III - Raided
PRESENT DAY
-Day 16-
Vonda woke up to a cloudy morning. The RV was already moving, and this is when she realized she overslept. She went to the bathroom to wash her mouth uncertain to why she was able to sleep well.
"You sleep well, Vonda?" asked Richard, his hands on the steering wheel.
"Could've sworn the whole apocalypse thing was a dream," said Vonda.
"Damn, that good? Well, you missed the announcement earlier, but I just want you to know we crossed the Ohio-Pennsylvania border."
"We're in PA, now? Cool. That's the fourth state I've been in my whole life now."
"What other states you've been at?" asked Zach.
"Oh, you know, just the ones nearby, like Ohio... Michigan, obviously. And New York."
"You've been to New York before?" asked Tabby. "Cool! I want to visit that place myself! Did you see all the tall buildings?"
"No, I wasn't in that part of New York. Buffalo was the farthest I've been."
"Oh."
"Well, every day that we get closer to Houlton, you could check more states off your list," said Richard. "Like... Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine."
"I want to visit NYC someday," said Vonda. "Though, that might not be possible if we're trying to avoid all the big cities, right? And NYC isn't exactly small-town."
"Who knows. Maybe we could find a boat and sail down the Hudson. See the city from a safe distance. How's that sound?"
"Doesn't sound bad."
Richard looked at Missy.
"How 'bout you, dear?" smiled Richard. "How does a little boat trip to Manhattan sound?"
"I don't know, honey. That just might be the best thing in the world."
Richard chuckled. He then heard the walkie-talkie crackle.
"Lori to Richard. Requesting to stop vehicles for the reason of a much-needed lunch break."
"Richard to Lori. Request accepted. Message to all, stop and rest the vehicles. We're eating lunch."
All the vehicles stopped by the massive Lake Erie. All the kids except Clyde stepped out of their vehicles. Lori headed straight to the RV, followed by Lynn, Lincoln, and Francisco. Upon entering, Lynn, Lincoln, and Francisco walked towards Clyde, in hopes of him forgiving Lynn. However, Lori walked past Clyde and towards David, who was waking up from his nap.
"So, can we finally kick out those assholes?" asked Lori.
"Yeah," groaned David as he stretched his arms. "Carlos. Sun's high. You and your friends can go now."
"Aw, just like that?" asked Carlos. "Shit, man, I mean just a little bit further up the road?"
"I think we were fair with the amount of time we gave you. The next time we're stopping is at nighttime. So, you have to go now."
Carlos shrugged. He stood up from the booth table and looked back at his friends.
"Alright, homes," said Carlos. "Let's go."
Angel, Esteban, Adriel, Wavehead, and D all stood up in a disorganized manner and grabbed their bags.
"It was nice of y'all to give us a ride," said Wavehead. "Extra nice for letting us crash here."
"Yeah, man, some of y'all were chill," said Esteban. "I like that, I like that."
As the boys walked away from the booth table and towards the door, Lincoln, Lynn, and Francisco stood by the couch, though only Lincoln was looking down at Clyde, who wasn't looking back at him.
"I know it's hard, Clyde. But you have to forgive Lynn. She did what she thought was best for you."
Clyde continued to look away. He then glanced at David as he spoke.
"Hey, aren't you kids forgetting something?" asked David. "Your guns and knives. Lemme just get 'em for you."
"You don't need to. We got 'em right here," said Carlos, brandishing his handgun.
"Huh?" gasped Clyde.
David immediately reached for his weapon before Carlos fired a bullet in his direction, striking the closet door next to him. Lori flinched and stumbled back. The kids by the couch all screamed and yelped. Missy gasped as Richard turned his head fast. Wavehead and D flinched, grabbing on to the booth table.
Luna, who was in Chunk's van, quickly turned around while Sam let out a stunned gasp. Becky looked at the RV and stood up, reaching for her pistol. Dana and Tad stood up with her.
"What the hell was that?" asked Tad.
"I don't know," said Becky, pulling her pistol out. "Sounded like a gunshot."
David's hand was left frozen inches away from his pistol as he looked straight at Carlos.
"Eh, eh, eh!" warned Carlos. "Pull that shit out and see what happens next!"
David froze. He looked at the kid and saw Esteban, Angel, and Adriel with their handguns out. The muzzle of the guns were all pointed at the group.
Suddenly, the door opened and Becky, Dana, and Tad came in. Becky then saw Carlos and his friends with their guns out. She stumbled back and attempted to raise her pistol but felt her arms locking in place.
"Drop the gun, sweetheart," smiled Carlos.
Becky immediately dropped the pistol. She then grabbed Tad's hands as she continued to look ahead in fear.
"Now?" asked Esteban.
"Yeah, go ahead," whispered Carlos before he raised his voice. "David, my man Esteban is gonna take you out this RV. You and him are gonna take a lil' walk to the car with all your guns."
David looked at Esteban, who was wielding two Glock 17s. Esteban walked up to him, passing by the kids. He then looked at Carlos with an angry look.
"Yeah, I ain't stupid. Nor blind. I saw all 'em guns you were holding in a crate. Not very well-hidden in my opinion."
"I didn't think I had to hide them," growled David.
"Yeah, well, sorry about that, sir. Had you hid them well... then we may not have been tempted."
"Come with me," said Esteban, passing by the teenagers and adults. "Open the door."
David continued to glare at Carlos.
"Go on!" provoked Carlos. "Do something stupid!"
David's eyes did not leave Carlos for a few seconds. Then, he turned around and reluctantly opened the door, stepping outside to see a group of confused and concerned kids. He then saw the confusion in the faces of said kids descend into fear as he walked with Esteban aiming his two pistols behind his head. He then moved one of the pistols away from David and pointed it towards the kids, who yelled in fear and cowered at the ground.
"Don't," said David. "They're not gonna do anything."
"Mind your own business and walk to the damn car!" shouted Esteban.
"Chunk... can you hand me your keys?" calmly asked David.
Chunk looked at Esteban and slowly stood up. He reached into his pocket, which activated Esteban's crazy eyes.
"Hey, easy there!" Esteban shouted.
"He's just getting the keys. He is just... getting the keys."
Chunk closed his eyes and raised his free hand in the air as he pulled out a pair of keys.
"Good," said David. "You can toss them over here."
Chunk nodded and tossed the keys towards David, though it fell and landed to the pavement a few feet in front of David.
David sighed.
"Well, whatchu' waiting for? Pick it up!" urged Esteban.
David walked forward and bent down to pick up the keys. As he grabbed the keys, he felt his free hand near his handgun. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then looked at the frightened kids and released his deep breath as he bent back up.
He then glanced at Esteban, whose fingers were on the triggers. He sighed again and walked over to Chunk's van.
Meanwhile, Carlos whistled and walked towards the booth table. Wavehead and D both moved away before Carlos jumped and slid over the booth table. His shoes then landed on the booth seats and he reached for the shotgun that was mounted over the window. He grabbed it and walked around the table, cackling as he goggled over the wooden barrel. He then looked back at his hostages.
"Nice," he smiled. "Very nice. Probably the biggest gun I ever held."
Lori looked down at the Glock 17 that Becky had dropped. She then raised her head and closed her eyes as she began to breathe quickly.
"Y'know, we had a bigger group before. Way bigger. I'm talkin' like fifty large. Reppin' Clark-Fulton. The rest of Cleveland can suck my dick. Yeah, we owned the city. Fuck twelve too. Had them fools running laps around downtown. Wish I had one of these back there. Then we wouldn't have lost many to them."
"Knives are enough to take down the roamers," said Richard. "You didn't need bigger guns. And you certainly don't need them now."
"Who said the guns were for el muerto, homie? You know I meant the pigs, right? Had we had bigger guns, we would've really taken over the city. Wouldn't have gotten shot up by the fuckin' pigs. Protect and serve, my ass. Tell me why when things got crazy with all the muertos out there, they pulled up in our hood and shot up our alleyways, our homes, our parks- taking our guns? You don't think if we had all those big guns you got in that car, we wouldn't have fended them off?"
"We need those guns too. We could've helped you find more."
"Nah. Nah, why go through all that when we have a perfectly good stash here?"
"But they're ours," said Lori. "You're really gonna take them from us like that? That's literally not fair!"
"Aw, princess. When was life fair? And with the world with the way that it is, life only got more unfair. Sorry, about that, but don't blame me. That's life. I'm just doing my best to get the edge."
"It's alright," said Dana. "Once you take the guns, you'll go, right?"
"Mmm. We're also gonna take the cars and dump you out in the road. And I don't mean alive."
"What?"
"You can't!" whimpered Becky.
"Please, man, you can take the guns," said Tad. "But don't kill us."
"Sorry, man, but I have to. Can't risk letting any of y'all live."
Lincoln looked down at the floor as he felt his breath trembling. Clyde closed his eyes, letting out some tears while Lynn and Francisco held each other tightly.
"C'mon, man. This is not right," said D. "Look, they just kids. And them girls- they're scared of you. They not gon' chase us down or nothing so whatchu' worried about?"
"Oh, they're scared now, but that don't mean one of them won't pull up on us and cap us. Now, c'mon, what are you doing? Get your gun up!"
"No, man," said Wavehead. "We don't wanna be a part of this. We can just take the guns and cars and go. We drive far enough away from them and they're never gonna track us down."
"Don't be a bunch of pussies. We need to do this. Especially you two. Y'all need to be ready for this."
"Ready for what? Ready to kill a bunch of kids? Hell nah."
"Oh, alright," said Carlos. "I gotchu."
Carlos grabbed the shotgun by the barrel and smacked Wavehead in the face with the butt of the gun, causing him to groan and stumble back. He then pointed the shotgun at D, who raised his hands.
"Hey, man-" said D.
"Shut up, dumbass. Didn't know you were such a pussy. And now look at your stupid asses. Gonna die with the rest of 'em."
Lori's pupils shrank and she got goosebumps upon hearing him. Dana and Clyde began to sob.
Carlos laughed as he smacked his forehead.
"Wow!" cackled Carlos. "Don't tell me y'all actually wanna live in this shitty world! Oh my fuckin' god..."
"Why are you doing this?" hissed Lori. "Why do you have to kill us? Do you really want to waste those bullets on us, instead of the roamers?"
"Y'all have a lotta fuckin' guns. So yeah, why the fuck not?"
"Hey! Listen to me," exclaimed Missy as she walked forward. "What are you doing? What are you trying to achieve?"
"Hey, I don't remember asking you to talk, so why don't you shut your mouth. And you need to back the fuck away, sweetheart."
"I think we can come to some type of deal. Whatever you want, we can give you, but you have to let these kids live. Please, I beg of you."
Richard looked at Missy with concern. He then looked at Carlos, who was caught off-guard.
"Well... I mean... I kinda have to kill these kids to get what I want. I mean... it's gonna be mad uncomfortable fucking your brains out while the rest of them watch."
Missy's heart sank as Carlos inched closer to her. She looked at Richard, who gritted his teeth and clenched his knuckles. Lori looked at the kids, who all were looking away from Carlos.
"So not only are you all a bunch of thugs... you're all also rapists? Might as well shoot me now," spat Missy.
Carlos smirked.
"Come on, sweetheart. Don't act like you don't want it. And hey, if you fuck good, we might let you live. That's what you want, right?"
Missy huffed.
"And the kids? Well, we can't let them all live, but some of them can. Like Lori."
Lori's eyes widened.
"And the redhead."
Becky lowered her head as she struggled to hold back her tears.
"And the brunette."
Dana continued sobbing into her hands.
"This brunette is too young for me, but maybe Adriel will take her."
"I will," said Adriel. "She's just a feisty little cute thing, isn't she?"
Lynn puffed angrily.
"Aw. I hope you're a fighter."
"As for the rest of you... well, I don't think you'd wanna see that so I'll just kill you all," said Carlos.
"You think you're real tough shit, huh? Waving a gun around and disrespecting my wife and all the young women here and threatening to kill us? I'll kill you before you even touch any of 'em. And if you think you're so tough, then drop your guns and get your hands up. I'll beat all four of you by myself. So, come on! Come at me like a man!"
Carlos cackled.
"Yo, you hearin' this shit?" Carlos smirked. "Oh, man, what the fuck? Are you stupid or something?"
"So what, you're telling me you're a pussy?"
"Ah, yeah, this is gonna get annoying real fast. I'm killing you first."
Carlos raised his shotgun and aimed it at Richard. The teens screamed as they lowered themselves. Richard clenched his teeth and lifted his hands up, shielding his face.
All of a sudden, Missy jumped at Carlos and punched him in the jaw, knocking him down.
Angel grabbed Missy, and pinned her to the floor, while Lori looked at the Glock 17 inches away from her.
Carlos held his jaw and noticed blood seeping out of his mouth. He then spat a tooth out and groaned.
"You fucking bitch! I'm going to fuck you up so hard."
"Come on then!" screamed Missy.
Carlos lifted himself up and stomped on Missy's legs. She screamed.
Richard yelled as he ran forward. Angel lifted his pistol while Carlos gasped. He reacted by moving his shotgun up and aiming it at Richard.
David strained as he walked around hunched in Chunk's van.
"Come on, what are you taking so long for?" barked Esteban.
"I need help with the boxes," said David. "It's so much easier with someone helping me out, you know?"
Leni held onto Bobby's arms as he watched and kept Darcy's eyes covered with his own hands. Lola and Lana grabbed each other's arms, Luan held Benny tightly as he watched Esteban in anger, Lisa frowned with her eyes, Luna and Sam held each other's head tightly while Chunk hid behind them, Lucy looked down at Lily on her arms, who was on the verge of tears, and Sergei stood in front of Carol, who was biting her nails. Esteban looked around the cars, and glared at Leni.
"Alright, get out!" yelled Esteban.
Esteban grabbed David's shirt and dragged him out of the van and tossed him into the ground. He then grabbed David's pistol and kicked him before closing the van.
"You won't be needing this," said Esteban as he walked away from David.
"Where... where the hell you going?" groaned David.
Esteban bit his lips as he walked towards Leni.
"Mmm, goddamn," murmured Esteban. "You the finest bitch I ever seen."
"Stay away from her," said Bobby, as Leni held on to him tighter.
"Oh, you're her boyfriend? Well, shit, I might just have to make her single then."
Esteban lifted his right pistol and aimed at Bobby.
"No!" yelled Bobby.
Bobby and Leni closed their eyes while everyone held their breaths.
In the RV, Richard shielded his face again by instinct. However, all he heard were clicks.
"Huh?" gasped Carlos as he continued to press the trigger.
Richard then leaped up to him and grabbed his shirt before punching him. Carlos groaned as he dropped the shotgun. Angel kept his pistol up, but couldn't get a clear shot as Richard was using Carlos as a shield. Adriel then reached for his pistol.
Lori took a deep breath. Her hands were trembling.
Richard then pushed Carlos forward while continuing to grab onto him, both of them falling atop Adriel. Missy groaned as she felt the weight of the men crushing her before Carlos kicked Richard away from him. Carlos rolled towards Angel, now giving him a clear shot on Richard.
Lori then stood up and aimed the pistol in her hand at Angel.
Three gunshots banged loudly from the RV followed by screams. Esteban quickly turned his head towards the RV, confused. He then heard the sound of footsteps approaching, but before he could turn around, David wrapped his arms around Esteban's neck.
"Ugh, shit!" groaned Esteban as he clutched David's arms.
David slammed his free hand on Esteban's forehead and quickly twisted his head, snapping his neck. He then released his body and allowed it to fall to the ground.
Carlos gasped as he looked at Angel from the floor. He wore three bullet holes, two in the stomach and one in the chest. He lay atop the booth table, not budging while blood was splattered against the window. He then looked at Adriel, who grabbed his pistol and lifted it. However, before he could aim at Lori, another gunshot was fired as blood squirted out the back of Adriel's head, some of it landing on Carlos. Dana, Tad, Clyde, and Francisco screamed. Carlos tried to grab his pistol, but noticed it was lying on the floor next to Richard.
Bobby opened his eyes upon hearing the second gunshot. He saw Esteban lying on the ground, dead, and David picking up his pistol.
"He's... dead!" gasped Bobby.
"Yup," said David. "Take his gun. Go to the back door. I'll take the front. We bust in at the same time, okay?"
"Uh huh."
"Hurry, kid."
Suddenly, Carlos busted out from the back door as David raised his pistol. David aimed at him, though Carlos quickly took cover behind Chunk's van. Lori quickly ran up to the back door and aimed at Carlos, who continued to run along the vehicles. She squeezed the trigger a few more times, managing to strike Carlos in the back of his leg.
Carlos screamed as he fell down to the asphalt in the middle of the road.
David then saw Lori come out from the back door of the RV. He jogged towards the vehicles as Lori stared at Carlos, her hands trembling as she got closer to him. Some of the riders in the RV looked out the windows while some others were frozen with fear. The group outside looked at Lori and David as they came to a stop.
"Please, don't," gasped Carlos as blood ran through his jeans. "You got me! I'm done. I... I can't. I'm all tapped out, fuck. You can't kill me. I'm not a threat anymore. Please, David, sir, I'm sorry-"
David lifted his M9 pistol and shot Carlos in the head, blowing his brains out. Even Lori flinched at David's sudden kill. The group all stared in shock as smoke seeped out of the muzzle from David's pistol. David himself continued to look at the teen he killed, lowering his pistol before closing his eyes, feeling the heat of the sun hammering him and creating puddles of sweat across his forehead, his neck, and his chest. He then opened his eyes and walked back to the RV while all the group members stared at him. Lori took a few seconds to look at Carlos before following David.
Richard nodded as David came inside the RV. The group members inside looked at David as he looked around the vehicle. He then looked at D and Wavehead, the former attending to the latter's nose injury. He then lifted his pistol, causing both boys to raise their hands.
"No!" gasped Wavehead. "We didn't do anything! We swear!"
"David!" gasped Missy.
"Everyone out," said David.
The group members rushed out from the front door of the RV while Lori, Richard, and Missy stayed.
"You too, Lori."
"I'm not going to let you execute these guys," said Lori.
"Well, that's entirely up to them."
"Please, sir. We didn't know they were gonna do this," begged Wavehead. "Don't kill us!"
"We didn't know 'em like that," said D. "Had we known they were gon' do this, we woulda' never associated with them."
"Sure," said David.
"Hey, Carlos was going to kill them too!" exclaimed Lori. "They really didn't know Carlos and his friends were going to hold us hostage like that!"
"It's true," said Missy. "They stood up for us. They clearly didn't know what Carlos and his friends were planning and they sure as hell didn't want to go along with their plan. These are decent people."
David grit his teeth and grumbled before lowering his gun.
"What the fuck were you doing with these assholes?" asked David.
"W-W-We have history with them," said Wavehead.
"We knew 'em from school," said D. "He was in our grade, but man's two whole years older than me. I ain't never seen someone stay back three whole years. I stayed back once, so I thought I was stupid 'til I met this asshole. Still, he liked me. When everything went down, our folks... they, y'know, the roamers..."
Lori took a deep concerned breath. Richard looked at Missy, who looked at the boys, feeling sorry for them.
"Anyways. Wavehead and I, we're tight. One day, Carlos found us and took us to his crib. Then, shit started going down even crazier. Cops turnin' on us and shootin' us. Even folks like y'all weren't spared. That's when we knew we had to get the fuck out of Cleveland. And so we did. And that's how we found y'all. I had no idea he and the others were killers, man. Were they slingin'? Sure, but murdering and raping? Nah, I didn't know they were like that."
"What about stealing the weapons? You guys looked like you were gonna go along with that," said Richard.
"Only because they were gonna kill you guys. We couldn't tell these people to leave empty-handed. These motherfuckers were crazy, man."
"Had they not threatened to kill us, would you still have gone along with their plan?"
D and Wavehead looked at David, Richard, Missy, and Lori.
"I... don't know. I'm sure Wavehead would have. The only reason I stood up for y'all was because Wavehead did. He's the actual decent person here. He only knew these guys because of me. So, if you gotta punish someone, punish me."
"Yeah, we're looking to throw someone in jail for this," said David.
"You're not gonna hurt us?"
"No. But you will be doing something for us."
After a few minutes of silence, the group saw Richard and D walking out of the RV with Angel's body. They were followed by Missy and Wavehead, who were lifting Adriel's body out of the RV. The four of them dropped the bodies on the grass next to the road. David and Lori were inside, wiping the blood off the windshield and booth table with bleach and some dried clothing from the closet.
Dana hugged Leni as the blonde girl sobbed into her shoulders. Lola was still trembling as she grabbed Lana's hands. Liam had his arm wrapped around Tabby's shoulders, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder.
Missy walked inside the RV and approached David.
"Blood's coming off nicely," said Missy. "Carpet's gonna be a bitch to clean up though."
"Yeah, well, this bleach's gonna have to do," said David.
"Right. So, about the boys..."
"What about 'em?"
"What are we gonna do with them?"
"They're getting out of this alive. What more can they ask for?"
"We're dropping them off here?"
"Sure. They asked for a ride out of the city. We gave that to them. They're free to go wherever they want."
"Thing is... I was thinking they can come with us."
"One of them asked you?"
"They both did."
David sighed.
"It's the safer option for them," he said. "But I can't risk it. It's not the safer option for us."
"These kids aren't gonna hurt us."
"I don't know what these kids can and can't do. I'm sorry. I can't risk it."
"You're wrong, David. This is the safer option. We're nowhere close to Maine and we're already down two people."
"And we gained four."
"And we can gain two more. Thirty-two people? That's an impressive size. Thirty-four? Even more so. But we both know it won't be enough. We had fifty people go against the rogues back in Royal Woods and we still couldn't manage to rescue a single hostage. We're gonna need a whole lot more people."
"And these kids are going to be such a big help?"
"Every number counts. We may encounter more raider groups out there. We have more guns than people. We need to start putting these guns into people's hands. The safety of our group depends on it."
"We don't even know if they're willing to fight for us."
"We won't know until we ask. But even if they decline to help us with the mission... they can still help us with the journey."
"Putting guns on the hands of these kids are the last thing I'd think about doing. I can't risk it."
"David... whatever you decide, I'll respect your decision. But I'm telling you, you're wrong on this. We need more people. We need to build confidence and morale. Otherwise, we'll never make it."
David closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"What do you say, Lori?"
"You're asking me?"
"Yeah. Should we leave them here? Or take 'em with us?"
Lori looked at David before tossing the bloodied rag aside.
David, Lori, and Missy walked out of the RV. David then stood by with his arms crossed as Lori and Missy walked over to Wavehead and D.
"You guys can come with us," said Missy.
Wavehead and D both smiled as they turned to each other.
"One condition though," said Lori. "Every step of the way, you have to contribute."
"Yeah, sure thing," said D. "We can definitely pull our own weight. Anything y'all need us to do, we can do it."
"Where are you folks headed?" asked Wavehead. "Doesn't really matter to us, since we're out of the city already, but... doesn't hurt to know, right?"
"We're heading to Houlton, Maine," explained Missy. "It's a town bordering Canada on the east side of the state. We have a mission there, but there's no need to concern yourself with that yet. We'll tell you all about it later."
Richard walked up to David.
"Hey, you're okay with this?" he asked.
"Your wife made some pretty good points," said David before pulling out two shotgun shells from his pocket. "By the way, can you put these back in the shotgun?"
David tossed two shotgun shells at Richard. Richard caught them and looked at David and laughed.
"You smart son of a bitch," said Richard. "You knew."
"I wasn't going to leave a loaded shotgun near them."
"Wait!" exclaimed Rusty.
"Huh?"
"We're bringing them with us? After what they tried to do to us?"
"They didn't do anything."
"Their friends did! I know! What makes you think they won't do the same to us?"
"It's just a risk we're gonna have to take."
"Who convinced you this was a good idea?"
"Decision's all mine, kid."
"David..." said Lori, "...you don't have to cover for us. We're not afraid of being honest. Rusty, we convinced him."
Rusty let out a chuckle before trembling.
"What is wrong with you? We should be driving away from these people as far away as possible!"
Wavehead and D looked at each other, feeling shameful.
"They're not like Carlos and his friends!" said Lori. "If they try anything... well, you know what happens to them."
"So, what, we're gonna have to wait until they try something on us first? Until one of them grabs our guns and kills us in our sleep? Am I the only one with some common sense here?"
"Rusty, calm down," said Lincoln.
"Shut up! Don't talk to me like I'm going crazy! I'm not! We should be afraid of this kind of stuff! Death is real, you know! Death is very real!"
"Rusty..." said Tabby.
"What? What do you want?"
"We just want you to take a chill pill," said Zach.
"Yeah, you're spookin' the youngins'," said Liam.
"They should be afraid. We all have to be afraid! That's how we survive!"
"No!" shouted Clyde. "That's how cowards survive! They get scared and do whatever they think is safest. I know death is real! We all know! We've seen it! You think you're the only one who's had a member of their own family killed? Do you? If we did whatever we thought was safest, then we wouldn't be heading to Maine right now! We would be leaving everyone in there to die! Including your dad! That's what a coward does! Damn it, Rusty, get a grip!"
Clyde panted as Rusty stared at him with wide eyes. Rusty then looked around to see his friends staring at him with an aura of discomfort surrounding them. He then looked at Lucy, who was rubbing her arms with guilt. Rusty then looked away and walked to the RV.
"Whatever, man..." said Rusty, his voice breaking.
Wavehead and D looked uncomfortable as they approached the group.
"We really don't wanna cause too much trouble," said Wavehead. "If we're not welcome, we can leave..."
"No, we'd really like you to come," said Lori. "It's just... he lost his brother not too long ago. He's not really himself. We just need to give him time."
"Damn. We're sorry to hear that," said D.
"We don't plan on losing more people, though. It's getting really hot out here. And the roamers had to have heard those gunshots... right?"
"Yeah," said David. "We should leave now."
As the group members entered their respective vehicles, Lori approached her friends.
"Guys, what happened back there..."
"We know," said Dana. "It's okay, Lori. To be honest, we're relieved."
"I just wish I hadn't frozen up there," said Becky. "Quick thinking on your part, Lori. No matter what anyone says, you saved us. We all owe you for that."
Lori looked at them as if she wanted to say something but nodded instead. She then handed the Glock 17 back to Becky.
"You won't freeze up next time, Becky. I believe in you."
Becky looked at Lori before nodding and placing the pistol back into her holster. She then hugged Lori.
Lincoln stood behind Vanzilla and looked at Lori as she walked away from her friends and towards Vanzilla. She then saw Lori grab Lynn before walking her over to Lincoln.
"Hey, are you okay?" asked Lori.
"For someone who thought they were going to die, surprisingly, yes," said Lincoln. "But seriously, that was really scary back there."
"Forreal," said Lynn. "I didn't think I could get scared like that."
"I'm sorry you had to see that. Both of you."
"You really showed 'em though, sis." said Lynn. "Someone had to kill those assholes."
"You know..." said Lori, her voice trembling, "...it was actually pretty easy to do. But I didn't want to do it. I wanted to kill them so badly, but you guys were there. But when they had us at gunpoint, I knew I had a job to do. Protecting my family will always be the most important thing to me. Sometimes... you have to take a life to save a life. It's not morally wrong to protect the ones you love. But you should never enjoy doing it."
"We know," said Lincoln. "We just wanted to see if you are okay."
Lori gulped and nodded.
"Yeah. I'm okay."
Lynn smiled. Lori smiled back and walked to Vanzilla. As she got on the driver's seat, she looked at her hands and noticed that they were trembling uncontrollably. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she held on to the steering wheel. She then looked at the rearview mirror and noticed Luan wrapping her arms around a pained Leni. Noticing the fear and the trauma plastered on Leni's face, Lori felt a sting of rage poke at her heart. She then looked at her hands again and noticed that they were completely still.
As Lynn walked back to Vanzilla, Clyde approached her.
"Lynn..."
"Clyde! That was quite the speech you gave."
"Just had to be honest with Rusty. He was kind of being irrational there."
"Heh, true that."
Clyde continued to look at Lynn, the pain in his eyes not having faded from earlier.
"You need something?" asked Lynn.
"Yeah. Can you stay with me for a little?"
Lynn looked at Clyde with surprise. She then smiled.
"Of course."
Francisco, overhearing the conversation, interjected.
"I'll be at Vanzilla with Lincoln, alright?" said Francisco.
Lynn nodded her head followed Clyde to the RV. As everyone was inside their vehicles, Lori prepared to start the engine of the car. However, upon looking at the side mirror by the passenger side of Vanzilla, she noticed something. Angel's corpse appeared to be moving and standing up on its own. Bobby looked at Lori before turning to the right.
"Oh my god..." said Bobby.
The fresh corpse of Angel appeared to have golden glowing eyes.
"He was infected," said Lori as she grabbed the walkie-talkie. "David, the quiet guy with the shades is a roamer now."
"I got him," said Richard.
Richard walked out the RV with a knife. Roamer Angel continued to limp towards Vanzilla before Richard came up from behind it and shoved his knife up its brain. He then dropped the body. Lori then noticed Richard stabbing the head of every one of Carlos's friends, and ultimately, Carlos himself. Richard then went back to the RV, wiping his knife with a small towel.
After a few seconds, the RV moved, which was Lori's cue to start driving.
Carol sat in the backseat in Chaz's car as she looked out the window.
"Carol? Why you sit in the back?" asked Sergei, pressing on the gas pedal.
"I just want to relax my back for a little," said Carol as she took out her anti-depressant pills.
"Feeling down?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"My wife used them pills before. I don't think they work for her. I rather not talk about it."
"I take these when times are hard, you know?"
"What about those oxycodone pills? Help you as well?"
Carol looked at Sergei guiltily. She quickly swallowed the pills and put the bottles away. Sergei sighed in disappointment.
"None of your business, Sergei."
The cars drove away, leaving the corpses of Carlos and his friends behind in the grass as a few roamers appeared from the distance.