It was musty. Musty and dark. Alice wasn't quite sure what Holly's group planned to do with her and Adam, but for now they'd been imprisoned in the basement of a small house on the outskirts of the road. The door to the basement was boarded and barricaded(not to mention locked), locking them inside. Their hands were bound messily with rope, and it was obvious that Holly wasn't very worried of them escaping, barely bothering to restrain them whatsoever. Adam was mostly silent, quietly trying to find a way out.

"Look, Adam," Said Alice, turning to him in the dark, "If there was another way out, we would've found it already."

"Guess so." Replied a frustrated Adam, finally giving up.

"I can hear Holly and her group through the floorboards, my guess is they're close by anyways."

"Yeah...good point, I guess."

"I want to get out of here just as much as you," Said Alice, keeping her voice low, "But we need to be smart about this. Slade's still out there, he's our best hope of getting out of here."

"What if he doesn't want to help us? After all, he's only in this to find his brother. If I had to guess, he's probably already found the others, and left without a word."

"Not much of an optimist, are you?"

"I suppose not." Alice could vaguely see him grin in the darkness.

"So...how'd you end up at the cabins in the first place," Asked Adam, resorting to conversation to keep his mind occupied, "Anyways?"

"Dick found me on a supply run, they brought me in. There were more people at the cabins back then."

"So you were alone before you met them?"

"Yeah."

Adam nodded, as awkward silence set in.

"So," Said Alice, "Your turn. How'd you end with Lily's group?"

"I was traveling with my stepdad for a while into the outbreak, we ran into Lily and Jay at a gas station, we met the others soon afterwards...my stepdad died a few weeks before we found the cabins."

She wasn't quite sure how to respond, so she chose not to.

[I was never very good at listening to other's backstories. To me, it was just another story of death and survival, no different than mine. In my opinion, all that matters is the present, not the past.]

"Um, if you don't mind me asking," He added awkwardly, "...What happened to your parents?"

"I never really had any, I was raised in an orphanage, I'm told my parents split up when I was just below two years old, my dad went to prison, mom didn't have the money to take care of me."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I'm glad I didn't have parents, in a way."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," She explained, "In my opinion, I would've never survived if I had parents. Being an orphan taught me to be independent, which is why I've made it this far."

"Makes sense." He replied, pausing for a moment, "...Do you ever hate your parents? You know, for leaving you?"

She was caught off-guard. He usually wasn't one to ask personal questions(although they hadn't interacted much in the past).

"...Not really, actually. I guess I've never really understand the need for a parent. After all, I don't exactly know what one's like."

Suddenly, commotion erupted just outside the basement door. Someone was moving the barricade from the door. The lock on the door turned, and someone swung the door open suddenly, sending a burst of light into Alice and Adam's eyes. The light was blinding for a few seconds, but her eyes quickly adjusted. Lenny's bulky form stood in front of them, glaring at them.

"Get up," He ordered gruffly, "Holly wants to see you."

Without a word, the two survivors stood to their feet, walking with him him through the corridors of the house. He kept his gun trained on them at all times, escorting them from the back.

They arrived in the living room, where Holly sat carelessly, lounging sideways on a reclining chair. She had Alice's baseball bat in her hands, toying with it, much to Alice's irritation.

"This is a nice bat you've got here," Teased Holly, "Where'd you get it?"

"What is it you want?" Asked Alice, ignoring her.

"Don't feel like small talk, do you? Fine, I'll get to the point. I need a simple 'favor' from you."

Holly retrieved a small walkie-talkie from her pocket, presenting it to Alice, who immediately recognized it as her own, the one she or Dick would use to talk to the others when on supply runs. She'd completely forgotten about it. It had been sitting on the counter of the gift shop when the visitor center was overrun.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Please Alice," Replied Holly, "Don't bore me with pointless questions. It's a simple task. Call your friends, tell them to meet you back at the visitor center."

"I'm going to assume you don't actually plan on that meeting taking place?" Asked Alice, knowing the obvious answer.

"Well," Answered Holly, "Perhaps they won't be meeting with you."

"What are you going to do to them?" Asked Adam angrily.

"That's not your concern. I am." She replied.

"Why the hell would I do anything for you," Retorted Alice, "Much less that?"

"Because, sweetie," She replied, standing up and unholstering her gun, aiming it at Adam, "I'm the one with the gun."

"Now," She added, placing the walkie-talkie in Alice's hand, "Be a good girl, and make the call."

[It was a split-second decision. I had no doubt in my mind that Holly would kill Adam if I didn't obey her, but I couldn't live with the thought of having sent my own group into a trap. In the end, I didn't have a choice.]

"Fine."

Alice reluctantly raised the walkie-talkie, pressing it's button to communicate with the others.

"Hello? Dick?" She had difficulty containing her nervousness, failing to sound convincing. After a few seconds of waiting, she breathed in relief. Out of range, she assumed. That, or Dick didn't have the other walkie-talkie.

"Alice?" Dick's electronic voice through the speaker startled her, "Is that you?"

"Yeah- yeah, it's me."

"Where the hell have you been? I've tried calling your walkie-talkie over and over-"

Suddenly, Adam lunged forward, snatching the walkie-talkie from her hands. Before anyone could react, he threw it to the ground, smashing it beneath his feet with a loud stomping. Lenny grabbed Adam by the arm, flinging him the floor, and kicking him hard in the side with his boot.

"Damnit you two," Said Holly, as Lenny raised Adam to his feet roughly, "I warned you. This could've been easy, but now you've complicated things. Now...things are going to be difficult."

Wren held Alice back, as Holly put her gun directly to Adam's head, who was being restrained by Lenny. He remained silent, glaring at her.

"Come to think of it," She added, the distinctive clicking of the gun's pin breaking the silence of the room, "I only need one of you alive."

Without remorse, Holly pulled the trigger. Alice was in shock, as blood stained the nearby wall, and Adam's body fell to the ground.

"You bastards!" Screamed Alice, fighting to get free from Wren's grip.

"Put her back in the basement." Ordered Holly nonchalantly, wiping blood from her face and holstering her gun.

She struggled, but it was no use. Wren roughly dragged her down the hallway, and shoved her into the basement, readjusting the barricades. She slammed on the door, but it wouldn't budge. After a few minutes of vain escape attempts, she practically fell to the ground in exhaustion and anger.

[Just like that, Adam was dead. Holly had absolutely no conscience, and I knew she'd have no reservations doing the same to me. I hadn't spent much time with Adam before he died, but it made no difference. I was enraged.]


She wasn't quite sure how much time had passed, not that she kept track much nowadays. It had taken hours, but she had finally dozed off unintentionally, falling asleep on the dirty floor, the past events having exhausted her greatly. It was the first sleep she'd had in over a day.

It was hard to tell, but based on the lack of commotion above, it was nighttime. She arose, rubbing her blurry eyes. She soon realized what had woken her. Although faint, footsteps were creaking the floor boards above, approaching the entrance to the basement slowly.

Despite being groggy, reality quickly set in, and it took only moments for her to position herself by the door to ambush whoever opened it. She didn't exactly have a plan of attack, but after what Holly did to Adam, it didn't matter to her. She wanted them dead, one way or another.

The creaking stopped, just as someone reached the door. The barricades were quietly removed. After a moment of nervous silence, the doorknob turned. She allowed the door to turn in, hiding behind it as it opened. A figure entered, and she was in the air, flinging her arm over his mouth, keeping him from yelling. Oddly enough, the young boy didn't panic, and instead stood still. Slade.

Coming to her senses, she lifted her hand from his mouth.

"Damnit Alice," He whispered, turning to her, "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," Replied Alice quietly, following him out of the basement, "...Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been following you for a while," He replied without eye contact, surveying the dark corridors of the house for any signs of trouble, "I didn't have a chance to get you out until now."

After a moment's realization, a wave of anger swept over her, as she roughly grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Are you kidding me?!" She whispered loudly, trying to keep her voice down, "Adam is dead, and you've been out there this entire time?!"

"Alice, calm down. We don't have time for this. If I had tried to rescue you and Adam earlier, I would've been killed too. I don't owe you people anything. In my opinion, you should be thanking me for not simply abandoning you in the first place."

She was still furious, but did her best to control her temper, as they reached the front door of the house, which was slightly ajar. Putting his finger to his mouth, Slade opened the door for her, watching her back as she exited the house quietly.

Taking one final look back into the house before Slade closed the door, Alice could see Adam's bloodied jacket lying on the floor. She paused for a moment, before swiftly running away with Slade into the forest.


Holly groaned groggily in her British-tinted accent, turning to face Lenny. He was standing over her, having woken her up with a rough push on the shoulder. She sat up in bed next to Wren, rubbing her eyes. The sun had barely risen, casting an orange tint to the forest trees outside.

"What is it?" She questioned, irritated.

"The girl...she escaped." He answered impatiently.

"...Get the others."

Lenny nodded, removing car keys from his pocket.


Author's Note:

A few things to tell you guys:

1) Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, I've been doing a number of other things, including updating my other series, and starting my own roleplaying forum.

2) I appreciate any reviews, even if it's a simple rating on a scale of 1-10.

3) I've gotten some more OC creation requests, I'm not yet at a point in the story where I can introduce them, I'll get to it soon. I'm doing my best to keep the series from getting crowded, so be as patient as you can.

4) The idea of killing off Adam in the chapter was not originally planned, it simply popped into my head at the last minute, and I decided the chapter could use a little shock factor to keep things interesting. Let me know what you think!

Reader-made OC Credits:

Adam(R.I.P.) - Created by Cowardlygurp

Chapter 15, "Amid The Ruins" Preview/Synopsis: Alice and Slade navigate a hostile environment, desperate to find her missing group, while evading Holly's.