"GAH!"
Jonah shot up, looking around, his hood falling off his head. He looked over to see Ryan whistling as he walked away from Fred, twirling his golf club in his hand. He looked at Fred, who was rubbing his head. "Mr. Nine-Iron?" Jonah asked, Fred nodding.
"Mr. Nine-Iron," he confirmed.
"Why so early?"
"I fell asleep on watch," Fred replied.
"GWAH!" Ryan slammed into the tree behind Jonah, falling down. "Ow," was all Ryan bit out when he stood up shakily.
"Next time, ask before taking someone else's personal property," Geoff said, walking up to the group.
"Why, oh why, did I think it was a good idea to come back down after you fell asleep?" Ryan moaned, holding his back. "I think you might have broken something," Ryan said.
"Oh, man up," Geoff replied. "Be thankful it was only a tree this time. A rock wouldn't have given anywhere near that much of a cushion," he said, pointing at the new Hunter-shaped dent in the tree trunk.
"Hey, guys, can we keep it down a little?" Fred asked. "Ellie's still sleeping. We may as well get in town now and scope it out," he said to Ryan, who nodded, arching his back and sighing with relief as it popped.
"Oh, so much better," he said. "Anyways, yes, we should go in. Jonah, think you can whip up some quick breakfast?"
"Sure. Give me about fifteen minutes and I'll get some pancakes going," Jonah replied. And fifteen minutes later, plus an extra two minutes to get the fire going again, Jonah had cooked two stacks of a dozen pancakes apiece, the first stack to be split between Ryan and Fred, while Geoff received the entire second stack. "I'll get started on mine and Ellie's breakfast in a bit," Jonah said, watching with a little bit of what could be described as smugness at how the others were obviously enjoying the food.
"You know, if this infection hadn't happened," Ryan said between bites, "you probably would have made a great military man or a chef. Hell, I'll bet you could have even become a top notch ambassador, what with that interesting gift you have."
"Aw, now you're making me blush," Jonah said with a chuckle.
"Well, that was quite filling," Geoff said, belching. "Oh dear, excuse me," he said.
Ryan stood up, stretching his legs. "Alright, now that breakfast is over," he said, "Geoff, Fred, let's get into town. We need to find out the status Survivors hold there, a hotel we can stay at that allows non-infected regardless of what others think of Survivors, and get some more pancake mix."
"Why do I get the feeling that I've just discovered your favorite breakfast food?" Jonah asked.
"Actually, I just like the idea of being able to eat cooked food again," Ryan replied, shrugging. "The pancakes weren't a bad start."
"Hey, don't forget to see what they think about Witches," Jonah said. "And grab another poncho for Ellie as well, just in case."
"Right, good thinking," Fred replied. "Hey, be careful while we're gone. There are still Common around that aren't labeled as Sentients. You know what you're going to have to do." Jonah nodded, though his eyes were sad.
"I know," he replied, his voice a whisper. Once the trio was gone, he set to work on making pancakes for himself and Ellie, but stopped when he realized that they could go cold by the time she woke up and decided to wait until she actually was awake. He was surprised to see that she was still sleeping and wondered when she had moved from her place between Geoff and Fred to the spot between him and Ryan last night, noting the depression in the grass where she had first fallen asleep. He shrugged, guessing that she may have just walked in her sleep to the person she had known the longest since the infection, i.e. Ryan.
"Okay, fellas, let's see…what the hell is that?" Ryan asked, pointing at a passing Spiker grumbling about an insane Hunter from yesterday or something to that effect.
"I believe…it's what is referred to as a Spiker," Fred replied. "A new type of Special Infected that's been popping up recently in these areas."
"Wow. We really should get out of our hometown more often," Ryan said, Fred nodding his agreement. He shook his head, mentally chiding himself. "Anyways, let's get back to our current objective here. We need to find out what this town is like and see if we can bring in Jonah and Ellie. And try to find a poncho for Ellie while we're at it." He waited for a reply, but heard none. "Guys?" He turned around and saw that Geoff and Fred were gone. "…" He looked at the light post to his right and banged his head against it, passersby glancing at him. "Damn them and their curiosity," he said, one word for each hit.
Fred looked around the section of town he was in, spotting a hotel of sorts and walked in to see a Tank reading a newspaper. He walked up to him, the Tank putting the newspaper down. "Can I help you with something?" the Tank asked.
"Uh, yes, Mr…um…" Fred stopped.
"Clark," the Tank supplied. "Just Clark."
"Okay, Clark," Fred said. "I'm taking a…survey," Fred said, mentally kicking himself. "A bet with a friend, trying to find out what others think about Survivors and Witches. You know, like, would a hotel let them stay a night or two, how would the other townspeople react, that kind of thing."
"A survey, huh?" Clark repeated. "Well, personally, I don't have anything against 'em if they don't shoot. The others around here, I'm not so sure of. In fact, if you want to get a better opinion, I've got a small group of Survivors and a couple of infected traveling together right now just upstairs." Fred's eyebrow raised in surprise.
Nice to know that there are other Survivors who can go more than five minutes without shooting something, Fred thought to himself. "Ah. Well, thanks for your time," Fred said. "I'll be sure to add your opinion to the tally."
"No problem," Clark replied, picking the newspaper back up.
Jonah looked around as he heard a growl before realizing it was his own stomach. He looked at the still sleeping Ellie and then at the pan that still smelled of pancakes. He sighed, giving into his hunger. "I hope Ellie doesn't mind being the only one eating," he said as he put on some more pancakes. He heard another growl, but this one wasn't his stomach. He turned around slowly to see a teenager infected standing behind him, wearing all black, an unzipped hoodie over his black T-shirt, and just a little past the top of his black jeans. Jonah wasn't sure if he was a Hunter or a Witch, because his eyes were a softly glowing red, his claws nearly the same as Ellie's. Another growl issued from the infected's position and Jonah realized that his unannounced guest was also hungry. Jonah offered him a plate. "Pancakes?"
The figure walked forward, accepting the plate with pancakes and sat down. "Thanks," he said.
"I'm Jonah."
"You can call me Render," was the reply. They then sat in silence, the fire crackling, Jonah putting on some more pancakes. After a bit, Render spoke up. "You don't seem to surprised to meet a talking infected."
"Don't you mean Sentient?" Jonah asked. "No, not really. Considering I was saved by one."
"An infected saved you?" Render asked, his tone suggesting some surprise.
"Yeah. I've lived with Special Infected for almost three weeks now."
"Are you that human peacemaker I've heard about?"
"Peacemaker?" Jonah repeated, looking at Render, who was eyeing the pan over the fire. Jonah placed two more pancakes on Render's plate. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, from what I heard," Render said as he began eating one of the fresh pancakes, "is that you have an ability to make nice with others."
"You sound like Ryan," Jonah said, chuckling. "He says the same thing."
"Because it's extremely rare," Render replied. "Most Survivors shoot on sight."
"But that's because they don't know," Jonah replied. "It seems to me that this Green Flu thing has turned the world into a kill or be killed world now. And it's affected everyone."
"And why didn't you?"
"Why didn't I what?"
"Shoot on sight? When that Sentient saved you?"
"One, I couldn't fight back. And two, they're still human," Jonah replied. "Even if most of them have gone insane or turned into zombies or whatever you want to say about them, they're still just very sick people." Jonah took the pan off the fire after making himself three pancakes, placing the pan on a nearby flat rock. "What's your story?"
"Depends on what you know," Render replied. Jonah shrugged.
"If I were to take a guess, then I'd say you were that hybrid Fred heard about," Jonah answered. "Who escaped from the CEDA. Other than that, I have no idea."
"Then let's leave it at that." Again, Jonah shrugged.
"Alright, suit yourself."
"That's it, those two are so talking to Mr. Nine-Iron," Ryan grumbled as he walked to the town's entrance, fuming at the lack of cooperation from the townspeople.
Okay, so, maybe a short chapter. Still working out the kinks in this story. I have things planned, I have things that need work, and I have school to deal with. Render and Clark are both owned by Apocalypse Survivor, who I will be working with for the foreseeable future and whose other characters will soon make an appearance. Please Review.