The Midnight Riders

Chapter One – Midnight Part Two

As the infection that would eventually decimate the United States and the surrounding countries spread numerous individuals were left behind, forgotten by the rescue personnel. Husbands were separated from wives, friends were torn from their close companions and on a larger scale even remote communities were overlooked, condemned to face the infection on their own. With no appropriate medical care available, the bodies of those who were not immune from the terrible disease surrendered swiftly. It was these people that those who were immune were now obligated to manage. Many bloody battles were fought with the infected winning most of the contests. With seemingly no end to the infected, the immune rallied together, forming Clans. One of the most powerful Clans in the area had a man named Thomas Galt as a leader.

Thomas Galt was a charismatic man. He had a trustworthy face, infectious spirit and also an unquenchable thirst for power. One year ago as the world fell to pieces around him, Thomas Galt stood tall and rallied people to work together to survive. As time went on he became the unquestioned leader of his Clan. He expanded and grew his, what he called a "business enterprise", until he controlled the whole of the north-west of America. He was a powerful man. On the surface he was charming but if you had the chance to really get to know him you would see how sinister he really was.

Of course the only way to deal with men like Thomas Galt was to either run from them or join them or at least that was what Henry James believed. Henry James was accepted into Thomas Galt's Clan early into the disaster. As Henry worked with Thomas, he slowly began to see the sinister side in him that most people could not. Fearing this man he decided to do everything he could to please him as well as adopting many of his traits. When the Midnight Riders met with Henry to discuss trading supplies, Henry and his people decided to fire on them. Coach and Rochelle were both shot but their wounds healed quickly. It was not longer after that when Rochelle decided to leave the Midnight Riders. Nick had often wondered where she had gone to but he never would have imagined he would encounter her before him here, standing confidently in the middle of the small airport Haven, the orange sun setting in the sky behind her.

'Rochelle?' Nick was unsure of whether it was Rochelle standing before him, Coach and Norah or not. She looked the same but somehow at the same time, completely different. Her hair was the same as it had always been but her clothes appeared to be cleaner and more looked after than everyone else's. She appeared to be thinner than she had been before as her new clothes fitted her body snugly. As she stood poised by the motorcycle she had rode in on with young Teek, her helmet in her hand and her hair moving ever so gently in the cool breeze, she placed the helmet onto the motorbike's seat and walked over to Coach, Nick and Norah, her hands sliding into her pockets. Norah moved her hand to her back, ready to pull out her handgun that she had tucked in her pants.

'Isn't this nice?' Rochelle took in a long, satisfying breath. 'The old gang's back together again.' She glanced around for a moment. 'Is Ellis still with you?'

'Yeah,' Coach nodded slowly. 'He is.' He thought for a moment about what to say next. Norah spoke for him when he could not find the words.

'What are you doing here?' she asked Rochelle.

'I'm Henry James' representative,' Rochelle answered plainly. 'One of your increasingly younger crew just told you that.' She tilted her head in the direction of Teek who was stood by listening.

'Well I've done my job so I think I'll be going now,' Teek attempted to leave but Coach called him back.

'Wait right there.' Teek looked up at Coach, feeling slightly nervous. Biting his bottom lip slightly, he waited for Coach to say something else. 'Did Henry James really send her with you?'

'Yeah,' Teek answered, looking at Rochelle and then back to Coach, not understanding what exactly the problem was.

'And she was already working with him when you got there?'

'She sure was.'

'What's the problem, Coach?' Rochelle interrupted his questions, speaking with a.

'Oh no problem at all,' Nick said sarcastically. 'Who could see a problem with this when the last time you and Henry were together you ended up getting shot?'

'Well this is why I came with Teek here,' Rochelle confessed. 'I want to make sure things don't go all Clint Eastwoody like they did last time.'

'And how are you going to do that?' Nick queried, his tone harsh and blunt.

'I'm going to convince you not to come,' Rochelle told him. Everyone fell silent for a moment. Ellis appeared behind Rochelle, walking forward with a towel wrapped around the lower half of his naked body, holding it up with one hand while carrying his dirty clothes with the other. When he saw Rochelle he stopped.

'Ro?' he asked, unsure of whether it was her or not. As Rochelle turned to look at him, Ellis dropped everything that he was holding in surprise. Norah sighed and closed her eyes, looking away as Ellis towel blew away in the wind. Rochelle looked at Ellis smooth, toned body while making absolutely no effort to disguise her ogling. However, Teek was more discreet, sneaking a quick peek at him. Rochelle grinned at Ellis, looking up and down his body.

'Nice to see you again.' As Ellis concealed himself, Rochelle grabbed his towel that flew by in the wind without looking away. She then threw it toward Nick and it flew straight into his face. As he struggled to pull it off, Rochelle removed her glance from Ellis' body and looked to the others. 'Now shall we talk business?'

Madison Robinson had been a soldier for what felt like her entire life. She rose through the ranks quickly after displaying her proficiency in the use of weapons, unparalleled skill, demonstrating her strength and stamina in combat situations and by proving that she was a first-rate, logical and overall outstanding as a leader. Although she had been in charge during too many missions for her to keep track of, Madison had always been able to command her subordinates with ease. She believed it was down to her natural charm, her hard earned reputation or simply down to her beautiful good looks. Whatever it was, Madison was able to lead well and had never once encountered someone under her command that was insubordinate, disobedient or just plain rude. Madison was soon to discover that she would encounter all of these traits in a Vietnam veteran named Bill.

'I think you're full of crap!' he exclaimed as they had arrived at the top of the beach they had landed at. The sun had set and the only light came from the moon and the flashlights mounted to the survivor's weapons. Everyone held sleek assault rifles. Madison and her two soldiers Malcolm and Rex were stood on the road, looking to move forward down a path surrounded by trees. Bill had other ideas and insisted that they went in the other direction toward a residential area. Francis and Louis stood back and watched the altercation while Zoey had turned away in embarrassment. 'If we go down there we'll be ambushed!' Bill insisted. 'Those trees on both sides of the road will make us an easy target. A Smoker could pull one of us away into the darkness while a Hunter could pounce on those that go in after them.'

'You say this as if they can work together,' Malcolm scoffed in disbelief, speaking before Madison had a chance to respond to Bill's comment. Bill stepped forward menacingly in Malcolm's direction. The frightening expression on his face caused Rex to aim his weapon at him. Madison was quick to make him lower it.

'Son,' Bill looked right into Malcolm's eyes, making him feel uneasy. 'I'm only gonna say this once. You can underestimate them zombies out there all you want.'

'They're called infected,' Malcolm offered but Bill spoke over him, causing him to flinch.

'If you don't take every single God damn precaution then you will end up dead.' A chilly ocean breeze blew by, taking with it a few scattered leaves that lay on the ground. Bill and Malcolm remained locked in their gaze for a moment before Bill blocked it off by looking at Rex, who pulled his gun on him again. Madison pushed it down for him once more. 'And you,' Bill said to Rex, 'if you point your gun at everything you see you'll also end up dead. Look before you shoot!'

'Are you done?' Madison asked. 'My men were briefed on the infected, you know. We are aware of what to do with each specific type.'

'Good,' Bill looked back to Madison. 'Then you should also be aware of how they operate.'

'We are,' Madison told him.

'Really?' Bill sneered. 'Because you just suggested to me that we go down that secluded path with clear danger on each side of the road. There are plenty of places for those bastards to hide. If we want to go down that way we should use a vehicle or something because even if we don't get picked off one by one we'll end up getting mobbed by a whole bunch of them!'

'Do you remember what you said to me back on the sub?' Madison asked. 'You said that I was in charge. Do you remember that?'

'Yeah,' Bill acknowledged begrudgingly.

'Well then let me do my job,' she said. Madison sighed and folded her arms. 'Trust me.' Bill looked at Madison; his face clearly conveyed the feelings he had toward her and they were not of trust. Sensing Bill's unrest, Madison decided to push him. 'Trust me or I'll put you back on the submarine. You'll spend the rest of the mission with Miguel.' Miguel, who was listening in on the conversation in the Tactics Room onboard the HMS Jaeger had a look of horror wash over his face.

'Fine,' he heard Bill say through the radio. He sounded irritated. 'We'll do it your way, then.' Miguel breathed a sigh of relief and looked up, thanking God. Back outside, Bill walked past Madison in the direction that she wanted to go. 'I'll tell you this, though,' he said without looking back. 'If we get attacked then it's your own fault.' Madison sighed, looking critically at him.

'Let's move out, people,' she spoke up, making the others move on away from the beach. As everyone moved on ahead of her, Madison spoke into her earpiece. 'He's going to be a problem.'

'Yes,' Miguel agreed. 'He certainly is.'

'Well what should I do?' Madison asked him. Miguel thought for a moment, sitting back in his chair with his hand to his chin. 'That's twice he's done this now, first onboard the sub and now here. He'll be slowing us down if he can't handle me being in charge.'

'And it's not as if asserting your authority is doing much, either,' Miguel added, continuing to think. 'Just keep going until you reach your first waypoint and then we'll review. We can't have this mission going pear shaped before it has even begun.'

'Roger that,' Madison sighed, breaking into a gentle jog to catch up to the others who were a little ahead of her. As Miguel sat over the large table display in the Tactics Room, he suddenly had a thought. Sitting up in his chair he tapped the icon on the screen that represented Bill, causing picture of him to pop up over the icon, accompanied by some text that told some information about him. Miguel put the fingers of his right hand together and placed them on the picture of Bill before opening them out. Most of the screen around him converted to a real-time map image of mission progress to a status screen devoted to Bill. Miguel started reviewing everything there was to know about Bill.

Inside the Midnight Riders tour bus a meeting was underway. It was a meeting of great importance and every member of Coach's rogues was in attendance. To the back of the bus at the seating area were Drake and Teek who were sat close together in the middle. While Teek was not a member of Coach's group, he was forced to stay there while they figured out their plan. As he sat in the middle, he felt as if he was being probed with questions and glances. On his other side was Danielle, who sat with her legs folded together. Further around on the table were Nick and Ellis, who had managed to reclaim his dignity by pulling on a fresh pair of clothes. On the very end sat Coach's second in command, Norah. Coach was stood up next to Rochelle who was also on her feet in front of them all. He was leaning against the wall as she spoke.

'Henry James is close with Thomas Galt,' Rochelle explained to them. 'So close in fact that people in our Clan are talking about him being promoted to Thomas' second in command.' Rochelle looked around the room. 'Naturally I don't want that to happen.'

'Of course you don't,' Nick spoke up. 'You want to betray him so you can take his job, am I right?' Rochelle took a moment suppress what she really wanted to say to him as a response.

'No,' was her answer. 'Thomas Galt is a powerful and dangerous man but Henry James is far worse.'

'Well he did shoot you,' Norah gestured to Rochelle and then to Coach, 'and you for no reason.'

'That was a misunderstanding,' Coach told her.

'It was him trying to be tough,' Rochelle corrected him. 'Henry wants nothing more than to take over Thomas' role in the Clan. He dreams of becoming as powerful as he is but he doesn't have the skill to take charge. Thomas knows that, everyone else knows that and so it is ensured that Henry keeps a respectable distance from him at all times to prevent him doing anything stupid.'

'How do you know all of this?' Nick interrupted her once more. 'Keep jumping camps like you did before.' Rochelle resented his comment and gave him a look to ensure that he knew how she felt.

'No,' was her answer once again. 'I just keep my ear to the ground and listen out for these things. If Henry James did take over Thomas Galt then there would be a massive Clan of thousands of people suddenly thrown into turmoil. That Clan is far too big and far too important to be broken up by a miniature coup; they do a lot to influence the entire region. The amount of trading they do is on its own a reason to keep the status quo. Without them numerous Havens like this one won't get their supplies. Other traders won't be able to pass them on, protected areas would not exist and then everyone will suffer. If you do this deal with Henry, he will keep the supplies for himself. Thomas does not keep track of everything that he does. He will use the gasoline you've collected to buy more weapons or support to continue equipping his already sizeable army in preparation of knocking Thomas off his throne and taking over.' Rochelle paused for a moment, allowing what she was saying to sink in. 'If you do this deal with Henry James you'll not only be endangering yourselves but countless others as well.'

'So that's why you're being so uncharacteristically kind and doing this!' Nick announced sarcastically. 'You're not doing it for some selfish personal gain; you want to help the children.'

'Okay what's your problem?' Rochelle raised her voice angrily.

'I don't have a problem,' Nick continued to be scorning. 'I mean why should I have a problem? It's not as if you used all of us, pulled a gun on me because of your secret organisation you really worked for and then ran off to join someone who tried to kill us all. Oh, wait...'

'Nick,' Coach spoke with a warning tone. 'You're not helping.'

'Oh, I'm sorry,' Nick exclaimed. 'I can't really see how trusting her after what she's done can be helpful, though.'

'Take a walk,' Coach ordered. Nick looked at him, exasperated. 'Take a walk!' Coach yelled, slamming his fist against the wall. Norah was startled by his sudden outburst. Nick let out an angry sigh and climbed over the table and walked past Rochelle, deliberately nudging her out of the way as he went past. Rochelle did not move as he left, her look of distaste remaining for a while. Ellis got up and excused himself, going to check on Nick. Coach allowed him to leave and there was a tense, awkward moment of silence as everyone waited for someone else to speak. 'If anyone else has a problem with Rochelle then you can go and give Nick and Ellis some company.' Nobody moved. Coach looked to Teek and asked him a question. 'You've met more people than we all have during your travels so you must have picked something up. Is what Rochelle is saying true?'

'Hey you know the deal,' Teek protested. 'I can't go telling people messages that aren't intended for them. I'd lose my reputation.'

'We could lose our lives,' Coach glared at him. 'The balance of power in the region could shift drastically. How successful do you think your messaging business will be when your clients can't trust their own friends due to a civil war?'

'Don't put me in this position,' Teek pleaded. Coach slammed his hands on the table, causing Norah to recoil in shock once more.

'Just tell me, God damn it!' Teek reached out under the table and grabbed the hand of the person next to him. He squeezed Drake's hand for comfort as Coach yelled at him. 'Stop being a stupid kid and just tell me what I want to know.'

'Hey, Coach,' Drake spoke up. 'Back off!' Coach looked over at Drake angrily. 'If he can't tell you, he can't tell you. You should respect that.'

'Listen,' Rochelle interjected. 'I can understand you're hesitation to believe me.' Coach looked around at her. 'I hooked up with Henry because I believed that he was up to no good. Now that I'm sure of it I want to stop it. I don't want to drag you guys into my business like I did back in New Orleans. I just want you to not do the deal with him.'

'Rochelle I have no choice,' Coach told her, opening up to her completely. 'We can't keep living out here like this. We've hardly got enough food to keep us going, gathering supplies is becoming more and more dangerous as the Clans keep expanding and the zombies keep getting stronger and its only a matter of time before one of us slips up and we die.' He paused for a moment, attempting to hold back emotion. 'For Christ's sake, I can't be responsible for any more deaths!' Coach regained his composure and looked around, noticing everyone looking at him. He took a breath. 'We're going through with the deal.' He moved past Rochelle and went into his one of the dressing rooms, leaving everyone sat there in silence.

Outside Nick was storming away from the bus angrily. Seeing Rochelle again made him furious. He trusted her completely, he had feelings for her in the past that he had never had for anyone else before and then she betrayed him, just like his father had done. Walking through the dark Haven he brushed past people who were on their way to their various destinations and market stalls, not paying any attention to where he was going.

At night, Havens did not quiet down like most places did before the infection. For the survivors, every evening was a chance to celebrate staying alive and most Havens had parties in honour of this each night. While some parties were gentle and intimate, others were boisterous and grand. As this Haven on the disused airfield was rather small, so was the party. The party was toned down, a few people sat around a campfire dancing, drinking and having what fun they could. Nick went through the party and approached the merchant selling alcohol.

'Give me something strong,' was Nick's request as he placed a silver watch in the merchant's hands. As currency no longer had the value it had before the infection, people traded what they could for what they wanted. Nick certainly got what he wanted; a large bottle of strong whisky. He walked away from the man and the party, opening the bottle and swallowing a generous mouthful. As he surpassed the burning aftertaste, he took another mouthful.

'You oughta' be careful with that,' Ellis advised, having suddenly appeared at Nick's side. 'A guy your size can't handle all that buy himself.'

'Is that your way of asking for some?' Nick asked. Ellis chuckled and held out his hand, taking the bottle from Nick and swallowing a mouthful.

'You alright?' Ellis asked, handing the bottle back to his friend. 'Back there you seemed a little crazy.' Nick snorted a laugh, shaking his head as he drank from the bottle. 'You're not one for lettin' go, are you?'

'My dad betrayed me,' Nick told Ellis, looking at him implicitly. 'Back before, he just left me so that he could go off and do his evil thing for the Director. Rochelle did the same. I trusted her; I liked her, I...' Nick paused for a moment, forcing himself to not say what he almost did. Deciding it was the whisky talking for him, he handed Ellis the bottle. 'The point is despite how close we were she still betrayed me and you and Coach and Norah. I found it hard being with her when we got back from the ship, I found it hard working together again and I found it really hard when she just left us without saying a single word! So excuse me for finding things difficult. I told you what I was like before. I didn't trust anyone until I gradually changed thanks to her. With the way she's carrying herself I don't know what to believe.'

'Why don't you talk about it with her?' Ellis suggested. Nick chuckled, shaking his head.

'That's what I like about you, kid,' Nick told him, his tone suddenly more calm. 'You're so God damn naive.' Ellis sighed and took a swig of Nick's whisky. As they walked they had been weaving in between the market stalls. After a moment they found themselves back at the modest party. Ellis and Nick sat down on a bench that was formally a refrigerator to continue talking. 'No, I can't talk to her. If I do I may hit her in the face.'

'Ain't Rochelle some sort of kung-fu ninja assassin?' Ellis joked. Before putting the bottle to his lips once more he said 'can't imagine that workin' out too well for you.' Nick chuckled and took back the bottle after Ellis finished. 'You know what I reckon your problem is? You don't know how to let go.'

'Well that's obvious,' Nick scoffed.

'You know what I mean,' Ellis sat back. 'You're using this anger to Ro and your dad as an excuse to stay mad and cynical.'

'Don't I have a right to be mad?' Nick asked rhetorically, having another drink. 'I mean come on, my dad killed my mom before taking me under his wing only to just abandon me, leaving me at the mercy of Rochelle who led me to believe that I could have serious feelings for someone only to be let down by her.'

'You want to stay angry,' Ellis told him. 'You wanna keep being mad. That way you won't ever get hurt again.'

As Nick heard Ellis' words he knew them to be true. He did not want to let go of his anger; it protected him. He had suffered many setbacks over his life, many instances where his trust in people was shattered by those he cared the most about. When he was young, his mother left him and his father. His father then left him and when Nick had found him again, his father told him that his mother did not walk out, he had murdered her instead. After his father then tried to kill him, Rochelle then broke his heart. She threatened him with a gun after all the time they had spent together, after all of the laughs they had shared and the times they had helped each other out. All of the moments they had together were shattered when she revealed that she had ulterior motives. Nick had started to become less cynical the more he had been with Rochelle. Despite her true intentions she had changed him for the better. When she was around, Nick was a better person. However, Nick did not want to risk being hurt again. He felt weak deep down, unable to handle one more heartbreak or another betrayal. He did not want live in fear of that happening again.

Ellis took the hand Nick's bottle was in and made him hold it out.

'The booze in there represents your anger,' Ellis told him. 'Once you let go, it'll all come out and you'll feel better for it.' While Nick's arm was growing tired held out in the air and dropping the bottle would certainly ease the burden, he found Ellis' attempts to try and make him a better person stupid. He pulled his hand back but Ellis forced it back out. 'You can let go when you've let go of your anger.'

'This is so stupid,' Nick protested. 'I paid for this!'

'You can buy more whisky,' Ellis told him. Nick rolled his eyes.

'You don't know if this will even work,' he muttered.

'Then why don't you try it?'

'Because I don't want to,' Nick responded.

'Why not?'

'Because I don't want to get hurt again,' Nick's face had a look of turmoil on it.

'Who says you will?'

'Who says I won't?'

'Wouldn't it be better to get hurt again rather than stay angry?' Ellis suggested. Nick looked at the bottle, his hand trembled slightly. He paused for a moment.

'I loved her, you know,' he told Ellis, his eyes filling with tears. 'I loved her and she just...' Nick closed his eyes, making a few tears fall down his face. 'It was probably better this way. I'm not good in relationships.' Ellis sat there, allowing Nick to talk. 'I mean I wouldn't notice when she'd get her hair done, I'd forger her birthdays and anniversaries... Her friends would hate me and her parents would like me less... I'd be really rude all the time, rude and angry.'

'Not anymore,' Ellis told him. Nick stared at the bottle he held in front of his face. With a relieved sigh he tilted the bottle to the ground, allowing the whisky to pour freely out it. When the bottle was completely drained he let it fall from his hand, sighing and lowering his arm. Ellis patted Nick on the shoulder supportively. 'Let's go,' he suggested. Ellis and Nick stood up and walked away from the small party together, Nick feeling much lighter after dropping his emotional baggage. He put his arm around Ellis' neck and playfully hugged him as they went back toward the bus.

Toward the front of the Midnight Riders tour bus, Norah and Danielle were having a hushed discussion about Coach. It was a conversation they found themselves having more and more frequently. In the back of the bus were Drake and Teek, who were talking by themselves.

'He's getting worse,' Danielle said to Norah, who was sat in the driver's seat. 'He's heading in the right direction for a nervous breakdown. I treated many people with symptoms like his and they're mostly caused by severe stress.'

'Well we're all stressed,' Norah told her. 'It's not as if you can write him a doctor's note and have him excused from this hellhole until he gets better.'

'No,' Danielle agreed. 'However he can step aside from being our leader.' Danielle was quick to justify herself before Norah made any protest. 'He was the self-appointed leader of you lot, wasn't he? He thought he could handle it but it's been a year and the pressure is finally getting to him.'

'I don't like that,' Norah spoke honestly.

'It's the truth,' Danielle said. 'Now you would make a natural choice for being the leader; you were the Secretary of Homeland Security for Christ's sake.' Norah thought about what Danielle was saying for a moment. 'Just think; you could push Coach aside and then you could make the decisions around here. You could act rationally, more so than he ever could.' Norah decided what she would do and gave Danielle a knowing look. She leant forward to whisper something into her ear. 'What's the plan?' she asked.

'There is no plan,' Norah whispered. 'You're going to stop talking like this right now.' Danielle had a confused look on her face. 'If I hear you talking like this again then I will throw you off this bus myself, are we clear?' Norah moved away from Danielle and looked at her, waiting for some sign that she understood how serious she was. Danielle started to nod. Norah smiled. 'Good.'

To the back of the bus, Teek was sat with his arms tucked around his legs. He was still quite shaken after the way Coach had spoken to him.

'You alright?' Drake asked him. Teek put on a smile and nodded.

'I'm cool,' he sighed, his voice sounded shaky. Drake moved closer to him supportively.

'You know I think it's really cool how you stood your ground,' he tried to cheer him up. 'It takes guts to stand up for yourself and what you do.'

'Thanks,' Teek blushed slightly. 'Oh and sorry about the whole...' he paused and gestured with his hand. 'You know,' he muttered, rolling his hand in the air. 'The whole hand thing.'

'Oh right,' Drake chuckled. 'Yeah, it's cool.' He smiled a warm smile at Teek. 'Don't worry about it.'

Just outside Rochelle was slowly pacing up and down by the door to the bus. Her arms were folded, her head was lowered and her pace was slow. She was waiting for Nick to arrive back, although she did not really understand why. She was fairly sure that no matter what she said to him, he would never forgive her but she still had to try. The time she spent alone had allowed her to formulate arguments in her head; things to say to Nick as an apology. As she looked up and saw him and Ellis approaching the bus all of the arguments went out of her head.

'Nick,' she greeted him, separating her arms. 'Look...'

'It's okay,' Nick interrupted her. Rochelle, taken back slightly, looked at him in silence. 'It might take some time but... its okay.' Without another word, Nick stepped inside the tour bus. Ellis smiled warmly at Rochelle as he followed him and as she stood out there on her own, Rochelle breathed a sigh of relief. She was not quite sure of what she had done to adjust Nick's feelings toward her but whatever it was, she knew that it had been done well.

The road Madison's team were walking on appeared to be getting longer and darker the further they travelled. As she led the way; slight noises in the surrounding forest startled Rex, who nervously aimed his weapon in the direction of the sound as Malcolm tried to calm him down. Slight imperfections in the road caused Zoey to stumble, allowing Louis to act like a perfect gentleman and help her maintain her balance. Various landmarks that passed by were commented on by Francis, who informed everyone of how much he disliked the particular object in question. Bill, meanwhile, was lagging behind ever so slightly, not wanting to be near the woman in charge.

'Coming down here doesn't seem so stupid now does it, Bill?' Madison asked him. She did not really care for a response; she just wanted to break the quiet with conversation.

'You know what does seem stupid?' Bill responded, not giving Madison a chance to even think of answering. 'The fact that you guys can't airlift a jeep or something for us to travel in. How are we supposed to find these guys on foot?'

'With skill, determination and a little bit of luck,' Madison told him. Bill snorted at her, chuckling to himself. Madison looked around at him as they kept walking. 'Is there a problem?'

'You're a soldier,' Bill muttered. 'For Christ's sake; act like one.'

'I beg your pardon?'

'Well back in my day we never relied on luck when we were out on the front lines!'

'Don't say "back in my day", Bill,' Francis advised. 'It'll make you seem old.'

'They hell I won't!' Bill protested. 'I'll say whatever the hell I like. I may be old but I'm more experienced than you three so called soldiers put together!' Madison sighed as Bill finished speaking.

'I really don't get you, William,' she said softly.

'It's Bill,' he corrected her.

'I mean you served your country well; with honour, discipline and loyalty. You were graceful when you were discharged on medical grounds.' Madison looked back at him again. 'You were the perfect soldier until the war ended. Then you couldn't do what you wanted to anymore and I guess that made you miserable.' She looked back ahead at where she was going. 'What I'm saying is I can understand how you're feeling. After everything you went through you were ignored, left to do normal things that you just couldn't do. Then this infection came up and you finally had a reason to get up in the morning and be a soldier again. Now you feel like I'm raining on your parade somewhat, am I right?' Bill did not answer her. Madison took that as a yes. 'Well, Bill, no you are a soldier again.' She looked back at him. 'Act like one.'

Bill did not have time to reply before the inhumane cry of a Spitter interrupted the conversation. Everyone stopped moving and looked around, shining their lights at the tree line. It was difficult to see through the thick trunks of the trees and the wind suddenly started to blow by making it difficult to hear it moving. Rex held his weapon tight as he looked through the sights for the Spitter. As he turned on the spot, something came into a view. He lowered his gun for a moment as he saw what appeared to be a pregnant woman standing in the middle of the road.

Just as Rex went to shoot, the Spitter lived up to its name and Rex was hit by a shot of highly acidic saliva. As he fell down, screaming in pain, the others looked around and saw the infected. Madison was the first to shoot it dead.

'Commander,' she spoke to the radio, 'Rex has been hit.' Madison knelt over Rex. The acid had hit him in the left arm and shoulder. It had already dissolved his armour. As she attempted to get him to take off his damaged garments, Rex suddenly roared in pain as the acid began to dissolve through his skin. 'Malcolm, get me some water.' Malcolm did what he was told and poured his canteen of water into Rex's wound. Taking out a knife, Madison cut the lower portion of the leg of her combat trousers and used the fabric to push the acid out of the wound. As it fell to the ground everyone saw the extent of the damage. The bone in Rex's arm was clearly visible. Madison looked to Malcolm again. 'Bandages,' she requested. As everyone gathered around Rex while he was being treated, Bill had his back to him, looking around the area. The breeze had died down and yet he could still hear in the distance the sound of rustling leaves. He gripped his gun tight.

'Guys,' he told them without looking around. 'We need to go.'

'Not right now, Bill!' Zoey told him.

'No you don't understand,' Bill looked around at her. 'We need to go right now.' Zoey saw the look in Bill's eyes and it instantly terrified her. He was scared.

'Guys,' Miguel spoke into their radios, looking down at his display. 'I'm monitoring the thermal imaging and...' On his display what appeared to be large red clouds were approaching the icons that indicated Bill and the others at an alarming speed. 'You've got infected incoming.'

'God damn it,' Madison cursed. She looked at Francis. 'You look the strongest; you'll be Rex's mule.' Francis bent down and lifted him, putting Rex's arm over his own shoulder to support his weight.

'You okay, buddy?' Francis asked. 'Let's get you out of here.'

'Alright everyone let's move out!' Madison ordered.

With that, everyone broke into a run down the dark road that was surrounded on each side by dense trees. It was not long before infected started emerging from the edges. Everyone fired at them as they continued to run but as the road appeared to have no visible end in sight it was apparent that they could not outrun them.

'Group up!' Madison cried. 'Stay together and hold positions.' Everyone stopped running and huddled back to back. They continued shooting at the infected that kept running forward to try and swamp them. Miguel could only listen to what was happening inside the Tactics Room. He buried his face in his hands, not noticing a smaller red cloud approaching his team from quite a far distance at quite a fast speed.

'Reloading,' Zoey announced as she ejected her empty magazine and replaced it. As she loaded her weapon a Smoker's tongue wrapped around her body and pulled her away.

'No!' Louis cried, running after her.

'Stay together, God damn it!' Madison yelled. Louis fired bullets over Zoey as she was being dragged toward the dark trees and soon she was no longer being dragged. He moved over to her to help her up but as he did a Jockey grabbed onto his body, making him stagger away from her. Zoey got up and went to shoot the infected on Louis' back but it made him turn to face her, causing Zoey to hesitate. Infected began swarming around her and she beat them away with the body of her gun before shooting at them. She looked at Louis and saw that he was being pulled toward the trees. She did everything that she could but Zoey was unable to get to him. He was close to becoming lost in the darkness.

Just as things looked grim for Louis, a flash of light went by. A glowing object shot over them and went into a nearby tree. The following explosion knocked the infected off their feet and caused Madison and her team to stumble. Louis fell off his feet and the Jockey's grip was broken. The infected jumped away from him, looking for a new target. The Jockey found it as coming down the road fast was a large pickup truck. The Jockey ran to it but was crushed under the tyres. The driver stopped the vehicle next to Madison's huddle in the middle of the road while Zoey ran to Louis to help him up. The passenger of the vehicle stepped out and dropped a disposable RPG launcher to the ground. It was a woman in her thirties with black hair and numerous scrapes on her face. The driver of the truck was a bald man of the same age who looked very impatient.

'Come with us,' the woman told them. Not in a position to argue, Madison ordered everyone to get onto the truck. After everyone got on, the driver sped away from the area with more infected still emerging from the woods. As they drove on, Bill leant over to Madison and whispered something in her ear.

'I told you we shouldn't have come this way.' He leant back, leaving Madison to stare ahead, holding onto Rex's hand comfortingly.

The day was new and possibly one of the most important ones of Coach's life. Despite Rochelle's firm recommendations he was still going through with the deal. His desire to keep everyone that he looked after safe was all the motivation he needed to meet with Henry James again. Ellis had driven away from the Haven and toward the meeting area, which was in a small deserted town just by a large forest. Parking not too far away from the town in the forest, Coach told everyone to stay put while he and Rochelle went to make the deal. They each armed themselves defensively, protected themselves with armour padding reasonably and tied a can of gasoline to their backs to act as proof that they had what Henry wanted. Using Teek's motorbike, Coach and Rochelle drove the rest of the journey by themselves, with Rochelle in the front. The rest of the Midnight Riders sat in the bus nervously waiting for their return.

The town where the meeting was taking place was small, consisting of one long road with dilapidated buildings standing bleakly on each side. Parking the bike in the middle of the road in the dead centre of the town, Coach and Rochelle stepped off and prepared themselves.

'Are you sure about this?' Rochelle asked as she untied the gasoline from her back.

'Of course I'm not,' Coach answered truthfully, struggling to take off his own canister. 'But I have to give it a try.'

'Well I don't like it,' Rochelle sighed, helping him with the knots. 'I just know something bad will happen I just know it.'

'Well if we do end up dead then you can say "I told you so".'

'Oh great,' Rochelle pulled the can from Coach's back. 'I'll look forward to that.' He chuckled at her sarcasm.

'Thanks,' he told her. Placing the two canisters a little distance ahead of them, Coach and Rochelle waited for Henry to arrive.

A brief moment of silence passed. Coach looked to Rochelle and tapped her arm warmly.

'It's good to see you again,' he told her.

'Yeah?' Rochelle smiled at him. 'It's good to see you, too.' There was a pause. 'I like the new guy you've got. What's his name? Drake?'

'Yeah he's a good kid,' Coach nodded. 'We ran into him a couple of months back. He'd been crushed by a Charger and just left to die on the side of the road. Danielle begged me to let him stay.'

'She loves looking after her patients,' Rochelle chuckled.

'When you left she was pissed off that she couldn't give you any follow up exams for your gunshot wound!' Coach and Rochelle shared a laugh that died down quickly. There was then another silence before Rochelle looked to Coach sincerely.

'I'm sorry for leaving,' she said to him. 'I just felt like I needed to do this.'

'It's okay,' Coach waved his hand. 'Don't worry about it. It wasn't the same without you but we managed.'

'That's good...' she sighed. 'Although I do wonder what you mean when you say it wasn't the same because some people couldn't wait to see me go.' Coach knew she was talking about Nick but did not say anything about him.

'It wasn't like that,' he said instead. 'Really.'

'You don't have to spare my feelings,' Rochelle told him. 'When we've done this deal with Henry then I'll go back with him.'

'That's cool,' Coach sighed, looking ahead at the canisters of gasoline. 'When we've done this deal we may all be travelling together.'

'Why are you doing this, Coach?' Rochelle asked, looking closely at him. 'I mean really, why are you doing this? You say you want to keep everyone safe but you seem to be doing a good job. You were when I last saw you.'

'When you left I realised something,' Coach explained. 'We all work together so well, especially you, me, Nick and Ellis. I can lead while Ellis is a kickass driver and mechanic. Nick is a good shooter while you are good with weapons and hand to hand combat. We all work well together and the same can be said with Norah and the others.' Coach took a breath. 'Now when you left I realised that if one of us were to die or something then everyone else would suffer greatly. We'd all fall apart because we're all each one piece in a very fragile machine that could break at any moment. If we're small pieces in a larger machine, like the one Thomas Galt is running, then we can be more secure and much more safe.'

'It sounds to me like you're giving up,' Rochelle spoke honestly. Coach was surprised at her comment and made his feelings clear.

'Well I'm not,' he told her. Rochelle leant in close to him.

'Are you sure?'

'Yes,' he insisted. Rochelle gave him a knowing look, blinked once and then sat back.

'Okay,' she sighed. Coach tried to respond but something in the distance caught his eye. A large jeep was headed toward them. 'Here he is,' Rochelle observed as the vehicle carrying Henry James stopped in front of the canisters of gasoline, roughly the same distance away from them as Coach and Rochelle were from them. Henry James stepped out of the jeep. He was a thin man with a serious face. Three guards also stepped out of the jeep, standing around him protectively. With both parties separated by the gasoline the negotiations began.

'Henry,' Coach greeted.

'Coach,' Henry reciprocated. There was a moment of silence. 'I have to tell you I was surprised to hear that you wanted to meet again. I would have thought our last meeting would have left you...' He looked Coach up and down. 'Riddled with doubt.'

'Well if Ro can trust you then so can I,' Coach responded and Rochelle shuffled nervously on the spot when he spoke her name. Henry looked over to her, a mocking look on his face.

'Ro?' he asked, chuckling. 'Is that what he calls you? You two must be close.'

'It's a nickname from before,' Rochelle explained.

'From before?' Henry questioned. 'Before when?'

'Before now,' said Rochelle. Henry's eyes narrowed with a clear look of amusement in them.

'So before you joined me?' Henry spoke rhetorically. 'Okay, okay...'

'Coach has what you want,' Rochelle attempted to move the conversation along. 'He's got more than enough and he's willing to offer it to you.'

'He thinks that amount of gasoline is worth the price of admission into my little Clan?' Henry asked. 'I'm sorry but taking on six people or more is a huge undertaking that we can't really afford.'

'We work hard,' Coach pleaded. 'We're good people and we'll do anything you ask. We just need a place; a community to call home.'

'That's very touching,' Henry spoke with no emotion. 'Truly it is but you see, I just don't see how I can trust you.' He shifted his gaze from Coach over to Rochelle.

'What do you mean?' she asked.

'Well you abandoned them and came to me,' Henry pointed out. 'Now you've brought them back to potential danger. I don't know, "Ro", you seem like someone who isn't really looking out for what's best for the team.

'I am,' Rochelle insisted.

'Well the fact of the matter is I can't take all of you,' Henry said to Coach. 'Most of you, but not all of you.'

'What do you mean?' Coach asked.

'I think if we eliminated someone from the equation we'd be able to do business.'

'I'm not leaving any of my people behind,' Coach told him flatly.

'Not to worry,' Henry shrugged, taking out his gun. 'I'll get rid of one of my own.' He pointed his gun at Rochelle and before she had time to react, pulled the trigger. Rochelle fell back following the sickening sound of the bullet hitting her and collapsed flat on her back. Coach looked down at her, stunned before looking back to Henry who had his gun pointed at him. 'Now then,' he spoke menacingly.

'Do we have a deal?'