[That Guy]

Author's note: Finally came up with a title. Took me a while, but I think it's a keeper. I bet I just brightened Anya's day.

Chapter 1

Six months. It’s been six months since all of this happened. Since the dead started walking and feasting on the living. I can’t believe I survived this long. I guess I was lucky I was able to outrun both the undead and the other survivors when the military shelter got overrun. But now it seems like I’m out of luck. After the shelter got overrun I fled to a local supermarket where I and about fifty other people barricaded ourselves. But now we’re running out of food and we only have three guns. A 9 mm glock, a .38 revolver and an old rusty shotgun that belongsto the store’s manager, Ted, in case of stick-ups. People are starving and there’s no denying action needs to be taken, but the group we sent out to scout the area for food hasn’t come back yet. They left two weeks ago. For their sake, I hope their deaths were quick.

My train of thought is interrupted by that idiot Mr. Goldstein. I don’t think anyone knows his first name. Even during the apocalypse he still wears a suit and has that awefully obvious combover. Vanity never dies, it seems.Neither does greed, as we caught him trying to steal food from the storage room a couple of times.

“We have aproblem!” He yelled.

“Of course we have a problem, you moron. There’s an apocalypse going on in which dead people come back to life to eat the living and we are all starving.

“What isit?” I ask as politely as possible.

“It’s Jeremy and David. They’re at it this time.” His tone is extremely snobby and judgemental,but I decide to ignore it.

“What is it about?“ I ask.

“I don’t know what it is about, but it got so far out of hand, David had to pull his revolver on Jeremy!” He sounds genuinely in panic now.

“Shit, sounds serious. Let’s see what I can do.” I get up and follow Goldstein out ofthe storage room into the store.

I don’t know why people come to me to solve problems like this. I guess it is because I diffused a few potential fights a couple of times. Now they look at me like I’m the messiah of solving disputes. I hate it, though I suppose it is necessary. Especially now. Jeremy is a tall and intimidating man built like a quarterback, but David has a gun.Jeremy is here with his wife and his son and daughter. David can’t be older than twenty-five. He wears a signature blue t-shirt that says ‘milf hunter’.Charming. But he is a good guy. I don’t know what could have provoked him to draw his gun on someone.
             As I walk into the store, still following Goldstein, I see people gathered around the conflict. It’s dead silent except for Jeremy’s almost unintelligible screams. Something about his family needing food, I think. In the corner of my eye I see his wife, Ann, holding their kids and on the verge of breaking down in tears. I feel bad for her, but I can’t let her distract me from the task at hand, even though I’m not looking forward to doing it.
             I make my way through the crowd of people to see jeremy being more angry than I’ve ever seen him, veigns popping out of his neck, screaming at an obviously terrified David who’s barely able to hold his gun. He's shaking like a straw. I’m pretty sure he’s almost crying.

“Give me your goddamn gun, boy! I swear to God, if you won’t let me take care of my family, I will take you out!” Spit flies out of Jeremy’s mouth as he says it.

“Jerry, I can’t do that! We have too few weapons already I can’t give you it you know that!” David speaks really fast, trying to not let Jeremy interrupt him.

“Boy, Ted and Jonah already refused me but I’m out of fucking patience now! If you don’tgive me that gun I’m afraid you’re gonna have to shoot me!”

“Whoah, Jeremy, relax man. What is this all about?” I quickly intervene.

“I need a weapon to go look for food for my family!” He yells at me, getting only a fewcentimeters away from my face. “You aren’t doing anything!” He turns his attention to the entire group. At least he’s away from my face. “All of y’all ain’t doing shit! I’m taking matters into my own hands! If you can’t take care of eachother, I’m taking care of my own!”

Damn, he’s right. His presentation leaves much to be desired but we need to get our shit together and solve this problem. Before I can say anything, a hispanic woman in the crowd responds:

“What are we supposed to do? My husband went out last time and now… Oh God… Who knows what happened to him? My son doesn’t have a father anymore!” She cries.

This interruption seems to calm Jeremy down, being the family man he is. It allows me to get a word in.

“As much as I hate to admit it, you do have a point, Jeremy. We desperately need food. I suggest we take a small group-“

“And who do you suggest goes then?! Did you already forget what happened to the others?!” Goldstein interrupts. Who else? Trying to save his own ass, no doubt.

I let out a sigh. “Volunteers only. We leave at the break of dawn tomorrow.”

Edited by That Guy, 16 April 2012 - 12:45 PM.

[ToTheBatcave]

Good start. Looking forward to reading more

[That Guy]

ToTheBatcave, on 16 April 2012 - 06:20 PM, said:

Good start. Looking forward to reading more

Holy shit, batman approves!

[Operational Security]

That Guy, on 16 April 2012 - 12:43 PM, said:

I bet I just brightened Anya's day.

Yes you did

Your story is off to a great start. Can't wait to see what happens when they go outside. It's gonna be a doozy my only concern is there are fifty people holed up in this supermarket, that's an awful lot of mouths to feed.

[That Guy]

Operational Security, on 17 April 2012 - 05:46 AM, said:

Yes you did

Your story is off to a great start. Can't wait to see what happens when they go outside. It's gonna be a doozy my only concern is there are fifty people holed up in this supermarket, that's an awful lot of mouths to feed.

They're gonna have to gather alotta food then. Not something you do in a couple of days. Let's just say they'll spend more time outside than they'd like.

[That Guy]

Chapter 2

Here I am, outside the supermarket at the break of dawn. Never got up this early before in my entire life. There are three undead shuffling around the parking lot and they’ve spotted me. They growl  once and start limping towards me.

“Get out of the way, son!” Ted warns me and readies his shotgun.

He fires, hitting one of them right in the chest. It staggers a little bit before continuing to come at us.

“What the hell…”

Ted fires again, hitting the same one in the abdomen, blowing out a large chunk of flesh, bones and innards. Yet it keeps coming for us.

“Aim for the head! It’s the only way!” A woman yells to us. It was Erica. She arrived at the supermarket three months after we barricaded ourselves there. She knows more about killing these things than any of us.

Ted is getting nervous. He can’t hold the shotgun straight as his hands start shaking. Meanwhile, the undead just keep coming at us at a steady pace.

“Give me that, old-timer.” Jeremy says as he snatches the shotgun out of Ted’s hands. Jeremy aims and pulls the trigger. Right between the eyes of the one Ted shot two times before, blowing off a significant portion of its head. Jeremy fires two more times, both shots hit the other two right in the head. Good thing Jeremy is ex-military. At least one of us can handle the stress.

“We have to hurry now.” Erica says.

“Why? They’re all dead, aren’t they?” Jeremy mocks her.

“Listen, those shots have just attracted every walker within earshot! We need to take one of these cars and get out of here before they get here!”

Never heard anyone refer to them as walkers before. Sounds better than undead. I played too many fantasy games.

“Let’s take that big SUV over there.” I say and point at it. “It looks like we can stuff quite some food in there.”

“Good idea.” Erica replies. “Go tell the others to come outside so we can leave. I’ll take care of the hotwiring.”

I admire that woman. She knows how to take care of herself and is a much better leader than I am. Prettier, too. She has beautiful blonde hair down to her shoulders.She told me she’s thirty-three, but you wouldn’t say. I’m getting distracted here. I need to go get the others.

We’re all outside now. The group is small, but according to Erica that’s for the best. Six people volunteered for the job. I did, because I was the one who came up with the whole thing. Me and my big mouth. I’m so scared I could shit my pants right here. But this needs to be done. And if I die, I’d rather die doing good than sitting in a corner, waiting for the end to come. Erica joined because of her experience surviving in the outside world. Jeremy, of course, signed up because he sees this as the ultimate opportunity to take care of his family. That, and we really need him. He’s the only one who has any combat experience. Ted and David came along because they could supply us with guns. But David is a hobbyist and has never actually shot at a moving target, having only shot at stationary targets in indoor shooting ranges. And Ted has never actually fired his shotgun as the mere sight of an old man wielding a shotgun was enough to chase robbers away. Kevin joined our group at the last minute.  He’s an african-american man who sports a small afro and a gruff beard. It’s hard to tell his age, but he looks around forty years old. He joined up because his brother, Darlenn, is sick and needs medicine.

“Done.” Erica says. “Everyone get in and let’s go. Jeremy, you’re driving.”

“My pleasure.” Jeremy answers with a smile and gets behind the wheel. Before he closes the door he looks back at his family who are waving him goodbye. This is the first time I’ve ever seen him cry.

Let’s go.”Erica orders Jeremy. “I can already see walkers coming from down the road, looking for the source of those gunshots.”

Jeremy punches the gas pedal and we’re off. I look back one last time, hoping to see the  supermarket again. It’s funny, I absolutely loathed living there. It was so crowded, you had no privacy. But it was also the only safe haven that I knew off. Seeing how close to death we were just on our doorstep, I dread to see the rest of the world.

Edited by That Guy, 17 April 2012 - 01:56 PM.

[ToTheBatcave]

Surprising they only took volunteers. Motto should be you dont work you dont eat

[That Guy]

ToTheBatcave, on 17 April 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

Surprising they only took volunteers. Motto should be you dont work you dont eat

Don't forget, they spent the whole apocalypse wholed up in that supermarket. They have no idea what it's like out there and how hard it'll actually be to get food.

Don't worry, they'll grow tough, eventually.

[That Guy]

Forum won't let me edit my post. I meant *holed up.

Oh, the humility!

[BitBrit]

A good read.

I'm wondering if they will make it back, and if they do, whether it will still be secure.

BB

[the Walkin Dude]

Good start That Guy am enjoying, please continue.

[That Guy]

the Walkin Dude, on 17 April 2012 - 10:48 PM, said:

Good start That Guy am enjoying, please continue.

Don't worry, you're gonna get two chapters sometime today.

[That Guy]

Author's note: Decided to post chapter 3 and 4 together, 'cause I personally found chapter 3 to be lackluster It just doesn't leave you wanting more.

Chapter 3

We’ve been on the road for two hours now and we still haven’t deciced where we’re going.Ted suggested we take the highway to get to a large mall, but according toErica the highway is nigh inaccessible. Vehicles are scattered all over the highway. Kevin wants us to go to the hospital first to get his brother’s medicine. He says that pharmacies do not keep enough of it in stock. Hospitals,on the other hand, have medicine available in bulk. He explains his brother has survived this long is because he looted a hospital for the drugs he needed before coming to the supermarket. But we decided that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. All of the sudden, while we are still discussing where to go, the car stops.

“You got to be fucking kidding me!” Jeremy furiously slams his fists on the steering wheel.

“What happened?” David asks.

“The fucking thing crapped out on us!” Jeremy responds.

I get out of the car to assess the damage. Smoke’s coming out from under the hood.

“Must have overheated from being out in the sun for so long.” I tell Jeremy, who is also getting out of the car.

“We should have prepared better.” Sighs Erica. “Now we’re stuck out here in the middle of nowhere.”

“We got some tools in the trunk.” Ted remarks. “Lemme see what I can do with those.” Ted taps his baseball cap on the window to get Kevin’s attention.  “You were a mechanic, right son? Come out of the car and give an old man a hand, will ya?” Kevin reluctantly gets out of the car.

A remarkable man, Ted. He’s almost always happy and even jokingly complains about how he was just a month away from retirement. But I think it is just an act. He told me he has a wife and has no idea wether she’s alive or dead. I’m sure he came along in the hopes of finding her. I hope he does, I really do. But I know the chances of finding her are slim to none. I just hope he realises this too, or he’ll become a broken man.

“Guys, look,over there in the distance!” David points down the road. “That looks like a gas station, doesn’t it?”

I turn around and see it too. It also looks like there are some cars stranded there.

“Should we take a look?” I ask Erica. “There might still be some food there.”

“Yes, we should.” Erica answers. “But be careful. There could be walkers lurking around or inside the station.” She turns towards Ted and Kevin. “Can you two stay here and repair the car?”

“Can do,miss.” Ted replies. Kevin just nods his head.

As we are walking down the deserted country road I try to get a conversation going.

“So, what did you call those things again? Walkers?” I ask Erica.

“Yup.”

“Where’d you come up with that?”

“Well, all they do is walk. And walk and walk. So one day I just started calling them walkers and it stuck with me.”

“You could have called them ‘eaters.’” My little joke goes unappreciated. It was a little morbid.

The rest ofthe walk is accompanied with utter silence until we reach the first stranded car. There’s a body inside. It seems like its head has suffered heavy bluntforce trauma. Probably crashed here. There are quite some bodies scattered around in various stages of decomposition. Some of them have blunt force trauma like the one in the car, others have a bullethole between the eyes.

“Seems like somebody’s already been here.” Erica remarks.

“Better not have sucked this place dry.” Jeremy is still full of frustration.

“Here.” David says as he hands Jeremy his gun. “You’re better with it than I am.”

“Thanks,kid. Hey, sorry about… you know.” Jeremy tries to apologize.

“What’sthat? An apology from the Jeremy?”David jokes.

“Yeah, well,don’t get used to it!” Jeremy says as he gives David a friendly punch on the shoulder.

We get through the cars without any trouble and reach the gas station. The inside ofthe gas station is dark. The shutters are down but they don’t cover the door.There’s a sign next to the door, written in permanent black marker. It says: ‘We’re off to Atlanta, take whatever you need.’

“These poor people have no idea what they’re getting into,” Erica remarks, “I’m from Atlanta.. and-and…” Her voice starts breaking down, “ I’ll just see if I can syphon some gas, you guys go inside.” The situation must have been bad in Atlanta to affect Erica like that. She’s the strongest woman I know.




Chapter 4

“I can’t see shit in here.” Jeremy says as he walks into the gas station. “Didn’t we pack flashlights?”

“Nope, didn’t think of it.” I answer while rummaging through the racks, looking for something not yet expired.

“Fan-fucking-tastic.”

Everytime there's a silence in the dark, abandoned gas station there’s a strange, irrational fear falling over us. What’s causing it, I don’t know. But none of us like it so we keep talking. We talk about our previous lives. I tell them I wanted to go to law school at one point but dropped out after only two months to pursue a sports-oriented education. David tells us he did something similar, only he ended up working at a local Burger King. Jeremy gets a good laugh out of that.

“Then what did you do for a living?” David asks him.

“Well, I served my country for a decade. I got an honorary discharge and spent the rest of my time working for the NYFD.”

“You’re from New York? You’re far away from home then.” I note.

“Visiting my wife’s family. And then this shit happened. Her mother… She became one of those things after she was bitten. Ann had to watch her die. Twice. Before she turned, and after she killed Ann’s father. I-I don’t want to talk about it.” Jeremy says and looks away from us, biting his lower lip.

The silence is back. Nobody knows what to say after what Jeremy just said. The fear comes back too. I feel a tingling sensation go down my spine and I shiver.  Then the silence is broken by David’s bloodcurdling scream.

“Get it off! Get it off!” David yells at the top of his lungs.

A walker had crawled from behind the counter and bit David in the foot. We were too busy talking to notice it. David is kicking its face with his other foot but it doesn’t let go. I grab a nearby tire iron and whack it on the head. It lets go but it isn’t dead. I whack it again, and again, and again. Jeremy stops me.

“It’s dead.” He says calmly.

All I can do is stare at him with wide eyes while breathing heavily. I can’t believe I just went berserk on that walker. I didn’t even think of why I was doing it anymore.

“What happened?!” Erica storms into the gas station. She looks at me. I realize I’m still breathing like a lunatic while clenching that blood-soaked tire iron in my right hand, standing over the walker’s corpse. She then looks over to David,who took his shoe off to look at his foot.

“Were you bit?”

“It… It tried to eat my foot. But there’s no blood drawn. I don’t think it got through my show.” David sighs in relief.

Erica squats down to take a look at his foot.

“Yeah, it didn’t get through your shoe. You got lucky. A single bite kills you.”

“I know.” Jeremy sighs.

“Anyway, I got the fuel we need. You three take as much food as you can and we’ll walk back to the car.”

As we walk out of the gas station, Jeremy hands David’s revolver back to him.

“You need this more than I do.”

“T-thanks…”

The walk back to the car is another silent one. I’m still shocked about how I lost control. Adrenaline is still pumping through my body. If Jeremy hadn’t stopped me back there, I’d still be smashing that walker’s head in. I vow to myself not to let this world take me. I need to fight for the sake of protecting myself and others. I shouldn’t fight for the sake of fighting.

We are back at the car. Ted gives us a thumbs up. Jeremy looks up in the sky and smiles. We throw our loot in the trunk of the car and take off. Kevin is still awefully quiet. Everytime I look over my shoulder to talk to Ted, he’s just staring out of the window, looking troubled. Ted asks if he wants to talk about it. Kevin lets out a muffled "No". I can understand he wants nothing more than to help his loved ones, but right now there are more people who need food than there are people who need medicine.

The sun is going down. We need to find a place to lay low and fast. Erica says that walkers become more active during night time. Ted says that there’s a motel 6 not too far away from where we are now. Erica objects, saying there might be more walkers there. Or other people who are not as friendly as our group. However, Jeremy says it’s either that or sleeping in the car. Erica agrees and we drive off to the motel.

Jeremy stops the car at a small distance away from the motel. Erica asks me to come with her and scout the motel first. We approach the motel through the bushes on the other side of the road.

“Holy shit…”There are  at least two dozen walkers lurking around the motel. “How are we ever getting past them? We don’t have enough guns! Charging right at them is suicide!” I whisper to Erica.

“Come on, let’s get back to the SUV. I have a plan.”

Edited by That Guy, 18 April 2012 - 04:35 PM.

[Operational Security]

Good entries. I enjoy the naivety of the characters.  They really don't know what they're dealing with, they didn't really plan things through.I also like the fact that they were so caught up in other stuff that they forgot to bring flashlights. It's very realistic.

[That Guy]

Good, that's what I was going for.

[the Walkin Dude]

Good read am enjoying it.

[That Guy]

Chapter 5

Erica explains her plan to us. She proposes that she and Jeremy take the car and draw the walkers’ attention. While the walkers are busy chasing them, we find a way into the motel and secure a room on the second floor. She explains it’s difficult for walkers to climb stairs, which would give us time to defend ourselves or escape, if need be. Ted opens the trunk.

“We need to arm ourselves, then.” He says while looking through his tools. He takes out a wrench. He holds it out in front of him like a child who’s got a new plaything.

“I still have my tire iron.”

Kevin takes a hammer out of the trunk without saying a word. David says he’s afraid of getting close to “those monsters” and prefers to use his gun.

“Only use that thing if there’s no other option.” Erica warns him sternly.

Ted stops Jeremy while he's getting behind the wheel.

“Take ol’ Rusty with you, son. In case of a… worst case scenario.” Ted says as he hands him his shotgun. “There’s six rounds in there. Take these too.” Ted reaches into his left pocket and hands Jeremy four more slugs.

“Thanks, old man. I’ll bring her back to you.” Jeremy says and closes the door.

They take off. Jeremy stops the car right in front of the motel and honks the horn a couple of times. The walkers shamble towards the car as fast as they can. Jeremy drives forward slowly, continuously honking the horn.

After a few minutes, we decide it’s time to get inside. There are no more walkers in sight. David suggests I go first because I have “experience bashing their skulls in”. I carefully open the door as quietly as possible. A walker is right in front of the reception, facing with its back toward us, still picking some poor SOB’s bones clean.

Suddenly, it stops eating and lets out a horrifying growl. The walker snaps its head around in our general direction. It clumsily gets up and starts shambling towards us. David immediatly raises his gun at the walker. Before he can shoot, Kevin puts his hand on top of David’s gun and tells him not to do it. Kevin walks towards the walker while he raises his hammer behind his head. Kevin swings the hammer with all his might, hitting the walker in the left temple with the claw of the hammer. The walker drops dead to the right. Kevin pulls the hammer out of its head. He wipes the blood off on his jacket.

“Good work, son.” Ted compliments him. Kevin doesn’t answer but does acknowledge the compliment by nodding his head once.

We take a look down the first floor hallway. There’s a lot of blood on the walls and floor. A few corpses are laying around, picked clean just like the one by the reception. At the end of the hallway there are two dark figures clawing at the windows. They are moaning loudly.      

“Ok, guys.” I whisper to the others. “Kevin and I will take those two out. You two watch our backs.”

“Will do. Becareful, son.”

Kevin and I devise a strategy. I’m supposed to knock down the one in front with my tire iron so Kevin can have a shot at the one in the back. With me in front, we walk towards the walkers. I take small steps and pause after each one. I can feel my T-shirt getting drenched in sweat. I hear screams, but I make out the words too late. Suddenly, I feel an incredible weight pushing me from the left and I fall to the ground.

A walker came out of an opendoor and I was too focused on the two at the window to see it coming. I completely forgot my surroundings. I try to keep the walker off of me by holding my tire iron against its throat with both my hands. The walker is only a few inches away from my face, snapping its lipless mouth at me. Every muscle in my body tightens. I clench my teeth. My heart is pounding in my chest. Out of the corner of my eye I can see the two other walkers coming at me aswell.


“Help me!”  I can barely get a word out.

Then I hear a loud cracking sound.  Kevin whacked the walker with his hammer. The walker’s entire dead weight falls on top of me. It’s too heavy, I can’t get it off me. I close my eyes and prepare for the worst. It feels like an  eternity. I'm waiting for them to bite me and end my life, but nothing's happening. I open one eye. The walkers are going right past me. They don’t even seem to notice me. They are going after the others instead..

BLAM. BLAM.

The gunshots are followed by two thuds. David actually pulled off a double headshot. Ted pushes the dead walker off of me.

“Good God, son. I told you to be careful!” Tears roll down his cheecks and he hugs me.“You’re covered in blood. Let me get that.” Ted takes a rag from his back pocket and wipes my face. I’m still too shocked to say anything.

“It’s like they couldn’t even see you!” David exclaims. “You’re the luckiest son of a bitch alive right now!”  Strange, I don’t feel lucky. I'm going to smell like rotten corpse for days.

“Let’s go upstairs and find ourselves a room, son.” Ted offers me his shoulder. “Let’s hope Jeremy and Erica had better luck than we had.” Ted sounds optimistic. But after what I just went through, it’s hard to believe they got out unscathed, if at all.

Edited by That Guy, 19 April 2012 - 05:31 PM.

[That Guy]

Shameless bump.

What's a guy gotta do here to get some exposure? In light of this topic right here: Clickedy, I messaged gracie lou to pin my story's first chapter so I can collect all chapters in one thread, so there'll be no need for me to spam the forum with each new chapter.

Edited by That Guy, 20 April 2012 - 02:03 PM.

[Operational Security]

Another awesome installment!!  More please

[OMEN]

Sweet read

[OMEN]

Wonder if they'll find out what happened to group 1

[OMEN]

I enjoyed 3 it was a good transition

[OMEN]

Nice

[That Guy]

Author's note: Yeah, yeah. I said I wouldn't make a new thread for each chapter, but gracie lou's busy this weekend, and I couldn't wait to share the next installment with you guys and gals.


Chapter 6

My near-death experience got me worrying even more about Jeremy and Erica. One walker almost got the better of me. If something goes wrong, what are two people supposed to do against thirty of them? They don’t stand a chance.

"Son, you look troubled. Are you okay?” Ted snaps me out of it. I turn my head to him. He’s sitting next to David on what’s left of the bed. The room is lit only by moonlight.

“I’m just worried about Jeremy and Erica. They’ve been gone for hours.”

“Don’t you worry about them.” Ted reassures me. “They’re both hardasses. They just have to find a way back here, around the walkers I bet.”

“Maybe, but I-“ I’m interrupted by a creaking noise.

“The door.” Kevin whispers.

We all grab our respective weapons and rush through the door of our room. The hallway is completely dark. I tell everyone to not let go of the wall. I walk in front towards the general direction of the stairs. There’s moonlight shining through the entrance which barely lights the stairs. I can see a person’s shadow coming from near the reception.

“Who’s there? Identify yourself!” I call from upstairs, trying to sound as tough as possible. It might be one of those “not as friendly” survivors Erica warned us about.

A familiar female voice responds weakly: “It’s me.”

“Erica? Is that you, girl?” Ted runs downstairs. We quickly follow him. “My God, it really is you girl!” He happily exclaims and hugs her. She doesn’t return the hug. Suddenly, Ted lets go of her, only resting his hands on her shoulders. I can’t really tell because of the bad lighting, but Ted looks horrified. “You-you’re covered in blood…” Ted’s excitement is gone. “Where’s Jeremy?” Ted’s tone is serious now. Erica just looks down and shakes her head.

“Oh God…” David covers his mouth with his hands. He gets down on his knees and starts sobbing uncontrollably. Kevin looks up at the ceiling, folding his hands inprayer. Nobody speaks for a good ten minutes. I decide to break the silence.

“What went wrong?” I ask. I try not to come across as insinuative.

Erica doesn’t look up. “The car broke down.” She says silently.

“This is my fault!” Ted says as he removes his hands from Erica’s shoulders. “I shouldn’t have half-assed the repairs!” Ted kicks down  a nearby chair. “God damnit!”

“Hey, man. Don’t blame yourself. There was nothing more we could have done with our limited supplies.” This is the first complete sentence Kevin has uttered since our departure.

Ted looks suprised. “I-I need to be alone.” Ted says and goes back upstairs. He should not let his guilt consume him. I don’t think the group can handle another loss. I certainly can’t.

David tries to regain control. “How…?” He can’t get another word out. I lay my hand on his left shoulder.

Erica swallows once. “When the car broke down, the walkers were maybe thirty feet away. We had to get out of the car or the walkers would have surrounded us.” Erica strikes her hands through her hair. She continues: “Jeremy told me to just run for it. He grabbed the shotgun and started firing at them, yelling to “come get him”.They chased him into a field.” Her voice trembles and her hands are starting to shake. “I looked back because I heard no more gunshots.Two walkers were chasing me. After I took them out, the herd had disappeared from the field, into the forest.”

David looks up. “Did you see them kill him?”

“No.”

David gets back on up his feet. “So he might still be alive?! We have to go look for him!”

Erica regains her composure. She looks David sternly in the eyes. “If we’d go out looking for him, we would be putting ourselves in needless danger! Walkers are relentless. They don’t need to rest, they’ll chase their prey until they got it! Even if Jeremy managed to survive, he’d just collapse of exhaustion!”

David grinds his teeth. I quickly restrain David by wrapping my arm around his chest.

“Dave, easy.We’re all shocked and grieving. But there’s nothing we can do. Not right now.We’ll go looking for him in the morning, alright?”

“But we ca-“

I interrupt Erica. “All. Right?”

Erica sighs in frustration. “Right…”

[the Walkin Dude]

That Guy, am enjoying reading this keep em coming.