A Regular Outbreak
Season Three: Cutting Losses and Letting Go
Episode Four: Eye Candy
13th of May, 2024, Mid-Morning
Day 299
The group heard it. A quiet voice asking if they were going to kill him/her. Margaret and Vivian walked up to Alpha. Rigby glanced at his taller friend. The group remained quiet until Mordecai spoke up.
"Noone is gonna hurt you." Mordecai said, looking around.
"Are you sure?" The voice asked. The voice was pretty close by, and it sounded like the voice of a child. "I mean, I've heard many people say that they weren't going to hurt me. But they have." The kid finished.
Rigby looked up at Mordecai, with a worried look on his face. He had noticed the sadness in the kid's voice. Then, Sean spoke up.
"We're not gonna hurt you. I promise." He said, standing up. Rigby glanced at him with a confused face. Mordecai just gave Sean the 'You've got to be kidding me' face. "What?" Sean asked him. Sean glanced at a bush beside him, which was rustling and crouched down. He opened the bushes and was met with the face of a kid. The kid looked frightened, and had no weapon in his hands.
Their faces were a finger length from each other and Sean backed off slightly. "Oh…Hi…" Sean greeted shyly, glancing at the kid. The kid remained silent and crawled out of the bush. Sean crawled back out of the bush and stood beside Mordecai.
"Hi." Sean greeted. The kid waved at him and glanced at Mordecai. "What's your name, kid?" Mordecai asked, crouching to the kid's level. The kid glanced at Sean and tilted his head.
"It's okay." Sean assured him. Sean folded his arms and glanced at Alpha, who was making himself comfortable beside the fire.
"L-Luke." The kid answered, with a nervous voice. The kid mirrored Sean's actions and folded his arms.
"There's no need to be nervous kid, we aren't gonna hurt you." Rigby looked at Luke. Luke rubbed his shoulder and sighed. "You look like me." Sean commented, eyeing Luke.
Luke was an eight year old wolf, with grey fur, looking almost exactly like Sean, except there was a scar under his right eye, and his eyes were a shade of light blue.
"What are you doing out here all alone?" Margaret asked.
"I wasn't alone before. I was camping out here with my dad." Luke replied, sitting on a nearby log.
"Where is your dad?" Mordecai asked, putting his backpack down on the ground beside him. "I mean, I assume he's still here." Mordecai added.
"He got bitten, he's been dead for…" Luke thought for a second. "…I don't even know how long." Luke finished.
"Oh! I'm sorry kid. I just assumed he was still here." Mordecai apologized.
"It's fine." Luke nodded. Luke glanced at the fireplace. "I could use some company, why don't you stay?" Luke asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Of course we can. We can't just leave a kid like you alone in the woods." Vivian looked at Mordecai. "I mean, we've got nothing to lose." Vivian continued.
Sean walked over to Luke and sat beside him on the log. He glanced at Mordecai. Mordecai noticed that everyone else was getting comfortable. "Sure. And we can bring him along with us." Mordecai sat down beside the fire.
Vivian and Axel helped Margaret sit down, beside Alpha, who was surveying the fire. He grabbed a nearby stick and threw it into the fire.
Sean glanced at Luke. "How long have you been out here alone?" Sean asked.
"Not sure, I think it's been about…two weeks since my dad died? But I can't be sure." Luke answered, a little less shy than he was before.
"Must be lonely out here." Sean said, sympathising with the other wolf.
"Not really, I've become used to it." Luke shrugged. He glanced over at Alpha, who was tending to the fire. "That your dad?" Luke asked, eyeing Alpha.
"No…he's just another wolf." Sean sighed. "My dad died in the first few months…same as my mom." Sean lost focus. Luke just looked at Sean in awe. "We were in a gas station…my mom went to the bathroom and didn't come out. I…I went in to see if she was alright." Sean explained. "She…she was bitten. My dad eventually came in and found the body of her…he took out the zombie who'd bitten her and knelt beside her." Sean continued.
"But…he was there too long. And my mom sunk her teeth into his neck." Sean finished. "Sorry Sean." Luke apologized.
"There's no need to apologize." Sean sighed. "I've gotten over their deaths." Sean continued. Luke nodded wearily. Silence followed after the conversation.
"How'd you get that scar?" Sean asked, curious. "It looks painful." Sean winced, as he glanced at it.
"I've had it for years." Luke replied. Sean nodded. "Wait, you didn't answer my question?" Sean cocked an eyebrow. "It's not important." Luke quieted down. Sean just shrugged and grabbed his backpack. He opened it and began rummaging through it.
"Hey. Want some marshmallows?" Sean asked, taking an almost empty pack of Marshmallows out of his backpack. "There's about five left." Sean continued.
"Yeah, that'd be cool." Luke answered. Sean reached into the packet and passed a few over. "Thanks." Luke smiled at him. "It's fine, they're only marshmallows." Sean smirked.
"So, I'm coming with you?" Luke guessed, looking over at Vivian. "I mean, she seems to think that I have to." Luke continued.
"Well, we can't just leave you out here on your own. And besides, it'd be nice to have a good friend to talk to. You know." Sean shrugged. "I'm the only kid in the group, as you can see." Sean sighed.
"Damn man, that's gotta suck." Luke folded his arms. "It does." Sean shifted uncomfortably on the log. Luke watched Sean close his backpack and rubbed his shoulder.
"Where are you from?" Luke asked. "I'm from California." Luke made conversation. "I'm from New York." Sean answered.
"I've never been to New York. Is it as nice as they say?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, I guess. But it was still extremely busy." Sean shrugged. "Though I still miss it." Sean sighed. Sean stood up and threw his backpack over his shoulder. "I'm gonna go. I'll be back though." Sean assured the other wolf. Luke nodded and watched him walk away.
Mordecai noticed Sean walking over to him and greeted him. "Hey Sean. Making a new friend?" Mordecai asked, with a small smile on his face. "Yeah, he seems cool. He sorta reminds me of my dad." Sean said, folding his arms.
"Good for you, kid. It must be nice to meet another kid. It's been a long time." Mordecai nodded. "Yes, it's great." Sean cracked a smile.
"You alright, kid?" Mordecai asked. "You seem…unfocused." Mordecai noted.
"I just wanted to talk to you for a moment, if that's alright?" Sean asked, less confidently. "Just for a second." Sean added. Mordecai nodded and stood up.
Luke watched Sean and Mordecai walk away from the camp, but they were still in sight. They began talking and Luke folded his arms. Suddenly, the sound of gunshots echoed through the forest. Alpha glanced at the tree line and stood up.
"We should go, those shots sound close by." Alpha said, glancing over at Mordecai. Mordecai walked back over to the group with Sean.
Sean walked over to Luke. "Looks like it's time to move." Sean said, shrugging. "You still coming with us?" Sean asked, quietly.
"Sure. Just let me grab my things." Luke got off the log and ran over to a nearby bush and pulled out a small blue backpack and threw it over his shoulder.
"Alright, come on people. Let's go." Alpha began walking into the forest. "Alpha, just give us a second." Vivian helped Margaret stand up.
"You want to get shot?" Alpha turned back. After a few seconds of silence Alpha spoke up again. "I didn't think so, now come on." Alpha urged.
Mordecai walked over to Sean and Luke. "Stay close to us, alright? Don't fall behind." Mordecai ordered. "We don't want to lose you." Mordecai added.
"Yeah, we'll be fine. Thanks." Sean glanced at Luke and watched Mordecai walk away. "Let's go then." Sean shrugged and followed Mordecai, with Luke right beside him.
"I'm starving." Rigby groaned. "We haven't eaten since yesterday." Rigby complained.
"Stop complaining, we'll stop at the first town we see. Alright? Is that fair?" Alpha asked, glancing back at the group.
"I guess. But there better be a town nearby." Rigby sighed. "I mean, we gotta be extremely lucky to actually find one out here. We're in the middle of the forest for Christ sakes." Rigby threw his hands up.
"There isn't a town for miles." Luke said.
"How do you know?" Axel asked, glancing at the kid. "I mean, you're just a kid." Axel shrugged.
"Axel, grow up." Vivian punched him in the shoulder. "That was uncalled for." Vivian glared at him. Axel just shrugged.
"Well, I know this area. My family and I always come down here every year." Luke explained. "We were down here when it happened. But we weren't camping." Luke continued. "We were at a restaurant nearby." Luke pointed in the direction they came from.
"We just came from a restaurant." Sean replied. "Or…an Inn. Not quite sure which one it was." Sean shrugged.
"Was it beside a lake?" Luke asked, curiously.
"Yeah, it was." Sean nodded.
"That was the Inn then. Anyway, I'm going off topic." Luke changed the subject. "There is a small rest stop close by. We used to go there all the time. It has a café and picnic grounds." Luke continued.
"Where is it?" Mordecai asked, glancing back at the two kids. "Which direction are we heading now?" Luke asked.
"Um…according to the compass." Sean pulled out a compass out from his pocket and glanced at it. "North." He added, putting the compass back in his pocket.
"Well, it shouldn't be too far. There is a small dirt road that branches off the main road and into the forest." Luke explained.
"How do we get to it from here?" Alpha asked. "I mean, I don't see any dirt road." He added.
"Just keep heading north and we should get to a dirt road. Then we just follow it to the rest stop." Luke explained. "It isn't that far. And it isn't that hard to find it either." Luke shrugged and continued to walk.
"Looks like you got some competition." Mordecai grinned at Sean. "Oh shut up." Sean folded his arms.
"What does he mean?" Luke asked, questionably. "Nevermind." Sean sighed. Luke just chuckled and looked ahead.
"It's freezing out here." Luke complained. "I wish I had a jacket." He sighed.
"You can wear mine. I don't need it." Sean suggested. "I've got thick fur, so the cold doesn't affect me as much." Sean added.
"Thanks for the offer…but I can't. Really." Luke argued. Luke looked at Sean. He took note of Sean's extremely serious face and shrugged. "Fine." Luke sighed. Sean took off his hoodie and handed it to his new friend. "Thanks." Luke smiled at him and slipped it on.
"It's no problem, really." Sean nodded.
Luke put his hands into his new hoodie's pockets and glanced at Sean. "I'm surprised that you don't have many other people in your group." Luke commented. "I mean, your group seems balanced." Luke shrugged.
"There were more of us." Sean sighed. "What happened to them?" Luke asked, curiously.
"Well, at the beginning, there was this family. They seemed to know Mordecai and Rigby." Sean pointed to the two friends in question in front of him. "There was this guy, his name was Felix. He had a wife and a child." Sean explained. "Well, Felix was shot. Then the family left the group to go find…'paradise' and we haven't seen them since." Sean continued.
"Then my mom and dad got killed, and it was just Mordecai, Rigby and I." Sean cleared his throat. "Then we got taken to this community…which was more like a prison. And we found Axel, Vivian and Alpha. Alpha being one of Rigby's childhood friends." Sean continued. "One of the people in the community helped us escape, but she got killed during the escape." Sean rubbed the back of his neck.
"Then after we escaped, all of us met up at some café in a town called Clinton. There were ten of us then." Sean continued. Luke was intrigued by how much Sean and his two friends; Mordecai and Rigby went through together. "Two of them left and headed up north. We haven't seen THEM either." Sean sighed.
Mordecai and Rigby glanced at each other, listening to the whole conversation. "Then we lost a good friend of ours crossing the frozen lake to get to the Inn." Sean adjusted his backpack, taking a small break.
"Then…then we found you." Sean sighed. "It's been a long ride." Sean added.
"I'd assume so. You've been through so much." Luke glanced at Sean, with a worried face. "It seems…too much." Luke folded his arms.
"It's not that much. I've been through worse." Sean replied, trying to make himself sound tougher.
"What can be worse than losing your whole family and most of your friends?" Luke furrowed an eyebrow. "I guess fortune smiles upon you to keep you alive for so long." Luke sighed.
"Well, that's very kind of you." Sean smiled at him. "I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for these two." Sean looked at Mordecai and Rigby. They both glanced back and smiled at the two. "You two are so cute." Rigby grinned.
Sean's smile turned into a confused frown and Luke just cocked an eyebrow. "It was a joke." Rigby rolled his eyes and turned back around. Luke just shrugged and glanced at Sean.
Sean looked back at Luke and scratched the back of his neck. "Think we're close yet?" Sean asked. "I mean, it can't be far now, right?" He added.
"It shouldn't be." Luke glanced at the group.
Less than half an hour later, the group managed to come across a dirt road. They followed the dirt road until they came across the 'rest stop'. "What the hell happened here!?" Rigby shouted. There was no café, just rubble, and all of the picnic tables were torn apart. And there were bodies of walkers and humans littering the ground.
"Woah…" Sean glanced at the mess. "This is the rest stop?" Sean glanced at Luke, with a confused face.
"This…this doesn't make sense. I was here yesterday grabbing supplies!" Luke shouted. "You were hunting for supplies. Alone?" Sean asked, confused.
"Yeah, what else could I do? I couldn't just sit at the camp and die." Luke folded his arms.
"Both of you shut up!" Alpha shouted, harshly. "What are we supposed to do now?" Alpha asked. "I guess we can follow the dirt road back to the main road." Mordecai suggested.
"What can we do then?" Alpha asked, folding his arms. "Just follow the road until we find a town?" Alpha added.
"It's a better plan than heading up north." Vivian commented.
"Now hey! We talked about this earlier!" Alpha shouted.
"Hey, dumbass. Keep your voice down." Luke spoke up. "You're gonna draw walkers." He added.
Alpha was taken aback by this. "Hey! You don't tell me what to do. You're just a kid." Alpha glared at him.
"Your point has already been made." Luke glanced at Sean, who was eyeing him with disbelief. "And besides, you think fighting and shouting is gonna help the situation?" Luke glanced at Alpha.
"God, you're a dick." Alpha cursed. "Hey, there's no need to swear at a kid." Mordecai scolded him.
"The feeling's mutual." Luke smirked.
"If I had known you'd be a smartass, then I would've left you behind." Alpha said, coldly. He turned around and began walking down the dirt road, back towards the main road, with Vivian, Margaret and Axel following close behind.
"Why would you do that, kid?" Rigby asked, approaching Sean and Luke, with Mordecai.
"I don't know, I just thought he was being a dick, so I caught him out on it." Luke shrugged, before glancing at the blue jay and raccoon. "I was just trying to help." Luke sighed.
"There's no need to help, you're just a kid. Let the adults handle this, alright? You don't want to get on Alpha's bad side." Mordecai warned, before walking away. Rigby watched Mordecai walk away and turned back to the two kids.
"Sorry about my spouse here, he's just trying to help." Rigby apologized. "And don't worry, Sean and I both know that Alpha isn't a bad man. He's just trying to keep us safe." Rigby sighed.
"By shouting and drawing walkers? By arguing with the group? Yeah, he's really trying to help." Luke replied, sarcastically. "If that's the way of helping the group, we're all going to end up dead." Luke narrowed his eyes.
Rigby just shook his head and caught up to Mordecai. "You seem…extremely smart for your age." Sean commented, as he began to walk with Luke beside him.
"Speak for yourself." Luke playfully punched his friend. "You're…almost as smart as me. You need work." Luke grinned. Sean scoffed.
"I could out-smart you off the face of the earth!" He shouted. "Not before I do." Luke chuckled. "Ha! I think we're gonna get along just fine." Sean sighed happily.
"We should probably catch up." Luke began to run down the dirt road, to catch up with the group. "Come on!" Luke urged him to come.
Sean stood still and stared at his friend. There was something about him…something about Luke that made Sean get a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. Looking at him was like candy to his eyes, butterflies in his stomach. He pushed these feelings back and snapped back into real life. Sean ran after Luke and they caught back up to the group.
"I saw a sign." Alpha said to the group. "…And it opened up my eyes." Vivian chuckled.
Alpha rolled his eyes and continued talking. "It said that the closest town is Fowler. And that's about fifteen miles from here." Alpha explained. "So…when we get there it should be around…2 o'clock, right?" Alpha glanced at Rigby.
Rigby glanced at his wristwatch. "Around then, I guess." He shrugged.
"Good, then we'll make good time. But just remember, the town could be packed with walkers, bandits or survivors. We don't know yet. So when we get there, stay high on your guard." Alpha warned.
"Thanks for the advice." Vivian smiled at Alpha. "Sure." He nodded.
Suddenly, even with Vivian and Axel's help, Margaret fell onto the tarmac below. She groaned as she hit the ground. "Oh shit." Vivian and Axel helped her back up. Alpha turned back and glanced at her with an odd look.
"Is she still sick?" Alpha asked. "It's been over two days." Alpha added.
"Looks like it, we may need to stop soon." Vivian warned. "I mean, she's not gonna last long if we continuously keep going." Vivian continued.
"What do you know? What's even wrong with her?" Alpha asked. "Is she bitten?" Alpha asked, with less of a harsh tone than before.
"No, we all know she wasn't bitten." Axel replied. "She's just…sick. Noone else is a doctor here, so…" Axel trailed off.
"But you do have basic medical training." Vivian glanced at Axel. "That's gotta count for something, right?" She asked.
Axel sighed. "Not really, it's just basic training. You know, the simple stuff. Bandaging wounds, taking care of infections and basic illnesses, the basic stuff." He explained.
"Nevermind all that, can she keep going?" Mordecai asked, glancing at Margaret with a worried look.
"I'm not sure." Axel sighed. "Possibly, but she may need to continuously stop." Axel noted.
Alpha just shook his head. "Let's just see how long she can go for. We need to get to town before it gets dark." Alpha replied.
"I'm sure we will, it's only half past twelve." Rigby checked his watch. "Let's just get a move on." Rigby added. Alpha glanced at the group one more time, before turning around and facing what looked like 'the never ending road' and letting out a small sigh.
"Come along guys, before we all freeze to death."
Here's another uneventful chapter for you guys! Just what you all need! I'll see you in the next one guys.