Red Walking Dead Redemption

by Michael Shadow

A story of an outlaw who has spent most of his life on the run. Is now tossed into a world where the dead come back to eat the living. Looking for a way home, to save his brother. Our cowboy finds himself further pushed into a futuristic version of a country he once knew. Finding other survivors he will grow to care for like family. What is Arthur Morgan to do?

3. Motel of the Dead

Chapter 3: Motel of the Dead.

Sneaking through an alleyway, Arthur and Glenn crouched as to move as silent as possible. "Okay, I have my car parked just a few blocks down. It has a few jerry cans in the back." Glenn suddenly froze stiff, and Arthur took a peek over Glenn's shoulder seeing a walker feasting on a dog.

The snarling rotting corpse hadn't even noticed them. It was too occupied tearing the dead dog apart and feasting on its flesh. Glenn was about to turn around, but Arthur pulled out his hunting knife and snuck up on the walker. The snarling creature lifted its head as it smelled something approach, Arthur grabbed the walker by the back of its neck and ran his knife quickly through its skull. Arthur yanked the knife out of the walker's head, as it collapsed onto the dead dog.

Arthur glanced down at the dead dog, and looked to Glenn. "Dogs don't come back… do they?" Arthur asked the frightened Asian man.

"Uh… no, I haven't seen any "walker" animals. I think it only affects humans." Glenn shakingly responded.

"Walker?" Arthur looked back at Glenn with a raised brow at hearing what he assumed was a nickname for the dead.

"Yeah… Walkers. I mean, they are dead and walking so… walkers." Glenn explained his reasoning for the name. Arthur shrugged and lightly chuckled, it wasn't like he had anything better to call these rotting dead walking corpses. "Anyway, the car is just down that way. Come on." Glenn and Arthur snuck onto the street once they noticed it was clear. Most walkers in the city were near the drugstore.

They lightly sprinted down the streets, until they reached a slight rusty red old looking car parked on the side of the road. The top of its roof had a sign reading "Pizza Express", Glenn apparently used to be a pizza delivery boy. They got into the car, and drove towards the motel Glenn talked about.

It was a small 5-minute drive, and they had arrived at the motel. Glenn parked a few blocks away from the motel, as Glenn claimed it would make for an easy escape route. If they parked too close, and walkers happened to horde towards the motel the car would end up trapped amidst the crowd and they would have a harder time getting to it. "Okay… I got a hose here… and a couple of jerry cans. I will syphon some cars around the motel. You just cover my back, alright? But remember, no guns."

"Relax kid, I know how to fight. As long as these walkers don't learn how to use guns, I guarantee you are safe." Arthur jokingly patted Glenn on the back, not really easing the Asian man's mind.

"Great…" Glenn shook his head, silently moving to gather the jerry cans in the trunk of his car. They made their way down the streets from car to car, Glenn syphoning them for what gas they left. "Oh God…" Glenn gasped in terror, as one of the cars had the doors practically torn open. And a bloodied empty baby car seat in the back.

Arthur saw the seat, and judging by the size of it immediately knew what it meant. Giving a light cough, he nudged Glenn's shoulder while still keeping watch. "Hey um, try and not think about it… Just focus on the job." Arthur advised, distracting himself and keeping a lookout for any walkers.

They make their way to the motel, and Glenn starts syphoning one of the cars on the parking lot. "This is the last can… after this we can make our way back to the pharmacy." Glenn began syphoning the car, but as Glenn syphoned the car, they suddenly began hearing whimpering.

Glenn looked up from behind the car, looking around for where the whimpering came from. "What's that? A walker?" Glenn whispered.

"Walkers don't weep, do they?" Arthur looked up at the second floor of the motel, and pointed to one of the rooms. "Sounds like it is coming from over there." Arthur slowly made his way to the staircase, to get a closer listen. "Sounds like a woman crying…" Arthur whispered to Glenn, who suddenly perked up.

"A survivor?" Glenn without hesitation made his way up the stairs and towards the room where the weeping came from. Glenn moved towards the room, and carefully knocked at the door.

"Ah! Go away! Go away!" The woman cried from within the room.

"Hey! Hey, no, I'm not a walker. I can help you." Glenn tried gently calling to the woman.

"Bit…" The woman spoke between whimpers, as she cried out screaming at Glenn to go away. "Please, just go away!"

Glenn figured she must think he is bitten, and is quick to try and ease her mind. "I'm not bit, okay? Please, just open the door. We can help you." Glenn tries to calm the hysterical woman down.

"What's going on?" Arthur made his way up the stairs. The woman's screams were really getting loud. "She's hollering like a dog in there."

"She thinks I'm bit. She won't open the door." Glenn looked back to the door, and tried to convince the woman that he wasn't bitten. "We can help you, me and my friend here. We're not bitten, okay? We have a group. We can help you. Keep you safe."

"Ma'am, it's okay. We mean you no harm." Arthur tried to help Glenn convince the girl, but she suddenly started screaming louder.

"Please just go away! Leave me alone!" The woman cried out from within the room.

"… She's real frightened." Arthur noted, they couldn't afford to waste time trying to help this woman when she doesn't want help. But Glenn couldn't seem to bring himself to leave her alone. But before they could say anything else, groans and rustling leaves came from the nearby woods across the road.

"Shit!" Glenn backed away from the door looking startled as he heard the series of groans from walkers coming their way out from the woods. "We need to hide somewhere… call for backup." Glenn reached into his pocket for the walkie.

"No need." Arthur grabbed onto Glenn's wrist, looking calm as he counted the number of walkers coming out from the woods. "Only ten of them… I got this. Stay here, try and calm her down." Arthur instructed as he let go of Glenn's wrist, and began marching down the stairs, just looking at the ten walkers marching into the motel.

"Are you crazy?! They are dangerous!" Glenn shakingly called out.

"Dangerous, sure… But slow." Arthur looked to the wall on the bottom floor. Seeing a big red fire axe mounted inside a glass casing on the wall. With a sigh, Arthur took off his jacket and wrapped it around his fist. Walking up to the glass case on the wall, Arthur smashed the glass in one clean hit and took the fire axe.

Glenn nervously looked over the railing on the second floor, and down at Arthur. "Holy shit…" Glenn mumbled as he saw Arthur hold the fire axe in his two hands, standing calm as he looked towards the walkers and gave a whistle gaining their full attention.

"Hey, come here ugly." Arthur moves around slowly and carefully, looking at every corner to see where the walkers were coming from. Three of the rotting, snarling bastards came from the front, the rest were trying to incircle around his flanks to trap him. Like a pack of wild animals trying to trap their prey. "Well, guess they ain't completely mindless. But still, slow." Arthur with a mighty war cry swung the fire axe down at the closest walker up front, splitting its head clean open. Giving it a kick, Arthur knocked the split headed walker into another.

Bringing out his hatchet, Arthur hacked and slashed at two walkers coming at his left. Now to his right, Arthur with one hand swung the fire axe and decapitated the walker. A fifth walker lunged towards him, but Arthur swiped its face with the blade of his hatched. Cutting the walker right at the bridge of his nose and into its eyes. Yet it was still moving, Arthur gave the blinded walker a kick to the chest knocking it to the ground.

Arthur moved back a little, seeing the five other walkers close in on him. "Yeah… you fuckers are slow. But if I ain't careful, you overwhelm me, huh? Okay… I got you figured out, you rotting bastards." The blinded walker got back up to its feet, and following the sounds of the other five, moved in Arthur's general direction. Putting his hatched to his belt for a moment, Arthur reached for his hunting knife.

"Hey. The hatchet has a better reach, doesn't it?" Glenn asked from the second floor, still shaken up by all this.

"You sure about that?" Arthur smiled as he held the knife by the tip of the blade, leaning his arm back, Arthur threw the knife spinning into a walker's skull. The blade piercing its skull, and its dark red blood exploding from both ends as the blade pierced all the way through the back of its skull. "One blind fucker… and four more left." Gripping both hands onto the fire axe, Arthur swung it left and right. Slashing off the dome of the nearest walker's head. The second walker had its head slashed diagonally all the way through, its body collapsed in front of Arthur so he couldn't step forward carelessly at the other three walkers.

Raising the fire axe over his head, Arthur swung it down atop of the third last walker's head, releasing the fire axe as he watched the walker collapse dead. Grabbing his hatched, Arthur lunged at the second last walker grabbing the snarling man-eating monster by its throat, feeling it was cold like a corpse. Arthur swung his hatchet into its face making it stop its snarling as it fell over dead.

Yanking his hatched out from the dead walker, Arthur turned to the last blinded walker and kicked its leg causing it to snap and the walker to fall on its knees. As Arthur ended it by swinging his hatched into the top of its skull. "And that's that." Arthur yanked out his bloodied hatchet from the walker's skull. Cleaning it off on the dead walker's clothes, Arthur put it back into his gun belt.

Arthur then heard one last snarling, and groaning snapping yaws. Turning around he saw the decapitated head of one of the walkers still alive and snapping its teeth. "Got to be the brain, huh?" Arthur walked over to the snapping walker head, and stomped his boot hard down onto it squashing the head like a piece of rotten fruit.

Then he moved to retrieve his hunting knife, and finally the fire axe. "Oh yeah, definitely taking this." Arthur smiled and made his way back up the stairs to where Glenn was standing by the weeping woman's door. "It's safe to come out ma'am. I've dealt with the… walkers you called them?" Arthur asked looking to Glenn, who nodded back. "Yeah ok, those dead walking pricks are dealt with ma'am. Come on out."

"No!" The woman cried from behind the door. "Please… leave…"

"We're not bitten, please open the door. We want to help you." Glenn carefully called out to the weeping woman. "Please… let us help you."

"You can't help me…" The distressed woman sulked, and continued to cry.

"She's not coming out… Maybe we should just… go." Arthur sounded a bit reluctant, as he shrugged at Glenn.

"N-No! We can't leave her…" Glenn sounded so desperate. It had Arthur roll his eyes as he remembered meeting many desperate fools like Glenn. He wasn't sure if Glenn was right about this, but Arthur knew this woman needed help. With a reluctant sigh, Arthur looked to his fire axe.

"O-Okay… Ma'am, back away from the door. I'm breaking it down." Arthur called out loud enough for her to hear, but not too loud as to attract more walkers. Raising his fire axe, he swung it at the door causing the woman to yelp in fright behind the door.

"Stop! Stop! I'm coming out…" The woman whimpered, as the she unlocked the door. Stepping out, was a pale young woman in her twenties, holding her left hand over her right arm. Right over a bite mark.

"Oh shit…" Arthur sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. She didn't tell Glenn she thought they were bit. She was trying to warn them by saying she was.

"I'm bit… I tried telling you, but you wouldn't listen…" She cried, whimpered, her eyes were wide like that of a deer. And full of fear as she frantically looked at the two of them.

"Oh fuck… uhm, maybe… maybe we could get her some help, yeah? Some type of medicine maybe?" Glenn suggested, reaching into his backpack to look for any meds.

"Don't kid…" Arthur sighed and shook his head. He remembered how Francis turned, the cop, and Larry telling them that those that get bit turn. And by the looks of it, Arthur could tell, this woman was dying. She was as pale as he used to be when his TB was at its worst.

"Well… we can't just leave her like this." Glenn pointed out, he was a good man, unlike so many men Arthur knew. He knew men who wouldn't have hesitated to shoot this young woman in the face when they saw that bite wound on her arm. Well, all those men were dead now anyhow. All except for Arthur.

"There is no helping me… I saw how it happened to my boyfriend. He got bit and turned… and then he bit me." The girl sobbed, and Glenn looked discouraged as he slumped his shoulders.

"You got a boyfriend?" Glenn asked sounding defeated, and Arthur threw him a quick weirded out-look.

"Really? That's what you are focusing on right now kid?" Arthur shook his head and silently mumbled out. "Jesus…" The rattling of his gun belt must have distracted the young woman, as she looked at Arthur and saw the guns in his holsters.

"You got guns…" She pointed out, looking at them with desperate looking eyes.

"Yeah…" Arthur carefully responded as he reached for his Glock.

"Can I… borrow one? Just for a quick second?" She carefully asked, her hands slowly reaching towards Arthur's gun.

"I don't think so." Arthur shook his head and held his hand onto the handle of his Glock.

"Please, just one bullet… and then I can be with my family."

"No, we can't. You can't just give up like that." Glenn still tried to reignite hope in the girl, but there wasn't even the chance of a spark. Arthur could see that in her eyes.

"Please… I don't want to turn into one of them… it's not Christian. They are… satanic. Please, let me just end it all." The woman sniffled, crying with what tears she hadn't cried out already, pleading to Arthur one last time.

Arthur remains calm and steady, but his hand is shaking with uncertainty for but a moment. With a sympathetic look to the woman's plea, Arthur pulled out his gun with a steady grip and sighed. "It ain't Christian if you do it yourself, right? You don't have to do it yourself… I will." Arthur offered, and both the woman and Glenn looked shocked.

"What?" Glenn asked a little shocked, it's not that he understood the sense in Arthur's decision. As he knew a bite could turn someone into a walker, but Glenn thought they hadn't reviewed other alternative options. They were still early into this apocalypse, maybe there was a cure or something they just haven't found. "Arthur please, maybe… we could try give her some medicine… maybe it would cure her."

"… Kid, she ain't got the time for a miracle like that." Arthur could roughly tell the woman was already at death's door. The bite on her arm wasn't exactly fresh, maybe a few hours ago at least.

"I… I don't want to burden you with killing someone either…" The woman said, she was a good woman. She wanted to take away what burden Arthur would carry on his consciousness from killing her by doing it herself.

"Ma'am… Doing something like this out of mercy. Ain't going to burden me." Arthur reassured her, he was a veteran when it came to killing. Arthur didn't know how many people he had killed by now, but he knew why they were all dead. One thing that was for sure, Arthur knew he could only count his mercy kills on one hand. "I'm already heavily burdened. This won't add anything to it for me."

Glenn grabs Arthur's arm before he can raise his gun. "Arthur… this is crazy." Glenn sounded like a modern person to Arthur, someone unused to killing people. Well, with the world as it was now, he would have to learn sooner or later.

Arthur pulls Glenn's hand off his arm, and looks into his eyes with a firm strict look. "You want her to turn?" Arthur asked with a strong tone that gave Glenn chills, and caused him to turn stiff. He stood there with his mouth open, unsure of what to say. Deep down, Glenn knew, there wasn't anything they could do besides this to help her. But still, he had to hope.

"T-There might be a way…" He sounded so quiet this time, Arthur felt like he really was talking to a kid.

"Sometimes you just got to face the music kid. There is no helping her at this point. I don't blame you if you don't want to watch this… So, just go back to the car with the gas. I will meet you there. It won't take a minute." As Arthur imparted some wisdom onto Glenn, he watched as the Asian man's shoulders sagged down, as he silently walked down to get the gasoline canisters. Arthur and the woman watched as Glenn picked up the jerrycans, and walked away down the road to where they had parked.

Arthur looks to the woman, who smiles at him while sniffling away her tears. "Thank you…" She mumbles, reaching into her pocket to pull out a golden necklace with a cross. She held onto it tightly as she prayed.

Arthur seeing this sighed, he raised his gun aimed at the woman's head. "Just… close your eyes ma'am. It will be over in a second."

Squeezing her eyes shut, she smiled with genuine joy. "You are a good man." The woman said with appreciation, causing Arthur's heart to sink a little. Then Arthur pulled the trigger, letting out a crackling shot that blew her brains out over the wall behind her, and her body collapsed limp onto the floor.

Arthur looked down at her corpse, blood already pooling around her head. Arthur with a heavy heart, holsters his gun and without saying a word, he walks down the stairs. He caught up to Glenn, who looked at him for a brief moment. The two shared a knowing glance, Glenn looking saddened and depressed. While Arthur looked with a stone-cold expression to mask his pain. Never before, had he shot someone in the head who called him a good man.

Neither of them says a word to each other, as they load the jerry cans into the back of Glenn's Pizza delivery car. Glenn silently gets in the driver seat, and Arthur in the front next to him. Glenn starts up the car, and they drive back towards the drugstore. Parking nearby around the back where they had started. Exiting the car, they began sneaking back to the back entrance of the drugstore.

Before they entered, Arthur noticed a dead walker dressed like a pharmacist stuck underneath a fallen telephone pole with its head smashed in. He also saw a bunch of walkers distracted by some static televisions in the broken window of a store across the street. Lee and the others have been busy since they've been gone.

Opening the back door, Glenn and Arthur managed to sneak back in. "We're back. We got the gas for the cars." Glenn announced as they walked into the drugstore.

"Arthur!" Clementine ran up to hug him.

"Hey kiddo." Arthur's day brightened up a little, almost forgetting everything he had seen, and that woman at the motel. Even if it was only just for a brief moment. "Everything been good here?" Arthur looked to Lee who limped his way over to them, his leg still seemed to be in pain.

"Yeah… we just finished getting the keys." Lee looked a little rattled, sad even, as he held up the keys. Arthur also noticed that in his other hand, Lee held onto a bloodied hammer. "Me and Doug found a way to distract the walkers outside with the tv's across the street. But they weren't distracted for long." Lee made a note as Doug was seen leaning up against the front door.

"Huh, you uh… you okay there, Lee?" Arthur a little hesitant asked, having noticed Lee's mood.

"I'm fine… let's just get the pills the old man needs and get out of here." Lee said as he moved past them and over to Lilly and Larry to give them the news that he found the keys. Little did Arthur know, that Lee had just finished bashing in the head of his walker reanimated brother trapped underneath the telephone pole outside.

Arthur could tell Lee was a little rattled, but Arthur didn't act on it and decided to give Lee his space. Arthur put his focus on Clementine, and briefly noticed she had a band aid around her finger. "What happened here?" Arthur knelt down to Clementine's eye level and inspected her hand.

"Oh, it's nothing… Just got a splinter helping Lee move a desk. But Lee patched me up." Clementine seemed to be in high spirits despite their current situation. Arthur nodded and took a look around. Kenny was by his family. Duck was finally cleaned from all that muck. And still, no bites.

Before Arthur could do anything, the loud blaring sound of an alarm rang all around the store. "The hell?!" Arthur recoils back a few steps in shock, looking to the barred-up window in the store where all the pills were. And saw Lee lower his head while groaning.

"Shit, grab everything you need and let's get out of here!" Lee called out, as this alarm would attract the attention of every single last walker in the city.

Lilly came running out carrying pills for her father, and quickly helped Larry on his feet. Katjaa was looking after her son, keeping him close to her. While Kenny rushed out the back while shouting, he was going to get his truck pulled up around back. Glenn was quick to join him, as he needed to get his pizza delivery car. "Arthur! I need that axe in case I run into some of them around back!" Kenny called for Arthur, who without hesitation tossed the fire axe to Kenny who sprinted outside to get his truck. Katjaa took Duck to the back office to hide, while Arthur was left with Lee, Carley and Doug to make sure their defenses held up as long as possible.

"Alright! Time for a fight boys and girls!" Arthur announced as now that he didn't have to stay quiet, he pulled his Python out, pulling back the hammer of the revolver with his thumb as he kept it held up. While in his free hand, Arthur had the hatchet.

"Lee! Doug! Carley! Hold the door, stay away from the windows! I will keep you guys covered!" Arthur took charge, and without questioning him. Lee, Doug and Carely quickly went to hold the main door back as the walkers banged on it from the other side. Their collective snarling groans actually beginning to nearly deafen the alarm itself. "Shit… must be a couple hundred out there." Arthur mumbled to himself, keeping his stare focused on the windows and the door.

Suddenly one of the shelfs blocking a window got knocked over, and walkers began pouring in. Not wasting a second, Arthur took a deep breath. His gaze going around the room like he was scanning the walkers and marking their heads. Then he fired off six collective shots from his Python in quick succession and nailed all the walkers in their foreheads.

"Holy shit!" Doug gasped as he saw six walkers collapse to the ground near simultaneously. Arthur without wasting a second, emptied the revolver, and began reloading it.

"Stay focused on that door!" Arthur shouted as he continued to fire off shots into more walkers that were pouring in through the window.

"Shit! Clementine! Can you find something to stick between the handle bars! Something real strong, okay?!" Lee asked the little girl who instead of standing frozen stiff like most kids probably would in this situation, ran off to find something as she gave a solid. "Okay!" Back in reply to Lee's request.

"Heh, atta girl." Seeing this Arthur smiled, and swung his hatchet into a walker's skull.

"Shit!" Carley backed away from the door as she saw more walkers pouring in. She quickly pulled out her gun, and started helping Arthur gunning the walkers down.

"The window on the left is a bust too!" Doug noted, and sprinted to make sure it stayed barricaded.

"Go!" Lee told him as he continued to try and hold the main door back by himself. Arthur seeing this, quickly charged at Lee and shoulder charged into the door to knock some of the walkers behind it back. "There is too many of them!" Lee sounded a little panicked, but still continued to fight bravely.

"Yeah! Soon we're going to run out of bullets too!" Arthur agreed as he pulled out his Glock and unloaded a few rounds into some walker skulls. Then little Clementine came sprinting towards them, carrying some kind of cane.

"Here!" Clementine handed it over to Lee, who with mild hesitation, grabbed it and stuck it between the handle bars of the door keeping it locked.

Then suddenly, two cries for help came, one from the left and the other from the right. "Help me!" Doug cried as some walkers had grabbed onto his shirt through a broken window and were trying to pull him out. And on the right was Carely, desperately reaching for her purse which contained another mag for her now empty gun, with a crawling walker grabbing onto her ankle.

"You get Carley! I'll get Doug!" Arthur quickly ordered and shoved Lee towards Carley, while Arthur sprinted over to help Doug. Holding his hatchet, Arthur began hacking and slashing at the walker arms holding onto Doug while pulling the slight overweight man away.

"Thanks…" Doug breathed a sigh of relief.

Two gunshots rang out, as Lee had gotten to Carley's purse and handed her more ammunition for her gun as she gunned down a walker standing right in front of her, and the crawler at her feet. Just as Doug and Carley had been saved, Kenny barged in saying it was time to go. "Let's go!" Kenny called out, and everyone in the drugstore made a quick run for the back exit.

Clementine suddenly cried out in terror, as another crawler had appeared and yanked her down. Not even thinking, Arthur shot the walker through its temple while Lee went to pick up Clementine. "Go! I will cover you!" Arthur called out as Lee and Clementine sprinted towards the back exit where Larry held the door open.

Arthur turned around and gunned down a series of walkers before making his way towards the exit. "You're not coming with us, you son of a bitch!" Larry called out as he suddenly knocked Lee to the floor with a good punch to the bridge of his nose.

"Lee!" Arthur called out and sprinted towards the door.

"No!" Clementine called out, while Larry kept his gaze on Arthur and closed the door behind him. Arthur grunted and picked Lee up.

"Come on! Knock that door down!" Arthur and Lee together bashed against the door, but wasn't met with a lost of resistance as Kenny opened the door on the other side.

"I'm not letting anyone get eaten today… Especially two good friends." Arthur and Lee looked at Kenny with appreciation, giving quick appreciative nods at the man. Kenny smiled at them, and then he swung the fire axe into the head of a walker. The three of them then ran out the exit as walkers flooded the entire pharmacy. Clementine was waiting for them out back by Kenny's truck while several had driven away in their cars, and Lee quickly picked her up and with no time to waste jumped into the back of Kenny's truck. Arthur soon followed after shooting one last shot into a walker.

"Go! Go!" Arthur called out as Kenny entered the driver seat, and they took off. Taking a short time to breathe a sigh of relief, Arthur wiped some sweat from his brow. And turned to look at Lee who was holding a trembling Clementine close. "We made it." Arthur took some time to do inventory, he had used up a lot of bullets back there. He needed to find some more, and soon, because this wouldn't last them long.

"No thanks to Larry." Lee groaned as he rubbed his broken nose.

"Yeah… we'll deal with him later. For now, we gotta find a place to spend the night." Arthur leaned back in the truck, as they continued to drive down the road.

They must have followed Glenn's car, because they ended up back at that motel. Arthur supposed it was as good of a place as any to spend the night. They could at least lock the doors, and potentially stay safe for the night.

Once they had all parked, Lilly quickly took charge and began ordering people to clear the dead bodies away from the motor inn. "Jesus… who bashed this poor bastards head in?" Lee shook his head as he came over the bashed in severed walker head.

"That would be me." Arthur said as he kicked the mushed head away like a deflated soccer ball sending it rolling out into the streets. "Trust me… that ain't the worst one here." Arthur said as he looked up on the second floor where he had shot that bitten woman out of mercy. Glenn was already up there, and had began dragging her body down. Just as he was about to put her in a separate pile from the other walkers, Lilly tossed the body of a dead walker on top of her. Glenn looked with a defeated expression, as he felt Arthur stand behind him. "Shit is really fucked up…" Glenn sighed, sounding so done with the whole situation.

"That is putting it mildly." Arthur removed the body of the dead walker that Lilly had put on top of this dead woman, and tossed the walker body into the pile with the rest. Looking down, Arthur saw the peaceful smile on the woman's face. Her eyes closed, and a bloodied window through her skull from where Arthur shot her.

"Do you… think it is better elsewhere, Arthur?" Glenn asked, the hope he once had seemed to be lost.

"This is a big country. There is bound to be better places than here, that I guarantee you. If you want to find them, well the trick is to survive." Arthur patted Glenn on the back, seeing a smile form on the Asian man's mouth.

"Thanks Arthur… Maybe I will see you around." Glenn picked himself up, as he moved towards his car.

"You leaving?" Arthur asked as he leaned up against Glenn's car. The sudden distant sound of gunshots echoed through the night, and the horrified screams of survivors pleading for help echoed like a ghostly wail in the night. Keeping their minds off it, Arthur and Glenn continued with the conversation knowing they didn't have the tools to help and couldn't begin searching around randomly at night.

Glenn to tune out the distant screams and gunshots, turned on the radio of his car. Listening to the emergency broadcasts, talking about establishing safety zones in big cities like Atlanta. "Yeah… I got friends in Atlanta. And I… just can't stay here knowing they will be trapped in that city."

"Last time I saw it, there was smoke coming from the city." Arthur gave his piece of warning. He liked Glenn well enough; he was a good kid with a decent head on his shoulders.

"I got to take my chances." Glenn sounded firm in his decision, Arthur took a glance behind Glenn seeing Lilly who had overheard them marching towards them. Arthur gave her a look that stopped her dead in her tracks, and shook his head. With a slight hesitant expression, Lilly backed away without saying a word of protest to Glenn leaving the group.

"Okay, you do whatever it is you need to do. I ain't gonna stop ya." Arthur offered Glenn a parting handshake, and a bit hesitant, the Asian man accepted the handshake.

"You guys be safe." Glenn wished for them, and Arthur gave a firm nod back.

"You too." Glenn then cracked a small smirk.

"If I learn to survive like you Arthur. Then I think there is a good chance I might see you around." Glenn sounded optimistic as he sat into his car.

"Heh, I will see you around Glenn." Arthur gave a small humorous chuckle, as he waved goodbye to Glenn who drove off in his car. No one tried to stop him, or question why he left. Some were perhaps a little disappointed that he did, but they mostly seemed to know they couldn't keep him here against his will.

Arthur looked down the road, seeing Glenn's car vanishing off into the distant night. But with all these lights around town, it hardly felt like night to Arthur. Dropping his smile, Arthur looked towards the sour old man, Larry leaning against a wall on the motel, just glaring at the rest. Arthur and Larry locked eyes from across the motel, he would have to deal with the old man later. Arthur kept his killer glare on Larry to try and make the old man sweat a little, which seemed to work as Larry turned his gaze away from Arthur.

Arthur slowly walked over to Lee and Kenny, seeing the two having a discussion. Making it there to hear the end of it, with Kenny expressing his confidence in Lee's abilities to look after Clementine. "Hey fellas." Arthur greeted as he walked up behind Lee.

"Arthur." Kenny greeted with a friendly nod, taking a moment to look in Larry's direction with a scowl. "So, back at the pharmacy. That old bastard, tried to leave you two behind, didn't he? Clementine came screaming out the backdoor with him, and you two were nowhere to be seen so I ran back to check on you."

"Thanks for that by the way." Arthur acknowledged Kenny's efforts to help them, as both he and Lee looked grateful. "But yeah, that old bastard knocked Lee down flat. Closed the door on us."

"Think he might just be a racist asshole." Lee groaned, shooting Larry a glare as well while rubbing his broken nose where Larry had hit him.

"Here, let me take a look." Arthur cupped his hands on Lee's face, tilting his head upwards a bit. "Alright, hold still." Arthur said as he grabbed onto Lee's broken nose, and with a yank put it back into place.

"Argh! Fu-" Lee held his tongue from cursing, knowing Clementine might be nearby listening. Gently reaching up to feel his nose, even though Arthur put it back into place it still stung like hell. "Thanks…" Rubbing some blood off his nostrils with the sleeve of his shirt, Lee sniffed a little to check if he could still smell anything besides the iron of his blood.

"No problem… Still, Larry seems to be a hateful miserable old bastard. Kind of reminds me of this friend I used to have. Bill Williamson. He was an ignorant, dumb bastard. But tough at least, good in a fight if anything. Larry might be more along the lines of that… a tough guy. Or at least, someone trying his best to be tough no matter how stupid he looks doing it. Now, he might be a racist for all I know. Then again, maybe not. Maybe he is just that, a tough, miserable old bastard." Arthur shared his opinion on Larry, even though the old fucker reminded Arthur of his old friend, didn't mean that Arthur even remotely liked him or wanted to be friends with Larry. If anything, Larry reminding Arthur of Bill just pissed him off. As Arthur was left with memories of his "friend" turning on him so easily. He knew Bill was dumb, but truly he never had any idea of how dumb Bill was until the end.

"What happened to this friend of yours?" Lee asked, wondering how someone like Arthur could be friends with someone even remotely similar to Larry.

"Got killed a few years back from what I heard. We parted ways long before that though, bastard left me and my brother John for dead." From the sound of Arthur's tone, Kenny and Lee could tell he didn't want to talk more about it.

"So… what are we going to do with Larry? Kick him out or something?" Kenny suggested.

"Nah, then we would have to kick out Lilly too. Besides, I can deal with Larry. In fact, I'm going to do that right now." Arthur said as he marched towards the old man, with Lee following in case Arthur needed backup.

"The hell do you want?" Larry scowled and was met with a knuckle to the face.

"Don't play dumb, you know what." Arthur snarled at Larry who hissed in pain.

"You son of a bitch!" Larry turned to Arthur and Lee, fuming.

"You tried to get us killed!" Lee accused.

"Yeah? So what? I know who you are, Lee Everett. You are a convicted murderer. Did you not know that?" Larry looked to Arthur as he made the big reveal of Lee's wrong doings.

"I don't care." Arthur gave a simple answer in reply. Shocking both Larry and Lee, Lee not as much as Arthur knew Lee was a criminal seeing as Arthur helped him out of the wreck of that cop car. "Everything I have seen Lee do so far, has been him trying to save and help a little girl who lost everything. That makes him a good man in my book." Arthur stepped up closer to Larry, getting in the old man's face and asked one simple question. "Still doesn't answer why you tried to leave me for dead…" Larry in responds goes silent, and gives a mere shrug of his shoulders.

Arthur growled in anger, and knocked Larry down to the floor in a heavy hit. "Dad!" Lilly called out having witnessed Arthur knock Larry down. Arthur didn't care, and grabbed Larry by the collar of his shirt. "Next time you want to make sure you are top dog of the group. Just remember, it's going to take a whole lot more than that to kill me." Arthur said loud enough for people to hear, as he tossed Larry to the ground.

"Argh, fine fucker… Jesus, you hit hard." Larry actually smiled, chuckled even as Lilly helped him up. "You tried to leave them to die?!" Lilly asked her father in outrage. When her father didn't give her a respond she asked. "Why?!" Lee looked a little panicked, thinking Larry was going to tell everyone who he was.

"What? I'm supposed to forget that fucker knocked my ass down on the pharmacy and held us at gun point?" Larry gave a valid point; he had no reason to like Arthur. "And his pal here even telling that redneck fucker to punch me."

Lilly groaned in mild annoyance. "Dad, please… You didn't exactly not give them a reason to hit you back there. And besides, we need people with us to survive through this." Lilly shot a glance at Arthur, which was noticed by Larry. It was clear, Lilly had gotten a good look at Arthur's skillset back at the pharmacy, and saw his use to the group as a survivor. "Just… apologize and let us all move on." Lilly pleaded with her father, who softened up just a little.

"Fucking fine… I'm sorry." Larry said to Arthur, not to Lee, but to Arthur only. Larry could agree with Lilly that Arthur held value to the group. But his biggest issue was still with Lee. "Should have listened to you, when you said the kid wasn't bit." Larry held his hand out for a handshake. Arthur looked at Larry's hand for a moment, and took a look around at the group. Seeing how fragile this group was, Arthur sucked it up, and shook Larry's hand. Considering how his last gang broke apart, Arthur knew for this group to survive and stick together, he needed to keep the peace.

"Apology accepted old man." Arthur tried his best not to sound sarcastic in his tone of voice, and it seemed to work, at least a little. Larry then chuckled back at Arthur. "You know Arthur, I ain't such a bad guy. And well, what can I say. It's not every day I meet someone man enough to knock me down. Guess you surprised me."

"I have that affect on people." Arthur lightheartedly joked. And then giving the cold shoulder, Arthur turned around to walk away with Lee. Leaving Larry to talk with Lilly.

"Well, that was weird." Lee commented, a little freaked out that Larry actually seemed to be warming up to Arthur.

"Yup." Arthur agreed, wanting to put that whole conversation behind him. "So, Larry knows who you are, huh?" Arthur changed the topic, and now Lee looked a little apologetic.

"Look, I'm sorry that I never told you-" Arthur stopped Lee before he could finish.

"Don't worry about it. Trust me. You think anyone else knows?" Arthur followed up with a second question, wondering if this is why Lee seemed so off back at the pharmacy.

"Carley knows… But she won't tell anyone. And she didn't care either." Lee revealed, as the two looked in Carely and Doug's direction. The two seeming to be in a serious discussion on how crazy things got back at the pharmacy and how they both nearly died.

"You don't have to worry about me, I won't tell anyone either." Arthur added to assure Lee. After all, Arthur had way too many skeletons in his closet to even begin to judge Lee on murder. Especially as Arthur himself had killed too many people in the past to even count. To Arthur, Lee was a saint in comparison to him.

"Hold up guys!" Lilly suddenly called out to them as she ran up to them. "Lee, I wanted to thank you. My dad would be dead without you." Lilly expressed her gratitude for helping her get the medicine for Larry.

"Yeah well… It was the right thing to do." Lee awkwardly accepted the praise. Their conversation was interrupted, by the sound of distant machine gun fire.

"Hope that's the sound of us winning this thing." Kenny walked over to them, as all four of them gazed into the distant darkness where the shots came from. Arthur somberly stayed silent, as it was from the same direction those people screamed for help from earlier when he talked to Glenn.

"Me too." Lilly agreed with Kenny.

"The motor inn is pretty defendable. We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch and we could stay here until the military rolls through." Kenny suggested, although Arthur wasn't that much of a fan of that idea.

"Here's hoping they don't." Arthur scoffed.

"What? Is this about what you said back at the pharmacy?" Kenny asked, as none of them hadn't forgotten Arthur's story of seeing army men gun down civilians.

"Oh, you mean the army gunning down a family running away from walkers? Then yeah." Arthur answered sarcastically which annoyed Kenny.

"They were probably bit for all we know Arthur. Maybe they saw something you just didn't." Kenny had a point, that family could have been bit. But either way, Arthur knew why that family got gunned down. The army isn't taking unnecessary risks with civilians that could potentially be infected.

"Maybe, but if those army boys come rolling through here. They might just shoot us. And if they do, we will have to shoot back. Either way, one thing we need is to scavenge the city once it clears up a bit. Find some guns and ammunition." On that, both Lilly and Kenny agreed.

"Yeah, that is a good point. We'll go first thing in the morning, the walkers should have cleared off by then." Kenny agreed with the plan, and now things seemed to be looking up for the group. "We've got beds, we've got water and most importantly we've got light. There are worse places to call home."

"Yeah, you are right. You know what guys. I think everything might turn out okay." Lilly sounded at ease as she said it. But she shouldn't have, as then one by one, the lights on the streets began shutting down, the lights on the motel and the big sign of the motor inn shut off. Leaving the whole group in the dark.

"Aah!" Clementine screamed in fright, and ran to find refuge in Lee's arms.

The whole group was left in a panic, trying to stick close by each other. And suddenly all one can hear from the darkness of the night, is Arthur's sigh as he says. "Well, fuck."

A few months later, early in the morning, Arthur Morgan was alone in the woods, sitting underneath a mighty oak tree. Taking in the sounds of the chirping birds, and the leaves blowing in the wind. Arthur's beard had grown over the past few months, covering most of his face. He had managed to keep his hair short, thanks to the help of Carley who had a pair of scissors with her. Looking like some wild old hermit, Arthur sat there working on making a bow.

His eyes looking heavy, and tired, yet he was wide awake and on full alert. Remembering lessons from old friends, like Charles Smith and his father figure Hosea Matthews. Next to him, Arthur had a freshly mixed batch of herbs, and freshly made arrows. Things clearly hadn't gotten better in the world, and the threat of walkers still roamed the country. For these past months, Arthur has put himself to work to keep himself busy. Hunting, looking for herbs, looting and scavenging. He clearly was the most valuable member in the group, and the two fighting for leadership at the motor inn, Lilly and Kenny had noticed.

Both eagerly trying to sway Arthur to their side, Lilly pressuring Arthur with finding supplies and food, while also trying to get him to stay with the group. Kenny trying to get Arthur's vote to leave the motor inn. Arthur felt tired, and the only thing keeping him from leaving the group, was Clementine. Lee had fully recovered from his leg injury. But still, the group was anything but safe. And Arthur the fool that he was, couldn't willingly leave these people for dead. Especially since the group was so reliant on him at this point.

Using empty flasks, Arthur stored away the mixed health cures. Kenny's wife Katjaa would call this old-fashioned style medicine. But they still helped, even if only a little. And they couldn't afford to be picky right now. Taking a deep sigh, Arthur leaned his head against the tree. Blending perfectly in with nature, as on the forest trails dozens of walkers came limping by. The sound of their ghastly moans and groans as they walked around in search of anything with a pulse.

Arthur remained quiet, listening to the walkers around him. He had to wait for them to pass before making his way back to the motor inn. All he could do, was continue working on making his bow. He had found the needed tools, and a decent wire. They couldn't continue relying on guns for hunting. Arthur knew this, they were low enough on ammo as it is, they needed to conserve as much as possible for when a real threat comes knocking at their front door. Arthur knew walkers well enough by now, to know they are designed to overwhelm with numbers. And he knew people well enough, to know that sooner or later they were going to run into some greedy desperate fool willing to fight to get what we have. Sooner or later, what was going to decide who lives, was one man's gun against another's. And Arthur was determined to keep his people safe, to the best of his abilities. Most of his group are decent people. And over time, Arthur had made friends with them. Bonded with them.

But still, his main goal still hadn't escaped him. Reaching into his new satchel he had found on one of his many scavenging trips. Arthur pulled out Francis' journal, and a folded map of the country. He began plotting his course, and where he could potentially go with the group. Using a crayon he had borrowed from Clementine. Arthur begins circling around areas on the map. He remembered what Francis had told him, that last time Francis had gone to 1899, he had used rock carvings he found around the state of Georgia, Virginia and Ohio. 'Sorry John… it might take me a few weeks… months… maybe even years. But no matter what… I will save you. Just got some other people I need to help first.' Arthur's gaze steeled, looking hardened he held onto his hatchet. And continued to wait for the nearby walkers to pass by.

Unbeknownst to Arthur however, walkers weren't the only things roaming around these forests. In the far distance on a hill, the darkened silhouette of a man loomed. Wearing a black suit, and a top hat, with a bushy mustache on his upper lip. "Hmm, guess I should strike mister Morgan from my "accountant" list." The stranger mumbled as he looked at an old-fashioned pocket watch he had tucked away. "For now, anyway." The walker herd then past by this stranger, who suddenly disappeared into thin air.

That's the end for now!

The first days of the apocalypse has past, and with no end in sight anytime soon, Arthur Morgan is stuck looking after a group of mostly decent good people in the year 2010. With chances of going back to 1899 lessening by the day, as this apocalypse will bring his progress to either a complete halt, or push him further into the country to run away from it. The outlaw life, and the life of a survivor aren't that different to Arthur.

Already Arthur has managed to save two lives, as his presence allowed both Carely and Doug to survive the pharmacy. But for how long has he prolonged their lives for? Arthur can try his best, but he won't be able to save everyone in the end.

Now, I would now like to answer some generally asked review questions. But first I would like to thank you all for the support thus far. Anyway, Arthur's presence will bring about some big changes to the main story, and he will save people from deaths he can prevent. Now, some characters might die at the same intended moment they had from the game. Some might die at a later time. But a rare few will survive until the end. Arthur's survival skills and knowledge will come in real handy for Clementine's growth in particular. Like teaching her how to hunt and skin animals, make medicine out of herbs and such, make different types of weapons, tracking etc.

Also, way later on when Arthur comes to terms with him potentially being stuck in the future, we will see him visit some gravesites of former gang members, if those graves still even exist.

Also, I don't think Arthur will manage to communicate with Glenn aka. Rick's group through radio. That just seems too convenient, and isn't something a time traveling cowboy like Arthur would think of. Like I have mentioned, they might meet up with Rick's group at some point, but that's about it. And the same applies for Arthur becoming immune, that would also be way to convenient so yeah that won't happen. But hey, Arthur is at least using his weapon knowledge to the best, making a bow and arrow already. And some fire bottles might be made later down the line.

Also, about the boarding school in season 4, Arthur would most likely see the boarding school similar to how he viewed Shady Bell when he told Dutch about it. That it seems like a nice place to lie low for a few days. Meaning Arthur would probably not think the boarding school to be a permanent solution. Maybe that's where Rick's group comes in and Arthur and the rest join them instead and leave the boarding school behind? That could work I imagine. And yeah, I am not planning on including that Skybound Clementine comic storyline. "That's not my Clementine" I said when I first read it. If Arthur had a full set of ammunition, every single gun and ammunition type like explosion rounds and such, yes, he could probably fight an entire herd lol.

Also, Arthur's destination, isn't Blackwater, not really. He just mentioned Blackwater, because he knows from the newspaper Franics showed him, said John ended up living and dying in Blackwater. So, technically when Arthur has to explain where his brother is without mentioning he is in a different time period, he just says Blackwater Missouri. Arthur's real goal is searching for those rock carvings, which according to Francis were somewhere in the state of Georgia, Virginia and Ohio. Now, would Arthur someday maybe go to modern apocalyptic Blackwater? Maybe yes, there is a whole lot of traveling to do for him and the group. And if Arthur should someday come to realize he can't go back to 1899, and comes to terms with it, maybe he would want to visit Blackwater and maybe find John's grave or something.

And finally, I think I will keep the title of the story as it is. But thank you all once again for your support, it means a lot.

Anyway, leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter, and the story so far. I'm having a real fun time with this story so far myself.

-Later!