Always the Quiet Ones

Chapter VI: The Price of Sanctuary

Nick patted Sarah on the shoulder, with a smile. Then he walked away. The teenage girl smiled at what he said, and hopefully that had risen a little bit of hope inside her broken soul. Nick looked at the sign of the Museum. It seemed to focus strictly on Civil War. He noticed Eddie was chatting it up with Rebecca over by the bench.

"And I'm like - DAMN! It just fell apart, of course I didn't have anything to do with it, just so you know. I do miss that church. And Thomas, and Jorge." Eddie chuckled, remembering something about his past. The laugh quickly turned into a frown.

Day 382, about 1:32 PM

"All you have to do is put the damn thing down! It's not hard, Jesus!" Eddie groaned, running his fingers through his hair.

"I'm tryin'!" Jorge groaned, he had learned to speak fluent English, or at least close to fluent just recently. With Eddie being the extra help, he learned English faster than usual. Jorge was carrying a huge box, which they had just discovered at a nearby Ranger Station. Jorge rested the box onto the ground, and then was handed a box-cutter. He flicked it so the blade stuck out then he ripped through the tape that sealed the box.

"Is there a phone number on it? Maybe we can call UPS to send us a care package." Eddie chuckled, while he opened the box and there was a huge amount of food, and about two pistols.

"Well, it's somethin'. We were running low, and now we got food and a fuckin' gun. Thomas and Stef will be happy to hear about this." Jorge smiled.

"Where the hell are they anyway?" Eddie said, walking out the church door, looking around.

"EDDIE! THERE'S SOMETHIN' IN HERE!" Jorge yelled, and Eddie quickly looked back once he said that. They looked at each other for a quick second.

"Wha-?" Eddie started, but was interrupted when the church exploded, Eddie flew back at impact, as the church engulfed into flames. He saw nothing but flames as the church collapsed. Eddie couldn't believe what just happened. One of his friends that he had been with for almost a year now, had just blown up right in front of him. He fucking knew it. The second he saw that package he had to know that something was up with that. But he took it anyways. And now Jorge was dead. He didn't want to move, hell he couldn't really move. His leg hurt like hell, maybe he was burned. It's a miracle that he survived. He was only about 10 or 15 feet away from the church.

"God...FUCK!" Eddie groaned as he got up, his back popped as he tried to move out of the way of the church. He looked to the left of him and saw a figure of some kind, and soon that figure multiplied, and multiplied, and multiplied.

I gotta get the hell out of Dodge. Eddie thought.

Eddie panted heavily as he started running towards the open area, since that's where Stef and Thomas has gone once they went out to gather some food for the feast they had planned tonight. Sadly, there wasn't going to be one at that church. Maybe they could set it up somewhere else, but with over 60% of their food and equipment gone, they might not be able to risk it. He just had to figure out how he was going to tell Thomas and Stef about Jorge's death.

Present Day

Nick decided to walk over to the two of them.

"So wait... It just randomly exploded?" Rebecca asked, scratching her head. Eddie nodded, frowning a bit.

"It had something in it, I think. I dunno.." Eddie said.

"I'm sorry. That's tough." Rebecca patted her hand on his shoulder. She then groaned once she did that.

"You alright, Rebecca?" Nick asked.

"I'm - FINE! Don't worry about me." Rebecca said, panting a few times, trying to get some air.

"Why don't you and me take a walk for a second." Nick said to Eddie, who nodded and got up and followed him over to the entrance of Parker's Run, Nick laid back and looked over to Luke walking back to the Observation Deck that Clem and Jane had went over to, he remembered the last time he talked to Clem, which was about maybe 15 minutes ago, she had slapped him for standing up to Kenny like that. He felt like he deserved since he brought it upon herself, but it drove him mad when he was just yelling at her like that.

"Something wrong?" Eddie asked.

"I need to know if I can trust you, if the group can." Nick said, groaning at his shoulder wound which didn't feel as bad as it used to.

"Uh - Yeah, I mean.. why are you asking me that?" Eddie asked. Nick crossed his arms and gave him a glare.

"We're survivors. It's just necessary to ask those questions. I still don't know a damn thing about you." Nick replied.

"Sure. I guess, uh... What do you wanna know?" Eddie asked, crossing his arms.

"How long were you surviving alone in that trailer?" Nick asked.

Day 383 2:38 AM

Shit, shit, shit! Eddie thought. He had to keep running. There was no stopping him. He was too afraid to get eaten. He hadn't survived this long to die here. No fucking way. Strangely, he thought of Wyatt's crazy ass beard and the time when they had run over a dead guy. That's the day that crazy fucker in the truck had gotten them split up.

"THOMAS! STEF!" Eddie yelled as he spotted two figures in the woods.

"EDDIE!" Thomas yelled back. The three of them ran towards each other.

"Guys...the church is - gone.." Eddie sighed. They had just recently welcomed Stef just two months ago, she had black medium length hair, and had a white shirt and blue pants. She didn't really change clothes that often. Hell, who really did anyways? She

"WHAT - WHAT do you mean GONE?" Thomas asked, and his face began to light up.

"Me and Jorge picked up a box from a Ranger Station, and it had a label on it saying 'Free stuff. Food, guns, medicine.' and once we opened it, it had a device or something and the church exploded. Jorge - didn't make it..." Eddie frowned. Thomas looked to the ground, a tear falling down his eye. He then placed his fingers around his hair, and looked like he was about to yank it out. He then lowered one hand a little bit, and inched toward his holster, he then quickly grabbed the gun and as soon as Eddie saw that he figured out what he was going to do. Eddie tried to knock him over, as an attempt to save his life but it was too late. Thomas had pointed the gun up to his head and fired. Blood spattered out of the right of his head. Stef gasped.

"NO!" Eddie screamed.

"Oh my god..." Stef said, backing up, covering her mouth as if she was about to puke.

"WHY!?" Eddie yelled as he fell to his knees, sighing heavily. He just lost two of his friends in one day.

"Damn it. We've gotta go." Stef said, holding out her hand. Eddie nodded, and the two of them ran off before the walkers could reach them.

Day 593, about 2:36 PM

"Just flip it. It's not hard." Eddie chuckled. The two of them had found a small cafeteria which was surprisingly stocked, they had finally caught a break after traveling on the road for almost half a year. The two of them had grown closer, they had thought of each other as a 'couple' it was even weirder for Eddie considering he never had a girlfriend before. He was just a weird dude who smoked weed. People change, he thought.

"I'm trying! Jesus!" Stef exclaimed. Eddie laughed as he looked out the window and spotted a place called 'Sunshine Mobile Home Trailer Park'

"I've always wanted to live in a trailer park." Eddie joked, crossing his arms.

"Fuck no. We're not doing that." Stef shook her head.

"C'mon, we'll bring food over there. We'll come back if we need more." Eddie said.

"Alright fine. This place doesn't even have any beds, so that's fine with me." Stef replied.

"Beds, huh? Eddie chuckled. If there was a dirty joke said, it would usually be Eddie who said it.

Present Day

"I had someone with me. A girl. Named Stef." Eddie's expression turn into a frown and Nick guessed that she didn't make it.

"I'm sorry." Nick replied.

Nick noticed Clem walking into the Parker's Run area.

"Excuse me." Nick said, and Eddie shrugged and Nick ran over to Clementine.

"Hey, Clem. Uh.." Nick scratched the back of his head thinking of apologizing to her.

"That was kinda stupid what you did." Clem said, crossing her arms.

"I know, Clem. I know. But you didn't deserve that. You tried to save her life. That counts as something." Nick said.

"It was still pretty stupid." Clem said, after a few seconds of silence. Nick chuckled. He then nodded, and looked to Clem.

"I just want you to know, Clem. I'm here. For anything. We've come a long way, huh?" Nick asked. Clementine smiled. She remembered when she first met the cabin group when she had a bite mark on her arm. They all thought she was bitten by a lurker, but it was a dog. Clem felt bad about stealing, but it was the only way she could have survived.

"Thanks, Nick. And... we sure have." Clem said as she looked over to Sarah who was still in the same spot, and same position. The weird thing was: She didn't even look sad that much, something about her seemed happier, but she couldn't tell. She looked over to the museum sign. Mike & Bonnie went that way.

"Why didn't you save Pete instead of me? I just - gotta ask. I know I asked you before back at that shed...but I need to know."

"I.. I don't know.." Clem said. Nick stood there for a second, and shook his head.

"Nevermind. Uh..I figured we could go over to the Museum and help Mike & Bonnie, you alright with that?" Nick asked. Clem nodded. The two of them walked to the museum.