be staying far away from Hick Land I'm sure," Noah said, sounding bored, "we might even stay in New England, go down to Rhode Island or even Massachusetts."
"As long as we don't go to Boston," Justin complained, "that place will be a shit show."
"What would really be nice is to get to Europe," Aidan piped up, vainly checking his very acne-free face for pimples in the mirror, "so many rich resources in Spain and France, and so few people."
"Good luck finding a plane or boat to do that in this day and age," Lightning snorted, walking in from outside, "sha-damn, how long you fellas gonna be? Lightning's gotta take a dump!"
"Yuck, say no more," Justin cringed, quickly finishing up and leaving.
"I'm with him," Noah said, leaving as well.
"Ugh, I wish I could take a hot shower," Heather said, wiping the makeup off her face.
"I can't believe you still wear that stuff," Sky told her. "What's the point?"
"It's a comfort," Heather snapped, getting defensive, "reminds me of the old days. Do you have a problem with it?"
Sky held her hands up at breast level, "no, no, sorry. I didn't mean to offend."
"I'm sure you didn't," Courtney added tiredly, "it's all good, right Heather?"
Heather rolled her eyes, "you don't have to talk to me like I'm a squabbling five year old, Courtney. Yes it's fine."
"I'll tell you though, it's nice having Trent to snuggle with during these cold nights." Gwen admitted.
"Yeah?" Jo teased, "I heard you generate more body heat without any clothes on, eh Gwen?"
Gwen flushed as the other girls laughed, though Jo quickly stopped when she saw Sierra was tearing up, "oh shit…"
"Oh, I'm so sorry Sierra, it just slipped my mind-" Gwen began to apologize.
"It's fine," Sierra said too quickly, "gonna turn in, goodnight guys!" she all but ran from the bathroom.
An awkward silence followed.
"That was stupid," Gwen said aloud, "I shouldn't have…"
"You were fine," Heather said dismissively, "you should be allowed to talk about Trent without Sierra getting all teary. I get that she lost Cody, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy our boyfriends while we still have them."
"Or they still have us," Beth said sagely.
Another silence followed.
"That's pretty fuckin heavy, Beth," Jo said.
"And on that lovely note, I'm going to bed." Courtney said dryly, leaving the bathroom.
The campers turned in for the night.
Dead: Owen, LeShawna, Staci, Sadie, B, Sam, Dakota, DJ, Lindsay, Chris, Cameron, Tyler, Scott, Anne Maria, Katie, Haley, Zoey, Dawn, Mike, Zekitrov, Cody, Eva.
Unknown: Izzy, Harold, Bridgette, Geoff, Brick, Shuie.
Alive: Ezekiel, Noah, Justin, Beth, Courtney, Trent, Duncan, Heather, Gwen, Alejandro, Sierra, Lightning, Jo, Chef, Aidan, James, Rodney and Sky.
I know I know so short, right? This is just a quick update on what the group is up to. Sky and Rodney from TDPI are now in the group and they're chilling in Maine at a campground. The winter is too brutal to stay for much longer though, so the cold will drive them south. What will await them there? Guess you'll find out next time.