Rosalyn had only felt what it was like to be a prisoner once before today. The car ride back had been a flurry of tears and fear. For the most part,
Anna couldn't stop herself from worrying about what had happened to her boyfriend. She felt as though she wasn't safe anymore. She actually said
that. It was as if they were safe before.
"Your names?"
"Rosalyn Tamlin."
"Anna...Correa..."
"Isaac Tamlin..."
"...Claire Dolzaev."
"Ages?"
"Twenty-two."
"Twenty-five..."
"Twenty-two..."
"Seven."
"All right. Our Supreme Leader will be in shortly in order to question you. Don't get your hopes up. We're fairly strict on our entrances here."
When the man left the room, Rosalyn sneered in his direction. He'd been a general ass for the entirety of the time he was explaining what this place
was. It was called Crawford, named after Doctor Oberson, and it was some sort of city within a city. When they loaded the four of them onto that
truck, Rosalyn felt as though they were being hustled into a police car. She'd only been arrested one time before, and she never wanted it to
happen again.
The building where they were used to be a police station, and the box they were sitting in was used for questioning. The only thing here was a long
wooden table and a bunch of cameras that no longer worked along with a giant mirror lining the wall. They couldn't see Rosalyn's plan to escape...
"All right, guys, I have a plan." She whispered to them. She didn't want to be around when Oberson showed up. She wasn't going to let Isaac meet
the man... He was too gullible. "The moment one of the guards comes back in, I jump him, and you-"
"What's the point...?" Anna asked, sulking into her seat. "We're already here... Maybe this place is like they're saying... Maybe it is safe..."
Rosalyn sighed. "Anna, you saw this guy on the streets just as much as I did. If you believed that, you would have gone with him the first time."
"The first time... Larry was in the restroom..." She broke down into tears one more time. Rosalyn couldn't lie. She had shed a few of her own, but
just the sheer amount of tears this woman had was unbearable. He had died three hours ago, and she hadn't stopped crying since.
"It's...alright..." Isaac said, tears in his own eyes. He was very sweet to her the whole time. Rosalyn didn't know how he was able to put up with it.
"He's...he's in a better place now..."
"The only place he's at right now, is in the ground!" Anna screamed.
"Yeah..." He sighed. "That's...a better place than here..."
"He isn't in the ground." Rosalyn said, before Anna could lash out at her brother. She looked as though she were ready to explode with emotion at
a moment's notice. "He's on the side of the road."
"Don't remind me, bitch!" She yelled. "Do you forget who put him there! It was your fucking fault!"
Rosalyn knew what she was saying was cold, but she couldn't stand hearing this anymore. She had tried to be caring when this first started, but it
was beginning to grow into the annoying category. "It was no one's fault! I was going to die. He was the one who decided to come down and try to
help me. He got himself killed."
"You've got a lot of fucking nerve..."
"Rose..." Claire tugged at her sleeve, bring attention to herself. "Why did you go down with all the dead people?"
"Because there was a place I was trying to go, honey..." Rosalyn told her sweetly. She didn't want the girl to become wrapped up in this.
"Oh tell me!" Anna shouted sarcastically. "Tell me what was SO important down on the street you were willing to wade through a river of walkers to
get to it. Tell me what was more important than Larry's life!"
"There was a hardware store on the street... I thought maybe I could get some supplies for us." She replied. Anna looked confused, and then filled
with rage. "What? You think I actually intended to get Larry killed? He was my friend too!"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Anna bellowed. "You knew him for a total of one day. I've known him since freshman year of high school, bitch! And
he was more than just my friend! He was the one..." Just the uttering of the statement made Anna's tears flow like a faucet once more.
"Guys! Be quiet!" Isaac cried, finally managing to get the woman to pipe down. The conversation had been almost like a battle. Every time Rosalyn
said anything, Anna had replied one volume notch above. "What's done...is done... We're...here now. Let's just...let's just enjoy this."
Rosalyn looked down to find Claire with her hands over her ears. She didn't have very long hair, but she did have to part what little she had in order
to get an lock on her ear. Rosalyn felt bad for her. She still had the same fear as when they found her in the apartment, even after they had jumped
out of a three-story window and made it.
"Yeah. Let's calm down..." Anna said. Her voice became lower, but it still sounded every bit as threatening. "Don't get too upset, Rose... You'll
reopen your wound. We may just have to amputate."
Rosalyn had almost forgotten about it. She gazed down at the wound beneath her. It had sealed up, but not properly. The moment they had access
to it, Rosalyn was able to sanitize it with water as best she could. She knew how to clean a wound like this, but she didn't know how to sew it shut.
It had been the true doctors who knew how to do this. She was only a nurse. It really did look quite ugly. A wound given to her in the shape of an
oval had morphed into a zig-zag pattern. She knew it might never even heal correctly. She would always have a scar there.
"You can amputate if you want." Rosalyn told her. "I don't need both legs to strangle these guys to death."
"You can't kill them, Rose." She protested. "We're outnumbered."
"No..." Isaac replied. "But we can...we can find a way out of here... And she'll need...she will need all of her legs for that."
"Oh like you have a plan!" Anna snapped back at him. Isaac looked very taken aback, and the blood flowing through Rosalyn's veins ran cold as
ice. "We're having adult conversation over here."
Rosalyn stood up from the table, making herself seem bigger by comparison. When Anna stood up, she was shown to be much taller, yet Rosalyn
still felt as though she could hold her own. "You can make fun of me. You can threaten me. You can even hit me. But you don't hurt Isaac."
"Why not?" She frowned. "He's-"
"You DON'T hurt Isaac." Rosalyn interrupted her. "I am not going to make myself any fucking clearer."
Anna stood in silence for a moment before she began to chuckle under her breath. "If you think you're scaring me with that tough attitude, Rose,
you don't know anything."
She raised her hand in the air as quickly as she was able to and began to bring it down towards Rosalyn's face with her fingers clenched into a fist.
Rosalyn didn't even have any time to think, yet it was moments like these where it felt as though she had all the time in the world. Time slowed
down, and adrenaline rushed through her. It was only the question of whether it was right or wrong to use it.
Chapter 18: Different from Us
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn had only felt what it was like to be a prisoner once before today. The car ride b… moreack had been a flurry of tears and fear. For the most part,
Anna couldn't stop herself from worrying about what had happened to her boyfriend. She felt as though she wasn't safe anymore. She actually said
that. It was as if they were safe before.
"Your names?"
"Rosalyn Tamlin."
"Anna...Correa..."
"Isaac Tamlin..."
"...Claire Dolzaev."
"Ages?"
"Twenty-two."
"Twenty-five..."
"Twenty-two..."
"Seven."
"All right. Our Supreme Leader will be in shortly in order to question you. Don't get your hopes up. We're fairly strict on our entrances here."
When the man left the room, Rosalyn sneered in his direction. He'd been a general ass for the entirety of the time he was explaining what this place
was. It was called Crawford, named after Doctor Oberson, and it was some sort o… [view original content]
Chapter 18: Different from Us
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn had only felt what it was like to be a prisoner once before today. The car ride b… moreack had been a flurry of tears and fear. For the most part,
Anna couldn't stop herself from worrying about what had happened to her boyfriend. She felt as though she wasn't safe anymore. She actually said
that. It was as if they were safe before.
"Your names?"
"Rosalyn Tamlin."
"Anna...Correa..."
"Isaac Tamlin..."
"...Claire Dolzaev."
"Ages?"
"Twenty-two."
"Twenty-five..."
"Twenty-two..."
"Seven."
"All right. Our Supreme Leader will be in shortly in order to question you. Don't get your hopes up. We're fairly strict on our entrances here."
When the man left the room, Rosalyn sneered in his direction. He'd been a general ass for the entirety of the time he was explaining what this place
was. It was called Crawford, named after Doctor Oberson, and it was some sort o… [view original content]
I think catching the punch could lead to even bigger hostilities between them. I think Rose is at least partially at fault for Larry's death and Anna has good right to be angry. Hopefully she'll calm down after punching her.
Chapter 18: Different from Us
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn had only felt what it was like to be a prisoner once before today. The car ride b… moreack had been a flurry of tears and fear. For the most part,
Anna couldn't stop herself from worrying about what had happened to her boyfriend. She felt as though she wasn't safe anymore. She actually said
that. It was as if they were safe before.
"Your names?"
"Rosalyn Tamlin."
"Anna...Correa..."
"Isaac Tamlin..."
"...Claire Dolzaev."
"Ages?"
"Twenty-two."
"Twenty-five..."
"Twenty-two..."
"Seven."
"All right. Our Supreme Leader will be in shortly in order to question you. Don't get your hopes up. We're fairly strict on our entrances here."
When the man left the room, Rosalyn sneered in his direction. He'd been a general ass for the entirety of the time he was explaining what this place
was. It was called Crawford, named after Doctor Oberson, and it was some sort o… [view original content]
Chapter 18: Different from Us
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn had only felt what it was like to be a prisoner once before today. The car ride b… moreack had been a flurry of tears and fear. For the most part,
Anna couldn't stop herself from worrying about what had happened to her boyfriend. She felt as though she wasn't safe anymore. She actually said
that. It was as if they were safe before.
"Your names?"
"Rosalyn Tamlin."
"Anna...Correa..."
"Isaac Tamlin..."
"...Claire Dolzaev."
"Ages?"
"Twenty-two."
"Twenty-five..."
"Twenty-two..."
"Seven."
"All right. Our Supreme Leader will be in shortly in order to question you. Don't get your hopes up. We're fairly strict on our entrances here."
When the man left the room, Rosalyn sneered in his direction. He'd been a general ass for the entirety of the time he was explaining what this place
was. It was called Crawford, named after Doctor Oberson, and it was some sort o… [view original content]
[B. Take the punch.]
I think catching the punch could lead to even bigger hostilities between them. I think Rose is at least partially at fault for Larry's death and Anna has good right to be angry. Hopefully she'll calm down after punching her.
Chapter 18: Different from Us
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn had only felt what it was like to be a prisoner once before today. The car ride b… moreack had been a flurry of tears and fear. For the most part,
Anna couldn't stop herself from worrying about what had happened to her boyfriend. She felt as though she wasn't safe anymore. She actually said
that. It was as if they were safe before.
"Your names?"
"Rosalyn Tamlin."
"Anna...Correa..."
"Isaac Tamlin..."
"...Claire Dolzaev."
"Ages?"
"Twenty-two."
"Twenty-five..."
"Twenty-two..."
"Seven."
"All right. Our Supreme Leader will be in shortly in order to question you. Don't get your hopes up. We're fairly strict on our entrances here."
When the man left the room, Rosalyn sneered in his direction. He'd been a general ass for the entirety of the time he was explaining what this place
was. It was called Crawford, named after Doctor Oberson, and it was some sort o… [view original content]
At the last minute, the decision fell out of her grasp and Anna's fist collided hard with her cheekbone. Rosalyn felt the pain for only a moment
before she put her hands to her jaw and clocked it back into place. She still felt pain, but she forced it from her mind as she looked back up into
Anna's emotionally scarred eyes. She wasn't afraid.
"That's not an answer." Rosalyn said. Anna seemed rather surprised at her non-reaction. "I asked if you understand. You can hurt me. You can't
hurt my brother."
Anna collapsed back into her seat, sobbing into her hands. "I know... I know... I know..." Rosalyn sat back down as well, knowing the conversation
was over. She liked to fight, but she also knew when it was wise too. Fighting with Anna after her boyfriend being killed would mean severing their
ties forever, and she still had hope they could make peace again. Anna was not the enemy. Oberson was the enemy.
There was an unusual knock at the door, and it creaked open. The first person to walk through was the man with the mustache from the hummer
wielding an AK-47, and the next was the savior himself, Crawford Oberson. God bless his name. "You felt the need to knock." Rosalyn hissed.
"Why?"
"I just wanted you to know we do things civilized around here." He replied, sporting a wide smile. He stood beside the mirror on the wall, and
looked like he thought they were going to forgive him for stealing them off the street. He didn't give them any choice. "Now tell me, Rosalyn
Tamlin, why didn't you hit her back?"
She blushed. "How did you know about that? You aren't going to try to sell me some bullshit about being psychic again, are you?"
He reached up with his knuckle and tapped on the mirror behind him. "No, not this time. You know what this is, right? One-way glass? I've been
just outside the whole time, and I saw everything. So... why didn't you hit her back...?"
Rosalyn wanted to lie. She wanted to stay angry, but seeing the guard standing beside the man with a machine gun in his hand forced her down.
She looked towards Anna and sighed. "...Because I deserved it." This got Anna's attention. They're eyes locked and Rosalyn knew she was
hanging on every word. "I got her boyfriend killed. I deserve more than a punch."
Oberson walked forward and took a seat on the other side of the table, and Rosalyn flinched, almost forcing herself not to reach for his head.
"Careful." He said, raising his finger in the air. "You know how loud a gunshot is in an enclosed room? I really don't want to have ringing in my ears
for the rest of the day, so if you could just sit still and listen, it would be greatly appreciated."
"Rose...Just listen..." Isaac stuttered. He didn't look scared. Either he was naive or he was good at hiding it. Isaac wasn't good at hiding anything.
But, she didn't want her brother to be angry with her. It hardly ever happened, but when it did, he would hold a grudge for a long time. Years
even... if the argument was bigger... She forced herself to calm down.
"You know..." Oberson sighed tapping his fingers on the table. "I don't recall ever doing anything to you to make you hate me so much. Tell me
why."
"Why don't you just ask your crystal ball, or whatever?"
"Oh, darling... That's not how this works." He laughed. He stood up and began pacing back and forth in front of the one way glass. "If I told you
how it worked, you wouldn't believe me."
"I don't believe you now..."
"You've made that fairly clear to everyone." He sighed. He spoke in a very convincing way. He could have been a lawyer or a politician. "Well
that's a question for another time. What I want to know is three questions."
Rosalyn waited a moment and looked around to the three others in the room. Anna was still a mess, Isaac was too trusting and Claire just didn't
know what was going on. She was the only one who was capable of representing the group in conversation. "Fine. Lay them out."
"Question number one..." He sighed. "What were you before the dead woke up?"
"I was a nurse." She replied. "Anna was a teacher. Isaac didn't have a job. Why does that matter?"
Oberson ignored the question. "Question number two. Are you looking for anyone you knew before the dead woke up?"
"No..." Rosalyn raised her eyebrow, but then looked around and found Claire's concerned eyes and she remembered. "The girl's grandfather.
We're looking for him. Why?"
Oberson stood up and continued to ignore her questions. "Third and lastly. Who do you want to be, now that the dead have awoken?"
The question hit Rosalyn like a brick, as she had expected not to be. The thought hadn't even occurred to her, but he was right. They could have
new lives now. They didn't have to deal with shit like taxes anymore. They didn't have to worry about the law. Rosalyn had thought before that
being captured by this man would cost them their freedom, but she realized he was right... They were more free now than they had been before.
Her words betrayed her, but she found they escaped her lips anyway. "I want to protect the people I care about."
Oberson smiled. "That's what I wanted to hear. You'll fit in nicely here."
"What if we don't fucking want to be here?" Rosalyn hissed.
"We do... We do want...to be here..." Isaac replied. He looked towards his safe. "I know you don't like...to be confined Rose. But, we're safe...we're
safe here. There aren't any...dead things trying to eat us."
"Can we stay?" Claire asked. "I don't want to run anymore."
Rosalyn sighed. She was speaking for the group, and it was clear the group felt rather differently than she did in this aspect. She hated to say it,
but they were right. They were safer there than they were in the streets. This was the only section of the city that hadn't been overtaken.
"...Fine..." Rosalyn muttered. "We'll stay. I guess we don't really have a choice, do we?"
"You don't." Oberson smiled. He reached into the pile of papers on the desk beside him and pulled a small one in front of him. "All right, if that's
all, I will add you to the count. Including the addition of you four, the population of Crawford has risen to 136. Roger here will escort you to your
new homes. I wish you all a good day, and many of them to come. You are part of a new world now. There is no emotion to have if not gratitude."
Rosalyn didn't feel gratitude. She felt spite. But, she could tell Anna, Isaac and Claire didn't feel the same way. All they wanted was to settle down.
"If you'll follow me, I will bring you to your quarters." Roger spoke plainly, opening the door behind him.
Claire was the first to stand up, followed by Isaac, Anna and finally Rosalyn. As they exited the tiny gray room meant for questioning detainees,
they felt a little bit less detained. When they stepped out into the open world, Rosalyn felt for the first time since the dead got up as though she
could actually appreciate the breeze running through her hair. It was evening, and the sun was setting on the horizon, turning the sky a lovely
shade of orange. Claire reached up and grabbed her hand. It was the first time she'd seen the little girl smile.
There were boys and girls actually playing in the streets. Old folks sitting outside their homes having tea, and others watching the children throw
their frisbees around. The entire space was void of the dark black blood that coated the ground outside her apartment. It felt safe. Rosalyn knew
it wasn't, but at least it felt safe. She felt as though a time would come when they would have to leave, but they were going to enjoy this while it
lasted.
"Welcome to Crawford." Roger muttered, presenting his home in front of them. "I'm sure you're not aware of our words... We are the fittest."
71.4% of readers chose to [B. Take the punch.]
——————-
At the last minute, the decision fell out of her grasp and Anna's fist collided… more hard with her cheekbone. Rosalyn felt the pain for only a moment
before she put her hands to her jaw and clocked it back into place. She still felt pain, but she forced it from her mind as she looked back up into
Anna's emotionally scarred eyes. She wasn't afraid.
"That's not an answer." Rosalyn said. Anna seemed rather surprised at her non-reaction. "I asked if you understand. You can hurt me. You can't
hurt my brother."
Anna collapsed back into her seat, sobbing into her hands. "I know... I know... I know..." Rosalyn sat back down as well, knowing the conversation
was over. She liked to fight, but she also knew when it was wise too. Fighting with Anna after her boyfriend being killed would mean severing their
ties forever, and she still had hope they could make peace again. Anna was not… [view original content]
71.4% of readers chose to [B. Take the punch.]
——————-
At the last minute, the decision fell out of her grasp and Anna's fist collided… more hard with her cheekbone. Rosalyn felt the pain for only a moment
before she put her hands to her jaw and clocked it back into place. She still felt pain, but she forced it from her mind as she looked back up into
Anna's emotionally scarred eyes. She wasn't afraid.
"That's not an answer." Rosalyn said. Anna seemed rather surprised at her non-reaction. "I asked if you understand. You can hurt me. You can't
hurt my brother."
Anna collapsed back into her seat, sobbing into her hands. "I know... I know... I know..." Rosalyn sat back down as well, knowing the conversation
was over. She liked to fight, but she also knew when it was wise too. Fighting with Anna after her boyfriend being killed would mean severing their
ties forever, and she still had hope they could make peace again. Anna was not… [view original content]
Grace always seemed to relish in those times of dawn and dusk, when she wasn't quite sure whether the sun was going up or down... whether
night was coming or the daytime. Of course, she could have been able to tell by cardinal directions, but she liked to not pay attention to those.
Some days, she would simply sit on the porch of Ashley's house on the mountain and watch the sun on the horizon. She would purposely make
herself forget whether it was morning or evening sometimes so she could sit there in a state almost of slumber, where she couldn't tell what was
going on around her, and she didn't care. She missed when the world was like that. It was gray and cloudy today. No bit of sunshine could be seen
anywhere in the sky. Grace wouldn't have been surprised if it was like this every day for the rest of her life.
The minute they left the cabin, Grace felt as though something bad were about to happen. Even though they had left the group at the house on
good terms, trying to go find Jared, she knew they were in just as much danger as their group was. Quentin seemed capable enough in a fight, but
the only other people at the house were two children, an old woman and an injured man.
Only Sebastien, Natalie, Noah and Grace were travelling down to the city, and if it really was as bad as Noah said it was down there, she wasn't
entirely sure if they were going to be enough.
"We should have gone yesterday." Sebastien muttered from behind the wheel. Noah had previously said he wasn't sure why they let the guy with
the temper drive the car, but when they jumped in the van, Sebastien and Natalie immediately took shotgun without question.
"Will you stop saying that over and over?" Natalie pleaded in annoyance. "You've literally said nothing else this entire trip."
"That doesn't mean it's not fucking true." He gripped harder on the wheel. "We really needed to go yesterday. Jared had to spend all night down in
that city, and now he could be dead...or worse..."
"What do you mean, worse?" She frowned at him. "Like one of them? If he's dead, he is one of them. Those two are the same thing now!"
"You're gonna tell me there ain't nothing worse than death, aren't you?!" He screamed. "He could've died up at the cottage, with his wife, but now,
he fell with no one around, all alone. How is that not worse?"
Natalie put her hand to her face. "We don't even know he's dead yet, Sebastien. You can't-"
"It's Redwell!" He cried. Grace had almost forgotten he preferred to go by his last name. It didn't matter to her. She never really understood that,
and so she decided to continue calling him Sebastien. "It's time you fuckers showed some respect!"
"Redwell?" Noah asked, pulling himself towards the driver's seat.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." Surprisingly he stopped talking immediately. It seemed to be like the only person the former policeman would listen to was Noah. She
didn't blame him for being so submitting to the man. There was something about the way Noah talked. It was an odd mixture of threatening and
soothing. It was as though every word he said was the truth.
Natalie sighed. "Here you are worrying about that fat oaf down in the city. There aren't very many things he's good at, but fighting's one of them.
He can hold his own. That's why he went down there in the first place. You should be more worried about the folks we left behind! I left my damn
son up there!"
"He ain't your son!" He barked.
Just the uttering of the words caused Grace's face to turn white with rage. They may not have been related by blood, but Grace could tell the
woman and the boy had a very strong bond. If someone were to take one away from the other, Natalie would clearly have acted the same as any
mother would have. "You can't say that shit! Were you there when it happened? No! Winston is my son!"
After these words, Sebastien decided not to object anymore. It wasn't worth it. He sighed and gripped the steering wheel tighter. "We're getting
down to the city before noon today. We already wasted away enough damn time sleeping away Jared's life back at the cabin. Sooner we get down
there the better."
"Are you done?" Noah spat at him. "Seems like everything you've said so far has been about getting down to the city. Does it look like we're just
sitting on our ass? We're in the car, same as you. Time for you to pull your fucking head around that."
Sebastien squinted and turned his head back around in the seat in anger. Natalie instinctively reached out and stabilized the steering wheel just as
it was about to roll away from its path. "Why do you have to be so goddamn rude, man? What have I ever done to you?"
"You ain't done nothin' to me. Called Grace a bitch."
"And I apologized! Besides, you knocked three of my fucking teeth out for that!"
"And you damn well deserved it."
"Just fucking drive..." Grace sighed, placing her hand over her forehead. She was tired of all of them complaining relentlessly. She wanted to know
how long it would be before they all realized they were on the same side.
There was a long period of silence in the car. It could have been twenty minutes... It could have been an hour. She wasn't counting. The road kept
jumping up and down with hills, it began to make her sick. She always did seem to get carsick on long drives. She hated it, but it always seemed to
happen.
After a while longer, Grace felt a slight tug on her shoulder and she jumped. She turned to find Noah smiling at her in an empathetic sort of way. "I
just wanted to say that I'm sorry." He said quietly. "About your friend at the car... I've been kind of wooden about it ever since it happened, and I
want you to know I know what it's like."
"Thanks...Noah..." Grace replied. She felt and odd mixture of reopened wounds and closed ones. Just hearing it from someone like Noah helped.
"We knew each other for years... She was my roommate in college... And now she's gone..."
Noah sighed. "I can't say I've known anyone that long... But I do know what it feels like to lose someone... All I can tell you is that the more you try
to move past it, the more you will. And you shouldn't feel like that makes you forget her, because it doesn't."
"You lost someone?" Sebastien asked, his voice instantly becoming more calming. "I know what that feels like too. I lost my partner to these damn
things."
"Well, I guess we all got something in common..." Natalie spoke in a low tone. Her eyes were focused straight on the road ahead. There was an air
of silence, and all four of them felt like they knew each other a bit better. The silence did not leave until they reached the outskirts of Savannah.
When the giant gray frame of the city came into her view, she knew she was home. This was where Grace grew up, and she knew the moment they
reached the town, it wouldn't even be anywhere close to a place she recognized. It was dead. She could tell that just from the emptiness of the
highway they rode on now. There were a few cars crashed on the side of the road going out of town... The one going in was completely clear...
"Looks a hell of a lot better than Atlanta..." Sebastien said as they pulled into the streets. "This place is actually empty..." He was right. The streets
didn't have near as many walkers covering them as Noah had made them out to be. There were one or two here and there, but none on the road.
More than anything, there were a hundred bodies lining the streets. Someone had been here first... And whoever they were, they had a lot more
bullets than Grace had.
"They move in herds..." Natalie spoke. "Whatever there was here, they probably moved out of the place."
Sebastien sighed. "I bet some sorry fucker south of here is having a shit time dealing with these guys right now..."
As they rolled through town, Grace looked out the window at all the stores she'd grown close to. She'd been to all of them. Some of them, she liked
more than others, but that didn't matter now. Most of them had broken out windows and empty walls. They pulled farther down the asphalt, and
something caught Grace's attention from the corner of her eye.
There was Burger Queen right there. It was the one they were planning on meeting Gary at... They'd chosen this restaurant simply because it was
close to the entrance of town... And Ashley used to adore their food. She looked around the parking lot, and unfortunately couldn't find Gary's SUV.
It didn't surprise her much... But there was another surprise...
"Is that the bus?" Natalie asked, breathing deeply. Grace thought it was. It had the same black and white frame she remembered spotting when it
passed by the cabin the first time.
"Holy shit..." Sebastien cursed, instantly slowing down and pulling into the parking lot. The store was riddled with bullet holes and there were
dozens of dead bodies piled up along the walls, lying motionless on the ground. As they slowed to a halt, he was the first one out of the car,
followed by Grace, Noah and Natalie.
Sebastien rushed into the open doors of the public bus without even thinking and shouted from the inside. "Jared!" He looked around inside for a
moment and then popped his head back out. "He's not in here..."
Grace turned her attention towards the building behind her. She felt a certain nervousness when stepping towards the door, looking down at the
dead walkers outside. "Can they...come back again?" She asked.
"Nope." Noah replied. "They only come back once. Those ones are pretty damn dead."
The tenseness in Grace's shoulders relaxed a little bit as she strode towards the doorway and pulled it open, as if she was going inside to eat.
When she pulled the second door of the airlock open, she looked around the restaurant and had to do a double take. There, sitting casually at the
center table, was the chubby man with the glasses she'd seen in the bus, biting down hard on a burger. "What's up?" He called, as they strode
through the doorway. Grace couldn't believe her eyes, and neither could they.
"Jared!" Natalie called. "You're alive! How did you?"
"Survive?" He interrupted. He pointed towards the window and held up a shotgun in his arms. "You saw those bodies out there? Yeah I'm kind of a
badass." He set the gun down and took another juicy bite from the burger.
Sebastien laughed and walked over to the table where he stood, sitting down beside him. They way he talked was as though a giant burden had
been lifted from his shoulders. "Jared... You know those sandwiches are a week old, right?"
Grace hesitantly walked over towards the table and sat down beside him. He spoke as if there weren't hundreds of dead bodies lying on the
ground outside. He spoke as though it were just another day, and for some reason, the way he said things almost seemed funny to her.
"Did you seriously kill all the walkers out there?"
"No." He laughed in a jolly sort of way. "They were dead when I got here. But hey! I got a fucking burger!"
"God, Jared, how can you eat that shit?" Natalie asked, sitting down.
"I was hungry." He replied simply. "Oh, that safe house tipoff was bullshit, by the way. Searched the whole damn place. Ain't nothing here but
empty buildings and Jared."
"Damn..." Sebastien sighed, smacking his hand down on the table. "You didn't see anything worth taking?"
"I saw a couple things." He finally set the cheeseburger down on the foil wrapper beneath him and looked around at the four of them. "Kate's safe
right? You took care of her?"
"She's fine." Noah replied. He was the last to sit down. "We left her in capable hands."
Jared breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. Well, you guys want something to eat? We got plenty of-"
"No..." Grace replied immediately. Natalie took a whiff of the burger on the plate and almost puked. The smell of hamburger and rotting bodies did
not mix. "We're good..."
"Your loss." He smiled, taking the last bite and crunching up the wrapper into a ball. He pointed out towards the south, through a small hole in the
glass window. "So I found a couple places we could stay. There's a gun store down that way, and a shopping complex down there. Both got their
strengths and weaknesses."
"Both of these are clear, right?" Noah asked. "You cleared them out?"
"No." He sighed. "Both of them are full of the dead. But so is every other fucking place around here. And since I'm guessing you guys don't want
stale burgers for the rest of your life, you probably don't want to stay here."
"That would be preferable." Grace laughed.
"So what are these strengths and weaknesses?" Sebastien asked him, leaning into the table. "I'm assuming these would be places to stay."
"You bet." Jared raised his eyebrows. "They both have decent walls, and are well stocked. I haven't checked them out a huge deal yet. Figure you
guys would want to come share in the fun. Nothing tastes as sweet as discovery." He laughed, stroking his scraggly beard. "I just wished is smelled
a bit less like rotting flesh."
"And the strengths and weaknesses are?" Natalie questioned, growing rather impatient.
"It's a pretty simple decision." He told them. "Guns or food. Which do you think we need more?"
Chapter 19: The Run
Grace Peters
Grace always seemed to relish in those times of dawn and dusk, when she wasn't quite sure whether the… more sun was going up or down... whether
night was coming or the daytime. Of course, she could have been able to tell by cardinal directions, but she liked to not pay attention to those.
Some days, she would simply sit on the porch of Ashley's house on the mountain and watch the sun on the horizon. She would purposely make
herself forget whether it was morning or evening sometimes so she could sit there in a state almost of slumber, where she couldn't tell what was
going on around her, and she didn't care. She missed when the world was like that. It was gray and cloudy today. No bit of sunshine could be seen
anywhere in the sky. Grace wouldn't have been surprised if it was like this every day for the rest of her life.
The minute they left the cabin, Grace felt as though something bad were about t… [view original content]
Chapter 19: The Run
Grace Peters
Grace always seemed to relish in those times of dawn and dusk, when she wasn't quite sure whether the… more sun was going up or down... whether
night was coming or the daytime. Of course, she could have been able to tell by cardinal directions, but she liked to not pay attention to those.
Some days, she would simply sit on the porch of Ashley's house on the mountain and watch the sun on the horizon. She would purposely make
herself forget whether it was morning or evening sometimes so she could sit there in a state almost of slumber, where she couldn't tell what was
going on around her, and she didn't care. She missed when the world was like that. It was gray and cloudy today. No bit of sunshine could be seen
anywhere in the sky. Grace wouldn't have been surprised if it was like this every day for the rest of her life.
The minute they left the cabin, Grace felt as though something bad were about t… [view original content]
While food is obviously very important, the mall will likely be overrun with walkers. In case of an apocalypse, many people will head towards places that provide shelter and food and among them will obviously be a lot of infected people. And if they are armed, they have a better chance in clearing out places like the mall.
Chapter 19: The Run
Grace Peters
Grace always seemed to relish in those times of dawn and dusk, when she wasn't quite sure whether the… more sun was going up or down... whether
night was coming or the daytime. Of course, she could have been able to tell by cardinal directions, but she liked to not pay attention to those.
Some days, she would simply sit on the porch of Ashley's house on the mountain and watch the sun on the horizon. She would purposely make
herself forget whether it was morning or evening sometimes so she could sit there in a state almost of slumber, where she couldn't tell what was
going on around her, and she didn't care. She missed when the world was like that. It was gray and cloudy today. No bit of sunshine could be seen
anywhere in the sky. Grace wouldn't have been surprised if it was like this every day for the rest of her life.
The minute they left the cabin, Grace felt as though something bad were about t… [view original content]
[A. Go to the gun store.]
While food is obviously very important, the mall will likely be overrun with walkers. In case of an apocalypse,… more many people will head towards places that provide shelter and food and among them will obviously be a lot of infected people. And if they are armed, they have a better chance in clearing out places like the mall.
[A. Go to the gun store.]
Most likely, its a lot smaller with less chance of walkers. A mall is fu*king huge. They ccould be everywhere. Food doesn't matter if your dead.
Great chapter!!
57.1% of readers chose to [A. Go to the gun store.]
"Yeah, if we get the guns first, we can always go in and get the food later." Grace suggested. "We should go to the gun store."
"I agree." Noah replied with a gritty undertone.
"Sounds like a plan." Jared said, taking another bite of the hamburger. Every bite he took disgusted her, yet, she knew he was hungry... They were
all hungry... Eventually, they would be hungry enough to resort to eating old burgers, but Grace wasn't ready quite yet. "Whenever y'all are ready,
we can just hop in the bus and I'll drive us over there."
"Eh... the bus is noisy..." Natalie groaned.
"The bus is fucking huge." Jared replied. "No one's getting through those walls, alive or dead."
"I suppose..." She sighed.
Noah stood up from the table, not bothering to push his chair in behind him. "Well, if you folks are done chatting, I'd like to get over there. The
longer we spend without defenses, the more likely we are to be out there with them." He pointed outside the wall of the restaurant, to the pile of
dead husks leaning against it.
"Alright." Sebastien replied, standing up as well. He put his hands in his pockets and looked out towards the minivan and the bus outside. "Sorry,
Nat, but I kind of agree with Jared here. I feel a lot safer in the bus than the minivan. That's why we sent him down there in it the first time."
"Hell yeah!" Jared cried. "The suicide bus it is!"
Natalie looked at the man as if she was better than him. "Who the hell do you think you are?" She stood up and began to walk back towards the
door. "You know why we sent you down here, Jared? You're not good at anything." With that, she closed the airlock door behind her and stepped
outside among the dead.
"Well, she's fucking rude." Grace sighed, turning to Jared as Noah and Sebastien turned to leave the store as well. "Why do you put up with her?"
He sighed. "I put up with her, because she's got a son to take care of. If I wanted to say something back to her, it would derail that kid's view of her.
Winston thinks everything of her. I've dealt with that shit my whole life. I can deal with it a little bit longer."
"But Winston isn't here now." She replied, taking a seat on the table. "Tell me something, Jared. You seem happy. Why?"
"Do I have something to be sad about?" He asked in response. Grace raised her brow. "Sure, the dead are up, I'm a type two diabetic and
everything's gone to shit. That don't mean we have to be sad about it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, shit happens. We have to wade through said shit every day. And right now, that shit is all the way up to our chests. That's where we can
choose. We can choose to look down into the river of shit, crying our eyes out over how our tank tops will be permanently stained brown, or we can
look up. We can decide where we're going, and just get there. Being sad ain't gonna make the shit go away. Making the shit go away's gonna make
it go away."
"How many times can you say shit at one time?" She laughed.
"Depends." He smiled under his scraggly facial hair. "How much shit are you willing to hear."
She laughed with him. The man had an air of positivity around him. It reminded her of her own. These were the type of people she enjoyed being
around. Now that she had a moment where they weren't running from the dead, she could get a good look at the man. His glasses were rounded at
the edge, yet very thin. He was balding on the top of his head and had short brown facial hair everywhere else. His white polo was obviously extra
large size, yet she'd seen larger men. From his look, she could tell that he was a heavy drinker. Drinking would definitely have aided in his "wading
through the shit" mentality... It would probably help her as well...
"Grace Peters." She said, extending her arm to him.
He put out his hand as well and shook it very firmly. "Jared Holt. You met my wife?"
"I did."
"What did she tell you about me?"
"She said you were a professor."
He laughed and looked toward the ground. "Ah, Kate... She means well, but sometimes she just gets too nervous to tell the whole truth of things."
He extended his hand back to her for another handshake. "Greetings. Jared Holt, professional diabetic badass, at your service."
Grace chuckled. This man may not have been good at anything athletic, but he really did have a sense of humor. "So, there's a gun store
downtown? How many of them are in there?"
"More than you can count." He replied, beginning to walk towards the door. Grace followed him.
She pulled out the pistol from where she had stashed it in the back of her pants. It was the gun she had found on the floor of the cabin. She flipped
it open and found there were seven bullets inside. Seven bullets against a countless number of them... "Let's go wading."
57.1% of readers chose to [A. Go to the gun store.]
"Yeah, if we get the guns first, we can always go in and get the food later." Grace… more suggested. "We should go to the gun store."
"I agree." Noah replied with a gritty undertone.
"Sounds like a plan." Jared said, taking another bite of the hamburger. Every bite he took disgusted her, yet, she knew he was hungry... They were
all hungry... Eventually, they would be hungry enough to resort to eating old burgers, but Grace wasn't ready quite yet. "Whenever y'all are ready,
we can just hop in the bus and I'll drive us over there."
"Eh... the bus is noisy..." Natalie groaned.
"The bus is fucking huge." Jared replied. "No one's getting through those walls, alive or dead."
"I suppose..." She sighed.
Noah stood up from the table, not bothering to push his chair in behind him. "Well, if you folks are done chatting, I'd like to get over there. The
longer we spend without defe… [view original content]
57.1% of readers chose to [A. Go to the gun store.]
"Yeah, if we get the guns first, we can always go in and get the food later." Grace… more suggested. "We should go to the gun store."
"I agree." Noah replied with a gritty undertone.
"Sounds like a plan." Jared said, taking another bite of the hamburger. Every bite he took disgusted her, yet, she knew he was hungry... They were
all hungry... Eventually, they would be hungry enough to resort to eating old burgers, but Grace wasn't ready quite yet. "Whenever y'all are ready,
we can just hop in the bus and I'll drive us over there."
"Eh... the bus is noisy..." Natalie groaned.
"The bus is fucking huge." Jared replied. "No one's getting through those walls, alive or dead."
"I suppose..." She sighed.
Noah stood up from the table, not bothering to push his chair in behind him. "Well, if you folks are done chatting, I'd like to get over there. The
longer we spend without defe… [view original content]
Hey guys, sorry for not uploading in a while, but I'm going to be starting a new fan fiction in addition to this one. I have writer's block on this one currently, but will come back when it goes away. The new fan fiction is going to be about the hunger games if you want to join.
Comments
Thanks haha
Chapter 18: Different from Us
Rosalyn Tamlin
Rosalyn had only felt what it was like to be a prisoner once before today. The car ride back had been a flurry of tears and fear. For the most part,
Anna couldn't stop herself from worrying about what had happened to her boyfriend. She felt as though she wasn't safe anymore. She actually said
that. It was as if they were safe before.
"Your names?"
"Rosalyn Tamlin."
"Anna...Correa..."
"Isaac Tamlin..."
"...Claire Dolzaev."
"Ages?"
"Twenty-two."
"Twenty-five..."
"Twenty-two..."
"Seven."
"All right. Our Supreme Leader will be in shortly in order to question you. Don't get your hopes up. We're fairly strict on our entrances here."
When the man left the room, Rosalyn sneered in his direction. He'd been a general ass for the entirety of the time he was explaining what this place
was. It was called Crawford, named after Doctor Oberson, and it was some sort of city within a city. When they loaded the four of them onto that
truck, Rosalyn felt as though they were being hustled into a police car. She'd only been arrested one time before, and she never wanted it to
happen again.
The building where they were used to be a police station, and the box they were sitting in was used for questioning. The only thing here was a long
wooden table and a bunch of cameras that no longer worked along with a giant mirror lining the wall. They couldn't see Rosalyn's plan to escape...
"All right, guys, I have a plan." She whispered to them. She didn't want to be around when Oberson showed up. She wasn't going to let Isaac meet
the man... He was too gullible. "The moment one of the guards comes back in, I jump him, and you-"
"What's the point...?" Anna asked, sulking into her seat. "We're already here... Maybe this place is like they're saying... Maybe it is safe..."
Rosalyn sighed. "Anna, you saw this guy on the streets just as much as I did. If you believed that, you would have gone with him the first time."
"The first time... Larry was in the restroom..." She broke down into tears one more time. Rosalyn couldn't lie. She had shed a few of her own, but
just the sheer amount of tears this woman had was unbearable. He had died three hours ago, and she hadn't stopped crying since.
"It's...alright..." Isaac said, tears in his own eyes. He was very sweet to her the whole time. Rosalyn didn't know how he was able to put up with it.
"He's...he's in a better place now..."
"The only place he's at right now, is in the ground!" Anna screamed.
"Yeah..." He sighed. "That's...a better place than here..."
"He isn't in the ground." Rosalyn said, before Anna could lash out at her brother. She looked as though she were ready to explode with emotion at
a moment's notice. "He's on the side of the road."
"Don't remind me, bitch!" She yelled. "Do you forget who put him there! It was your fucking fault!"
Rosalyn knew what she was saying was cold, but she couldn't stand hearing this anymore. She had tried to be caring when this first started, but it
was beginning to grow into the annoying category. "It was no one's fault! I was going to die. He was the one who decided to come down and try to
help me. He got himself killed."
"You've got a lot of fucking nerve..."
"Rose..." Claire tugged at her sleeve, bring attention to herself. "Why did you go down with all the dead people?"
"Because there was a place I was trying to go, honey..." Rosalyn told her sweetly. She didn't want the girl to become wrapped up in this.
"Oh tell me!" Anna shouted sarcastically. "Tell me what was SO important down on the street you were willing to wade through a river of walkers to
get to it. Tell me what was more important than Larry's life!"
"There was a hardware store on the street... I thought maybe I could get some supplies for us." She replied. Anna looked confused, and then filled
with rage. "What? You think I actually intended to get Larry killed? He was my friend too!"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Anna bellowed. "You knew him for a total of one day. I've known him since freshman year of high school, bitch! And
he was more than just my friend! He was the one..." Just the uttering of the statement made Anna's tears flow like a faucet once more.
"Guys! Be quiet!" Isaac cried, finally managing to get the woman to pipe down. The conversation had been almost like a battle. Every time Rosalyn
said anything, Anna had replied one volume notch above. "What's done...is done... We're...here now. Let's just...let's just enjoy this."
Rosalyn looked down to find Claire with her hands over her ears. She didn't have very long hair, but she did have to part what little she had in order
to get an lock on her ear. Rosalyn felt bad for her. She still had the same fear as when they found her in the apartment, even after they had jumped
out of a three-story window and made it.
"Yeah. Let's calm down..." Anna said. Her voice became lower, but it still sounded every bit as threatening. "Don't get too upset, Rose... You'll
reopen your wound. We may just have to amputate."
Rosalyn had almost forgotten about it. She gazed down at the wound beneath her. It had sealed up, but not properly. The moment they had access
to it, Rosalyn was able to sanitize it with water as best she could. She knew how to clean a wound like this, but she didn't know how to sew it shut.
It had been the true doctors who knew how to do this. She was only a nurse. It really did look quite ugly. A wound given to her in the shape of an
oval had morphed into a zig-zag pattern. She knew it might never even heal correctly. She would always have a scar there.
"You can amputate if you want." Rosalyn told her. "I don't need both legs to strangle these guys to death."
"You can't kill them, Rose." She protested. "We're outnumbered."
"No..." Isaac replied. "But we can...we can find a way out of here... And she'll need...she will need all of her legs for that."
"Oh like you have a plan!" Anna snapped back at him. Isaac looked very taken aback, and the blood flowing through Rosalyn's veins ran cold as
ice. "We're having adult conversation over here."
Rosalyn stood up from the table, making herself seem bigger by comparison. When Anna stood up, she was shown to be much taller, yet Rosalyn
still felt as though she could hold her own. "You can make fun of me. You can threaten me. You can even hit me. But you don't hurt Isaac."
"Why not?" She frowned. "He's-"
"You DON'T hurt Isaac." Rosalyn interrupted her. "I am not going to make myself any fucking clearer."
Anna stood in silence for a moment before she began to chuckle under her breath. "If you think you're scaring me with that tough attitude, Rose,
you don't know anything."
She raised her hand in the air as quickly as she was able to and began to bring it down towards Rosalyn's face with her fingers clenched into a fist.
Rosalyn didn't even have any time to think, yet it was moments like these where it felt as though she had all the time in the world. Time slowed
down, and adrenaline rushed through her. It was only the question of whether it was right or wrong to use it.
[A. Catch the punch.]
[B. Take the punch.]
[B. Take the punch.]
I'm on Anna's side.
[B. Take the punch.]
This way she'll have a reason to kick her arse.
Great chapter!!!
[Take the punch.]
Well, in this case, taking the punch would be restraining yourself. Catching it would be kicking her arse.
[B. Take the punch.]
I think catching the punch could lead to even bigger hostilities between them. I think Rose is at least partially at fault for Larry's death and Anna has good right to be angry. Hopefully she'll calm down after punching her.
One offscreen for [A. Catch the punch.] and one for [B. Take the punch.]
Good points. I probably would have taken the punch too.
[A. Catch the punch.] BITCH FIGHT
Awesome part!
71.4% of readers chose to [B. Take the punch.]
——————-
At the last minute, the decision fell out of her grasp and Anna's fist collided hard with her cheekbone. Rosalyn felt the pain for only a moment
before she put her hands to her jaw and clocked it back into place. She still felt pain, but she forced it from her mind as she looked back up into
Anna's emotionally scarred eyes. She wasn't afraid.
"That's not an answer." Rosalyn said. Anna seemed rather surprised at her non-reaction. "I asked if you understand. You can hurt me. You can't
hurt my brother."
Anna collapsed back into her seat, sobbing into her hands. "I know... I know... I know..." Rosalyn sat back down as well, knowing the conversation
was over. She liked to fight, but she also knew when it was wise too. Fighting with Anna after her boyfriend being killed would mean severing their
ties forever, and she still had hope they could make peace again. Anna was not the enemy. Oberson was the enemy.
There was an unusual knock at the door, and it creaked open. The first person to walk through was the man with the mustache from the hummer
wielding an AK-47, and the next was the savior himself, Crawford Oberson. God bless his name. "You felt the need to knock." Rosalyn hissed.
"Why?"
"I just wanted you to know we do things civilized around here." He replied, sporting a wide smile. He stood beside the mirror on the wall, and
looked like he thought they were going to forgive him for stealing them off the street. He didn't give them any choice. "Now tell me, Rosalyn
Tamlin, why didn't you hit her back?"
She blushed. "How did you know about that? You aren't going to try to sell me some bullshit about being psychic again, are you?"
He reached up with his knuckle and tapped on the mirror behind him. "No, not this time. You know what this is, right? One-way glass? I've been
just outside the whole time, and I saw everything. So... why didn't you hit her back...?"
Rosalyn wanted to lie. She wanted to stay angry, but seeing the guard standing beside the man with a machine gun in his hand forced her down.
She looked towards Anna and sighed. "...Because I deserved it." This got Anna's attention. They're eyes locked and Rosalyn knew she was
hanging on every word. "I got her boyfriend killed. I deserve more than a punch."
Oberson walked forward and took a seat on the other side of the table, and Rosalyn flinched, almost forcing herself not to reach for his head.
"Careful." He said, raising his finger in the air. "You know how loud a gunshot is in an enclosed room? I really don't want to have ringing in my ears
for the rest of the day, so if you could just sit still and listen, it would be greatly appreciated."
"Rose...Just listen..." Isaac stuttered. He didn't look scared. Either he was naive or he was good at hiding it. Isaac wasn't good at hiding anything.
But, she didn't want her brother to be angry with her. It hardly ever happened, but when it did, he would hold a grudge for a long time. Years
even... if the argument was bigger... She forced herself to calm down.
"You know..." Oberson sighed tapping his fingers on the table. "I don't recall ever doing anything to you to make you hate me so much. Tell me
why."
"Why don't you just ask your crystal ball, or whatever?"
"Oh, darling... That's not how this works." He laughed. He stood up and began pacing back and forth in front of the one way glass. "If I told you
how it worked, you wouldn't believe me."
"I don't believe you now..."
"You've made that fairly clear to everyone." He sighed. He spoke in a very convincing way. He could have been a lawyer or a politician. "Well
that's a question for another time. What I want to know is three questions."
Rosalyn waited a moment and looked around to the three others in the room. Anna was still a mess, Isaac was too trusting and Claire just didn't
know what was going on. She was the only one who was capable of representing the group in conversation. "Fine. Lay them out."
"Question number one..." He sighed. "What were you before the dead woke up?"
"I was a nurse." She replied. "Anna was a teacher. Isaac didn't have a job. Why does that matter?"
Oberson ignored the question. "Question number two. Are you looking for anyone you knew before the dead woke up?"
"No..." Rosalyn raised her eyebrow, but then looked around and found Claire's concerned eyes and she remembered. "The girl's grandfather.
We're looking for him. Why?"
Oberson stood up and continued to ignore her questions. "Third and lastly. Who do you want to be, now that the dead have awoken?"
The question hit Rosalyn like a brick, as she had expected not to be. The thought hadn't even occurred to her, but he was right. They could have
new lives now. They didn't have to deal with shit like taxes anymore. They didn't have to worry about the law. Rosalyn had thought before that
being captured by this man would cost them their freedom, but she realized he was right... They were more free now than they had been before.
Her words betrayed her, but she found they escaped her lips anyway. "I want to protect the people I care about."
Oberson smiled. "That's what I wanted to hear. You'll fit in nicely here."
"What if we don't fucking want to be here?" Rosalyn hissed.
"We do... We do want...to be here..." Isaac replied. He looked towards his safe. "I know you don't like...to be confined Rose. But, we're safe...we're
safe here. There aren't any...dead things trying to eat us."
"Can we stay?" Claire asked. "I don't want to run anymore."
Rosalyn sighed. She was speaking for the group, and it was clear the group felt rather differently than she did in this aspect. She hated to say it,
but they were right. They were safer there than they were in the streets. This was the only section of the city that hadn't been overtaken.
"...Fine..." Rosalyn muttered. "We'll stay. I guess we don't really have a choice, do we?"
"You don't." Oberson smiled. He reached into the pile of papers on the desk beside him and pulled a small one in front of him. "All right, if that's
all, I will add you to the count. Including the addition of you four, the population of Crawford has risen to 136. Roger here will escort you to your
new homes. I wish you all a good day, and many of them to come. You are part of a new world now. There is no emotion to have if not gratitude."
Rosalyn didn't feel gratitude. She felt spite. But, she could tell Anna, Isaac and Claire didn't feel the same way. All they wanted was to settle down.
"If you'll follow me, I will bring you to your quarters." Roger spoke plainly, opening the door behind him.
Claire was the first to stand up, followed by Isaac, Anna and finally Rosalyn. As they exited the tiny gray room meant for questioning detainees,
they felt a little bit less detained. When they stepped out into the open world, Rosalyn felt for the first time since the dead got up as though she
could actually appreciate the breeze running through her hair. It was evening, and the sun was setting on the horizon, turning the sky a lovely
shade of orange. Claire reached up and grabbed her hand. It was the first time she'd seen the little girl smile.
There were boys and girls actually playing in the streets. Old folks sitting outside their homes having tea, and others watching the children throw
their frisbees around. The entire space was void of the dark black blood that coated the ground outside her apartment. It felt safe. Rosalyn knew
it wasn't, but at least it felt safe. She felt as though a time would come when they would have to leave, but they were going to enjoy this while it
lasted.
"Welcome to Crawford." Roger muttered, presenting his home in front of them. "I'm sure you're not aware of our words... We are the fittest."
End of Chapter 18
AWESOME PART
Great chapter!!!
thanks. any thoughts?
thanks. any thoughts?
Chapter 19: The Run
Grace Peters
Grace always seemed to relish in those times of dawn and dusk, when she wasn't quite sure whether the sun was going up or down... whether
night was coming or the daytime. Of course, she could have been able to tell by cardinal directions, but she liked to not pay attention to those.
Some days, she would simply sit on the porch of Ashley's house on the mountain and watch the sun on the horizon. She would purposely make
herself forget whether it was morning or evening sometimes so she could sit there in a state almost of slumber, where she couldn't tell what was
going on around her, and she didn't care. She missed when the world was like that. It was gray and cloudy today. No bit of sunshine could be seen
anywhere in the sky. Grace wouldn't have been surprised if it was like this every day for the rest of her life.
The minute they left the cabin, Grace felt as though something bad were about to happen. Even though they had left the group at the house on
good terms, trying to go find Jared, she knew they were in just as much danger as their group was. Quentin seemed capable enough in a fight, but
the only other people at the house were two children, an old woman and an injured man.
Only Sebastien, Natalie, Noah and Grace were travelling down to the city, and if it really was as bad as Noah said it was down there, she wasn't
entirely sure if they were going to be enough.
"We should have gone yesterday." Sebastien muttered from behind the wheel. Noah had previously said he wasn't sure why they let the guy with
the temper drive the car, but when they jumped in the van, Sebastien and Natalie immediately took shotgun without question.
"Will you stop saying that over and over?" Natalie pleaded in annoyance. "You've literally said nothing else this entire trip."
"That doesn't mean it's not fucking true." He gripped harder on the wheel. "We really needed to go yesterday. Jared had to spend all night down in
that city, and now he could be dead...or worse..."
"What do you mean, worse?" She frowned at him. "Like one of them? If he's dead, he is one of them. Those two are the same thing now!"
"You're gonna tell me there ain't nothing worse than death, aren't you?!" He screamed. "He could've died up at the cottage, with his wife, but now,
he fell with no one around, all alone. How is that not worse?"
Natalie put her hand to her face. "We don't even know he's dead yet, Sebastien. You can't-"
"It's Redwell!" He cried. Grace had almost forgotten he preferred to go by his last name. It didn't matter to her. She never really understood that,
and so she decided to continue calling him Sebastien. "It's time you fuckers showed some respect!"
"Redwell?" Noah asked, pulling himself towards the driver's seat.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." Surprisingly he stopped talking immediately. It seemed to be like the only person the former policeman would listen to was Noah. She
didn't blame him for being so submitting to the man. There was something about the way Noah talked. It was an odd mixture of threatening and
soothing. It was as though every word he said was the truth.
Natalie sighed. "Here you are worrying about that fat oaf down in the city. There aren't very many things he's good at, but fighting's one of them.
He can hold his own. That's why he went down there in the first place. You should be more worried about the folks we left behind! I left my damn
son up there!"
"He ain't your son!" He barked.
Just the uttering of the words caused Grace's face to turn white with rage. They may not have been related by blood, but Grace could tell the
woman and the boy had a very strong bond. If someone were to take one away from the other, Natalie would clearly have acted the same as any
mother would have. "You can't say that shit! Were you there when it happened? No! Winston is my son!"
After these words, Sebastien decided not to object anymore. It wasn't worth it. He sighed and gripped the steering wheel tighter. "We're getting
down to the city before noon today. We already wasted away enough damn time sleeping away Jared's life back at the cabin. Sooner we get down
there the better."
"Are you done?" Noah spat at him. "Seems like everything you've said so far has been about getting down to the city. Does it look like we're just
sitting on our ass? We're in the car, same as you. Time for you to pull your fucking head around that."
Sebastien squinted and turned his head back around in the seat in anger. Natalie instinctively reached out and stabilized the steering wheel just as
it was about to roll away from its path. "Why do you have to be so goddamn rude, man? What have I ever done to you?"
"You ain't done nothin' to me. Called Grace a bitch."
"And I apologized! Besides, you knocked three of my fucking teeth out for that!"
"And you damn well deserved it."
"Just fucking drive..." Grace sighed, placing her hand over her forehead. She was tired of all of them complaining relentlessly. She wanted to know
how long it would be before they all realized they were on the same side.
There was a long period of silence in the car. It could have been twenty minutes... It could have been an hour. She wasn't counting. The road kept
jumping up and down with hills, it began to make her sick. She always did seem to get carsick on long drives. She hated it, but it always seemed to
happen.
After a while longer, Grace felt a slight tug on her shoulder and she jumped. She turned to find Noah smiling at her in an empathetic sort of way. "I
just wanted to say that I'm sorry." He said quietly. "About your friend at the car... I've been kind of wooden about it ever since it happened, and I
want you to know I know what it's like."
"Thanks...Noah..." Grace replied. She felt and odd mixture of reopened wounds and closed ones. Just hearing it from someone like Noah helped.
"We knew each other for years... She was my roommate in college... And now she's gone..."
Noah sighed. "I can't say I've known anyone that long... But I do know what it feels like to lose someone... All I can tell you is that the more you try
to move past it, the more you will. And you shouldn't feel like that makes you forget her, because it doesn't."
"You lost someone?" Sebastien asked, his voice instantly becoming more calming. "I know what that feels like too. I lost my partner to these damn
things."
"Well, I guess we all got something in common..." Natalie spoke in a low tone. Her eyes were focused straight on the road ahead. There was an air
of silence, and all four of them felt like they knew each other a bit better. The silence did not leave until they reached the outskirts of Savannah.
When the giant gray frame of the city came into her view, she knew she was home. This was where Grace grew up, and she knew the moment they
reached the town, it wouldn't even be anywhere close to a place she recognized. It was dead. She could tell that just from the emptiness of the
highway they rode on now. There were a few cars crashed on the side of the road going out of town... The one going in was completely clear...
"Looks a hell of a lot better than Atlanta..." Sebastien said as they pulled into the streets. "This place is actually empty..." He was right. The streets
didn't have near as many walkers covering them as Noah had made them out to be. There were one or two here and there, but none on the road.
More than anything, there were a hundred bodies lining the streets. Someone had been here first... And whoever they were, they had a lot more
bullets than Grace had.
"They move in herds..." Natalie spoke. "Whatever there was here, they probably moved out of the place."
Sebastien sighed. "I bet some sorry fucker south of here is having a shit time dealing with these guys right now..."
As they rolled through town, Grace looked out the window at all the stores she'd grown close to. She'd been to all of them. Some of them, she liked
more than others, but that didn't matter now. Most of them had broken out windows and empty walls. They pulled farther down the asphalt, and
something caught Grace's attention from the corner of her eye.
There was Burger Queen right there. It was the one they were planning on meeting Gary at... They'd chosen this restaurant simply because it was
close to the entrance of town... And Ashley used to adore their food. She looked around the parking lot, and unfortunately couldn't find Gary's SUV.
It didn't surprise her much... But there was another surprise...
"Is that the bus?" Natalie asked, breathing deeply. Grace thought it was. It had the same black and white frame she remembered spotting when it
passed by the cabin the first time.
"Holy shit..." Sebastien cursed, instantly slowing down and pulling into the parking lot. The store was riddled with bullet holes and there were
dozens of dead bodies piled up along the walls, lying motionless on the ground. As they slowed to a halt, he was the first one out of the car,
followed by Grace, Noah and Natalie.
Sebastien rushed into the open doors of the public bus without even thinking and shouted from the inside. "Jared!" He looked around inside for a
moment and then popped his head back out. "He's not in here..."
Grace turned her attention towards the building behind her. She felt a certain nervousness when stepping towards the door, looking down at the
dead walkers outside. "Can they...come back again?" She asked.
"Nope." Noah replied. "They only come back once. Those ones are pretty damn dead."
The tenseness in Grace's shoulders relaxed a little bit as she strode towards the doorway and pulled it open, as if she was going inside to eat.
When she pulled the second door of the airlock open, she looked around the restaurant and had to do a double take. There, sitting casually at the
center table, was the chubby man with the glasses she'd seen in the bus, biting down hard on a burger. "What's up?" He called, as they strode
through the doorway. Grace couldn't believe her eyes, and neither could they.
"Jared!" Natalie called. "You're alive! How did you?"
"Survive?" He interrupted. He pointed towards the window and held up a shotgun in his arms. "You saw those bodies out there? Yeah I'm kind of a
badass." He set the gun down and took another juicy bite from the burger.
Sebastien laughed and walked over to the table where he stood, sitting down beside him. They way he talked was as though a giant burden had
been lifted from his shoulders. "Jared... You know those sandwiches are a week old, right?"
"That don't matter." He laughed. "This stuff isn't technically food. Can't spoil."
Grace hesitantly walked over towards the table and sat down beside him. He spoke as if there weren't hundreds of dead bodies lying on the
ground outside. He spoke as though it were just another day, and for some reason, the way he said things almost seemed funny to her.
"Did you seriously kill all the walkers out there?"
"No." He laughed in a jolly sort of way. "They were dead when I got here. But hey! I got a fucking burger!"
"God, Jared, how can you eat that shit?" Natalie asked, sitting down.
"I was hungry." He replied simply. "Oh, that safe house tipoff was bullshit, by the way. Searched the whole damn place. Ain't nothing here but
empty buildings and Jared."
"Damn..." Sebastien sighed, smacking his hand down on the table. "You didn't see anything worth taking?"
"I saw a couple things." He finally set the cheeseburger down on the foil wrapper beneath him and looked around at the four of them. "Kate's safe
right? You took care of her?"
"She's fine." Noah replied. He was the last to sit down. "We left her in capable hands."
Jared breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. Well, you guys want something to eat? We got plenty of-"
"No..." Grace replied immediately. Natalie took a whiff of the burger on the plate and almost puked. The smell of hamburger and rotting bodies did
not mix. "We're good..."
"Your loss." He smiled, taking the last bite and crunching up the wrapper into a ball. He pointed out towards the south, through a small hole in the
glass window. "So I found a couple places we could stay. There's a gun store down that way, and a shopping complex down there. Both got their
strengths and weaknesses."
"Both of these are clear, right?" Noah asked. "You cleared them out?"
"No." He sighed. "Both of them are full of the dead. But so is every other fucking place around here. And since I'm guessing you guys don't want
stale burgers for the rest of your life, you probably don't want to stay here."
"That would be preferable." Grace laughed.
"So what are these strengths and weaknesses?" Sebastien asked him, leaning into the table. "I'm assuming these would be places to stay."
"You bet." Jared raised his eyebrows. "They both have decent walls, and are well stocked. I haven't checked them out a huge deal yet. Figure you
guys would want to come share in the fun. Nothing tastes as sweet as discovery." He laughed, stroking his scraggly beard. "I just wished is smelled
a bit less like rotting flesh."
"And the strengths and weaknesses are?" Natalie questioned, growing rather impatient.
"It's a pretty simple decision." He told them. "Guns or food. Which do you think we need more?"
[A. Go to the gun store.]
[B. Go to the mall.]
Go to the mall FOOD
awesome part
[A. Go to the gun store.]
[A. Go to the gun store.]
Most likely, its a lot smaller with less chance of walkers. A mall is fu*king huge. They ccould be everywhere. Food doesn't matter if your dead.
Great chapter!!
[A. Go to the gun store.]
While food is obviously very important, the mall will likely be overrun with walkers. In case of an apocalypse, many people will head towards places that provide shelter and food and among them will obviously be a lot of infected people. And if they are armed, they have a better chance in clearing out places like the mall.
Good arguments.
What do you guys think of Jared?
True haha.
57.1% of readers chose to [A. Go to the gun store.]
"Yeah, if we get the guns first, we can always go in and get the food later." Grace suggested. "We should go to the gun store."
"I agree." Noah replied with a gritty undertone.
"Sounds like a plan." Jared said, taking another bite of the hamburger. Every bite he took disgusted her, yet, she knew he was hungry... They were
all hungry... Eventually, they would be hungry enough to resort to eating old burgers, but Grace wasn't ready quite yet. "Whenever y'all are ready,
we can just hop in the bus and I'll drive us over there."
"Eh... the bus is noisy..." Natalie groaned.
"The bus is fucking huge." Jared replied. "No one's getting through those walls, alive or dead."
"I suppose..." She sighed.
Noah stood up from the table, not bothering to push his chair in behind him. "Well, if you folks are done chatting, I'd like to get over there. The
longer we spend without defenses, the more likely we are to be out there with them." He pointed outside the wall of the restaurant, to the pile of
dead husks leaning against it.
"Alright." Sebastien replied, standing up as well. He put his hands in his pockets and looked out towards the minivan and the bus outside. "Sorry,
Nat, but I kind of agree with Jared here. I feel a lot safer in the bus than the minivan. That's why we sent him down there in it the first time."
"Hell yeah!" Jared cried. "The suicide bus it is!"
Natalie looked at the man as if she was better than him. "Who the hell do you think you are?" She stood up and began to walk back towards the
door. "You know why we sent you down here, Jared? You're not good at anything." With that, she closed the airlock door behind her and stepped
outside among the dead.
"Well, she's fucking rude." Grace sighed, turning to Jared as Noah and Sebastien turned to leave the store as well. "Why do you put up with her?"
He sighed. "I put up with her, because she's got a son to take care of. If I wanted to say something back to her, it would derail that kid's view of her.
Winston thinks everything of her. I've dealt with that shit my whole life. I can deal with it a little bit longer."
"But Winston isn't here now." She replied, taking a seat on the table. "Tell me something, Jared. You seem happy. Why?"
"Do I have something to be sad about?" He asked in response. Grace raised her brow. "Sure, the dead are up, I'm a type two diabetic and
everything's gone to shit. That don't mean we have to be sad about it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, shit happens. We have to wade through said shit every day. And right now, that shit is all the way up to our chests. That's where we can
choose. We can choose to look down into the river of shit, crying our eyes out over how our tank tops will be permanently stained brown, or we can
look up. We can decide where we're going, and just get there. Being sad ain't gonna make the shit go away. Making the shit go away's gonna make
it go away."
"How many times can you say shit at one time?" She laughed.
"Depends." He smiled under his scraggly facial hair. "How much shit are you willing to hear."
She laughed with him. The man had an air of positivity around him. It reminded her of her own. These were the type of people she enjoyed being
around. Now that she had a moment where they weren't running from the dead, she could get a good look at the man. His glasses were rounded at
the edge, yet very thin. He was balding on the top of his head and had short brown facial hair everywhere else. His white polo was obviously extra
large size, yet she'd seen larger men. From his look, she could tell that he was a heavy drinker. Drinking would definitely have aided in his "wading
through the shit" mentality... It would probably help her as well...
"Grace Peters." She said, extending her arm to him.
He put out his hand as well and shook it very firmly. "Jared Holt. You met my wife?"
"I did."
"What did she tell you about me?"
"She said you were a professor."
He laughed and looked toward the ground. "Ah, Kate... She means well, but sometimes she just gets too nervous to tell the whole truth of things."
He extended his hand back to her for another handshake. "Greetings. Jared Holt, professional diabetic badass, at your service."
Grace chuckled. This man may not have been good at anything athletic, but he really did have a sense of humor. "So, there's a gun store
downtown? How many of them are in there?"
"More than you can count." He replied, beginning to walk towards the door. Grace followed him.
She pulled out the pistol from where she had stashed it in the back of her pants. It was the gun she had found on the floor of the cabin. She flipped
it open and found there were seven bullets inside. Seven bullets against a countless number of them... "Let's go wading."
End of Chapter 19
Awesome part!
Great chapter!
Hey guys, sorry for not uploading in a while, but I'm going to be starting a new fan fiction in addition to this one. I have writer's block on this one currently, but will come back when it goes away. The new fan fiction is going to be about the hunger games if you want to join.
https://www.telltalegames.com/community/discussion/97091/the-hunger-games-the-first-quarter-quell