Two hundred thirty six days into the apocalypse.
A little girl plays a guitar on the kitchen counter of Gil's pitstop, a gas station we previously visited with Russel and Nate. In this group are the cancer survivors from Savannah, two sisters named Shel and Becca, a woman with long black hair about Shel's hair and a bald headed leader named Roman. They all watched Becca play with respectful silence, getting a kick out of hearing instruments when they hadn't heard one in so long.
"She's really good, Shel. I'm glad stuff like this can still happen in such a shitty situation." Stephanie whispered to her friend with a wholesome smile.
"Yeah, it's really refreshing to have music in our lives. I want Becca to be able to experience stuff like this, I would rather not have her to succumb to Vernon's level." She gave a weird look at the old second in command of the group. He was too busy watching the show to notice.
"You mean attempting to rob that group? Sure, the guy was corrupt but he's more merciful than Roman at least." Steph defended, though she didn't really agree with either leader very much.
"I guess so." Just as they finished talking, Becca stopped playing, getting a round of applause from the group.
"That was amazing, Becca." Stephanie praised as she approached her sister.
"Yeah, it was really nice to hear someone play." Shel added, giving her sister a hug.
"Thanks, guys. Hey, you think we could do something like this every week?" Bec asked, stepping away from her sisters embrace after a couple of mushy seconds.
"Maybe. You'll have to ask Roman or Vernon. It would be fun though, having some sort of weekly talent show." Shel suggested.
"I wouldn't mind it. Hey, Becca, did I ever tell you I was in a band?" Roman said, entering the conversation from out of nowhere.
"Yes, Roman, she knows. You've told that story a hundred times." Stephanie said with a chuckle. Roman smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Alright, alright, I'll spare ya."
"Everyone, gather around for announcements." Vernon ordered. He barely looked different aside from a new shirt. Brie was by his side. "Thanks to Boyd's work on the garden, we're having fresh soup tonight, so look forward to that. Shel, Brie, you're in charge of feeding the guard dogs for today. Stephanie, Shel, you're on guns and flashlight duty. Roman and I will be on watch, whilst Clive looks over our medicine. Boyd will be making dinner whilst Joyce is on clean up. Everybody, good luck and stay safe." Once the announcements wrapped up, Becca excitedly ran toward the table of guns and ammo whilst everyone else separated from the room.
"Hey, be careful with those." Shel warned her twelve year old sister.
"Don't worry, sis, I'll be fine. Go feed the guard dogs, I can handle this." Becca replied, picking up a notepad and pen.
"Yeah, don't worry, Shel." Steph reassured, looking over the flashlights. Stephanie gave a concerned look before walking over to the back of the pit stop. There she found Brie staring at a tied up walker. They called them guard dogs since they would alert them of any thieves. This one was an old man who had been shot in the chest.
"Brie? Everything okay?" She asked, catching the woman off guard.
"Huh? Oh, don't mind me, Shel. I'm just.. Thinkin'." She muttered, placing down a bucket of intestines. Shel winced at the smell and look of the organs.
"You wanna talk about it? Shel asked.
"I guess so. Vernon certainly doesn't talk to me anymore so it doesn't hurt conversing with someone else." She looked back up at the young woman, walked a step closer and then whispered in her ear. "I don't feel safe here anymore. I don't trust Vernon, I don't trust Roman, I don't even trust most of my old group."
"Why?"
"Remember a couple weeks back, when we found that old guy? We didn't even hesitate in putting a bullet in him, and they still almost got away with our stuff. This group is fallin' apart. I'm thinkin' of leaving." Brie answered, leaving Shel with a strange feeling.
Choices:
A: You're crazy
B: Maybe that's for the best
C: The group is fine
D: ...
Relationships:
Stephanie and you are good friends. She's the one person you can relate to. 9/10
Becca is your sister and is the most important person to you. 10/10
Vernon and you haven't exactly disliked each other, but you never liked him much either. 6/10
Brie has always been sweet and merciful compared to everyone else in the group. 7/10
Boyd has always been a compassionate guy and is never hostile towards you. 7/10
Clive is a lot more annoying to you, seeing as how he is a stronger member of the groups hierarchy. Still, inoffensive in general. 6/10
Roman is a decent friend to you, but still can be quite frustrating to deal with. 6/10
Joyce hasn't always been very friendly to you and she's kind of a pain in the ass. 5/10
((QOTC: Opinions on the original Shel's story? I vote it as the lamest story with the blandest/worst characters. I hate Bonnie more than Shel but I still don't like this story much. However, it will be important later so might as well tweak it to make it better.))