Chapter 4: The Head Hunters

- I'm back! What did I miss? - a voice with a southern accent was heard behind the corner.

- Hey, Dell. I just found this boy wandering around. - replied the man next to me.

A guy of about my size, wearing a blue squared t-shirt, light brown pants and a big white western hat, appeared in front of us. He was carrying a wooden box on his shoulder. On his belt, a black wrench could be seen attached to it.

- Eh... are you sure he's not infected? - asked Dell - The last thing I need is a darn funky zombie party going on here, you know.

- No worries, mate.

- Yeah, it's OK. - I said - It seems like I've been lucky enough to keep myself in one piece so far.

- Alrighty then! But if you feel like biting anyone of us please start with Mundy, so I get enough time to blow both of your heads up - concluded Dell.

- Hehehe! Sure thing, man. - I gave a thumbs up.

The southerner then began to unpack the contents of the box he brought with himself. There were some weapons, a lot of ammo and several cans of all sorts of food.

- Ohohoh... just look at all this beauty! - congratulated Mundy - Great job, mate.

- Thanks, mister. Good thing I managed to bring more stuff for our new recruit.

- What? - I asked raising an eyebrow - You're talking about me?

- Heck yeah! Mundy, this was your idea, so I guess you should introduce it to him.

The tall man sat on a border of the opened box and grabbed a rifle. This one was sightly longer than his, although thinner.

- You see boy, - he proceeded to explain - we are more than just two buddies wandering around a post-apocalyptic world plagued of undead creeps than want to beat the heck out of everyone at sight. We are a society, or well, just the very beginnings of it: we are the Head Hunters. - He extended his hand in front of him as he continued - Travelers in chase of simple things in life: food, a nice place to stay the night in, zombie heads and... fancy-looking hats!

- Hats? - I asked.

- Yeah, hats! You listened well, mate. - Mundy replied appreciatively.

- Alright... but what's the deal with the hats?, if I may ask.

- They're just fancy, - he said in response - they fit nicely as a distinctive feature of every Head Hunter.

- So... you're inviting me to join your club, correct?

- Of course.

- I guess I have no problem with that. It could make things more interesting.

- Ah, I see you spotted the purpose behind all of this. - he said with a grin in his face - Now, to get started, you could begin by telling us your name.

I facepalmed. Dell tried not to laugh.

- Oh, sheesh, you're right! Sorry man. - I said, while feeling a bit embarrassed - Name's Zeck.

- Good. Now, your weapon. Pick one of these, we got some nice sniper rifles today. - Mundy pointed at the contents of the box he was sitting over.

I scratched my chin with my right hand while I was thinking. There were several rifles, all of them of different aspects and probably calibers too. As I wasn't a weapons collector or something I didn't know too much about weapons, so I simply chosen the one that looked the coolest: a silver compact rifle with a stylized black scope. I picked it up from the box and tried out the scope.

- Nice one, fella. - said Dell - Here's your hat.

He gave me a gray panama hat. I tried it on. It was better than nothing.

- Here ya go! - said Mundy, standing up - Welcome to the Head Hunters, Zeck. Tomorrow morning we'll go out to practice some shooting, so you can get used to headshots. By the way, you better bring something with you to take note of the number of headshots you get. They determine your position in this society.

- But we're just three people. - I replied.

- Maybe, - he said - maybe. But someday, we might be more. Me might be ten, we might be hundreds... we might be even thousands. Who knows?

- Hmp. If you say so.

- Alright, fellas. It's time to get some rest. - concluded Dell - I gotta get some mattresses back from the deposit, so our newest teammate can rest his head on something cozy tonight.

- That's great, dude. Thank you very much.

- Much obliged.

For once in a while, I had a really nice rest.

AN: Obvious reference is obvious. This won't make the fic a crossover though. Also, I would like to give a warm welcome to my very first follower: The-Moyashi.

Thanks for reading, everybody. Hopefully I will come with something longer next time.