"Thieves are criminals not only of the material objects, but of the mind. They can creep up behind you and get inside your head. What did they steal?"

The river lapped endlessly against the rocks. As the five raiders surrounded us, I looked to the sky, it was beginning to cloud up, but the sun still poked through. It was still a beautiful place in West Virginia. The trees still had green leaves and it looked as if nothing had touched the whole state. I loved it here.

Ashley and Jason backed up closer to me.

A raider wearing a deer-head skin approached and greeted us with a black-toothed smile. "Well, well, our first…escapees…"

I tipped my hat, as always, and said, "Morning, what's a jackass like you up to on this fine day?"

He took no offense, they never do. "We were just looking for some new…scalps."

I smiled and mouth "ah". Looking back to Ashley and Jason I said, "Well we were just looking for some fresh air."

The raider laughed, and turned around to his friends. They all laughed along with him, until I snatched the raider and placed my .357 to his head.

"Haha, it is pretty funny huh? I was actually out looking for some raiders to beat the shit out of. You wouldn't happen to know any, would you?" I asked sarcastically.

The other raiders readied their spears, but held their ground.

He laughed and began, "You-"

I pulled the trigger and the bullet exploded through his skull. "Sorry, you took too long."

The other raiders didn't advance, and they said nothing.

"Anybody else know some raiders?" I asked.

One of them stepped forward quickly, and raised his spear. With a shout, he heaved it towards me. I ducked it, and fired into his stomach. He jerked backwards and fell to the ground as the other charged. I fired a shot into one wearing another deer-head, and I used two shots to stop one from impaling Jason.

Then, out of nowhere, another one tackled me. We hit the ground hard, and my gun clattered away. She recovered first and began crawling for it. I quickly regained focus and dove onto her back, putting my hands over her eyes. She swung and elbow up and caught my cheek, making me roll off of her. I cocked my leg back and kicked her in the side. She rolled over and I began crawling for the gun. Just as I got my hands on it, she was on top of me.

I slowly struggled to turn myself over underneath her, and tried to maneuver the gun up to her. She realized my intention, and grasped the gun in her hands. With gravity and downward pressure on her side, she began pushing the barrel towards my face.

"Little raiding bitch!" I grunted.

She growled as I started pushing the gun her way. Suddenly her growling stopped, and she began desperately whimpering while the barrel neared her face.

"That's right, you raiders are all the same! Tough except when it counts!" I hissed.

I placed the barrel to her forehead, and was about to pull the trigger, but I made the biggest mistake you can make before killing somebody. I looked into her eyes. They were watery, and were begging for her life.

No, no Josh. Don't be weak, finish her! Damn, why did it have to be her! This poor girl, wasting her life so young, she could only be about 19!

"Don't do it!" Ashley cried.

Jason shouted, "She's killed people! End it!"

Fuck this, I don't need this shit. I flipped her off of me and stood up facing Jason, whose expression was a mixture of disappointment and relief.

Without turning around I said, "If you don't get the hell out of here, I will kill you…"

"Thank…you," she sobbed.

We were about to leave when I heard her say, "I…don't know…how I could…."

I heard a grunt, and then a laugh. I wheeled around and saw her charging me with my knife. I stuffed the barrel of the gun in her mouth, and without hesitation I pulled the trigger. The gunshot was slightly muffled, but the blood sprayed just the same. Her head whipped back, and I could see the river behind her through the hole. After the echo died down, I heard a cough.

I turned to my right and noticed a raider crawling towards a spear. I ended him with my last shot.

Then it was quiet. I continuously clenched and unclenched my jaw. How could I be so stupid? Why the hell would I let a raider get up? I walked over and retrieved my stolen blade.

"Who are you?" Jason asked.

I challenged him with my eyes. "A traveler."

He didn't seem satisfied with my answer. I pushed past him and continued walking into the woods.

"Yeah, but, you kill so…easily…" he explained.

I thought about that, and it was true. "Yeah, I do."

"But how?"

I spun to face him. "Listen, if you want to survive out here, that's what you do. Ever hear the lion and the gazelle saying?" I began walking again.

"No…"

I cleared my throat, "Every morning the gazelle wakes up and knows it has to run faster than the other gazelles if it wants to survive. The lion wakes up every morning and knows it has to run faster than the slowest gazelle if it wants to survive. I'm the lion."

Ashley said, "There are no more gazelles or lions…"

We ducked under a fallen tree and walked out into a grassy clearing.

"So, you're saying the weak die, and the strong survive?" Jason asked.

I nodded, "The BEST survive, and the strong strive. The weak die young."

"And we're…weak?" Ashley asked.

I noticed an old cabin on the far edge of the field, with smoke rolling out of its chimney. That told me it was occupied, and somebody must've been cooking on a fire inside. The temperature was too warm for a heat source.

I slowed down and stopped in the field. "Yes, you are, but we could change that right now…"

Jason seemed amused by this idea. "How?"

"Well," I looked to the sky, the clouds were growing darker, "Do you feel like sleeping in rain outside tonight?"

They glanced at each other. "No?"

I turned back to face the cabin, "Well, I bet it's nice and dry in there tonight, huh?" I spun around grinning.

Ashley had the most disgusted expression on her face.

Jason looked to the ground, "You want us to take the house? Why can't we just ask them to let us in?"

"Where do we go from there? I'm out of ammo, raiders released ghouls in your city, and the forests come alive at night."

Jason looked at Ashley, and then back to me. "What do you need us to do?"

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- Legkicker