"What? What the hell do you mean? Don't do that. Don't make this kinda stuff up. It's not funny," Beth grumbled, "Where are you getting these ideas?"
"I'm getting these ideas from this." Ethan decided to show Beth the paper. "Forgive me if you can't read the code." He pointed to some parts, deciding to decipher them for Beth.
"How can my dad be involved in this? This is something out of a fantasy story. I don't understand. And...how do you know what all this says?" Beth asked.
"I read about this kind of thing once. I memorized this cipher." He explained, stretching the truth very subtly. "And that's what I want to know. Although...I don't know if we should go to him with this."
"No way. He'd freak out. Probably kick you and your group out, even Madison. I don't like hiding things from him, but she'll die out there without him." Beth sighed.
Ethan began formulating a plan. "Okay...we need to come up with a way to get to Atlanta without him knowing." He let out a sigh as well, seeing this as a tall order. "I don't want to believe he's mixed up in this, but the only way to know for sure is to go there."
"I don't know. Maddy can't drive. I can't either. He's too suspicious of you and the new people. Maggie would tell him. That only leaves Danny. I'm just afraid he doesn't want to leave Madison." Beth spoke.
"We'd have to tell him." Ethan suggested. "And keep Maggie from squealing."
"Ok...how do we do that? Come on Beth, think. Think." She spoke to herself. "Maggie's been so overprotective ever since my mother died. I don't know how to do that."
"...What if, we tell them we got a distress signal, and we follow up on that?" Ethan suddenly suggested. "It's a last minute thing, but it's the only plan I got."
Beth grinned a little. "Wow, you're a smart guy. Never would've thought of it myself. Okay, we can try that. Hopefully no one follows us there. We should probably check on the others before we leave though, especially Danny. I hope he's coping."
"I'm hoping the same thing, too. Dan feels like a brother I've never had." The con-man went to go see his buddy. It turns out that while he was still shaken up over the developments, he seemed to be doing alright. Madison was asleep on their bed, her breath faint, but definitely there.
Danny sighed a little seeing Ethan in the doorway to their room. "Hey." His voice trembled a bit.
"Hey back." He responded. "How's Maddy?"
"She's doing better." Danny replied. "She's breathing, heart beating. Hershel says her oxygen levels are a bit low, but she's surviving. I just can't believe she won't ever walk again. She hasn't even really processed it yet."
"I do hope she's taken my advice- adapt to survive. If she can do that, I would be proud." Ethan reassured. "It's what I've done for about...half my life."
"Ethan…" Danny sniffled. "Will you talk to me?"
"Yeah. My ears are open." He wrapped an arm around Danny's shoulders. "I'm here for ya."
Danny sighed. "Truth is, I'm terrified. How is she gonna be able to survive...them? Those things out there. What if something happens? Say we're out and they're after us. If she falls out of her wheelchair or something. What if I can't get to her? I can't live without her." A tear rolled down his cheek.
Ethan frowned, but was sympathetic to his friend. "Look Dan...I've been living at odds with these things longer than you have, and I can safely tell you that the world, while it's going to hell, it doesn't have to stay that way. She's got us, alright? She's in the best hands out in this world." He spoke. "I wouldn't want to have it any other way. Ever since we met in the bar, after that...lady...turned to a walker, I decided then and there you were one of the guys I wanted with me in the end. When you mentioned Maddy? Same deal with her. I would never think about abandoning you two no matter what. At this point...you guys are my only family."
Danny nodded his head. "Thank you. So, um...what now? What are you gonna do?"
"Try and find a way to end this madness." Ethan admitted. "Y'know how they say they're going to find the cure? It's a tall order...but I'm willing to put my neck on the line for my family. So they can have the best life they can."
"You're a great guy, Ethan." Danny smiled. "You know that?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "I know."
Just then, Beth walked in. "Hey Danny. So, um...we're gonna go…"
Danny looked up at this. "Go? Go where? Ethan...can you please explain?"
"The story goes is we got this signal from other survivors. Beth and I were going to go check it out." Ethan answered.
"Oh...should I come?" Danny inquired.
Beth bit her lip. "Ethan, what do you think?" He paused for a moment, then asked,
"Only if you really want to. I'm sure that Maddy will be alright."
Just then, Madison fluttered awake. "Hey guys."
"Morning, Madison." Ethan warmly greeted. Danny hugged Madison.
"So, what's been going on since I've been out?" Madison asked.
"Well...not much, to be honest." The con-man answered.
"Ok. Honey, is there anything to eat here? I haven't had a meal since...wow, not since I was at the department store waiting for you to show up." Madison groaned.
"Beth, can you get her something?" Ethan requested.
"Sure, we have some oatmeal somewhere." Beth answered as she left to go find Madison some food.
Danny patted Madison's hand. "So, Ethan and Beth here are gonna go out to find some survivors who sent out a distress call. Um...shall I go with, or do you want me to stay here with you?"
Madison sighed. "Um..y'know Ethan told me to adapt to survive, so I'm gonna do that. I think I can handle being on my own for a bit. So, go out there, and help whoever needs your help." Madison smiled, then hugged Danny.
"Ok, that settles it," Danny spoke, "I'm coming with you, I guess." He stood up and shook Ethan's hand.
"Got it." Then to Madison, the con-man said, "And I'm proud of you, you know that? I'm sure Dan feels the same."
"Thank you. And be safe. Please bring Danny back in one whole piece, okay?" Madison chuckled.
"Can do." He agreed.
Soon, Danny, Ethan and Beth had packed up a small bag of supplies and were driving to Atlanta. Ethan continued to decipher the note in the back seat.
Danny heard Ethan muttering to himself and turned around. "What in the world are you doing back there?"
"I'm cracking a code." Ethan answered. "Might help us get that better life we desire."
"Oh...so, um, where's the distress call from?" Danny asked.
"It's somewhere in Atlanta…" He answered truthfully.
Soon, Danny pulled into a parking lot. He sighed "Is this it?"
Beth nodded. "Yep, we're here.
The three got out of the car, and approached the entrance. The building had a sign that read 'Central Atlanta Prison'.
"Are you kidding me? It came from a prison?" Danny sighed in frustration. "I don't want to go in there. Too dangerous."
"You'll be fine with me." Ethan reassured. "Besides, there might be some other people holed up in here."
Danny sighed deeply. "Well, here goes nothing."
Beth opened the door. "It smells like..I don't know," she gagged, "it just smells really bad. Smells like death." Ethan was quiet as they went in.
They continued on. Their footsteps echoed through the hallway, the place seemed to be abandoned. However, the con-man was on alert. He felt that there were people inside...he didn't know where.
Suddenly, Beth tripped on something. She screeched as she hit the ground face-first. Ethan noticed a brick on the ground. It seemed to be...tied to something else, as he could see a thin rope trailing off of it. Wasting no time, he rushed to get Beth up. And he would find out that he had saved Beth from…
...a fatal, hidden trap. Up above, he saw a spear-looking object zooming down, straight towards Beth's head. He pushed her away instantly. The long, thin sword pierced the ground, throwing small bits of stone from the floor in several directions.
"Ow...what the hell?" Beth muttered, rubbing her forehead.
"This is a sign that someone is here." Ethan spoke. "You're welcome, by the way."
Beth sighed. "Thanks for saving me from premature death."
Behind them, Danny quivered. "I don't like this."
"Stay close to me, then." Ethan told him.
"No," Danny hissed rapidly, "we need to get out of here. Something's not right."
The trio then saw three shadows step out at the other end of the hallway.
"Are these the people you're looking for?" Danny asked, his voice trembling.
Ethan gave a confident nod. "Correct." He slowly approached the shadows.
"Who's there?" A female voice spoke.
"The name's Ethan. These are my friends, Danny and Beth." He introduced.
A burly shadow of about Ethan's height stepped into view.
"Oh god. There's four of them." Beth shook next to Ethan. The burly shadow soon revealed himself as a light brown skinned man about Ethan's height. He had short black hair and soft blue eyes. Muscular in appearance, he wore a guard's uniform and black boots.
"Good to see you're not one of them." The man spoke. "Brett Brownstone. Pleased to meet you."
He shook hands with Ethan and Beth. Danny hid behind them.
Another two shadows shuffled forward. A pale woman with short brown hair appeared wearing an orange jumpsuit and very out-of-place red heels. Next to her was a tall, sleek woman, with a noticeable tattoo on her face, and purple hair hidden behind her in a bun. She wore a black tank top and jeans, along with dark brown combat boots.
"Hello." The pale woman spoke. She had a heavy Dutch accent.
"Nice heels." Ethan commented.
She blushed. "Thank you. I'm Alida Louise. And you are?"
"Ethan Gold. Office worker in the grand machine that is society." He greeted in kind. "My friends are Danny Scotch, bartender, and Beth who…" He turned to her. "Medical worker, right?"
"Nurse in training, I guess." Beth giggled.
Alida smiled. "Oh, that's nice. I'm a convict, charged with three counts of armed robbery."
Beth's mouth gaped. "What?"
"I'm also a psychopath by government law." Alida spoke. "Quite an interesting life. The mental asylums haven't been much fun though."
"Okay, stay really close to me." Ethan whispered to Danny.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Brett rolled his eyes. "Makes no sense keeping you locked up…"
Beth raised her eyebrows. "What? Um, so...how long have you been here? Is the purple hair girl a prisoner too?"
Alida shook her head. "Nope, just me. She and her husband are refugees, so to speak."
"I see…" Ethan nodded.
A man with a purple mohawk and trimmed red beard walked up to the group and waved with a friendly smile on his face. 'Hi there. Mickey. Mickey Gomez." Ethan introduced himself the same way he did the other few times already.
Danny finally spoke up. "What are we doing? We don't have time for formal introductions anymore."
"Right, we're glad you came around." Brett spoke. "We've been wondering if anyone else was out there…"
"Yeah, there's a few of us." Beth replied.
"There any more?" The guard inquired. "I sure hope so."
"We'd have to find them, I guess." Ethan said. "I've been meaning to ask you guys something if that's alright."
The four nodded. "Mhm." Alida added.
"Okay, this seems random...but...does the name 'Hershel' mean anything to you guys?" Ethan asked. Brett thought about it.
"Hmm…" He thought.
Mickey shook his head. "Cass?" His wife shook her head too.
Alida spoke, "Unless he was a prisoner at one point, I don't think so."
"I see...well, it was worth a shot." Ethan shrugged. "Do you mind coming with us? Strength in numbers after all."
"I'm down with that." Mickey spoke. "Brett? Alida?"
"Sure, why not." Alida let out a weird giggle.
"Absolutely." Brett was in agreement.
"One problem." Beth spoke up. "How are we gonna...get back? There's too many of us."
"There's a prison bus the four of us can take back." Brett spoke up. "I can drive it back."
And with that, the group got into their vehicles, and headed back to the house. Ethan thought to himself about why the paper mentioned Atlanta if this lead was a dead end...but regardless, he would keep working back at the house to find out what was going on.