Author's Notes: Alright it's summer! No more school so time to write fanfiction! The next 4 chapters will come soon and I plan to do a whole story arc in a week for the one year anniversary. Also this chapter is pretty gruesome so... be careful if you're a little squeamish.
The day had turned to night and Clementine and Bob's group was nearly at the town.
"Alright so we're going to just get in whichever building is the most intact," Clementine said.
"Are we sure that this is a good idea?" Bethany asked, "There could be hundreds of walkers."
"Well unless you want to sleep out here in the open and definitely get eaten I'd stop complaining," Clementine replied.
"Good old Lexington," Bob chuckled as the sign came into view.
When they got closer, they noticed barbed wire grid laid out for several feet.
"What the hell," Bob muttered, as he approached, "It can't be….."
"What can it not be?" Henry asked at the back of the group.
"Military barbed wire!" Bob exclaimed, "We found an old military encampment!"
Bob took a few steps back for a running start and then leaped over the barbed wire. Everyone followed his lead and they were safely over the wire.
"Is there still food here?" Aj asked, opening a door.
"It's non perishable so yes, unless the soldiers ate it all before they abandoned this place," Bob explained.
"I don't think they abandoned this place," Aj sputtered, pointing to the inside of the room.
They had all hung themselves from nooses from soldiers and other people taking shelter there to kids. All were zombified hanging from the rope. Their bodies were extremely decomposed, but enough was left for them to still be walkers.
"Shit," Louis gagged, "That's disgusting!"
Louis stumbled outside and puked leaving everyone else to stare at the walkers.
"Well I'm sure they would want us to put them out of their misery," Bob muttered.
He picked up an assault rifle that was leaning on a dusty crate and started putting down the walkers.
"This is going to be a good spot to rest for a few days," Bob coughed while sitting down.
"What do you mean a few days?" Clementine asked.
"We drank water straight from a river," Ellie replied, "Who knows what kind of bacteria was in that shit."
"So why did you two let us drink it anyway?" Clementine fumed.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures and I prefer having diarrhea than being fucking dead," Ellie snapped.
Their argument continued as Logan and Mac made their way through dense forest several miles away.
"We're screwed," Mac coughed.
"We'll get to Alexandria, but that sign on the road said Lexington is a few miles away," Logan interjected, "Then it's only a matter of time before we get to Alexandria and find the others if they're still alive."
"I've been through a lot of shit man like getting flung into a fucking wall by a grenade, living rough after barely escaping those guys who took Green to that one place and killed Ken on the side of the road, so many sleepless nights, and losing a person I've known since the early days of the apocalypse this morning," Mac jeered.
"We'll make it," Logan assured her, "But first we need supplies, mostly food."
They emerged from the forest to find Lexington Mall in relatively undamaged and unlooted condition.
"That's a little suspicious how it's so well preserved," Mac pointed out.
"Bro look over there," Logan responded, "It's a torn up road that was under construction when the shit began. If anyone was going to come here they'd either bring a car which they can't or live and since there's no water or shit nearby no one's probably been here."
"Still a little suspicious," Mac told him.
"Fine," Logan groaned, "I'll go in there and you wait right outside the door."
Mac nodded and walked over to the entrance. They pried the door open and Logan entered the mall; slightly displaced by how relatively bright it was. There was another floor of shops below that Logan could see over the railings. The empty hallways stretched into old stores like Gamestop, JCPenny, a Kohl's, and then at the very end of the mall was a sign for a Trader Joe's.
Logan quickly bolted down the hallway. He knew Trader Joe's had non-perishable food and it seemed like his best bet unless there was some stale food in Panera Bread.
"Hello," Logan called out after entering the Trader Joe's.
There was a quick rustling, too quick to be a walker.
"Whoever is there, come out!" Logan shouted, "If you don't come out and try to attack me then I will mutilate you! I'm not in the fucking mood for this!"
The floor creaked behind a nearby aisle.
"Fine!" Logan shouted, "You wanna go bro!? I'll fucking skin your ass alive!"
Logan ran forward and knocked over the aisle onto the person.
"Shit!" the person screamed.
Logan recognized that voice.
The person scurried out into Logan's line of sight, it was Maren.
"Oh you fucking ass bitch!" Logan yelled.
Maren spirited away and Logan ran after her. His speed was greatly impaired, because of the injury from when she shot him in the leg.
"How the fuck did you survive!?" Maren asked.
"Some creepy ass fuckers took me in and tormented me after removing the bullet you shot me with!" Logan replied.
Logan was gaining on her just three feet behind her. He tackled her and threw her knife and gun over the railing to the floor below.
"You bitch!" Logan screamed as he punched her, "You made my life agony!"
He punched her a few more times.
"The one thing that got me through that time in the cultist cabin and the thing that gave me the energy to escape was the thought of getting my revenge on you," Logan hissed.
"We both know you don't have the guts to finish this," Maren chuckled, "You're still the same guy as you were before Riverside."
"That guy who you knew from Riverside and Ericson's School died," Logan growled bashing Maren's head into the ground, "The moment you left him for dead. If anything I should thank you!"
A look of concern and fear spread across Maren's face as she realized what was going to happen.
"You've made me stronger and now I think what I'm about to do to you will rival what Miles did to Gregory!" Logan chuckled, "Revenge truly is a beautiful thing!"
Logan's laughter echoed through the hallway.
"Just let me live!" Maren begged, "I've changed! I'll never bother you again!"
Logan's laughter stopped and he growled, "That's what you said last time. We both know that was bullshit then as it is now. The one thing that's changed is that I'm not letting it slide!"
He drove the knife into Maren's stomach and he made sure to give her the pain that she inflicted on him. Maren was screaming and managed to kick him off of her. She started to run only to be tackled by Logan over the railing. They both landed on the hard floor with a thud. Maren crawled towards her knife and gun which Logan threw down here earlier.
"Oh no you don't!" Logan scowled as he grabbed her leg and dragged her back.
It was too late Maren managed to grab the gun. Logan's eyes widened as Maren aimed the gun at him. He quickly threw his knife at the gun and knocked it out of her hand.
"Congratulations," Logan coughed, "You just made your death even slower."
Several minutes later Mac returned from her bathroom break in the woods and heard the sound of screaming coming from inside the mall. She ran inside and followed the source of it. Her mouth dropped in horror by what she saw.