Chapter 5, The Seeker.
Crickets chirped in the closure of darkness, the nightly breeze made the leaves on trees dance in the night air. It was a beautiful night. The stars shone brightly from the heavens and the night was full of life. An owl hooting in the distance, it's head turning in full circles in search for something to eat. The walkers where nowhere to be seen on this beautiful night, and that was a blessing.
But is it? In this world now the boy thing you think about is killing and surviving the walking dead, but it's easy to forget that they're not the biggest of problems.
A far away scream.
Bang!
Silence. The night life fell into silence, the crickets no longer chirped and the owl looked in one direction. Slowly the chirping of the crickets returned only to be silenced again.
Another scream, this one different.
Bang!
Giant wings spread wide and the owl flapped itself into the sky. A gasp as light brown eyes darted upwards to the sound of those majestic wings, it quickly faded away into silence. A sigh of temporary relief the light brown eyes fell back down to the dirt, those same eyes looked into a small puddle of water, the moon casting enough reflection through the trees to make out her appearance.
She was a young woman, possibly in her twenties. Her dirty ragged clothing covered in dirt almost matching her dirty brown hair tied in a 'pony' as her friends called it before. Her grey top almost matching the moons glow while her pants where also brown.
Another blood-curdling scream made her jump, the screams seemed so much closer now. Breathing heavily she remained crouched, she instinctively lowered as two more shots rang through the air.
Bang! Bang!
Yes, even the shots where much closer. She put her hands over her mouth. Thoughts of what was happening to the people she knew made her more and more anxious to know what was happening, especially to one specific person. Uncovering her mouth she took a a crouched step forward, shifting all her weight to the other leg to reduce noise. One step at a time she made her way closer to where the screams came from.
Her ears open for any familiar sounds. How could this have happened-how did this happen? How did they get into the compound? She had so many questions on her mind that she fevered may never be answered. Her breath hitched and her body froze. Laughter. She could here them laughing, but at what? She knows that whatever it is, it was always cruel.
The closer she got the more she heard. She heard more laughter and voices, some of the voices where pleading, pleading for..their life. There was only laughter and screams,"oh god", she managed to find her voice in a hushed whisper,"what's happening"
Carefully she pushed aside a few leaves from the bush in front of her, and she could see it all. Through the compound fence ahead she could see and hear the roars of the flaming buildings, fire covered the once usable vehicles and several silhouettes surrounding people she recognized by the sounds of their screams and pleads. She wanted to just-just help them, but she knew better. What could she do? Everything thing she could think of had huge risks, ones that either would get her capture or killed. Honestly she would prefer death rather than getting captured by these...to put it bluntly, mad men.
Moving quickly she found herself against the fence behind one of the compound's buildings, quickly looking to her left she was relieved to see the creepers piling further along the fences. No doubt the fires will draw more of them so she had to do this quick. Moving aside a wooden crate lid reviled a crawl space, she and one other person knew about this crawl space leading in and out of the camp.
It was a bit of a tight squeeze getting into the hole but once you where in it became easier, there was more room but you still had to crawl. Pulling herself along until she saw the wooden floor above her head, the orange glow light her face as she peaked through the small gaps in the flooring. The smell of smoke became overwhelming at that point. Unable to hold back she coughed, she coughed again trying to draw in more air.
"Hey", she cupped her hand over her mouth,"did you hear that", the male voice was above her head, she lowered herself just in case. The orange lines went black as someone's shadow went past.
"Hear what", came another masculine voice. She cursed n her head, someone heard her. The above floor creaked under pressure and she took her cue to carry n moving, listening to the voices as she moved.
"I thought I heard somethin'"
"Probably in your head"
"Nah man, this is different. It sounded like it came from this room"
"Shit-head there's nothing left n this room! It's all in your head"
"You better watch your mouth asshole"
A giant thud made the dust on the floorboard fall on the girl, her heart pounded against her chest.
"You son of-umf"
The floor jumped as the two men above continued to fight, the girl used both her hands to quickly pull herself to the next room, ahead she could see her way out. Turning her body around she pressed both her hands against the wood, pressing slightly it opened and she slid it off to the side. Climbing out the hole she allowed herself to stretch before putting the loose wooden square back into place.
"Fuck you!", she heard the two men still fighting in the other room. The door separating the two rooms was kicked down so this was going to be harder. Yes she knew what she was doing was suicide, but there was something she had to know. Tip toeing toward the doorframe she peaked her head around the corner watching the two men fight.
"Hey! What are you two doing!", she heard someone yell from another room. Almost immediately the two men got to their feet. She could now see them more clearly. Both their mouth's and noses where covered in what looked like to her, a scarf. The rest of their clothing seemed unimportant, just that they covered their faces.
"We where-"
"I don't want to hear it! Get your asses out here and do something useful for once", the unseen man said. Both men left. Sighing in relief she headed over to where the two men left, peaking her head around the corner she just saw the men take a left turn. Carefully she made her way to where the men left, but instead of a left she went right. At the far end was another kicked down door that lead back outside. Rushing out she hid near some barrels.
Looking over she could see the shadowed backsides of the several men shouting and laughing at people's pain, the people she knew. The world was cruel. Yes it was men doing this but these men wouldn't even been here if the world hadn't gone to shit. Taking her cue she snuck across to the small wall that separated the walking area from the parking lot. The few vehicles that they kept there weren't damaged.
Maybe their taking them for themselves, she thought once she was behind the wall used as cover. Luckily none of the men where near-
"This ones full"
Another masked man appeared before her, eyes looking at the vehicle one car ahead of her. She threw herself behind the nearest car.
"And in good shape"
The same man spoke, if he hadn't been looking at the ahead car's condition, she would've been caught. Carefully lowering to her stomach she could see the mans shoes, and also someone else's.
"They're all in good shape, and the tanks are full"
"Guess we hit the jackpot"
"Let's check what's in the trunk", the four feet moved toward the back of the other car. The girl raised herself up slightly and looked through the windows. Both the men's heads where hidden behind the trunk lid, she had no idea what the specific name for it was so she always called it a lid. Moving to the front of the car.
"Imma check the bonnet in case they didn't remove the battery"
She cursed under her breath. The sound of boots getting closer she had to think fast. Grabbing the nearest stone she hoped for the best and tossed it over the car. It collided with something metal by the sounds of it.
Clang!
"What was that"
"It came from over there"
The footsteps grew lighter as they moved away. Keeping low she made a mad dash towards the next building side ladder. She glanced behind her making sure it was clear before she started to climb. The ladder was warm due to the fire escaping the buildings windows, they where to wide apart to actually burn her. With the last pull she found herself on the roof, now she could have a clear view of what was going on. And to hopefully not see the one person she prayed got out of the compound.
As she got closer to the edge, she kept on her stomach just in case someone where to look up here. Although unlikely it was still a possibility. Looking over the edge she saw everything. All the people where masked with scarves, bandanas and others, except for the people she knew. There where so many of them...
Her eyes landed on the stage they had built to do announcements. The masked men held their guns to the heads of Jcob, Malic and Sindey. They where the ones trained medically before the dead started to rise. And the last person on the stage want someone she knew...but something seemed different about him from the other masked men.
He paced back and forth in front of the people she knew. His face was covered with dark shaded red scarf and he wore sunglasses over his eyes, there was no sun or anything bright besides the fire so the glasses was probably overdoing it a little to keep his identity hidden.
He finally stopped pacing and faced his men, with a single nod they raised their rifles. Shots filled the air along with cheers.
"Bring up the last prisoner", the masked leaders voice was loud to hear over the other noises, it was muffled from the scarf but still carried out with purpose and determination to be heard. His mouth twitched into a smirk under his scarf as the last prisoner was pulled on stage, pushing her to her knees.
Kneeling in front of her he pulled off the bag, his eyes staring into her own."hello Alice", his voice was dark and his words stung with venom. He stood back up and paced again,"five days", he began,"five fucking days you had me chasin' a ghost trail. I must admit I never would have found you if I wasn't as smart as you Alice, you made a mistake in leading me off you trail. Honestly, how stupid do you think I am to not notice your little tricks", the woman matched an icy cold stare into the shades."not talking...-sigh-oh well, I might as well get you out the way so I can find the rest of you"
"What makes you think there's more", the woman named Alice finally spoke,"or are you having a hard time seeing us all under those shades Miller-umf", the masked man now know as Miller grabbed Alice's face, and pulled her closer.
"You better watch what you say sweetheart", his voice spilling out venom,"you'll call me the Seeker just like the rest of my people or I'll put a bullet in your head"
Alice chuckled,"you think your threats scare me Miller, your going to kill me anyway"
"True", the Seeker laughed, Alice was always smart with her come-backs,"oh well, I guess I'll save the punishment for your sister, how's that sound?"
Alice scowled. Thankfully her sister Juno hadn't been found, she only hopes she's safe but far from here,"fuck you"
"No, your the one that's fucked Alice. You said it yourself",he chuckled,"guess your not as smart as I thought". The Seeker stood and grabbed his pistol; a desert eagle from his holster and pressed it against her head,"use this time to say your last clever word, Alice". Alice closed her eyes, her only thoughts revolved around her sister Juno. Juno was just like her, innocent on the outside but smart and brave on the inside. Opening her eyes, she looked at the moon above and smiled.
"Love you sis", with that said the Seeker pulled the trigger.
BLAM!
The girl on the rooftop couldn't stop the tears no longer,"No!", she screamed in agony.
Multiple heads from below shot up and saw the figure on the roof. The Seeker saw the figure and realized who it was, Juno, a sickening smile formed under his mask at the sight of her.
"Up there!"
"Shoot at it!"
Multiple men yelled while drawing their rifles. Juno flung herself back at bullets flew past her. The tears didn't stop as she ran to the other side of the rooftop. She knew they would be climbing the ladder soon so she couldn't climb dow,n so with one big leap she jumped off the roof and over the fence.
She mis-judged her landing and landed hard on her left leg, she screamed in pain as her leg twisted. Drawing in a quick breath she ducked as bullets hit the dirt and plants.
"She's over there!"
Deciding she would rather live through the pain, Juno picked herself up and headed towards the forest limping as fast as she could go. A sob escaped her lips, her sister was killed, murdered. Moans of the dead began to fill her ears when she made it through some bushes. Ignoring them she continued to get as far away as possible, but she kept getting distracted over her sisters face. The man called Seeker would pay, she swore on this.
I curse the internet in my country, it's been down a couple of days so please excuse me for the chapters lateness. Anyway review and tell me if you like it. Next chapter will be about the prison so will update soon.