This chapter is coming to a close... but don't worry! There will be more! I also plan to update more regularly, provided I get enough votes!)
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway.]
"No!" you shout, rushing over to him and firing your gun into the head of one of the rioters that's closing in on him. "I'm not leaving you behind!" Your desperation has thankfully made your aim better and not worse, and you manage to take out another ghoul with one shot before you begin to be overwhelmed by the swarm.
You realize too late that maybe your uncle was right and you should have left - now you both are surely going to die. One of the rioters gets close enough to you that you just barely manage to shove it back in time, its jaws snapping inches from your neck. "Eli!" you hear Jack call despairingly from the street; clearly the others have turned back and noticed what's happening. You continue to fight against the monsters, but when a second one lurches into you the weight is simply too much and you lose your balance, toppling to the ground with one of the things directly on top of you, the other still standing - but you know it's only a matter of seconds before its going to crouch and down and start to devour you like Dixie devoured Gabrielle.
Then Thalia's bat comes down on the head of the creep just about to tear out your throat, sending it rolling off to the side. She whacks the second standing one, killing it in one blow, then spins to offer a hand to help you up. "Come on!" Relieved, you grab her hand and she pulls you to your feet. E.J. is at Pun's side now, helping him to fight off the ghouls with his knife. You rush to join them and help, and Thalia follows you, bat at the ready.
With the four of you fighting, you manage to clear a path for your uncle to escape through, though there are still too many monsters to kill all of them. He moves quickly to join you and Thalia as you start to run back towards the street, and E.J. rushes to follow; however, as you reach about the halfway point you hear a cry of pain and whip your head around to see E.J. has somehow fallen to the ground, one of the monsters on top of him. As you watch, it sinks its teeth into his throat and begins to eat him. The others all descend upon him then and he vanishes beneath their rotted forms. You look forward again, feeling sick, and see that Thalia has seen, too; as your eyes meet, she simply makes a mournful expression and then turns her head back forward, continuing to run to the others.
When you finally reach them, you try to speak, but she raises a hand, gesturing for you all to run further down the road, south. As you do, you pass more and more abandoned cars - but luckily so far, as you're bordering on the outermost parts of town, there aren't as many monsters around, save for a few still in the cars, buckled into their seatbelts or simply trapped behind closed doors.
You all skid to a stop about a football field away, panting a little, and there's a moment of silence before it's broken by Uncle Pun.
"I told you to leave me!" Pun says angrily. "You could have gotten yourself killed, Eli!"
"Were you bitten? Did one of them bite you?!" you ask your uncle frantically as you fight to regain your composure. He blinks at you, looking taken aback.
"What? No - no, none of them managed to," he tells you.
"Thank God," Jen breathes from beside you.
"I couldn't leave you behind, Uncle Pun," you tell him - but you refuse to apologize, at least to him. Instead, you turn to Thalia.
"I'm sorry," you say. "About E.J..."
"It's fine," she sighs, starting to walk again down the road, everyone falling in behind her. "We weren't... very close. Just coworkers. But he saved my life, when this all started... and I'll never forget that."
"And... Miguel and A.J.?" Markus asks quietly. You realize that not everyone could have seen what happened in all the chaos. Thalia shakes her head.
"They didn't make it."
"Oh," Rema murmurs from next to her cousin.
You all fall into a somber silence as you continue on down the road, wordlessly mourning for all the people you had seen die - Dixie, Gabrielle, Miguel, AJ,and E.J.
You silently swear to yourself never to forget them - or their sacrifices.
~~~~
You don't know how long you walk for - mostly because you don't know what time it was when you left - but you can tell that the sun is close to setting now, and you're a ways out from the city. There've been a few run ins with those things, but with all of you together, you'd managed to get away from each situation unscathed - thankfully. You don't know if you could deal with more deaths today.
As you walk, the road sloping upwards, Thalia stops at the top of the hill. You come up beside her and catch sight of what's made her stop - there's a large farmhouse visible off of the road a ways down, with a single vehicle parked out near it. You can see various animals fenced off around the farm - what look to be goats and cows - and you glance at Thalia, wondering what she's thinking.
"Should we ask them for help?" Markus wonders.
"I'm not sure," Thalia says. "Whoever they are, we don't know if they're dangerous."
"We've been walking for a good while," Uncle Pun says. "It wouldn't hurt to stop and ask - and this seems as good a place as any to hole out until the government fixes things."
"What if they're bad people?" Stephany asks quietly.
"There's only one car," Jen says. "If whoever lives here turns out to be bad, there are probably less people here than us."
"I don't know," Rema says.
[Keep walking and try to find somewhere else to spend the night.]
(The people have spoken! #SaveUnclePun
This chapter is coming to a close... but don't worry! There will be more! I also plan to update mo… morere regularly, provided I get enough votes!)
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway.]
"No!" you shout, rushing over to him and firing your gun into the head of one of the rioters that's closing in on him. "I'm not leaving you behind!" Your desperation has thankfully made your aim better and not worse, and you manage to take out another ghoul with one shot before you begin to be overwhelmed by the swarm.
You realize too late that maybe your uncle was right and you should have left - now you both are surely going to die. One of the rioters gets close enough to you that you just barely manage to shove it back in time, its jaws snapping inches from your neck. "Eli!" you hear Jack call despairingly from the street; clearly the others have turned back and noticed what's happening. You continue to fight against t… [view original content]
(The people have spoken! #SaveUnclePun
This chapter is coming to a close... but don't worry! There will be more! I also plan to update mo… morere regularly, provided I get enough votes!)
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway.]
"No!" you shout, rushing over to him and firing your gun into the head of one of the rioters that's closing in on him. "I'm not leaving you behind!" Your desperation has thankfully made your aim better and not worse, and you manage to take out another ghoul with one shot before you begin to be overwhelmed by the swarm.
You realize too late that maybe your uncle was right and you should have left - now you both are surely going to die. One of the rioters gets close enough to you that you just barely manage to shove it back in time, its jaws snapping inches from your neck. "Eli!" you hear Jack call despairingly from the street; clearly the others have turned back and noticed what's happening. You continue to fight against t… [view original content]
(The people have spoken! #SaveUnclePun
This chapter is coming to a close... but don't worry! There will be more! I also plan to update mo… morere regularly, provided I get enough votes!)
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway.]
"No!" you shout, rushing over to him and firing your gun into the head of one of the rioters that's closing in on him. "I'm not leaving you behind!" Your desperation has thankfully made your aim better and not worse, and you manage to take out another ghoul with one shot before you begin to be overwhelmed by the swarm.
You realize too late that maybe your uncle was right and you should have left - now you both are surely going to die. One of the rioters gets close enough to you that you just barely manage to shove it back in time, its jaws snapping inches from your neck. "Eli!" you hear Jack call despairingly from the street; clearly the others have turned back and noticed what's happening. You continue to fight against t… [view original content]
(The people have spoken! #SaveUnclePun
This chapter is coming to a close... but don't worry! There will be more! I also plan to update mo… morere regularly, provided I get enough votes!)
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway.]
"No!" you shout, rushing over to him and firing your gun into the head of one of the rioters that's closing in on him. "I'm not leaving you behind!" Your desperation has thankfully made your aim better and not worse, and you manage to take out another ghoul with one shot before you begin to be overwhelmed by the swarm.
You realize too late that maybe your uncle was right and you should have left - now you both are surely going to die. One of the rioters gets close enough to you that you just barely manage to shove it back in time, its jaws snapping inches from your neck. "Eli!" you hear Jack call despairingly from the street; clearly the others have turned back and noticed what's happening. You continue to fight against t… [view original content]
"There's no reason not to try," you speak up. "The world can't have gone to shit that quickly - whoever lives here will probably be willing to help us."
Jack nods. "We don't have anywhere else to go. It's getting dark."
"Okay," Rema concedes, and Thalia simply nods before setting off for the farm.
About five minutes later, you're walking up to the farm. There are three buildings actually visible on the farm; a large one out in front that appears to have two stories, and then two smaller, cabin-type buildings around the back of the first house, with a short path joining them. You approach the first house's porch - and surprisingly enough, no one's come outside or seen you yet, it seems. Uncle Pun moves to the door and knocks before you can say anything; however, after a few moments of silence, you start to wonder if he knocked loud enough.
"Do you think anyone's home?" Stephany asks. You shrug; the car would make you think someone was, but no one answered when you knocked. Your uncle knocks again, but another minute passes without an answer.
"Hello?" he calls, trying the door. It's unlocked - probably because this place is sort of isolated anyway. "We're coming in!" Pun says, "Don't shoot - we're just looking for some help."
You all file into the house warily, and Markus, taking up the rear, shuts the door behind you. "Hello?" Pun tries again, but the house is completely silent.
The front room is a sitting room type area with a good deal of plants growing on one side of the room - you think you recognize them as aloe plants - and a few couches and chairs obviously meant for socializing. There's a fireplace, too, with a cross hanging over it, and a plaque on the wall catches your eye; you can't make out what the award is for from where you are, since the text is small, but you can read the big letters below - "AWARDED TO THE FARM OF JAMIE AND ELOISE MCNEIL."
You move through the room into the small kitchen bordering it, making note of the dishes in the sink. They look fairly fresh - like someone had been here today, at least. Your Uncle Pun leads you all past a set of stairs and into another room, a computer room, and then opens the door to the next room - and you immediately take a step back from beside him.
"Oh my god," Alice murmurs. The place looks to be a bedroom - but what you see in there isn't good. A man, appearing to be in his 30s or 40s, sits on the bed, slumped forward and with blood coating his clothes liberally; he appears to have shot himself in the head, and the shotgun is still clutched in his hands.
A woman lies on the floor in front of him; she looks older, maybe in her 70s, but its hard to tell because she's already rotted; clearly she became one of those things before she died.
"I guess somebody is home," Thalia says quietly.
"Was," Jack adds softly. You see that he hasn't tried to hide this from Stephany this time; she just stands beside him, looking on with mournful eyes.
"Do you think there's anyone else here?" Jen asks, sounding just as somber.
You shake your head. "...Probably not. That plaque in the front room said this place belonged to Jamie and Eloise McNeil. This... must be them."
"God," Rema mutters, shaking her head. "This... this is..." But she trails off, seeming incapable of finishing her thought.
"It's hard to believe it's gotten this bad so fast," Thalia says after a beat, seemingly trying to finish for Rema.
"Yeah."
"Would they... mind? If we stayed here?" Stephany asks.
"I don't think so," Pun replies.
"We should bury them," Markus says, crossing his arms. Thalia moves forward. "I'll do it," she volunteers.
"I'll help," Uncle Pun says. "It wouldn't be right to make you do this yourself."
"Wait," Jack says softly. "Are you sure?"
They look at him, Pun raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Thalia asks.
"They... Well, she, at least... she's ... one of them. Aren't you supposed to... burn the bodies, or something, in times of disease?" he tries, hesitant.
There's a pause, in which no one seems willing to speak up, before Jen does.
"He does have a point," she says tentatively. "Burying them... could just further the spread of this... sickness, whatever it is."
"But you saw the cross out in the front room," Alice says. "They're religious. Isn't that wrong? Deciding how they should be disposed of just because of that? I mean... I think the Bible says something about cremation, that it's not allowed or... or something."
Jack looks at you, and you can tell your best friend wants your opinion again. "Eli? What do you think?"
[We burn them. We can't risk it.]
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
[Try the farm first.]
"There's no reason not to try," you speak up. "The world can't have gone to shit that quickly - whoever lives here … morewill probably be willing to help us."
Jack nods. "We don't have anywhere else to go. It's getting dark."
"Okay," Rema concedes, and Thalia simply nods before setting off for the farm.
About five minutes later, you're walking up to the farm. There are three buildings actually visible on the farm; a large one out in front that appears to have two stories, and then two smaller, cabin-type buildings around the back of the first house, with a short path joining them. You approach the first house's porch - and surprisingly enough, no one's come outside or seen you yet, it seems. Uncle Pun moves to the door and knocks before you can say anything; however, after a few moments of silence, you start to wonder if he knocked loud enough.
"Do you think anyone's home?" Stephany asks. You shrug; the car woul… [view original content]
(Sorry if this part seems out of place or doesn't 'mesh' well with the rest, I've got a pretty bad fever right now but I figured I'd been pu… moretting this off for too long because of being sick and might as well write something anyway. :P So please excuse any oddities.)
"Thalia and Jen are right. We need to leave now. There's no telling how long until they break in."
"I think we should leave now," you speak up. "There's no telling how long it'll be until they break in. Staying here could be even more dangerous than trying to leave."
"I agree with Eli," Jack says, and you look at him, silently thanking for the support.
"Yeah, the kid has a point," AJ agrees with you. "It'd be better to get out of here before things get even worse. We don't know for sure if things even would quiet down."
Uncle Pun nods. "Waiting might very well be suicide."
E.J. sighs and crosses his arms, shrugging. "Fine. Whatever you all think is right the righ… [view original content]
[we bury them! Screw the risk!] a fire would just draw attention and I suspect the house is mostly wooden and these guys don't know how well a human body burns (very well, it's full of fat and oils after all) or how to properly burn one. While any moron with time and a shovel can dig a hole.
[Try the farm first.]
"There's no reason not to try," you speak up. "The world can't have gone to shit that quickly - whoever lives here … morewill probably be willing to help us."
Jack nods. "We don't have anywhere else to go. It's getting dark."
"Okay," Rema concedes, and Thalia simply nods before setting off for the farm.
About five minutes later, you're walking up to the farm. There are three buildings actually visible on the farm; a large one out in front that appears to have two stories, and then two smaller, cabin-type buildings around the back of the first house, with a short path joining them. You approach the first house's porch - and surprisingly enough, no one's come outside or seen you yet, it seems. Uncle Pun moves to the door and knocks before you can say anything; however, after a few moments of silence, you start to wonder if he knocked loud enough.
"Do you think anyone's home?" Stephany asks. You shrug; the car woul… [view original content]
[Try the farm first.]
"There's no reason not to try," you speak up. "The world can't have gone to shit that quickly - whoever lives here … morewill probably be willing to help us."
Jack nods. "We don't have anywhere else to go. It's getting dark."
"Okay," Rema concedes, and Thalia simply nods before setting off for the farm.
About five minutes later, you're walking up to the farm. There are three buildings actually visible on the farm; a large one out in front that appears to have two stories, and then two smaller, cabin-type buildings around the back of the first house, with a short path joining them. You approach the first house's porch - and surprisingly enough, no one's come outside or seen you yet, it seems. Uncle Pun moves to the door and knocks before you can say anything; however, after a few moments of silence, you start to wonder if he knocked loud enough.
"Do you think anyone's home?" Stephany asks. You shrug; the car woul… [view original content]
[Try the farm first.]
"There's no reason not to try," you speak up. "The world can't have gone to shit that quickly - whoever lives here … morewill probably be willing to help us."
Jack nods. "We don't have anywhere else to go. It's getting dark."
"Okay," Rema concedes, and Thalia simply nods before setting off for the farm.
About five minutes later, you're walking up to the farm. There are three buildings actually visible on the farm; a large one out in front that appears to have two stories, and then two smaller, cabin-type buildings around the back of the first house, with a short path joining them. You approach the first house's porch - and surprisingly enough, no one's come outside or seen you yet, it seems. Uncle Pun moves to the door and knocks before you can say anything; however, after a few moments of silence, you start to wonder if he knocked loud enough.
"Do you think anyone's home?" Stephany asks. You shrug; the car woul… [view original content]
I'm sorry He was a brave soul. You can submit another character, if you'd like! ( If you mention in one of the boxes that you're the one who submitted Miguel, I might even introduce your character earlier than otherwise, because it was kind of unfair that he had to die so soon )
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.] Guess I'll go with the majority... As someone said, a fire might cause unwanted attention. BTW, I'm a Christian, and I believe that if a Christian was cremated they will still go to heaven. But I'm personally not going to be cremated.
Oh, okay. Sorry about that, I'm not Christian, though I've read most of the Bible. I just know a few Christians who believe cremation means you don't go to heaven. So sorry if it's inaccurate, you can just say that Alice doesn't know quite what she's talking about! Lol.
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.] Guess I'll go with the majority... As someone said, a fire might cause… more unwanted attention. BTW, I'm a Christian, and I believe that if a Christian was cremated they will still go to heaven. But I'm personally not going to be cremated.
Oh, okay. Sorry about that, I'm not Christian, though I've read most of the Bible. I just know a few Christians who believe cremation means … moreyou don't go to heaven. So sorry if it's inaccurate, you can just say that Alice doesn't know quite what she's talking about! Lol.
(Sorry this is late guys, I lost track of the thread! This is the final part of Chapter 1, so no votes. I would really appreciate if you could comment on whether you liked it or not, and what sorts of things you might like to see in Chapter 2!)
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
"I think we should bury them," you say. "It doesn't matter how risky it might be, they deserve a proper burial. Besides, a fire might just draw attention."
"Okay," Jack replies, nodding. "That is a good point."
You turn to Jen, wondering if she is willing to change her mind also.
"Hey, don't look at me," she says. "I didn't have a dog in the fight in the first place. Just... whatever you guys think is right is fine by me."
Thalia nods before she and Uncle Pun move to the bodies, tentatively picking them up and carrying them outside. Markus follows after them, picking up a shovel resting in the doorless hall closet before he goes.
While they work, you and the others scope out the rooms. There are 3 bedrooms upstairs, along with the one downstairs - and Jack checked the other two buildings; while each only have a single room, both have beds in them, and the cabin-type building farther out even has three couches as well. You'll have no shortage of places to sleep tonight, that's for sure.
You and Jack have placed your things (in your case, your backpack; in his, the bag of supplies he'd packed at your house and his crowbar) in one of the upstairs bedrooms, effectively claiming it; Jen and Stephany claimed the second upstairs bedroom, and Rema and Alice the third.
When you had all finished searching the house, an eerie quiet had fallen among you, and you had simply sat in the main house's living room in somber silence. You're still sitting in that silence when the adults come back into the house an hour after they left.
"Elias," Thalia says to you as she enters the room. "I need to talk to you. Do you have a minute?"
A little taken aback by the request, you nod and follow her out of the house, as Jack fills Uncle Pun in on the room situation.
You both walk outside and onto the gravel path, and she leads you a small ways away, to where the gravel gives way to green grass, before pausing to speak.
"Elias," Thalia murmurs. "I'm ... sorry.."
You look at her, not sure what she's talking about. "What do you mean?" you ask hesitantly. "What for?"
"In the bookstore," she clarifies. "When you had to... shoot that woman. That was... that wasn't right. You're just a kid. No one should have expected you to do that."
You frown at her. "What?"
"There were plenty of adults there who could have done the job, but you were the one who had to step up. It just... it wasn't fair to you, and I'm sorry," Thalia says, and her tone is gentle. "I promise in the future I'll try my best to make sure you don't have to do something like that. That any of you don't have to do something like that. I'm one of the only adults left now, I know... but I'm going to do my best to take care of all of you. We need to look out for each other."
"I'm not a kid," you say hesitantly. "I'm 17. I can... I can deal with it, Thalia."
"Maybe you can," she sighs. "Maybe all of you can. And maybe you'll all have to, whether you can or not. But that aside... I'm still going to do my best to keep all of you safe."
You nod, looking away. "Thanks, then, I guess."
"Yeah." She seems ready to leave you to your thoughts, then pauses, turning back to place a kind hand on your shoulder. "Just... try and get some sleep tonight, alright? I know this has been hard for you especially. Pun and I can keep watch tonight and make sure none of them get to us."
"Sure," you murmur, and she nods once, removing her hand and starting to walk back into the house.
You don't move. You think you'll stay here for a while and watch the sun go down and the sky turn dark. It'll give you time to think, at any rate.
You're still having trouble processing all that's happened - that the world has gone to shit this quickly. That walking corpses have killed so many people in front of you. You think of Dixie, the woman who saved your life and then became one of those things; then of Gabrielle, whom you didn't know very well, but who seemed to have been a kind and warm-hearted woman. And Miguel, her boyfriend, whose death was perhaps the most unfair; AJ had tried to help him, but his only reward for his troubles had been his own death. And E.J... whose death you had, undeniably, caused, in your haste to save your uncle.
It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. And you don't understand how it happened. Suddenly you remember something - today was your sister's birthday.
What a birthday present, right, Jen?
Shaking your head, you look down at the ground, overwhelmed by your emotions, before you're startled from your thoughts by Alice, who seems to have come out to join you while you weren't looking.
"Elias, what are you doing out here?" she asks, and you look up at her. There's a pause before you manage to speak.
"Just... thinking," you say quietly.
"About what's happened?"
"Yeah."
Alice stares at you sadly for a moment, before moving closer, lifting one of your hands and cupping it with her own. Normally, you'd be embarrassed by the gesture, but you're not now - after what you've gone through together today, nothing is weird anymore. And you know the gesture is merely platonic.
"Elias, I know things are bad right now. But we have to have hope that they're going to get better," she tells you. "Even if the military doesn't come through tomorrow... Even if they never come through... The world won't be crippled by this forever." You blink at her, surprised by the heartfelt words.
Her voice drops a bit in volume before she next speaks. "And we'll survive. I know we will," she murmurs.
There's a long silence before you finally raise your head a bit and give her a small smile. "Thanks, Alice," you say.
"Of course," she replies, smiling also. "Now let's get inside. It's not safe to be out here after dark."
"Yeah."
And as you follow Alice back into the house, you can't help but wonder if what she said - naive as it might have sounded - could be true.
END OF CHAPTER 1
HEROISM - You tried to help the woman in the grocery store.
KINDNESS - You stopped for Thalia and E.J. in the road.
RESPONSIBILITY - You chose to shoot Gabrielle in the head.
SENTIMENTALITY - You went back for Uncle Pun and cost E.J. his life.
HUMANITY - You chose to bury the bodies on the farm.
(Sorry this is late guys, I lost track of the thread! This is the final part of Chapter 1, so no votes. I would really appreciate if you cou… moreld comment on whether you liked it or not, and what sorts of things you might like to see in Chapter 2!)
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
"I think we should bury them," you say. "It doesn't matter how risky it might be, they deserve a proper burial. Besides, a fire might just draw attention."
"Okay," Jack replies, nodding. "That is a good point."
You turn to Jen, wondering if she is willing to change her mind also.
"Hey, don't look at me," she says. "I didn't have a dog in the fight in the first place. Just... whatever you guys think is right is fine by me."
Thalia nods before she and Uncle Pun move to the bodies, tentatively picking them up and carrying them outside. Markus follows after them, picking up a shovel resting in the doorless hall closet b… [view original content]
(Sorry this is late guys, I lost track of the thread! This is the final part of Chapter 1, so no votes. I would really appreciate if you cou… moreld comment on whether you liked it or not, and what sorts of things you might like to see in Chapter 2!)
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
"I think we should bury them," you say. "It doesn't matter how risky it might be, they deserve a proper burial. Besides, a fire might just draw attention."
"Okay," Jack replies, nodding. "That is a good point."
You turn to Jen, wondering if she is willing to change her mind also.
"Hey, don't look at me," she says. "I didn't have a dog in the fight in the first place. Just... whatever you guys think is right is fine by me."
Thalia nods before she and Uncle Pun move to the bodies, tentatively picking them up and carrying them outside. Markus follows after them, picking up a shovel resting in the doorless hall closet b… [view original content]
Really good job! I listened to Remember Me by Anadel while reading this, and it fit! As everyone else said, I like the idea of having the choices at the end.
(Sorry this is late guys, I lost track of the thread! This is the final part of Chapter 1, so no votes. I would really appreciate if you cou… moreld comment on whether you liked it or not, and what sorts of things you might like to see in Chapter 2!)
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
"I think we should bury them," you say. "It doesn't matter how risky it might be, they deserve a proper burial. Besides, a fire might just draw attention."
"Okay," Jack replies, nodding. "That is a good point."
You turn to Jen, wondering if she is willing to change her mind also.
"Hey, don't look at me," she says. "I didn't have a dog in the fight in the first place. Just... whatever you guys think is right is fine by me."
Thalia nods before she and Uncle Pun move to the bodies, tentatively picking them up and carrying them outside. Markus follows after them, picking up a shovel resting in the doorless hall closet b… [view original content]
Thank you everyone for your feedback!! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Now, courtesy of InKennyWeTrust (I am stealing their idea, haha) ... I thought I could post a "next time on" for you guys to chew on before the next chapter gets posted....
NEXT TIME ON THE WALKING DEAD
"If you don't agree with the way we do things, then leave," Jack snaps. "And leave Eli alone. You've done nothing but butt heads with him this whole time. What Eli - and our group - does is his business, not yours. Just leave!"
"What?!"
"I said leave!"
"It's not safe here anymore, Thalia," Alice says softly. "Not after what happened..."
"I know," Thalia sighs. "I know."
Jen speaks up from beside you. "We need to think about ... about moving on."
Blood is spilling faster and faster from the wound in his chest as he tries to move, and you kneel next to him in a panic.
"Stay still, please, shhh, stop, stop moving--" You're frantic, pushing him back down and trying to stop the bleeding with your hands. But even you can tell that this doesn't look good. He coughs again, moving his head to the side as he does, and this time you see blood on the grass next to his face.
"Keep--," he breathes, face screwed up in pain. "Keep her... safe..."
Suddenly a knife flies past you and misses you - or so you think, until you realize it's pinned you to the tree you had been up against by the side of your hoodie.
A woman appears in your field of vision, eyes wild and face bared in a snarl so vicious you might have confused her for one of the dead, were it not for the life still visible in her bright blue eyes.
"Who are you," comes the terrifying growl. "And what are you doing here."
EPISODE 2 - CHANGES ON THE WIND
(Sorry if this wasn't a very good preview, it's 6 AM here and I still haven't slept :P I hope it was enjoyable enough anyway!)
(Sorry this is late guys, I lost track of the thread! This is the final part of Chapter 1, so no votes. I would really appreciate if you cou… moreld comment on whether you liked it or not, and what sorts of things you might like to see in Chapter 2!)
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
"I think we should bury them," you say. "It doesn't matter how risky it might be, they deserve a proper burial. Besides, a fire might just draw attention."
"Okay," Jack replies, nodding. "That is a good point."
You turn to Jen, wondering if she is willing to change her mind also.
"Hey, don't look at me," she says. "I didn't have a dog in the fight in the first place. Just... whatever you guys think is right is fine by me."
Thalia nods before she and Uncle Pun move to the bodies, tentatively picking them up and carrying them outside. Markus follows after them, picking up a shovel resting in the doorless hall closet b… [view original content]
Comments
[Do as your uncle wishes and leave him behind in order to escape.]
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway.]
To the rescue!
Submitted my char.
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway.]
Uncle Pun doesn't deserve to die... We can't leave anyone behind... Uncle Pun is like Hershel in TV series... #SAVEUNCLEPUN
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway.] #SAVEUNCLEPUN
[do as your uncle wishes] respect a mans last wish dam it!
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway]. He reminds me of Pete. God, I miss Pete so much ;-;
(The people have spoken! #SaveUnclePun
This chapter is coming to a close... but don't worry! There will be more! I also plan to update more regularly, provided I get enough votes!)
[Try to save Uncle Pun anyway.]
"No!" you shout, rushing over to him and firing your gun into the head of one of the rioters that's closing in on him. "I'm not leaving you behind!" Your desperation has thankfully made your aim better and not worse, and you manage to take out another ghoul with one shot before you begin to be overwhelmed by the swarm.
You realize too late that maybe your uncle was right and you should have left - now you both are surely going to die. One of the rioters gets close enough to you that you just barely manage to shove it back in time, its jaws snapping inches from your neck. "Eli!" you hear Jack call despairingly from the street; clearly the others have turned back and noticed what's happening. You continue to fight against the monsters, but when a second one lurches into you the weight is simply too much and you lose your balance, toppling to the ground with one of the things directly on top of you, the other still standing - but you know it's only a matter of seconds before its going to crouch and down and start to devour you like Dixie devoured Gabrielle.
Then Thalia's bat comes down on the head of the creep just about to tear out your throat, sending it rolling off to the side. She whacks the second standing one, killing it in one blow, then spins to offer a hand to help you up. "Come on!" Relieved, you grab her hand and she pulls you to your feet. E.J. is at Pun's side now, helping him to fight off the ghouls with his knife. You rush to join them and help, and Thalia follows you, bat at the ready.
With the four of you fighting, you manage to clear a path for your uncle to escape through, though there are still too many monsters to kill all of them. He moves quickly to join you and Thalia as you start to run back towards the street, and E.J. rushes to follow; however, as you reach about the halfway point you hear a cry of pain and whip your head around to see E.J. has somehow fallen to the ground, one of the monsters on top of him. As you watch, it sinks its teeth into his throat and begins to eat him. The others all descend upon him then and he vanishes beneath their rotted forms. You look forward again, feeling sick, and see that Thalia has seen, too; as your eyes meet, she simply makes a mournful expression and then turns her head back forward, continuing to run to the others.
When you finally reach them, you try to speak, but she raises a hand, gesturing for you all to run further down the road, south. As you do, you pass more and more abandoned cars - but luckily so far, as you're bordering on the outermost parts of town, there aren't as many monsters around, save for a few still in the cars, buckled into their seatbelts or simply trapped behind closed doors.
You all skid to a stop about a football field away, panting a little, and there's a moment of silence before it's broken by Uncle Pun.
"I told you to leave me!" Pun says angrily. "You could have gotten yourself killed, Eli!"
"Were you bitten? Did one of them bite you?!" you ask your uncle frantically as you fight to regain your composure. He blinks at you, looking taken aback.
"What? No - no, none of them managed to," he tells you.
"Thank God," Jen breathes from beside you.
"I couldn't leave you behind, Uncle Pun," you tell him - but you refuse to apologize, at least to him. Instead, you turn to Thalia.
"I'm sorry," you say. "About E.J..."
"It's fine," she sighs, starting to walk again down the road, everyone falling in behind her. "We weren't... very close. Just coworkers. But he saved my life, when this all started... and I'll never forget that."
"And... Miguel and A.J.?" Markus asks quietly. You realize that not everyone could have seen what happened in all the chaos. Thalia shakes her head.
"They didn't make it."
"Oh," Rema murmurs from next to her cousin.
You all fall into a somber silence as you continue on down the road, wordlessly mourning for all the people you had seen die - Dixie, Gabrielle, Miguel, AJ,and E.J.
You silently swear to yourself never to forget them - or their sacrifices.
~~~~
You don't know how long you walk for - mostly because you don't know what time it was when you left - but you can tell that the sun is close to setting now, and you're a ways out from the city. There've been a few run ins with those things, but with all of you together, you'd managed to get away from each situation unscathed - thankfully. You don't know if you could deal with more deaths today.
As you walk, the road sloping upwards, Thalia stops at the top of the hill. You come up beside her and catch sight of what's made her stop - there's a large farmhouse visible off of the road a ways down, with a single vehicle parked out near it. You can see various animals fenced off around the farm - what look to be goats and cows - and you glance at Thalia, wondering what she's thinking.
"Should we ask them for help?" Markus wonders.
"I'm not sure," Thalia says. "Whoever they are, we don't know if they're dangerous."
"We've been walking for a good while," Uncle Pun says. "It wouldn't hurt to stop and ask - and this seems as good a place as any to hole out until the government fixes things."
"What if they're bad people?" Stephany asks quietly.
"There's only one car," Jen says. "If whoever lives here turns out to be bad, there are probably less people here than us."
"I don't know," Rema says.
[Keep walking and try to find somewhere else to spend the night.]
[Try the farm first.]
[Try the farm first.]
I hope I won't regret this. Hopefully we can meet up with some good survivors!
Remember the Saint Jones? XD
[Keep walking and try to find somewhere else to spend the night.]
Its unlikely that will happen again, but at least we got some bread out of it.
yay bread!
(I may or may not be responding to your comment solely to bump this thread and get more votes. sorry Raging)
I choose to [try the farm first] and I hope I won't regret this decision...
|] Try the farm first. [|
I heard they had unicorns with suits.
[Try the farm first.] Why not?
[Try the farm first.]
Let's hope it's not another Saint Jones situation :-D
[try the farm first] everyone's tired it's not a good plan to go wandering around at night like that
[Try the farm first.]
"There's no reason not to try," you speak up. "The world can't have gone to shit that quickly - whoever lives here will probably be willing to help us."
Jack nods. "We don't have anywhere else to go. It's getting dark."
"Okay," Rema concedes, and Thalia simply nods before setting off for the farm.
About five minutes later, you're walking up to the farm. There are three buildings actually visible on the farm; a large one out in front that appears to have two stories, and then two smaller, cabin-type buildings around the back of the first house, with a short path joining them. You approach the first house's porch - and surprisingly enough, no one's come outside or seen you yet, it seems. Uncle Pun moves to the door and knocks before you can say anything; however, after a few moments of silence, you start to wonder if he knocked loud enough.
"Do you think anyone's home?" Stephany asks. You shrug; the car would make you think someone was, but no one answered when you knocked. Your uncle knocks again, but another minute passes without an answer.
"Hello?" he calls, trying the door. It's unlocked - probably because this place is sort of isolated anyway. "We're coming in!" Pun says, "Don't shoot - we're just looking for some help."
You all file into the house warily, and Markus, taking up the rear, shuts the door behind you. "Hello?" Pun tries again, but the house is completely silent.
The front room is a sitting room type area with a good deal of plants growing on one side of the room - you think you recognize them as aloe plants - and a few couches and chairs obviously meant for socializing. There's a fireplace, too, with a cross hanging over it, and a plaque on the wall catches your eye; you can't make out what the award is for from where you are, since the text is small, but you can read the big letters below - "AWARDED TO THE FARM OF JAMIE AND ELOISE MCNEIL."
You move through the room into the small kitchen bordering it, making note of the dishes in the sink. They look fairly fresh - like someone had been here today, at least. Your Uncle Pun leads you all past a set of stairs and into another room, a computer room, and then opens the door to the next room - and you immediately take a step back from beside him.
"Oh my god," Alice murmurs. The place looks to be a bedroom - but what you see in there isn't good. A man, appearing to be in his 30s or 40s, sits on the bed, slumped forward and with blood coating his clothes liberally; he appears to have shot himself in the head, and the shotgun is still clutched in his hands.
A woman lies on the floor in front of him; she looks older, maybe in her 70s, but its hard to tell because she's already rotted; clearly she became one of those things before she died.
"I guess somebody is home," Thalia says quietly.
"Was," Jack adds softly. You see that he hasn't tried to hide this from Stephany this time; she just stands beside him, looking on with mournful eyes.
"Do you think there's anyone else here?" Jen asks, sounding just as somber.
You shake your head. "...Probably not. That plaque in the front room said this place belonged to Jamie and Eloise McNeil. This... must be them."
"God," Rema mutters, shaking her head. "This... this is..." But she trails off, seeming incapable of finishing her thought.
"It's hard to believe it's gotten this bad so fast," Thalia says after a beat, seemingly trying to finish for Rema.
"Yeah."
"Would they... mind? If we stayed here?" Stephany asks.
"I don't think so," Pun replies.
"We should bury them," Markus says, crossing his arms. Thalia moves forward. "I'll do it," she volunteers.
"I'll help," Uncle Pun says. "It wouldn't be right to make you do this yourself."
"Wait," Jack says softly. "Are you sure?"
They look at him, Pun raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Thalia asks.
"They... Well, she, at least... she's ... one of them. Aren't you supposed to... burn the bodies, or something, in times of disease?" he tries, hesitant.
There's a pause, in which no one seems willing to speak up, before Jen does.
"He does have a point," she says tentatively. "Burying them... could just further the spread of this... sickness, whatever it is."
"But you saw the cross out in the front room," Alice says. "They're religious. Isn't that wrong? Deciding how they should be disposed of just because of that? I mean... I think the Bible says something about cremation, that it's not allowed or... or something."
Jack looks at you, and you can tell your best friend wants your opinion again. "Eli? What do you think?"
[We burn them. We can't risk it.]
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
I'm going to regret this...
[Do as your uncle wishes and leave him behind in order to escape.]
[we bury them! Screw the risk!] a fire would just draw attention and I suspect the house is mostly wooden and these guys don't know how well a human body burns (very well, it's full of fat and oils after all) or how to properly burn one. While any moron with time and a shovel can dig a hole.
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
Shadusnox brought up some fancy wooden points.
[We bury them]. I know, that in TWD universe burying does not make the virus spread faster.
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
I think that is better burn them, but the fire could attract some walkers because the night is dark and full of terrors XD
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
I miss Miguel already
(He was my character).
I'm sorry
He was a brave soul. You can submit another character, if you'd like! ( If you mention in one of the boxes that you're the one who submitted Miguel, I might even introduce your character earlier than otherwise, because it was kind of unfair that he had to die so soon 
)
BUMP
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.] Guess I'll go with the majority... As someone said, a fire might cause unwanted attention. BTW, I'm a Christian, and I believe that if a Christian was cremated they will still go to heaven. But I'm personally not going to be cremated.
Oh, okay. Sorry about that, I'm not Christian, though I've read most of the Bible. I just know a few Christians who believe cremation means you don't go to heaven. So sorry if it's inaccurate, you can just say that Alice doesn't know quite what she's talking about! Lol.
Oh it's fine!
(Sorry this is late guys, I lost track of the thread! This is the final part of Chapter 1, so no votes. I would really appreciate if you could comment on whether you liked it or not, and what sorts of things you might like to see in Chapter 2!)
[We bury them. Screw the risk, these people deserve a proper burial.]
"I think we should bury them," you say. "It doesn't matter how risky it might be, they deserve a proper burial. Besides, a fire might just draw attention."
"Okay," Jack replies, nodding. "That is a good point."
You turn to Jen, wondering if she is willing to change her mind also.
"Hey, don't look at me," she says. "I didn't have a dog in the fight in the first place. Just... whatever you guys think is right is fine by me."
Thalia nods before she and Uncle Pun move to the bodies, tentatively picking them up and carrying them outside. Markus follows after them, picking up a shovel resting in the doorless hall closet before he goes.
While they work, you and the others scope out the rooms. There are 3 bedrooms upstairs, along with the one downstairs - and Jack checked the other two buildings; while each only have a single room, both have beds in them, and the cabin-type building farther out even has three couches as well. You'll have no shortage of places to sleep tonight, that's for sure.
You and Jack have placed your things (in your case, your backpack; in his, the bag of supplies he'd packed at your house and his crowbar) in one of the upstairs bedrooms, effectively claiming it; Jen and Stephany claimed the second upstairs bedroom, and Rema and Alice the third.
When you had all finished searching the house, an eerie quiet had fallen among you, and you had simply sat in the main house's living room in somber silence. You're still sitting in that silence when the adults come back into the house an hour after they left.
"Elias," Thalia says to you as she enters the room. "I need to talk to you. Do you have a minute?"
A little taken aback by the request, you nod and follow her out of the house, as Jack fills Uncle Pun in on the room situation.
You both walk outside and onto the gravel path, and she leads you a small ways away, to where the gravel gives way to green grass, before pausing to speak.
"Elias," Thalia murmurs. "I'm ... sorry.."
You look at her, not sure what she's talking about. "What do you mean?" you ask hesitantly. "What for?"
"In the bookstore," she clarifies. "When you had to... shoot that woman. That was... that wasn't right. You're just a kid. No one should have expected you to do that."
You frown at her. "What?"
"There were plenty of adults there who could have done the job, but you were the one who had to step up. It just... it wasn't fair to you, and I'm sorry," Thalia says, and her tone is gentle. "I promise in the future I'll try my best to make sure you don't have to do something like that. That any of you don't have to do something like that. I'm one of the only adults left now, I know... but I'm going to do my best to take care of all of you. We need to look out for each other."
"I'm not a kid," you say hesitantly. "I'm 17. I can... I can deal with it, Thalia."
"Maybe you can," she sighs. "Maybe all of you can. And maybe you'll all have to, whether you can or not. But that aside... I'm still going to do my best to keep all of you safe."
You nod, looking away. "Thanks, then, I guess."
"Yeah." She seems ready to leave you to your thoughts, then pauses, turning back to place a kind hand on your shoulder. "Just... try and get some sleep tonight, alright? I know this has been hard for you especially. Pun and I can keep watch tonight and make sure none of them get to us."
"Sure," you murmur, and she nods once, removing her hand and starting to walk back into the house.
You don't move. You think you'll stay here for a while and watch the sun go down and the sky turn dark. It'll give you time to think, at any rate.
You're still having trouble processing all that's happened - that the world has gone to shit this quickly. That walking corpses have killed so many people in front of you. You think of Dixie, the woman who saved your life and then became one of those things; then of Gabrielle, whom you didn't know very well, but who seemed to have been a kind and warm-hearted woman. And Miguel, her boyfriend, whose death was perhaps the most unfair; AJ had tried to help him, but his only reward for his troubles had been his own death. And E.J... whose death you had, undeniably, caused, in your haste to save your uncle.
It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. And you don't understand how it happened. Suddenly you remember something - today was your sister's birthday.
What a birthday present, right, Jen?
Shaking your head, you look down at the ground, overwhelmed by your emotions, before you're startled from your thoughts by Alice, who seems to have come out to join you while you weren't looking.
"Elias, what are you doing out here?" she asks, and you look up at her. There's a pause before you manage to speak.
"Just... thinking," you say quietly.
"About what's happened?"
"Yeah."
Alice stares at you sadly for a moment, before moving closer, lifting one of your hands and cupping it with her own. Normally, you'd be embarrassed by the gesture, but you're not now - after what you've gone through together today, nothing is weird anymore. And you know the gesture is merely platonic.
"Elias, I know things are bad right now. But we have to have hope that they're going to get better," she tells you. "Even if the military doesn't come through tomorrow... Even if they never come through... The world won't be crippled by this forever." You blink at her, surprised by the heartfelt words.
Her voice drops a bit in volume before she next speaks. "And we'll survive. I know we will," she murmurs.
There's a long silence before you finally raise your head a bit and give her a small smile. "Thanks, Alice," you say.
"Of course," she replies, smiling also. "Now let's get inside. It's not safe to be out here after dark."
"Yeah."
And as you follow Alice back into the house, you can't help but wonder if what she said - naive as it might have sounded - could be true.
END OF CHAPTER 1
HEROISM - You tried to help the woman in the grocery store.
KINDNESS - You stopped for Thalia and E.J. in the road.
RESPONSIBILITY - You chose to shoot Gabrielle in the head.
SENTIMENTALITY - You went back for Uncle Pun and cost E.J. his life.
HUMANITY - You chose to bury the bodies on the farm.
Good job! I like the ending showing you're choices
.
The choices at the end are really cool. :-)
Awesome chapter, keep up the good work!
Really good job! I listened to Remember Me by Anadel while reading this, and it fit! As everyone else said, I like the idea of having the choices at the end.
Thank you everyone for your feedback!!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Now, courtesy of InKennyWeTrust (I am stealing their idea, haha) ... I thought I could post a "next time on" for you guys to chew on before the next chapter gets posted....
NEXT TIME ON THE WALKING DEAD
"If you don't agree with the way we do things, then leave," Jack snaps. "And leave Eli alone. You've done nothing but butt heads with him this whole time. What Eli - and our group - does is his business, not yours. Just leave!"
"What?!"
"I said leave!"
"It's not safe here anymore, Thalia," Alice says softly. "Not after what happened..."
"I know," Thalia sighs. "I know."
Jen speaks up from beside you. "We need to think about ... about moving on."
Blood is spilling faster and faster from the wound in his chest as he tries to move, and you kneel next to him in a panic.
"Stay still, please, shhh, stop, stop moving--" You're frantic, pushing him back down and trying to stop the bleeding with your hands. But even you can tell that this doesn't look good. He coughs again, moving his head to the side as he does, and this time you see blood on the grass next to his face.
"Keep--," he breathes, face screwed up in pain. "Keep her... safe..."
Suddenly a knife flies past you and misses you - or so you think, until you realize it's pinned you to the tree you had been up against by the side of your hoodie.
A woman appears in your field of vision, eyes wild and face bared in a snarl so vicious you might have confused her for one of the dead, were it not for the life still visible in her bright blue eyes.
"Who are you," comes the terrifying growl. "And what are you doing here."
EPISODE 2 - CHANGES ON THE WIND
(Sorry if this wasn't a very good preview, it's 6 AM here and I still haven't slept :P I hope it was enjoyable enough anyway!)
Good job Sardines !