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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,877 Views)
DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Jimmy hung back and just watched the news sink in. He was just glad he didn’t have to be the bearer of it. After a few moments, it seemed fully absobred, and Greg and Patrick nodded.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Greg said. “And about your friend.”

“Yeah,” Patrick said. “At least, it sounds like we won’t have any more trouble from those guys. Though all killing is regrettable...”

“Amen,” Greg quickly added.

“...in this case, it sounds like you didn’t have a choice. Hopefully, we’ll be able to reason with the rest of that community. Thank you for the information.”

“No worries,” Jimmy offered on behalf of the group.

“We’ll need to tell the Bishop,” Greg said to Patrick.

“I know,” Patrick responded. “But that’ll have to wait. What about the battery? The others came up short.”

“Oh, I found something,” Greg said, and the mood picked up a little. “It almost cost me my life, but I believe it will work. It’s in the truck. I’ll get it now.”

“I’ll help,” Noah offered – he and Lowell had joined the gathering shortly after Jimmy.

“Me too, I guess,” Lowell said, looking and sounding a little put-out.

* * *

Eli watched the meeting play out from his perch in the passenger’s seat. He was alert and ready to pick up his rifle at even the slightest provocation. The door was open, so he’d heard every word, and had officially concluded that these guys creeped him out. Patrick – the one that seemed to be in charge – seemed a little more normal than Greg, maybe, but he still shared his general build and demeanour.

As Greg, Lowell and Noah fetched the battery out of Jimmy’s truck, Eli watched as Patrick turned his attention back to the RV.

“So I don’t believe I’ve met everyone just yet,” he says.

“My family’s inside,” Hank answered. “My sister and my two kids. Plus Emmett, he’s injured.”

“And Eli’s shy,” Jimmy added.

At that, Patrick turned to look at him through the front window. Eli stared right back.

“Eli, we’re all good out here,” Hank said. “You can come out.”

From his tone of voice, Eli knew Hank meant without the guns. But that just wasn’t going to happen. Eli wasn’t about to put his life in the hands of strangers, no matter how friendly they seemed.

Eli picked up the rifle fully. He’d exit the RV, sure, but not unarmed. He needed them to know if they tried anything, it’d be their asses too.

He took a first step towards the door. He was midway through his second when…

BOOOOOOOM!

A familiar sound rushed through the air. A burst of orange and red appeared in the near distance, then disappeared, leaving a rising cloud of black smoke in its place.

* * *

Hank ducked – a purely instinctive response. When he realized the explosion wasn’t anywhere near him, he looked up and over, down the tracks. The booming sound of the blast had faded away, and for a moment, the area was very, very quiet.

A moment later, Patrick left his side and started running – running towards the smoke. His four armed followers were right on his tail.

Hank hesitated for a second, then went after them. If there was trouble, he wanted to help.
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Strompy
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"These guys sound amish or something. Kind of weirding me out..." Emily observed quietly to the others in the RV.

"Antonio was the same way. I'm sure once we are on more familiar terms they will reveal their truer selves to us. All we can do is be patient and strive to understand until that time, Sister Emily." Brandon replied in a teasing tone.

"They're probably just trying really..." he began to say in a normal tone but was cut off by the sound of an explosion.

Before anybody else could really say anything about it, Hank was already tearing off after Patrick and his men. Brandon grabbed his carbine and stood up quickly. His leg almost buckled beneath him and he grunted loudly. He wanted to give chase and back Hank up, but his leg and his rib weren't going to have anymore running.

"Stay with the cars. I'll go with him." Emily said, picking her own rifle up.

Brandon nodded, but put a hand on her shoulder to arrest her a moment. He reached around behind his back and pulled out the HK45. He gave it to her, out of sight of Eli.

"Give this to Hank. He shouldn't be unarmed." he whispered.

She nodded back to him and slipped the gun down the front of her pants and hid it, before leaving the RV and taking off after Hank.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
"Oh shit!" Nolan cursed instinctively when the explosion rattled the landscape.

What the hell was that though?

For a moment or two, he wanted to chase after them and sate his own curiosity. After all, someone just flipped the Michael Bay switch. People might be hurt or worse. But in his current condition, he wouldn't be much help to anyone. He wouldn't even be able to keep up with those guys as they ran. He was hurting enough without sprinting to some unknown explosion in the distance.

"What's going on?" Kelsey asked quietly during the chaos.

"I-I dunno." Nolan shook his head. "Probably not something good."

Willow didn't chase after them either. She just looked at the explosion, but with doubt written on her face as clear as day. The only one from their group apart from Emily that started to move toward the plume of smoke was Antonio.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
“Emily, wait!” Eli called out, just as soon as he stepped out of the van. “Antonio!”

It was no use, they were already well on their way, and they weren’t listening to him anyway. For some reason, they were determined to rush headfirst into danger for no reason.

He turned to Willow, who hadn’t followed suit, thankfully.

“Get your gun,” he ordered. “But don’t go anywhere.”

He gripped his own rifle tighter. If the danger came to them he would be ready.

* * *

Hank caught up to Patrick and the others a few seconds after they had come to a stop before a burning container. There were five more men there, all gathered around the edges of the flames, looking distressed.

“Goddamnit, what happened?” Patrick asked.

“Brother…” one of the men said nervously.

“What?” Patrick swung his gaze to him, then cringed. He clutched his cross necklace. “I’ll seek forgiveness later – now what’s going on?

“We were moving this tank car out of the way, the wheel broke and it tipped over,” another man answered. “We don’t know what was in it. Propylene, maybe, or…”

“Doesn’t matter,” Patrick decided.

“What do we do?” the nervous one – a scrawnier guy than the other, with scars up and down his arms – asked.

“Just move all this sh – this stuff,” Patrick said. “Deprive it of fuel, let it burn itself out. Get the cars away from here.”

Hank looked around, saw all the tools and construction material – some of it wood – that littered the area. There were also two sedans within spitting distance, but Patrick’s men were already heading to those with keys in hand.

So he helped with the moving. He grabbed a plank of wood and dragged it backwards, away from reach of the flame.

Patrick, meanwhile, looked around the area, his hands on his hips.

“The real problem is the fallen,” he said, kind of to no one, but also kind of to everyone. “This is going to draw them right to us.”

“Patrick, look,” Hank said through his grimace, as he dragged the plank away. “They’re already here.”

He gestured with his chin to the northern tree-line. It was also guarded by a line of traffic barriers, but Hank could see a procession of biters from the waist up, making their way towards the camp, stumbling between the thick trunks. It was hard to tell how many.

“God give me strength,” Patrick said.

He gave his head a quick shake, and when it was still again, he had summoned a smile. He unslung his rifle and aimed north.
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Strompy
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"Hank." Emily called out.

She produced the HK from her waist and held it out by the barrel for him to take.

"Don't let Eli see you with it, he might have an aneurysm. When we get back give it back to Brandon discretely." she said as she kept an eye on the approaching creeps.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Hank turned to Emily, blinked in surprise, then quickly accepted the weapon.

“Understood,” he said. “Thank you.”

BANGBANGBANG

He turned again, saw the closest biter to the fence go down after a spray of bullets.

BANGBANGBANG

Another biter hit the dirt after another short spray. Hank looked over at Patrick – the guy was good, he knew what he was doing.

“Move,” one of Patrick’s ‘brothers’ said, as his shoulder collided with Hank’s, and he kept moving, cradling an armful of equipment.

Hank did move. He headed away from the flurry of activity around the fire, which was hot but thankfully wasn’t spreading. He got closer to the fence, so he’d have a better shot at the incoming biters.

One of them made it to the fence and reached over it. Patrick was dealing with the biters on his side, so Hank aimed for this one.

BANG!
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
It didn't take long for Willow to return with the Ruger cradled in her arms. Eli was tense and alert, but that much was unsurprising. He was like that even without the strangers, the explosions, the rotters, and the general distress of every day life.

"So what are we doing, boss?" She asked him casually.

This sort of danger had become almost routine. She just wanted to know what Eli had going on in that head of his right now. Go help? Or just sit here and wait to see what happens?

* * * * *

Antonio grimaced at the display. He had not thought to bring a weapon with him. He started running on instinct alone when danger sprouted -- while he had no weapons on him because he didn't want to startle the men they had come to meet. But now he was in the middle of a skirmish with the fallen and unable to even fire a shot to help.

Nevertheless, with their firepower, there wasn't a lot for them to be worried about. He just tried to stay out of the way.
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Strompy
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Patrick was a good shot. Good enough to take down a creep with every shot. He wasn't risking it though and was being very liberal with his ammo. That could mean a couple things. Maybe this was an unusual occurence, so they could afford to spend ammunition like this. It might also be that they just had a hell of a lot more ammo where that came from, which was a little concerning.

Emily took a knee and aimed ahead purposefully. She found her first target, a spindly looking indian man in life, and took a shot.

BANG

The creep went down in a shower of stinking flesh and bone as its head practically popped. She found herself another target and did the same again.

...

Brandon made his way to the back of the RV. Hank's kids were probably wondering what the hell was going on. He knocked at the entrance to the bedroom even though it was open. He turned to Riley first.

"There's been some explosion nearby, Greg and his guys ran off to check it out. Hank went with them. Emily and Antonio went after him. Don't worry, whatever it is he's got those two backing him up and he's got a weapon." he explained.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
BANG! BANG! BANG!

It took Hank a couple shots and a couple of re-aims before he downed a biter. By the time he had, another one of Patrick’s guys had joined the firing line, leaving the rest to deal with the actual fire.

BANGBANGBANG!

He and Patrick kept it up, spending a few rounds with each volley in exchange for a biter’s death.

BANGBANGBANG!

Hank saw yet another one go down as he looked left and right for another target of his own. He couldn’t find one. Nothing more seemed to be emerging from the trees.

“Woooo!” Patrick, surprisingly, let out a loud cheer.

Hank turned to see the smile still on the younger man’s face, even as he slung his rifle over his shoulder and crossed himself with a free hand.

Thank you God,” he said after, sounding more cocky than solemn.

He kept watching for a moment to make sure the biter attack was over, then turned back to the fire. His guys had mostly cleared the area, though the flames raged on.

“Good job everyone,” he said. “Now go get some shovels and dirt, lets surround this thing, starve it out for good. Get moving.”

As his men went about doing that, Hank quickly flicked the safety on his pistol – or at least, Brandon’s pistol, since he was just borrowing it – and tucked it behind his belt. He agreed with Emily, it’d be better if Eli didn’t know he’d been defied.

Patrick turned to him next. “Thanks for jumping in there,” he said.

“No problem,” Hank said. “Though it looked like you guys had it under control.”

Patrick smiled a little wider. “Yeah, well, the Lord watches over us,” he said. “And hopefully the fallen, too, now that we’ve laid their souls to rest.”

* * *

Ruby stood near the back of the coach, an arm wrapped protectively around her brother. She listened to Brandon’s explanation uneasily – she’d heard a lot of gunfire these last couple days, way more than she had in all the weeks before, and she hoped that she wouldn’t have to get used to it.

“Damnit,” her aunt replied. “If he keeps this up…”

“It sounds like it’s stopped,” Ruby interrupted, as soon as she realized it was true. “Maybe it’s over.”

“I hope so,” Riley said.

* * *

“We’re guarding our people,” Eli answered Willow simply.

He stayed alert, even as the sounds of gunfire died out.
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Is that so?
Willow noticed Nolan approach her and Eli, Kelsey in tow. He glanced at Eli.

"Aren't some of our people out there right now?" He asked, clearly having overheard their exchange. "What about them?"

"It's fine, QB." Willow assured him gently with a knowing nod. "Emily and Antonio are tough customers, they can handle themselves. The gunfire is already settling down. I think the worst of it is over."

"But-"

"Plus, if Eli and I left, who would look after everyone here incase rotters showed up here too? You, Emmett, and Brandon aren't in much condition to be doing anything. And Hank's group isn't even armed."

Nolan sighed and gave a conceded nod. Nolan was a smart guy, but he wasn't really adjusted to this sort of situation yet. Simply put, he was still green. And frankly, she couldn't blame him for that. She was arguably even worse when she left Mount Kisco several weeks ago. She would panic at the sound of gunfire and freeze at the sight of rotters. How things had changed.

* * * * *

Antonio approached Hank and Patrick after the gunfire had calmed down.

"Sorry I couldn't be of more help there." He apologized. "Though I guess we were hardly needed here after all. You had more than enough firepower to deal with the fallen."
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Patrick turned to Antonio and clapped him on the shoulder familiarly.

“Not a worry, friend,” he said. “Though, fallen? You know them by that name as well? We’ve encountered quite a few people, always have their different titles. Creeps, deadites, walkers, biters.

Around them, Patrick’s men hustled to get their hands on a shovel or a digging implement, as Patrick ordered. A couple – including the scrawny guy with the track marks – had already started digging. Hank marvelled at their efficiency. It was no wonder these people had been able to spread their message so far, so quickly. They were capable, both inside and outside of combat. It gave him high hopes about their stronghold.

“Fallen, though,” Patrick added. “Are you a religious man, sir?”

* * *

“It’s cool, QB,” Jimmy reiterated both the sentiment and the nickname, since the nickname was his first. “Sounds like it’s about wrapped up anyway.”

He looked around. None of the locals were nearby, they had all rushed off to deal with the chaos. Antonio had too, for that matter.

“But I don’t mind saying this, since our friendly neighbourhood priest isn’t around – all this God talk is weirding me out.”
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Is that so?
"Born and raised Catholic." Antonio confirmed without a doubt.

He had hidden that from Gregory before, but now that he knew a little bit more about these people, he figured it was probably okay to let the cat out of the bag on this one.

"The fact that we use the same terminology is merely coincidence. But that is how I view the poor souls that were subjected to this fate worse than death."

* * * * *

"You too, huh?" Nolan managed a smirk.

Mom and dad had kind of instilled some loose religious values of Christianity upon him by talking to him and taking him to Sunday School and all that. But the fact of the matter is that, as he grew up and learned about the world, religion became pretty unimportant to him. He considered himself more agnostic than Christian in his final days of high school -- though it was something he had never told his parents. As far as Nolan was concerned, something like the dead coming back to life and eating the living, that should be proof that God didn't exist. How could people like Antonio and Gregory believe in him still?

"At least Antonio does a good job of keeping it pretty subdued. But these new guys... it's all they talk about."

"Like those old people that just talk about the wonders of Jesus and nothing else. Except instead of old people, it's muscular, tattooed, ex-convicts." Willow said lightheartedly.
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Strompy
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"Yeah pretty weird. I can't really hold it against them though. There are worse reactions to all this." Brandon opined as he limped over to the small gathering.

"Emily was saying the same thing. She's had a rocky relationship with religious types..." he said with a grunt as he rolled his shoulder.

The RV was so cramped everything was sore and stiff.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Jimmy shrugged. “Glad I’m not alone, at least, but hey… we’re here. You know how it goes.”

He made a show of raising both hands, displaying his crossed fingers.

“Let’s hope for the best.”

He was comforted, then, by the holster on his hip, the thought of his back-up in the glove compartment, and all the other guns he had stashed away in the trunk.

And be prepared for the worst.

* * *

“Amen, friend,” Patrick said. “Sounds like you would fit right in at home. And speaking of…”

Patrick started walking away. Hank followed, expecting that Antonio and Emily wouldn’t be far behind. He found they were heading to Greg, who was stationed just outside the action. The battery he had retrieved from Mountain View was at his feet, Noah and Lowell were on either side of him. They were all watching the firefighting take place until Patrick and the others joined them.

“Brother Gregory, there’s no need for you to stick around,” he said. “We can handle it from here. You might as well bring our new friends to the depot. It seems like they have earned the right not to wait.”

“Agreed,” Greg nodded. “Is the truck…?”

Patrick pointed to the far side of the railway camp. “It’s over there,” he answered. “Far away from the fire.”

Greg smiled, then turned to Hank. “We’ll just drop this off, and then we’ll re-join you and the others.”

“Sure,” Hank said. “But where are we going, again?”

“Salt Lake City,” Greg said. “Then, if all goes well, your new home.”

Hank was very aware of the gun pressing into his back. He didn’t like the feeling. He didn’t like that he needed such a weapon at all.

Home sounds good to me,” he said.

* * *

Home’ sounded bad to Lowell. At least, a home with these freaks did. As he and Noah helped Greg – i.e. freak numero uno – carry the heavy truck battery across the train-yard, he considered their next move.

Hank and his family would be going with these dudes, so staying with them was not going to be an option much longer. That was kind of a relief. Their RV was nice, but their people were dead weight, and Ruby and Noah was a time bomb waiting to happen. It’d be good to get that temptation out of his face.

But what, then? They still didn’t have a ride of their own. Maybe they could hitch one with Eli and his crew. They seemed less like dead weight, but that had its ups and downsides. At the end of the day, it was better to be needed than not needed. And he always slept easier when he knew, if push came to shove, that he would come out on top. That was an easy calculation when it was Hank, Andy, a woman, and a couple kids. Against Brandon, Emmett, even Antonio, it wasn’t so simple.

Maybe they’d stay with them just long enough to get their own wheels and their own stash. Maybe then Noah would finally be ready to head south, the direction they should have been going all along.

Maybe, Lowell lamented the way that word kept coming up in his own brain, the way his best friend kept putting it there. He lamented that Noah had gotten softer since this whole thing started. Somehow, the biter apocalypse had the opposite effect on him it that it had on everyone else.

He stopped lamenting when they reached their destination, and Greg stopped leading the way.

“Here we are,” the religious wacko said.

Lowell looked up. He found himself with a small smile, had summoned it without meaning to.

“Nice,” Noah said.

Those were Lowell’s sentiments exactly. “This is the truck?” he asked.

It was badass. A heavy truck with eight all-terrain wheels, the whole thing painted gray and black. The grille was fortified like the one on Jimmy’s. A teeth pattern was painted over the front, like it was ready for a monster truck rally. The hood was open and missing a battery, but it seemed to Lowell like that was only mark against it. And they had just delivered the fix.

“Yes, this is it,” Greg said. “It may seem a bit much, but it’s come in handy.”

“I’ll bet,” Noah responded.

Again. Lowell’s sentiments exactly.

* * *

Greg had retrieved the keys to one of the crew’s sedans – they had more than enough parked around the train yard to get them home, apparently – and instructed Hank to follow him to the city. So that’s what they were doing.

That and listening to Riley. As he backed the Winnebago out of the parking lot they had entered through, she was on him yet again about the risks he took.

“Honestly, sis, you didn’t need to worry this time,” Hank said, and Eli listened in. “I wasn’t even necessary. These guys had it handled a million times over.”

“That’s not the point,” Riley said.

“Actually, I think this time it is,” Hank said. “You should have seen them. They knew how to take care of themselves and they had loads of ammo. It was like watching a military operation.”

“How is that…” Riley started, then trailed off.

“Soon, they’re going to be protecting us,” Hank said. “If their base is anything like what Greg describes…”

Eli scoffed. Big if. Hank ignored him.

“Then we’re finally done,” he said. “Life can return to some semblance of normal.”

Riley didn’t say anything. Eli looked up at her. He thought about how, as much as they were wary of each other, she and him shared a lot of the same opinions. That seemed to have changed. Hank’s words seemed to have gotten through to her. She seemed to be taking some comfort in them.

But well-trained, well-armed, overly-friendly… Eli found this report the opposite of comforting.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked with a frown, now that Greg was no longer in the RV to overhear.

"What do you mean?" Riley was the one to ask back.
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Antonio frowned as he glanced through the windshield at the sedan driving ahead them, leading them to Salt Lake City. He did not know what awaited them there, but it made him uneasy. It was one of the few things that truly was able to do that.

"They seem like alright people." Willow chipped in. "A little weird, sure, but..."

"But." Antonio cut her off. "I believe this is not a normal religious congregation we are dealing with here."

All eyes seemed to fall on him. He had not been willing to say this while Gregory was around, but this was probably the only time they would have a chance to talk and debate before reaching Salt Lake City. If there was ever a time to voice his concern, it was now.

"I suspect that we are dealing with a cult."
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