Chapter 2 Where to Go?
Hogarth had been on the road for several weeks now. He was tired, hungry and lost. He had finally left Rockwell and was making his way towards Albany, New York. For weeks he wandered on the road, stopping only at night to sleep in any safe shelter from the walkers. Everyday he would search different abandoned stores looking for extra food and supplies, keep moving forward, kill walkers if they got in the way, and then go to sleep.
He found a map of the local area and kept track of where he was going. He didn't know where his mother was going but hopefully there were some survival groups in the area. And he would look for every single group until he found her. Also he knew that finding a group of people would be his best chance of survival.
He kept a small radio in his pocket that he turned on ocassionally. He hoped that there were some forms of information of what was going on. From what he could tell the attacks have been happening throughout random parts of the country including in states like Georgia, California, Washington, and many others.
One morning Hogarth woke up in the trunk of a car he hid inside during the night when a swarm of walkers came out of the forest. Climbing out from the trunk he gathered his supplies and went over to the stream in the woods to clean himself up.
"Alright Hogarth," he thought to himself as he washed his face with water, "gather what you need for the day, move on, and then hide when it gets dark."
"I guess I'll turn on the radio," he said. He switched on the radio and tuned it until he could hear the news.
"Things have gotten much worse up in the cities. People are still being advised to stay in their homes and keep the house locked up. There are several shelters that people have set up and people who are on the road are advised to head there for protection, wha..?"
"Johnny, what's going on?"
"OH GOD! NO NO AHHHHH"
The newscaster screamed as static came on and only growling and moaning could be heard along with the gory sounds of flesh cutting. Not wanting to hear anymore, Hogarth switched the radio off and threw it away.
"Fuck, the world is definitely going to shit now," he said as he started walking again.
Hogarth scouted the forest looking for animals or anything for food. His bag was still full of food that he took from the house. But he had only a weeks worth left and he had to stock up otherwise he'd starve.
He managed to find a couple of rabbits and got back to the road. As he began walking he noticed that it was really quiet. It was actually pretty peaceful, almost as if he had never seen anyone being killed. He just hoped that it would go back to being like that soon. Before any of this started. All of a sudden he heard footsteps echoing from far away.
He jumped behind a dilapidated car and pulled out his rifle from his bag. He loaded it and got ready to shoot it. As the footsteps advanced even closer he started to hear voices.
"Hey you're the one who wanted to go this way, and your supposed to be the genius," the first one said.
"Are you kidding me it was your idea to go down this part of the road, just be lucky that there aren't any of those things out here."
"Maybe they could help, but I gotta make sure they're not assholes," he thought to himself.
Hogarth lowered his gun and slowly came out from behind the car with his rifle hanging down his shoulder. He walked closer and saw the two figures.
"HOLD IT," he shouted.
The two figures were both two boys of around Hogarth's age. One was a red head wearing a white lab coat and purple gloves, and one was a kid who looked like he was covered in bandages and dressed like a mummy.
"Please, we don't want any trouble," the red head responded as Hogarth walked up closer to them, "we're just looking for some help."
"I'm not going to hurt you two," he responded.
The mummy kid decided to speak up next. "Look we've been out here all day, we're trying to find a place where's there's food and then we're going to get back to our hideout, do you think you can help us."
"Heh heh, can you give us a moment," the red head told Hogarth.
"Take your time," Hogarth said.
"Are you crazy, he might be similar to one of those assholes that we met three days ago."
"He seems like he could help us, besides if anyone has survival experience it could be him," the mummy told his friend.
"Alright fine, but if we wake up tomorrow and find out he's going to cut our throats, I'm going to beat the living shit out of you."
They turned back to Hogarth who was standing with his arms crossed. He had heard them talking the whole time.
"You know I heard you two talking the whole time," he said with a grin on his face.
"Dammit," Dexter yelled stomping his foot on the ground.
"Look I'll help you guys, I've been out here for so long and I know how to survive, you'll need the extra help."
"You see, I told you he was a good guy," the mummy kid said and they both walked up to him and shook hands.
"Names Hogarth, Hogarth Hughes."
"Dexter," the red head responded.
"Tutenstein, but my friends call me Tut," the mummy kid said.
"May I ask why you're covered in bandages, were you coming from some Halloween party," Hogarth asked confused.
"Well, I, umm..." Tut stuttered trying to find what to say.
"Okay, don't freak out when I tell you this, but Tut is actually a mummy who was raised from the dead."
Hogarth eyes went wide and his mouth agape. He stood like that for a couple minutes but then shook it off.
"Well as long as he's a good guy, I'm all right with it," he said as he patted Tut on the back and walked ahead of them.
"So how long have you been out here for," Tut asked.
"For about three weeks at least, what about the both of you," he asked.
"I've been on the road ever since this started, those things came up around my house and I just got out and just started running," Dexter said.
"I've been on my own for about a week at least, met Dexter on the way through," Tut explained.
After a couple minutes of walking they came across what looked like a supermarket on the curb.
"Think we can find some food in there," Dexter asked.
"Maybe," Hogarth said.
"Well, what are we waiting for let's go," Tut said as he was about to take off towards the store. Hogarth pulled him back by his shoulder.
"Hold on there, we have to be careful and make sure it's clear of any walkers."
"Walkers?" Dexter asked, "I think I like that name for them."
"Yeah, I was about to start calling them lurkers, or just plain zombies," Tut said.
"Anyway, are you guys skilled in any kinds of weapons, do any of you know how to shoot a gun or use a knife."
"I can use a knife," Tut said as he pulled a Bowie knife out of his pocket.
"Yeah and I can shoot a gun, but only from a far distance," Dexter said.
"Well we'll brush you up on your shooting skills, either way we'll head in make sure it's clear, then we'll gather what we need and then leave and get back to your hideout."
So the next chapter will follow what will happen as they go into the abandoned supermarket. By the way to Telltale Creators for Season 2 episode 1. It's walkers not lurkers.