THE HUNGRY GAMES
Chapter Three
The group watched, stunned, as the two people ran out of the blast's ceter. One was a young woman, carrying a silver bow, and the other was a young man, leaning on the woman for support. The man looked like he was limping pretty good, but was practically being dragged by the woman. The young man suddenly dropped, and she was trying to get him on his feet.
Dale knew what he had to do. He began running toward them, calling out to them. He knew they weren't walkers. Walkers don't help each other.
"Hey come on! We gotta get out of here!"
Katniss looked up, shocked to hear a voice calling to them, offering them help. The next thing she knew, she was surrounded by several people, dragging her and Peeta to their feet and toward strange looking vehicles.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? We don't know them, and we don't have the resources to be taking in everybody we come across!" Shayne was obviously pissed, and voicing his opinion, yet again.
"Shut up, we're takin' 'em." Daryl was taking no shit these days, least of all from the cop with a chip on his shoulder.
The group loaded up the two new strangers in the RV, as Daryl took out a few walkers with his crossbow. Then they were on the road again, with no clue where to go now.
Nobody saw Cato as he walked through the shimmering circle. That was okay. Let them run away from him as much as they want, he will come out on top anyway. He had never seen vehicles like they got into, and he was not angry when they drove away. "Patience, Cato. You're a winner, and you always will be. The game has changed, but we're still playing."
He noticed there were dead looking people like he had seen in the forest, and drew two swords. He was trained to kill, and they moved a lot slower than the people he was used to killing. He ran at a slow clip, in the direction they had driven; slicing the dead people as he ran, focused and determined.
"Where the hell did you guys come from?" Dale was trying to understand what had happened. "How did you manage to survive the blast?"
"I have no idea," Katniss explained, "I'm not entirely sure what happened. All I know is there was a huge explosion, and I saw this shape circled in fire, and it seemed it was safer than where we were...so we ran for it."
Maybe she got hit on the head, Dale thought, because that's impossible. Or she could be crazy. But she didn't look crazy. She was tending to a burn on the young man's calf, and telling him he would be okay.
"I'm Katniss, and this is Peeta." She took a small container from her bag, and unscrewed the lid. "Here, this will help with the burn. It's going to sting a little, but it will heal quickly." Peeta hissed air when she put it on, and covered it with a big leaf.
What the hell? Who carries leaves with them to cover a wound? Dale was baffled, but these strange people needed help, and that was all he concerned himself with.
"I'm Dale, and this is Andrea...a friend of mine. That guy there is Glenn, and over there is T-Dog." Each one nodded when their name was said, and smiled a little. T-Dog responded with "Sup."
The group drove for hours, until it seemed that night was about to fall. Rick honked his horn, indicating to the group to stop. There was a farmhouse about an eighth of a mile of the highway they were on, and Rick pulled in. The RV followed, and Daryl brought up the rear, stopping at the Jeep to find out what was going on.
"We gotta stop for the night, and figure out where we're heading," Rick was tired, and out of optons.
"Seems like the thing to do," Daryl replied, "we should clear the house first." He turned Merle's bike off, and set it on the kickstand; grabbing the crossbow off his shoulder. Rick got out and joined him. They looked over the outside of the house, and the land the house sat on. The house was a white two story with an overgrown lawn, and an old small barn that looked like it was a strong breeze away from falling in on itself. No walkers within sight.
"So this is your plan, Rick? You lead us to the CDC, and now a farmhouse?" Shayne was pissed, and made no bones about it. "We should still be heading to Fort Benning."
"We need a place to sleep, Shayne. Would you rather us be out there, all night, unprotected?" Rick was getting tired of being second-guessed by Shayne, and he guessed he would just have to explain it to Shayne. He needed him on his side. Some of the group listened to him, and he was a powerful force. "we can talk about where we go from here when we get the house cleared. Till then, we focus on the task at hand."
Rick assembled a team of himself, Shayne, Daryl, Glenn and T-Dog. They closed in on the house, and could hear movement from inside. Daryl stood beside the door, his crossbow pointed up, as Shayne stood behind Rick directly in front of the door, and T-Dog and Glenn were on the other side.
"Move silently, and kill quietly. If there are walkers around, we don't want them to hear the shots. Daryl, you take point." Rick was in cop mode now, calling shots and taking no shit. He had his python in his hand, and the safety was off.
Daryl turned the knob, and pushed in the door. He was quick and quiet as he went inside, and the others followed.