A Regular Outbreak

Season Three: Cutting Losses and Letting Go

Episode Two: Taking Shelter

12th of May, 2024, Late Morning

Day 298

A/N: Before I begin; yes I did copy the walking dead in the last chapter and I apologize. I ran out of ideas and picked some that sounded SIMILAR to it, but it still went down the same path as the game. I won't be doing that again, I will try to stick to my own story and not go too far into the game's way of survival. Thanks for understanding.

Rigby quietly walked over to the door of the Inn and quietly opened it. He passed through, closing it cautiously behind him and walked over to the truck. "Okay, turn the key." Alpha said, his head under the hood of the truck. Axel turned the key of the truck. "Did you turn the key?" Alpha asked, looking around the hood. "Yeah, I did." Axel replied, jumping out of the truck. "This thing isn't gonna start…" Alpha shut the hood.

"Anything I can do?" Rigby asked, approaching the truck. "Actually, yes. Do you know anything about how a car works?" Alpha asked. "Well, I know how to drive one, so that's gotta count for something." Rigby shrugged. "Can you help us get the truck started?" Alpha asked, opening the hood again. "I can try." Rigby said, walking in front of the car. Alpha stood beside him, while Axel got back into the truck.

Rigby began fiddling with the engine. He came back up and glanced around the hood. "Turn the key." Rigby told him. Axel nodded and turned the key slightly. The truck still wouldn't start. "Damn it…" Rigby sighed. Alpha watched Rigby as his head disappeared under the hood again. "Okay…" Rigby wiped some dirt off of his paws and moved back a bit. "Try it now." Rigby said. "Alright." Axel nodded and turned the key.

Miraculously, the truck started. "Oh, yes!" Rigby hi-fived Alpha. Alpha shut the hood and glanced inside the truck. "The lights in the truck work too." He said, walking back over to Rigby. Suddenly, just as fast as the happiness began, it died down when the sound of rattling echoed in the front of the car.

Rigby popped open the hood and coughed. "Damn! I think the engine's blown!" Rigby stepped back. Alpha pushed past and checked the engine. "What do we do now!?" Alpha shouted. Axel walked over and crossed his arms. "We almost fixed it…" Rigby sighed. "Damn it Rigby, every goddamn time." Alpha walked away.

"Don't worry about him." Axel shrugged and followed Alpha back into the Inn. Rigby shut the hood and crossed his arms. "Damn it, so close." He muttered. Rigby walked to the driver's side of the truck and opened the door. The raccoon jumped up into the driver's seat and shut the door. He glanced at the truck. "We wouldn't have been able to fit all seven of us in it…I think." Rigby scratched his head, as he looked at the interior of the truck.

Rigby put his paws under the seat and began searching for anything useful. "Empty packet of…um…these things…" Rigby muttered to himself, as he held a small empty packet of food. He threw it away and continued searching. "A pack of smokes." Rigby put the pack in his hoodie pocket and searched for more stuff.

A few moments later, there was a knock on the window of the truck. Rigby sat back up and looked out the window. "Oh, it's just you." Rigby said, opening the door. "Hey Margaret." He greeted, jumping down from the truck and shutting the door. "Hey Rigby, I heard the commotion. You alright?" She asked, glancing at the truck. "Yeah…" Rigby sighed. "Alpha seems pretty pissed at you." Margaret looked back at the Inn.

"Yeah, I kinda blew the truck's engine up." Rigby sighed. "What?" Margaret chuckled. "How does someone manage that?" She walked over to the front of the truck and popped the hood. The smoke had dissipated, so she could see the engine clearly. "Damn, you broke it pretty badly." She said, glancing at the raccoon. "How can you tell?" Rigby asked, looking at the engine. "Well, it's pretty obvious." Margaret shut the hood.

Rigby shook his head and put his paws into his pockets. "I'm not good with this sort of stuff." Rigby sighed. "Well…" Margaret began walking back to the Inn. "Why not practice? We've got time." She shrugged. Rigby just rolled his eyes and followed her into the Inn.

Rigby entered the Inn and closed the door quietly behind him. Margaret walked upstairs with Vivian, while Rigby walked into the room with the fireplace. "…yeah. I'm sure." Sean laughed. "Well, it's true." Mordecai rolled his eyes. "Hey." Rigby greeted, sitting beside Sean. "Long time no see." Sean smirked. "I've only been gone an hour." Rigby held his hands above the fire to keep himself warm.

"What were you doing outside?" Mordecai asked. "Trying to fix the truck." Rigby replied. "Well, were you able to fix it?" Mordecai asked. "No…I kinda blew the engine up." Rigby sighed. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you can fix it." Mordecai assured him. "No…the engine's blown dude. The truck is fucked." Rigby frowned. "No need to swear man, we got a kid." Mordecai raised a brow. "Its fine, I don't care." Sean shrugged. "You're still too young for it." Mordecai shook his head. "Hasn't stopped him before." Sean hi-fived Rigby.

Mordecai rolled his eyes and looked at the fire. "There's no need to worry so much about me." Sean said. "You're just a kid…I'm surprised you lasted this long. The only reason you survived, was because of your intelligence, and your ability to think. Unlike this guy." Mordecai pointed at Rigby. "Hey!" Rigby growled. "Mordecai, I know you're just trying to protect me, but I'm old enough to protect myself." Sean continued.

"I guess, but you still need a guardian." Rigby agreed. Sean shrugged and stood up. "Where are you going?" Mordecai asked. "Just going for a piss. I'll be back in a second." Sean answered, walking towards the door. Mordecai stood up. "Do I really need help? Seriously. I'll be back." Sean walked out. Mordecai sat back down. "I know what you're trying to do." Rigby leant against the couch and glanced at his friend. Mordecai just stayed silent.

"Mordecai…?" Rigby could tell that Mordecai was in deep thought. "Look…man…remember when we were at that storage place a few months ago?" Mordecai asked. "Yeah…I remember." Rigby held his shoulder. "Well…while we were there, you wished that you and I had a child, do you remember that?" Mordecai continued. "Yeah, but…where are you going with this?" Rigby smirked. "I think…we can do this. Raise Sean. We can raise him properly. Not like how we were raised." Mordecai began.

"We can teach him how to survive, use a weapon and maybe even teach him how to shoot a gun…" Mordecai continued. "He already knows that." Rigby interrupted. "Not properly." Mordecai countered. "And besides, we don't want him dying. We need to put his needs above anyone else's, even our own. Do you understand?" Mordecai asked, with a serious tone.

"Yes, completely." Rigby nodded. Mordecai crawled over and hugged his friend. "We're all going to make this." Mordecai muttered. "I know." Rigby sighed. Rigby pulled away and sat back down, while Sean quietly entered the Inn. Sean walked in and sat beside the fire.

"I miss Eileen." Sean sighed. "What makes you think of her?" Rigby asked. "Just…all this silence." Sean replied. "Yeah. Silence isn't common under these circumstances." Mordecai shrugged. The sound of furniture being moved upstairs echoed through the Inn.

"See what I mean?" Mordecai looked at the ceiling. "Whatever happened to her anyway? I never was told where she went." Sean asked, crossing his arms. The wolf glanced at the fire, waiting for an answer.

"Eileen thought herself and Fives could survive away from us." Rigby answered. The raccoon scratched behind one of his ears, while Sean looked at him with a suspicious glance.

"That can't be the whole reason." Sean raised a brow. "It isn't…" Rigby sighed. "Eileen was a smart girl. Clever, if you will. But…she became extremely stubborn. She thought that she and Fives wouldn't survive another day with us." Mordecai began. "So…she decided to leave, early one morning. She said her goodbyes and told us where she was going, in case we ever wanted to visit." Mordecai continued.

"And…she took Fives with her." Rigby finished his sentence. "So…where did they go?" Sean asked, intrigued. "Dunno, she just said up north." Rigby replied. "Well, how are we supposed to find her? If she expected us to visit her." Sean crossed his arms. "It's…complicated. I'm sure we'll see them someday…same with Taylor, and her son." Mordecai explained.

"Sure." Sean replied, sarcastically. "God…just bring it over there!" Alpha's muffled voice was heard upstairs. "I'm…trying!" Axel's muffled voice followed. "We're coming apart at the seams." Mordecai sighed. "I'll go upstairs and help out with whatever they're doing." Mordecai stood up and walked upstairs.

Rigby and Sean glanced at each other. "You look tired." Rigby commented, glancing at the wolf. "I am." Sean yawned. "Why not get some sleep? I mean, we're not leaving anytime soon." Rigby glanced at the ceiling, the sound of furniture being moved continued to echo through the inn.

Sean just nodded and leant on Rigby's shoulder. Rigby smiled at Sean and slowly stroked his hair. "That's extremely creepy." Sean commented, as he closed his eyes. "I can stop anytime." Rigby grinned. "Don't you dare." Sean chuckled. Rigby smiled at him. Sean closed his eyes and fell asleep, while Rigby glanced at the stairs.

Mordecai walked up the stairs and into one of the rooms. "There." Alpha said, pushing a couch to the side of the room. "Hey, what are you guys doing up here?" Mordecai asked, entering the room. "Just moving some furniture." Axel replied, sitting on the newly-moved couch. "For what reason?" Mordecai asked. "Well, so we can make a camp up here, in case we need to." Axel replied.

"In case any walkers cover the bottom floor. We could block the stairs with a piece of furniture. Then we could camp up here." Vivian explained, placing a lamp on a nearby shelf. "Smart." Mordecai nodded, looking at Margaret, who was leaning against the wall. "Need any help?" Mordecai asked, walking over to Alpha. "Well, as you can see. We've already sorted it out." Alpha replied, harshly.

"Whatever man, just trying to help." Mordecai shook his head. "Hey, Mordecai. I found this." Axel walked over and held a bottle of alcohol in his hand. "I thought maybe you'd like a swig." Axel continued. "Where'd you find this?" Mordecai asked. "It's an Inn, dude. There was a whole fridge behind the bar." Axel answered. "Is there any other bottles?" Mordecai questioned. "No, this was the last one." Axel handed it over. "Didn't you say there was a fridge full of them?" Mordecai asked, taking the bottle from him. "No, I just said I got it from a fridge behind the bar." Axel answered. "Alright then." Mordecai glanced at him. "Thanks." Mordecai watched Axel walk off. "Anyone want a swig?" Mordecai asked, holding the bottle up. "Yeah, I'll take one." Alpha replied, walking over to the blue jay.

Alpha grabbed the bottle off of Mordecai and quickly removed the lid. "Cheers." Alpha said, unenthusiastically taking a swig. Alpha handed the bottle over to Mordecai and sighed. "I'm sorry for being so…bossy. I'm just a little on edge…and stressed." Alpha apologized, crossing his arms. "It's fine, we're all stressed." Mordecai sighed. "Some more than others." Alpha glanced over at Margaret.

"Don't worry about her, she's a strong woman." Mordecai smiled at her. Margaret heard him and looked at him. She smiled and waved at him. "I'm gonna go see if Rigby wants one." Mordecai began to walk away. He stopped and turned around. "There's a nice warm fire downstairs, if you ever want to join us. That would be nice." Mordecai announced, before he walked down the stairs.

Margaret watched him go and glanced at Vivian. "I'm gonna go downstairs and get warm. That fire sounds like heaven." She said, getting off of the wall. "I'll join you." Vivian said, glancing at her. Margaret nodded and she walked downstairs, with Vivian following her close behind.

Axel watched them go and glanced at Alpha. "Maybe we should go down too, it'd be nice to rest for a while." Axel asked. "Sure, go ahead. I'll finish up here." Alpha replied. Axel nodded. "We'll be waiting." Axel smiled at Alpha, before slowly descending down the stairs. Alpha just sat down on the couch and scratched his head.

"What happens now…?" Alpha asked himself. "Do we stay here all day?" Alpha muttered. Alpha rubbed his forehead and stood up. "I guess I'll go down. It is pretty cold up here." Alpha said, walking over to the stairs.

"…behind the bar." Mordecai finished his sentence, while Alpha descended the stairs. "Well, I'll take a swig." Rigby grabbed the bottle from Mordecai's hands and unscrewed the lid. Alpha walked into the room and sat on the couch, behind Rigby. Rigby took a swig and handed the bottle back to his friend. "We should save that. Who knows when we'll need a drink?" Rigby suggested. "Good idea." Mordecai nodded. The blue jay slipped the bottle into his backpack and glanced at Alpha.

"There he is." Mordecai announced. "So…Alpha. What's the plan now? Do we stay here for the day? Leave in the morning?" Vivian asked. "I…I'm not sure. I mean, this place is secure." Alpha replied. "But we can't stay here forever, and we're low on food." Rigby explained. "We…we could probably stay the night and then leave in the morning." Alpha sighed.

"Good idea." Margaret agreed. "How much food do we have left?" Mordecai asked, opening his backpack. "Not sure, but not much." Margaret replied, opening her backpack.

The whole group began to open their backpacks, checking for food. "I got nothing." Vivian said, closing her backpack. "Same here." Margaret sighed, zipping her backpack shut. "I got a bag of Marshmallows." Sean announced, confidently pulling a packet of marshmallows out of his backpack.

"That won't last long." Mordecai commented, rummaging through his backpack. "We could roast these, you know." Sean countered. "Yeah, I guess we could." Rigby shrugged, shutting his backpack. "Oh, I didn't know I had this." Rigby checked the pocket of his backpack and pulled out a can-opener.

"We got it from Ann, remember?" Mordecai pulled out an empty can of food and threw it away. Rigby nodded and put it in the pocket of his hoodie.

"Unless you want empty cans, I got nothing." Mordecai announced, shutting his backpack. "How could we let this happen? We have nothing!" Alpha exclaimed, shutting his backpack. Axel just shook his head and shut his bag. "All we got are those." Alpha glanced at the bag of marshmallows. "Let's fight for the marshmallows!" Mordecai chuckled. The whole group stared at the bag of marshmallows.

"I was kidding." Mordecai sighed. "Why don't you guys go grab some sticks? We can roast them then." Sean suggested. "Yeah. Good idea." Mordecai stood up. "Come on, I'm not getting all of your sticks." Mordecai walked over to the door, followed by Rigby and Alpha.

A few minutes later, the three men returned and sat beside the fire. Each of them took a few marshmallows, put them on the end of their sticks and began roasting them. Sean finished roasting his first and began eating his. "How does it taste?" Mordecai asked, glancing at Sean. "Amazing." Sean replied, taking a second marshmallow off of the stick.

"I used to do this all the time." Sean said, holding the marshmallow in his paw. "Same here." Rigby looked over at the wolf. "Ha! Since when?" Mordecai exclaimed. "Since forever!" Rigby threw his hands up. "Not with me." Mordecai chuckled. "Actually, we did. Mordecai." Margaret grinned at him. "Only once." Mordecai glanced at the fire. "With that deer man? Thing…" Rigby asked. "Yeah." Mordecai replied.

"That kinda turned me off camping." Rigby chuckled. "So…you used to camp before that?" Sean asked. "Yeah, usually alone though." Rigby answered. "That sucks." Sean threw his stick onto the fire. "Yeah, it does." Rigby pulled his final marshmallow off of the stick and threw his stick onto the fire.

"Ha! I love these." Alpha commented, swallowing another marshmallow. "Anyone sane does." Rigby smiled at Alpha. "See? He's not always a cranky shit." Mordecai laughed. Alpha chuckled slightly and grabbed the packet of marshmallows. "Hey!" Sean exclaimed. "I wanted a few more." Alpha pulled a few out and handed the packet back. "Fine." Sean grabbed the packet and slipped it into his bag.

"What time is it?" Mordecai asked, glancing at Rigby. "It's just past midday." Rigby answered, looking down at his watch. "Wow, I thought it was later than that." Vivian threw her stick into the fire.

After a few minutes, everyone had finished their marshmallows and had thrown their sticks into the fire. The seven survivors sat around the fire, in silence.

"So…" Sean broke the silence. "What do we do for the rest of the day?" Sean finished. "Not sure. There isn't much to do." Alpha stood up and glanced at the truck. "Think the truck is fixable?" Alpha asked. "No, the engine's destroyed." Margaret answered. Alpha leant against a nearby wall and crossed his arms.

Rigby opened his backpack and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Want one?" Rigby asked, glancing at his friend. "No, thanks." Mordecai answered. Rigby stood up and closed his backpack. "Your loss." Rigby threw his backpack over his shoulder. "I'm going out for a smoke, if anyone needs me." Rigby said, walking over to the front door.

"I'll come." Alpha said, following him outside. "I didn't know he smoked." Mordecai smirked. "Yeah, Fives used to give us all a pack after he went out getting supplies." Margaret began. "He'd always give Rigby an extra one." She continued. Mordecai just shrugged. "I guess he can smoke if he wants. It isn't my call." Mordecai sighed. "Yeah, it isn't." Axel looked over at the blue jay.

Meanwhile

Rigby leant against the back of the truck and lit a cigarette. "Why'd you want to come?" Rigby asked, looking at the wolf suspiciously. "Look…I needed to talk to you about the group." Alpha began. Alpha outstretched his hand. "Here." Rigby handed over a cigarette. Alpha placed it in his mouth and Rigby lit it for him.

"So…is there something wrong with the group?" Rigby asked, breathing out a puff of smoke. "Not exactly, I just wanted to ask for advice." Alpha replied. "Why are you asking me? I'm just a failure." Rigby sighed. "No, you're not. All kids make mistakes." Alpha took the cigarette out of his mouth and held it in his hand. "I'm not a kid. I'm 29." Rigby raised a brow.

Alpha pat his chest. "In here…and your mind." Alpha then pointed to his head. "You're still a kid." Alpha continued. "Don't get all 'deep' on me, Alpha. Keep your shit together." Rigby laughed, throwing his cigarette onto the ground and crushing it with his foot.

"Ah! Shit that burnt me!" Rigby exclaimed patting his foot. "See, an adult wouldn't do that." Alpha grinned. "Stop talking!" Rigby exclaimed. Alpha continued to chuckle. "Look, Rigby. Let's get back to the topic at hand." Alpha threw his cigarette away and coughed.

"I'm all ears." Rigby glanced at Alpha, casually. Alpha scratched his head. "I forgot…" Alpha said, quietly. "Ha! See, an adult wouldn't do that." Rigby mocked. "Shut up." Alpha grinned slightly.

"Oh! I remember." Alpha announced. Rigby glanced at him, waiting for him to begin. "Okay, I just had a few questions about what we should do next. I'm not really doing well as a leader, and I could use some advice from a good friend." Alpha explained. "Isn't Mordecai your 'good friend'?" Rigby asked, frowning slightly. "Well…no. You are." Alpha answered. "Well, I'm flattered." Rigby crossed his arms.

"I'm sure." Alpha smirked. "Okay…well. To be honest, I'm not sure why we came up north in the first place. And…I mean, is there any landmarks around here?" Rigby looked around. "All you can see is the frozen lake, and the tops of trees." Rigby continued. He pointed over to the lake. He suddenly dropped his hand and placed his hand on his gun, which was holstered on his hip.

"What is it?" Alpha asked, confused. "There's someone across the lake." Rigby pulled out his gun and aimed it across the lake. "Don't shoot him then!" Alpha glanced at the gun. "I'm not. I'm using the aim of the gun (A/N: I dunno what its called.), so I can see him." Rigby replied, looking through the sight of the pistol.

"It's a girl." Rigby announced, glancing at Alpha. "And she's got walkers after her. We've gotta help her!" Rigby shouted, putting his gun back into its holster. "What can we do? Cross the lake again?" Alpha questioned. The wolf stared at Rigby, as if he was insane.

"Precisely." Rigby said, running over to the lake. "Get back here!" Alpha shouted, running after him. Rigby ran down to the lake and stopped at the bank of it. "We need to help her." Rigby said, looking at Alpha. "But…you'll fall through the ice." Alpha warned, watching Rigby drop his backpack to the ground.

"I won't…and even if I do. I think I'll be fine. I've got fur to protect me." Rigby said, glancing at the ice. "Fur doesn't do that much for you." Alpha said, outstretching his fur-covered hand. "Sure." Rigby pushed Alpha's hand out of the way. "I'm going over there." Rigby said, placing one foot on the ice. "Let me come with you then!" Alpha exclaimed, throwing his backpack onto the ground beside Rigby's.

"Are you sure?" Rigby asked, looking at Alpha. "I'm sure." Alpha nodded. "Okay…I'll go first." Rigby said, putting a second foot on the ice. "Wait until I say go, then begin walking across the ice at the same pace as me." Rigby ordered.

Alpha nodded and watched Rigby walked across the ice slowly. Alpha grabbed his knife from his backpack and watched Rigby tread across the ice. Alpha noticed Rigby turn around and wave at him, indicating him to begin moving. Alpha took one step and placed one foot onto the ice. He breathed out a huff of air, and looked ahead.

"This isn't gonna end well…"

Well! Count this chapter as an apology for the failure of a chapter the previous one was!

Thanks for reading! Alpha belongs to AeroAlpha, the author of the TaWoG story, 'Starting Anew'. Go ahead and check it out!

Thanks for reading everyone! This chapter is the longest one I've written in a while! With a total of 3838 words!

See you soon!

RSM