"...A- Aelita...?" Dylan gasped, his eyes widening with pure shock.
Dylan and Aelita both unintentionally kept their weapons aimed at each other only due to the massive shock that was within them. After a few moments the two finally managed to lower their weapons and they even dropped them on the ground, and after that Aelita immediately almost jump-tackled Dylan in a seemingly bone-crushing hug.
"Y- Y... Y-YOU'RE ALIVE, DYLAN! YOU'RE ACTUALLY ALIVE!" Aelita screamed with feelings of pure joy and relief, tears of happiness welling in her eyes and going down the sides of her face as she hugged her brother.
His eyes widened with shock from this unexpected reunion, Dylan quickly managed to hug Aelita back just as tightly as she was hugging him. His sister was alive... so much worry faded away in just seconds after realizing this. The joyful words that Aelita screamed quickly drew in the others, with Rebecca running in through the front door and the other Lyoko Warriors running in through the living room and kitchen. Once the other Lyoko Warriors and Rebecca sighted each other along with Dylan and Aelita's hugging, their eyes widened with pure shock.
"G- Guys?! Is that really you?!" Rebecca gasped.
"Rebecca?! Dylan?! Oh my god!" Yumi exclaimed.
Rebecca let out a joyed and very relieved laugh as she ran over to hug all of her friends, relieved to see that they were still alive. The four teens all hugged her back with a similar feeling of relief as Aelita and Dylan finally let go of each other for a moment, both just happy to see each other still breathing.
"W- What the hell are you guys doing here, Aelita?! You're supposed to be in France!" Dylan smiled.
"We flew in through New York and drove down here to surprise you guys! We wanted to meet up with you guys and to enjoy spring break with you all!" Aelita smiled back.
"You certainly surprised us!" Rebecca laughed joyfully.
Dylan just simply grinned and pulled Aelita back in for one more hug. After a few moments he released her and he went to the other Lyoko Warriors and began hugging them one at a time, as if he couldn't believe they were alive. He was so worried that they were dead, or worse... walkers.
"We heard a lot of bad things about what was happening overseas... Death, destruction, entire governments and countries and societies falling apart, countless dead... W- We thought for a while that you guys didn't make it. I'm so happy we were wrong..." Dylan said after he was finished hugging them.
Rebecca glanced over at the group and saw that only five of them were there... five, and not six. Odd, Aelita, Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi... one was missing.
William Dunbar...
"Wait... guys...? Where's William...?" Rebecca cautiously asked.
The expressions of joy on the faces of the other Lyoko Warriors immediately morphed into expressions of sadness once Rebecca mentioned the name of their dead friend.
"He... didn't make it. He's gone, Rebecca..." Jeremie sighed.
"Oh God..." Rebecca gasped as tears welled up in her eyes.
Dylan went wide eyed and he gasped with hearing the news that his friend was dead. He was devastated to hear that just as he was when Amy died days ago...
"William... H- He's gone...? Jesus Christ." Dylan sighed and placed a hand on his face as he struggled to keep his composure.
The other five Lyoko Warriors all mournfully nodded in confirmation and they each shared Dylan's sentiment at the fact that they lost William. They just hoped that he was at peace now, wherever he was... This whole situation was absolutely horrific.
"I-It wasn't just William..." Odd sighed as tears began to fall down the sides of his face again. "I... I lost Kiwi as well. He tried to help William, but... he got..." he said, unable to finish the words as he remembered what happened to his dog.
"Oh my God... Even Kiwi's gone...?" Dylan gasped with shock and sadness at the thought of Odd's dog being dead.
Rebecca quickly walked straight over to Odd and she immediately engulfed him in what was a very much-needed hug, causing Odd to openly begin sobbing as he hugged his friend back as tightly as he could, mourning the loss of his treasured dog. As much as the five original Lyoko Warriors dreaded the thought to ask, they knew they would have to ask him on if any of the other Lyoko Warriors were gone now. Odds were that unfortunately William couldn't have been the only one to die...
"Did... Did we lose anyone else, Dylan...?" Ulrich asked cautiously.
"Y- Yeah... Amy..." Dylan sighed before he looked back over at his friends and his sister. "Guys, I'm so sorry, but she's gone as well..." he said to them.
The other Lyoko Warriors were deeply saddened to hear that Amy had died. Yumi actually had to walk away down the hall for a moment as she was beginning to break down at hearing of the death of another very close friend. Amy was so sweet and kind and innocent, she didn't deserve to die...
"W- We were in our hotel rooms one night watching news of the outbreak on the telly, but suddenly the military burst into the building..." Rebecca began to explain. "They herded us out at gunpoint and they told us we were going to be taken to some FEMA camps for our own safety, but Alexandr and Patrick started shouting at them and tried to tell them that it would just be like leading cattle to a slaughter pen... I think one of the soldiers was almost ready to shoot them when we all suddenly heard explosions..."
"The military... they began to drop napalm on the streets of Atlanta." Dylan added with a sigh.
Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were horrified at hearing this... Was the outbreak truly so serious enough that the military was willing to drop napalm upon its own citizens...? If that was the case then this outbreak was definitely not going to be over within a few days or weeks... this nightmare may end up continuing for a very long time.
Years even...
"...God help us..." Aelita whispered, her eyes widened with horror.
The group was silent for a few more moments before Dylan and Rebecca continued to explain how Amy died.
"We managed to get away from the soldiers and we all had to run through the streets and the alleyways... walkers and people were everywhere, a lot of people were hurt or dead... We almost lost Verity, Miranda, Robert and Alexandr when a napalm bomb hit our street." Rebecca explained mournfully and reluctantly. "We... We saw a lot of horrible things that day but somehow we all managed to get out of the city... but Amy tripped between the cars and the fleeing people when we got on the highways and a walker managed to bite her leg before we could help her. We didn't know at the time that that was how the virus spread..." she said as tears began to run down the sides of her face again, causing her to sniffle and to wipe them away with her sleeve.
"We eventually met up with a few other people and we got to where our camp is now, but she died about seven or eight hours later..." Dylan finished for his girlfriend as he also began to cry. "Guys, she fought so, so hard to stay alive... She tried, guys... She just didn't make it." he said as he likewise wiped away his tears with his sleeve.
Amy Smith and William Dunbar... It was a lot for the teens to take in, but their two friends were gone forever. Despite their sorrow for the deaths of their friends, they knew that they had to continue focusing on surviving in this new hellish world for as long as it took, and the five teens desperately wanted Dylan and Rebecca to take them back to wherever the others were.
"We'll honor them in our own ways... but now we need to go. I need to see Chase and the rest of the Lyoko Warriors and I think the others agree with me on that sentiment..." Aelita stated as she now was putting more of a focus on finding her brother and her friends again.
The group all forced themselves out of their sadness and began to concentrate on what Aelita said. She was absolutely right. They had to get to the others...
"Absolutely... Our camp is in a quarry just outside of Atlanta. It's a bit of a hike, but Chase and Kyra are trying to hotwire a truck a few miles down the road from us. Maybe we'll be able to use it." Dylan replied.
The five teens immediately felt relief and joy when they heard Dylan say that Chase and Kyra weren't far away. The last two or three days was nothing but a nightmare, but hopefully they'll be able to reunite with them and the rest of their friends without any more trouble...
"Okay... Lead the way, guys." Odd managed to smile as he wiped away his tears.
Rebecca and Dylan both smiled back at the group and they quickly turned to walk out of the front door. The other five teens followed close behind them with all of their belongings and firearms, and eventually they got back on the highway and followed the couple back in the direction they originally came from. Aelita looked back at the farmhouse for a moment as she walked and she thought once more of the dead couple they found, and she wished that they would rest peacefully before she looked back ahead and resumed her journey.
They were finally going to see their friends again...
The group walked together down the highway together on the way to the farm that Chase and Kyra were currently at. The Lyoko Warriors were close to being almost fully united, aside from Amy and William unfortunately, but they were just very excited to see their friends again after the events of the last couple of days...
Along the way the teens were catching up over what had happened in the last few weeks before their reunion. Rebecca and Dylan told them all about their time in Atlanta and about all of the things they did, such as going to see a couple of concerts and going out to eat at good restaurants, or strolling and shopping through downtown together. The five teens likewise told Rebecca and Dylan all about their drive from New York City to Georgia along with all of the stops they took, especially the ones in Washington DC, Baltimore, Richmond and Philadelphia. Aelita even showed them several photographs on her cell phone that she took while they were in those cities, including one or two humorous ones involving Odd laying on his back and the Washington Monument in a poorly placed position in the background.
Both of the teens were happier than they've been in days, same with the others in the group. After a while of walking both Dylan and Rebecca noticed that they were getting close to the farmhouse Chase and Kyra were at, and the five teens were very anxious to see them again after everything that has happened.
"So... How has everyone been handling the situation, guys...?" Ulrich cautiously asked the two teens who were leading them.
"About as well as you can expect in a situation like this..." Rebecca sighed. "We're surviving, we're making it day to day, but sometimes it simply seems hopeless for a lot of us. Robert's still coming to terms with what happened to Amy, and I know most of us are worried about our friends and our families..." she said.
Aelita lowered her head when she heard Rebecca mention how the group worried about the others they cared for, as her thoughts immediately went to her parents Anthea and Waldo, who unfortunately were still back in France... If this outbreak actually was occurring overseas, then she painfully realized that there was a chance they might not even be alive at the moment... hell, all of the teens realized this about their own family members as well.
"...Do you guys think we'll ever see them again? Our families...?" Yumi suddenly asked.
The group all glanced at each other as if they were each desperate to hear someone say 'yes' as a reply. But none of them could manage to say it, causing Yumi to nod in resignation and just simply lower her head as well. They knew exactly how serious this seemed to be...
Their families were all most likely dead.
The group couldn't shed any tears over these thoughts, though. Not right now at least... They had to get Chase and Kyra, mourning could wait. But as the group approached the farmhouse that Chase and Kyra were at, they immediately noticed that something was very, very wrong... From afar they could see what appeared to be several walkers laying dead next to the truck, which itself had both the driver's side window completely shattered and the back window severely cracked. The front windshield was also almost completely covered in dark red blood... Something terrible had happened...
Something very terrible...
"...No..." Aelita gasped with horror before she immediately broke out running towards the truck. "No, no, no, no, NO! CHASE?! KYRA?!" She screamed as she ran as fast as she could.
The group all ran after Aelita and watched as she made it to the truck, immediately beginning to turn over the bodies to see if any of them were those of her brother and of her close friend. The rest of the group finally caught up with her and were shocked to see her doing this... in her distress and worry she wasn't even checking if any were still 'alive'!
"Aelita, be careful!" Odd warned as they finally caught up with her.
Aelita had tears going down the sides of her face as she desperately turned over every single last corpse she could find, horrified with seeing all of the dead bodies but having to press on to see if she had indeed lost her brother and another friend... After turning over all of the corpses she could find, she finally realized that none of them were of Chase or Kyra. With her hands trembling she stood up and realized that Chase and Kyra may still be alive... but where were they?!
"T- They're not here, guys! They're still alive somewhere!" Aelita announced to her friends.
"Oh god... They must've gotten attacked and had to hide somewhere!" Rebecca realized.
The group immediately began to look around for the two missing teens, starting with the farmhouse next to them. Ulrich, Odd and Yumi all ran inside and quickly looked around in every single room and even the basement, but alas there wasn't a trace that either were in there at all aside from the incident with Dylan and the walker from earlier. Much to Aelita's worry she saw as all three of the teens ran back out without Chase or Kyra with them.
"They aren't in the house!" Yumi announced to the group.
The group then all looked around at the trees and the forest to the left along with the farmland towards their right. If they weren't in the house then which way could they have gone...? The group started looking for anything that could tell them where Chase and Kyra may have went to, and that's when they noticed that a few more walker corpses were in the forest with more corpses past them, as if it was a trail...
They had to have ran into the forest!
"Guys, through there!" Ulrich said as he gestured towards the forest and the trail of bodies.
The group also saw the trail of dead bodies and then they immediately started to take off towards the forest in an effort to locate and save Chase and Kyra from whatever danger they were currently in. The group ran as fast as they could and the walkers within the forest immediately noticed them, causing them all to growl and begin stumbling towards them. Rebecca and Dylan followed behind the group, who proceeded to take out their knives and reluctantly slash the heads of each of the walkers as they passed them, killing several while on their way through the trees...
The group ran through the forest to try and locate wherever Chase and Kyra had ran off to from the walkers. All of them felt extremely worried of course, but the pair of them had to be somewhere in these trees! They just had to find them before the walkers could! The group ran as fast as they could but alas they could see that there was already several walkers around the area they were in and many more ahead, meaning that Chase and Kyra were definitely in grave danger right now.
"Everyone stay close but keep an eye out! They've gotta be in here somewhere!" Dylan called out to his friends.
"Keep an eye out for them!" Ulrich added.
The teens ran and ran and ran through the forest, but alas they were still seeing more walkers and no sign of Chase or Kyra. Where could they have gone?! Suddenly the teens could hear a very distant voice that sounded as if someone was shouting, causing the group to immediately bolt towards the source of the noise. After running for a few more moments they could see an abandoned trailer home and a campsite. The group could see at least a dozen or two dozen walkers all gathered at a door to one of the trailers, seemingly showing that Chase and Kyra had to be trapped somewhere within that one.
"What the hell are we waiting for?! We have got to do something!" Aelita whispered to the others so as to not gain the attention of the walkers.
"Easy, 'Lita! We'll get them out of there but we need to stay calm and we need to think of a plan!" Ulrich whispered back.
Despite her feelings and her anxieties to have her friend and her brother be rescued, Aelita sighed and nodded in confirmation at what Ulrich said to her. Getting herself and her friends killed won't help Chase and Kyra... But how were they going to get the walkers away from the trailer?
"Anybody see anything useful...? Something that can create noise or some light? Walkers are drawn towards something by two main things: light and noise." Rebecca informed the group.
The group took that information and made sure to mentally note it as they continued to look around for something that could indeed make a lot of noise. Finally Yumi noticed something between the group and the walkers that could probably do just that. A small yellow woodchipper that looked like it already had a log ready to be torn apart by it. If that thing had enough fuel inside, then perhaps it would make all of the noise they could possibly need...
"There!" Yumi whispered to the others and pointed at the woodchipper.
"Great eye, but does anyone know how to turn it on?" Ulrich asked.
"I think I can make it there and back without the walkers noticing... I took a semester of shop class with Chase, Alexandr, Aelita and Patrick back at Kadic last year. Woodchippers I can handle..." Odd volunteered.
The others all nodded in confirmation at Odd's volunteering for the task, but all of them told him that they would have their weapons at the ready in case something would go wrong. After this, Odd readied his revolver and began to cautiously and quietly hurry over towards the woodchipper, although there was one tense moment where he had to take cover behind a fallen trash can when one of the walkers suddenly turned in his direction. Thankfully the walker turned right back towards the trailer and resumed banging on it, so Odd resumed his trek to the woodchipper. When he finally got to the controls he used a key to activate the engine, and after this he did a few more steps to actually turn on the chipper.
To the group's horror they could see one of the walkers was beginning to leave his group and start stumbling over towards Odd. Before Odd could notice, the walker was already on him and was beginning to pounce on him. Odd was taken by surprise but he quickly began struggling against the walker in an effort to make sure he was not bitten by the creature, and he managed to hold it off enough for Ulrich to run over and stab it in the head with his samurai sword, killing it and saving his friend. After that he pulled his sword out of its skull and Odd rolled the body off of him so he could get back up on his feet, shaken but still alive.
"Are you okay, Odd...?" Ulrich asked.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine... A bit shaken up, but fine." Odd replied with a nod as he caught his breath.
Odd nodded once more as he finished brushing himself off, but unfortunately the pair could see that the walkers that originally were attacking the trailer were now heading straight for them. The two realized that they were already seen and the walkers were going to try and attack them, so the two had to ready their weapons and try to figure out what to do before they could be swarmed. The Lyoko Warriors watched as Odd fired off a few shots at the walkers and as Ulrich slashed at any who dared to get close, so the rest of them immediately ran over to the pair and raised their firearms before firing at the walkers to help their friends. The walkers kept coming but thankfully the group managed to stay ahead of them, although there was one absolutely horrifying and very disturbing moment where Yumi had to kick away a walker and unintentionally caused it to land straight into the woodchipper, spraying a part of the forest floor and some of the walkers with its blood, bits of its bone and brain matter.
After several more minutes worth of this the group had succeeded in eliminating all of the walkers that were originally in front of the trailer. They still kept an eye out for more though as Dylan and Rebecca both approached the trailer with relieved smiles on their faces.
"Chase! Kyra! It's us! You can come on out now!" Rebecca called out.
"We killed the walkers and we even brought some friends!" Dylan informed.
After a few seconds the front door of the trailer opened, and the two teens could immediately make out the familiar face of their friend Kyra Kensely rushing out to greet them. Before she could actually thank the pair, she froze in a shocked silence when she saw Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd and Jeremie with them, which was something she absolutely did not expect as she assumed that all of them were dead.
"Oh my god..." Kyra gasped. "C- Chase! Get out here! You're really gonna want to see this!" she added.
Aelita turned and walked to stand next to Rebecca and Dylan as she awaited to see her brother again. After a few more moments they saw another teen hobble out of the trailer and look out to see what Kyra was talking about. Aelita's eyes widened when she saw it was none other than her and Dylan's brother Chase Enheart, still breathing and absolutely still alive.
"Alright, Kyra... What's so important? More walkers?" Chase asked.
Chase then froze and his eyes widened with nothing but pure shock when he saw that Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Jeremie and Aelita were all standing in front of the trailer, something he absolutely did not expect to see at all. Aelita just simply stepped forward a few steps and smiled at her brother with pure happiness and relief, as she was overjoyed to see that he was still among the living.
Without saying a word, Chase attempted to try and run to his sister in order to hug her, but unfortunately he suddenly fell down the steps in front of the trailer and landed very hard onto the dirt.
"AGH!" Chase exclaimed as he sat back up and clutched his left ankle, seemingly in a lot of pain.
Aelita gasped at seeing Chase fall like that and she immediately ran to him to try and help him, much to the concern of the other Lyoko Warriors. Aelita crouched down next to Chase and raised the left leg of his jeans in order to search for any signs of bites or scratches caused by the walkers, but Chase simply cringed and brushed her hand away.
"I'm fine, sis... I'm fine..." Chase assured. "I just twisted my ankle pretty hard when Kyra and I were running from the walkers... She helped me get back up and into the trailer. I'd definitely be dead or worse right now if not for her..." he explained.
"We were attacked by the walkers while we were at the truck... We ran and ended up stuck in the trailer until you guys finally showed up..." Kyra smiled.
Aelita and the others all breathed a massive sigh of relief at knowing that Chase wasn't bitten and was only suffering from a twisted ankle. After that both Aelita and Chase looked at each other for a brief moment before they both pulled each other in for a tight hug, with happy being a word that completely failed to describe how these siblings felt at seeing each other again for the first time in weeks. Both of them were now quietly crying and both had tears of joy going down the sides of their faces as they hugged, both being relieved and overjoyed to see the other was still alive.
"What're you doing here, Aelita? H-Hell, what're all of you guys doing here?" Chase asked as he continued hugging her. "Don't get me wrong... I'm very happy to see you all, but you're supposed to be back at Kadic..."
"W-We flew into New York last week and we drove our way down the East Coast... We came to surprise you guys and to spend spring break with you. We would have surprised you sooner if not for the dead rising up..." Aelita explained with a smile and a sniffle.
Chase couldn't help but chuckle at that as Aelita and Kyra both helped him back up so he could stand on his right foot, with Ulrich and Dylan going to take over for the two girls by putting Chase's arms around their necks in order to hold him upright. Chase and Aelita both wiped away their tears, and Chase himself was absolutely floored that the others were actually here and still alive right in front of him. However, he did notice something... William wasn't there. When he noticed that William wasn't there he quickly realized exactly what that had to mean, causing his smile to fade as he mournfully lowered his head.
"William's dead, isn't he...? Is that why he's not here with you guys?" Chase asked.
Rebecca, Dylan and the other Lyoko Warriors all lowered their heads or mournfully nodded as a reply, causing Kyra to gasp a bit with shock at the realization that William was gone. Chase just simply sighed and nodded in confirmation, sadly averting his gaze over towards the dead walkers.
"Let's... Let's just get back to the truck now..." Chase sighed with sadness at realizing that they lost another friend.
The others all nodded in agreement and they all proceeded to leave the trailer together, with Chase hopping on his right leg as both Ulrich and Dylan helped to keep him on his foot as the group began their trek back to the farmhouse and the truck. After so much horror, Yumi, Aelita, Ulrich, Odd and Jeremie had finally found some of their friends again, and they would finally find the rest in just a short while, hopefully... That was all that mattered at the moment. They were still alive and so was most of their friends...
Survival was the goal now. Stay alive no matter what comes next and no matter how long this outbreak would last... No matter what, They HAVE to get through this!
At the camp, the rest of the group was busy doing whatever tasks were at hand for the day. The other Lyoko Warriors that were there were busy trying to keep Shane from figuring out that some of them had left, and thankfully they were doing what seemed to have been a reasonable job at that. Suddenly Robert heard a small crackle come from the radio as he was walking by, causing him to freeze and look at it as his eyes widened.
"Hello, Base camp! Can anybody out there hear me?" a man asked, barely audible and very staticky.
Almost everyone in the camp heard the radio as it was on full volume, so within a few seconds basically everyone had stopped whatever they were doing and hurried straight over to the radio. From the sound of the voice at the other end they realized that the voice belonged to T-Dog, a member of their camp who was with several others on a supply run at a store within the city of Atlanta itself.
"Base camp, this is T-Dog! Can anybody hear me?" T-Dog asked.
Alexandr hurriedly ran to the radio and he picked up the speaker so he could reply to T-Dog.
"Hello...?! Hello...? Reception's bad on this end... Repeat, repeat!" Alexandr replied.
"Alexandr? Is that you?" T-Dog asked.
"Yes, it's me! T-Dog, what is going on over there? Are you guys in trouble?!" Alexandr asked.
"We're in some deep shit. We're trapped in the department store!" T-Dog exclaimed.
The group then heard a loud crackle come from the radio, raising their worries that they may end up losing communications with T-Dog and his supply team...
"He say they're trapped?" Shane asked.
"There are geeks all over the place! Hundreds of 'em! We're surrounded!" T-Dog informed.
After that the group heard one more loud crackle, followed by an unending staticky noise. Some of the group glanced at each other out of worry, shock or perhaps a combination of both as they listened to the static coming from the radio. It was very obvious to everyone that T-Dog and the others on the supply team were in a lot of trouble...
"T-Dog, repeat your last! Repeat!" Alexandr said as he desperately tried to reestablish contact with the supply team.
Unfortunately the group heard nothing more from T-Dog or anyone else from the supply group from the radio. They were gone... T-Dog said that hundreds of walkers were surrounding the store. Some members of the group wanted to go and attempt a rescue, but that would be near-suicidal due to the state of Atlanta at the moment.
"He said the department store..." Lori commented.
"I heard it too..." Charles confirmed.
The group had a dilemma on their hands now. Should they even attempt to rescue them despite the risks involved with this? Seeking an answer, Miranda walked over to Shane and crossed her arms as she stared at the de-facto leader of the camp.
"Shane?" Miranda asked.
"No way." Shane almost immediately dismissed, firmly. "We do not go after them... We do not risk the rest of our group. Y'all know that..."
Amy Harrison was with the group and she was absolutely shocked at what she heard. Her sister Andrea was with the supply group! And he was just gonna leave her to die?!
"So we're just gonna leave her there?!" Amy asked with disbelief.
"Look, Amy, I know that this is not easy-" Shane tried to say.
"She volunteered to go to help the rest of us!" Amy frowned.
"I know, and she knew the risks, right? See, if she's trapped, she's gone..." Shane sighed.
Amy just continued to stare at Shane with an expression on her face that made sure to convey both shock and absolute fury at Shane's decision, causing him to sigh. Although he felt bad about this decision, he couldn't risk lives trying to get them out of Atlanta.
"So we just have to deal with that... There's nothing we can do..." said Shane
"She's my sister you son of a bitch!" Amy frowned.
And with that, Amy just turned and quickly stormed off from the group and to who knew where. Shane glanced over at Lori before she began to hurry after Amy to try and calm her down and comfort her. The others in the camp all went back to whatever they were doing beforehand, but the Lyoko Warriors at the camp all gathered in order to talk about what they had just heard.
"Christ, did you guys hear that radio...?" Miranda asked.
"This is bad... T-Dog, Andrea, Morales, Glenn, Jacqui, and that asshole Merle..." Jennifer sighed, listing off all of the members of the camp that she knew had gone on the supply run.
"As mush as I hate to say it... I don't think there's anything we can do." Alexandr sighed. "If what T-Dog said is true and there really is hundreds of walkers surrounding them right now... then they're just gonna have to find their own way out of that situation."
The group was silent after taking in Alexandr's words. The people on the supply team were good, good people, aside from that racist and sexist jackass Merle. But were all of them worth the lives of five or even ten people from the camp? They all hated to admit it, but Alexandr and Shane were right... The supply team were just going to have to find their own way out.
May God be with all of them...
"Hey, check it out!" they suddenly heard Dale call out.
The group turned and began walking over to see what Dale was talking about. They could see that he was back on top of the RV and he was looking through his binoculars out towards the road leading to the camp, and the group could easily see that there was some sort of dust trail gradually getting closer and closer to the camp... A vehicle?
"Dale, can you tell who it is?" Patrick asked.
"Nah, but it's definitely a truck... and I think there's some people sitting in the bed." Dale replied as he kept watching the truck getting closer.
"Could it be Rebecca, Dylan, Kyra and Chase?" Miranda guessed.
"I dunno, but we should probably ready some weapons just to be safe." Jennifer advised.
The group immediately went to grab their weapons from their tents while several others from the camp arrived to see what was happening. Robert informed them of the vehicle they saw was heading towards the camp, and soon the others also went to grab their weapons. Soon about half of the camp was armed and were carefully watching the truck as it got closer, and they were really hoping that this wasn't an attack of some sort...
When the truck finally arrived the camp saw that Chase and Rebecca were both in the driver and passenger seats, causing them all to lower their weapons as they correctly assumed Dylan and Kyra were in the bed of the truck. The truck pulled up the road and it stopped a short distance away from the entrance to the camp. The group was relieved to see Rebecca get out of the driver's seat, but then they saw something that completely floored every single last one of them...
Their lost friends Aelita Schaeffer, Yumi Ishiyama, Jeremie Belpois, Ulrich Stern and Odd Della Robia all hopped out of the bed of the truck together with Dylan and Kyra.
The Lyoko Warriors' eyes all widened with realization when they saw the five other Warriors stop at the front of the truck to stare at them out of pure disbelief and joy. They were actually here, actually right in front of them...
Their five friends were actually still alive...
"OH MY GOD!" Verity gasped with shock.
"YOU'RE ALL STILL ALIVE!" Miranda gasped with joy.
Aelita, Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi all proceeded to run to the rest of their friends, who likewise all began to run towards them as Kyra, Rebecca and Dylan all helped to get Chase out of the passenger seat of the truck and to put his arms around Dylan and Rebecca's necks to help keep him off of his twisted ankle. The Lyoko Warriors and the original Warriors all quickly met in a massive group hug, and there was definitely more than enough joyful tears, happiness and tight hugs to go around for every single one of them. Alas the happy reunion had to be paused for a moment as Kyra, Dylan, Chase and Rebecca quickly saw Shane was storming towards the scene to find out what the hell was going on exactly, and he definitely appeared to have a look of annoyance on his face.
"Who're these people?" Shane demanded to know.
"Friends of ours... we ran into 'em when we were out." Kyra informed.
"Out where and out doing what, Kyra?" Shane frowned.
"Putting up signs to try and warn people to stay out of Atlanta. Y'know, not that you actually give a shit about something like that, Shane." Dylan frowned back.
Shane's eyes widened a bit with anger at what he heard, but he managed to keep his composure as the rest of the Lyoko Warriors all turned to witness this exchange of words between Shane and their friends.
"Y'all went out there? Y'all left the camp...? You know how dangerous that is, right...? I won't allow that..." Shane warned with an angered expression of disbelief.
"So basically 'fuck everyone else out there cause Shane Walsh and his people only matter' is what you're saying, right? None of them deserve any help whatsoever from us?" Chase mocked from the front of the truck with a frown.
"No! I'm just trying to keep you and your friends alive, dipshit! And these new people...? They're just five more mouths to feed. They need to go!" Shane angrily dismissed.
The rest of the camp began to be drawn by the words which grew ever-so-louder with every passing moment and exchange. The Lyoko Warriors especially were drawn by the exchange as it became clear that Shane didn't want the original Lyoko Warriors there! That wasn't going to fly with them!
"You fucker... These are our friends! Hell, Aelita is Chase and Dylan's sister! You're not gonna throw them out on their asses if I have anything to say about it!" Jennifer growled.
"Damn right! You'll have to get through us before you touch them!" Kyra growled.
As if to illustrate Kyra's point, the Lyoko Warriors aside from Chase and his hurt ankle immediately walked in front of their five friends and formed a line that separated the five from Shane. The ten teens then crossed their arms and glared at the former police officer in a very serious and threatening posture, causing Shane to simply frown back at the teens as the rest of the camp watched with both interest at the events that were unfolding, and worry that this could escalate.
"We don't have enough room or food for five extra people! They've gotta go!" Shane frowned.
"If they go then we're sure as shit gonna go with them!" Alexandr warned.
Before Shane could say anything in reply he noticed that Lori was glaring at him out out of the corner of his eye, causing him to divert his attention to the angered woman. Lori simply gestured her towards a spot a short distance away as if she was telling Shane to go there, causing him to frown some more and walk to the spot as Lori followed close behind him. What followed was a few minutes of discussion between the pair, but the group couldn't hear what they were saying due to their distance and the fact that they were whispering to one another, seemingly in an argument.
After another minute or two the people in the camp could see Shane and Lori begin to walk back towards them. When the pair arrived, Shane gave out an annoyed sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before he crossed his arms.
"Y'all can stay for now..." Shane conceded. "But if any of you, and I mean any of you cause any trouble in the camp you'll be thrown out on your asses... ALL of you." he warned.
"We'll hold you to that." Yumi glared back at the former cop.
Shane huffed with anger at Yumi's reply before he turned around and stormed off. After a few more moments the rest of the camp all went back to whatever they were originally doing before this incident, and the Lyoko Warriors themselves all gathered back together, with Patrick and Alexandr going to get Chase and to help him walk.
"You guys okay?" Robert asked.
"Yeah, I think we're fine... Thanks for sticking up for us, guys." Aelita smiled.
"No problem, Princess. Happy to do it." Verity smiled back.
The Lyoko Warriors all smiled at this, but alas the smiles quickly faded when everyone other than the original five Lyoko Warriors, Kyra, Chase, Dylan and Rebecca noticed something that was very disheartening... William wasn't there. Unfortunately due to the circumstances at the moment they all could guess that William was most likely dead, causing several of them to mournfully lower their heads or even have a few tears begin to run down the sides of their faces like with Verity. The group then suddenly began to feel some raindrops landing on their shoulders and heads, signalling that it was about to rain upon the camp.
"You guys got anywhere we can rest at? Get us all out of the rain before it hits us?" Odd asked.
"Yeah, Dale's RV... C'mon, follow us." Dylan instructed with a nod.
"We've got a lot of catching up to do..." Alexandr added.
The original five Lyoko Warriors all nodded at what Alexandr said and they all began to walk towards the RV together, with Patrick and Alexandr in the lead as they had to help Chase up the steps once they got to them. A few other people in the camp stopped what they were doing so they could watch the teens as they walked past, but none of the teens paid them any attention and were just trying to keep to themselves after what happened with Shane.
At long last the Lyoko Warriors were finally reunited...