A Regular Outbreak
Season Four: Friendships Divided
Episode One: Golden
14th of May, 2023, Early Morning
Two months before the Apocalypse
Rain pelted against the window, droplets falling down the pane. The noise was almost deafening, to the kid that was desperately trying to sleep beside it. The kid grabbed a nearby pillow and covered his ear, while he laid on his other ear, trying to ignore it.
The kid groaned and threw the pillow away, he laid on his back and looked over at the window. It was pitch black outside. The kid leapt off his bed and scratched the back of his neck. How was he supposed to fall asleep with that deafening sound beside him? He tiptoed over to his door and slowly turned the knob, he pulled the door open quietly, and passed through it. He heard the door creak, as he shut the door behind him.
He glanced down both ways of the corridor that he'd just entered and looked ahead of him again. A door could be seen in front of him. He walked over to the door and slowly opened it. The kid passed through the door and shut it behind him. He'd just entered the bathroom. He walked over to the sink, which had a mirror above it. The kid crouched down and reached for a stool, which was laying against the wall below the sink and pulled it out.
He sat the stool in front of the sink and climbed up onto it, so he could look at himself at the mirror. The kid ruffled his hair and rubbed his eyes. "Come on Luke." He muttered to himself as he yawned once more. "You need to sleep. You know what the doctor said." Conversations continued to speak in his mind, of what occurred in the previous days.
The wolf shook his head and put his hand on the edge of the mirror. He opened the mirror cautiously and peered into a medicine cabinet that was behind the mirror. "Maybe I could take another one." He said, taking out a medicine bottle. He read the label; Melatonin. "Don't take more than one every night." He read out loud.
Luke kept arguing with himself. He needed to sleep, but was it worth the risk of taking another tablet? He opened the lid of the bottle and pulled out a tablet. He glanced at it and threw it into his mouth. He held it in his mouth for a moment, while he shut the bottle and put it back in the cabinet. He shut the mirror and looked down at the sink.
The wolf reached down and turned the faucet on, he put his hands under the faucet and collected some water. He held the water in his hands and brought it up to his mouth. He washed the tablet down and wiped his mouth.
"There, now I can get some sleep." Luke said, confidently, as he jumped down from the stool. The kid placed the stool back under the sink and stretched for a second. He glanced at the shower beside him. Maybe taking a shower would help him get to sleep quicker? "It would surely help." He said to himself.
Luke walked over to the bathroom door and locked it. The wolf walked back over to the shower and undressed. After undressing the kid stepped into the shower and switched it on.
The kid grabbed the soap and begun washing himself. "I'll make this quick, I got an exam tomorrow…" He muttered to himself, as he continued to wash. A few minutes later, Luke put the soap back where he found it and ran his hands through his hair. The wolf flattened his hair and turned the shower off.
He stepped out of the shower and grabbed a nearby towel. He wrapped it around his waist and began drying himself.
A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened and the wolf passed through in the pyjamas he wore before he stepped into the shower. He quietly shut the bathroom door and walked back over to his bedroom door. The wolf walked into his bedroom and sat on the side of his bed.
Luke laid down on his bed and pulled a blanket over himself. He reached down beside his bed and picked up the pillow he threw down earlier and placed it under his head. The kid closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
The sound of the rain pelting against the house intensified, making it almost impossible for the kid to sleep. The kid groaned as he continuously turned over, desperately trying to get to sleep. Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking emitted through the room.
Luke woke up to the sound of glass smashing. Shards of glass fell beside him, the window behind him had shattered and walkers was trying to get in. Luke took in his surroundings he noticed that he was in a jewellery store. He noticed a blue jay and another red bird were desperately trying to hold the door of the store shut. The table that was previously blocking the door was on the other side of the room.
Luke glanced at the other side of room, Vivian and Alpha were still arguing over what happened the previous night. The body of Axel was still in the store, the body was lying against a wall, in exactly the same spot where he fell. Luke glanced beside him and noticed Sean was lying beside him, but facing the opposite way.
The wolf crawled over to his friend and tapped him on the shoulder. "Sean…?" He whispered his name. The kid in question turned over and glanced at Luke. "Are you alright?" Luke asked, glancing at Sean's face.
"Yeah…what's going on?" Sean asked, glancing over at the door. Sean stood up slowly and glanced at his friend. "We should go help out." Sean added, helping his friend up. "Where's Rigby?" Sean asked, glancing at the door.
Fortunately, the blue jay and the red robin managed to hold the door shut. "I don't know! He went outside to loot supplies in the middle of the night. He hasn't come back." Mordecai said, in a panicked tone. "We don't even know if he's still in town." He added, glancing at the robin beside him.
"I haven't seen him all day!" She exclaimed, as she pushed against the door.
"…well you can't! So shut up!" Vivian shouted, pushing Alpha against the wall of the jewellery store. Alpha hit the wall with a thud and blocked his face. "You pointed the gun at him, I saw you!" She shouted, grabbing the collar of Alpha's shirt.
"Do you have ANY idea what you've done to me? Do you!?" Vivian ranted. "I'm not leaving this store, until I get vengeance." She lowered her voice. Alpha pushed her back and got off the wall.
"Listen, we can fight over this later! We have people that are depending on us to help them out. You can kill me later!" Alpha shouted, running past the two kids and to the door. "Any chance of getting through the crowd of walkers?" Alpha asked, as he approached the door.
"Not unless we push right through them." Margaret replied, pushing against the door with all her might. "Any other ideas?" She asked, glancing at Mordecai.
"Um…" Mordecai stuttered. The blue jay held the door shut while he thought of something. "I got nothing." Mordecai sighed.
Luke and Sean glanced at each other and backed off slightly. "Are we gonna die here?" Sean asked, glancing at Vivian, who was slumped against a wall behind him.
"Probably." She shrugged. "I mean, there's no way we can escape." She added.
"Dude!" Margaret shouted, scolding the other girl. "That's nothing to say to children!" She continued. "We're gonna survive, we've survived this long. We just have to figure out someth-…" Margaret was suddenly interrupted by a voice outside.
"…that's right! Come over here!" The voice shouted. "Come on! Come at me!" The voice continued to shout.
"Dude, that's Rigby." Mordecai said, glancing through a crack of the door. Sure enough, he was right. Rigby was on the roof of a building, opposite the jewellery store, waving his arms around. "Everyone keep quiet." Mordecai ordered.
The store was silent. The walkers began to slowly limp over to the building, in massive hordes. "Okay…good." Rigby said to himself. He stopped waving his arms and suddenly noticed something. "How am I gonna get out of this…?" He asked himself, glancing over the side of the building. The walkers were desperately trying to get up.
Mordecai looked back into the store. "Okay guys, collect any supplies you can find." He whispered. He repeated that a second time, making sure that everyone heard. "Got it?" He verified.
The group nodded. "Then let's go it." Mordecai got off the door and walked over to where he was resting prior to him holding the door shut. He grabbed his and Rigby's backpack. Since Rigby's backpack was smaller than his own, he just slipped Rigby's backpack into his own one. And slung the backpack over his shoulders and stood near the door.
Margaret grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulders. Vivian and Alpha grabbed their own backpacks and walked over to the door, trying to avoid each other.
Sean grabbed his backpack and threw it over his shoulders. "Alright lets…Luke?" Sean noticed that his friend wasn't beside him.
"Coming." Luke walked back over. He was at the other side of the store. Sean passed over his friend's backpack and they followed the rest of the group. "Alright, let's go." Mordecai opened the door quietly and passed through it. Rigby noticed the door open and his spouse walking through, followed by the rest of the group.
Rigby began waving his arms around again and shouting, making sure that the walkers didn't notice the group. "Come on!" Rigby shouted, kicking a box onto a walker. "Why did I just do that?" He asked himself. He glanced at the jewellery store. The group had left.
"Okay…now to get off this roof and find the group again." Rigby crouched and got into a sprinting position. He glanced at the liquor store, which was beside the building he was on. Rigby suddenly ran across the roof and jumped towards the liquor store.
Rigby didn't land on the actual roof, he had his paws on the edge. The raccoon desperately attempted to pull himself up. Eventually, he pulled himself up onto the roof and ran to the other side. He glanced at the ground. The walkers were slowly approaching the liquor store. Rigby leapt off the other side of the building and landed on the snow below.
Rigby stood up slowly and wiped some snow off of his face. "Okay…now where did they go?" Rigby asked, as he glanced around the corner of the store. The walkers were approaching.
Rigby looked down the road, to the right and noticed a figure waving at him. Rigby guessed it was Mordecai and quickly ran towards him, ignoring the risk of being bitten.
Rigby ran through the snow, eventually making it to the figure. "Oh…there you are." The figure spoke approaching. "Come Rigby, we gotta move, the groups already pretty far ahead." Mordecai explained.
"Why didn't they wait?" Rigby asked, panting as he approached his friend.
"They just want to get out of here, they aren't far." Mordecai began running down the road with his friend. "They better not be." Rigby said, panting.
Sure enough, the two friends caught up to the rest of the group, they weren't far away from the town. "Thanks for abandoning us!" Rigby exclaimed. "You just left us." Rigby added, folding his arms.
"Dude, Mordecai said that he'd wait for you to come while we continued down the road." Alpha explained. Mordecai opened his backpack and pulled his friend's smaller pack out of it. "Here." He said, handing it over and shutting his backpack.
"Thanks man." Rigby slung it over his shoulder. "So…what do we do now?" The raccoon asked, looking up at the blue jay. "I mean, we're still heading north, right?" Rigby asked, glancing at Alpha, who had his arms folded.
"We are, the plan hasn't changed." Alpha replied, unfolding his arms.
"The plan hasn't changed? How can you say that?" Vivian asked, glaring at the wolf.
"What do you mean by that?" Alpha asked, glancing at Vivian accusingly. "Nothing has changed! We stay the course and keep going north." Alpha pointed down the road.
"You still think that's the smartest idea?" Rigby asked, confused. "I mean, we've just lost another one of us." The raccoon pointed back to the town. "Why don't we just set a place that we can go? Instead of just saying that we're 'going north'?" Rigby suggested.
"It's a good point, but do you have any idea of a place we can go?" Alpha smirked. "I mean, it's not like any of you have actually been up there." Alpha added.
The group remained silent. "I didn't think so. But don't worry, it'll be much better up there than here." Alpha turned back around and continued walking down the road.
Luke and Sean glanced at each other, then at Vivian, who had her arms folded and would continuously glare at Alpha. "Think she'll be okay?" Sean asked his friend.
Mordecai and Rigby walked past them. "I'm sure she'll be fine." Luke comforted him. "But someone should keep an eye on her. She could kill him." Luke suggested.
"Yeah, I'm sure that they're aware of that." Sean shrugged. Luke just glanced back at the group. The two friends followed the group down the road.
Luke suddenly stopped and opened his backpack. "What're you doing?" Sean asked, turning around and glancing at the other kid.
"I found this in the jewellery store." Luke pulled out a golden necklace. "It might be a little girly, but I didn't have enough time to find anything better." Luke shrugged and handed it over to his friend.
"It's got a love heart on the bottom." Sean commented, placing the necklace around his neck. "It looks awesome though. Thanks." Sean turned back around. Luke closed his backpack and followed his friend down the road.
"Did anyone get anything good from the store?" Mordecai asked. "I assume there wasn't much, due to it being a jewellery store." Mordecai added.
"Nothing." Alpha glanced back.
"Same here." Margaret did the same. Vivian remained silent and Luke just shrugged.
"Great." Mordecai sighed.
"I managed to collect a few packets of chips from the town." Rigby said, pulling a few bags of chips from his pockets. "They're very small though." He added.
"Chuck them in your backpack, would you? We'll get more stuff at the next town." Mordecai looked back at the raccoon and smiled at him. "Sure." Rigby nodded and opened his small pack. The raccoon placed the bags of chips in it and zipped it back up.
"Alright, I reckon if we continue to follow this road, we'll probably reach a town sooner or later." Alpha explained.
"Alpha, all of your plans are getting worse and worse." Vivian glanced at the wolf. "'Go north! Go north! Board up the inn! Travel through a dark forest!'" Vivian mocked him.
"I'm only trying to help." Alpha replied, defensively. "I don't see you making any real contributions." Alpha glanced back at the girl.
"There's no need to fight guys. Come on." Rigby intervened. "I mean, what's the point? Let's just stick to the road." Rigby added.
"Just leave each other alone." Margaret walked up to Alpha and stood in-between the two while they walked. "Rigby's right." Margaret agreed with the smaller male.
"Hmm Hmm." Rigby smirked.
"Let's just keep going, alright?" Alpha rolled his eyes. "I don't need this shit right now." He added.
Vivian remained silent and the group continued walking down the road. A large gust of wind blew past them, causing Sean to shiver. "Oh dude." He muttered to himself. "I'm freezing." He sighed.
Luke noticed this and glanced at him. "Do you want your hoodie back?" Luke asked, glancing at him with an apologetic look. "I mean, I don't need it." Luke added.
"I couldn't do that to you, it's freezing out here. And besides, you're younger than me." Sean replied. "But I-…" Luke tried to argue.
"I said no, but thanks anyway." Sean folded his arms and looked ahead again. Luke shrugged and continued walking beside his friend.
Rigby glanced back at the two kids. "Sean, you do realise that you're shirtless. In Colorado. When it's snowing." Rigby cocked an eyebrow. "Just let Luke give you the hoodie." Rigby turned back around.
"You heard him." Luke took off his hoodie and threw it to Sean. Sean quickly put it on.
"Thanks man." Sean looked over at Luke. "Though I wish you had one too." Sean added.
"It's fine, I used to always walk around with no shirt." Luke replied. Sean glanced at him with a confused face. "Oh, I thought everyone did it." Luke sighed.
"Well…I did for a while so…" Sean rubbed his shoulder. "It's not that embarrassing, it's just freezing out here." Sean commented.
"No shit." Vivian muttered under her breath.
Sean put his paws in his pockets and glanced at Luke. "If you ever need this hoodie, ask me alright? Unless we find another one for you." Sean explained.
"I will, thanks." Luke smiled back at him and glanced ahead of him again.
Alpha noticed a sign beside the road. "Look." He said, pointing to it. He walked over to the sign, while the rest of the group remained on the road.
Suddenly, moaning could be heard behind them.
"What the?" Mordecai looked behind him. The group turned back around and noticed a horde of walkers slowly walking down the road, following the group. "That's impossible, did they follow us?" Mordecai glanced at Alpha, with a confused face.
"They can't track…they just, roam, right?" Alpha glanced back at Mordecai with the same face.
"Let's not stick around to find out, come on. Let's go." Vivian said, rather calmly.
"Yeah, good idea." Alpha got back on the road. "Let's go!" He shouted, watching Vivian run ahead. Alpha ran after her, followed by the rest of the group. "What did the sign say!?" Mordecai exclaimed, looking over at Alpha while they ran.
"It read that there is a hotel nearby!" Alpha shouted back. "But I don't know which way it is!" He added.
"Let's just keep running until we lose those things, alright?" Vivian looked back at Alpha. Mordecai and Rigby exchanged glances. Alpha panted as he continued to run;
"Fine! Let's just hope that this is the right way!"
Wow, here's another chapter for you guys. Sorry for it being a little overdue, I took a little break from writing. Was this a good chapter? Was it bad? Was it average? How am I supposed to know if you don't tell me? Review people! A few seconds of typing is all I need. It tells me to keep the story going and that I'm doing alright.
Positive, negative and criticism is welcome, but flamers aren't. And just another quick thing, when you review. Review the STORY and ABOUT the story, not about some random thing. Thanks for your cooperation.
See you next chapter.