*A.N.
Hey look, an author note at the start, cool right?
Nah, in all seriousness, I'm throwing this here to clear some confusion real quick.
So, last chapter I mentioned I was going to be having the group go to Savannah, which by my calculations is about maybe 3-4 days straight driving away from Howe's. There is a reason for this, but for plot's sake, I can't say why. Just know shit's gonna go down soon.
Lilly and Winter's story is going to be explained eventually. Probably this chapter or next, im not sure. Winter for anyone who is curious, is my younger sister's OC. Her name is Winter because why not, though that's not her real name. Her real name will probably just be my sister's name, but for story's sake, its going to stay Winter.
I'm also going to be looking for a community OC to use as my antagonist soon. The character won't be introduced until after Savannah, so probably around chapter 15. But, I am looking for characters now.
If you want your character to be used, Feel free to email me with your name, your OC's name, their appearance, an image of the character if possible and any weapons they favour.
With all that said, check the end of chapter note for more info.
Onto the story…
"Can we take a break? We've been driving for hours" Gill complained, getting restless in the back of the truck. Time had passed quickly in the back of the truck, but even Gill was getting bored. And with the only other child aside from AJ in the front of the truck, He didn't have anyone to talk to or play games with.
"Can't stop yet, those bandits move fast. We stay in one place for too long and we get caught out in the open, and the truck is banged up already as it is" Kenny dismissed, staring at the corner of the truck.
"I know that, but can't we at least afford a quick break so we can stretch our legs?" Gill whined, staring at Kenny.
"I'm with the kid here, Kris could use a break from driving" Winter chimed in from the back of the truck.
"Fine. Jake, bang on the window and get Kris to pull over" Kenny grumbled, standing up. Frankly, his back and legs were starting to ache, but he wasn't going to admit that.
"Kris! Pull the truck over!" Jake knocked on the window, grabbing Kris' attention. With the window closed Jake had a hard time hearing Kris' reply, but felt the truck slowing down none the less. The group stood up simultaneously as the truck pulled to a stop, and the slam of 2 doors sounded through the trailer. A moment passed before the door at the back of the truck slid open and sunlight flooded in.
"Everyone out, get some exercise" Kris helped to get everyone out of the truck, before climbing in and grabbing a box of food and dragging it out. He pulled 8 cans out of the box and slid it back across the floor.
"Come grab some food when you're ready" Kris called out to the group, grabbing a can and moving back to the front of the truck. He climbed back into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut. The group stared on at Kris' odd behaviour, utterly confused as to why he was acting so irrationally.
"I'll go talk to him" Jake offered, grabbing a spare can and moving up to the opposite door of the cab.
"Welp, ill be back" Winter walked off into the scrub without another word.
"Where is she going?" Patricia asked aloud, not really expecting an answer. No-one responded, nor did they notice Clementine sneak off after Winter.
Clementine tried to stay out of sight from Winter, trying not to be spotted. She wandered off so suddenly, it struck the 12-year-old as a bit off, causing her to decide to follow the white-haired girl.
"Seriously, an elephant in a china shop is quieter than you Clem" Winter called out, turning and facing the young girl.
"Sorry, just… got a bit worried" Clementine lied, looking away.
"You weren't worried for me, you were worried about me" Winter summarised, walking towards Clementine.
"I know, and I'm sorry. You just sorta of worried me when you wandered off and didn't say anything" Clementine apologized, looking up to see Winter right in front of her.
"Don't sweat it. I understand where you're coming from. We've known each other a grand total of 14 hours now, its understandable if you don't trust me just yet" Winter smiled, placing her hand on Clementine's shoulder.
"Thanks. Anyways, why were you out here anyways?" Clementine questioned, shaking Winter's hand off her shoulder.
"Oh, I came out here to pee" Winter laughed.
"Did I really need to know that?" Clementine cringed, shoving Winter away from here.
"You're my friend Clem, you deserve to know when I'm going to pee" Winter laughed even harder, doubling over. Clementine couldn't contain herself and started laughing loudly as well.
"Well, its nice to know I've at least got a friend who isn't an old man or a baby" Clementine chirped, helping Winter to her feet and trying desperately to catch her breath.
"In any case, we should get going back to everyone else. The group might be getting worried" Clementine turned to walk away, noticing Winter wasn't following.
"Ill catch up. Still gotta pee" Winter joked, turning and walking behind a large tree.
"Whatever" Clementine called back, jogging back to camp.
"Hey man, is everything OK? You seem a bit distant today" Jake consulted, sitting in the passenger seat and gazing over. Kris had his head against the steering wheel, gripping the wheel so tight his knuckles were going white.
"No. Nothing's ok, nothing at all is ok" Kris's voice came out barely audible, sadness laced through every word.
"What do you mean? Everything is ok. No-one's dead, we have a truck so we can push through walkers, and we have more than enough ammo, food and meds to last us a long while" Jake reasoned.
"Everything is ok? So you call living out of a fucking truck, constantly on the run from bandits and walkers 'OK'?!" Kris growled, shooting daggers at Jake.
"It's better than going out every week to get more rotting wood for a rotting store. The place was bound to fall eventually" Jake tried to press the idea that the store wouldn't last, but Kris wouldn't budge.
"And just how the fuck do you know so much about wood suddenly?" Kris snapped, staring Jake in the eyes.
"You don't remember my father was a carpenter. He showed me the difference between fresh and rotten wood" Jake explained, seeing Kris' face soften.
"Yeah, your father was a good man, huh?" Kris sighed, calming himself down.
"He was, and im sure he'd be proud of you right now, even if you aren't his son" Jake smiled warmly, offering his open can of beans to his friend.
"Nah, I already ate" Kris dismissed, leaning back against the wheel.
"Why don't you take a break and let me drive, you can chill in the back and get some sleep" Jake offered, stretching his back.
"Sleep? What is this sleep you speak of?" Kris joked, earning a laugh from Jake.
"Go on, get out of here. Pack up everyone else, and bang on the truck when you're good to go" Jake practically pushed Kris out of the driver's seat and took the seat himself, starting the truck up.
He heard the click of a door and saw Clementine climb up next to him, sitting herself down in the passenger seat.
"Hey Clem, how's it going?" Jake smiled, trying to find some way to pass the time as we waited for everyone else to get ready.
"Good" was Clementine's blunt reply. Clementine, for whatever reason, didn't like talking much to Jake. She wouldn't mind striking up a conversation with Kris or Kenny, but she always seemed to ignore Jake.
"Hey Clem, There's something I don't get. Why is it you're always so cheerful around everyone else, but you act so cold towards me?" Jake questioned, spinning in his seat. Clementine seemed to hesitate, alternating between playing with the door to simply ignoring him. Some time passed before she sighed and turned to face Jake.
"To put it simply, I don't like happy and cheerful people. I've known quite a few, and the same thing always happens. They die" Clementine explained, looking off into the distance.
"Well, there is one perk to having someone like me around" Jake explained, hearing a bang against the truck, indicating everyone was ready to go.
"And what might that be?" Clementine questioned, looking genuinely confused.
"Being like me means I'm more irresponsible than most. Irresponsible to the point where I offer to let 12-year-old's drive" Jake joked.
"What are you talking about?" Clementine asked, watching as Jake opened the driver's door and exit the truck, circling around and arriving at her door.
"Move over, you're driving" Jake explained, moving the young girl over to the driver's seat and sitting down in the passenger's seat.
"Me? But I don't know how to drive…" Clementine trailed off, not being sure about driving such a large vehicle.
"It's easy, ill show you" Jake reassured her, strapping himself in.
"Ok, so make sure your hands are here and here always" Jake moved Clementine's hands to the right place on the steering wheel.
"Ok, now what?" Clementine asked, keeping a death grip on the steering wheel.
"Ok, move this back to the one that says D" Clementine moved her hand off the wheel and pulled the gearshift back, locking it into place in drive.
"Now, like a gun you don't want to stomp down on the pedals. Just push down slowly, let the truck speed up" Jake concluded, watching the girl gingerly put her feet on the pedals.
"Which one do I press down?" Clementine noticed the three different pedals, which made her unsure of which to use.
"The one over there on the left is the accelerator. That'll make it go faster. The big one in the middle is the brake. If we need to stop, take your foot off the accelerator and put it on this one and press down. The last one is a foot guard. Put your left foot on it to keep it steady and just use your right foot for the other too" Jake explained, watching Clementine absorb the information and place her feet correctly.
"Now, push down on the accelerator and get going" Jake encouraged, feeling the truck start to move.
"I-I'm doing it!" Clementine shouted in excitement. The truck slowly started to gain speed, eventually getting to a decent cruising speed.
"Good, now keep an eye in front of you. We don't want to crash, now do we?" Jake instructed, reclining in his own seat.
"Ok, that makes sense" Clementine replied, keeping her eyes glued to the road. The window between the back and front slid open, and Kenny popped his head through.
"Didn't know you were such a bad driver Jake. I thought-" Kenny started, only to cut himself off when he saw Clem in the driver's seat and Jake relaxing in the opposite seat.
"Look Kenny, Jake showed me how to drive!" Clementine told the man excitedly. Kenny felt glad she was enjoying herself, but that didn't change the fact he was a bit annoyed with Jake for letting her drive.
"Jake, why is your lazy ass making Clem drive?" Kenny questioned, leaning against the window sill.
"Eh, my idea. She needs to learn this stuff eventually, right?" Jake shrugged, stretching in the seat.
"Yeah, but shouldn't we start her in something a bit easier as in, oh I don't know, not a full on fucking truck?" Kenny seemed a bit sceptical of letting someone so young drive something so large.
"She's doing fine isn't she? Trust me Kenny, she'll be alright as soon as we hit the highway" Jake dismissed, laying his head against the door.
"Whatever. Clem, if you get tired, pull over and knock on the window and ill come up and drive for ya" Kenny offered, shutting the window and walking back to his normal spot in the corner.
"Kenny, did I just hear you right? Clementine isn't driving, is she?" Lilly piped in, staring at Kenny in the inky darkness of the truck.
"Yeah, Jake had the bright idea to teach her how to drive a truck" Kenny shrugged, leaning against the door at the truck.
"Yeah, sounds like something he'd do" Kris added from where he sat against the food.
"So, how much longer until we reach this Savannah place?" Randy asked, hugging his sleeping wife and son.
"By my guess, I want to say 3 days. It's a day drive to the Ski Resort where Clem found me. After that, its 2 days driving to get back near the city. Once we reach the outskirts, we need to come up with a plan" Kenny figured he could come up with an excuse to keep him and Clementine out of the city, even if it meant ditching the rest of the group.
"Kenny, you cant plan to plan. This is just us driving and hoping for the best" Lilly sarcastically commented.
"Have you been to the city? Do you know how much of a death trap it is?" Kenny snapped back.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll be able to lead us through to victory" Lilly snapped back.
"I'm not going into the city, and neither is Clem. Y'all can risk your lives for nothing, but I ain't going in" Kenny walked off, leaving a fuming Lilly behind.
"Why? Upset you'll find your family as walkers?" Lilly taunted, stopping Kenny in his tracks.
"No. I'm scared to find a zombified Lee" Kenny replied, walking to the window.
"Z-Zombified Lee?" Lilly's voice came out almost in a whimper. She had thought perhaps they had gotten separated from Lee, and we're looking for him still, but her assumptions were crushed right then and there at the mention of an undead Lee. Lee had always been the strong one in the group, almost as strong as her father, and she didn't think he would be the one to die.
"Yeah. We got into Savannah, and Clem got snatched by someone she had been talking to on her walkie-talkie. He went to find her and got bit. He died saving that little girl, and I don't want her to go through the pain of seeing him like that again" Kenny looked over emotionlessly at Lilly, his stare one of remorse and anger.
"Man, this Lee guy sounds like a real legend" Winter commented, having woken up during the conversation.
"That he was. Damn guy wouldn't give up, even when he was dying. Saved me and my family countless times, and fuck was he a good shot. Probably as good as or even better than Lilly" Kenny didn't enjoy thinking about Lee now, but it did bring some happiness talking about his past glories.
"Obviously he was. Remember the motel raid? He and Carly killed almost all those bandits on their own" Lilly reminisced, a smile appearing on her lips.
"Yeah, he was a crack shot. Whether it was a rifle or a pistol, if he had bullets and a target, chances were someone was gonna get taken down" Kenny smiled,
"Yo, who are we talking about?" Jake suddenly appeared through the window, startling most of the trailer's occupants.
"Jesus fucking Christ Jake, don't scare me like that" Kenny snapped, hitting the man in the chest.
"Whatever. Gas is almost out, we got any spare?" That sentence startled everyone. There was no spare gas in the back of the truck, aside from 1 half full container.
"Not a lot. Tell Clem to push the truck as long as it'll go on, then park it and we'll go gas hunting" Kris remarked from the trailer, finally speaking up.
"Gotcha" Jake finished, shutting the window.
Another hour and a half passed before the truck began to splutter and stall, eventually pulling to a stop next to a multitude of crashed and flipped cars on an abandoned highway. Clementine released the steering wheel, her knuckles white from gripping so forcefully.
"Don't forget the parking brake" Jake piped in from behind her, confusing her.
"Parking brake?" Clementine looked over at Jake confused, watching as he sighed and grabbed a lever beside her and pull it up, hearing it click into place.
"The parking brake. It stops the truck from moving" Jake explained, unclipping his seat belt.
"Jake, hurry up and open the fucking door" Kenny shouted from the trailer.
"Oh yeah, we should go get the door" Clementine giggled, hopping out of the large truck.
"Grab that jerry can on your way past, I'm going to go out and find gas for the truck" Jake called out from the other side of the truck. Clementine grabbed a red can off the truck, thinking it was the right thing, then walked around and slid the door open enough for someone on the other side to open it the rest of the way.
"Thanks, it was starting to get stuffy in there" Randy commented, locking the door in place and jumping off the trailer, helping everyone else disembark the vehicle.
"Jake, while you're out if you happen to find anything we can use to cut a few holes into the trailer so we can breath back there, I'd appreciate it" Patricia appeared out of the truck, carrying a sleeping Gill.
"Ill keep an eye out. Winter, you and Kris wanna join me?" Jake grabbed the red can off Clementine, turning to the rest of the group.
"I'm good, ill head up onto that bridge and see what I can spot. Maybe we can find somewhere to stop for a few hours and rest" Winter replied, running off towards the large bridge in front of them.
"I'll follow her and make sure she doesn't kill herself up there" Randy ran off after Winter, leaving the rest of the group behind with the truck.
"I'm going to stay here, and watch over the truck" Patricia offered, walking to the front.
"Ill stay here with her. Kenny, you want to search these cars?" Lilly jogged to the front of the truck, opening the drivers door for Patricia.
"Sure, Clem, you wanna come with me?" Kenny grabbed one of the spare duffel bags and threw it over his back, grabbing a second for Clementine.
"Sure" Clementine replied, taking the bag from Kenny's arm and following him towards the stacks of broken cars.
"Guess its just you and me then, huh?" Kris chuckled, grabbing 2 extra cans for the gas and following Jake up the road towards where Winter and Randy were perched atop the large bridge. The bridge was a fair walk up the highway, though with how quiet it was on the highway, the walk was quite nice. Jake looked up towards the bridge, and saw Randy climbing down the ladder on the side of the support.
"Anything?" Jake called out, seeing Randy walk towards them.
"Winter's keeping watch up there. Looks like there's a gas station up ahead, might be something there" Randy shrugged, taking a can from Kris and leading them up the road. The cracked pavement was surprisingly hot, even this late in the afternoon. Walker corpses littered the road, making everyone uneasy, thinking one could spring up and chomp them at any time.
"There it is. Let's hope there's something of use here" Randy mumbled, taking lead as the three entered the station. The lot was made up of 4 gas pumps, a station and a mechanic shop.
"Kris, you go for the pumps, ill check out the mechanic. Randy, toss the station, see if there's anything inside" Jake assigned each person a job of sorts. Kris nodded and wandered to the pumps, trying to find any way to get the gas from them.
"There's no power, the pumps aren't gonna work" Kris called aloud to no-one.
"Might be something in here" Jake struggled to lift the door to the autoshop, but eventually managed to open it. The interior was almost pristine, as if it hadn't been looted yet, which worried Jake.
"Kris, take a look at this. It's untouched in here" Jake called out, walking into the dark shop.
"Station's the same. There isn't any power, but there is a lot of food just lying in there" Kris noted, entering the autoshop.
"Look's like we might have a chance here. There's an industrial hand pump in here, and a ton of tools" Jake pointed to a large machine in the back corner of the room, noting the various auto tools adorning the shelves.
"Pump's are dry, there's no gas here" Randy mentioned, standing in the doorway
"Dangit, the place is a bust" Kris sighed, moving out of the open doorway.
"Maybe not" Jake looked as though he just had a brilliant idea, which scared Kris.
"What are you talking about? There's no gas" Randy repeated, looking as confused as Kris.
"The tanks. Remember, Gas stations always have massive tanks underground where they store their gas" Jake ran off towards the pumps, his words taking a moment to register in Kris' mind.
"He's right, those tanks could be untouched!" Randy realised at the same time as Kris, both men looking at each other giddily.
"Randy, go help Jake find the tanks, im gonna grab that pump and a bunch of extra cans" Randy nodded, running off to help Jake. Kris darted back into the auto-shop, looking for a way he could move the large machine out of the garage to the tank. There were no trollies, dollies or anything similar with wheels he could see, which wouldn't do anything anyways, as Kris noticed the machine was bolted to the ground. There was however a long hose connected the side, which he grabbed and hoisted outside.
"Find the tank? This hose is heavy as fuck" Kris grunted, moving towards Jake and Randy, who had crowbars jammed into a hatch in the ground.
"Over here, we found one of them. And it's locked up, so there's bound to be plenty of fuel in here" Randy and Jake struggled to open the cap in the ground, both men using as much force as possible to force it out of the ground.
"It's a threaded cap. You aren't gonna rip it out" Kris pointed out, throwing the hose on the ground.
"Well, what do you suggest we do then? We need this gas, or we're stranded" Randy and Jake removed their crowbars from the lock, throwing them to the ground.
"Bolt cutters. Just cut the fucking padlock off and spin it open" Kris shrugged, walking back to the garage.
"There's some in the truck, I'll run and get them" Jake ran off towards the highway, back towards the bridge.
"Everything ok?" Winter shouted from atop the bridge, having seen them disappear behind the wall of the gas station.
"Everything's ok, we have a way to get a ton of gas, but I need bolt cutters" Jake shouted back up to Winter, passing under the bridge and running straight to the truck.
"Lilly, *pant* bolt cutters *pant* Behind *pant* you" Jake choked out, clutching the truck to get his breath back.
"Sure, here" Lilly shrugged, leaning back and looking through the bag, pulling out the massive cutters and handing them to Jake.
"Thanks" Jake panted, spinning around and running back away from the truck towards the gas station.
"Jake, shout up when we're going, I'm gonna loot a couple of the cars up here" He heard Winter shout from behind him, but was too preoccupied to reply. He ran on, eventually reaching the station and running over to Kris and Randy.
"Find them?" Kris asked, standing up off the ground where he and Randy were resting against the wall.
"Here. Go nuts, I'm sitting the fuck down"
"Good on ya. Randy, lets get this open" Randy stood up and moved towards the cap in the ground. Kris positioned the cutters on the lock, pressing down with as much force as he could. A sudden snap rung out and Kris pulled the cutters, and the lock, away.
"Here, might want this" Randy handed Kris some sort of tool, which consisted of a handle and 2 small pegs.
"What the fuck is this?"
"Dunno. But the cap has two holes on it, so I think you use this thing to twist the cap off" Careful with the brittle looking tool, Kris threaded the two small rods into the cap and spun the entire thing out, the sickening but somehow loveable scent of gasoline wafted out of the tank. Jake fished around in his pocket and found an empty bullet shell, which he proceeded to throw into the tank. The casing banged against the side of the tank, making a loud clanking noise before a soft splash echoed out.
"There's definitely something down there. Jake, come help me pump it out. Randy, you put the hose in" Jake nodded and ran after Kris, both entering the garage and disappearing out of sight. Randy turned and grabbed the hose and threaded it into the tank, putting down as deep as possible.
"Ready!" Randy shouted, not expecting a response. A few moments passed before the hose began to shift slightly, and gas began moving through. The sun was baring down on the hot pavement, forcing Randy to retreat inside to avoid getting heatstroke. Their gear was inside, stashed in a corner until they were ready to leave. The interior of the store was surprisingly cool, despite being basically an oven outside. A light buzzing filled the room, emanating from Kris' backpack. Curious, Randy slinked over to the bag and opened it, searching through the bag for the source of the noise. The bag was stuffed with food and water which he had to move, but eventually he found Kris' radio stashed at the bottom, which was buzzing. Something was coming through, but there was too much static to be able to hear through it properly. Shrugging, Randy stepped out of the station and into the lot, the signal clearing up a bit but not by much. The voice sounded quite deep, though Randy wasn't able to make out the voice.
"Randy! Come take this to the truck and get Lilly to drive it down" Jake jogged over to Randy, holding a can of gasoline. He handed the can to Randy, who grabbed it and nodded, before stopping and turning back.
"Here, give this to Kris. It's his radio, and I don't know how to work the damn thing. It was buzzing earlier" Randy shrugged, toting the heavy can of fuel and beginning the trek back to the truck.
*A.N. Holy shit, another longish chapter. I'm getting pretty good at this :D
Everything in the top note will be the same here, so OC's, stories, blah blah blah.
I've got a mental plan ready for the next 4-5 chapters, and I have to say, while it is a bit farfetched and might not turn out well, I'm happy with what will happen next.
Welp, I'm out. Get some OC's going, I'm gonna need them!
Yours,
Exfinity