Author's Note: Hey guys, I have a few things to tell you about:
1) My other Walking Dead series, which will be somewhat of a spinoff/companion series to this one, is in the works. The first Chapter is still being worked on at the moment.
2) In case you didn't already notice, I added a cover picture for the story, a sketch of what I imagine Alice to look like. My friend has a sketch program on his computer, so I asked him to help me out. So yeah, I'm about 78% sure this picture was made by him(I asked him if he could draw a dover pic and he emailed me this).
3) If you're writing a review, It'd be a great favor for me if you could rate the episode on a scale of 1-10. It helps me determine which chapters were the most favored by readers. If you don't have time for a full review, then you can always simply rate the chapter. I reccommend using this format for all chapter reviews.
4) I would like to announce that a character from the Walking Dead TV series will soon be introduced into Survivor.
"Guys, I already said I was sorry, please, can we just drop the subject?" Asked Chandler, at the morning meeting, the morning after the mutant attack.
Early in the morning, a few hours after the attack, Chandler finally returned to the cabins, apologizing for his cowardice earlier. However, it didn't make much of a difference to the group if he was sorry or not, they still looked down on him.
[To be honest, I felt pretty bad for Chandler, even though he left us all to die the night before. I knew what it was like to be the outsider in a group, and regardless of his actions, I wasn't willing to let the same become of him. If our group had been more forgiving towards him, things might've ended differently than they eventually did.]
Chandler stormed out of the cabin, frustrated. Alice followed him.
"Alice, where are you going?" Asked Dick.
"To talk to him." Responded Alice, as she closed the cabin door behind her. "Someone ought to."
"Hey, slow down." Said Alice, as she caught up to Chandler, who was walking silently up the trail.
"Look, I didn't want to leave you guys behind last night, it's just- I'm not a survivor." Confessed Chandler. "I've never killed a mutant in my life, I was hoping you and the others would leave with me, but you stayed. That was your choice, and you can't blame me for making mine. I'm not like you, I can't survive like you can. Like any of you can."
"Don't be dramatic. I'm not saying what you did was right or wrong, what I'm saying is, you're still a part of our group, people are just a little pissed." Explained Alice. "Just give it a few days, they'll get over it."
Alice walked away, as Chandler walked alone, back to his cabin. She could tell that he was guilty, but couldn't think of a way to solve things. So she kept walking, hoping things would work out.
[I wish I would've done more. I wish I could've. I could sense that things were going to end badly. And they did. Really badly.]
Alice didn't quite feel like talking with the others, so she walked over to the stream, and sat, taking off her shoes and dipping her feet in the cold water. She heard a noise behind her.
"Hey Riley." Assumed Alice.
"Hey." Said Riley, as he sat down beside her.
"Thanks for talking to Chandler, I could tell he needed it."
"No problem, but seriously, you and the others need to take it easy on him."
"Alice, he could've gotten some of us killed with that stunt he pulled last night."
"Well, it was mine and Dick's fault the horde came here in the first place, so it's not just his fault. I know what it's like to be in his shoes, and trust me, this isn't the way to solve problems, it's the way we create them."
"I agree, but we can't just ignore what he did last night."
"No, but we can at least start by not being a dick to him."
"I guess you're right. You usually are."
"Also...about that night a few days ago, when we talked by the creek..." Said Alice, as things began to get awkward.
"Yeah?"
"Sorry for, you know, being so overly emotional."
"Trust me, it's fine. That talk helped me as much as it did you. Things were getting a bit too routine around here, and there wasn't really anyone I could have a real conversation with, even Zella."
Alice and Riley were now staring each other directly in the eyes, and neither could think of anything to say. Out of impulse, Alice kissed him on the cheek, making him blush.
[I'm still not really sure why I kissed him when I did, but it's one of the few things I did at the cabins I don't regret.]
"RILEY, GET OVER HERE, I FOUND SOMETHING YOU'LL WANT TO SEE!" Called out Dick, before Riley could respond to Alice's kiss.
"I'll get back to you on that." Said Riley to Alice charmingly, as he ran off to help Dick.
Alice walked over to her cabin, and overheard Dick and Riley talking about how Dick found some bullets for one of the guns in an emergency storage bag they kept in a shed.
"Well, those bullets will certainly come in handy later." Thought Alice, as Riley and Dick faded out of earshot.
[I had no idea of the dark irony that thought possessed.]
Alice the remainder of the day reading some books Dick kept on a shelf in their cabin, and taking a short hike.
As it was getting dark, Dick walked up to her as she came down from her hike.
"Hey Alice, you seen my gun?"
"Um, no."
"Well, it's missing, out of my backpack."
"I'll keep an eye out."
"K."
Dick walked away, towards the brown cabins to ask the others about his gun. Alice certainly felt like less of an outsider than when she first joined the group, as that role had shifted to Chandler, and she knew that made Chandler uncomfortable.
Alice decided to go talk to Chandler, and straighten things out, after all, she knew how he felt. However, when Alice knocked on his cabin door, there was no response.
"He must be back at the brown cabin with the others." Thought Alice.
She walked quickly back to the brown cabin, beginning to hear a commotion from inside. She opened the door to find Chandler and the others in a heated argument.
"Look, I just want to leave!" Exclaimed Chandler in an alarmingly loud voice. "Just give me some supplies, and I'll be on my way!"
"No way in hell this piece of shit's leaving with any of our supplies!" Argued Toby.
"Everyone just calm the fuck down down!" Commanded Dick.
"You can leave the group if you like, but you're not taking any of our supplies." Said Riley, firmly. "We're low on supplies as it is, and if you're just going to leave like this, then you can find your own at the base of the mountain."
Alice was beginning to understand what was going on, as she stood next to Dick, listening to Chandler. Suddenly, she noticed a small piece of metal tucked in Chandler's pants hidden behind his shirt. Dick's gun.
"He's got a gun!" Warned Alice, but her warning came too late. Chandler pulled out the gun, and pointed it directly at Dick.
"Give me all your weapons! Now!" Yelled Chandler, his hands quivering.
"Chandler...calm down." Said Riley, as he slowly advanced towards Chandler. "Just give me the gun, and we'll give you some supplies, and then you can leave...just give me the gun."
"NO!" Screamed Chandler. "I'm not playing games! Give me your supplies, or I swear to God I'll-"
Suddenly, everything became a blur. Zella lunged at him, trying to grab the gun. A gunshot echoed through the cabin, and Alice's ears heard only a loud ringing noise for several seconds after.
Zella stumbled backwards, clutching her neck. Suddenly, she collapsed, revealing a gunshot wound on her throat. Alice then realized: Chandler shot her in the neck.
"I- I didn't mean to-..." Stammered a panicked Chandler, horrified at what he had done.
[Chandler didn't mean to do it. I doubt he even knew there were any bullets in the gun. I could see the guilt in his eyes, but it made no difference. There was no going back.]
Dick tried to hold Riley back, but it was too late. Riley lunged into Chandler, stabbing his knife deep into Chandler's chest. Blood stained Chandler's shirt, as he slumped to the ground.
"...no...no...NO..." Whimpered Riley in shock, as he cradled Zella's lifeless body in his arms, falling to his knees in grief. The others were silent, unable to believe what just happened.
[The only person not shocked was Kelly. She just stood there, as if she had seen this coming the entire time.]
"I-" Began Dick, but he chocked up, and couldn't finish his sentence. His eyes were red.
Alice looked at Chandler, and Chandler stared back.
"I...I'm not like you...I never...was..." Mumbled Chandler weakly to Alice, before dying.
[Those were Chandler's last words.]
Everyone remained silent, as Riley sobbed over his sister's body.
[Toby left the group in the middle of the night, taking a large portion of our supplies with him. He left a note, explaining how the group was "falling into pieces", and that he needed to leave in order to survive. He wasn't wrong. Riley was changed after that night, and didn't speak to anyone for weeks after.]
-=|To be continued|=-
Author's Note:
Chapter 5: "Tremors" Preview/Synopsis - Over a year after the tragic events of Chapter 4, Alice's group meets another band of survivors, having recovered from the incident with Chandler. Alice tries to help Riley through his still-lingering grief over Zella's death, and the guilt of killing Chandler, and as things get worse, she is put in a precarious situation while trying to talk him out of suicide.
