3 years past the events of Season 4...
On a road somewhere out in West Virginia, a Walker that was slumped on the side of one of the now many rusted, nonfunctional cars turns its head as it hears some sort of rumbling. The rumbling came louder and louder as it reached out it's one arm, nearly rotted out, towards the source of the sound. A barely audible groan escaped its lips as it's rotted out eyes watched a motorcycle speed through, completely ignoring the Walker and it turned its head and to follow the noise. It would attempt to stand up and shamble after the noise, but alas due to decomposition and the passage of time, the Walker was simply nothing more than a torso, head, and two arms and couldn't do it's namesake. The Walker croaks as it, instead, drag itself very, very slowly after the noise with it's one usable arm, the other having long since been rotted to the point of uselessness.
As the motorcycle roared ahead, uncaring of it's action of drawing any Walkers attention, the two occupants: one driving the vehicle and the other sitting in a sidecar that didn't match the motorcycle's aesthetics, were traveling to a set destination that was picked out beforehand: a small grocery outlet down the way a few more miles. Long since been looted through nearly a decade since the outbreak started, those with careful eyes have been able to find hidden loot either ignored or forgotten.
The sidecar occupant, holding a map close to themselves to combat the wind, keeps an eye on the current location of the duo. They glance up as a green sign on the side of the road appears: Mile 28. They look back at the map and relocate themselves. A few more miles to go. "At Mile 30, take the first left." The sidecar occupant, a woman, says. The driver does a small nod as they continue to drive along.
The sidecar occupant looks around, scanning the area as they put the map away, folding it as nice as they can considering the wind blowing at her and the map. Over the past few years or arriving to this area, the amount of Walkers have decreased considerably. This was thanks not part due to the combined efforts of the three settlements in the area. They were called the Coalition. A few years back thanks to trading, good will, and the charisma of the three leaders, these three groups decided to form this named Coalition to aid each other going forward. After all, they all shared a common goal: survival. Why fight each other when instead they can avoid the bloodshed and worry about the common enemy: Walkers. Since then, the Walker population has gone down considerably with very few loss of life from the human side. Thanks to that, more farmland has opened up and expansion into the surrounding territory to help other survivors as they flocked in.
As they drive past the Mile 30 sign, the driver takes the first right and drives down that way. The driver slows down after some time as a decent sized building appears: the grocery outlet. It wasn't a big brand name store, but rather some old mom and pop style store that was build just a few miles outside the nearest city. By the outlet was some old restaurants, gas station, and other assorted minor places of interest. They were looted long ago, but at least the gas station still had some gas left in the underground tank surprisingly.
The motorcycle pulls up in the parking lot of the grocery outlet, right up by the entrance. After taking a glance around, the driver turns it off and gets up. The sidecar passenger grabs a clutch that was laid down in the side car and gets herself up and out of the sidecar with it. The driver comes around to the sidecar and grabs a few empty duffel bags and takes off his helmet. It was a man, around early to mid 20's in age. He was white and had messy brown hair and tired, baggy blue eyes. His face had some facial hair growing in, however it was currently shaved down and had only once started to grow again. "Ready?" He asks the woman, who had placed her helmet down in the side car. The woman, who was in her early 20's, had messy dark brown hair, tied up to the side in one giant bun. She had brown eyes and was biracial, mixed between Asian and African American. She nods as she reached down to adjust the wooden leg that replaced her left leg, thanks to amputation after she was bit by a Walker. "Yeah, ready."
They both check their guns, both of them were carrying revolvers chambered in .38 Smith and Wesson. After sharing a nod with guns drawn, they enter the grocery outlet, aiming with their weapons as they made sure the place was Walker free. Last time they were here, a few days back, they had killed off the few Walkers that showed up while they were looting so they both expected to see a few strays, but surprisingly: they were clear. They both meet up back at the entrance and nod once more. The man hands the woman a bag and they both walk down the aisles, double checking the very few assorted cans and other items on the shelf. Most of the cans were spoiled, damaged, but a few were good enough condition that they missed out or left behind prior. The man glanced back at the woman who was slowly following along, using the clutch to help herself walk. "You know Clem, you can take it easy now. You don't need to feel obligated to bust your ass off due to being a cripple." He says, a small smirk appearing on his face as he inspects a can on the shelf.
The woman scoffs at him. "This 'cripple' can still kick your ass if I felt like it." she retorts, shaking her head in a lighthearted manner. "Plus, I rested for long enough. If the weather continues as it is now, it'll be a very cold winter. We need everyone to pitch in."
"Yeah I know. I haven't felt this cold since back in the west. Means a lot of snow might be coming in the few months. That or it's a cold snap." He places the can back on the shelf, seeing it was damaged and glances at his watch. "Would be weird to start snowing in June or even July, but I mean it's not impossible..."
The woman grabs a box of powder: water flavor enhancers, and tosses them into her bag as she hobbles along. "Regardless, it wouldn't hurt to take the extra precautions if it snows or not."
They finish the aisle and go onto the next, making light chatter. Even though they didn't find any Walkers, they keep and eye and ear out regardless. After a few more aisles, the woman named Clem matches her pace with the man. "So Snake, have you heard the camps newest rumor?"
The man, named Snake, sighs and rolls his eyes. "Something about us dating? Those kids really do be gossiping."
Clem also rolls her eyes. "Don't think I know it. Just because we hang out doesn't mean we're automatically dating." She lefts off a slight chuckle. "But, they seem happy regardless. It's been a while since I've seen the others able to relax and...well, fool around like this. The last few months were rough."
"Yeah yeah, I'm aware." he says. "Luckily we were able to barter for that medicine. Luckily a certain someone was able to complete that water collecting system." He says, puffing his chest a little. Clem taps his ankle with her clutch, causing him to fake wince and grab his ankle. "Oh hush it, we're thankful you were able to get that all sorted out, but don't forget we traded a lot more than just water to get those meds."
He waves his hand in dismissal as they continued to loot the store. Upon arriving the front of the store, they set the bags down on a cashiers table and look inside to see what they found. Some cans of wood, some magazines that could be used as reading material of fuel for a fire, assorted cooking and liquid enhancing items, some hardware tools featuring nails and duct tape, among other knick-knacks that seemed nice to have if at least to barter with.
"Well, not bad. However I do believe we cleared this place out fully." Snake says, closing his bag up and slinging it across his back. Clem does the same, adjusting her weight to accommodate thew few extra pounds. "That didn't take long, how about we check the gas station again? We cleared it out pretty thoroughly, but if we're going that way anyways for gas..."
"Eh, mind as well." Snake says as they both exit the store, stashing the loot into the sidecar. "It shouldn't take long for me to scoop up some gas so if you wanted to do a quick run of it you could."
Snake pushes the motorcycle instead of driving it towards the gas station, which was across the way. Clem follows, keeping an eye out. It had been fairly quiet, but Walkers have a tendency to show up out of nowhere. After a few minutes they arrive at the gas station. Snake pulls out an empty gas can and rope as he goes towards a sewer looking cover on the road. He looks back at Clem who was watching him. "Should only take a few minutes, go ahead and look around if you want."
Clem nods as grabs her duffel bag from the sidecar. She goes inside the gas station, tapping the clutch on the ground inside to see if Walkers were around. After a moment of waiting and no noise, she nods to herself. All seems well for now. She starts to loot around, not seeing much of anything worthwhile. Some old papers, rusted tools, nothing worthwhile. Meanwhile outside, after having tied the rope around the grip of the can, Snake was laying on the ground, lowering the open gas can into the storage tank below. There wasn't much left last time they came around, but should still be a few more trips worth down below. Suddenly, he hears a cry out. He looks towards the gas station building and curses to himself, getting up quickly and letting go of the rope. He grabs his revolver and runs into the station and see's Clem looking into the backroom. He sighs a little in relief, but with gun still in hand he approaches. "What...?"
He follows her shocked gaze to see some dead bodies in the room. Fresh, killed with head-shots. Snake and Clem approach the bodies and feel them. "Not warm, but not cold..." He says. Clem frowns as she shakes her head, stepping back. "They were executed Snake."
"How do you know?" He asks, stepping back alongside her.
"Just look." She says.
Snake looks and sees what she was saying. They must've been on their knees or close to the ground as they were all in a similar looking death position. The bullet holes in the wall were pretty close in terms of height and spacing and by the marking on their faces, they were beat up prior to getting shot.
Snake goes back to the bodies and opens one of the coats of the corpses, looking in the inside pockets. He feels a card and he pulls it out. "Fuck, it's one of the caravan groups...they all use these makeshift ID cards as a sign that they are part of the group." He checks the other two corpses, another man and a woman and produce the same style of identification cards. "All of them..." he mutters. Clem frowns and crosses her arms. "Who would... maybe. Maybe it's the same people messing with our traps." She says.
Snake stands up and goes to her, pocketing the cards. "This mysterious fourth group that's been fucking with not only us, but now the caravan group and the other?"
"It's possible...no, very likely." She says with a cold expression. "They might still be around, watching us. Those bodies are still somewhat fresh."
"...Fuck the gas then, let's get out of here and bring this up in the meeting."
Clem nods and they both leave the gas station. After putting her duffel bag back in and climbing into the sidecar, Snake gets on the drivers seat and glances at the open tank hole "Tch, forgot I let go and lost the rope and can..."
Clem sighs. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, it's fine. You are more important than some gas...er...I mean life is more important than gas." He corrects himself, his face flushing slightly as he puts on his helmet. Clem, face also flushed slightly as his comment puts her helmet on. "Let's get back, but keep this between us for now. We don't need to scare the others."
Snake nods as he turns the key and the motorcycle turns on. He leaves the shopping block and proceed on the drive back to the boarding school where was their camp. Little did they know that stumbling upon that scene would cause a chain of events to unfold...