The Walking Dead: The Decimation of Mankind
Chapter 4: plan of action
Chapter 4 is at your door. I'm terrible at writing, aren't I? Anyway, here's chapter 4, ladies and gentlemen. Now I'm prepared to make you all an offer. I will bring chapter 5 tomorrow IF we can get 10 reviews on this chapter. What do you guys and gals think? That sound fair? Guess I'll have to wait and see myself. In the meantime, enjoy the chapter.
After the walker attack on Howe's earlier the following day, it had become quite clear to Lee that this place was no longer capable of keeping any of them safe from the walkers, or worse, people that may try to harm them. This is the reason Lee decided to call a group meeting inside of Howe's.
Everyone gathered around in the center of the room and took a seat on the couches while all eyes were focused upon Lee who was trying to put the right words together. He had the feeling that it may take some convincing, but he was determined for them to hear him out.
"After the recent attack on Howe's, and the herd that attacked before, it's clear that this place is capable of keeping us safe." Lee began and took a breath to continue. "We can't stay here anymore; it's too unsafe. If an army of people armed with automatic rifles couldn't stop the walkers last time, then what chance do we have?"
Everyone seemed to be agreeing with his words so far, but they would wait until he was finished before speaking up themselves. All except Bonnie, that is.
"Do you have a plan, Lee?" Bonnie inquired while she was cradling AJ.
"We're going to find somewhere safe." Lee announced to the remainder of their group. "Not just some camp, but somewhere we can fortify. Somewhere with walls, strong walls. Somewhere we can settle down without fear of the walkers."
The group all turned towards one another yet again. Lee was right about Howe's not being strong enough to keep them safe, but where would they go? They had no destination and had no idea where they could go for shelter. Hopefully, Lee had a plan on where they could go.
"Where will we go?" Clementine spoke up with a question.
Lee lowered his head down for this next part. He had no idea if he was being honest and was hoping they could just improvise along the way. "I...Uh...I have no idea if we're being honest, Clementine, but at this point, anywhere is better than this place. I say we get our guns and supplies and make a go for it."
Lee stood up and walked towards the end of the room, standing before the group. "I don't have an exact destination, but I say we had south, away from the cold, and along the way, we'll keep our eye out. I know somewhere out these is the answer to our problems and we're going to find it, no matter what it takes."
"Can we do it?" Mike inquired. "Just us seven, including AJ."
"Yes." Lee confirmed with an expression of reassurance.
"Where would we go?" Mike asked a second time. "We could try Mexico?"
"Mexico?" Lee repeated with a curious eyebrow raised. "Uh, I think we'll call that 'Plan B'."
"It's going to be tough." Luke stated the obvious while looking somewhat unsure on what to do.
"I know, Luke, but we have to make a go for it." Lee replied. Now it was time hear the other's opinion on his new plan before they would take further action. "Who's with me?"
The group had to think for a moment, but one by one, everyone raised their hands in agreement. Luke looked a little hesitant at first, but he joined in with the rest of the group and raised his hand in agreement.
Lee nodded in satisfaction and crossed his arms together. "Good. We'll leave tomorrow afternoon in the truck. It might be a bit cramped, but we all should be able to fit inside. Everyone get some rest for tonight."
With the meeting adjured, the group decided to tuck in for the night (with the exception of Mike, who went to go and keep watch) and get to sleep on some of the beds inside of Howe's. These beds were must more comfortable than those wooden punk beds outside in the pen.
Lee and Clementine climbed into two separate single beds beside each other and got ready got a good night's rest.
"Lee?" Clementine caught Lee's attention while tucking under the blankets. "Do you think we can make it somewhere safe? Permanently safe?"
"It's going to be difficult, Clementine." Lee admitted while looking up towards the ceiling. "It won't be easy, but I promise that we will find that somewhere safe, somewhere that AJ can grow up without worrying and somewhere you and I can finally rest without having to sleep with a pistol next to our heads every night."
"I hope so, Lee." Clementine agreed with a sigh followed by. "I know as long as you're here, we can find somewhere safe."
Lee smiled in response, relieved that his adoptive daughter still trusted in him to get them out of a bad situation. "Thank you, Clementine. You better get some sleep for tonight."
Clementine agreed with that and rested her head down in a pillow, closing her eyes and almost immediately drifting off into a deep sleep.
Lee sighed while watching Clementine sleep for a few seconds before turning away from her and facing the darkness of the ceiling, somewhat nervous about the events that would occur. While he had faith in this plan to head south, he also had doubts. Last time they had a plan and traveled so far, they were forced to turn back.
Whatever happened in the future would be a mystery, but for the sake of survival and keeping these people-his family safe at all costs, he had to try no matter what. They were all that remained now. Lee tried his best not to worry and get some sleep for the night.
When morning had arrived and the sun set light across the state of Carolina, Luke had woken up after spending the night sleeping on a lawn chair on top of the roof. He had been keeping watch for half the night, but fortunately, Mike took over the watch shift and allowed the younger man to rest for a while.
Luke yawned as he picked up his AK-47 and kept watch in the distance for any walkers, but everything looked clear. No sign of Mike either. He more than likely went back inside to get some rest for a while.
Now that he was alone, Luke had the time to think about the people he had lost close to him. A couple of weeks ago, he and the entire group were living peacefully in a cabin, safe from walkers, but that all changed when Carver had arrived and ruined everything, taking away his group...His friends...His family.
He and Sarah were the only remaining cabin group survivors remaining now. Pete was bit and later shot by someone unknown, Nick was bit, Alvin was shot, Carlos was shot and devoured, and Rebecca lost too much blood in the cold. He wished there was a way to go back in time and bring everyone back.
Maybe. Maybe he could have done something better. He still felt guilty of fooling around with Jane that almost got Sarah and the others killed and even guiltier for suggesting to leave Lee behind after he took a beating for them when it was Luke's fault in the first place for getting them caught.
From this point forward, he was going to think before acting and hoped he could help the group more in the future. He was dazed out from his thoughts when a familiar voice greeted him.
"You awake now?"
Mike appeared out of nowhere, holding two sandwiches in bags for them to eat. He took a seat on the other lawn chair and offered one of the sandwiches to Luke.
"Thanks Mike." Luke thanked, accepting the sandwich.
The two sat in silence for a couple of moments as they ate their sandwiches, watching as the sun continued to rise from the sky. If only they were not keeping watch, it would have been nice to watch the sunrise.
After they finished breakfast, it was time to keep watch for a while in case any walkers or people tried to attack them again. At least they were going to be leaving soon.
"So what do you think?" Luke spoke up while leaning back in his chair.
"About what?" Mike asked curiously.
"About us leaving and heading south." Luke reminded as if it were obvious to what he was asking. "What do you think about it?"
Mike looked forward and crossed his arms together. He needed a moment to think about his question before giving a proper answer. "Well, I think it's a good idea to get away from the cold. I'm just worried about finding somewhere to settle down, you know?"
"It's going to be tough finding somewhere permanently safe from all this crap." Luke agreed, scratching the back of his head for a moment. "Well, I trust Lee to find us somewhere safe. I know we can do it if we stick together."
"If we had beer, I'd drink to that." Mike replied with a slight smile.
As Luke took a moment to check his gun, Mike picked up a sniper rifle he brought with him and looked through the scope of the rifle when he thought he saw something in the distance. While it was a little difficult to make it since the sun was in his eye, he could tell something, or someone was making their way over here.
"Luke, I think we got company." Mike warned, keeping his eye locked towards the figures coming back.
"What is it?" Luke inquired, taking the rifle for a moment to see what Mike was interested in. He got a better view once the sun had tucked away for a moment and then his eyes widened in fear and shock. "Oh, shit..."
Lee Everett was fast asleep in his bed, sleeping probably the best he had ever slept in a long time. He felt great sleeping in a bed again, but too bad it would not last long since they had to leave soon and it was not like they could take the beds with them.
Meanwhile, Clementine was helping Bonnie with some of the supplies while Sarah attended to AJ and kept the young baby asleep for a while. The two were busy carrying their supplies to the truck for them to be prepared to leave as soon as possible.
"A great thing ya'll found this truck." Bonnie admitted as she placed their bags in the backseat part of the truck.
"Can we still fit in the truck if we put the supplies in the backseat too?" Clementine asked, placing another bag inside the truck.
"We should be able to squeeze in still." Bonnie assured as they proceeded back towards the next room to fetch the rest. "When it comes to leave, we'll just either keep the bags under the seats or on people's laps. We can't put them in the back of the truck and rest them dropping out. We'll be all right, trust me. Beside, who knows? Maybe we might find a bigger vehicle on the way."
"Well, we got enough gas for a long time." Clementine agreed, picking up another one of their supply bags.
"Then we got nothing to worry about." Bonnie responded with a nod. "Come on, let's finishing loading these supplies on. We're almost done."
It did not take much longer to get everything important backed in the truck. All together, they had four bags for food and drink and one more bag for their guns and ammunition, filled with a couple of pistols, a few assault rifles, a sniper rifle, and a shotgun. The gas in the Jerrycans was placed at the back of the truck still.
"And that's everything." Bonnie smiled, placing her hands upon her hips. "Now we'll just wait until everyone's rested and then we can go."
At that moment, Lee finally woke up from his sleep and let out a big yawn, stretching his arms out. He joined the girls in the same room and greeted them. "Morning. I see you two have been busy."
"Everything's packed and ready to go, Lee." Bonnie announced with a nod. "Whenever you're ready to go."
"We'll wait a little while, let Luke and Mike get some rest for a while." Lee suggested, but a second later, his expression turned into a half-sad yet half-worried. He turned around and headed towards the yard they were placed during their first time here.
Clementine noticed this and followed him, concerned for his well-being. She followed Lee outside and spoke to catch his attention. "Lee, is everything okay?"
"Just thinking about the people we lost." Lee answered as he sat down on one of the lawn chairs. "We lost too many people, Clementine. Carley, Doug, Mark, Lilly, Larry, Ben, Chuck, Nick, Pete, Alvin, Rebecca, Carlos...But I promise, I won't let you die. I'll never let anything happen to you."
Clementine wished she could believe that. No doubt she trusted Lee with her life and he had taught her everything she needed to know about survival, yet look what happened. They lost too many people, good people too. She opened her mouth to reply, but froze when an unfamiliar voice screamed out.
"YOU MADE A BIG FUCKING MISTAKE COMING BACK!"
"What the fuck!?" Lee cursed, jumping out from his seat. He peaked through one of the bars and wood to see a few unnamed faces, armed with assault rifles and pistols. "Oh, shit!"
"Lee, what's going on!?" Clementine asked, running beside him to investigate.
"Clementine, go to Sarah and AJ, quick!" Lee ordered while the duo sprinted back into Howe's to get some weapons. Clementine ran into the same run with Sarah and the baby while he located Bonnie who was running towards him too, armed with two AK-47's.
"Lee! Shit, we got a problem!" Bonnie announced the obvious, throwing one of the assault rifles.
"No shit." Lee replied, catching the rifle while they ran towards the man door outside. "Who are these guys?!"
"People who lived here." Bonnie answered. "They must have escaped and now they're back."
"Fuck." was all Lee could respond to. Once they were in position, the two took cover by the delivery door and prepared to open it to ambush them.
Outside of Howe's, the remaining members of Carver's community aimed their guns towards Luke and Mike who were still on the roof and in return, were aiming towards them. There were at least ten of these people. Half were armed with automatic weapons while the other half was armed with pistols.
"Listen everyone, just stay calm!" Luke suggested, not wanting this situation to break out like the last one did between them and the Russians.
"You fucking people cost us everything!" one of them shouted. "Now you're fucked!"
"Look, we're planning on leaving soon!" Mike reassured them with a slightly nervous expression across his face. "You can have this place back and we'll leave. No-one needs to get hurt here."
"Fuck you!" the apparent leader of this little faction shouted in response. "We're going to kill every last one of you motherfuckers for what you did!"
"You shoot and you're just going to attract every last walker in the area to you." Mike warned in an attempt to change their minds.
"What we did!?" Luke shouted, shocked of the accusations they were throwing at him. "You and that psychopathic motherfucker Carver held us hostage here like prisoners. If anything, this all you guy's fault."
"That smart-mouth bastard!" another one of the members yelled. "Let's just put a bullet in them right now!"
"Amen to that." the leader agreed, preparing to fire his gun.
At that moment, Lee knew it was time to attack. Despite not having the numbers to take them all on at once, they had to try otherwise they were going to die. Lee placed it his hand up and used his fingers to count down to three. Once he finished counting down, the two quickly opened the delivery door and fired towards the faction seconds before they were going to fire themselves.
The second gun fired erupted, Luke and Mike fired too. They managed to take down at least half of the group, but the other half were still alive and danger. The leader of the group survived too and took cover behind a destroyed car, blind firing out of cover.
Lee fired a few more rounds before leaning back into cover and reloading a round into his gun. "Bonnie! I'm going out there!"
"What?!" Bonnie shouted, surprised to what Lee had just said. It sounded crazy, not to mention suicide "Lee, that's crazy!"
"We can't risk them hitting the truck!" Lee explained, shouting at the top of his lungs due to the gunfire. He spotted another piece of cover he could use while out there: another partially destroyed car. "Cover me!"
Lee leaned out of cover just for a split second to survey the area and get to know where his enemies were located. The leader and two of his men were behind cover, another man was standing out in the open shooting towards Luke and Mike, and the last man was injured, lying on the ground, but he still continued to shoot nevertheless.
"Now!" Lee shouted, quickly sprinting outside as the gun fire continued.
Lee slid in cover behind the car just in time as the man standing in the open now had his eyes set upon him. He turned around and fired in Lee's direction, the bullets hitting the car every time, but fortunately, they were not powerful enough to penetrate the metal.
While the man was distracted, Luke leaned up and fired towards him and was able to hit him directly through the head, leaving only four of them remaining.
Bonnie peaked out of cover for a quick second, but the injured man was firing her way and prevented him from leaning out of cover to get a clear shot. She gained Lee's attention by waving towards him and then pointing towards them man.
Lee nodded to confirm and lined up a shot while the others were not looking his way. He aimed towards the injured man and fired, hitting him through the chest. Now only three of them remained.
"Nice shot!" Bonnie praised, placing a hand to her mouth for her voice to echo.
"It's not over yet!" Lee reminded, ducking back down when he was fired upon.
The three men were in cover behind another car and it was difficult to get a clear shot on them. For some reason, Luke and Mike were no longer shooting from the roof and that left Lee and Bonnie to fend for themselves.
Bonnie leaned her head out, but immediately ducked back inside when one of them fired her way, almost hitting her in the process. "Fuck." she cursed while taking a clip out of her gun to reload.
Lee leaned up and fired a few more rounds, but then he heard his gun click and he had no more assault rifle rounds as back-up. He placed his gun down and took out his Glock 17.
While trying to plan his next move, Lee look towards the forest in the distance and his eyes widened in fear when he spotted multiple walkers heading their way after being attract by the gunfire. If the group didn't end this firefight right now, then they were going to be in serious danger of being overrun.
"Oh, shit..." Lee mumbled to himself. "This is not good..."
That cliffhanger! I bet ya'll are thinking "Assassin, you can't end the chapter like this!". Like I said in the author's note above, if we can get 10 reviews on this chapter, I'll post the next one tomorrow. Until then, stay tuned for chapter 5.