Honestly, Lee couldn't curse that day any further, and especially not his luck. His tired and somewhat frustrated eyes were staring at the restraints around his wrists and he could feel, just inches from his head, that old jerk pointing the gun at his head.
Hmpf, he had not been a prisoner before, but apparently he would be a prisoner at the end of the world.
Who knows, maybe he even deserved that. But it was still fucking stupid.
In silence, he observed the group around him. Normal survivors, normal people.
Perhaps the most interesting person there, and the one who had the best chance of survival, was that Lilly. From what he heard, she had military training.
Maybe even that old man had some training, since he was quite strong for someone of that age.
"You can't go there. The station is surrounded by those things." He heard that woman, Carley, say in an already tired tone. Maybe even a little irritated that she had said the same thing a few times already.
"And what idea do you have, genius? We need gas or we're stuck here." Kenny replied, an equally tired look with a certain level of irritation. He had his arms crossed and was leaning against the table on which he had left his machete. Next to him, the blond woman, who appeared to be his wife, was sitting in a chair while the boy, Duck, if he wasn't mistaken, was doing some talking with the girl he still didn't know the name of.
He only knew that she was not Kenny's daughter.
"Well, we can't go back either. And we've been here for how long? A few hours? That creature must be gone by now. I think I agree with Kenny on this one." Lilly said, her two hands on her waist as she looked, disguisedly, toward Lee. Checking just to make sure he wouldn't do anything.
"But there's no way we can get past all those creatures. No chance. We wouldn't last two seconds. Unless one or two people at most try their luck, and even then I think it's too risky." Carley replied, crossing his arms and lowering his head, looking down at his own feet.
"Then me, you and Lilly will go." The man with the mustache said, and Carley arched an eyebrow. "Do you think Ben would be able to run from those things? Or that Larry could run without his heart deciding to stop beating?" Kenny retorted, and both Lee, and even Larry, sighed at that argument.
They had been at it for some time. And they just couldn't make up their minds. Carley, for one, was still not quite convinced about going to Virginia.
"The gas station is two streets away, right?" Lee's voice interrupted the little discussion, drawing the attention of practically everyone there towards him, and despite everything, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
"Why the fuck are you still talking?" Lilly asked snidely, and Lee just sighed. He didn't even have the will to argue. Honestly, what was with them? It was his life at stake there, along with theirs.
Although he knew they wouldn't hesitate to abandon him if it meant they would be saved.
"Because I'm tired of hearing you talk. There are abandoned cars down the street, still in good condition. It just takes one person to go over there, turn on the siren, then get out of there while the rest go to the gas station." He said, propping his elbows on his knees and lowering his head.
Things were so fucked up.
"What? Are you crazy? this is just as risky. That person would die, all the infected in the area would be drawn there." Carley said, looking at him somewhat rigidly, which actually made him arch an eyebrow.
"Which is exactly why the gas station would be empty." Lee said, running his hand through his hair.
He had spent a little over a whole week dealing with the infected alone, and although it wasn't much time, he knew that the infected were... dumb, so to speak. As if people had regressed to an animalistic level of form.
"Still, that's too risky. It would practically be like giving that person a death sentence." Carley said.
"Well, while I agree with you, risks became commonplace the moment this virus or whatever spread through the city. The question is, deciding which risks are worth taking. I may not have gone through what you have, but I could understand that if you don't take the risk, you won't accomplish anything." He replied. "The same applies for the world before this, just in a different way."
Honestly, he had no idea how to feel in that situation, tied up against his will and treated as a prisoner.
In the normal world, and for police officers, he understood perfectly well.
But that situation was so... weird... unique even, that he felt lost. He had no idea whether to be angry with that situation.
Or whether to help those people get out of there.
Or what he should do in a general context. Because on the one hand, those people were just trying to survive, and it would be more than amazing if those children could get somewhere safe. It was already almost a miracle that they were alive in a situation like that.
But on the other hand, he was not willing to be taken prisoner and taken to a place where he would probably die, if what that old man said was true.
... Well, since there didn't seem to be any safe base in the city for the time being, he decided to concentrate on getting out of Atlanta still alive.
By himself, maybe he could make it ... now, with so many people like that, things were getting more difficult.
"...I think he has a point." Lilly said, drawing their attention to her. Quite a surprise.
"Really?" Kenny asked.
"It's inevitable that we take risks, we know that. We have taken few risks so far as we had more people, more weapons. However, we can choose which risks to take, and choose the least dangerous one." Lilly said, staring at Lee with a very unfriendly face.
He tried not to be bothered. Not because he cared about it, or because Lilly had any weight in his life. But because that look caused him uncomfortable feelings and brought back distressing memories.
He could ignore it, but whenever he received a look like that, he would feel his insides squirming.
"Still, we can't risk losing anyone else. We've already lost too many people." She said after a few moments, sighing in some regret.
"Well, it was just a thought. You guys can always finish them off with brute strength." Lee said, propping his head on the wall and staring at the ceiling.
"Yeah, sure." Carley said with a certain irony.
"No, I actually like that idea." Kenny said.
"You're not serious." Carley said, looking at him somewhat incredulously."
"We don't have to go in there shooting everything that moves. We have weapons, we can kill them all without them noticing us." Kenny said, pointing to the machete that was on the small table.
"What... are you serious? You want to kill those people?" Ben asked startled.
"Do those look like people to you, Ben?" Kenny asked.
"I...I don't know, man. Maybe they're just sick." The young man replied.
"Yeah, sure, and that's why they killed over half the population of Atlanta, including the cops. For God's sake, kid, you saw what they did. Don't feel sorry for them now." Kenny replied stiffly.
"I understand you, Ben. But those things will kill us if we let them." Carley said, looking at him sympathetically, and the boy lowered his gaze, staying put.
"So, you want to go over there and kill as many as we need to quietly. And then what?" Lilly asked.
"We come back here. We get my wife and the kids, and go to the van." Kenny replied.
"We have to see how the road to the van is. Worst case scenario, we'll have to wait longer." Carley said.
"I'll go upstairs and take a look at things. When I get back, we'll decide what to do." Lilly said, checking the ammo in her pistol and fixing a knife in her waistband that Lee hadn't even noticed before.
She walked to the door on the opposite side of the room from where Lee had entered, stopped, and looked at him for a few moments with that same unfriendly expression.
"... Put a tape over his mouth." She said, causing a grimace to be born on Lee's face immediately.
"The fuck? Are you serious?!" He asked, indignant.
"We can't risk him talking more than he should and revealing our position to the infected." She replied with indifference.
"A little late for that, no? I could have done it the moment I saw the guns pointed at my head." Lee said, things were getting weirder and weirder.
"Ahm... is that really necessary?" Carleu asked. "Not that I'm defending him or anything, but covering his mouth... well, it even makes us look like the villains here. Like he said, he could have done it before."
"Better to be safe." Lilly replied simply, walking through the door without saying a single word soon after.
Larry left Lee's side and walked over to one of the backpacks leaning in the corner of the place, and a few moments after rummaging through what was inside, he picks up a piece of duct tape.
"Ah, you're kidding me, man. What else are you gonna do? Tie my legs up and carry me around like a fucking sack of potatoes?" Lee asked, shaking his head and grumbling loudly when Larry grabbed him by the head and taped the duct tape over his mouth.
Lee gave him an irritated look, but the old man just ignored it.
"For me, we would have done just that. But we can't take the risk of you slowing us down." Larry replied with indifference, and Lee muttered a 'son of a bitch,' even though the old man couldn't hear.
Okay, now he was considering the idea of running away from those people and trying to make it on his own. At least he wouldn't be in a precarious and vulnerable situation like that.
And well, he had managed to survive up to that point, who was to say that he couldn't continue?
Ahead, Carley looked at him evidently bothered, while Kenny just ignored it. He didn't have much to say even if he wanted to.
The children, however, stared at him curiously. A kind of curiosity in which he didn't know if it was exactly a good thing. It was more a curiosity directed at when people saw a real-life movie scene right before their eyes.
With no other choices, Lee just sighs in regret, weariness, and irritation. Even a little worry. Fuck, if that blind creature got in there somehow, what the fuck would he be able to do in that state?
Well, he just hoped nothing would happen in that time.
A few minutes later, Lilly came back. Kenny, Carley and Lilly walked out of there towards the post, leaving only Katjaa, Ben and Larry to keep an eye on him.
Which made Lee feel a bit... bad, maybe. Larry was a jerk who gave him a sharp look and always seemed attentive.
But Katjaa and Ben seemed more scared than anything else. Well, Katjaa not so much, she was far away, close to the children.
But Ben was only a few steps away from where he was and every five seconds he would look toward him in fear that he had moved.
Lee didn't blame him for being afraid, but that was too much even for a trash like him. Especially with someone like Larry to help him in case Lee really tried to do something. In that situation, Larry would easily overpower him.
Despite the disagreements that seemed to surround this group, Lee could see that they cared about each other. Everyone there, even Larry, seemed a little distressed by the departure of Lilly and the others. There was a certain warmth hidden in the terror-stricken eyes of the situation.
Something Lee had not seen for a long time. He remembered that same fond look in his wife's eyes, but that was many years ago. And because he knew exactly what that look was, he could tell that those people considered themselves something close to a family.
Or they just didn't want to lose one more person and become more vulnerable.
Whatever it was, maybe it was something from the end of the world that brought them together more quickly.
He missed those glances directed at him.
But he wouldn't be an asshole and put all the blame on his wife, because he himself hadn't done much to change the situation. Just the occasional attempt to rekindle the fire between the two of them. A few flowers on their anniversary and a reservation at a fancy restaurant, maybe.
But no more than that.
Maybe he should have even imagined that, going on like this, it was almost inevitable that his wife would betray him. While not exactly an excuse to do such a thing, a divorce petition would have been better.
And just like that, Lee found himself stuck in his thoughts, reliving memories before and reminiscing about times before everything went wrong.
And of course, the exact day he stained his hands with blood.
Honestly, he was still having problems with himself. Problems that were temporarily forgotten due to his survival instinct in that infested city. But he still had problems knowing that he had the ability to kill a person he thought he loved.
Hell, he could hardly believe that he had the ability to kill a person on his own. He always saw himself as a friendly, kind person. Not a beast with murderous impulses.
Hm... how fucked up things were. He was in the middle of the end of the world, and there he was worrying about who he really was.
A nasal laugh escaped unnoticed as he bowed his head, not noticing the pair of curious, even pitying eyes staring at him from across the room.
Oh God. At no point in those days did he stop to think how miserable he was.
"They're late." Katjaa broke the silence, bringing him out of his thoughts, which made Lee internally thank her.
"They can take care of themselves. And it's only been an hour." Larry replied, trying to hide his own concern.
Holy shit, an hour has already passed? Lee didn't even realize it. How long was he stuck in his own mind?
"The gas station isn't that far... why would they take so long?" Katjaa asked, and Larry sighed in irritation.
"Anything could have happened. Getting worried and nervous is going to help in what?"
The next door was suddenly opened, and everyone there moved, the adults already with weapons in hand. But they calmed down when they saw that it was only Lilly and the others.
And they couldn't help but be surprised to see them bloodstained and sweaty.
"Fucking hell! Those things seem to come up out of the ground!" Kenny said after closing the door, placing a gallon of gasoline on the floor and walking over and trying to wipe the excess blood over his face. He would not approach Katjaa and the children like that.
"What happened?! Are you guys okay?!" Katjaa asked in concern.
"Yes. We are fine. When we got near the gas station, more of those things appeared. One of them took Kenny by surprise. We had to go all the way around the block." Carley replied. She had no blood on her face, but part of her clothes were stained.
"Kenny, are you okay?" Katjaa asked.
"I'm fine, honey. The bastard just knocked me down. We got the gas, but we're going to have to wait a while." He replied, already approaching them. He was still dirty with blood, but by that point, they had gotten used to it.
Larry approached Lilly, showing his relief without saying it in words.
Hm, although a jerk, he seemed to really love his daughter. Lee would never understand that, he wasn't a father, but he could respect it.
"What about things here?" Lilly asked, looking once again at Lee with a rigid expression.
Argh.
"Pretty quiet." Larry replied, returning to his post a few steps away from Lee.
"Good. Get ready to move. We'll be out of here in half an hour." Lilly said, walking to the center of the room while checking her blood-stained knife.
"How much gas did you get?" Ben asked, now a little more reassured and allowing himself to walk away.
"Enough to get us out of this town and make it to another gas station." Kenny replied, sighing and taking over the post that had previously been Ben's.
"How are things out there?" Larry asked, crossing his arms.
"The same. If you take away the fact that we attracted a little more infected than we wanted. But, the road to the van is relatively clear." Lilly replied, grabbing some food from Lee's backpack.
"Eat before you go. You won't have another meal until tonight." She said, handing out food to everyone there except, of course, Lee.
Oh great, they take his stuff and starve him too. Good thing he ate before he left that day.
He lowered his head again, focusing his eyes on the floor, and again not noticing the pair of eyes watching him doubtfully as they held the cereal bar in their hand.
A short time later, he was forced to stand up by Larry, snapping him out of his thoughts and causing him to glare at the old man.
"Oh, don't even try, asshole, that princess look of yours doesn't scare me. Come on, we're leaving." The old man said and Lee sighed.
Oh you son of a bitch...
He abandoned those thoughts. He couldn't threaten anyone.
As he stood up, he saw everyone there already with their respective backpacks and weapons in hand, ready to get out of there. Even the children were armed with knives. The two knives that Lee had taken, given to them by Lilly.
At least something good, although he never imagined supporting giving a weapon to a child, if something happened, they would stand a chance.
"Are we really going to go through with this?" Carley asked, pointing at Lee and making it obvious what she was talking about.
"Yes. Virginia is closer. As I said before, we have to choose which risks to take. Between Wellington and Virginia, I choose the latter." Lilly said, standing in front of the door they used to leave earlier.
"I agree with her. Although I don't like it." Kenny replied, his machete steady in his hand.
"Right... right... but can't we at least take the tape off his mouth? We're not barbarians." Carley tried, and in response, Larry just shrugged.
"Who cares how a murderer like him is treated? For all I care, he wouldn't even be walking right now."
"Well, that would be fucked up, old man. That would get in the way more than it would help." Kenny said. "Enough talk, are you ready?"
"Let's go fast. It's easy, just keep it quiet and we'll be in that van as soon as possible. Kenny and I will go in the front, Carley and Dad will stay in the back." Lilly said, running her eyes through the group just before she opened the door.
The door led to the reception area. Only now was Lee realizing that that was a hotel. The place was overturned and stained with dried blood. There were also one or two bodies in the corner, but far enough away from the children.
They walked through the reception area and came to the open entrance. The street was, as expected, infested, but they were far enough away that it was possible to get through without drawing too much attention.
Crouching down, they soon moved toward the nearest cars, with Lee grunting slightly as he felt Larry push him and almost knock him over in the process.
Now hidden, he looks over at Lilly, who was walking toward an infected man ahead. He watched with some curiosity as she stabbed what appeared to be a man in the back of the neck.
From the reaction of everyone there, except Ben and Katjaa, they didn't seem to have any problem seeing her literally kill a person.
An infected, cannibalistic, deadly person.
Even the children seemed unaffected, despite Katjaa's clear attempt not to let them see it.
Well, one could imagine. A situation like that could traumatize even adults.
Once she had dealt with the infected, she signaled for them to keep moving.
Lee, in his situation, was forced to trust that Larry and Carley behind him could take care of the infected approaching from the rear while he watched Lilly and Kenny take care of those approaching from the front.
They seemed to know what they were doing. Well, at least, Lilly, it was somewhat obvious that the others were just imitating what she was doing.
And watching this, it was then that he could see the real danger. While he was dealing with the infected, he never stopped to think about how close he got to them. It was easy for any bloody hand to grab him, and he wouldn't have many ways to fight back.
Somehow, watching someone else do that seemed more dangerous than doing it himself.
After some time at that pace, they finally reach the van.
Kenny knocked down the last of the infected around, just before he approached the vehicle.
"Okay, Lilly and Carley, cover me. The rest of you, get in the van." Kenny said, already turning around with the gallon of gasoline in hand.
Just as he did so, however, a noise behind them caused the entire group to turn around.
As soon as they did, though, they widened their eyes when they saw this blind creature standing on top of one of the cars, sniffing the air and smelling their scents.
Despite their fear, everyone immediately fell silent, with Katjaa placing her hands over the mouths of the two children.
They all began to back away slowly, and after a few steps, they realized that Ben was not moving. The boy seemed to be trembling, and his low grunts clearly indicated his fear.
Slowly, Carley moved toward him, her arm extended to touch him on the shoulder.
"Ben..." The moment she touched him, however, the boy cried out in fright, suddenly pulling away and looking at her with wide eyes.
As soon as he saw that she was not a threat, he calmed down, even tried to apologize. But his apologies were drowned out by the creature's loud, forceful roar.
"Get in the Van!" Lilly exclaimed, grabbing her pistol and pushing Ben back somewhat violently.
"Damn it boy!" Kenny grumbled as he saw the creature leap from the car it was standing in toward where Ben was standing a few moments ago.
The creature was fast.
The monster landed hard on the ground, causing the group to be even more startled as they saw the creature's claw marks forming on the concrete.
Lilly and Carley run backwards. The creature chases them, being many times faster than the two women. With no choices, Larry shoots, and the creature's roar of pain mingles with the alerted screams of all the infected around.
"Get in the fucking van!" Larry shouted as he continued shooting at the creature, trying to push it back as far as possible.
They ran to the vehicle, with Lilly running up to Kenny and shooting the infected who were advancing on the man who was beginning to fill the gas tank.
Carley opened the back doors and Ben was the first to get in.
"Come on, Katjaa!" Carley turned as she called out to the woman, and soon grumbled low as she saw infected approaching from behind her. Quickly, she began to shoot, but she alone was not enough.
One of the infected managed to throw itself at the boy, and Katjaa screamed in desperation while still holding his arm and pulling as hard as she could.
The boy, in the process, dropped the knife.
"Duck!" Kenny yelled also in desperation, but he was far away, and too busy to be able to run to him and save him in time.
Then, to the surprise of many there, Lee ran up to the boy and kicked the infected man in the head, knocking him to the side. Katjaa pulled Duck up and they immediately ran towards the van, with Duck and the girl glaring at Lee, who was looking at the whole thing somewhat lost.
What could he do in that state? Okay, he had just saved that boy, but he was somewhat limited, and thanked the heavens that the infected was practically lying down and in range of his kick.
He watched as Larry threw himself backwards and crawled under a car as the blind creature tried to attack him. He was soon saved by Carley, who grumbled lowly as the creature's attention turned to her.
He watched as Lilly was nearly knocked down by two infected who literally threw themselves against the glass of the interior of a nearby car. She was out of ammo and had to reload, but in that mess, she couldn't.
He also saw when an Infected underneath a car grabbed the leg of the girl running after Katjaa and knocked her down, causing the girl, now even more vulnerable, to have her arms also grabbed by another Infected who had thrown itself on her and she now struggled to keep the Infected away from her neck while trying not to have her leg bitten or scratched by the other.
Running, he picked up the knife that Duck had dropped and advanced against the infected man on top of the girl, stabbing the bloodied man several times in the side of the neck and chest until he knocked him down. Soon after, he stabbed the back of the head of the infected man who was grabbing her foot, freeing her.
They both stared at each other for a few moments. He analyzing and mentally wondering if she was okay, and she looking at him gratefully, tearfully, and still frightened.
Well, he didn't blame her. With his past, and now him armed with a knife, he would be scared too.
However, a scream behind him made him break eye contact, and his eyes focused on Carley, who was trying to keep an infected away from her. Her gun was out of bullets, and there were Infected all around her.
Larry was shooting at the blind creature. Kenny, who had finished putting gas in the van, was making his way to the driver's seat and Lilly was helping the old man.
Rolling his eyes at the situation that could have been totally avoided, Lee began to cut the restraints on his wrists as fast as he could while moving toward Carley.
As soon as he got close, he plunged his knife into the neck of the infected man and knocked him to the ground, concentrating on finishing cutting his restraints soon after, oblivious to the look Carley was sending him.
He almost celebrated when his hands were finally free, and grunted as he removed the tape over his mouth.
But before he could say anything, more infected appeared.
Beside them, Carley was reloading his pistol.
"How many bullets do you have?" He asked without looking at her, making a mental path to the creature.
"Thirteen bullets. Why?" She asked, sending a few glances his way without knowing what to do.
Both he, and she, knew that Larry, maybe even Lilly, would not be able to escape that blind creature. They were doing a good job of using the cars to stay alive so far. But it was only a matter of time.
"Well, better than nothing." Lee said, pushing some of the infected aside and running toward the van.
Carley looked at him for a few moments, and then looked back at the creature.
Larry was on the ground and Lilly was out of ammo, knife in hand, and struggling against an infected who was holding her arms.
The creature had its arm raised and was preparing to kill Larry. Acting fast, Carley shoots while moving a few steps closer, stopping that monster's attack.
However, she widened her eyes as she saw the creature rip open the door of a nearby car and literally throw it in her direction. The woman threw herself down, hearing the noise of the door passing literally inches above her.
The creature growled again, but before it could attack, Kenny runs over it with the van, knocking the monster to the ground and preventing it from getting up by leaving the van on the creature's torso.
"Come on!" He shouted, and Carley ran toward the vehicle. As she approached, she raised her pistol and fired at the infected that Lilly was fighting.
The woman looked at her for a few moments and nodded in her direction in thanks, running over to Larry and helping him up.
Soon they got into the van and closed the back doors.
Kenny shifted gears and stepped on the gas, speeding down the small passage in that infested street and trying to ignore the hideous scream of the creature that began to chase them at incredible speed.