*A.N. quick thing before the story. So someone did comment last chapter asking about Lee. My comment of "shh, patience my child :3" still stands, as it may or may not be revealed soon…
"Everyone packed?" Kris spoke aloud to the group as he searched his backpack to confirm he had absolutely every last item from the truck.
"Looks like it, trucks completely empty" Kenny piped up, slamming the door to the bed shut.
"We're all packed. Waiting on you" Sam gave his all clear as he helped his daughter to tighten her backpack so it wouldn't slide off. No-one else said anything, but it was clear everyone else would have said the same thing.
"Well, there's really nothing left here except for an empty truck. We should go, especially before any walkers decide to show up" Lily reasoned, still scanning the foliage for any signs of walkers. She was however startled by a loud pop resonating from the truck.
"What the fuck?" Kris drew his pistol and crept to the backside of the truck, then slunk around and aimed directly down the other side of the truck, finding only Winter crouching next to the front wheel, wielding a knife.
"What are you doing?" Kris questioned, holstering his gun.
"Popping the tires. We're abandoning the truck, and I don't want to leave a perfectly good empty truck out in the middle of nowhere" Winter shrugged, plunging the blade into the next tire, earning an oddly satisfying pop followed by a hiss of air.
"If you're done, we need to go" Kris joked, stepping in front of the truck with the group not too far behind. After a mutual unsure glance around, with everyone staring back at the truck for the last time, the survivors abandoned the vehicle and continued their trek.
"Daddy, my feet are getting sore" Kenny heard Jen complain quietly, struggling to keep pace with the fast-moving group as they trudged along the dirt path that Jake had spotted a few hours ago. According to the map, if they followed down the path, it would lead them to the ski-resort they were looking for. Once there, they could continue on past and hopefully make it to Savannah.
"I know honey, but its not too much farther. Once we make it to the ski resort, you can rest there" Sam explained simply, grabbing hold of Jen to keep her in pace. Without thinking, Kenny slowed his pace and ended up at the end of the pack.
"Couldn't help but hear missy here is a bit sore. Want me to give her a piggyback for a bit?" Kenny offered, looking down and seeing Jen smile at him.
"I don't see why not. Just be careful, you are decently tall" Sam warned, stopping for a moment to pick up the slender child and help place her on Kenny's shoulders.
"Don't forget to thank Kenny, Jen" Maria reminded of her daughter as she gently carried Sarah, who was asleep.
"Thank you, Mr. Kenny." Jen lightly patted the bearded man's hat, then laid against the soft fabric.
"Gotta say; for only being 8, she's surprisingly mature" Kenny commented as he brought up the rear with Sam and Maria.
"It's weird, huh? She should be in school right now, learning her colours and shapes, but instead, here we are. Time sure flies, huh?" Sam sighed, looking around the forest.
"No kidding. She must've been, what, four when this happened?"
"Yep. It's sort of unfair on both of them. They shouldn't have to live like this; constantly in fear of losing everything because of some stupid virus" Maria commented.
"No kidding. Clem up there has lost more than a girl her age should've. She's seen her dead parents, watched her mentor die in front of her, and lose an entire group of people she came to see as family. Not to mention one of her only friends…" Kenny finished on an odd silence, staring down at the ground.
"It must've been hard on her, losing so many people at such a young age" The three stayed silent for a moment, before Kenny picked up his pace and caught up to Clementine.
"Hey darling, you doing alright?" Clementine gave a hum of approval, not bothering to look up from the path.
Deciding not to pry, he gently grabbed Clementine's backpack and took it off her shoulders, hoisting onto his own. Clementine tried to grab the backpack off him, to no avail.
"Give me my backpack back!" Clementine shouted childishly, trying to grab the floral pack from Kenny.
"Calm down Clem, I'm carrying it for you. Don't want you snapping your back or nothing" Kenny reasoned, keeping the backpack out of reach as soft giggles emanated from Jen.
"I can handle it, I'm not a little kid" Clementine grumbled, looking down again.
"I know you aint mentally, but physically, you're 12 kiddo. We aren't far off now, then you can have it back. Ok?" Clementine nodded, obviously ignoring Kenny now. No-one else at the back said anything, opting to instead stay quiet and scan the trees for any signs of walkers or bandits. The only people speaking were Kris and Jake, who were joking and laughing at the front. Deciding he was bored, Kenny rejoined the two at the front, carrying Jen atop his head.
"What are you two laughing about?" Kenny asked as he caught up to Jake.
"Nothing much. Just remembering back when I used to work at this old fish and chip place near home. There was this old lady who came in one time and had a long ass rant because we didn't have a certain type of fish" Jake laughed.
"If you think that's funny, try working with one of my old fishing buddies. He would always take a bottle of booze with him when we went out, and one time there was a bit of a strong storm, and the bottle fell overboard. Long story short, he actually locked himself in his cabin and refused to come out until we got back to the mainland and found a liquor store with the same booze" Kris was starting to go red in the face from laughing, and Jake was about the same. Even Kenny was starting to laugh as well.
"I swear, people were always weird, weren't they?" Kris laughed, taking in large amounts of air in a desperate attempt to not suffocate himself because of his laughter.
"In Florida they were. Speaking of, where did you two grow up?" Kenny asked curiously, realising their accents were both not anything American.
"Australia, Jake too. We both went to the same primary school and the same high school. Honestly, it was kind of like fate that we became friends" Kris joked, kicking a rock in the path at a tree.
"What, did you just notice we sound different?" Jake questioned.
"Well, kinda. We haven't exactly had a normal conversation in quite a while, and there hasn't really been a time to question it yet" Kenny shrugged, noticing a few walkers shambling on the path ahead.
"Got a couple of stragglers ahead" Kris noted, grabbing out his knife as Jake did the same.
"Be back in a sec." Kenny watched the two race off and work basically in tandem to clear the walkers. One would kick a walker's knee out, and the other would stab the downed walker. The same would go on until the group of walkers were dead. Kris motioned for the group that it was safe as the two tried to catch their breath.
"You two may as well be pros at this. You cleared those fuckers pretty damn quick" Kenny complimented as Kris and Jake took the lead once again.
"At this point, we have to find someway to spice it up at times. Stabbing walkers gets kind of boring after a while, so we sort of just clear walkers in different ways each time. Hell, sometimes we even make a game out of it. See who can get the most walkers" Jake puffed, grabbing a bottle of water out of his pack and swigging it.
"Up there! There's a big building!" Jen piped in, having obviously woken up from the noise.
"Is there a bunch of poles near it?" Kenny questioned, looking for whatever Jen had seen.
"Yeah, and a big fan!" Jen pointed up the mountain, as they barely glanced at the crumbling railway bridge.
"Is that what we're looking for?" Kris asked of Kenny, who nodded.
"Fucking finally. It's gonna be nice to get some sleep in an actual bed" Jake muttered, waving the group on as they began trekking up the mountain.
"Uh guys, I'm not sure about this place" Randy commented, grabbing his gun out.
"What makes you say that?" Patricia asked, looking around.
"There's lights on in there" Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked directly at the illuminated lodge.
"Fuck, you're right. Well, what now? They could be hostile" Kris noted, drawing his own gun.
"We should at least see if they'll let us stay tonight. Everyone's sore and cranky, and we still have a few weeks of solid walking ahead of us" Clementine emphasised, pushing past the group.
"She's right. Let's go at least see if they're hospitable. If not, we leave. Simple." Lilly agreed, following the 12 year old. No-one else argued, instead they all followed Clementine as they reached the deck of the building. Kenny then planted his ear against the wall, listening for anything.
"I don't hear nothing. It might be empty" Kris ended up taking the lead as he approached the flimsy glass door and peeked in, seeing no-one inside.
"Alright, stay back. I'm going to open the door and see if there is anyone inside" Everyone nodded, stepping back from the door as Kris swung it open slowly and peeked inside.
"Hello? Is anyone in there?!" Kris hollered, knocking his gun against the door frame.
"Might be abandoned. Let's check it out" Jake walked to the door and stepped inside, Kris following suite as the door clicked shut behind them. An awkward silence descended on the large group, as they stood rigidly, ready for anything to happen. No sound came from the still boarded interior, it was unnervingly silent.
"Somethings not right. I don't trust this" Sam whispered skeptically, moving to the door. Before Sam could take hold of the handle, the door swung open to reveal Kris and Jake, who were both covered in crimson blood and small splotches of decaying brain matter. Whether out of surprise or instinct, Sam immediately backed up and drew his gun, scanning the two. Seeing no threat, he relaxed and holstered his gun.
"What happened in there?" Kenny pushed past the others, addressing Kris and Jake.
"Couple walkers. Just came out to grab Sam so we can clear the rest of the damn things out" Kris explained nonchalantly, wiping brain matter off his face.
"Whatever" Sam grumbled, following the two inside as the door slammed shut.
"Guess I might as well go check the perimeter. If we're stayin' here, I don't want to leave our front door open for walkers or bandits" Kenny began wandering off, drawing his handgun. Surprisingly, Lilly followed along, drawing her own gun.
"Hey Clem, you still got my bino's?" Winter asked, leaning against the cold glass wall.
"Yeah, they're in my backpack" Clementine reached into her pack, grabbing the small viewfinder out and moving to hand it to Winter.
"Nah, not for me. Use the picnic tables and shit, get a lay of the land and see if there are any walkers; or groups, approaching" Winter ordered with a smirk, motioning to the masses of wooden tables littered around the place.
"Sure" Clementine retracted her hand and scurried over to the closest table, climbing on top and lifting the binoculars to her eyes.
*Elsewhere*
"That them?" A prone figure questioned, his eye never leaving his scope.
"Yep. Looks like the little shits found a new group to ruin" The larger of the two sneered.
"They're all armed, we don't stand a chance in a firefight. I'll stick here, monitor them and signal you on my radio if anything changes. You go get the rest of the group, bring them here and get them ready for a fight" The prone form waved the bulkier man off, grabbing his radio that was clipped to his belt and placing it closer to his face, making sure to turn the volume down considerably as to not attract walkers.
"They'll see us coming though. Plus, that bridge isn't looking too stable" The larger man pointed out, eyeing the rickety old railway bridge.
"Wait till night, move under the cover of darkness… Hold up" The armed man shushed his companion as his eye caught something interesting. Across the lake, slightly up the mountain was a child, standing on something and scanning the area with a pair of binoculars.
"What? Herd or something?" The bigger man questioned worriedly, drawing his gun.
"No no, nothing like that. There's a kid up there looking over the canyon. Wait till she leaves then go get the others" With a huff, the prone man was left alone as his partner sneaked into the bushes and slunk away.
"Or not…"
*Back at the lodge*
"Anything of note?" Clementine almost jumped, spinning and seeing surprisingly Maria behind her, who sat down on the chair beside her.
"Nothing really. I thought I saw someone on the rocks over there, but I think it was just an animal" Clem explained, her eyes returning to the binoculars.
"Oh, that's good…" Maria trailed off, now staring at the ground. An awkward silence descended over the two as Clementine stared intently off the edge through the binoculars, before after a few moments Maria spoke again; "So Clementine, can I ask you something?"
"…sure" Clementine answered uneasily.
"Forgive me for saying this, but how much do you trust your group?" Maria's bluntness stunned Clementine for a moment, before the binoculars dropped out of her hands, dangling off the cord attached to her hand.
"Excuse me? How dare you!" Clementine snapped to the mother, who flinched at her tone.
"I'm sorry to ask, but I have two children, I want to make sure they're safe. Jake seems like a nice guy, but Kris sort of scares me at times. And Kenny always seems angry…" Maria trailed off, which Clementine couldn't put past her. She did ask a very touchy question, though she had every regard to.
"Sorry, it's just… our last group constantly voiced their complaints about Kenny, saying he was "unstable" and "not right in the head". He's a good person, but he's just grieving. This is simply how he copes. It was the same back in Savannah" Clementine explained, sighing.
"What happened in Savannah, if you don't mind me asking?" Maria inquired, leaning against the table.
"He had a wife and kid, back when this started. We were living in a motel outside of a place called Macon I think, but bandits forced us to leave. When the bandits attacked, they let walkers in, and one managed to bite his son Duck. We left the motel in this RV, and we managed to find a working train, but after a while my guardian Lee realized he was going to turn. When the train stopped, Lee offered to "take care" of Duck, but Katjaa said she was going to. One gunshot went off, and both Lee and Kenny dashed into the forest. When they came back, the two of them got back on and we left without Katjaa. When I asked Lee later, he told me she shot herself. Kenny was angry and upset for so long…" Clementine stiffened slightly, then rubbed her arms and climbed off the table animatedly.
"Clem? What's wrong?" Maria stood up, walking around and placing her hands on the child's shoulder.
"N-Nothing…" Clem shook her hand off and walked away, leaving Maria alone.
"I've nearly died, been bit by a dog and killed hundreds of walkers. Why does he scare me still?" Clem wondered, walking back to the lodge.
"Any more up there Jake!?" Kris hollered, ripping his quickly blunting screwdriver out of the walkers decomposing skull.
"None! What about you Sam?!" Jake called out from upstairs, throwing a corpse down off the small loft into a pile of other bodies.
"FUCK!" Sam's voice rung out, along with the snarls of multiple walkers.
"Shit!" Kris was on his feet in an instant, running towards the source of the noise. Jumping the counter, he saw Sam pinned against a wall, using an old pan as a muzzle for one of the walkers while he held the other one by the throat against the other wall.
"A little help here?!" Sam hollered as sweat began to form on his forehead. Kris quickly grabbed the one not being muzzled and threw it to the ground, before he stomped on its head and spread brain matter across the laminate floor. Then before he could react, he watched Sam's grip falter and drop the pan, allowing the walker to freely advance its gnashing teeth towards the unguarded neck before it. The bite never came, as a single round clipped the walkers jaw, sending it and Sam tumbling to the hard floor. Taking the opportunity, Kris slammed his heel against the walker's head, killing it as well.
"F-Fuck. Thanks" Sam wheezed, shakily climbing to his feet. As he tried to stand however, he then toppled again.
"Here, hold onto me. I'll walk you out to the couches" Kris offered as Jake appeared around the corner, gun drawn and scanning the room.
"Nice shot Jake, where'd you learn to shoot like that?" Kris complimented as his companion hunched over to assist Sam.
"Shot? What are you on about? I heard Sam shout and literally fell down the fucking stairs" Jake asked confusedly.
"Wait, what? But, someone shot that walker" Kris asked equally confused. Sam said nothing as he groggily held onto Kris and Jake.
"The hell is going on in here?! A shot just went through the damn window!" Kenny's gruff voice barked as he almost kicked the door in.
"That wasn't you either? If it wasn't you guys, who the hell shot the walker?" Kris questioned, laying Sam down on the couch.
*Elsewhere*
"FUCK!"
"How in the hell did you miss that easy of a shot?" The taller bandit asked bemused.
"Oh, I don't know. Wind, distance, 3 inches of plywood and glass, and a narrow view to begin with. Be lucky I hit anything in the first place" The bandit with the rifle growled, loading a new round into the chamber.
"Suuuure. Well good job anyways, they know someone's in the area. Good on you. Now we've lost the element of surprise" The taller man explained sarcastically, lighting a cigarette.
"Go to hell" The sniper muttered.
"Frontal assault it is! BOYS, LET'S GO EARN OUR KEEP" The taller man shouted into the bush, as 20 other masked bandits wielding crossbows, rifles, some even with AK's.
"Sam and his little escapade cost us a lot of resources, and a few lives. This cannot go unpunished!" The leader roared, drawing his own weapon. A simple Model 10 revolver loaded and primed.
"LET'S GET 'EM BOYS!" A joint war-cry pieced the air, as the bandits made their way to the bridge.
*Back at the lodge once again* (don't question me)
"Winter, I don't think I even want to know what the hell you're doing" Lily sighed, looking up to the roof and seeing the white-haired girl sitting on the edge, laying back slightly.
"I'm relaxing, chill" Winter replied casually, waving her hand to the woman.
"If you're going to be sitting up there, at least use some binoculars and keep an eye out" Lily sighed, taking her pair of binoculars and throwing them up to the teen.
"Sure, whate-" Winter grumbled, bringing her eyes to the small device. As soon as they met, her eyes went wide.
"What, what is it?" Lily questioned, looking around.
"Fuck. Get everyone ready, we have a fight coming" Winter ordered, standing up and drawing her gun, then dashing over to a nearby air conditioning unit.
"How many?" Lily called out, taking cover near the door.
"At least like 30, I don't know!" Winter replied hurriedly.
"fuck fuck fuck, alright. How long we got?" Lily questioned, moving to the door.
"15 minutes, at most" Winter replied.
"Gotcha" Lily called out one last time as she threw the door open, and scanned for anyone.
"Kris, Sam! Get out here, we got a problem!" Lily hollered, then noticed at the top of the room Clementine appear. Running past her was Jake and Kenny, who both had heard the commotion.
"What is it?" Kenny questioned hastily as Sam and Kris came out from behind the counter, both holding a walker corpse on their shoulders.
"Bandits, at least 30 of them from what Winter said" Lily explained, noticing Sam looking nervous and uncomfortable.
"Shit, alright. Where's Winter?" Kris questioned, moving past with the walkers and dumping them outside.
"Roof. I'd suggest giving her your rifle, since it's got that silencer or whatever on it" Lily suggested, holding the door open as they exited.
"Alright. Where's Randy and Jerome?" Jake asked, exiting behind them.
"Randy's upstairs with Maria and Patricia, keeping an eye on the kids. Jerome, I have no clue" Sam answered, drawing his gun.
"Over here!" The 5 spun around and saw Jerome exiting the brush, a rabbit tightly clutched in either hand.
"Put the fucking rabbits down, we got bandits incoming!" Sam snapped a little harshly. Jerome stiffened, then nodded.
"If we can, keep the crossfire out here. We can't have any stray shots fly into the lodge and injure someone" Kris ordered, taking leadership of the situation.
"What about me?" Kris spun around and saw Clementine behind him.
"Clem, why are you out here?" Kenny questioned, grabbing the underside of a picnic table and flipping it over.
"I'm not just going to sit around, I want to help" Clementine responded, a tone of seriousness evident in her voice.
"Not here you aren't. I'll throw a spool of rope to Winter. Take my rifle and climb the rope, give her the rifle, then slide down and go back inside. If any bandits get past, I need you and Randy ready to get rid of them" Kris explained simply, sliding the long black rifle off his shoulder.
"Oh, ok" Clem sounded a slight bit defeated but obliged.
"Hang on darlin'" Kenny's southern drawl caused her ears to perk up as she spun back around, watching Kenny take his own rifle off his back. He handed the second gun to the child, who slung it onto her shoulder with the other.
"You right there Clem?" Jake asked, moving to take one of the bulky guns.
"I'm fine. What do you want me to do with this?" Clementine swatted his hand away, then turned to Kenny who had a grin stretched across his bearded face.
"Sit up on the roof, use the ground to steady the rifle and shoot the bandits. If you can get up there soon, you and Winter can start to pick some of them off now" Kenny explained, earning a glare from Lily.
"No fucking way. She'll either get spotted or the knockback will throw her off the damn roof" Lily argued, to no avail.
"She's strong enough to handle it, it'll be fine" Kenny waved the fuming woman off as the distant bellows of enraged bandits began filling the air.
"Fuck that. Clem, give Winter Kenny's rifle and you take mine. It's got more power but a shitton less recoil. Plus, you wont deafen yourself with it" Kris ordered, taking a stray spool of rope and throwing it, arcing it onto the roof.
"Winter! Grab that and haul Clementine up!" Kris hollered. Before she could respond, realization seemed to have hit him as he ran back inside, leaving a confused Winter to shrug off the weirdness and oblige his request. She took a hold of the spool, throwing the rest down and holding firmly onto the other end.
"Grab on, ill pull you up!" Winter called down, bracing herself on the unit. Clementine nodded, grabbing the bottom of the rope and tying it around her hand, before pulling once to tell Winter she was ready and bracing her feet together against the rope. She felt herself getting tugged, before her feet left the ground as she was slowly dragged up the side of the lodge. All the while, Kris had managed to find the duffel of guns, and drag out 4 AK's that were left at Howe's. Grabbing the ammo bag and slinging it over his shoulder, he clumsily took ahold of the 4 guns and walked back to the door, throwing it open. Lily was the only one to turn around, and barely managed to catch the gun being thrown to her.
"Kenny, Jake!" Kris hollered, throwing the two their own respective guns. He then threw the ammo bag on the ground and grabbed a handful of magazines, the others following suite.
"Alright, we good to go?" Kris shouted, taking cover on the deck behind a pillar.
"I've got eyes on the entire hill from here!" Winter hollered, aiming down Kenny's rifle scope.
"Good. Don't open fire till I do" Kris called out to everyone, aiming his gun down the hill.
*A.N. So, it's uh, been a bit huh?
Mad writes block, i legitimately could not write jack shit for weeks. Not to mention exams and assignments coming up, prohibiting me from writing too extensively seeing as i sort of needed to study for all of my exams.
But enough excuses.
Chapter 10 is in the works now (we have a grand total of 1000 words so far; expect it soon) so hopefully this will sate you all for a little while (ok it really wont but still)
Anyways, enjoy life i guess
Kris