The Walking Dead: Fight for Survival
Chapter 6: continuing the journey
Here I bring you the next chapter, ladies and gentleman. And I might be a little slow updating again because I go back to College now. But I will see what I can do with my free time. I don't work everyday. Hope this chapter is to your enjoyment.
Shortly after leaving the rest of the group to investigate the bridge, the duo Lee and Luke talked with one and other while they were walking through the woods.
While they were walking, Luke started up a conversation between them both. "Hey, uh, sorry to drag you with me. I just could really use your eyes, and right now I don't really trust Nick or anyone at the moment to help me with this. They're just still on edge after Carver thing."
"It's been five days." Lee reminded him, puzzled to why Carver and his men would be following them for so long. "Why the hell would Carver still be following us?"
Luke took a moment to answer his question. He knew something that the others didn't, and as much as he should not really speak about it, he trusted Lee to keep it a secret...Or so he hoped so at least. "What's the most important thing in this world? What does everyone want? Even the gangs. What do you think? They're all after?"
Lee thought about this question of his: The most important thing in the world? What could it be? Shelter? Friends? People? Food? What could the answer be?
Finally, Lee realized there was one option left she could think of, and unfortunately, it was not the answer he hoped for. "Family, right?"
"It's a tough world out there with people you can trust." Luke replied, looking somewhat fearful of what he just told Lee. "Anyways, you can ask Rebecca, okay? I'm not going to get in the middle of it. We've all made mistakes. Done things that we regret. It's not my place to talk about someone else's past, you know?"
Lee was shocked by this, now knowing the truth to why Carver was after them. The baby Rebecca was carrying was his, or so it seemed so at least. Alvin did not seem to know, and if he was, it may devastate him. "I hate to break it to ya, Luke, but it seems like we're already in the middle of it."
"Tell me about it." Luke agreed, knowing just what he meant by that.
The two continued walking for a few more seconds until they finally saw the bridge in their sights. However, they both froze in their steps when the sight of two walkers were standing by the bridge caused them to stop.
One walker was merely standing there, gazing off into the bridge. As for the second walker, it was sitting down against a boulder, unable to move by the looks of it.
"Hmmm." Luke hummed, trying to figure out what to do next, and how to get passed them silently. "We can't shoot them. Too much noise. But they're only two."
"Let's take them." Lee replied, clutching his rifle tightly to prepare for attack.
"I like your style." Luke admitted with a grin across his face. He and Lee slowly made their way to a nearby boulder and crouched down behind it for cover. "I'll take the big one. You get shorty. Wish we could use guns. We should be okay. I think."
"Luke, in all fairness, I'm stronger. I'll take the big one." Lee replied, looking towards the smaller walker resting against another boulder.
"If you insist." Luke sighed, preparing to sneak up on them quietly. "Let's do it."
The two pulled out their melee weapons that were a machete for Luke, and the butt of Lee's rifle. They slowly sneaked up to their targets, being as silent as a mouse until they were in range, and then, in the quick of a flash, they both simultaneously hit the walkers.
Luke easily decapitated the small walker, and Lee was able to knock the walker down with his rifle. It collapsed to the ground, still undead for a moment but it was short-lived when Lee stomped his foot down on its skull, finally putting it out of its misery.
Luke smiled as he rose up his left hand and patted him on the back. "Nice work, Lee."
"Thanks." he thanked, flipping his rifle back up to the right side.
Lee raised a grin on his face before they both knew it was time to go, and turned around and began to make their way down the bridge.
Lee and Luke carefully made their way down the bridge, sticking to the left on the metal path when noticing the wooden tracks looked a little unstable, and sticking to the path was a safe idea. As they got around halfway down the bridge, they saw some-sort of handcar on the track, and by it was two walkers.
One of the walkers stood up, but the other one began crawling, and both of them snarled and growled as they made their way towards the duo, obviously eager from a bite to eat. As Luke tried to plan what they were going to do, Lee turned around and saw yet another walker coming towards them. They were trapped.
"Shit." Luke swore, looking back and forth at the three walkers before he pulled out his machete from his holster, preparing to defend himself. He began moving towards the walker who was coming at them from behind, thinking if he killed that one first, than at least they could run away.
"Sure we can't use guns now?" Lee inquired, following the younger man back the way they came. He looked back towards the two walkers, and the one that was crawling was now walking instead, and this made him twice as dangerous.
"Can't risk the noise." Luke warned as moved towards the single walker. He suddenly felt gravity had pulled him down more than it should, and he collapsed through the wooden tracks. The walker who he was going to kill ended up falling down with him.
"Luke!" Lee panicked as he ran towards the way they came. He quickly jumped down flat on his stomach, and sighed in relief when seeing Luke had not fallen into the river.
The walker had fallen onto a flat support beam under the bridge with part of a broken sharp pole impaled through his shoulder, but as for Luke, he placed his arms around a round metal girder behind him, and placed his legs around another round metal girder in front of him to keep himself up. "Lee! I'm okay, I just...I'm stuck!"
Lee had to help him when he could see the walker was trying to grab him, and at any moment, he might break free and be able to grab him. He reached out his hand to grab him, but he would have to quick before the other two walkers caught up. "Luke, grab my hand!"
Luke attempted to grab onto his hand but at the same time, trying to keep his feet away from the walker and keep himself up. He almost grabbed his hand, but he looked up to see the other two walkers were moving in on him. "Behind you!"
"Oh, fuck..." Lee swore, quickly jumping up with his rifle raised as the closest walker moving in him. He whacked him the walker directly in his head, but it did not kill it. He repeated the same tactic, but this time, got himself into a situation when the walker grabbed onto the same rifle.
Lee groaned angrily as he attempted to kick the walker back, and he knew he would have to do it quick before the other walker got close enough to attack. Kicking him one more time, Lee had no choice but to let go of his gun to survive. The walker tripped over the railing and plummeted towards the river, taking Lee's weapon with him.
Lee quickly shifted his attention back towards the second walker that stood only a couple of feet away. He scanned the area for anything he could use as a weapon. He noticed Luke's machete nearby, and that may be his only hope of surviving right now.
Quickly as a flash, Lee threw himself towards the machete and picked it up in his hands, gripping in tightly. In one quick slash, Lee sliced the walker directly through its head, cutting half of its head off.
He took a couple of breaths before the sounds of panic erupted through the air, coming from where Luke had fallen. Now that the bridge was clear again, he ran back towards the broken tracks and jumped down onto his stomach to finally assist Luke.
He picked up a pipe nearby and whacked the pipe against the injured walkers a couple of times, being careful not to drop it of course. Lee whacked him again, finally finishing him off before he handed the pipe to Luke after he requested it, not sure what use it was going to be now.
Luke was beginning to lose his grip. He placed it across the two sections of the girders and used it as a foothold so he can stand, and was able to grab onto the railroad structure before it slipped out from his foot. "Ummmph."
Lee grabbed onto his hand, and finally pulled him up to safety. Lee ducked down slightly, taking a few breaths after he just escaped from the near death experience while Lee merely stood there, expecting a thank you soon.
He recovered after a moment and thanked the older man for his assistance, realizing he could have died just then if it weren't for Lee. "Thanks Lee."
Lee smiled in response as he handed Luke his machete back to which he accepted.
"Let's keep going." Luke ordered, placing his machete back into his holster.
The duo moved past the handcar, and continued their journey over to the other side of the bridge. However, as they were walking, Luke had spotted something in the distance, and placed his right arm out slightly to keep Lee from moving past him.
The two watched for a moment when they could see someone moving towards them, and it was certainly no walker, and by the looks of it, he was armed. The two could only hope he was merely a survivor just like them, and no bandit, no cannibal, or even worse, not one of Carver's men.
"You see him?" Luke inquired; merely watching as the figure up ahead was making their way towards them.
"Yeah." Lee replied, unsure what to do at this very moment now that he was unarmed. "I lost my gun. What we going to do if things get rough."
"Just play it cool." Luke instructed, showing no emotion on his face as he dared not take his eyes off of the stranger. "And you do the talking."
"What?! Why me?" Lee asked, not sure if he was going to be able to handle this on his own.
"Because I don't want to get in a fight." Luke explained, turning his attention towards Le for a moment. "You're older, and you seem smarter. Clem told me you use to be a teacher, right? Just don't make any sudden moves. And don't piss him off. And don't tell him anything." he paused for a second, unsure if Lee was going to remember all this. "You know, on second thought, maybe I should do the talking."
"What should I say?" Lee inquired, beginning to speak in a deeper voice than usual. ""Hey pal, how you doing in this zombie world?"
"I don't know. Ask him for directions." Luke suggested, watching as the man was not too far away now, but the good thing was he stopped moving, and froze in his steps in the center of the bridge.
The man finally spoke something to them; raising his voice so they could hear him from the distance he was standing in. "Well, who are you?"
"Well, who's asking?" Lee replied, somewhat asking him the same question.
"I am." the man replied, not answering his question.
"Wanna help me out here?" Lee requested, already running out of things to say to the stranger.
Luke spoken up after keeping silent during their little conversation. He asked the first question that popped into his mind. "What do you want?"
"Saw you coming and I thought I'd meet you halfway." the man replied answered, not seeming to realize Luke had his right hand to his pistol holster, preparing to pull out his Glock 17 just in case things got out of hand.
Everyone stood quiet for a moment, all three of them unsure what to say. Lee merely stood there with his arms folded, Luke still prepared to pull out his Glock 17, and as for the stranger, he still stood where he was in the center of the bridge.
A few seconds later, the man continued marching towards them, finally getting close enough in their sights to reveal he was carrying an M14 rifle, a similar weapon to the rifle Lee had moments ago, and the Winchester Model 70 some of the cabin survivors owned.
The man stopped in his steps yet again, seeming neutral at the moment since he did hot have his weapon aimed at them. "Huh. You don't look like assholes. Are you assholes? No offence or anything. But you know how it is out here. You run into a lot of assholes."
"We're just people." Lee assured, hoping that would be enough to keep the man from shooting them.
"Fair enough." the man agreed as he continued walking towards them, finally realizing that these two strangers were not bad and seemed friendly for now. He walked closer to them, now standing only a few feet away from them.
Lee and Luke could now see the man in clear view. He looked like an Asian-American, he looked around in his late twenties, and he had a small black moustache and wore a grey and black jacket with his hood over his head, and wore dark brownish cargo pants.
The man seemed friendly...For now, at least. He now seems to trust them enough to approach them without his weapon aiming at them, and spoke in a friendly tone. "You folks headed north like everyone else?"
""Everyone else?"" Luke queried, wondering what he meant by "everyone else". He suspected that he and Lee was not the only people who have come across this bridge in the past.
"I see at least one group a day move through here." the man replied, keeping his weapon holstered from them. "You all look the same. It's like a great migration of the dazed and confused."
"Do you know Carver?" Lee inquired, unfolding his arms and placing them back to his sides.
"Carver?" the man repeated, raising a curious face with an eyebrow arched. "Like George Washington Carver? The peanut guy?"
"What?" Lee queried, puzzled to what he just said out of randomness. "He's a man."
"Never heard of him. But now I want some peanut butter, though." the man admitted, raising a grin across his face for a moment. He examined the two strangers, noticing the blood and dirt smeared across different parts of their bodies. "I got to say, you two look like shit. If you need food, I've got some canned food in that station back there."
"Well, that's, uh, awful nice of you." Luke admitted, placing his hands to his hips, but suspecting the man was going to want something in return. "What's the catch?"
"No catch. I've got plenty." the man reassured them, making himself looking even friendlier to the two.
"Well alright then, then. Thank you." Luke thanked, smiling across his face as he was glad not everyone in this world was bad, and there was still some good people out there.
"Hey, no problem. Nice running into friendly face out here." the man replied, feeling the same ways as Lee and Luke: meeting someone friendly for once in this day and age, rather than sickos and thieves. "Like I said, I've got food and supplies back in the station. And if you want..."
Lee and Luke were puzzled to why he just stopped for a moment like he saw a ghost. Neither of them got the chance to speak when the man spoke first in a panicked an annoyed voice.
The man's expression changed from a friendly one into a shocked one when he spotted something on the other side of the bridge come running towards him. "What the fuck, man?"
Lee and Luke turned around to see what the trouble was that got the man all worked-up. They duo both were shocked to see Nick running straight towards them with his rifle in his hand.
"What the hell is he doing?" Luke wondered, annoyed and confused since he clearly made it to the entire cabin group not to cross the bridge until they lit the fire on the other side.
Nick had a worried in expression on his face. By the looks of it his point of view, he must have mistaken the man to be an enemy working for Carver. He aimed his rifle towards him, preparing to open fire.
Lee and Luke watched in shock as the man holstered his M14 up towards Nick, mistaking him for an enemy, too. One of them was going to shoot soon unless someone did something, and fast.
"No, no, no, no! He's wi-he's with us!" Luke quickly assured him, raising his hands in the air to prove they were not enemies, and that Nick was just mistaken. He swiftly spun around and waved his hands in the air, trying to signal for him to stop. "Nick! No!"
The man did not fully believe them for a moment and continued aiming towards Nick, preparing to pull the trigger on this man. "Put it down!" he ordered.
Lee watched in panic and shock as both men aimed their weapons towards each other, and he knew one-hundred percent fact that one of them was going to fire soon and there would be blood spilt. He quickly turned towards the stranger again, trying to assure him they were not enemies. "DON'T SHOOT-"
Lee was cut off when a shot was fired, and in the quick of an eye, he and Luke jumped down across the ground in an attempt to get out of the line of fire. The shot caused everything to go silent, the only thing they could hear were Lee leaned back up when hearing gargling and groaning noise coming from the direction they were heading. He was shocked to see the man had been shot directly in the side of his neck, blood spitting out from it as he held his left hand against out in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
The man tumbled back towards the edge of the bridge and aimed his gun up in an attempt to shoot Nick, but he tripped over the bridge as Lee and Luke ran towards him. The two watched his lifeless body hit the water below, and upon impact, he caused a splash. Either he was going to die from blood loss, the impact of the fall, or drowning. There was nothing they could do to save him.
Lee and Luke turned their attention back towards Nick and angrily marched towards him, and by the looks of Luke's face, it looked like he wanted to hit him for his actions.
"Did I hit him?" Nick inquired, scanning the bridge where he did not notice the man anywhere. "Where is he?!"
"I told you not to shoot." Luke reminded, showing an angered expression towards him.
"What? Who was that guy?" Nick inquired, a shocked face rose across his face.
"Why didn't you wait for a signal?" Nick inquired, raising his voice slightly.
"Nick, you're a fucking idiot!" Lee judged him, pointing towards him for a moment. "He was going to help us, man..."
"How do you know?" Nick clashed, not seeming to believe what the older man had just spoken to him.
Lee kept quiet for now as he folded his arms together. He merely watched the end of the bridge where the rest of the group was making their way down. The two friends argued with one and other about the victim Nick had just shot without hesitation.
"Dammit, Nick I told you not to shoot."
"How was I supposed to hear you? You have me a clear shot."
"That shot rang out for miles. We got to get off this bridge. Let's go."
For now, the trio ended the argument between them until they were safely off the bridge. Lee and Luke continued their way over towards the end of the bridge, wanting to get a move on as soon as possible before it was night time, and by the looks of it, a storm was on its way.
The second the group made it across the bridge, each and every one of them needed a break from moving none-stop. A couple of them took a couple of breaths while keeping still in the small area they were in just outside of the small building. Rebecca sat down on a log the second she was over, needing a break from all that walking due to her pregnancy. "Who the fuck...was that back there?"
"I don't know." Luke replied, able to stand back up to full height the second he got his breath.
"Looks like he had a gun on you." Alvin admitted, speaking to both Luke and Lee.
"Not everything is what it seems." Lee clashed, looking somewhat annoyed that Nick just murdered an innocent like that. He shifted his attention towards the younger man, crossing his arms together in the process. "You straight up murdered that man!"
"That asshole drew on me!" Nick clashed, trying to defend himself from their judgment. "He was about to shoot."
"Was he?" Luke inquired.
"I'm telling you, man, he drew first." Nick swore, throwing his arm around during mid-sentence.
"Well that's what it looked like to me." Luke replied, countering his sentence with his own.
"Look, there's no point even arguing about it now." Carley joined in on their conversation, crossing her arms together as she looked towards both men.
Lee was so disappointed in Nick for what he had done. He still could not believe what he done, and bad enough, this made him look somewhat responsible since he was looking out for him now. He kept quiet for a moment as he shook his head to both sides. "Shut up, Nick."
Nick fell silent like he requested, not wanting to make himself look even worse for his own sake.
"What did you see, Lee?" Alvin asked Lee, him too looing angry about the murder Nick had just committed. "Was that guy going to shoot?"
"Fuck you, Luke, and you, too, Alvin." Nick swore at them, pointing two of his fingers towards them with an annoyed expression across his face. "You've been on my case the whole week."
"Look, the guy wasn't going to do anything." Lee spoke up in an attempt to finally putting an end to this argument of theirs.
Nick took note of what Lee just told him, but nevertheless, he still attempted to defend himself. "I know what I saw."
"Either way, you could have hit one of us." Luke warned, reminding him of how close they came to death today.
"You, but I didn't." Nick clashed, again, pointing two of his fingers towards them.
Luke could only think of one more way to prove Nick of his guilt, and to do this, he would have to remind him of the one person they lost today. He did not wish to do it since Pete acted as a fatherly-figure to Luke, but was left no choice. "Look, I...I now Pete was close to you Nick, but you can't-"
"Don't fucking talk about him." Nick warned, not wanting to hear any reminder of his uncle like he never existed.
"Do you think he was with Carver?" Carlos suggested, finally speaking up after he and his daughter had kept quiet during their argument.
"I don't know. I...No." Luke answered, knowing full well that whoever that man was would not be with Carver. "I don't think so. But he fell over."
"He fell off the damn bridge?" Alvin asked, placing both of his hands into his jacket.
"We have to keep moving." Carlos reminded them, still not wanting to take any chances just in case Carver truly was tracking them.
"I can't." Rebecca replied, placing her hand upon her stomach as the baby kicked her from the inside. "I need a minute."
"Fine." Carlos sighed, shifting his attention towards Luke for a moment, needing to speak with him about the current situation. "Luke, can I talk to you alone?"
The two men walked a few-feet over towards the trees to speak in private. Nick glared towards them for a moment before making his way over to the small station, needing to think things over.
Alvin turned his attention back towards Lee and Clementine for a moment when seeing his wife weakened by her pregnancy. "Hey, Lee, Clem, you guys got anything to eat? Bec's dying here."
"Alvin, I told you, I'm fine." Rebecca assured, placing her hand out towards him in denial.
"Wish we still had those juice boxes." Alvin sighed.
"Yeah, me, too." Sarah agreed, happy enough to sit down near Rebecca with Carley standing beside her.
"Sorry, I'm out." Clementine apologized, shrugging her shoulders slightly.
"Yeah, sorry, me too." Lee added, looking over towards the small building for a moment when he remembered what that man had mentioned before he was shot in the neck by the hands of Nick and his itchy trigger finger. "That man said he had food in the station."
"Mind checking it out for us guys?" Alvin requested, scanning the area for a moment to investigate if it was safe or not since they might not be going anywhere soon. "Maybe we could spend the night here."
"Sure." Lee agreed, wanting to help the couple out since they needed to be together now that Rebecca was close to giving birth. "I'll go and check it out while you guys wait."
Alvin appreciated this from the man he met not too long ago. He sat down beside his wife with his hands in his pockets, still keeping his attention focused on Lee of course. "Thanks Lee."
Lee smiled in response and prepared to make his way over towards the small station. He stopped in his tracks when Clementine moved beside him.
"Can I go with you?" Clementine inquired, a slight smile across her face when she remembered all the things they did together when she was younger. "It'll just be like when we invaded that train station."
"The first time you shot a walker." Lee praised, patting her head for a moment, and proceeding to make his way inside. "Sure, let's go."
The duo made their way over to the entrance of the station where Nick was sitting on a wooden bench, and by the looks of it, he seemed guilty for what he just did or he may just be thinking about what Lee and Luke had to him.
The second Lee and Clementine stood in front of him to check on him, he came out with the most randomness sentence ever: "I had to kill me mom."
Lee and Clementine both watched in shock for a moment to what he just said. He killed his mom? Is this why he was so angry all the time about his family? Even after Pete died?
"That sounds weird when I say it out loud, huh?" Nick admitted, showing a normal expression across his face like he had no emotions inside of him anymore. "Luke always used to push me. I never wanted to go into business with him. I remember when he sold me on it. His big plan. Some fucking plan. A case of beer and he just said, "Nick, we're burning daylight." And that was that. After six months, we were flat broke. But I didn't care. We were having fun. ..." he paused for a moment and finally got to the point of this story. "I wish I was like him. I wish I could just keep moving all the time. But I'm just not...built like that."
The second he finish the end of his story, Lee and Clementine were both surprised and unsure of what to say after hearing this little story of his. Lee was the first speak up, assuring him he knew what he was feeling inside. "I know how you feel, Nick. We're all lost people we care about. I lost my brother and my parents when all of this began."
Nick took note to what he was saying as he turned his attention over to Luke and Carlos, already knowing they were speaking about him. "I'm sure they're talking about me right now. "Luke, he is becoming a danger to the group!" he tried to mimic Carlos in a fake Spanish accent. "So who was that guy? I swear, it looked like he was holding you and Luke up. I figured he was with Carver."
"He did seem nice." Lee admitted,
"Damn..." Nick sighed. "If Alvin is in front of me, he takes that shot. What a fucking mess. Maybe I am losing it. I don't know anymore. God, I'm hungry. What time is it anyway?" he paused for a moment and looked towards his right wrist. He angrily punched the wooden bench, realizing he left something very valuable to him. "Damn. Damn!"
"What's up, man?" Lee inquired.
"I left my watch back at the cabin. It was Pete's." he sighed, holding his hand up to his face. "He gave it to me."
Lee's face brightened when he only just realized he possessed the watch. The morning before they set out to get the fish traps, Pete had lent Lee his watch to keep an eye on the time. He took off the watch that he kept around his wrist under his shirt, and offered it to Nick. "Here. Pete lent it me before we set out."
Nick's expression brightened into a happy one as he accepted the watch into his hands. He finally had a smile on his face, extremely grateful for what Lee had just given him. "Thank you. This means...Thank you, Lee."
The second his watch was strapped around his wrist, Nick stood up to go and talk with Carlos and Luke about what happened. "You know what; I'm going to go talk to them."
Lee and Clementine proceeded to make their way into the small station to search for the food this man had mentioned. Hopefully if the place was big enough, they may be able to stay there for the night just in case that storm hit sooner than they thought.
Chapter 6 is completed, my fellow readers. The cabin group continue their journey up north in the next chapter where they will run into someone they never thought they would see again, and unlike the game, there is a chance it could not be Kenny since he got on the boat with his family. Stay tuned for "chapter 7: a blast from the past".