Chapter 55 "Prison"
Day 300
Shawn slammed the door shut behind him, an apple in his hand and a bounce in his step. It was a sunny, beautiful day and the farmboy felt good about it. He was on his way to get prepared for a run. Today, they would be going into the heart of Little Rock, attempting desperately to get the remaining supplies from the city as resources elsewhere ran low.
He arrived at the walls within fifteen minutes, having thrown the core of his apple off into grass on the side of the road after eating most of it. Xavier, Roger, Mark, and Ken moved around the two large vehicles they planned to use for that day, getting their supplies in order and going over their plans.
One of the planned vehicles was their heavy-duty truck, devotedly taken care of and upgraded by the hardest-working scavengers and hunters. It was big and black, with orange, red, and yellow accents and armor decorating it. The truck was designed to successfully run through and decimate a small herd. The other vehicle was a simple, sleek white car for backup in case they needed a quick escape.
"There you are!" Roger exclaimed upon seeing Shawn. "I almost thought you weren't coming."
"What, you thought I'd miss the most exciting run we've ever done?"
"Yeah," the scavengers' leader laughed. "I thought you might'a let everyone fill you with doubt and worry, hopefully scare you shitless of going into the city."
"I went into it once and we were fine," Shawn shrugged and was thankful no one he had been in the RV with at that time was around to object.
"Good," Roger laughed. "Maybe you're a good luck charm."
"Maybe I am, smartass."
Jim sat at his desk, puzzled, as he flipped through his records. He looked through all of his documents and was beginning to realize a trend. As time went on, the frequency and amount of new people in the last few months was on a steady decrease.
Near the beginning of the end, groups of nine or more were not uncommon, and they might show up nearly every week. Now, getting just five within two weeks was a miracle. The largest group to arrive in the past two months was Joshua's, a group of five. Before that was Sierra's group, and before that, Shawn's.
"Tracey," Jim yelled to his door.
"Yes?" Tracey opened the door not long after and peeked her head in.
"Is Kevin busy right now?"
"I believe so," she claimed and looked back to her desk, hoping to get a good look at her schedule.
"Doing what?"
"Just a sec," the blonde begged and waddled to her desk. "Medic duty," she yelled to her leader after viewing her schedule.
"Great," Jim sighed, knowing he would likely be busy. "Are Rosa or Esmeralda on duty?"
"Yup. Both."
"Fuck," the leader moaned in frustration. "Well, send somebody over there and tell him he needs to get over here as soon as he's done training those two putas sucias. I'm not sure he's taking his real job seriously enough."
"Do you want me to keep that part in?"
"What part?"
"The part where you called them dirty whores."
"Of course not!"
Shawn walked through a trashed room, furniture overturned and aged garbage rotting across the floor. There was the odd dried blood stain, likely from a walker being clumsy, on every other wall. A corner in the side of the room was clearly designated for bodily waste, human feces sitting on newspaper, soaked in urine and creating a foul odor that made the farmboy want to vomit.
He had been left alone as the group separated in the building tall building, which clearly once served as a refuge for some people after the world ended. Shawn moved to a window and looked out at the scene of the city. The tallest building in Little Rock was blackened and charred. There was a large hole near the top which spanned across nearly five floors. It looked as if an explosive went off from inside of the building, nearly decimating the whole structure. It seemed to be a miracle that it still stood tall.
The lone Greene turned from the window and sighed, seeing the disaster and feeling the hopelessness wrought by the walkers. Life could not continue in a world like this, and Shawn would nearly be convinced that the whole world was screwed if it was not for what he found in West Little Rock.
As he took a step he heard a sharp creak. At first he thought it was his own step, but he realized that the sound came from elsewhere in the building. He let out a quiet sigh, irritated by another walker in this infested building. For the past three floors, however, he had found none, likely due to a few huge broken windows, and he was quite thankful for that.
He stepped toward the noise slowly and silently, his machete at the ready. He turned through an open doorway, finding a dull white room brightly illuminated by a large open window. A rope made of stained sheets hung out of the window, tightly tied around a support beam in the middle of the room. Shawn recalled seeing the same rope outside of the windows of the other floors, often next to open windows, and he cursed himself for not thinking much of it before then.
Putting the pieces together, he realized the sound was likely not from a walker and he readied his pistol, moving his blade to his left hand.
He made it to the only other door in the room making as little noise as possible. His weapons prepared, he stood at the side of the portal and took a breath to collect his nerves and listen for more sounds.
Despite hearing no further noises, he quickly turned and shoved the door open, instantly yelling "Hands up!"
Shockingly, the stranger he had heard already had his hands up. He was tall, with a long, scraggly brown beard with graying hairs. He wore an old trucker's hat and had a mustache that made him look like a hideous extra from a vintage pornographic movie. The mysterious stranger was dressed in a ragged green trench coat, and looked overall like a generic homeless person.
Noticing Shawn's upturned eyebrow, the man half-smiled. "Not as stealthy as you thought, are you, kid?"
Shawn shrugged it off and attempted to use what he had seen and heard from the recruiters. This was the second time they had found people on a run since he had arrived at West Little Rock, but it was the first time that he was the one up front doing the talking.
Shit, Shawn fatally realized. I didn't even let anybody else know about any of this. If he tries something, I'm fuckin' dead.
"Do you have any weapons on you right now?"
"I'd be a fool if I didn't," the stranger replied coldly, as if Shawn was an idiot.
"Can you show them all to me?"
"I 'spose," the man scoffed and pulled a crowbar out of the back of his pants, followed by a glock in either pocket. He then turned slightly to the side and showed off a large rifle with the sniper's scope clearly broken off fastened onto his body by a strap.
"How long have you been here?" Shawn then asked, taking note of every fact about the man.
"Right here? About a week. This building, though? Many months."
"How've you been eating?"
The man paused for a moment before saying, "I get by." For a few moments of tense silence, the man shiftily looking around the room before locking eyes with a pile of emptied cans of food. He then gestured to it, and Shawn looked to them before nodding.
"Do you have a name?"
The man looked away from the cans and met Shawn's eyes. "It's Kenny."
Caleb sat in his living room, indignantly scratching his belly as he absent-mindedly skimmed an old fashion magazine. The images and words meant very little to him, and his mind was a blur as he simply tried to pass the time. He looked up to the clock on his wall and smiled. Finally, five in the afternoon. It was time. He rose from his seat and made his way to the fridge.
He pulled out a large plate of cheesecake and dug in, joyfully partaking in his favorite treat — treats! It was no secret that the big man loved his sweets, and he made quick haste of vacuuming the large pastry.
Half-way through his feast, there was a knock at the front door and he scrambled to wipe the crumbs off of himself and his surroundings before quickly shoving the cake back into his fridge and speed-walking to answer the door. To his delight, it was Karen, who stood in the hallway of his apartment.
"Hey, babe!" he chuckled and pulled her into a kiss.
She laughed into his embrace and they exited the hall, their kiss continuing into Caleb's livingroom. Picking up the smell of the room and the taste in Caleb's mouth, Karen broke the kiss for a moment.
"Have you been eating that cheesecake again?"
Caleb guiltily shrugged. "I couldn't help it."
Karen laughed and poked his nose with her finger. "That's okay. I'm just glad you like my cooking, sugar bear."
"You know I love it when you call me that."
"You know I love you."
The two kissed passionately again, this time Caleb's hands wandering. Despite trying not to, Karen pulled away a bit and Caleb gave her pleading eyes.
"Please?" the large man asked. "Can we finally have our first?"
Karen blushed and stared at him intently. She realized how much she truly did care for him, and how badly he really wanted it, and she obliged, nodding happily as she shoved her tongue down his throat. Caleb picked her up and opened his bedroom door, slamming it shut as he tossed her excitedly onto his bed.
It was very dark, the sun having set many hours ago. It was nearing midnight, and Boyd began to grow nervous. "You think they're alright?" the old black man asked.
"Of course," Allan stated calmly, taking a sip of alcohol.
Boyd sat in silence, looking grimly down at the cards in his hands.
"Really, man?" the younger man asked irritatedly. "You know them, they're all just fine. Why wouldn't they be? Everyone out there right now is skilled. I personally know three of them, and they're awesome, capable guys."
"But this is the first time in ages they've gone into the city. We don't know how dangerous it is now."
"Trust me," Allan ginned with another gulp of moonshine, "they're just fine."
Right on cue, the familiar, large armored truck slowly pulled into the gates of West Little Rock, followed closely behind by the comparatively small white car. As the two men on wall duty opened the gates, they parked in their usual spots, and Allan gave his older companion a condescending look.
Mark, Roger, and Xavier jumped out of the large vehicle, beginning to unload their intake of supplies, which was quite large
Boyd and Allan looked to one another, slightly confused, as the people in the white car did not move at all. Looking through the windows, it appeared that Shawn sat in the passenger's seat, facing the backseat and talking to someone the duo could not see from their high position on the wall.
"Hey, assholes!" Roger yelled up to them. "We got a newbie."
Allan nodded his head, suddenly understanding it all. "See?" the young white man assumed, patting Boyd on the back. "That's what took 'em so long."
Finally, Shawn stepped out of the car, followed by the driver, Ken. The farmboy stood awkwardly by the car for a moment before opening Kenny's door for him.
"You alright?" Shawn asked the new recruit.
Kenny wordlessly nodded, obviously clamming up and becoming nervous as he observed the large community. He saw the long street leading to many large apartment buildings on the left, and a beautiful neighborhood with huge houses on the right. Many of the homes had their lights on, and the small town was thriving with life.
"Welcome to prison," Shawn joked. "I'm sorry. I know, it takes a while to get used to. And don't worry about forgetting names, I still do that sometimes. Everyone'll understand."
As Kenny remained wordless, something seemed off. The farmboy frowned, interpreting the strangeness as fear and confusion.
"I promise you, man," Shawn said, putting a hand on Kenny's shoulder. The stranger jumped slightly, and locked eyes with the farmboy. Despite jumping, his face did not have fear in it. "You're safe here. Nobody's gonna hurt you. This community was built to keep people like you — like us — safe."