CHAPTER NINE

"Finding the Lost"

Come on, come on. Sage willed himself to reach the thin wire that was bound around his right ankle with his free right hand, his other holding onto the baseball bat for dear life. He shot a quick glance towards the lumbering walker approaching him, its wheezing breath drawing ever closer. Sage bit back a curse, swatting aimlessly at the wire. If he couldn't free himself, he knew he'd need to use the bat as a line of self-defense.

The walker hissed, throwing its hands out before it. Sage glanced back at it, taking in the dark red sweater it wore, its threads torn at the bicep, where equally dark and torn flesh hung loose—that, Sage, determined, was where the woman had been bitten.

Before she'd turned into . . . one of them.

Sage was able to grasp the wire and gave a fierce tug, but to no avail—it was wound around his ankle tightly. There was no prying himself free. He followed the thin material up to its source, a metal lamppost nestled on the edge of the sidewalk. He thought he could possibly reach it with the bat, but that was a great hope. If he couldn't . . . well, he'd feel much more secure trying for that after dispatching the walker approaching him.

Sage returned his focus to the nearing predator, gnashing its jaws at him. Sage inhaled sharply, gripping the bat tightly. He did his best to line up the bat with the approaching creature's head, but he knew it'd be a tough ask, to wallop the walker in the skull while hanging upside down. Deep inside, he questioned if he could actually manage to connect the hit. But, even deeper, he knew that it wasn't a matter of if—he had to connect, for himself . . . and for Annie.

Biting his lip gingerly, Sage reared his arms to the side, winding up for the strike—and he let it swing freely. The bat swung and, much to Sage's surprise, connected with a smash into the walker's face. He heard a thick crunch—probably its nose—as it staggered back, blood spraying onto both him and the sidewalk below. The creature took a moment to regain its footing before it lumbered forward again, opening its mouth with its teeth bared. It hoped to sink its teeth deep into Sage's flesh, he knew, but that would not—no, could not happen.

Sage squinted his eyes, narrowing them, as he focused on his enemy and the kill shot he needed to land to put it down. As the walker inched ever closer, blood streaming from its caved-in nose into its open jaws, Sage reared up his batting arm once again, let it fly—

SPLAT!

The impact of the bat not only drove into the walker's face yet again, but it tore clean through the walker's head. Sage swung forward a few inches, feeling a bit like a human pinata as he swayed back and forth in the air. Mush and gore plopped to the ground as the walker stuttered a bit, its caved-in skull oozing down its shoulders. As the nearly-headless walking corpse slowly collapsed to its knees, Sage finally let out a sigh of relief and took in a breath of fresh air. He wasn't dead.

Well, not yet, anyways.

Iago swung down with the machete, cleaving through a walker's head. At the same time, Brian kicked into another walker's ankle, bending its leg inwards as it dropped down and he pulled his knife from his belt, plunging it into the back of the undead person's skull. The two walkers fell over limp as Elodie and Brennan came to a stop behind them, glancing around.

"Left side's clear," Iago said, gesturing with his head.

Brian nodded. "We go left." The group all clustered together, jogging down the alleyway, avoiding knocked-over trash barrels and scattered debris. The city was a mess; Brian couldn't imagine being trapped within Atlanta, running every which way and not knowing how many walkers were hidden tucked behind each corner.

It was a literal death trap.

"Dad, are we getting close to where that flare came from?" Brennan asked, throwing a cautious look to each side.

Brian sucked a sharp breath. "I think so. Be on the lookout, all of you; we don't know what to expect ahead of us."

As they neared another corner that led down another alley, a shot rang out, causing them all to freeze in their tracks. They all stood in complete silence, glancing from one side to another, as another shot rang out. Then another. Then, a yell—"Come on, Dahlia, hurry!" It was the voice of a man—no, a boy, by the sound of it, not much older than Brennan or Elodie.

Brian gestured forward with his rifle. "Come on." Then, in a much graver tone, "Stay. Close."

The four rounded the corner, and Brian rested the rifle's stock in the nook of his shoulder. He felt his jaw drop at the sight before him: the owner of the voice was a young man, a little under six foot, firing a pistol at an approaching stream of walkers. By the desperation in his movements, Brian had to guess that the pistol's ammo supply was running near dry. The young man was wedged between the walkers and three children—a small, red-headed girl, another small girl with blonde hair, and a little boy with dark, shaggy hair. Brian felt his heart crack, reminded of his little girl—and son, as a matter of fact. He glanced over to Brennan, who was eyeing the lone boy fighting for the three children with him in . . . was it awe? Bewilderment? Confusion?

Whatever the emotion, Brian couldn't waste a moment determining between them. He cupped his left hand over his mouth and yelled, "Hey, kids! Over here!"

The four newcomers all jolted, and the kids shrieked as the young man spun around, leveling his pistol. Brian held up his hands. "Hold your fire! We don't mean you any harm. We want to help you."

It was then that Brian saw the boy's face. Not that the look of shock and fear was anything new—no, that was expected in times like these. It was . . . well, Brian felt bad thinking it, but the boy's face was damaged. Its whole left side looked like a patchwork of skin, a bit lighter in certain spots than others, somewhat reminiscent of vitiligo—but not quite. The marks adorning his lips and cheekbone were a testament to the fact that these were scars.

The boy's lip curled and his hand shook unsteadily. He didn't take his eyes off of the group.

"Trust me, son," Brian said calmly. "We're not your enemy here. You know that."

The boy stopped shaking, then let out an inaudible sigh before turning and firing at the nearest walker.

Not much of a vote of confidence, Brian figured, but better than having a gun trained on him. He restocked the rifle into his shoulder and fired at another walker. Iago began to fire with his semi-auto rifle as Elodie nudged Brennan. He glanced at her, dumbfounded. "Come on," she said, wrapping her fingers through his. Brennan's brow furrowed and Elodie gestured ahead. "The kids. Come on!"

Brennan nodded, following Elodie as she sprinted for the three children. "Come on, kids," she said, grabbing the blonde girl's hand. The girl let out a shriek and wrenched her arm free, and she swung up the other, revealing a crowbar within it.

Now, it was Elodie's turn to shriek. She staggered, taken aback by the girl's weapon. The young man whirled back and eyed both Elodie and the little girl. His eyes flicked between the two before he held a hand out, warding Elodie and Brennan off. "Don't touch them."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Elodie said, her brow furrowed. Brennan stepped between her and the new guy, glancing to Elodie. He grasped her hand softly, massaging her knuckles with his fingers.

"Hey, hey, you okay?" he asked, his eyes boring into hers.

She nodded. "Yeah." Then, in a louder tone, she turned to Brian. "We need to get out of here. Find the others."

Brian nodded as he, Iago, and the new guy dispatched the remaining walkers. "Come on, we can go this way," he said, gesturing towards the opposite street leading back towards the storefronts where they had gotten separated from Sage, Allie, and Sam. He, Brennan, Iago, and Elodie began jogging as the new guy waved the others onward.

"Come on, guys," he muttered, his voice thickly accented. Brian shot him a glance, as if to study the boy—the accent and complexion hinted that he might have originated from the Middle East, but he couldn't be definite without getting a definitive answer, and that seemed to be a chore with the boy.

But now wasn't the time for an interrogation.

"I know it's hard to trust strangers in this world, kid, but you've gotta believe me—we're not going to hurt you or those kids you've got. We've got kids of our own—I have kids of my own." Brian glanced to the boy. "We're friends now. Got that?"

A moment passed without an answer before the boy nodded. "Yeah. Got that."

"Alright." Brian exhaled before adding, "We can go more in-depth on introductions later, but for now, I'm Brian."

The boy nodded before huffing, "My name's Kai."

"Nice to meet you, Kai." Brian glanced down the street as he cocked his rifle. "Now, let's try not to die."

Sage tried to reach for the wire again, but it was no use. He let out a defeated sigh. How was he going to get out of this mess?

As he groaned deeply, he caught sight of something moving in the distance. He stifled a curse as he feared it was another walker, but this shape—it moved more briskly and humanly, not in the shuffling, haphazard way the undead did.

No, this was a person. A living, breathing person.

The figure was small and moving about behind cover, as if it was trying to hide. A survivor, Sage thought to himself. Then, following closely behind, a large, fluffy dog followed the figure into their hiding spot. "The hell," Sage murmured, narrowing his eyes. "I don't believe it."

Finally, he yelled out, "Hey! You down there! Give me a hand!"

The figure stood from its hiding spot, staring at Sage, before it turned tail and ran, the dog following behind. "Hey! Get back here!" he shouted before he heard footsteps behind him. Fighting effortlessly to try and swing around, he threw his hand to his holstered pistol before a familiar voice called out.

"You won't need that, Sage—not now, anyways."

Sage sighed in relief. "Brian, thank God."

Brian came to Sage's side as Elodie appeared on his other. "Hanging around, are we?" Elodie said, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Haha, very funny," Sage said mockingly. "Can one of you guys reach that lamppost and cut me down? I'm surprised I haven't blacked out yet."

"Sure thing," Iago replied. He slapped Brennan's shoulder. "Come on, pretty boy, give me a boost," he said as he gripped his machete.

"What did you just call me?" Brennan asked, his face contorted in confusion as Iago turned and winked at Elodie, who let out a slight chuckle. Brennan's face reddened as he got to his knees and Iago climbed atop his shoulders. "Ouch," Brennan said as Iago's boots dug into his shoulders.

"Don't start whining on me. It'll only take a second."

Iago reached up with his machete, sawing at the wire with the blade, and in a few seconds he cut through the thin material. Sage dropped down, although Brian and Elodie were there to catch him and break his fall. As they helped him to his feet, he pressed a hand to his head and massaged his temples. "Thanks," he said, sighing. "I thought I was gonna be a goner if no one found me soon enough."

Brennan glanced down the street, both ways. "Where are the others? Allie and Sam—are they alright?"

"Yeah, they're fine," Sage said, gesturing towards the grocery store. "They were in there when I left them. With three new stragglers."

"We saw them," Elodie replied. She then jutted a thumb at the four newcomers, who had been standing in silence, eyeing the group in discomfort and suspicion. "We found a few ourselves."

Sage nodded. "So I see." He then turned to Brian. "I saw someone else—a figure, watching me while I hung there. They took off down that street with a dog when you guys started coming," he said, pointing in the direction the mysterious figure had retreated in.

"Strange. You'd think a survivor, all on their own, would want to be found and welcomed into a group, not be alone in . . . all of this," Brian muttered.

"You'd think," Sage replied. "But some just do better as loners."

"Maybe we can look for them once we regroup. That was a pretty big horde we came across—I'd feel better if we regrouped and took a bit of a breather before heading back out there. We can discuss it amongst ourselves with the others. And get to know our new friends—the ones you found, too," Brian said.

Sage gave him a nod. "Sounds good. Let's get back and grab the others and get back to camp." He let out a light chuckle. "I could use a good rest."

A/N: Hello everyone, it's been a long time but I am finally back with a new update! I hope you have all been doing well. I've had a super busy and tough year in my personal life, which is why I had to take a rather lengthy break from writing and my projects on here. However, things have been able to slow down relatively well and I have had the urge to work on this story and return to it for you guys. I hope you all are still excited to see where things go, because I know I am excited to get back into this world and reuniting with these characters. For those of you who have been holding out hope that this story would return, thank you - and it has. I hope that it is a solid return. I know it may be a bit on the shorter side, but don't worry, longer chapters are coming. I just couldn't wait any longer without updating. Thank you all for reading. As always, my PMs are open for anyone with ideas, suggestions, or just wanting to discuss the story. Until next time!