Author's Note: Welcome everyone to the sequel of The Walking Dead: Days Gone. For returning readers, I appreciate all of the support you have and will continue to show for the story. If you are new here, welcome to our tight knit community!
Disclaimer: I do not own Telltale's The Walking Dead, only my characters.
City Streets, St. Louis, Missouri
February 17th, 1537 Local Time, 2007
Adrenaline rushed through Clementine's veins as she did her best not to trip over any fallen debris. A bullet hit the window of a wrecked car nearby, shattering it into thousands of glass shards. Her lungs felt heavy as Zoey continued to pull her further down the broken street away from the shouting and gunfire. Molly was a little bit ahead of them doing the best she could to hold these fuckers off with her Remington 700 sniper rifle.
Her eyes scanned every building they passed in the hopes of finding a place to hide. They couldn't run forever, and from the way those men spoke it sounded like their group controlled vast portions of the city. As the trio ran further into the dense urban jungle of crumbled apartments and skyscrapers, the yelling and gunfire faded into the distance.
Clementine let go of Zoey and came to a stop as they entered an alleyway, her heart racing at a million beats a minute as she gasped for oxygen. Her feet felt as if they had been set ablaze in a scorching fire, forcing her to rest against the side of one of the many brick buildings. Molly set herself up behind a nearby car, her sniper rifle pointed back the way they came from should the bandits pursue them further.
"Come on you piece of shit, open!" Zoey exclaimed as she repeatedly kicked the door of one of the many cafés in an attempt to open it. It took a minute, but the barricaded door finally burst open allowing Zoey to guide Molly and Clementine inside before shutting it behind them.
The interior of the café was nothing special, with tables and chairs strewn about and a layer of dust covering the floor. The boarded windows allowed for narrow increments of light to shine through as well as protect them from being seen from the outside. Molly stood near the windows and kept watch for any telltale signs of the bandits, her rifle loaded and ready to kill.
Clementine watched as Zoey rushed over to one of the large cabinets and pushed it along the wall towards the door. Ready to help in their survival, she did her best to aid Zoey in moving the cabinet in front of the busted door, blocking any further entry. Certain that they were safe, if only for the time being, Zoey took this time to gather her thoughts on what the hell just happened.
The trio had been making their way up north following the military stronghold signs placed all along the highway, leading them to St. Louis. When they initially got into the city, there was a strong lack of any military presence whatsoever. At first, they assumed that the military had set up deeper within the city, but they were soon proven wrong.
Heading further into the city, they found crashed military vehicles and dead bodies wearing uniforms, leading them to conclude that the military was either entirely dead or abandoned St. Louis sometime ago. It was then that they were confronted by a few men wearing mismatched clothes carrying assault rifles. One thing led to another and all hell broke loose from there.
Now they were here, hiding in a run down café running for their lives.
"Is everyone ok? Any injuries?" Zoey called out in a worried voice.
Patting themselves down, Molly and Clementine came to the same conclusion. "No, I don't think so. Good thing those Scavs have shitty aim." Molly replied as she glanced over at Clementine for her answer.
Seeing their attention turn onto her, Clementine nodded. "Other than my feet being on fire, I'm ok."
"Good, good." Zoey said. She began to pace back and forth while holding her right hand to her chin, her eyebrows furrowed as she focused on what to do next.
Molly was still leaning up against the windows scanning the streets. She couldn't see any signs of movement, only the usual crashed cars, collapsed buildings, and overgrown vegetation reclaiming the man made landscape. Turning away from the windows, she set her rifle down on one of the tables and sat in the chair next to it. "Well it doesn't look like they know we're in here, so I think we can take a minute to rest while we decide on what to do. Even then, we shouldn't take too long lest they get smart and start searching buildings."
Zoey and Clementine couldn't help but agree to the idea. Although they enjoyed the momentary breather, all three of them refused to let their guard down. It wasn't the first time they had gotten stuck in a situation like this; outnumbered and outgunned, forced into hiding to survive, but it was certainly the worst.
Leaning against the counter, Zoey slung her new rifle, an AR15 with a 14.5 inch barrel, red dot sight, and M16 rifle lower over her shoulder. "First things first, we need to get our bearings. Right now we're about as lost as blind mice in the sewers, meaning that we need to get to higher ground and get a look for where we need to go. From there, we can plan on what to do next." Zoey said.
"I saw a taller building a few blocks away when we were running, maybe we can use that?" Clementine suggested.
"A few blocks? I don't know Clem, with the amount of Scavs roaming the streets that might be a bit risky." Molly expressed her discontent
Zoey shook her head. "Risky or not, it's better than nothing, all we'll have to do is stay low and take our time."
Recognizing that Zoey was right, Molly let out a tired sigh and stood up, taking her rifle in both hands. "I don't like this, but I guess we have no other choice. Alright, let's go." She said.
Readying their guns, Zoey took the lead as always, with Molly in the back and Clementine between them. Making their way to the other door, Zoey raised her rifle and aimed its barrel outside, following the swing of the door. Seeing that the coast was clear, Zoey motioned for them to follow her as she stepped outside.
The grass that has grown over sections of the concrete pavement muffled their footsteps as they moved between buildings along the street. The building they were looking for was just as Clementine had depicted, only being a few blocks away from the café. Still, they made sure to keep aware of their surroundings in case bandits or walkers were hiding in the shadows.
To their surprise, all was quiet with the exception of a few birds that flew overhead. They soon came across as walkers laying face first in the dirt with a hole in the back of its head. Maybe these assholes cleared out most of the infection? Makes our job easier at least. Zoey thought before continuing on.
Zoey felt her muscles relax in warm sunlight, her light brown hair gently blowing in the cool breeze that flowed through the air. Stopping for a moment, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her senses overflowing with many assortments of materials. If they weren't being hunted by a bunch of murderous psychopaths, she could stand there forever and take in the strange beauty in it all.
"Crazy how all of this stood tall only a few years ago huh?" Molly said, breaking Zoey's concentration.
Zoey opened her eyes and turned to her compatriot. "Yeah. Still feels like yesterday we were all going out to watch movies and eat burgers with friends." She despairingly responded, reminiscent of the past.
Molly placed a soft hand on her friend's shoulder and remained silent for a moment. "...C'mon, we're only a block away at this point." She said, pushing the days of humanity's downfall to the back of her mind.
Zoey gave a short nod. "Right."
Keeping their eyes peeled, they jogged the last bit of distance towards the building. Setting up on the sides of the door, Zoey gave it a quick knock and waited. Hearing nothing from the inside, she twisted the knob and pushed the door open. The inside was filled with dust, with grass and moss creeping out of cracks in the walls.
Moving to the stairs, they slowly went up step by step, careful to not make much noise. Reaching the fifth floor, they quickly realized that going further up wasn't an option as the stairs were blocked by cabinets, chairs, and other debris.
"Guess this'll have to do. C'mon, this way." Zoey said, leading them down a hall. At the end was a slightly opened door that the trio entered after knocking. Inside, suitcases half packed with clothes and canned food sat next to the entrance. The living room wasn't much better, with a toppled bookshelf and a scattered collection of books.
Once all three survivors were inside, Zoey and Molly pushed the toppled bookshelf in front of the door. Now confident they were safe, the three of them sat on the couch and got into action hatching a plan.
"Molly, do you still have that map we found at the checkpoint?" Zoey asked.
Molly nodded as she slipped her backpack off and dug into it before pulling out a folded piece of paper. Setting it on the table for all three of them to see, Zoey did her best to trace where they were by starting at the spot where they first met the bandits. "Alright, if I were to guess, we're stuck in the heart of the city here," Zoey began to say, "And we need to go here." She pointed at a bridge crossing the Mississippi river. "If we can do that, then we should be home free. For now, we watch what they do. I'll take first watch, so if either of you want to rest, go ahead."
Zoey stood up and went into the next room. There was a hole in the wall that offered a great view of the bridge they planned on crossing. Sitting against the wall, she held her rifle close and watched, taking note of the bandit's activity.
Regardless of how many Scavs they had to fight, they were getting out of there.
Apartment Bedroom, St. Louis
February 17th, 2352 Local Time, 2007
"Clem, wake up."
Clementine slowly opened her eyes and let out a yawn, shivering as the wind sent chill went up her spine. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, they soon adjusted to the darkness around her. "Ugh, what?" She managed to utter as she stretched her arms, her joints popping themselves back into place.
Molly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Come on, Zoey has something to tell us."
Clementine went out on a guess that it was about the Scavs, otherwise Zoey would have let them sleep. Checking that her pistol was tucked safely away in its holster on her thigh, she made sure to have her few spare magazines in places that would be easy to access.
As they gathered in the bedroom, Zoey turned around and waved for them to stand next to her. "Look down there." Zoey said as she pointed at the gate blocking the bridge. "I've been keeping tabs on the bastards all day. During the day there's a fuckton of them guarding the gate, but now it's down to a skeleton crew."
Looking down at the gate, there were certainly less Scavs than before. "Think we can get through them?" Clementine asked. This wasn't like sneaking past a group of walkers. No, people were smart, and at the slightest slip up they could all end up with a bullet between eyes.
Zoey nodded. "If by through you mean sneaking past them, then maybe, although from the looks of it, our usual stealth kills may not work here. If worse comes to worst, however, we can always try shooting them and make a run for it. The only tricky part is if that fucking truck comes back around."
Molly turned to her friend with a partially concerned look. "Truck? What truck?" She asked.
Zoey let out a tired sigh, her shoulders slumping as she looked at Molly dead in the eyes. "The bastards have this Humvee with a machine gun. The thing was decked out in barbed wire and metal plates, so if we come face to face with it, you can bet your ass we're screwed." She explained.
Molly threw her arms up in the exasperated. "Oh that's just fucking great. First a bunch of murderhobos, now a bunch of murderhobos with a goddamn truck?! What's next, they have a helicopter?!" Molly exclaimed before leaning against the bedpost. "We are so fucked..." She muttered.
"We'll be ok Molly, we just have to stick together." Clementine reassured, her young voice bringing a sense of composer.
"I know I know, it's just that I'm worried about you two is all. We keep taking all these risks and as the oldest one I just want to make sure you guys stay safe." Molly admitted.
Zoey stood and placed a hand on Molly's shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. "Hey, we get it. We all worry about each other, and right now we should be worried, but we also have to keep calm."
Molly shakily nodded, her composer returning as she gave Zoey and Clementine a determined look. "If we're doing this, then let's not waste anymore time." She said.
Gathering at the doorway, Zoey and Molly moved the bookshelf out of the way. Lining up in their usual formation, the three survivors made their way back to ground level. Once outside, they made sure to stay close to the buildings and stick to the shadows, slowly moving down alleyway after alleyway, avoiding Scav patrols on their way to the bridge. Clutching her pistol in sweaty hands, Clementine was doing her best to listen for any sounds, Scav or otherwise.
Crossing into an alley, the amount of chatter coming from the checkpoint was quite worrying to the twelve year-old. She knew what people were capable of, having witnessed bandits murdering other survivors in cold blood. If she had the choice between fighting a walker and a human, she would take the walker any day because a walker couldn't shoot back.
Suddenly, she found herself letting out a short yelp as a hand wrapped itself around her arm and pulled her behind a dumpster just in time for a beam of light to wash over the area where she just stood. "Shit that was close. Sorry for the scare Clem." Zoey apologized while peering around the dumpster.
Clementine's eyes widened as the realization of what had just happened dawned on her. Once again, if Zoey hadn't been there to watch over her like she had for the last three and a half years, she most likely would have been killed.
Following Zoey's stare, Clementine saw three figures on a perch illuminated by the searchlight, one of which was operating it while the others stood close with rifles. Glancing around the area, she counted around seven other Scavs patrolling the plaza before a male voice pierced the air.
"Over there, look!" The man shouted to his comrades.
Clementine's muscles tensed as she forced herself against the wall and out of sight, waiting for the light to shine in their direction. The spotlight failed to aim at them however, instead pointing towards a small group of walkers that had gathered outside of the buildings thanks to the noisy generator.
Gunfire erupted as the Scavs on the catwalk turned their attention onto the walkers. The echoing gunfire was deafening as the sound bounced off the many brick walls. A few of them landed their mark in the walker's heads, although more had such shit aim that it took a few more bullets to finally strike one of the walker's in the head.
With the bandits distracted, Zoey was able to get a better view of the immediate area. Something that struck her as odd was that the Scavs on patrol ignored the walkers entirely, almost as if they trusted the bumbling idiots on the light to deal with the problem themselves.
Focusing on the gate, she searched for an opening that would allow them to sneak right by the Scavs. Her attentiveness was rewarded when she saw an opening in the side of a building that led behind the gate.
Bingo. Maybe we won't have to waste ammo after all. "Follow me. Those walkers will keep them distracted but not for long." Zoey instructed before sneaking her way around the dumpster. Clementine and Molly shared a cautious look before following the twenty two year-old over to a series of crashed cars and rubble that wrapped around the side of the checkpoint towards the building Zoey had seen.
Now all they had to do was cross the plaza, get inside the building, and get out on the other side. On paper it was a simple plan, but sadly, nothing was ever that easy in the apocalypse. The survivors halted behind the cars for a moment as their ears caught the roar of an engine that gradually grew louder.
Zoey glanced back at Molly and Clementine before muttering a curse and taking her rifle in her hands. "Molly, take Clem and cut through the building. Do not stop running until you get past the bridge. I'll distract the guards long enough for you to get through." She ordered, the tone of her voice leaving no room for argument.
Molly shook her head. "No, we stick together. Besides, you'll need someone to cover you." She instantly objected, having to raise her voice slightly as the engine grew closer.
Seeing Clementine nod in agreement, Zoey let out a short sigh of defeat. "Fine, I'm right behind you." She replied. "Alright, let's hurry then." The Humvee was getting close now, meaning that they had to move fast if they wanted to escape. Crossing the last few yards of the plaza, Zoey reached for the door that would lead them to freedom. Instead, the door opened on its own and she came face to face with another Scav. The two adults stood frozen for a moment before the man's lips moved.
"They're he-!" He shouted before promptly getting cut off by a bullet to the chest, giving away their location. As he fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood, the Scavs operating the searchlight turned its beam onto them.
Considering they were caught anyway, Zoey began barking orders to Molly and Clementine. "INSIDE NOW!" She shouted before aiming her rifle at the searchlight crew and pulling the trigger.
One of the two Scavs on the searchlight went down immediately, with the other ducking behind the metal plated railing. The Scavs on patrol turned their focus onto Zoey and began shooting back, resulting in a bullet grazing her arm as she rushed into the building.
That wasn't their only problem however, as the Humvee finally rounded the corner, its machine gun aimed down the hall at Zoey. Oh fuck me… She thought before sprinting after Molly and Clementine. Bullets erupted from the machine gun with a booming echo that awoke whatever walkers were left in the area. Zoey thanked whatever god was listening for whoever was operating the mounted gun having shit aim, giving her just enough time to throw herself out the door on the other end of the building.
"ZOEY, OVER HERE!" Clementine shouted from behind a collection of wrecked cars. Molly stood next to her with her rifle pointed at the building, her finger on the trigger ready to kill any Scavs that came through.
The bridge was so close now, all they had to do was run down the road and make it to the other side. Zoey gripped Clementine's arm as she ran past, pulling her along down the final stretch of road that separated them and freedom. A round went off from Molly's rifle before turning on her heels and following suit towards the bridge. As if their luck had run out, a large whole split the bridge in two, with large pieces of concrete sticking out of the rushing water below. With time running out, they had to act fast if they wished to survive. Seeing as there was no other way around, Molly leaped into the freezing river. Clementine dropped down soon after, leaving Zoey as the sole survivor left to take the leap of faith.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and, with no other choice, jumped.