Hey, guys. I'm back with the next chapter. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Been busy enjoying the holidays and what I got on the holidays, is all. So, before I start, to answer the questions for AmythestDreams1991's review, No, I am not crossing over Telltale's The Walking Dead with this, nor Left 4 Dead series. The character Clementine, replacing Ellie, is an inspired OC. Also, a guest reviewer requested to add an OC of their own into the story. It depends on what kind of OC it is, so if you can tell me what kind of OC it is, I'll consider it. Other than that, thanks for your patience, reviews, favs, and follows, as this story continues. Please enjoy. Oh, and by the way, Happy new year, guys.
Nick closed the door behind him, sighing heavily.
"What the crap?! I can't believe we did that!" exclaimed Clem. "We just left her there to die."
"Stop! Please, stop." said Nick. "We need to get moving, now."
The trio ran up a flight of stairs, leading to the second floor. From behind them, they could hear gunshots, and the sound of Honey screaming. Unfortunately, they had to cut across the balcony that led back to the main hall. There, they saw the soldiers piling into the room, and they could see Honey's body shot down in her own pool of blood, but not before she took out two of their soldiers.
Nick knew they couldn't stay any longer, for two reasons, one of those reasons was the scene before him brought back awful memories. Leading the way, the trio snuck to the right of the balcony, and began working their way down to the right wing of the capitol building. The trio had to take cover behind a table, as their only way out, up ahead, was blocked by more soldiers.
"Nick, what're we gonna do?" whispered Clem.
"It's okay, Clem. Just follow me, and both of you, lay low." whispered Nick.
The trio crawled to the left, leading to other rooms. Nick's plan was to go around the soldiers, instead of through. There was no way they would take on heavily armored soldiers, who had more ammo and guns then them, all of them by themselves. A rhino soldier was blocking the back door, but luckily, there was a window that led outside. Using the tables and furniture in the room as cover, they made it outside, and made a quick beeline for the subway entrance.
However, one soldier caravan truck spotted them, and began shooting at the trio, who jumped down into the subway, just in time. However, up ahead were Night Howler Spores. Nick and Judy threw on their gas masks, and Clem took them by the arms, as they took cover behind rubble, went she pointed out to two gas mask wearing lion soldiers patrolling the area.
When Nick looked at Clem, he noticed she wasn't wearing a gas mask, and she was breathing just fine.
"HOW are you breathing in this stuff?!" Nick whispered.
"I wasn't lying to you." Clem whispered back.
Nick shook his head to regain focus on the soldiers. Nick and Judy snuck up, and ambushed the lions, taking them out with their shivs. Once the coast was clear, the trio worked their way down the left side of the tunnel, only to stop when they found the path was flooded.
"Um, I can't swim. Isn't there another way around?" asked Clem.
"Wait here. I'll find one." Nick dove into the water, and found a large pallet, floating in the water that he could use to push Clem on. When Nick got back, Clem had found a new flashlight to attach onto her backpack.
"Alright, kid. Get on." said Nick.
"Really?" Clem gave a look that said, 'you've gotta be kidding me', when she saw the pallet.
"Clem, please." said Nick.
Clem did as she was told, and Nick pushed her to the opposite side of the tunnel. Clem climbed up, and lowered a ladder for Nick and Judy to climb up. The trio proceeded up a flight of stairs that led back outside. Once they were in the clear, Nick and Judy took off their masks, and sat by a tree to catch their breath.
Judy sat back up to face Nick, concern etched all over her face. "Hey, Nick. Look, um, about Honey..." she started. "I... I don't know how to say-"
"Here's how this is gonna play out, Carrots." Nick interrupted Judy. "You don't bring up Honey. Ever. As a matter of fact, we can just keep our history to ourselves. Secondly, don't tell anyone you're a Firefly. Clem, don't tell anyone about your... condition. They'll think you're crazy, or just try to kill you. Lastly, you both do what I say, when I say it. Repeat it back to me, if we're clear."
Judy, who didn't take orders from anyone other than Dawn, scowled, but knew better than to argue, after what just happened. So, she'll go along with it, for now.
"Sure. What you say, goes." said Judy.
"What you say, goes." Clem repeated, too.
"Fine." Nick said, standing up. "Now, there's a town a few miles north of here. I have a friend who lives there. Good chance he could give us a car. Let's move."
...
The sun had started to go down, as the trio walked down the highway.
"There it is." Nick pointed to a sign that read, 'Welcome to Lincoln, Massachusetts'. "We'll cut through here."
Nick, Judy, and Clem hopped over a highway railing, which led to a path through the woods.
"Wow. Haven't gone walking through the woods in a long time." Clem stated, in wonder. Just then, small lightning bugs flew around her head. "Oh, look. Fireflies. Real fireflies."
"Yep. Better than the ones with guns, right?" Nick smirked.
"Har, har." Judy sarcastically laughed, and scowled.
"Speaking of which, why didn't you just take me and Judy back to Dawn?" Clem asked Nick, as they continued walking.
"If she were up to the task, why did she leave you with us?" asked Nick.
"Well, maybe she's better, now." said Judy.
"Ladies, I don't wanna crush your spirits, but your friend's chances of survival seemed to be pretty slim." said Nick.
"Well, I've known Dawn since the start of the pandemic, and I know she's a lot stronger than you think." said Judy.
"Well, it don't matter. Besides, I doubt I could get either one of us three back into the city in one piece." said Nick. "Trust me, I wish there was some other way."
Soon enough, the trio were out of the woods, and near a gate that led into the town, but was locked. Nick found another way in, via climbing up a small building, and crossing to another roof on top of a large plank, just above the fence. As they made their way through, they could see the whole town from where they stood, bathed in the light of the sunset. Nick squinted, and shielded his eyes to see a smoke stack in the distance.
"Is that you, Finnick?" Nick asked himself.
"Where do you usually meet him?" asked Judy.
"Oh, you know. Wherever, whenever." said Nick.
"You've never been here before, haven't you?" Judy smirked at Nick.
"I know this is the place where he lives, but, no. I've never been here." said Nick.
"And that stack of smoke, you think that's him?" asked Clem.
"Sure as sugar, better be." said Nick.
The trio worked their way down the building, and towards the center of town, only to find another locked gate.
"Hey, I got an idea. Boost me up." Clem pointed to an opening in the fence.
"No, I don't think that's a good idea." said Nick.
"Well, me and Judy can't boost you up. How else will we get through?" asked Clem.
"Alright." Nick nodded, knowing she was right, and boosted Clem over the fence, who then unbarred the gate.
"Thank you, Clem. Good job." said Nick.
"You're welcome." Clem smiled, at Nick's appreciativeness. "So, say we get a car from this buddy of yours, then what?"
"Then, we go find Gideon." said Nick.
"Dawn said he was your brother?" asked Judy.
"Yes, more importantly, he was a Firefly. He'd know where to take you." said Nick. "Gideon lives far from here, all the way out in Wyoming, last I heard. So, that's why we need the car."
"Gotcha." said Clem.
What Nick didn't tell Judy and Clem was that Gideon was really his brother-in-law, Cassie's younger brother. However, there were times Nick considered Gideon a true brother to him, and like he told Clem and Judy, they keep their histories to themselves.
The trio walked down the road that made up the downtown area of Lincoln, all the while looking for supplies, while searching for Finnick.
"Hey, look. Gnomes!" Clem pointed to a garden, which contained garden decorations, like figurines of tiny, fairy-tale creatures, like gnomes.
"Yep, those are gnomes." said Judy. "I had an art book filled with those, one time. Not fairies, though. They always creeped me, out."
"C'mon, we'll see if there's anything in these two buildings." Nick pointed to an abandoned bar, and music store.
In the bar, Judy and Nick found some supplies, while Clem found something even better. An old arcade game machine, which had her favorite game, 'The Turning'.
"No way." whistled Clem. "Wish the power was on around here, so I could play it."
"You played that game, before?" asked Nick.
"No, but I had a friend who knew everything about it." said Clem. "Apparently, there's this character in the game, called Angel knives, and what she would do was, what was it? Oh, she'd punch a hole through your stomach, before roundhouse kicking your head off."
"That sounds graphic for an old arcade game." said Judy, a look of awkward discomfort on her face.
"I was never a big fan of these games, anyway." said Nick.
In the music store, Judy was more absorbed with helping Clem finding favorite music, then looking for supplies with Nick.
"It just seems so sad." stated Clem. "There's all this good music, and no one's listening to it. I dunno, it just doesn't feel right."
"I'll agree with you, there." said Judy, holding up a Gazelle CD. "I mean, Gazelle is my favorite. I can only hope she's still out there, pulling through, too."
"Oh, my God!" shouted Nick.
"What?! WHAT?!" Judy panicked, her and Clem turning to face Nick, with worry etched on their faces.
"The Velvety Pipes of Jerry Vole." Nick smirked, holding up an old, classic CD. "But, this is on CD, too. Who'd wanna listen to this, on CD?"
Judy went from worried, to annoyed. Clem just smirked at his joke. "Sarcasm. Making progress."
With the supply search done, for now, they continued down the street to looking for Finnick. Down the road were fences, securing a perimeter, and the bodies of Savage mammals, brought down by arrows to the head.
"Whoa. Finnick good with a bow?" Clem pointed to the bodies.
"I reckon so." said Nick. "Those fences look like his handiwork."
"Anyone else you know that lives here?" asked Judy.
"So far I know, it's just him." said Nick.
Just then, the sound of a Clicker could be heard down an alley. An antelope Clicker came strutting out of the alley, then turned to the trio's direction, but suddenly...
BOOM!
The Clicker exploded into a million pieces.
"Whoa nelly! What the shit was that?!" exclaimed Clem.
"That, would be one of Finnick's traps." Nick pointed to a make-shift bomb, which looked to be made out of an old can, and shards of scissors, attached to a telephone pole. A thin line used to trigger the trap, was attached to the can, all the way to a lamp post.
"Yeesh. You're friend paranoid, much?" said Judy.
"That's putting it, mildly." said Nick.
"So, what's with the deal with this guy?" asked Clem.
"Finnick's good with knowing how to find things." said Nick. "He'd help smuggle things into the city."
"Let's hope we don't end up getting blown up, trying to find him." said Clem.
"Just stay close, and keep up." said Nick. "Just to warn you, Finnick's not the most... Stable of individuals. So, when we get there, you two let me do all the talking. He's a good guy, just need some time to get used to, that's all."
Judy and Clem nodded.
"Hey, what's that?" Clem pointed to a sign, with big letters on top, that read, 'Mandatory Evacuation'.
"Mandatory Evacuation. Evacuate to where?" Clem wondered.
"Where do ya think? Quarantine zone." said Nick. "See, some towns got a heads-up before the infection hit."
"Must be tough, leaving all your stuff behind, like that." said Clem.
"That ain't the hard part..." Nick sighed. "C'mon, I think we can get through, this way."
The trio made their way through an old garage, when suddenly, as Nick opened the door...
SNAP!
Nick found himself being pulled up into the air, his feet tied together by a rope.
"Nick! Are you okay?!" shouted Judy.
"Yeah, I'm fine." said Nick, dangling upside down. "Aw, dammit, Finnick."
"What just happened?" exclaimed Clem.
"Another one of Finnick's stupid traps." groaned Nick. "Look, there. That fridge looks like the counterweight. See if you can cut it loose, Clem."
"On it." Clem said, as she climbed up the fridge, and used her switchblade to saw at the rope, that wrapped itself all around the fridge. Suddenly, an all-too familiar sound was heard from the nearby fences.
"Guys, Savages!" shouted Clem. "They're trying to get through the fences!"
"Judy, you and me'll hold them off! Clem, just focus on the rope!" Nick said, pulling out his pistol.
Judy and Nick opened fire on the Savages, but for every one they got, two or three more started piling in their place. Clem was nearly done, until she lost her balance, and fell, the fridge falling onto it's side, which made the rope pull Nick slightly higher by his feet.
"Clem, you okay?!" shouted Judy, running to the teenage vixen.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, lost my balance." said Clem, hopping right back onto her feet. "Look, there's some cases of ammo, here." Clem tossed a magazine to Judy, and a magazine to Nick, before returning to cutting the rope.
"Alright, thanks. Hurry!" said Nick, resuming to fire at the infected mammals.
"Almost done!" Clem shouted, sawing faster than ever.
"Anytime, Clem!" Judy shouted, nervously. From her side, Judy caught a red panda Clicker running up to her at the last second, and grabbed it's arm, to stop it's advance.
"Stay off her, you son of a bitch!" Nick shouted, shooting at the Clicker, until it fell, full of bullets.
A leopard Runner charged at Nick, and Nick held it at the throat to hold it back, while Judy shot it down, returning Nick's favor of saving her from the Clicker.
"Okay, got it!" Clem shouted, as the rope broke, and Nick fell free, the rope loosened around his feet. "Nick, look out!"
A snow leopard Runner had Nick pinned down, Nick struggling to keep it off him, until something, or someone, sliced off the Runner's head. Nick pushed the decapitated Runner's body off him, and looked up to see a fennec fox, with blond fur and big ears, wearing a gas mask, dark brown pants, brown gloves, a white hoodie, a blue outdoor vest, and a blue backpack. In his paw was a machete.
"Get off your tail, and on your feet!" The fennec fox, Finnick, pulled Nick up, and the four made a run out of the garage.
Piling over through a truck, and through a laundromat, the four mammals had to outrun the pack of Savage mammals, some they had to fight to clear the path. Finally, they reached Finnick's safe house, and Finnick slammed the heavy, metal door, sealing it shut, just as another antelope Clicker was right on their heels, but bounced right off the door, after slamming into it.
"Oh, man. That was close." huffed Clem. "Um, thanks for the heroics, back there."
Finnick turned to face her and Judy, taking off his gas mask, revealing his large amber eyes.
"Uh, I'm Clementine." Clem extended her arm for a handshake.
"I'm Judy." Judy introduced, indicating for a handshake, too.
Before they realized what happened, Finnick grabbed their arms, and hand-cuffed them around a pipe on the wall.
"Hey, what're you doing?!" Judy yelled, trying to get free.
"Nick! Help!" Clem shouted, pulling at the pipe.
"Finnick, what're you-" Nick was interrupted by Finnick's gun pointing at him.
"Turn around, and get on your knees!" ordered Finnick.
"Okay, Fin. Just calm down, here-" Finnick interrupted Nick again, with a swift kick to his leg, sending the taller fox down to the smaller fox's level.
"I said, turn around, and get on your knees!" Finnick ordered, again. "Don't test me!"
Finnick began scanning all over Nick's body. "You got any bites?! Anything sprouting?!"
"No, dammit! I'm clean!" exclaimed Nick, annoyed.
"Well, I swear, if I see so much as a twitch-"
SNAP!
Finnick turned to see the girls broke off the pipe, and Clem whacked him on the arm, making him drop his gun. Clem prepared to swing again, but Nick caught the pipe, prompting her to stop.
"Ow, son of a-" Finnick shouted, wincing at the sore spot on his arm.
"Now, are you done, yet?!" Nick said, pointing the pipe at Finnick.
"Wha- am I done?!" Finnick exclaimed, disbelievingly. "YOU come into MY house! YOU set off all of MY traps!" Finnick turned to Clem and Judy. "YOU nearly broke MY shooting arm! Who are these two punks, and what're they doing here?!"
"We are none of your damn business! We're only here, because you owe Nick some favors!" Clem shouted, shaking her cuffed arm. "Well, you can start by taking this off us!"
"Clem, calm down. Finnick, could you, please?" said Nick.
Finnick shook his head, and tossed a key to Nick, who un-cuffed Judy and Clem free.
"I owe Nick a favor. What is this, some kind of joke?" Finnick grunted, then started sharping his machete.
"I'll cut to the chase. I need a car." said Nick.
Finnick scoffed. "So, it is a joke. Nick needs a car. Well, if I had one that works, which I don't, what makes you think I'd just give it to you? Yeah, sure, Nick. Take my car. Oh, take all of my food too, while you're at it."
"By the looks of it, you'd probably need more food than you already have. How else you gonna grow up to be a big boy?" Judy retorted, sarcastically.
Finnick angrily pointed his machete at Judy. "Now, you listen to me, you little shit!"
"No, screw you! You hand-cuffed us!" shouted Clem.
"Hey!" Nick pulled Clem and Judy back to break up the fight. "I need you both to shut up."
Judy and Clem shrugged off Nick's grip, with annoyance on both of their faces.
"We're not gonna stand here and take that, Nick. He's your friend, so get him under control." Judy stated, sternly.
"Okay, alright. I understand." Nick said, then turned back to Finnick, once things cooled down.
"Whatever favors you think I owe you, they ain't worth that much." said Finnick, sharpening his machete, again.
"Actually, Finnick, they are." said Nick.
"Well, it don't matter. Because, I don't have one that works." said Finnick.
"But, you do know where to find one in this town." said Nick.
"Parts! I know where to find parts for a car in this town." Finnick specifically stated.
"Meaning, you can fix one up." Nick stated back.
"Alright, look." Finnick put his machete back in his pack, and laid a map of Lincoln on the table. "If we're gonna do this, there's some gear I'm gonna need. It's all on the other side of town, though. Now, you help me go gather it, and maybe I can put something together that runs. But, after that, I owe you nothing."
"Fine by me." said Nick.
"Good. Now, come on. Whole damn town's booby-trapped. Best stay right on my tail. Let's move." Finnick said, walking to the back door.
"Which tail is he talking about?" Clem smirked.
"Knock it off." Nick said, leading her away.
"Yeah, that was pretty gross, Clem." said Judy.
"I'll take that as a compliment on the joke. Thanks, Judy." Clem winked.
Nick sighed, and shook his head. This was gonna be a long afternoon for him...
Well, guys. I think this'll be a good stopping point for this chapter. Next one will have plenty of more action. By the way, anyone else think Finnick is genius to fit the role for Bill? Hope you enjoyed it.
I own nothing, except a few OC's. All rights go to original owners. No copyright intended. Stay tuned for more of this fanfic. Thanks.