(Anne Marshall belongs to AquaDestinysEmbrace.)
(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko or any of the names or brands that appear in this story. But I do own my OCs)
(I DO NOT own the song "Safe and Sound." by Taylor Swift.)
The Lyoko Warriors were still following Lee, Kenny, and Mark through the trees about an hour after the men had rescued them from the undead. Thankfully Mark had informed them that they were getting close to the place that he and his group currently called home, so it seemed that Patrick may just get the help he needs soon.
The group was battered, bruised, and very, very, tired. The only one who didn't have at least some thoughts of resting right now was Verity, who was far too concerned for Patrick's health than anything else.
"We're almost there..." Lee assured the teens as they all trekked through the forest.
"Thank God..." Ulrich said with relief as he walked with the group, still holding his wounded arm from earlier.
Several of the Lyoko Warriors were still pretty banged up. Aside from Patrick who was between life and death, Ulrich had taken that nasty wound on his arm when the CDC exploded. Odd was walking with a painful limp since he also suffered a hit to his kneecap from some sort of debris caused by the explosion. Jeremie also had a cut on his forehead, but it wasn't as bad as the Ulrich or Odd's wounds. Hopefully Mark and that 'Lilly' lady will be able to fix all of them up...
The group finally noticed their destination through the treeline. It was a modest two-storied motel called the "Travelier Motel", the entire front side fortified with abandoned cars, scrap metal, wood, and whatever other junk they could find helped to make the place actually defendable.
The group could make out some lights coming from much of the windows on the building, so at least they knew there was actually people in there. The group got closer to the motel and they could make out a woman sitting on top of an RV with a hunting rifle on her lap. The woman looked to be around the same age as Mark and Lee. She had black hair, and she wore a black jacket with a grey shirt underneath.
And, judging by the grumpy look on her face, several of the teens correctly guessed that this must've been 'Lilly.'
When they got closer, Mark, let out a bird call since that was the signal for whenever a hunting party was going to return to the cabin. The woman on the top of the RV immediately stood up with her rifle and he looked in the direction that the group was coming from.
The woman was visibly surprised to see that Lee, Mark, and Kenny had all returned with a bunch of random teenagers - including a boy and a girl who had the weirdest fucking hair she had ever seen - though her expression quickly morphed to anger and annoyance. Why were they bringing complete strangers back to the motel?!
The woman set her rifle aside and climbed down from the top of the RV. Presumably she told everyone that they had visitors, as when the front gates (AKA a couple of old grimy dumpsters which were topped with some barbed wire) opened, the woman stomped out with some other people gathering to watch. Aside from a really tall old guy who came out with the woman, none of them looked pissed like how she did.
"Oh, this'll be fun..." Kenny muttered to himself as the woman and the tall old guy stormed toward the group.
The group and the two angry people met in the middle of the road right in front of the motel. Several of the people who lived at this motel stayed by the entrance to watch the confrontation play out between them all. Among them was a couple of little children, a boy and girl with a blue and white hat, and also three teenagers who were each around the same age as the Lyoko Warriors themselves.
"Who the hell are all these kids?!" the woman furiously demanded to know as she and the old man approached the group. "Lee, Kenny, Mark - what the fuck are you guys thinking bringing a bunch of kids here? You forget that we've got little to go by as it is?!"
"Lilly-" Lee tried to speak up, but Verity soon interrupted him in mid-sentence.
"Lee and the others found us in the woods..." Verity explained on behalf of everyone before she approached the two angry adults. "Ma'am, your name is 'Lilly', right? My boyfriend is hurt really bad. He needs some hel-"
"No one's talkin' to you right now, you stupid girl!" the angry man next to the woman snapped at Verity, his tone very icy and rude.
"What the fuck did you just say to her you old bastard?!" Miranda growled and forced herself to the front of the group.
The old man tried to step forward toward Miranda, but luckily the woman, 'Lilly', held him back before he could. Miranda, likewise, was being held back by both Aelita and Dylan.
Loud shouting soon overtook the angry man and woman and some of the teens. A very loud whistle from someone by the entrance of the motel got everyone's attention, and they all immediately shut their traps when they saw that their loudness was drawing in a couple of walkers from down the road. Clearly they'd have to take this little 'discussion' inside, and also make it a lot more quiet...
Wordlessly, the angry man and Lilly led the group through the entrance and into the motel grounds itself. The teens were impressed by what they saw as they entered. They found the place to be smaller but much better fortified than their now-former camp at the Quarry.
As they went inside, Lee stopped to give a hug to that little girl in the hat. Kenny likewise went to the little boy and ruffled his hair. The boy was about to say something to Kenny since he was presumably his father, but Kenny quickly hushed him. The loud randomness from this boy would just have to wait for the moment.
Mark and Kenny set Patrick's stretcher down onto the parking lot near the RV before they took their rifles back from Lee. By now, Patrick had turned very pale, and it was clear his condition was worsening more and more over the passage of time...
If these people couldn't help save his life, then who possibly could...?
"Alright, now what the fuck is going on here?" Lilly frowned as she turned to face the teens and their three rescuers once more. Lee, Kenny, and Mark had all gone out hours ago to try and hunt something for the group to eat, and now they bring back a bunch of new mouths to feed? Were they fucking insane?!
"My friend explained it to you before the old guy mouthed off on her for no bloody reason." Rebecca crossed her arms, an annoyed expression on her face.
"Aw, fuck off." the old grumpy man retorted to the young Englishwoman.
"Larry!" Mark protested the man's rude treatment of the teens.
Dylan's fist balled up in a rage as he stormed up to the man. "You wanna try being nicer to my girl, asshole?" he challenged, standing up for his now-insulted girlfriend.
Lee hurried to get between Dylan and the man, 'Larry', before more shouting could break out, or an actual physical fight. Last thing they needed was violence in their home.
"Enough!" Lee ordered, forcing the adult and the teenager to back down. Dylan initially looked pissed but he quickly calmed down, giving Lee a nod of assurance that he would behave from here on out. Larry, however, looked like he wanted to throw Lee through a brick wall, but he likewise kept himself in check.
Ignoring the look on Larry's face, Lee sighed and looked back to Lilly. Nearby, the Lyoko Warriors saw those three teenagers, a boy and two girls, all whispering to each other.
"We were out hunting and we came across these kids getting swarmed by the dead." Lee began to explain. "They didn't look like they'd survive, so we went and helped them out. It was the right thing to do."
"The 'right thing to do' cost us bullets." Lilly protested. "Lee, do I seriously need to remind you, remind everyone, that we're short enough on supplies as it is? Bullets don't grow on trees you know. Those bullets could've scored us a deer to eat, or they could have even saved one of our lives down the line."
Lilly gestured back at the teens. "But no, you waste them just to bring in some extra mouths to feast on what little we have...? Are you guys crazy?"
"Lighten up, Lilly! They saved those kids. Were they supposed to just leave them for the walkers?" a man with blond hair who was wearing a brown jacket called to her. He seemed very insistent on defending Lee, Kenny, and Mark.
"You don't get it either, Doug!"
The man, 'Doug', suddenly frowned at Lilly for what she said. He would've said something else but he soon felt a comforting hand on his shoulder, one which came from a black-haired woman wearing a sleeveless pink puffer jacket. Doug relaxed and smiled at the woman before he turned his attention back to the situation at hand.
"Jesus, Lilly, they're just kids!" Kenny frowned as he set his hunting rifle against an old oil drum.
"So what if they're kids?!" Larry snapped, speaking up for Lilly. "We've gotta worry about ourselves here, dumbass! Send 'em back out and let 'em fend for themselves!"
"He's a ray of sunshine and positivity, isn't he?" Jennifer muttered a joke to Chase, forcing him to bite his lip so he wouldn't burst out laughing. The rest of the Lyoko Warriors, however, didn't consider Larry's words to be a laughing matter.
Luckily, it seemed that the rest of the motel group was against Larry's idea. And when that became clear to him, Larry simply waved them off in frustration.
Fine. Whatever. If these idiots convinced Lilly to take in these kids and they starve to death later, it's all on them. Fuckers and dipshits, the lot of them.
"Lilly, can't you at least just take a look at the poor boy before you decide? For decency's sake?" a blonde woman in the floral shirt pleaded. Kenny saw how upset she looked over this and he went to pull her into an embrace. The teens guessed that she must've been his wife, or at least a girlfriend.
This finally made Lilly relent, though it was clear that she didn't like it. Begrudgingly she sighed, nodded at the woman, and then turned her attention to Patrick.
Lilly walked over to the stretcher and crouched down on one knee to examine Patrick's wounds a bit closer, wanting to get a full idea of what was wrong with him.
The kid was in very rough shape... Patrick had definitely lost a lot of his blood by this point and he also had a terrible fever starting to come on, a sign of an infection building up within him. The only good thing Lilly could see was that it didn't seem like the boy was bitten by the dead...
Lilly wasn't trained as a full doctor by the air force and Uncle Sam, but she was honestly surprised that Patrick was still breathing. She heard from some old army and marine buddies of people dying from a lot less than this in Iraq and Afghanistan...
She had no idea if her military first aid training or Mark's would be able to save the stupid kid, and she had a lot of doubts it even could... Would it even be worth it to try?
"How did this happen?" Lilly inquired to the other teenagers as she studied their friend's wounds. Mark went to the other side of Patrick to join in the medical examination.
"It's a really, really long story..." Odd replied, knowing that the group probably didn't want to go into too much detail about what happened at the CDC earlier that day.
Lilly and Mark continued to examine Patrick for several more moments, taking in the damage that the teen had suffered from the event earlier that day. A few moments went by before Lilly finally sighed and stood back up, brushing off some dirt from her knees. She crossed her arms and glanced over at the teens who were anxiously waiting for her to say something.
Finally, the woman gave her answer.
"I'm not gonna help your friend." was what Lilly told them, and she said it with no emotion in her voice at all. "I'm afraid all of you need to leave now..."
The Lyoko Warriors and Anne were all shocked as Lilly retreated to what was probably her own motel room, but none were more shocked than Verity herself.
What?! This... This bitch had the audacity to say that she was going to refuse to try and save Patrick's life?! What the fuck?!
Aside from Larry, even the rest of the motel group seemed to be taken aback by Lilly's choice to refuse to help at all. The two little kids seemed to be surprised as well...
Without saying a word, Verity balled up her fists and she stormed her way towards Lilly's room before anyone could stop her. Several people from both the motel group and the Lyoko Warriors ran forth as Verity pushed open the door and entered. That blonde woman in the floral shirt stayed behind to keep an eye on Patrick.
By the time the others got to Lilly's room, Verity was already confronting her. Verity was standing at the edge of the bed, and the woman was laying on it with an arm draped over her eyes to sooth a migraine which had come on. Her head might've been throbbing but Lilly still looked very calm and totally unconcerned about the girl next to her or the situation Patrick was currently in.
In contrast, Verity looked nothing short of outraged. Furious. Rageful. A million different words could fit the description of what she was feeling right now.
"Are you a sociopath?!" Verity demanded to know, her voice dripping with rage. "Why won't you help save Patrick?! Mark said you and him have medical training!"
Lilly didn't even bother to look at her. "It's already too late to help your friend and I won't waste what little medical supplies we have to do so."
"Seriously, lady?! Patrick's going to die without your help!" Odd gasped, shocked to see anyone seemingly be this selfish about a human life. "There's no one else we can find to save him! We're totally on our own here!"
Lilly simply said nothing. Verity honestly looked like she was about to strangle her, but she took a deep breath and held her anger in check... for now.
Although it seemed Larry had her back, even some of the other people in the motel group seemed a bit stunned by her callousness. She hadn't made many friends among them since they all met in Macon, but even something like this was thought to have been beyond her...
"Lilly, that's just a kid! The fuck are you thinkin'?!" Kenny protested. Had that woman lost her fuckin' mind?!
"Watch your tone when you're speaking to my daughter!" Larry growled out his warning with venom in his voice.
"After how you acted in the drug store?! Fuck off, Larry!"
"No, you fuck off!"
So Larry was Lilly's father...? Well... to the Lyoko Warriors, that explained quite a lot about them both. And Kenny and Larry probably would've gone for each other's throats had Lee not hurried to get between them and defuse yet another confrontation today.
"His wounds are too severe and we need the medical supplies." Lilly continued, ignoring what was happening between Kenny and her father. Her face was still hidden behind her arm. "What if I use the remaining supplies and your friend still dies? If that happens, then what will happen if one of my people gets hurt later on and I have nothing left to help them?"
Aelita gawked with disbelief. "So your answer is to just do nothing?!"
"More or less..." Lilly replied, her tone cold and icy. "Now all of you please leave. I've got to get up and help Lee and Mark organize-"
Her anger finally reaching its peak for today, Verity finally raised her fist and she slammed it down on an oak end table so hard that a crack had actually formed in the wood, astonishing everyone who had seen it happen. To say that Verity was "infuriated" would easily be the understatement of this decade. The teen was so mad that she literally saw red.
Lilly finally lowered her arm and gazed at Verity after that loud unexpected slam. The teen's fist ached terribly after hitting the table as hard as she did, but she was far too pissed off to care about her hand at the moment.
Patrick Hartnell was her best friend, and he was also the boy who she loved more than anyone else on earth. Even though it would devastate her beyond belief, she would still understand if he died because of his wounds. But if he died all because Lilly refused to help him at all, then she'd certainly skin the woman alive with a dull fillet knife.
...literally.
"Now you listen to me you stupid bitch!" Verity growled with a blind rage. "Patrick is outside dying on that stretcher right now and I don't give a damn about how much or how few supplies you and your people have got left! Mark said that you and him both have first aid training courtesy of the U.S. Air Force, so you're gonna help Patrick! You're not just gonna sit there on your ass and do nothing!"
A few of the Lyoko Warriors looked at each other in both awe and shock. So did some of the people in this motel group. Verity didn't care about their reactions and soon she continued. "If you don't help him, then I promise you that the walkers out there will be the least of your worries!" the teen growled.
Then, in a booming voice of fury, Verity got in Lilly's face to finish her threatening rant: "ARE WE CLEAR YOU FUCKING CUNT?!"
The room went dead silent after Verity's final words. Several long moments went by before someone finally found the will to say something again.
"That poor kid needs help, Lilly! For God's sake, you and Mark are the only one who even has a chance to save his life..." that woman in the pink sleeveless puffer from earlier protested to his fellow survivor.
Lilly shook her head, having not been intimidated by Verity or swayed by the words of anyone else. "Carley, I'm not wasting any of our supplies - especially for some total strangers! That's final!" she insisted, revealing the woman with the puffer's name was 'Carley.'
The other Lyoko Warriors were very angered by all of this. And the rest of the motel group excluding Larry was completely shocked by Lilly's suggestion.
The people here at the motel each conceded that they didn't have much medical supplies left to spare, not even for themselves. But even so, it was still no excuse to just sit by and let a kid die! But despite everyone's protests, Lilly looked like she wasn't going to budge from his position. If she didn't then Patrick was surely going to lose his life...
Verity wanted nothing more than to strangle this woman with her bare hands. Luckily, however, she was convinced not to do anything once she saw the worried looks on her friends faces.
These motel people seemed alright aside from Larry and Lilly. It wouldn't have been wise to pick any fights here today, even with Patrick's situation...
As Verity wondered what the hell they were going to do now, that little girl from the parking lot entered the room. She scooted her way past everyone and walked up to Lilly, tugging on her arm to get her attention.
When Lilly looked down at the girl, she saw how frightened she looked. It touched Lilly right in her heart.
"Lilly... why won't you help that boy out there? He looks really hurt..." the little girl stated with a clear expression of worry.
The woman hesitated as she tried to find the right words to use. It took a moment or two for Lilly to respond as a result.
"Clementine, it's not that simple..." Lilly began to explain, her tone far more gentle than only moments earlier. "We don't have the supplies to help him. And even if we did, he's likely going to die from infection no matter what I do."
The little girl, 'Clementine', was visibly upset at hearing her friend tell her this. She had seen much death ever since she met Lee in her old treehouse, and she had to endure a lot of unspeakable things over the last weeks. She still vividly remembered how Lee crushed her undead babysitter's skull in with his boot, and how Doug and Carley both almost lost their lives in the drug store, how Shawn on the farm gruesomely lost his life before that on the farm...
She didn't want to see more people die...
Lee saw how upset Clementine was becoming, so he went to her side and he pulled her in for a hug. The little girl accepted it.
The Lyoko Warriors themselves were a bit taken aback at the scene unfolding in front of them. They all felt terrible for that poor girl Clementine, but their main concern was still how to get medical help for their friend.
But that's when Jeremie got an idea. There wasn't any supplies that Lilly could spare in an effort to save Patrick's life, right? So what if...
"Look, if some of us head out and find medical supplies you need, then would you try and save our friend? Maybe we could find some extra supplies for you and your people as an incentive?" Jeremie suggested an offer which he prayed would be accepted.
Lilly shook her head dismissively at the idea. "The hospitals are all either burned or looted." she told him, grabbing her cigarette pack and her lighter. "The ones that aren't are full of walkers... it'd be a waste of time and a waste of your lives to try and search through some of them."
"That isn't the point." Aelita frowned as she joined in the discussion. "The question was that if we went out and somehow found some medical supplies and brought them to you, then you could use them to try and help Patrick, and you can keep everything left..."
The pinkette met her gaze with the older woman. "Would that work for you and your people?" Aelita asked with a blunt tone to her voice.
The teens and the motel group watched Lilly take a cigarette from her pack and light it up. She took a long drag from it to help steady her nerves...
Lilly blew the smoke out from her mouth before taking a glance out of her door, catching a glimpse of Patrick on his stretcher from her bed. That boy's condition was still deteriorating and it was clear that he did not have much longer to live if he didn't get help...
The people here at the motel need what little medical supplies they got though... hell, they really need a bit of everything right now, but meds was a good start for the time being. So what was the harm of letting those teens go out to do the hard work in finding some for them?
There was no guarantee that the kids would be successful finding anything useful in any of the abandoned hospitals in the area. But if they did succeed, then the motel group would have enough meds to last for a while. And if the teens failed, then they'd leave and they'd no longer be her problem.
Either way, her group would benefit more than them, and that was fine with her.
"That... would be acceptable..." Lilly hesitantly agreed the arrangement with the Lyoko Warriors.
"Then some of us will head out tonight to find you some supplies." Jeremie nodded, feeling relieved that there was still hope for Patrick.
Lilly nodded, and then she and Jeremie shook hands to solidify their agreement. Medical supplies for Lilly's group in return for medical help for Patrick. Seemed fair.
After this, Lilly finished the rest of her cigarette. She then finally stood up and left her room to look over Patrick once more. The others followed close behind her.
When she approached the unconscious teen, she saw just how severe Patrick's wounds truly were, and she doubted that the poor kid would last long enough for the teens to come back, but she could at least ease some of his pain while his friends would search for more medical supplies. Lilly instructed Mark to come give her a hand in at least stabilizing Patrick for the time being.
"How's he looking, Katjaa?" Lilly wondered to the woman in the floral shirt as she and Mark approached.
"Not good," the woman, 'Katjaa', replied as she stepped to the side, giving them space to work. "But he doesn't look any worse than he did when they first arrived."
One of those three teens from earlier, the boy, stepped up to them and looked down at Patrick as well. He cringed at the sight of the extremely bloody patch on Patrick's shirt.
"That's something you don't see every day..." the boy commented out loud, clearly a bit bewildered and shocked at the fact that Patrick was even still alive.
"No, it isn't..." Lee, who went to stand next to him, agreed. It was incredible he hadn't died yet.
Lilly pulled a foldable knife from her back pocket and she used it to cut Patrick's shirt open right down the middle. She got the now-ruined shirt off of him and tossed it away before setting aside the knife. She then took a bottle of water and began working to clean up Patrick's wound as best as she could, preparing him for whatever she and Mark could do for him once the teens return with medical supplies.
She knew how stupid this was, but Jesus Christ she just wanted these kids to leave. If she had to do this to get them to do that, then so be it.
As she cleaned off some of the blood, Lilly turned and looked up to Jeremie with a mixture of determination and annoyance toward him and the other teens.
Then, she told him: "Get the supplies, kid."
The Lyoko Warriors had gathered in an unused motel room that Lilly's people were kind enough to let them use, everyone resting and trying to figure out where to go from here.
For the last two hours, Lilly and Mark had been focused on stabilizing Patrick, who they had taken into Lee's room at his behest. They also tended to that wound on Ulrich's arm, and they also fixed up Odd's hurt kneecap. The motel really didn't have much in the way of medical supplies so the group was forever thankful to the people here, and they were adamant that they would repay them all by being successful in getting whatever medical supplies they could find out there.
The group was also almost ready to send a few volunteers out to find them. Everyone was nervous about sending some of their own back out into the new walker-filled world, but they didn't have a choice. The life of one of their own was at risk once again.
William had died, and Robert's sister had died during the first days of the pandemic...
Patrick wasn't going to die next if they had anything to say about it.
The teens carefully looked over a roadside map that Lee was kind enough to let them borrow. It was from an old pit stop a few miles down the road and it was mainly only to show tourist attractions throughout the state of Georgia, but among other things it did mark all the towns, cities, other communities and medical services across the state as well. It also showed the two interstates nearby; I-16, which heads east from Macon toward Savannah and the Atlantic coast, and I-75, which goes as far south as the Florida border and as far north as the one with Tennessee.
Luckily, the group saw that there was quite a few hospitals within fifty miles of Macon, which was the city where the motel was close to. Sadly, they were told that one in town had already been looted and burnt during the first days of the collapse of society. Some old drug store where the motel group were hiding during the first days of the outbreak was currently overrun by the dead as well.
If even one of those other hospitals was still intact then there would hopefully be some intact medical supplies still laying within... they just had to go out and get them.
"How about this one down in Dublin? This one's just an hour's drive from here." Anne pointed down to a hospital on the map.
"It's a no-go. I asked Kenny about it and he said it was already burnt to the ground, he said he saw it on his way to this area." Miranda shrugged, dismissing the suggestion.
"We could always check the one in King County? Rick said that he woke up from his coma in a hospital there." Chase suggested as he pointed to King County on the map.
"No, that county is too far from here. But even if it wasn't, Rick also said that it was looted, burnt, and completely filled with walkers." Aelita politely dismissed her brother's suggestion with some logic.
Jeremie asked as he gestured down to a hospital in a town that was only some twenty miles away. "Maybe this one over in Milledgeville?"
"Carley told me a bit ago that all of the roads leading that way are overrun..." Dylan sighed, trying not to get a bad headache from all of this planning.
Alexandr was so frustrated at hearing all of this that he simply leaned his head back onto a pillar on the porch and groaned with sheer annoyance. If they didn't find a hospital soon and if they didn't get those damn supplies, then another one of their friends was going to die!
"Eta tak razdrazhayet (This is so frustrating)!" Alexandr groaned in his native Russian to the rest of the group. "Is all of the hospitals in this damned state just ravaged or full of the undead?!" he asked with an annoyed roll of his eyes.
"We feel the same way, Alex, but we can't lose our heads about it right now. We're gonna check every hospital in the state if we got to! Patrick won't die." Odd assured his friend.
The Russian teen felt a migraine coming on from the stress he felt about Patrick's life being at risk, but he sighed and nodded while the others went back to studying the map and checking for hospitals throughout their immediate area. He just simply had to think positive and hope for the best right now.
The group had to plan this run very carefully and very efficiently. Kenny was nice enough to let them borrow his pickup truck for the run, so the group's plan was to simply drive to one of the hospitals, find all of the supplies that Lilly and Mark would need, find the extras they promised to give to their group, and then head straight back to the motel.
In and out as quickly as possible, but above all else there was to be zero margin for any mistakes or accidents. Those could get you killed these days...
Everyone looked up from the map when they heard the sound of a door opening and closing. The teens saw that Lee had come into the room with that teen from earlier. The Lyoko Warriors all directed their attention to the pair to see what they wanted as Lee cleared his throat.
"Lilly told us to tell you that he stabilized your friend for now..." Lee smiled to the teens in the room.
The Lyoko Warriors and Anne all breathed a huge sigh of relief at hearing this. Patrick wasn't out of the woods by any means, but at least now he wasn't going to be dead by tomorrow... hopefully.
"We really appreciate the help you all have given us today. I don't know how we can ever repay you." Ulrich said to Lee on behalf of the group.
"It's not a problem, you don't owe me anything." Lee replied with a smile. "Lilly also said that Patrick's gonna be awake soon... You all can go and say hi to your friend before some of you go to get those supplies." he added.
Needless to say: this news was perhaps the best thing that has happened to the group since they were reunited at the quarry.
Verity easily appeared to be the most happy out of all of the Lyoko Warriors. Her boyfriend was finally going to wake up!
Without even saying a single word due to her excitement and relief, Verity hurriedly dashed past Lee and that teen and she went straight out of the room to check on Patrick. Verity rushed past the pair so quickly that she even almost bumped right into both of them, causing both Lee and that teen to grin.
"Damn, she's quick." the teen observed with a sense of amusement. Lee chuckled at that comment.
The Lyoko Warriors were also a bit surprised at Verity's speed, but they all quickly ran back outside after her to check on Patrick for themselves. Lee and the teen glanced at each other for a moment, then they shrugged and followed the teens outside too...
Patrick finally began to stir and begin to wake up after being unconscious for who knew how long. He had no idea where he was or even if he was still alive or not, but he noticed something...
His back? His head...? Was he laying on something comfortable? What on earth could be comfortable out in the forest?
"W- Wha...? W... Where...?" Patrick groggily asked as he tried to sit up.
He suddenly felt a hand go to his chest and gently push him back down on the bed he was laying on. Bed? He was on a bed...? What the hell was going on?
Patrick rubbed his eyes with his hands and his vision cleared up enough to see that Verity was sitting on a chair next to his bed with a relieved smile on her face.
"Easy, sweetie... you need to save your strength." Verity smiled to her boyfriend.
"Ver! I- It's good to see you... All of you guys." Patrick weakly smiled to her and to the group. He was so relieved to see his girlfriend and all of his friends were still okay.
Verity leaned down and she gave Patrick a loving kiss on his lips, which he returned with just as much love. After the two parted, Patrick looked around at his surroundings and saw that he was laying in what looked like a shitty motel room. The group got away from the walkers and they found shelter while he was out?
"Did I miss something...?" Patrick blinked with confusion.
"Yeah, some people saved us near a river while you were out. They took us to the motel they're living in at the moment." Anne replied with a shrug.
"A couple of them are military vets with first aid training. They agreed to help you if some of us head out to find some more medical supplies for their group." Jeremie added to the discussion. "Seemed like the fairest thing for everyone involved."
Patrick was about to say something before he suddenly cringed. The teen weakly glanced down at his stomach and saw that his wound was professionally and very effectively wrapped in gauze. However, he still felt extremely weak, and there was a fresh red spot on the gauze itself.
"You are not out of the woods yet, but you are not on death's doorstep either." Aelita smiled down at her friend as he looked at his wounds.
Patrick leaned his head back down on his pillow and tiredly chuckled with relief. He was so sure that he was going to die in that forest no matter what... He was never so happy to be wrong before.
The group heard the bedroom door open again and they saw Mark walk into the room to check in on his patient. Mark ignored the other teens for the moment as he had Verity get up off of the chair so he could sit down and get a better look at Patrick. The teen blinked as Mark eyed the wound on his stomach, and he lifted the gauze a bit so as to see if an infection was beginning to form or not.
Unfortunately, he found that an infection was definitely forming on Patrick's wound underneath the gauze. There was not only some fresh blood, but there was also now some yellow and greenish-colored pus slowly leaking out from the wound itself. Patrick may be stabilized for now but he was definitely going to die from infection later if the group couldn't find antibiotics and other medical supplies...
"This is not good..." Mark stated matter-of-factly as he stared at the wound.
"Jesus Christ, Patrick..." Verity quietly gasped with horror when she saw that horrible infection.
The Lyoko Warriors stared at Patrick's wound in a stunned silence. Even after all of this nonsense that he had to go through today, he still was at a huge risk of death... Patrick didn't have much time before the infection would spread.
They had to get some medical supplies somehow. There had to be some untouched hospital still around out there somewhere.
The Lyoko Warriors simply couldn't lose another one of their own.
After saying their goodbyes to Patrick for the time being since Mark insisted that the boy needed to get some rest, the Lyoko Warriors went outside to Kenny's truck with some of their own supplies and a few tools which the motel group donated to them for this run.
It was decided that Dylan, Odd, Anne, Aelita and Chase were all going to be the ones to go out to find supplies, and that Lee and that teen from earlier would act as guides for them. Those two seemed to know the route that would take them to the closest hospital on their list.
Lilly made sure to write down all the major things that her group needed and also the stuff that Patrick probably needed to survive. Much of the medications and antibiotics on the list were completely unpronounceable to Lee, the teen, and most of the Lyoko Warriors. But thankfully Aelita was able to decipher what Lilly needed and she informed the others on what to keep an eye out for.
At the top of the list was nitroglycerin pills, which some of the teens thought was strange. Someone here had a heart condition, perhaps?
As Lee, Odd, and Chase packed up what supplies their group would need for the run, Anne sat down on a couch near the RV in the parking lot and she silently strummed her guitar to try and tune it a little better. Thankfully it hadn't been roughed up in the slightest since that day Chase found her in Atlanta, and miraculously the instrument even survived the explosion at the CDC.
Honestly if her guitar got destroyed or damaged in any way, she'd be livid. She paid a LOT of money for the thing before the outbreak happened...
Anne tightened the tuning peg for the C cord of her guitar just a little bit before she strummed another couple of times. Satisfied with how it sounded now, she repeated the process for both the B and E cords before her guitar sounded just like it should.
Then, Anne looked up from her guitar and smiled when she saw that little boy hurrying over toward her with Clementine hot on his tail.
"Woah, you got a guitar?!" the boy asked in awe.
"Sure do." Anne smiled, letting the amazed child gaze at her instrument.
The boy continued to gawk for a bit before he turned to look at Clementine.
"Clementine, she's got a guitar! And she can play stuff on it! Isn't that cool?!" the boy smiled excitedly at her.
"Yeah, Duck." Clementine smiled softly at the boy, clearly just going along with whatever he said since he liked to talk a lot.
'Duck'...? That was a strange nickname, even for a girl who knew a guy who was literally called 'Odd', but Anne digressed. She wasn't judging, she was merely just pointing that out to herself.
Duck soon turned his attention back to Anne and her guitar. "Can you play something for us?" Duck asked, his tone sounding close to begging.
"Play something for you?" Anne blinked, feeling a bit surprised by the request. Well, she could play a lot of different songs, but she-
"Pleeeeeaaasssseeee...?"
Okay, now Duck was begging. And now even Clementine looked interested in hearing Anne play a song for them.
Anne didn't have the heart to refuse the request from the two kids. When she nodded and told them she'll play a song, Clementine smiled and Duck let out an excited cheer, causing Anne to chuckle. The boy was honestly adorable in his own way.
But right as Anne was about to start strumming, she noticed Aelita, Rebecca, and Dylan all approaching. She stopped for the moment and smiled at them. Clementine and Duck simply stood there in impatience.
"Hey guys." Anne greeted the teens. "We almost ready to go?"
"Yeah, the guns and supplies are almost packed up. It'll be just a few more minutes until you're all ready to head out." Rebecca politely replied to her friend.
"Awesome." Anne smiled back. The three teens watched as Anne strummed a tune to herself just as one final check that her guitar was acting normally.
They and the rest of the Lyoko Warriors have known she plays since they met her at the quarry, and both Chase and Dylan have known she was a great guitarist since childhood, but the group hasn't had the opportunity to hear her play anything yet.
"Do you know any good songs?" Aelita inquired out of curiosity.
"Yeah... Why? You wanna listen to me play something as well?" Anne asked with a little surprise in her voice.
"Yes, please." Aelita cheerfully replied with a nod. "Chase and Dylan have told me that you're a very good singer, and I would really love to hear it for myself if that's alright." she added.
Anne looked over at Dylan and Rebecca and saw them both give her a thumbs up. They would certainly love to hear her play for a bit as well.
Smiling back at the three, Anne paused for a moment while she began to think on what songs she could play, which only took another moment or two. Once she remembered a good song, she closed her eyes and began to sing while beginning to strum on her guitar.
Dylan, Aelita, Rebecca, Clementine, and Duck made for a good audience.
"I remember tears streaming down your face
When I said, "I'll never let you go"
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight..." Anne sang.
The three teens and the two children all watched Anne and listened to her voice as she sang. Chase and Dylan were definitely right: she sang beautifully...
"Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound..."
Lee, Odd and Chase all stopped packing the bed of the truck and looked towards Anne after they heard the music. The three of them decided to take a break for a moment so they could listen. They hadn't heard good music in what seemed like an eternity...
"Don't you dare look out your window, darling,
Everything's on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold on to this lullaby
Even when music's gone
Gone..."
Many of the others here at the motel also stopped what they were doing to listen, even Lilly. Larry did as well, though it was clear he was much more annoyed than happy at listening to Anne playing her guitar.
Normally, noises had to be kept under control since there could be walkers in the woods. But much to Larry's anger, it seemed like everyone here was willing to let it slide for once. Stupid fucks...
"Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound-"
Suddenly Anne was forced to stop her song dead in its tracks when a string on her guitar suddenly snapped in two. She remained silent for a moment before she leaned her head back and groaned with a severe annoyance. Larry was heard laughing in delight, much to everyone's annoyance.
This was a very expensive guitar! Anne saved up for months to get this damn thing! Honestly, where could she even find a replacement guitar string these days, let alone the specific size that she needed?!
"IT FUCKING BROKE?! ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!" Anne wanted to be loud so she shoved her face into her hands when she exclaimed this, causing her voice to be muffled.
Shitty luck...
"Language!" Carley hurried over shushed her, reminding her that she had just swore like that in front of two literal children. Clearly Anne hadn't muffled her voice enough.
Anne bit the inside of her lip as she remembered that Duck and Clementine were right next to her. A moment or two went by before Duck suddenly turned around and ran off shouting: "Dad! Dad, where are you? That girl Anne just taught me a new word! Wanna hear it?!"
"Ohhhhh fuck me..." Anne groaned to herself and buried her face in her hands again, though now out of embarrassment rather than anger. All she could do was just hope that Kenny and Katjaa wouldn't be too mad at her for 'teaching' a new word to their son...
When Anne finally looked up again, she saw that Clementine was still standing there, and that she had a very sweet little smile on her face.
"Thanks for playing that for us." Clementine said to her, then she surprised the teen by giving her a hug as a way to thank her.
Although being caught by surprise, Anne immediately felt her embarrassment and residual anger fade away, and she gladly returned the hug before the two separated some moments later. Clementine then hurried off to find something fun to do. Probably either drawing or playing with her soccer ball.
Anne couldn't help but smile at the little girl's innocence and friendliness despite everything that's going on nowadays. It was nice to know that life hadn't become total hell for some people out there.
Thankfully it was time to leave to head out and find supplies for Patrick and the motel group, so Anne's rage and the broken guitar string would be something left to deal with later on. Anne realized this, so she hurried inside the motel room she and the other teens were allowed to stay in and put her guitar back in its case, locking it tight. Then she hurried back outside to help pack up some supplies and gear for the trip to search the hospitals.
Meanwhile, back outside, Miranda lent her handgun to Odd so that he and the others could have an extra measure of defense against the walkers during the run. Jeremie also handed his over to Aelita, though there was only a few bullets in it. The other Lyoko Warriors also gave whatever weapons and ammo they could to the procurement team.
Everyone knew that this was probably going to be dangerous. So there was a lot of hugs, a lot of tears, and a lot of reluctance to separate, but no one dared say "goodbye."
This wasn't a goodbye. No matter what happens, this wasn't a goodbye. The Ltoko Warriors weren't going to lose another of their own because of this.
As Dylan, Anne, Aelita, Odd, and Chase helped Lee pack some stuff into Kenny's pickup, they noticed that teen from earlier coming over to help. He arrived and took a big bag from Aelita so he could put it in the bed of the truck for her, then he tossed in his own backpack.
"Thank you." Aelita smiled and nodded at him.
"Anytime." the teen flashed a smile back at her.
Chase blinked as he suddenly realized something. "Wait, sorry, but I don't think we've gotten your name..."
"Yeah, that's right, I haven't had the opportunity to introduce myself yet..." the teen realized and nodded at them.
The teen then held out his hand. One after another, he shook it with the other five teens.
"My name is Chris. Chris Rudy." the teen, 'Chris', introduced himself to the five before gesturing over at the two girls who they still didn't know, both of whom were chatting with some of the other Lyoko Warriors. "Over there is my sister Misty, and my girlfriend Chelsea Jernigan."
"Nice to meet you all." Aelita said on behalf of the entire group. "Believe me, after the last couple of weeks we've had, we won't turn down some new friends."
"Neither will I." Chris assured.
"I'm Dylan." Dylan introduced himself to their new companion. "Over here is Anne and Odd, and the other two are my sister Aelita and my brother Chase."
Chris blinked as he took in Aelita and Odd's appearances, finally realizing the strange sight that Aelita's hair color and Odd's hairdo made. Not only that, but he also realized that Dylan and Chase both had different colored eyes - green and blue for Chase, hazel and blue for Dylan. Anne also wore a bandana over one of her eyes for some reason, so Chris couldn't tell. Unless she maybe lost it during the early days of the outbreak...?
It was a strange sight but he didn't judge. And he probably shouldn't just stare at all five of them either...
"You guys gonna be able to handle yourselves out there?" Chris asked, trying to change the subject.
"We'll be fine." Anne assured him. "Trust me, we've all already been through more than one wringer by now..."
"Alright, I'll take your word for it." Chris replied. Then, he pulled a Beretta pistol out from behind his back, and then he pulled out another. "Any chance you guys might have a couple of spare pistol holsters by any chance?"
"No, but you can borrow mine for now." Chase said, unholstering his M1911 and tucking it behind his back for if/when he would need to use it. Then he took off his leg holster and set it down on the open tailgate for Chris.
"Yeah, here's mine as well." Dylan did the same thing with his holster, deciding to tuck his Glock into his waistband.
Chris nodded to the two brothers in gratitude and promised to return the holsters when they're done. He set down his pistols for a moment to attach both holsters onto his thighs, and then he set his twin handguns into each one cowboy-style.
With another nod of appreciation to them and to the other three, he left them to talk with his sister and his girlfriend before they'd head out.
After the five teens finished up their preparations, they also went to talk with their friends and loved ones. Dylan, Aelita, and Chase met with their loves and gave them deep kisses, The three each promised to their loved ones that they'd all come back alive and with more than enough medical supplies for Patrick and for the motel group.
Jennifer, Rebecca and Jeremie were happy to hear this, so they gave their loved ones a deep hug and bid them good luck before the three turned and left them for now.
Nearby, they could also see Lee explaining to Clementine why he was leaving to help these kids, but he promised her that he'll be back before she knew it. Maybe even by the end of today if they were lucky. Clementine seemed to understand, though she clearly didn't like the idea of Lee going out and maybe even getting into danger. The girl and her caretaker shared a tight hug before he had to leave.
Kenny tossed Lee his hunting rifle since the one Lee had was a bit shitty. Lee caught the gun and then he caught the box of ammo that went with it, thanking his friend before he went to sit in the passenger seat, with Chris going to be the driver. Aelita, Dylan, Chase and Odd all climbed in the bed of the truck as Anne hurried and climbed in to join them.
They all were armed, they all had enough supplies to last for at least a week out there, so hopefully this supply run will go just fine for all involved.
Mark and Kenny went to open up the dumpster-gate-things so the truck could leave. The Lyoko Warriors and the motel group all waved at the supply runners as Chris began to drive them away from the motel.
With luck they'll all be back within a couple of days with their lives and with all of the supplies that the pickup could carry...
Hopefully, at least.
Introducing Chris Rudy, Misty Rudy, and Chelsea Jernigan, who all belong to Chris Rudy!