Author's Note:
Couple things to tell you guys:
1) My new Walking Dead fanfiction series' first Chapter is almost finished, and the plot has changed quite a bit from what I initially had planned. Should be posting the first chapter relatively soon. I can confirm that this series will focus on the characters from the TV series, but will exist in the same universe as Survivor, and will crossover from time to time.
2) If you're writing a review, It'd be a great favor for me if you could rate the chapter 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. Thanks!
UPDATE: I've revamped the opening chapters of the series, most of them kind of sucked, in my opinion. Try and give them some grace, they were the beginning of my writing, so they weren't exactly masterpeices. I apologize for the cringe-worthy first couple parts, it took me a bit to get on my feet with writing.
ONE YEAR AND FIVE MONTHS LATER.
"You just don't give up, do you?" Remarked an annoyed Alice, as her and Dick played battleship in their cabin. Dick had taught her how to play only days ago, and she was already above his skill level. She was never interested much in playing board games as a child, but nowwdays it had become a hobby.
It wasn't until then that she realized just how much she'd grown during her time with Dick's group. When she first met Dick, he was probably somewhere around two feet taller than her. Now, she was only inches shorter. Dick had also grown a thin beard since then, and it made him look older, too. He now wore the gray ball cap he found on him and Alice's first supply run together almost every day now, and today was no exception.
"The others are probably waiting for us at the main cabin, let's continue our game later, and get some breakfast." Suggested Dick. "I'm starving."
"This isn't over." Said Alice half-jokingly, pointing a threatening finger at Dick, "Give me a second to get ready. I'll meet you there."
"Kay."
[At that point, Dick was the closest thing I had to a best friend.]
As Dick left to get breakfast, Alice walked into the restroom, looking curiously into the mirror. I had been a while since she had looked at her reflection, and she had to admit, she was rather impressed by how much she'd changed since she first met Dick's group.
Her hair was still short(Riley, being a semi-skilled barber, made sure of that), but her face looked significantly older, and she was far more in shape than before. Her face had lost it's youth roundness it used to possess, now more chiseled and defined than before. She had gotten taller, and gained quite a bit of weight, no longer skinny, like when she first arrived at the cabins.
[The incident with Chandler had almost faded from everyone's memory. Almost. Riley was still grieving, even a year later. He was certainly doing better than the days right after it happened, but he still isolated himself, and talked much less than before. I wasn't quite sure if he'd ever get over what happened.]
After combing her hair to the side, Alice walked to the cabin where the others were. The weather was warm, and the sunlight shone majestically through the trees, casting dreamy beams of light of the trail, captivating Alice's eyes. She was happy.
She passed the garden she planted a few months ago, and saw that the vegetables were now full grown. She discovered that she enjoyed gardening, something she never did before the outbreak. Having gathered gardening books from libraries on supply runs, she has rapidly become an effective gardner. Now, they only had to go on supply runs to get food very occasionally. The cabins now had strong barricades, and they had set up a small fence blocking the road leading the the parking lot, keeping mutants out.
[Yet one problem remained. There were only four of us left: Me, Dick, Riley, and Kelly. We needed more people, especially considering the fact that Kelly kept to herself, mostly.]
Alice arrived at the brown cabin, to find only Riley inside. A large pot filled with soup sat on the picnic table they kept in the cabin for breakfast.
"Hey, Riley." Said Alice awkwardly, as she got a bowl, and sat down.
"Hey."
"Where's Dick and Kelly?"
"Dick went to get water from the creek, not sure about Kelly."
Riley had also grown quite a bit over the past year, his eyes now a deeper blue than when she first met him, and he was now roughly the same size as Dick. He was more solemn than before.
Alice continued to quietly eat her food, not making eye contact, or conversation, with Riley. This was the first time they had been alone together in weeks, and it was incredibly uncomfortable. Eventually Riley finished his food and left back to his cabin, without saying a word. Alice began washing her bowl and utensils in the creek, and was looking at the mountain road in the distance, when she noticed movement on the road. A car was driving towards the cabins.
"DICK!" Called out Alice, "There's a car coming up the road, it's headed this way!"
Dick quickly ran over from up the trail(from a deeper part of the stream where they collected their water). Alice and Dick ran to the parking lot, and the car was now visible to Dick.
"Get your gun out, now," Said Dick, cautiously, upholstering his pistol, "Whoever they are, they could be dangerous."
Alice pulled out her gun, which she kept tucked in her pants, hidden behind her shirt. Over the past year, she had become quite a marksman, almost as good as him. The car slowed down, as the driver saw Dick and Alice standing in the parking lot, guns drawn.
The car stopped about fifty feet from Alice and Dick, and they slowly walked over the investigate. The car was a autumn-colored van, and Alice could see at least three people inside from her angle. She kept her gun trained on the driver, as he slowly exited the car.
"Howdy." Said the man, in a heavy southern accent.
"Cut the shit, cowboy." Said Dick impatiently, "Who are you?"
"Name's Mac."
Mac made a hand gesture, signaling the others in his group to exit the car. They exited, some with guns in their hands. Three men(including Mac), and two women. Alice was surprised to notice that one of the women wore an eye patch.
"Dick." Said Dick, as Mac extended his hand.
"Why are you here?" Asked Dick, without shaking Mac's hand. If Mac's group attacked them, it was obvious that Alice and Dick wouldn't stand a chance.
"Been travelin' a while," Explained Mac, "Figured the mountains were the best place to set up camp, n' then we found you."
"I'm Alice." Said Alice, extending her hand, much to Dick's dismay.
Mac shook her hand. He had a strong grip, and calloused hands. Mac was a thick man, with thin blonde hair, and disarming brown eyes. He wore a black vest, and Alice could tell that there was a gun in one of the inside pockets, making her wary of his intentions.
"Y'all got a camp up here?" Asked Mac.
Alice hesitated.
"Yeah." Said Alice after a few seconds.
"Look, we're low on supplies," Said the woman with the eyepatch, "We need help. If you have anything, food, water, anything helps."
"There's a stream next to our camp, we could get you some water." Said Alice, prompting Dick to pull her to side.
"Give me a second to talk to Alice." Said Dick to Mac, bringing Alice out of Mac's hearing range.
"What the hell are you thinking?" Whispered Dick loudly, "These people outnumber us in firepower and group size!"
"That's exactly why we need their help. We can't keep living here with just the four of us. We need more people."
"All I'm saying is, be careful."
"Do you really think you have to remind me?"
Alice and Dick walked back over to Mac and his group.
"We don't have much to offer when it comes to food, but we've got plenty of water, and we can give you a place to stay the night." Offered Dick, surprising Alice.
"Um, thank you, that's very gener'us. Let me introduce ya to ma' group."
Mac introduced the woman with the eye patch as Lana, and the other woman as Phyllis. The two men other than Mac were Denny and Kent.
"You got anyone else in ya group?" Asked Mac, slightly alarming Alice.
"Two." Said Dick. "By the way, I'm Dick."
"Pleasure t' meet ya." Said Mac, finally shaking Dick's hand.
"Follow me." Said Dick, leading them down the trail towards the cabins.
"Let's hope you're right about these people." Whispered Dick in Alice's ear.
Less than an hour later, Alice's group gathered inside Dick and her's cabin, discussing the newcomers, as Mac's group settled in their cabin further up the trail. Dick made the decision to have them all sleep in the same cabin for the first night, just to be safe.
"We can't trust them," Warned Kelly, "I can tell, they're dangerous."
"Well we can't just make them leave." Said Riley.
[Even though Riley was still messed up after Zella's death, I could still see his personality. He always saw the best in people, and Mac's group was no different.]
"On top of that, we don't have enough food for them," Noted Kelly, who was unusually talkative on the matter, "Our garden has barely enough to sustain the four of us, much less nine."
"Well then we'll go on a supply run, we need to anyways," Said Alice, "We should at least give them a chance to prove themselves. It's just the four of us left, we need to look out for each other, I get that, but we can't just kick them out."
"I agree, it's not as if we have just about any other option." Agreed Riley.
"Actually, we do, it's called 'kicking their asses off our property'." Said Kelly, yet somehow, not jokingly.
"We give them a day, if they do anything, and I mean anything, suspicious, we kick them out, with force if needed," Said Dick, "Each of us need a gun."
Dick handed Kelly and Riley each a handgun, keeping a rifle hidden under his bed, just in case.
[After the Chandler incident, Dick and I tried to keep the guns between me and him, except on special exceptions. This was definetly an exception.]
"Who made you the leader?" Asked Kelly sarcastically.
"You got a better idea?"
Kelly rolled her eyes.
"I'll take that as a no." Retorted Alice, "I say me and Riley go on a supply run with some of Mac's group, while you two stay here and keep the cabins safe."
"Agreed." Said Dick, Riley, and eventually Kelly.
Alice, Riley, Denny, and Lana sat awkwardly in the backseat of the van, as Mac drove them down the mountain road. It took them only about an hour to reach a part of the city at the base of the mountain which they hadn't looted yet. They exited the car inside an abandoned residential neighborhood, much like the one Alice met Dick in.
"A'ight then, let's split up t' cover more ground." Ordered Mac. "Lana, you go wit' Alice. Denny, ya go with Riley. I'm gon' search alone."
Alice didn't enjoy being ordered around, but went with Lana anyways, to search a large mansion sitting in the middle of the neighborhood. Just outside the large metal gates of the mansion sat a sign.
"Welcome to Hayman Manor"
Alice and Lana hopped over the gates without much difficulty, and walked across the yellow grass, to the large rosewood door towering over their heads.
"So, your name's Lana, right?" Asked Alice, trying to start conversation.
"Yep."
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your eye?"
"...When I was somewhere around five years old I got in a car accident. I lost my left eye in the accident..." Lana paused. "...And my mom."
"Oh. I'm-...sorry to hear that."
Lana was a rather tall, red-haired woman, with olive green eyes(or eye, in her case). She wore a blue hoodie, and her hair was woven into a messy ponytail. She looked like a tough woman, and that made her somewhat intimidating.
Alice tried to break down the front door of the manor, but it was too strong.
"Damn rich people, this door feels like it's made of steel!" Thought an annoyed Alice.
"Whoever owned this place certainly had security in mind, I doubt we'll be able to get in through the front." Noted Lana, as she scouted for a better entrance.
"Let's try kicking the door down, this time together." Suggested Alice.
Alice and Lana walked back to the gate, and sprinted forward into the door with all their might. The door finally cracked, and a few more hits could open it completely. However, an ear-shattering alarm suddenly began echoing throughout the house, activated by the door being broken. Generator-powered alarm.
The loud noise echoed through the entire neighborhood, drawing mutants to the manor.
"SHIT!" Exclaimed Lana over the noise, as mutants began to pile up at the gate.
The gates kept the mutants out, but they also kept Lana and Alice in, blocking their only path of exit.
"FOLLOW MY LEAD, I HAVE A PLAN!" Announced Alice, her voice sounding like a loud whisper over the sound of the alarm. "GIVE ME A BOOST!"
Lana boosted Alice onto the Manor's wall, and Alice used her hand to pull Lana up as well. The wall was about five or six feet off the ground, barely out of the reach of the mutants.
"WHAT NOW?" Asked Lana.
"WE JUMP."
"WHAT?!"
"IF WE JUMP FAR ENOUGH, WE'LL LAND JUST PAST THE MUTANTS, AND WE CAN RUN FROM THERE."
Lana reluctantly nodded in agreement. Alice got as close as she could to a running start on the thin wall, and leaped over the heads of the mutants, sailing through the air. A mutant reached upwards, grabbing her foot mid-air. The mutant wasn't able to hold on, but instead managed to trip Alice, causing her to land directly on her knees.
A sharp, biting pain shot up Alice's back. She landed wrong, and she could tell that she messed her back up in one way or the other, but didn't have time to think. Only time to run.
Lana jumped immediately afterwards, and landed slightly farther than Alice, recovering quickly. She grabbed Alice by the arm, and tugged her away from the mutants. The two of them sprinted as fast as possible, back towards the van.
Alice and Lana arrived at the van to find the others waiting for them.
"Are y' okay?" Asked Mac.
Lana nodded, and her and Alice quickly climbed into the van. The van sped off, with the Manor's alarm resounding in the distance.
"Did y' find an'thing useful?" Asked Mac, on the way up the mountainous road.
"We found enough food to last us a day, maybe two if we stretch it." Reported Denny.
"I found a couple things t' eat, but nuthin' much."
Alice, Lana, Riley, Mac, and Denny kept silent for most of the ride back, taking in the scenery, and catching their breath after the incident at the manor.
After getting back, Alice decided to go back to her cabin and read a book, because Dick was too busy to finish their game of battleship. While nearing the door to her cabin, she noticed Riley hiking up the trail, past where is cabin is.
"You going on a hike?" Asked Alice.
"Yeah." He replied.
"Mind if I come?"
"No, it's fine."
Alice caught up to him, walking silently. He was acting a bit awkward, not talking much at all.
"You think we can trust these people?" She asked, "You didn't talk much when we were meeting earlier."
"I guess- maybe. I'm kind of with Kelly on this one. Trusting strangers ends badly."
"I trusted you, didn't I?"
"Yeah...I guess so."
After talking to Riley for about an hour after, Alice finally left to go back to her cabin.
Alice could hear movement inside her cabin, as she prepared to get her things to move into the brown cabin, which the others were staying in for the night.
"Hey, Dick." Greeted Alice, as she walked in. But it wasn't Dick. It was Denny, rummaging through her backpack.
"What the hell are you doing?" Questioned Alice. She had left her gun inside the cabin, and could see it in his pocket.
Suddenly, a heavy metal object slammed into the back of Alice's head, knocking her unconscious.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading!
Next Chapter - Alice gains an unlikely ally, and is forced to make a promise which proves hard to keep.
