Chapter 4: The Fruits of Civilization.
The heat of the Georgia sun shined brightly on what would have been a beautiful summer day. And the gentle summer breeze blew against the trees of the forest. A black tailed jackrabbit, stuck its head out of hiding. And hopped around quietly chewing on some fresh grass.
The rabbit's ears shot up along with its head as it detected nearby sound. Hearing the snarling growls and smelling a foul stench in the air, the rabbit hopped into hiding. As a herd of walkers came roaming by, the sun boiling at their rotting skin releasing a foul stench into the air.
The stench was unbearable, any modern human would surely gag at the wretched smell. But for one man, this worked as a way to mask his own scent. As an arrow swooshed by the air and nailed the rabbit through its head. The fluffy rabbit dropped to the dirt, and three snarling walkers who had heard it drop began wobbling in its direction, diverting themselves away from the rest of the herd that continued to move in the opposite direction.
Suddenly before one of the walkers could spot the dead rabbit, a second arrow came flying through the first walkers' head causing it to drop still to the ground. The two other walkers that had diverted from the herd met a swift end as a third and fourth arrow nailed them directly in the forehead.
Emerging through rustling bushes, was Arthur Morgan. Dressed in a simple moss green t-shirt, dark blue pants with his gun belt tightly wrapped around carrying his two gun holsters. He carried a bandolier around his torso loaded with ammunition. And he had a satchel around his hip. Carrying his newly made bow, Arthur walked over to the dead walker corpses and yanked his arrows out from their heads. Placing them back in a woven quiver he had strapped onto his bandolier on his back.
Keeping quiet and not saying a word, Arthur went to claim his price. Yanking the arrow out from the dead rabbit, Arthur grabbed it by its feet and tied the feet onto a rope attached at his left hip that had two other rabbits and two squirrels tied to it. Casting one glance in the direction the herd went towards, Arthur slowly retreated back into the woods. He needed to get back to the motor inn.
After a brief 30-minute walk, Arthur returned to the motor inn. The motor inn was barricaded by a small wall, with two dumpsters acting as a gate. Arthur gave a small whistle, signaling those inside that he was back. The dumpsters were pulled aside, and the friendly face of Lee greeted Arthur on the other side. "Hey man, welcome back."
Arthur walked in, and held out the rope carrying his latest catch. "Got us some food for the next few days. Weren't much, but it is something."
"Heh, man, without you, we would starve." Lee light heartedly joked.
"Yeah well, unless Lilly lets us scout further out. We might actually end up starving sooner or later. There ain't much game out there in these woods. Too close to the city, the bigger animals would stay clear. And those that don't, well the walkers either get them or they hide in places I can't find them."
"I hear you man. But where are we supposed to go?" Lee made a valid point, there weren't many safe places out there. It had been a little less than two months since the outbreak, and most places were overrun by walkers.
"Well, we have to do something. We can't just sit around here and wait for whatever is out there to knock at our front door." Arthur pointed out, sounding slightly annoyed that no one else seemed to be thinking of this. Kenny wants to wait for the government or rather the military to come rolling through and save their asses. While Lilly wants to stay put. And the rest were too scared to try and go out there on their own, or thought it be better if the group stuck together.
"Look… Arthur, I know you are probably right." Lee took a few deep breaths, and looked around at the people in the motor inn, particularly little Clementine. "But we need to be somewhere safe for now… the kids won't make it out there. And, even though I don't think this motor inn is the best. It is the best option we got. Once the motor inn has run its course, we'll move on. But for now… we need to stay."
"… I know, I know." Arthur gave defeated sigh. He agreed with Lee, and found no reason to argue. But at the same time, when was this motel going to run its course? When a herd of walkers break down their walls? Or when some desperate group of bandits come and light the place up with gunfire? Or both.
"Arthur!" Clementine's cheery voice brought Arthur out from his train of thought, as everyone seemed to have noticed his return. The young girl ran up to hug him, pulling him by his sleeve. "Come see what Duck and I have drawn!" Her childlike spirit and wonder, brought a smile to Arthur and Lee's faces.
"It's quite the artwork." Lee commented, clearly having seen it earlier.
"Well, I don't doubt it." Arthur humorously chuckled. Clementine presented a paper with a drawing on it. "What we got here?" Arthur analyzed the drawing; it was a kids drawing so it wasn't even near to a quarter of Arthur's quality in sketches. But it still warmed his heart a little. What seemed to be a drawing of Clementine, with Arthur and Lee standing on a field by a few trees with the sun in the sky. "Aw, now ain't that fine. But why did you have to draw my ugly mug on it? Now no art gallery is going to accept it." Arthur joked and Clementine laughed a little.
"It's not for an art gallery. It's for you." Clementine put the drawing in his hand. "For when you are out on long hunts and miss us."
Arthur smiled feeling his heart turn to mush for a brief moment there. "Heh, well thank you little lady. I will always keep it with me." Arthur tucked the drawing away into his satchel.
"Cool…!" Duck swooned over the catch of Arthur's latest hunt, poking a dead rabbit. "Are they really dead?"
"Oh no…" Clementine's smile turned into a sad frown, clearly not as excited over seeing small dead animals.
"Hey, Clem come here a minute." Arthur got on one knee and put his hands onto her shoulders. "Listen, I know its nasty business. But this is the circle of life. These animals will help us survive another few days. Don't worry, I made sure the little guys didn't suffer." Arthur tried his best to comfort her, and it seemed to work as Clementine nodded her head.
"Yeah… I understand. My dad always watched these nature shows. Showing animals eating each other to survive. It still looked gross." Arthur lightly chuckled at that comment.
"Yeah, like I said, it's nasty business. But it's got to be done." Giving her a few reassuring pats on the shoulders, Arthur grabbed the rope with the dead animals. "Say, Clem, Duck, how about you two help me with the skinning?"
"Skinning?" Clementine lightly flinched, while Duck's face lit up.
"Cool! Do I get to use a knife?" The boy enthusiastically asked.
"Heh, now see for small animals like this. You don't need a knife. Here I'll show you." Arthur untied one of the rabbits from the rope, and grabbed it by its legs. "Now see, you just hold on real tight. Grab it by its tail, and pull. Skin should come right off." Arthur demonstrated, as he ripped the skin of the rabbit clean off.
"Ah!" Clementine backed away in a little shock at how easy Arthur made it look. While Duck looked with great fascination. "That's so cool!" The boy looked eager to try next. But the hand of his mother suddenly comes in between Duck and the animals.
Katjaa gently says. "I think this seems to be more of a job for the men."
Kenny walked up next to his wife. "Yeah, don't worry Arthur. I will help you with the skinning." Kenny offered as Katjaa guided away a disappointed moping Duck, and a curious Clementine. "This is quite the catch Arthur. Who taught you to hunt?"
"… My mentor. He was like a father to me. Taught me a lot of things." Arthur was of course talking about the late Hosea Matthews. He also thought of his other mentor, his second father figure, Dutch. Despite how things turned out in the end, Arthur still had a lot of love for Dutch. "But Kenny… Are you sure about that? I mean, the kids need to learn at some point with the way things are going." Arthur went back on the subject of Kenny and Katjaa keeping Duck and Clem from learning how to skin animals.
"Arthur, once the government starts handing out their shots, life will go back to what it used to be. The national guard will clear up this mess." Kenny sounded so sure of himself, or at the very least hopeful.
"Kenny… we both know things aren't going back to what they used to be." Arthur said as Kenny successfully skinned another rabbit, following Arthur's method.
"We don't know that." Kenny clarified, sounding slightly annoyed. Arthur knew that even if the government found some type of cure for this, the sickness would still exist. Walkers would still exist. "Like I said, the national guard will sort this shit out."
"You've been saying that for nearly two months now. Look around you Ken, nothing's changed." Besides Arthur wasn't so sure the army could be trusted, as he still remembered seeing some army boys gunning that family down.
"I'm done talking about this." Kenny brushed Arthur off, and continued to skin another animal. The two men stood in silence, until they had skinned every last animal. "There." Kenny took a cloth to wash some of the blood of his hands.
"Thanks…" Arthur sighed, seeing there was no talking to Kenny yet on things. Arthur gathered up the pelts of the animals, and brought the carcasses with him over to Doug and Carley. "Here." Arthur handed the carcasses to them.
"Ah nice, we're eating good tonight. Good work Arthur." Doug praised Arthur, as he took the carcasses with him to prep for dinner.
"Can't believe Lilly stuck me with kitchen duty." Carley groaned and complained to Arthur.
"Everyone's gotta do their bit to survive. And cooking is work." Arthur pointed out, starting to remember his conversation with Sadie over a similar topic. Only Carley didn't look eager to kill Doug, in fact it seemed to be the only thing she enjoyed about kitchen duty. "At least it's not all bad, right?" Arthur teasingly smirked at Carley, who rolled her eyes at him.
"Shut up." She chuckled and hit his shoulder. "But yeah, thanks to Doug it's not the worst thing. But sometimes, truth be told I would rather be on guard duty. Or at the very least out there with you. I could use a break from this place… and from Lilly."
"Heh, well, maybe next time I go out hunting I will bring you with me. Would be nice to have another good shot out there with me in case things get too rough."
"I will hold you to it." Carley smiled at him.
"Well, in the meantime. I'll leave you to it." Arthur gave a parting nod, as he carried the pelts over to one of the many rooms at the motor inn. His room to be exact. It was one of the first-floor rooms. It had a double bed, and a bathroom, not that there was any running water. Arthur reminded himself to get some more water from the nearby lake later, and to boil it of course. They had bottled water from some of their scavenging trips to the city. Which is where Arthur also got his quiver and material to make his bow and arrows.
Putting his bow on his bedside along with his shotgun, Arthur reached into his satchel bringing out a few flasks with some herbal made medicine. He would be sure to give these to Katjaa later, old fashioned medicine or not it was better than nothing. Arthur put the animal pelts at the foot of his bed, these could come in handy whenever winter time came around.
A knock came on the door, and Arthur went to answer. Once he opened the door, Lilly came marching in. "Good to have you back." Lilly first greeted Arthur with a smile. "Dad says he saw you bring in some meat for the stew pot."
"Yeah, weren't much. But it should last us a few days. Speaking of, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. We need to expand our hunting grounds. There's hardly any game out here to hunt."
"Don't be overdramatic Arthur. With the supplies we scavenge in the city we're doing fine for now." Lilly shot down Arthur's idea, quite quickly as well. "It's too risky. We know this area is relatively safe, but we don't know what's beyond that. It's too risky for you to go out alone."
"I'm fine on my own. But if it will ease your mind, I can bring Lee or Kenny with me. Heck, even Carely is eager for something else besides kitchen duty."
"… Look, I will think about it, okay?" Lilly sounded a little annoyed. Arthur could tell that Lilly was worried about Arthur going off on his own and leave the group. Same as Dutch was like in the end, wanting to keep a good gunman around for protection. "But that's not what I came here to talk with you about." Lilly stepped closer to him. "We've looked all around the city. We found two hunting rifles, and some ammunition. But we need more than that."
"I could always make more bows." Arthur suggested, he agreed that they needed more guns or weapons in general.
"We don't need to play Robin Hood here. Your bow is good for hunting, I will give you that. But we need actual guns to fight."
Arthur smirks and retorts with. "Trust me, I can nail you with an arrow between the eyes before you can even pull a gun out on me." To which Lilly rolls her eyes. "This is no time for jokes." Lilly groaned. "Who said I was joking?"
"Would you just listen?"
"Sure. But still, we don't need just guns. We need a lot of ammo too. Which again, is why using bows are a great way to conserve ammo. If you play your cards right, you will never run out of arrows, and you kill things silently. Gun should be a last resort at this point. Besides like you said, outside of those two hunting rifles. We only have yours, mine and Carley's gun." Arthur said as he nudged towards his 12-gauge shotgun at the side of his bed, and his Glock and Python holstered at his belt.
"Right, which is why I have a plan for us to get more guns and ammo. Look, not too long away from here, is the old air force base I used to work at. There should be a lot of guns there. Not to mention it has walls and guard posts to keep the place safe." Arthur could see where she was going with this, and he nodded at the idea. "Even if the place isn't empty, we could maybe relocate there and find shelter. I still know a few people there… some of them are assholes, sure. But it's worth a shot. I wanted you to come with me to scope the place out."
Arthur had to say he kind of liked that idea, a military base was bound to be secure. But one thing bothered him, if this place wasn't deserted and filled with army boys, then they might find themselves in a heap of trouble. "I say we need to bring a few others with us. You know… just in case."
"Who did you have in mind?" Lilly wasn't opposed to the idea. In fact, she looked happy that Arthur was onboard.
"I say Lee, Kenny and Carley." Arthur suggested.
"No, one of them needs to stay here. There aren't many here that knows how to fight like we do. Lee should stay behind at least, or maybe Carley."
"… Alright, Carley stays behind. But we still need a fifth. There's gonna be a lot of guns and ammo to carry out of there if the place isn't secure." Arthur added, as the probability of walkers having overrun the base was a possibility.
"We should run this by the rest of the group. See if anyone volunteers." Lilly suggested, not feeling comfortable to force anyone else into joining.
They gathered a group meeting of the adults, and Larry was quick to agree on Lilly's plan. "Nice thinking Lilly. You, Arthur and me should be able to handle it."
"Dad… I was kind of hoping you stay behind. You know, your heart and all." Lilly tried to not sound like she was babying her father, as Larry was a rather proud man. "And we need strong muscles back here too to defend it."
"Hmm, I guess you are right. Who did you want to bring then?" Larry asked.
"I was thinking Lee and Kenny." Arthur suggested, and the two men didn't seem to hesitate to step up.
"Kenny, don't…" Katjaa tried to talk her husband out of it, clearly worried for him.
"Aw, don't you worry about me darlin'. If this works out, we can find a safer place for you and Duck. It's worth the trip." Kenny assured his wife, looking confident.
"Yeah, I agree." Lee stood with Kenny.
"This guy?" Larry snarled looking at Lee, clearly not trusting him with this mission. "I don't know Lilly."
"It's either that he goes with us. Or stays here with you." Arthur added and Larry seemed to back down a little.
"You take care of my daughter out there Arthur. Got it?" Larry asked in a slight threatening tone.
"Of course." Although Arthur disliked Larry, he had nothing against Lilly. So, he would of course try and keep her and everyone else safe. "But we do need a fifth, so… Doug, you up for it?" Arthur looked to the slight overweight man, who was a little shocked he had been picked.
"You got it." Doug seemed to gather his courage as he cast one look at Carley.
"Wait, why don't I get to go?" Carley asked, looking at Arthur specifically as he knew how much she wanted to get out of here for a bit.
"We need a good shot to stay behind. Besides, it's going to be a lot to carry back with us. And Doug knows his… tech stuff from what Lee told me. Might be useful when breaking into a military base." Arthur looked a little apologetic at Carley, but she didn't seem to argue and sighed. She was mostly glad to get a break from Lilly anyway.
"You got it boss." Carley smirked, and sounded genuine. She had always thought Arthur would be a good option for group leader. Better than Lilly and Kenny anyway.
"Great, it's settled." Lilly rolled her eyes at hearing Arthur get called boss, clearly defensive about being group leader. "Let's gear up and head out."
They ended up taking Kenny's truck, loading it up with a can of gas just in case they were to run out. Kenny borrowed Arthur's Glock, while Lee borrowed the axe and brought his hammer as well. Doug got to borrow the shotgun. And Lilly went with her own pistol. Kenny and Lilly sat up front, Doug and Lee in the backseat. And Arthur just jumped onto very back of the pickup truck. "Let's roll out." Arthur slapped the roof of the car a few times, as Larry and Carley opened up the dumpster gates and they were on their way. Taking one look back, Arthur saw Clementine standing with Duck and Katjaa wishing them good luck.
After an hour or so driving, Kenny says from the driver seat. "Alright we should be closing up on the base."
"Should we park somewhere secluded?" Lee asked as he was worried if there were people at this base, that they weren't going to be friendly to strangers.
"Not you too Lee. Look, the army will see us right." Kenny shook his head, and asked for them to trust him as they continued to drive towards the base.
Suddenly, a loud pop followed by screeching tires have them sway back and forth. "Shit!" Arthur ended up getting tossed off the truck and fell rolling off the side of the road.
"Arthur!" Lee called out, when suddenly Kenny lost control of the car and it flipped rolling over on the road. "Ugh… my head…" Lee groaned, having bumped his head in the wreck. "Not again…"
"What happened?" Doug groaned.
"I-I don't know…" Kenny looked around seeing the truck was flipped upside down.
"Where's Arthur?" Lilly asked while kicking open the door. They all proceeded to crawl out of the truck. With minor scratches the gang was overall fine. "Arthur?!" Lee called out for their lost friend.
"Hey guys…" Doug pointed out, seeing further down the road there were spike strips. They must have popped Kenny's tires causing the wreck.
"Who the fuck put these down?" Kenny asked and his question was answered as a truck pulled up behind them. And out came a whole group of army men, armed with assault rifles. "Holy shit!" Kenny and Doug were quick to hold their hands up.
The army men grabbed them all, and tackled them down. "Move! Move!" A commanding voice shouted, as the army men detained the gang.
"Argh! What the fuck?!" Kenny shouted in outrage, as he was pulled up to his feet. With one of the army guys grabbing his gun.
"What the fuck is this?! Hey! Let us go!" Lilly demanded.
"Well, well, look who it is." A taunting voice stepped towards them, and Lilly's eyes widened a little as she recognized this man. He was a tall lanky man, with slicked back black hair. He was dressed in a camouflaged opened field jacket, with a white shirt underneath. "Hi Lilly."
Lilly looked confused for a moment. "B-Brian? What the fuck is this?" Lilly asked, going from confused to angry really quickly.
"You know this guy?!" Kenny asked.
"He was the commanding officer at the air base. What are you doing?!" Lilly looked at her former boss, demanding answers.
"Hey man, let us go!" Lee struggled, while two men pinned him down. While Doug was knocked down by a boot to the face.
Further down the road off to the side, Arthur had managed to survive the wreck without injury. He had been thrown off, and rolled off to the side. Holding his Python ready to shoot if needed, and his hatchet in his other free hand. Staying out of sight, and not making a sound as to not get caught.
Brian, the leader of these army guys inspected each of his four new captives. "Any bites?" Brian looked to his men.
"Negative, no bites sir." A soldier answered.
"Ah, great." Brian chuckled, as he made some notes in a small journal.
"Look… we came to see if there was any shelter at the old air force base." Lilly groaned, trying to break free from her restraints.
"Oh? You mean, my base?" Brian tauntingly grabbed Lilly by the chin. "Well, you don't look to be in any rough shape. So, tell me, are there more of you people out here? And if so, where?"
Lilly glared back at her former boss. "Not until you let us go!"
"Oh? So, there are more of you? And you have a place." Brian caught on to the way Lilly worded her sentence, implying there were answers to the questions he asked. "I'm sorry Lilly, but we can't let you go. For my people's safety. And I am afraid, we're not accepting new residences at the air base for the moment. But don't you worry, you lot still have a role to play." Brian said, looking at them like they were less than human. "Butch!" Brian called out, as the truck they came with seemed to bounce up a little as if some heavy load was lifted off it.
Out from the truck, walked out a big brute of a man. He looked to be nearly 7 feet tall and was very muscular. With short buzzcut hair. Dressed in a simple green tank top with cargo military pants. Brian looked to his big enforcer, and nodded towards Lilly and the rest. "Load them up."
"Sure boss." Butch lifted Lilly throwing her over his shoulder, and dragged Kenny by the back of his shirt. The rest of the army guys had Lee and Doug and gunpoint and pushed them towards the truck.
"Where are you taking us you son of a bitch?!" Kenny shouted at Brian as he was being dragged by Butch.
"To the air base. You lot should be proud. You will be part of a great experiment that will benefit all of mankind." Brian jumped to the drivers' seat, and drove off with his new prisoners.
"Shit…" Arthur cussed, and made his way to the woods. He had to try and see if he could rescue them somehow. Katjaa and Duck wouldn't be happy if he came back without Kenny. Carley would demand to go with him to save Doug. Clementine would cry out for Lee's safety. And Larry, well, Larry's big lardass would probably try and go and fight these guys.
Blindfolded, hands tied behind their backs. Lee, Kenny, Doug and Lilly were dragged out of the truck by the soldiers once they arrived at the air base. Hearing the sound of a gated fence closing up as the truck had pulled over. And the loud barking soldiers issuing orders, demanding they get out of the trucks. "Brian!" Lilly kicked and screamed, nailing a soldier right in the mouth as he tried to pull her out. "Let me talk to you! Brian!"
"Shut up!" A soldier hit Lilly in the back with the back end of his rifle, knocking her to her knees.
"Lilly! You alright?!" Lee asked as he was suddenly knocked to the ground by Butch. The big hulking brute dragging Lee by the back of his shirt without any effort no matter how much Lee struggled.
The sound of tires and cars driving around echoed around them, people walking around with a lot of radio chatter. "Four new subjects for testing. Finish up down there. Over."
"Get the fuck off me!" Kenny tried to swing his elbows to hit whoever was pushing him forward in the face. But found himself getting the rough end of a backhand instead.
Lee couldn't tell much of what was happening, but from the sound of it they were going down a long corridor. Did they enter a building? Go underground? Everything around them was echoing. The sounds of terrified pleas from others. "No… no please, no. No! No!" A woman screamed followed with the sound of familiar walker snarls. Her screams replaced by the sound of gurgling, with tearing flesh.
"On your knees!" A soldier kicked Lee in the back of his leg. With a grunt Lee went on his knees, and light came to his eyes as the blindfolds were removed. "The fuck is this?" Lee looked around, seeing they were in some sort of communal shower room. Their restraints were tied up against a pipe, lining them all up perfectly as they faced at least ten armed soldiers.
Butch stood in the back with his arms crossed, looking over them like a giant guard dog. Then there was Brian, walking around while humming a cheerful tune. "Okay, let's see here…" Brian examined all of them, and Lee took his time to eye the floor. Seeing trails of blood flowing down the drain. And behind him, there were giant blood splatters with pieces of brain matter stuck to the wall.
"What the fuck are you doing Brian?" Lilly glared up at her former boss who just ignored her as he continued his checkup on them.
"One African American male. Roughly 6 foot 2. Weighs probably… 185 pounds." Moving on to Kenny, who spat in Brian's direction. "Hmm, charming. Caucasian male. Roughly 6 foot… weight probably 183 pounds. On the skinnier side… but fairly strong and hot tempered to boot. That could be interesting." Brian moved on to Doug. "Hmm, Caucasian male. Roughly 5 foot 11. Weighs… pfft. Heh, I'm guessing 200 pounds. And one Caucasian female. And if memory serves correct from your health checkups here. 5 foot 9. And 135 pounds. And you are quite mean spirited."
"Fuck you Brian!" Lilly glared at him. "What are you going to do to us?!"
"I told you… We're going to have you help us perform an experiment. But… before that. Do tell, where are the rest of your people hiding?" Brian pulled out his combat knife, pushing the cold blade up against Lilly's temple.
"Fuck off!" Kenny shouted out, defensive over the potential of his family getting hurt by this creep. "We're all that is you piece of shit!"
"Heh, now you see. I would be inclined to believe you. If it weren't for Lilly here, being without her dear old dad Larry. Now, at the start she went to go and find her dear old dad. And I've seen Larry… I doubt he would die just yet. And, judging by the way you all look clean, and well enough fed suggests you haven't been on the road for these past two months. Now, I only need one of you to tell me… Let's see who should I pick to be left out of the experiment?" Brian hummed to himself and looked at the four survivors, his eyes landing on Doug. "The fatty. Butch, get him out of the lineup."
The big brute marched towards the restrained Doug, who looked scared as Butch removed the restraints on Doug's wrists. Butch lifts up Doug and pushes him into two soldiers. "Good pick boss. This guy will talk alright."
"Doug! Don't say a word! Got it?!" Kenny shouted as Doug was being dragged away to another room.
"Butch, I trust you will handle… Doug, was it? Make sure he talks. And once he does, prepare a few of your men for a mission and round the rest of their group up."
"Sir, yes sir!" Butch saluted as walked into the other room where they had taken Doug.
Brian left with Lee, Kenny and Lilly sighed as he looked to one of the soldiers. "Bring out the failures of the last batch." Brian ordered and the solider gave a salute and left the room.
"What the fuck is going on here man?!" Lee having lost his patience snapped at Brian.
"I told you. You three, will help us with a little experiment of ours." Brian condescendingly looked down on them, as another soldier brought in a tray of various drugs and antibiotics. Followed by the other soldier, bringing in three other restrained civilians. Who all looked pale and were drenched in sweat from a fever.
"Who are they?" Lilly glared at Brian.
"The last batch of failures. Guard the door." Brian walked out of the room, leaving two armed guards at the door leading into the room.
Lee, Kenny and Lilly all silently looked at the three people in front of them. "Oh shit…" Lilly widened her eyes, seeing that each one of them, had a bite mark on their body with missing chunks of flesh. These were infected people on the brink of turning into walkers. "What the fuck?! Brian! Get back in here! Brian! Shit!" Lilly banged her head against the wall in frustration.
"Fuck! I'm going to tear that fucker apart! We got to get out of here Lee! Those bastards are going after my family!" Kenny started trying to break free from his restraints.
"I hear you. Look for something to pry the locks with." Lee began looking around, noticing the tray having syringes with needles. Those might be useful. But speaking of syringes, Lee noticed the three bitten people before him had their arms covered in needle marks. "What the fuck happened with you three?"
A man tiredly breathed, as he looked up at Lee with near hollow eyes. "We were… trying to find shelter… we thought this place would be safe. They… they took us in… and then they… it happened so quick. We couldn't do anything to fight them. That Brian guy, told us we were going to be a part of his experiment. He and that big guy dragged us down here… took out the last batch of failures. They turned, and the soldiers had them bite us. Then they… tested various drugs on us. Recorded their effects on whatever the fuck this virus is."
A pale black woman coughed up blood as she looked at them. "They trying to cure this shit… but when it don't work. They keep the failed ones… let them turn to bite and infect the next sorry group of bastards they grab. Or just feed them to the dead."
"Jesus Christ almighty…" Kenny was wide eyed with terror. Arthur was right, the army wasn't taking chances with civilians.
"Fuck!" Lilly cussed and kicked up a fuss. "Brian!"
"Shut up!" A guard shouted at Lilly as he walked in with a notepad.
"Go to hell…" The third infected of the failed batch, a young girl spat blood at the soldiers' feet. "You here to see how long it takes for us to turn now?" These soldiers were forcing people to partake in experiments, under the false hope of trying to find a curse for the Wildfire virus. While recording the time it takes individuals to turn, and other observant facts. Which is probably why Brian noted down each of their height and weight, to see if that factored in any of the turning progress.
"Fuck! Fuck! We need to get out of here." Kenny whispered over to Lee, as they were now on a timer.
"Keep it cool Ken…" Lee whispered back, glaring at the guard who was too busy with taking notes about the infected prisoners' progress. "Come on Arthur… I know you out there." Lee sighed to himself, hoping the skilled survivalist would come to their rescue.
Meanwhile, the time traveling cowboy, Arthur Morgan, snuck behind a wall barricade. Keeping an eye out with his gun drawn and ready should the need present itself. Sneaking around Arthur approached a barbed wired fence, peeking inside to get a look at the base.
There were several hangers around the base, and various pitched army tents. At the center was a helipad with an attack helicopter. And patrolling around the yard were a lot of armed men. "Shit…" Arthur mumbled to himself, these army boys with their automatic rifles were going to be a big problem.
Looking for some kind of entry point, and for ways he could sneak in undetected. Arthur found each task to get more difficult by the second, the place was too wide opened and heavily guarded. Even if he got inside, he would get spotted before he could even walk ten yards. Hearing a loud bang, Arthur on instinct raised his gun and ducked for cover.
"Dammit!" A voice cussed out, trying to sound quiet himself. And it came from the outside with Arthur. Arthur quietly snuck around the corner from where he heard the voice, one man on his own. Dressed in a camouflaged army uniform, carrying a toolbox. "Shit… if I mess up again Brian will… shit!" The man was working on fixing the engine for an RV.
Making sure no one else was around, Arthur holstered his gun and instead went for his knife. Moving a little faster while crouched, Arthur gets up behind the man and quickly yank him backwards. Before the man can even let out as much as a frightened gasp, he sees the knife held to his throat. "One word boy… say one word without my say so, and I promise it will be your last." Arthur spoke in a low growl as he pushed the man behind the RV he was working on to prevent any soldier within the base to notice them.
Pushing the frightened man up against the RV, Arthur glared into his eyes as he held his knife up against the man's throat. The man was trembling, looking with wide eyes of fear behind a pair of glasses. Arthur pulled the knife away from the man's throat, and held it up against his temple while slowly inching to pull it down. "Take a moment. Look how sharp it is. Now listen here boy, here's how this is going to go. I am going to ask you a few questions. And you better pray I like your answers, or else I'm gonna kill ya. And if you scream or call for help, I will slit your throat. If you play your cards right, you walk outta here alive. We have an understanding?"
Near whimpering, the man nodded holding his hands up as a sign of surrender. Arthur then starts, getting close to look as menacing as possible. "Where are my people?"
"W-What?" The man shakingly asked which only angered Arthur. To which the man looked in panic and mumbled out. "I-I don't know what you are talking about… I swear."
Arthur seeing the panic in his eyes, eased up a little. He still didn't want this man to scream for help and get caught as a result. "The people you guys ambushed on the road today. Where did that jolly green giant, and pencil neck take them? Better answer me boy, or I will rip your chest open."
"Whoa! Calm down dude… I don't know, okay? I'm a mechanic… I just work… or try to fix the bases vehicles and helicopters. I'm Mark… and I swear, I'm nobody important here. But… I-I guess the guys you are talking about are Butch and Brian, right?"
"Look, Mark… I don't know their names, and I don't care what you do. But they took my people on the road today. I just want to know where, and get them back. Now, let's try this again, where are my people?" Arthur grew less patient by the second, which had Mark fearing for his life.
"I… Okay, look. I don't know anything about Brian and Butch taking a group of people today. But… if they did, I can think of a few places where they might be." Mark wasn't keen on dying today, and by the looks of it he didn't really care for this Brian or Butch.
Arthur held the knife back against Mark's throat, causing him to squirm a little. "You better not be lying to me boy. And think carefully before you open your mouth again. Cause trust me, I'll know if you are lying." Arthur had been raised by one of the best conmen of the wild west after all, Hosea. And even the biggest liar of all, Dutch.
"I'm not. I hate Brian and Butch. Trust me when I say this, they have both threatened me with worse than you are right now." Mark was so nervous, he started to remind Arthur of Kieran Duffy, the O'Driscoll boy he had captured back in the day, and who ended up saving Arthur's life. But Arthur could not save his. Mark continued with his monologue. "… I'm not completely sure though. There is this old bunker that goes underground. Sometimes I see people go down there… and they never come back. And… sometimes, I hear screams. But… I can't ask any questions about it. Brian would say it is classified, and Butch would threaten to drag me down there to see for myself."
Arthur nods his head slowly. He could tell Mark wasn't lying. But to be safe. "I'm gonna let you go now… But I want you to remember this. I guarantee you, if you try and screw me over and alert your buddies in there or even mention me. I will kill you."
"Yeah. Got it." Mark nods and Arthur backs away from him, still having his knife drawn waiting to see what Mark's next move would be. "Okay… I will help you find your people. I will help you get inside. But on one condition."
"You think you are in any position to be making demands boy?" Arthur held up his knife to which Mark flinched a little.
"Well… are you?" Mark retorted as they were outside an air base filled with armed guards.
"Point taken. But first, why would you want to help me?" Arthur demanded, squinting his eyes menacingly at Mark.
"It's the right thing to do. And besides, look at this RV." Mark pointed out, opening the door showing the RV was stacked up with food and water supplies. "I want out of here. I was trying to fix up this RV to leave this place. In a world with these man-eating reanimated things, I'm still more terrified of Brian. I will help you sneak in, find your friends and get out of here."
"You want to leave this place because that pencil neck guy scares you?" Arthur looked with a raised brow and just shrugged. "Why not just kill him yourself, take over."
"What?! Are you crazy? I'm a mechanic. Brian is a trained soldier. What's worse, I think he's actually insane. I've seen him do… horrible things to people here who question him and his men. And he won't let anyone leave, claiming they will save mankind from this plague. No, even if I get a chance to kill Brian… then I will just get killed by the rest of his men. Look, the deal is I help you find your friends, and you help me escape from this place." Mark was determined to leave this place behind, and Arthur couldn't blame him. It sounded like a prison.
"Heh, fruits of civilization, huh?" Arthur nearly snorted out a chuckle. These army boys meant to serve and protect this country, now used as prison guards locking in their own citizens. "Fine, you got yourself a deal. But first things first, we need a distraction for the guards. And a way for me to move around in there undetected."
"Uhh, here." Mark removed his military jacket and threw it to Arthur. Taking one look at the cargo pattern and dark green color, Arthur nodded. He could use this for hunting potentially in wooded areas. The jacket was a little small on him, Arthur's muscles made it hard for him to lock up the zipper. But it would have to do. "Okay, now for a distraction…" Arthur thought to himself, that there was one type of distraction that would be very effective nowadays. "I got it. I know there is a herd of walkers passing through not far from here. Saw them on my morning hunt earlier today. They were headed west of where I was… so they should be a little north of here. Unless something already gained their attention."
"Whoa, whoa, your plan is to bring a whole bunch of those things here?!" Mark sounded stressed, to him it was clearly a terrible plan. "We'll just get caught in the middle of it!"
"Not if we're quick about it. Okay, here's the deal. They already know you in there. You can sneak around, try and find my people. Three men, Lee, Kenny and Doug. And one woman, Lilly. Tell them Arthur sent you. Wait and listen for the sound of gunfire, and head back here. I will make sure to lead the herd to the other side of the compound. Once I have the walkers here, the army boys are going to have to start unloading gunfire upon them. They will be too distracted with them; to even notice we're escaping out from the opposite side. This base goes down, and you can come back with us. If you play your cards right friend, you might just live. Understand?" Arthur was used to being a strategist when it came to battles for his old gang, being the gang's best gunman Arthur had gained a lot of experience in planning a fight.
"O-Okay… Yeah, listen for gunfire, take your people back here, we leave. Got it." Mark sounded a little nervous, so Arthur patted his shoulders.
"Pull yourself together Mark. You want to live, don't you? This is how we live. Now go." Arthur slapped Mark on the shoulder, sending him into the airbase while Arthur headed out to the woods to look for the herd.
Mark once inside the airbase, tried his best to act casual. Walking calmly, carrying his toolbox. "Hey Marty…" Mark greeted a soldier who dismissed him with a grunt. "Woo, okay." Taking a few deep breaths, Mark began trying to sneak towards the underground bunkers. Suspecting that is where Arthur's people were taken.
Once he got to the bunker, Mark froze as two armed guards stood outside. Gathering his courage, Mark marched towards the bunker with purpose. "Uh, Brian sent me. Said some stuff needed fixing." Mark awkwardly held out his toolbox.
"Must be the radiator again." Luckily for Mark, one of the soldiers recognized a problem within the bunker. So, the other without double checking with Brian over the coms nodded. "Alright, head-on in."
Once inside, Mark struggled not to let out a sigh of relief. He couldn't believe he had gotten so lucky. He moved down the steps of the bunker, walking by armed soldiers who didn't seem to mind his presence. After all, if he got past the guards outside, why would they question him being here?
Mark walked by a door that was sealed shut, and inside he heard the familiar growling of the dead. It was a room filled with the failed experiments of Brian, the people he had grabbed outside of the base and infected. 'Where the hell do I even go?' Mark asked himself, when suddenly he heard faint screams and shouts. Taking a chance, he headed in the direction where they came from.
Stopping around a corner, Mark noticed a familiar figure within a room behind the glass. Crouching out of sight, Mark snuck around as he saw Butch torture a poor man. "Argh!" The man, Doug, cried in pain as Butch ripped out one of his finger nails.
"Now, I'm going to ask once more. Where is your group hiding at fat boy?" Butch chuckled, and lightly smacked Doug across the face. "Aww, come on, we both know that wasn't hard! Stop your whining!" Butch sadistically cackled. "Now, where is your group?" Butch asked once more, cutting his knife across Doug's chest.
"Argh! Mm! Mm!" Doug whimpered in his seat, wanting the pain to just end. But he wouldn't break, they had mistaken him for being weak. Physically, maybe, but weak minded? No. Thinking of the people back home at the motor inn, thinking about Carley, Doug glared up at Butch. And through swollen lips from the beating he had taken. "Go to hell…" Doug mumbled out, and Butch didn't take kindly to it, with his next hit he knocked out a tooth from Doug's swollen mouth.
Sneaking further away, Mark reached a former common shower area. Seeing two armed guards, and three chained people to the wall, with other dying people in front of them. Great, what now? Mark couldn't possibly take down two armed guards at once. Especially not with Butch so close by. "What now?" Mark mumbled to himself, when suddenly the distant sound of gunfire began to echo. "A-Already?"
"What's that?" A soldier within the room asked.
Seizing his opportunity, Mark rushed in to full view of the guards. "Walkers by the gate! Walkers by the gate! A whole herd of them!" Mark cried out in panic, and the guards quickly in panic rushed out to see for themselves.
"Who are you?" Lilly snarled at Mark.
"Umm, are either of you Lee, Kenny, Doug or Lilly by any chance?" Mark asked them as he got out stuff from his toolbox.
"Yeah, but Doug got taken by that big guy. Who are you?" Lee asked, looking cautious.
"I'm Mark, Arthur sent me." As soon as Mark said that, he seemed to have the group's trust as he began breaking them free of their shackles. Not noticing that the bitten failed test subjects, had already passed away. And one of their pale hands began twitching.
In the woods a few moments earlier. Arthur had rushed through the woods, listening for any sign of the walker herd and looking for any tracks. Knowing they had to be relatively nearby somewhere; Arthur raised his gun up into the air and fired off a shot. He would lure them towards him. As he fired off the crackling shot from his Python, Arthur heard them. Distant snarling moans and groans. Looking towards a hill, Arthur started to see them coming into view.
He would need to run back to the air base, and fast. Arthur fired off one more shot, Arthur made sure the herd saw him. Any nearby walker heard his shot, and marched in his direction.
Taking it easy, not wanting to waste his stamina on running, Arthur made sure to keep a relative distance from the herd. While at the same time making sure he was in their view. Giving off a few whistles, Arthur made sure they continued to follow him through the forest.
Arthur had to circle around a little, to direct the herd towards the east side of the airbase's wall as their escape route was on the west side with Mark's RV. Soon Arthur saw the fences coming into view, and made sure to lure the walker herd with him towards it.
Arthur noticed a guard tower, with one guard holding a rifle. The guard noticed movements in the woods, and saw Arthur sprint out from the side of it. "What the?" Then the guard gasped as he saw the herd following Arthur. "Walkers!" The man managed to shout, before Arthur fired off a shot from his revolver, nailing the man right in the head with a clean shot.
The shot gained the attention of the whole base, as quickly more guards were diverted to the east side of the base to confront the walker herd. And a series of fully automatic gunfire followed. Arthur rushed back towards the west side of the gate, finding Mark's RV. Arthur then through the west entrance, snuck into the airbase. 'Bunkers! Bunkers!' Arthur looked around the airbase, while still trying to act discreet. Luckily for him, most of the guards were currently on the east side.
"Go! Go!" Brian was seen rushing out from a hanger, wielding a handgun as he and a few other guards drove off in trucks. The trucks had some kind of gatling guns strapped to them. This distraction might not last long after all. "They've breached the east fence!" A guard shouted.
'Maybe it will last a little while longer.' Arthur thought as he moved towards where the bunkers were. Seeing a few soldiers run out from it, armed to the teeth.
Rushing up to the entrance of the bunker, Arthur spotted two armed guards. "Halt!" A guard shouted, but Arthur quickly pulled out his gun and fired off two shots into each of the guards. Hitting one in the throat, and the other in the head.
Arthur ran by as their bodies collapsed, and into the bunker. Arthur navigated himself through the bunker, already hearing a few walkers inside the bunker as well. Walking by a sealed shut door, hearing the clear moans and groans of walkers on the other side. "The fuck is this?" Arthur asked, before continuing down the hall.
Having to make sure he was stealthy, Arthur pulled out his hatchet. Arthur stopped by a corner, as he saw a few soldiers meet. "What's going on out there?" The big guy Butch, with his shirt having a few blood stains on it that clearly didn't come from him, marched out from a room.
"Sir, the eastern wall has been breached. Walkers are flooding into the base. Commander Brian says it should be dealt with shortly, our armored trucks are already mowing down a lot of those undead bastards." A guard reported back.
"Good. And what of the new test subjects?" Butch asked.
"We uh, left them sir. We rushed out to see if we could be of any help." The second guard anxiously responded.
"Well clearly you aren't! Get back in there, idiots!" Butch roared at the two guards, intimidating them to the point where they ran towards the prisoner area. Butch heavily stomped away in the opposite direction.
Arthur waited a few moments, then he followed the two guards. The new test subjects had to be his group. "Ah!" Arthur heard a scream he recognized, it was Mark. "Shit!" Arthur rushed around a corner as he began hearing the moan of walkers.
"Shit!" Mark swatted a walker away with a wrench.
"Halt! What are you doing?!" The two guards arrived at the scene. But before they could open fire, one of them cried out in pain from having a hatchet lodged into his back. Arthur jumped out from the corner, and knocked the second guard to the floor in a single hit to his jaw. And then crushed the guards throat underneath his boot.
"Arthur!" Lee called out, seeing Mark trying to hold off two walkers while a third was crawling onto Lilly. Arthur dealt with the walker on Lilly first, shooting it through the head with his Python.
"Thanks!" Lilly straggled her breaths, clearly anxious to get out of here. Taking his hunting knife, Arthur stabbed one of the walkers Mark held off through the back of the head. And Mark managed to knock down the last walker, and bash its head in with his wrench.
"That was too close…" Mark was out of breath.
"Well get them loose, hurry!" Arthur shoved Mark towards Lee and Kenny, while Arthur took his hatchet back from one of the dead guards. Then Arthur noticed, they were missing one. "Where is Doug?"
"That big guy, Butch took him!" Lilly groaned as Arthur lockpicked her free.
"I saw… Butch torture a guy a few halls down." Mark said as he got Kenny and Lee free. Kenny instantly grabbing a weapon from Mark's toolbox, as did Lee.
"Well, we go rescue him. And bash that big fuckers' brains in!" Kenny wanted payback, no one threatens his family.
"Here." Arthur took the rifles off the two dead guards, handing Lilly a sniper rifle. And handing Lee a Marksmen rifle while giving Kenny a handgun. Arthur took the second guard's sidearm, a Colt, and handed it over to Mark. "Here, we fighting our way out of here."
"What about guns? We came here for more than just this." Lilly was surprisingly enough still insistent enough to recover as many guns and as much ammo as possible from this place.
"In case you haven't been paying attention. There is a herd of walkers out there, currently tearing this base to pieces. We don't have time to look for stuff." Arthur scolded, these rifles and handguns would have to do. They could also probably grab the guns of the guards Arthur killed by the entrance to the bunker.
"I have stuff… in the RV." Mark spoke up. "Food, water, ammunition and a few hunting rifles. And a handgun. And lots of fuel." Mark was after all preparing to leave the base before Arthur stumbled upon him. He had of course horded enough supplies to survive.
"Okay, see? We got an RV loaded up with supplies, and a new group member." Arthur said, but Lilly glared at that last part.
"He's not coming with us." Lilly would rather take the RV for themselves and leave Mark for dead.
"He just saved our lives Lilly. Jesus, if he's got a lot of stuff and an RV. I say he's in." Kenny voiced his opinion, willing to bring Mark with them if Arthur vouched for him.
"Come on Lilly, without Mark. Those walkers would have gotten us." Lee pointed out, as if Mark weren't here to hold off the walkers. They all would have ended up bitten, or worse, eaten till there was nothing left of their bodies.
"… Fine! He can come with us. But you better not be secretly working for Brian, or I swear, I will cut your little balls off!" Lilly threatened, and Mark was clearly intimidated.
"Whoa! Look, I dislike Brian and Butch as much as anyone in here. Heck, maybe even more. I want out of here. That is all." Mark having gained some courage from this mission, stared Lilly down with confidence. Enough to impress her at least.
"Alright, let's go and find Doug. And then Brian." Lilly loaded her rifle, ready to kill her former boss.
As they made a corner, more guards spotted them. "How did they get loose?! Open fire!" A guard called out and fired off a few shots at the group that quickly darted down the other hall, narrowly avoiding the shots.
Arthur peeked out from the corner, and fired off three shots into three guards who all fell down the stairs, groaning in agony. "Go! Go!" Arthur commanded, not knowing that those shots alerted Butch.
"Huh?" The big man stopping his torture of Doug, as he heard the gunfire and shouting within the bunker. "What the actual fuck is going on out there?!" Grabbing his knife, and the fire axe he had taken from Lee as they captured him. Butch walked out of the room to check for himself.
Arthur, Lee, Kenny, Lilly and Mark all hide behind a few crates, as guards run by past them. "Okay… We need a plan." Kenny noticed, how dire the situation was, loaded his gun for a fight.
"Yeah, okay, Mark knows where Doug is. Lee and Lilly will go with you to get him. If he's beaten up, he might need help to walk. Me and Kenny will distract the guards. And that jolly green giant if he's still down here." Arthur commanded, and Lee looked a little impressed at Arthur's level of planning. As did Lilly, Kenny and Mark, the latter who asked.
"Hey, Arthur, what did you do before the world went to shit?" Mark asked out of genuine curiosity. Wondering if maybe Arthur was some kind of special forces agent.
"Explorer, traveler, hunter, a shotgun messenger, a bum. Pick one." Arthur dodged the question mostly, and loaded up his Python. "Any chance you know where they took your stuff?" Arthur asked as he noticed off course, that his Glock, shotgun, fire axe he had borrowed to Lee, Kenny and Doug were missing.
"We were blindfolded when they dragged us down here. Sorry." Lee shook his head, and Arthur only sighed. "Well, at least we have new weapons now."
The group then split up, with Lee, Lilly and Mark going after Doug. While Kenny and Arthur began shooting up the place and any guard they found. After running around, Arthur and Kenny entered a medical ward from the looks of it. Hospital beds and curtains. A few guards stormed in after them, but Kenny and Arthur had each managed to hide within the room.
The lighting of the room, helped Arthur see shadowy figures on the other side of the curtain. While Kenny was hidden under a hospital bed. Raising his hatchet, Arthur readied it as a guard reached for the curtain he was hidden behind. As the guard was close, Arthur swung his hatchet into the guard's face, staining the white curtain with a big blood stain.
Kenny then took his shot, hitting the other guard in the ankle with his pistol. "Argh!" The guard cried out, which echoed through the bunker. Arthur stepped out from behind the curtain, and ended the downed guard Kenny had shot by swinging his hatched through his head.
Arthur reached down to grab a fully automatic rifle from the dead guard. "Alright, let's get out of here." The hospital ward had two doors on each side. And as Arthur and Kenny were walking towards one of the doors, the steps of what sounded like a running angry bull came from the other one.
The door broke down, as Butch came charging in like a raging bull, he knocked Kenny aside into the wall. And grabbed onto Arthur, lifting Arthur up like a ragdoll and smashed him into the wall. "Argh!" Arthur cried out in pain as he was tossed to the floor.
"You the sneaky one that caused all this? Now, where's your group?" Butch asked as he brought forth Arthur's fire axe.
Seeing the fire axe, Arthur quickly crawled out of the way as Butch swung it down at him. Butch kicked away the M14 rifle Arthur had tried to grab from the dead guard. And circled around Arthur, who had gone for his hatchet. Arthur readied himself, holding up his hatchet as he stared down the big giant that was Butch. "Yes!" Butch chuckled as with his size, he could wield the fire axe in one hand, while having his combat knife in the other.
"Ah, fuck…" Kenny groaned, having lost his gun in the scuffle. The family man got up to his feet as he and Arthur both circled around the seven-foot-tall brute. Kenny grabbed a scalpel he found on the floor, and went to attack Butch from the back. But the trained experienced soldier, bashed Kenny's face with his elbow, breaking Kenny's nose and knocking him to the floor.
"Shit!" Arthur went for a low blow, swinging his hatchet at Butch's legs. Butch screamed as Arthur managed to cut him a little on the leg. Butch then swung the fire axe at Arthur's head, who narrowly ducked away from the axe as it swooshed over his head. Pulling out his hunting knife, Arthur swung the blade aimed at Butch's abdomen. Leaving a few slashes on the muscular body of Butch.
Butch slashed his combat knife down on Arthur, but Arthur being a little quicker managed to dodge barely. Only for Butch to swing his arm hard into Arthur's chest knocking him over. Butch goes for Arthur, lifting his leg up he tries to bash Arthur's head underneath his boot.
Arthur rolls out of the way, as Butch's boot hits the ground hard. Then with the fire axe, Butch swings it at Arthur. Who once again only narrowly dodges, but his borrowed army jacket gets caught in it. Arthur being stuck, kicks Butch in his injured leg bringing the big guy down. Arthur cuts his jacket a little, and rips free.
Butch lunges for him, but misses. Arthur then takes advantage of Butch being on his knees, and kicks Butch in his chin. This wasn't the first time Arthur fought an opponent bigger than him, but Butch wasn't only big, but well trained to fight. Arthur goes for the fire axe, grabbing it, he swings it at Butch.
Butch falls on his back to dodge the swing of the axe. Arthur raises the axe and aims to plunge it into Butch's thick skull. But the brute isn't as dumb as he looks, as Butch actually grabs onto the fire axe's handle mid swing. Wrestling with Arthur over it, Butch hoists Arthur body off the floor, smashing Arthur's body hard in a body slam and pins him down to the floor.
Butch began throwing punches at Arthur, who struggled to block with his forearm. "Dammit!" Arthur seeing an opening, knees Butch in the balls. The air seems to get knocked out of Butch as Arthur manages to push him off. Arthur then pins the big guy down, and starts wailing punches into him.
"Hehe…" Butch after taking a few hits to the face, grabs Arthur's fists and laughs at him. "That fatso took harder love taps from me." Butch at the mention of his torture of Doug, had Arthur pull out his hunting knife that he stabbed into Butch's shoulder. "Argh!" Butch cried and punched Arthur in the face knocking him off him. Butch stands up, with Arthur's knife still lodged into his shoulder.
With a furious snarl, Butch yanks the knife out and tosses it aside. Arthur gets up, and throws a punch in Butch's face, but it does very little to the big brute. Butch then rushes at Arthur, picks him up and swings him into a wall. Latching his arms onto Arthur's throat as he tries to choke the former outlaw out.
But as he does, Butch cries out in pain as Kenny stabbed the scalpel through his lower back. Like a horse, Butch back kicked Kenny to the floor. "Not yet fucker! I'm going to kill you!" Kenny snarled at Butch, blood pouring down from his broken nose.
Arthur elbows Butch in the arms, loosening his chokehold on Arthur, then Arthur socks him right in the eye. "Hehe, kill me? Yeah right, Brian is going to have field day making experiments out of you lot!" Butch laughed it off, despite having suffered two stab wounds he was still standing.
"Come on then you big bastard! I will put you in the ground!" Arthur rushed at Butch, and tackled the big brute to the floor. As Arthur started to throw punch after punch into Butch's face. When Tommy took a beating from Arthur, he hadn't been right in the head ever since, he was going to do a whole lot worse to Butch.
"Hold him still Arthur!" Kenny raised the fire axe, ready to end this brute. But Butch moved his head upwards to dodge the axe, while simultaneously headbutting Arthur.
"You fuckers are tough! Brian loves that, he thinks the tougher the person, the harder they resist this fucking virus!" Butch kicked Kenny back, knocking the axe away from him.
Suddenly, moans and snarls came from behind the doors. "Oh fuck!" Kenny rushed to one of the doors, blocking it off with a hospital bed. Kenny tried to hold the door back, as the walkers banged at it from the other end.
"The fuck?! Did they get loose?!" Butch groaned seeing reanimated guards as walkers pushing up against the other door. Butch grabbed Arthur, and pushed Arthur up against the door while restraining his right arm. "Now! Let's see if you turn! Or not!" Butch cackled, as one of the walkers' heads, had gotten clamped between the door and was snapping its jaws at them.
"Arthur!" Kenny called out in panic, unable to help as he had to hold back the walkers trying to come through the other door.
"Dammit!" Arthur grunted, pushing his left hand against the door to try and push himself away from the snapping walker head. While Butch, held his right hand onto Arthur's head while leaning in close with his full body weight to try and push Arthur's face towards the walkers. While using his left hand to restrain Arthur's right arm.
Butch was too strong to fight against, Arthur couldn't push him back in this position. Arthur groaned as he struggled to try and push back. Glancing from the corner of his eye, he saw the sadistic smiling face of Butch over his left shoulder. "Fuck it!" Arthur let go of the door, and swung his left elbow smashing into Butch's nose hard enough to break it.
"Argh!" Butch was knocked back, and Arthur backed away from the door. Letting the walkers flood in, instantly the undead bastards went on Butch and grabbed onto him.
"Get off me!" Butch groaned as he fought back against the walkers. He grabbed one walker up by its throat, and smashed it against the wall bashing the back of its head in killing it. More kept coming at him, but Butch continued to try and fight them off.
Arthur moved to grab his things, taking his python, hatchet, knife and fire axe. He also grabbed Kenny's gun, and the M14 Carbine from the dead soldier. It only had one mag in it, Arthur would make the shots count.
Turning around, Arthur fired off one shot into Butch's leg. "Argh! Fuck!" Butch fell down, and the walkers quickly overwhelmed him. Starting to sink their teeth into his shoulders and back. "Argh!" Butch cried out in pain as a walker bit his neck, but like raging bull Butch stood up and pushed off the walkers.
"Shit!" Kenny was astonished at seeing the ferocity in Butch.
"Move, Kenny." Arthur instructed as he pushed the hospital bed aside. Arthur opened the door, whilst hiding himself and Kenny behind the door. As the walkers moved in, and instantly smelled blood from Butch they moved in towards him. With walkers coming at him from both sides, Butch is quickly overtaken.
Arthur and Kenny silently walk out of the room, as Butch screams in agony, with the sound of him getting torn apart echoing and blood splattering. Soon Butch's screams die down, and all one can hear are the sound of the walkers tearing him apart.
"Holy shit Arthur, that was…" Kenny was a little caught off guard, Arthur had been efficient, and was able to kill a man without it weighing on his consciousness.
"It was him or us." Arthur said, to which Kenny nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I know. That fucker got what he deserved. Hey, Arthur… You were right about the army. They ain't going to help us." Kenny after this experience knew the government wasn't going to save them, they had to survive and fend for themselves. "Soon as we can, we're leaving that motor inn, and find ourselves a boat."
"Sounds great Ken, but you sure? I don't think taking a boat is going to be an original idea…" Arthur had his doubts, and for a moment when Kenny looked annoyed, he reminded Arthur of Dutch. He almost expected Kenny to ask him to have some goddamn faith.
But no, instead Kenny's face softened up a bit. "Look, I know that. I'm not that stupid. But it's our best and only bet Arthur. And, I want you to come with us. You, Lee and Clementine will always be welcomed. Just know that."
"… Ken, I don't know. If you can find a boat that would be great. And sure, take Lee and Clementine. But… I got my own family to look for out there. My brother, his wife and son. They are out there, and I need to find them." Arthur revealed, and Kenny's face fell into a mixed look of understanding and disappointment.
"Arthur… I don't mean to sound like an asshole here. But you don't even know if your family is alive. And you and Lee are all there is to look after that little girl. I don't think you should go." Kenny and Arthur continued to discuss as they made their way towards the exit of the bunker.
"What's this about Arthur not going?" Lilly, Lee, Mark and Doug came out from the corner. Lee helping Doug stand, as he was very beaten up. Lee even had a bag filled with stuff they found in Doug's torture room. Medicine, drugs, and all their stuff Brian and Butch had taken as they captured them.
"Look, can we talk about this later." Arthur pushed the discussion aside, as they needed to get out of this air base. They made their way out to the sunlight, and the sound of gunfire. Walkers continued to pour into the base from the east side.
"Okay, the RV is this way." Mark instructed and led them towards the west gate.
Lilly kept her eye out, as she noticed a few soldiers fighting off an advancing herd of walkers. "Where the fuck is Butch?!" The voice of Brian had Lilly stop in her tracks, her glare laser focused on the source. She raised her rifle, and aimed down keeping the center mark of the scope hovering over Brian's head.
"Lilly, let's go." Arthur whispered, as if Lilly fired off that shot, it would alert the rest of the guards to their presence. "Lilly, it ain't worth it, come on." Arthur reached out to grab Lilly, but before he could reach, she fired off her shot. And Brian's head popped as a result, and he fell over dead.
"What the?!" A few guards turned around, and spotted the group. "Shit!" While most of the guards continued to fend off the walker herd, a few started shooting at the group.
"Shit! Are you crazy?!" Arthur shouted at Lilly, as the fired back on the soldiers. The soldiers struggled to hold off a two-front assault, and quickly the walker herd started to overwhelm them.
"Give me that!" Arthur snatched the rifle away from Lilly, and pushed her to run towards the western gate. Once they made it to the west gate, they all rushed into the RV and drove off.
"What the hell was that back there?!" Arthur shouted at Lilly, pushing her down into the couch of the RV.
"I killed that fucker before he could find the rest of our group!" Lilly screamed back.
"You almost got us all killed! And for what?! For revenge?!" Arthur tossed the rifle to the floor, while Lilly only glared at him.
"They would have followed us back to the camp, and killed everyone! At least now they are dealt with!" Lilly got up and screamed in Arthur's face.
Shaking his head, Arthur with a grunt sat down. What's done is done anyway. "How's Doug?" Arthur asked Lee who was looking after the beaten man.
"He's messed up. But he'll live. Katjaa should be able to patch him up."
"I-I didn't tell them… Guys… I didn't… tell them." Doug tried to speak through his busted lip. He didn't crack and give Butch any information on their group or camp.
"We know dude, we know." Lee patted Doug on the shoulder. "You did good."
"Yeah, you are a real trooper." Kenny also praised Doug for holding out. "Me and Arthur got that big fucker for you."
"So, what was it Kenny said about you not going?" Lilly confronted Arthur with the questioning.
"What? I've already told you before, I want to go and look for my brother and his family." Arthur said it like it was, he hadn't kept that a secret from them. That he wanted to find his family. He just hadn't told them that involved him going back in time to 1899. "I was telling Kenny once we find a safe enough place. I will cut loose and leave."
"Are you crazy?" Lilly held herself back from screaming out the question. "You don't know what's out there. It's best to stick together as a group. Only together can we survive this."
"I'm fine on my own." Arthur argued, he had just taken down an entire military airbase after all.
"Look, Arthur, I get it, family is important." Kenny did sympathize with Arthur. But at the same time, Kenny knew Arthur was a good fighter and a survivor. And for his family's sake, Kenny didn't want Arthur to leave. And, he also didn't want to lose someone he considered a good friend by now. But also, because Kenny doubted Arthur would ever find his family. "Look, it's a long way, Arthur. Most likely, you won't even find your brother."
"I hate to say this Arthur, but face it, your brother and his family might be dead." Lilly tried to sound calm and express sympathy for Arthur's situation.
"… You don't know what you are talking about. John might be stupid, and ugly. But he knows how to fight like me." Arthur knew John was dead at this current point in time, he had been dead for over a century. But Arthur knew John was still alive in 1899.
"Look, Arthur. I'm sure your brother is probably alive." Lee took his turn to voice his own opinion. "And I don't blame you for wanting to go out and find him, no one here does. But you can't leave, not like that. Clementine needs you, Arthur."
Arthur sighed, feeling Lee was just using Clementine to guilt trip him. "Lee, she'll be fine without me. She's got you looking after her."
"Man, it ain't about that." Lee shook his head, as Arthur seems to misunderstand his meaning. "Sure, Clementine has grown attached to me. But, she's also grown attached to you, Arthur. If you leave… it would hurt her. And even though I can fight for her, help her, and protect her. I would feel a whole lot better, knowing I had you there backing me up."
"…" Arthur grew quiet, he didn't know what to say. He just sighed and leaned back in his seat. Taking a few moments to think on the situation.
They soon made it back to the motor inn. Carley already having her gun drawn out, as they didn't recognize the RV. "Just us!" Arthur called out as he stepped out, followed by Lilly and Mark.
"Whoa, whoa, who is this guy?!" Larry grew agitated at seeing they had another mouth to feed.
"Uh, hi, I'm Mark." Mark awkwardly greeted the group of the motor inn.
"He helped us, and this is his RV. In exchange for joining us, he will share his food supply with us. And guns." Arthur said as he put down his new M14 Carbine rifle.
Then everyone looked a little panicked, they had noticed the bruises on Arthur's face. But the situation was taken to a whole other level, as Lee and Kenny carried out the injured Doug. "Doug!" Carley quickly rushed over to his side, taking Kenny's side to help support him up. "What the fuck happened?" Carley whispered to Lee.
"We'll talk about it later." Lee said, not wanting to scare the kids. As Clementine and Duck were standing there, looking curious and scared as they saw Doug all messed up. And also, from seeing Arthur and Kenny looking beaten up from their fight with Butch.
"Kenny!" Katjaa went to check on her husband, their son quickly following her.
"I'm fine honey. Really." Kenny assured as Katjaa put a cloth onto his bloodied broken nose trying to clean it.
"Arthur, are you hurt?" Clementine rushed up to Arthur, looking worried. Arthur looked into her eyes, and reflected on the talk he had with the others in the RV on the way here. Seeing her big wide scared eyes, Arthur sighs and smiles. He reaches his hand out, and caresses Clementine's head gently. "Aw, nothing sweetie. We just got into a car crash is all. But Mark here, was kind enough to give us a ride back." Arthur assured, and Clementine looked over to the new face of the group, and then back at Arthur.
"That's good. But, are you and Lee, really okay?" Clementine still looked worried, as she inspected Arthur's face, noticing a black eye and few bruises.
"Kid, trust me. I feel way better than I look. Which is saying a lot." Arthur joked, and chuckled to himself a little. Then he brought Clementine into a tight embrace. "Hey, look. I still got the picture." Arthur reached into his satchel pulling out the drawing Clementine had given him. "Kept me going out there." Clementine smiled at him, and hugged Arthur back.
Arthur held onto her tightly, his smile however dropped as he mentally sighed to himself. He still wanted to go back to 1899 and save the Marston family from their fate. But first, he needed to make sure Clementine and the rest were safe, and able to survive without him.
That's the end for now!
I decided to have this chapter kind of be an in-between episode 1 and 2 from the game. One where we see how the group met Mark and what happened at the airbase. Bringing also Arthur's biggest feat yet in this story with it. I had fun with, what did you guys think of the chapter?
I would also like to thank everyone for the support you have given this story so far. I would like to take my usual time of responding to some general questions from the reviews. First off, yes, we do get to see how Mark joined the group. And yes, the Stranger at the end of the previous chapter was The Strange Man from the Red Dead series. Figured he is likely the only character that will always be around, if you know what I mean.
And yes, although Larry kind of likes Arthur's a man of action attitude, as Arthur is after all an old-fashioned man himself. Larry is also mainly being "nice" to Arthur, because he knows Arthur would beat the shit out of him if he crosses the line. And because Lilly finds Arthur useful. I don't really see Arthur falling for Lilly. And Carely currently has eyes for Doug I would feel. But with the story progressing, I do see a strong possibility for Arthur getting romantically involved with one of the women they will meet in the story. And Arthur will gain interest from women after all, not just because of his looks (I mean, guys, Arthur himself says he is ugly as shit, lol. I joke of course, we all know Arthur has a low value of himself.) but because of his survival capability and reliability. But yeah, without spoiling too much of what I have planned, both romantic and some depressive stuff, I will say Arthur will gain both good… and bad attractions from women.
Anyway, I am super glad to hear so many of you have enjoyed this story so far, and hope you will continue to enjoy as the story progresses. Leave a review with questions or thoughts on the chapter/story.
-Later!