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Dead Men Walking
Topic Started: Nov 28 2014, 02:20 AM (70,798 Views)
DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
Hank had been briefed on the bad news. Another one of their party had been abducted. They could only hope he was still alive. And now they were about to meet another group, who were hopefully allies but there was no guarantee. They had gotten out of a sticky situation in Elko, only to immediately arrive in a stickier one. He felt a certain sense of hopelessness when Annie told him what was up. The feeling hadn’t gone away.

Now he was with the others – watching Emily meet with Billy Church, and listening to Emmett’s reports from the roof.

At the moment, the others included Riley. She had taken the latest news much worse than him.

“Who’s even in charge?” she whispered angrily to her brother. “It was supposed to be Antonio. Now it’s Emily? She’s going to bargain on our behalf?”

Hank gave her a shh and continued watching the meeting taking place outside.

* * *

Eli dragged Noah out from the back of the car and stood him up. Noah – blindfolded and handcuffed – man winced in pain when his shoulder bumped against the door, but was otherwise silent. He didn’t even follow up on his earlier question. Maybe he thought he knew where he was going after all.

Eli still didn’t know. He wondered if Kelsey knew, either. It seemed to him that she didn’t.

He led Noah down the road, away from the car. He was off balance and couldn’t see, but Eli helped him stay upright and caught him when he tripped. When they were far enough away, and when Eli decided he couldn’t put this off anymore, he tugged on Noah’s good arm and got him to stop. Then he held him in place for a second.

“Don’t run,” Eli warned him. “If you run, I swear to God, I’m going to shoot you in the back.”

Noah didn’t say anything. Eli gripped his arm harder.

“Tell me you understand,” Eli said.

“I get it,” Noah said, in that sad, hollow voice of his.

Eli believed he did, so he released his grip. He turned and waved Kelsey over. He then took a step away, but stopped. He turned again and reached behind Noah’s head. He grabbed the blindfold and tore it off.

This shouldn’t be easy, he decided. He was done giving Kelsey advice, he wasn’t going to tell her what to do, but he wasn’t going to make her decision easy. If she was going to kill Noah, she was going to look him in the eye when she did it.

With that act completed, he walked away. He passed Kelsey, saying nothing, but giving her a look and a nod that he hoped would say it all anyway.

When he turned around, Noah was grimacing and blinking hard at the sudden sunlight. By the time the world came into focus, Kelsey was standing in front of him, a gun in her hand.
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Mar 14 2018, 09:29 PM.
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Strompy
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More posts, more Busey.
"She's your granddaughter." Emily said with a rueful shake of her head.

It figured somebody in their group would be family, they might all be. It was a small town and they were all locals so it made sense. As much as she wanted answers about Antonio and she couldn't completely dismiss the possibility these people had something to do with his disappearance, her concerns were dwarfed by Church's. He was here for his family.

"I'm sorry if we scared you. Of course you can see her." she said.

Emily walked back to the hospital entrance.

"Winona, your grandad's here. You can come out." Emily called out.

Emily watched and waited for Willow to release Winona. These people might be able to help them get Antonio back, they needed them onside. And in the event they had something to do with it, she wanted them close enoughto hurt. Letting Winona go was the best way to get to there. When she was sure Winona couldn't see she gave Willow a serious look and a small nod. If they tried anything she wanted Willow to put them both down straight away.
Edited by Strompy, Jan 31 2018, 12:45 AM.
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Make-7-Up-Yours
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Is that so?
Willow nodded curtly in response to Emily.

"Go ahead." Willow told her.

Winona exhaled sharply. She was clearly uncomfortable. Not that Willow could blame her; half the crew had their guns trained on her grandpa right now. And this was after she had been essentially held hostage -- something which left a bad taste in Willow's mouth. However, it had been a necessity. Or so she told herself. After a few seconds, the young native woman stepped out of the hospital doors and into the cool morning air. Her dog, Cadence, followed at her heels.

After she was out of the waiting room, Willow peered down the scopes of her rifle once again.

* * * * *

The edges of Billy's lips curled upward ever-so-slightly as Winona stepped out of the hospital and into the parking lot, both she and her dog looking unharmed. Just as quickly as the smile appeared, it disappeared and was replaced by a stoic gaze.

"I told you to be careful." He said as Winona approached, his face stern.

"I know." Winona looked at the ground sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

Billy exhaled heavily; at the same time, his posture loosened a little bit. Winona said nothing and quietly stepped behind Billy. Then, he reached down to his belt, picked up a two-way radio, and spoke a few undecipherable words into it. A female voice responded to him in the same language. Billy then clipped the radio back to his belt and, for the first time since his granddaughter had appeared, met Emily's gaze.

"You have my thanks." He told her.
Edited by Make-7-Up-Yours, Feb 5 2018, 08:45 PM.
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Strompy
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"We can help each other." Emily said, abruptly cutting to the chase.

Antonio was missing. One of Church's people was missing. The more time they spent gauging each other and building rapport and trust the worse their odds of finding their people alive. It wasn't the right time for mistrust and suspicion or doing things by half-measures in a missing person case the fresher the trail the better.

"You have somebody missing, signs of a struggle right? Can we examine the scene? We might find something you missed, and vise versa." Emily said, gesturing to the spot where she found the blood.
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Church hummed quietly as he mentally deliberated the offer he had been given.

"Winona." Billy gruffly said after a few long moments.

The young woman peered up to him as he turned he tilted his head back and looked at her through the corner of his eye, but said nothing back.

"Did you hear anything last night?"

"I didn't..." her words trailed off.

Billy turned his gaze back toward the newcomers in front of him, specifically their spokesperson, Emily. He met her eyes for a few moments, then whistled sharply into the morning air. A few moments later, figures emerged from the thinning fog. They were dressed in an assortment of outdoor wear, such as jeans, jackets, and hats. Some carried bolt-action rifles, others carried bows, a few carried spears. All in all, a militia of eleven people (nine women and two men) appeared and stood alongside Billy and Winona.

"Check the surrounding area." He ordered everyone. "Look for any evidence that might have been left behind."

As the group wordlessly began to split apart and scan the surrounding area, one of them, a young woman with broad shoulders, ran up to Winona and gave her a hug. After the worried embrace ended, she patted Winona on the shoulder and handed the young engineer a crudely-fashioned spear (which contrasted sharply with her carbon fiber bow).

"For the record, I do not fully trust you yet." Billy told Emily. "But Laurie is my sister, and I will do whatever I have to in order to see that she is safely returned to us."

* * * * *

Kelsey held the gun out in front of her. The morning sun was beating down on her, but it was not the reason that her hands were clammy. It was not the reason her hands were shaking. It was not the reason that her heart was pounding against her chest like a drum.

Before her stood Noah, one of the men that had killed her brother. He wasn't trying to run. He simply stood there, looking at her with that vacant stare of his.

"A-any last words?" Kelsey gulped nervously.
Edited by Make-7-Up-Yours, Mar 13 2018, 08:28 PM.
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"It's a gamble for both of us, but as long as we can stop ourselves from being the ones to fire the first shot I'll think we'll okay." Emily returned the sentiment.

She turned and pointed to the wall of the hospital before walking over to the spot where she found the blood. She knelt down and considered the scene a moment.

"I found blood and urine over there, I'm guessing Antonio came out to take and leak and got jumped. We didn't hear anything so they weren't using guns or they had suppressors. I can put two and two together from a scene but I can't track or anything, and it snowed last night so I don't know where to start looking. It must have been hours ago, they could have easily made it out of town by car now, but like I said we didn't hear anything so they must have taken him on foot for a while at least and if he was bleeding there should be a trail. This snow though, I mean I was lucky I even found this there's no way I could find and follow a trail in these conditions." Emily said, as much thinking to aloud as explaining.

She stood up and sucked her teeth as she pondered what they could do next. If Church and his people were somehow involved it could be suicide to depend on them to lead them to Antonio, but it was risky for them to say the least allowing them so close. If this did turn out to be a double-cross at least they'd be close enough to make them pay for it and Church would be the first one to die. She shook her head, thinking too far ahead wasn't going to help them get Antonio back. Emily looked around and spotted Winona with her dog and realized another possibility. Animals don't lie.

"Your dog. Can she track?" Emily asked.
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DoctorYerishi
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Eli folded his arms as he watched Kelsey stand unsteadily in front of Noah. He felt his own heart rate quicken, and found himself holding his breath. It was almost like he was holding the gun, like it was his brother he had to contemplate avenging. It was easy to mentally put himself in that position, since he basically had been, more than once.

Not this time, though. This time, it was Kelsey. A little girl. It shouldn’t be her, maybe he should never have let it get this far. Maybe his thinking all this time was flawed. Maybe the best thing to do would have been to put her in cuffs and drag her kicking and screaming to Nevada. Maybe this was the result of some madness on his part, like those phantom gunshots he kept hearing on the road – maybe if he had just had a little more sleep, Kelsey would be back in Willow and Brandon’s company and would be mourning Nolan in a more responsible way.

Maybe, maybe, maybe… There were far too many maybes and none of them mattered now. Now, Eli figured, all he could do was play out the string. He kept his arms folded, his gaze fixed, and his mouth closed.

Noah, too, remained silent. He answered Kelsey’s prompt with a slow blink and then a long and solemn shake of his head.
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Mar 16 2018, 01:27 AM.
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Winona glanced down at Cadence; the dog was sitting at her feet and surveying her surroundings, seemingly unaware that Winona was looking at her.

"No." Winona answered Emily's question. "She's not a tracking dog or anything."

As Winona answered, one of the her fellow survivors -- a slightly overweight, middle-aged woman -- walked up to Billy Church. The woman handed him something and whispered a few words to him. Church lowered his gaze at whatever had been placed in his hand and furled his brow in a look of concern.

"It looks like we have our answer." Billy held out a single shell casing for everyone to see. "Our shooter is using a silencer."

"Wait, aren't silencer military-grade hardware?" Winona asked with an incredulous look in her eyes. "We... we aren't dealing with crazy soldiers or anything, are we?"

"Not necessarily." Billy explained. "In most states, including Nevada, silencers are legal for civilian use."

Winona's lips curled into a very visible (and slightly distressed) frown. Billy exhaled sharply and mirrored his granddaughter's frown for a moment. He idly pocketed the shell casing and turned back to Emily.

"I doubt we'll get much more than that out of this search." Billy told her. "The snow would have covered any tra-"

"Wendigo!" Another one of his people shouted, cutting Billy off mid-sentence.

The elderly man spun around. From the edges of the parking lot, he could see the shambling forms of Wendigos coming toward them. A chorus of soft moaning, previously hidden by the sounds of conversation, was now suddenly audible. Church narrowed his eyes at the sight; he couldn't tell how many of them there were, but there were at least twenty that he could see. Probably even more.

"Where do they keep coming from...?" Winona muttered.

"Doesn't matter." Church answered. "Remember, don't waste your bullets if you don't have to."

* * * * *

Kelsey grimaced.

Nothing? He had nothing to say? After everything he had done, he had nothing to say? Not even an attempt at an apology? Kelsey widened her eyes, her nostrils flared, and she ground her teeth together. She gripped the gun so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

All she could see was Noah, standing alongside Alma, watching as Lowell riddling her brother full of holes. For no reason. Nolan fell on his back, his chest rapidly getting soaked in blood. She was in a panic. Nolan... he didn't say anything to her as he died. He couldn't. All he could do was lift his hand and pat her on the head. Then he closed his eyes. But... he was smiling? Right? She honestly couldn't remember anymore. The more she thought about it, the more it became a haze. That haze was filled with so many emotions that it was hard to breathe. Hard to focus.

It had been easier when mom died. When dad died. She knew they were dead. Their losses tore at her deeply. But she didn't see them die like she had watched Nolan. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she could convince herself that maybe they weren't really dead. Maybe dad would walk up to her tomorrow. Maybe mom would too. Maybe they were both just fine. As long as she had Nolan, she still had someone. But then Nolan was killed. Not somewhere far away, but right in front of her. She watched him die. The finality of seeing it for herself, and being able to look at his killer in the eyes... it cut her far deeper than she could have known.

She aimed the gun at Noah's chest. She placed her finger on the trigger.

"I love you too, Kels. My beautiful, amazing daughter. With all my heart. Whatever you do out there, don't ever stop making me proud."

Why? Kelsey's breathing became sharper; the gun shook unsteadily in her hands. Tears began to well in the corners of her brown eyes. Why am I thinking of dad's last words to me now!?

It gave her pause. What would dad think of her if he could see her right now? Standing here with a gun pointed at an unarmed man like a thug. Is this what he would want? Would he be proud of her if he could see this?

Kelsey already knew the answer. Of course he wouldn't be proud of her. But did it matter anymore? Dad was dead. Just like Nolan. And Nolan died because he was trying to be nice. He died because he trusted those bastards! And what did he get from it? He got shot to death. Everyone that had a shred of decency ended up getting killed by someone who didn't; that was how the world worked these days. Mac was killed by some hotshot with a rifle. Glenda was shot in the head by Maxwell because she let her guard down. And that wasn't to mention every person in Flint that died because of Maxwell and Cory. Cory also mauled Brandon and killed Jen. Then Nolan was shot to death because he thought Lowell was a decent guy.

Decent people... don't live.

Those words echoed in Kelsey's mind now. Her will, previously shaken, started to return. She placed her finger back on the trigger. If she tried to be a decent person like them, she would die too. If she had more grit, maybe Nolan would still be alive. She had to break the habit. She had to cross the line. If she didn't do it now, then who would be next? Brandon? Willow? Eli? How many more people had to die before she would be willing to throw away her heart?

Kelsey's tear-soaked eyes lit up, she let out a guttural scream, and she pulled the trigger.

BANG!

Once.

BANG!

Twice.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Five times.

She continued to pull the trigger as many times as she could; she pulled the trigger until the sounds of gunfire stopped and only clicking remained. However, the young girl continued to scream and continued to pull the trigger for a few seconds longer. She then violently threw the weapon to the ground, collapsed onto her hands and knees, and bawled at the top of her lungs into the ground.
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DoctorYerishi
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Dude, wake up! We've got a world to save.
The sudden appearance of almost a dozen more people in the parking lot was shocking, initally, but then Emmett reported from his vantage that they didn’t seem hostile. It seemed that Emily had made some quick headway with Billy Church. From what Hank could tell from behind a window overlooking the encounter, they had already started to cooperate.

He decided it was time to show himself. He didn’t feel right leaving Emily out there by herself, and he wanted to know what was going on.

He told Riley he was going, and for once she didn’t object. That might have had something to do with her sudden interest in him being in charge. Hank chose not to think about that right now.

He was out the door, his hands raised to show he was not a threat, when Church spun around and Hank overheard something about wendigos.

He turned around and opened the door again. Riley raised an eyebrow at his reappearance.

“My hatchet,” he said simply.

It was nearby, and Riley fetched it quickly. “Be careful around them,” she said, as she handed it to him.

Hank didn’t know if them meant the rotters or the Natives. “I will,” he said, regardless.

Then he was jogging towards the gathering in the parking lot, wiping his shaggy hair away from his face with one hand and gripping his weapon in the other. He neared Church, the oldest man in the assembly, well before the wave of rotters was upon them.

“I’m Hank,” he said. “I’m here to help.”

* * *

With every second that passed with Kelsey standing there, with her gun pointed forward, Eli’s heart beat faster and his heart broke a little more. He could tell her rage was growing. He knew too well what she was seeing, and it wasn’t just Noah. He wanted to step in and keep those images away. He wanted to put an end to this.

He knew he couldn’t, though. Ending this wasn’t in his power. The only person that can end it was…

The first gunshot froze Eli’s thoughts. A spike of psychic pain pierced his heart. He closed his eyes and grimaced.

Four more gunshots followed – just like Nolan, he realized bitterly and instantly. Kelsey had visited the same fate on Noah that had visited Nolan.

Then she kept on shooting, emptying the magazine. Eli kept his eyes shut. He didn’t want to confront the aftermath of what had just transpired. He knew that when he saw Noah’s unblinking face, it would only be the first time of many. He knew he would see it again and again in his dreams. Noah would become one more face in the collection.

Worse, he would be part of Kelsey’s collection too. She would never be the same.

Kelsey was crying – crying as loud as she possibly could. Her bawling was so powerful and guttural, and if Eli’s heart wasn’t all the way broken before, it was now. It was in fucking shards, he thought, he would cut himself to hell trying to put it back together. He would probably bleed to death before making it whole again.

“Kelsey, I’m…” he started to say, because he had to say something.

Then he opened his eyes, and the rest of the words went dry in his throat.

Noah stood in front of him.

His teeth and eyes were clenched tight, he was shaking like a leaf, but Noah was standing. He was alive. More than that, he was unharmed.

Eli rushed over to Kelsey. He fell to his knees and embraced her tight with both arms.

“I’m sorry,” he finished his sentence. “I’m so sorry.”
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Mar 16 2018, 11:20 AM.
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"This world takes a lot from you. It doesn't have to take everything."

Just before she pulled the trigger, she heard Daisy's words from earlier. There was no malice or evil in her voice. Just concern for a stranger that she barely knew. For some reason, it hit Kelsey hard. And in that moment that she knew she couldn't do it. No amount of anger was enough to turn her into a cold-hearted killer. No amount of anger was enough to bring back Nolan. No matter how much rage and resentment she had, there was simply not enough to do anything. Anything, that is, except cry.

"I... I was... gonna do it..." Kelsey wailed while staining Eli's shirt in her tears and drool. "But... why... why can't I...?"
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DoctorYerishi
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“’Cause you’re better than Lowell,” Eli tried to comfort her. “’Cause…”

He felt himself getting emotional, but he gulped and kept it together.

“’Cause you’re good,” he said.

He kept holding her, but spared a glance over her shoulder at Noah. He would describe the young man’s expression as confused and pained. He was still wobbling – wobbling so hard, in fact, and without the use of his hands that he fell backwards, and without the use of his hands to steady him, landed on his butt, then his back.

Once grounded, Noah made no attempt to get up. He just lay there, staring at the sky. It was like he’d been shot, after all. Eli’s attention returned to Kelsey.

“’Cause you’re Randall’s daughter,” he said.
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Mar 16 2018, 11:40 AM.
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Emily wasn't even annoyed that creeps crashed their meeting. They helped remind everyone of the real problem, and nothing brought people together like splitting heads. Emily aproached the first incoming creep with an enthusiastic smirk as she readied her machete.

The thing was bigger than her, which didn't say much but it made some of the larger men in the group look stout. It was tall and gangly though so looked more awkward than intimidating. It reached for her with its long arms and she ducked low striking at the back of its knee with her blade. The creep looked like a tree being felled as it toppled over side ways. As it pushed itself up off the ground she brought the blade back down with an overhead two-handed swing, lopping its head clean off.
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Willow peered through the scope of her sniper rifle as the rotters first appeared. Her lips curled into a frown.

Rotters. Of course it had to be rotters. Even a seemingly empty town always had a few in hiding, waiting for the right moment to screw everything over. Still, maybe this was good. A team-building exercise in smashing the skulls of the walking dead open. Just so long as nobody was careless and got bit. She prayed to any deity that would listen to her that something like that didn't happen. Not right now, they couldn't afford it.

Willow rose to her feet and slung her rifle over her shoulder. There were too many people out there to risk using the sniper rifle. Not to mention loud noises might lure even more of them here -- or worse, lure more people. She unsheathed the foot long combat knife.

Glenda's knife. Now her knife.

Then she stepped outside.

By the time Emily took down her rotter, everyone else had already joined in. Billy Church and his people were able to use their spears to good effect; thrusting the sharpened ends of them into the heads of the infected from a safe distance while standing near one another to provide cover. Those with bows were able to pick off rotters from a distance at the same time from behind the relative safety of the spearmen. Their form was well practiced and efficient. It was what Willow would have expected from a community that managed to survive for this long on its own. Good survival tactics.

But Willow hadn't come out here to admire how Church and his people fought. She came out here to help. She set her sights on the nearest rotter to her. She couldn't quite tell if it had been a male or female before, but it was quite the portly one. It rumbled toward her, reaching its decaying hands out like a creeper on those TV shows.

Breathe. She told herself. You can do this.

Fighting in close quarters was still unfamiliar to her. Still dangerous. She had been practicing when she could, but in her weakened state, she wasn't entirely sure how effective it had been. Now was as good a time as any to see how far she had come. She stepped into the rotters' filthy grasp, then drove the blade of her knife underneath its jaw and into the brain. The rotter, a little stronger or heavier than she had anticipated, continued forward. Willow hastily withdrew the gore-covered blade and stepped back in time to barely avoid getting pinned underneath the husky rotter's frame. Willow let out a sharp breath at the close call. Getting pinned underneath a fat one, especially for someone as lean as her, would have been bad news. Before she could recover, she heard a groan over her shoulder. Uncomfortably close.

Willow jumped forward and spun her body around. Two more rotters, almost right on top of her. She swiped her blade out at the nearer of the two, cutting it across the arm but accomplishing little else. It countered by reaching forward and gripping her rightly by the wrist of her knife hand.

Shit!

The rotter opened its mouthful of rotting black teeth and moved in for a bite of Willow's captured forearm. She instinctively pivoted her hips and used her right leg to side kick the rotter in the chest before it could bite, successfully pushing it away from her. As she did, a sharp pain coursed through her left thigh, where she had been shot only a week or two earlier. It easily buckled under the stress, and she toppled to the ground along with the rotter she had just kicked. She grunted audibly and bit her lower lip in pain, but ignored it to focus on the immediate threat; the rotter on the ground next to her. She ignored the pain in her leg and rebounded to a kneeling position, where she swiftly executed the rotter with a quick stab through the eye. She then twisted her body to deal with the next incoming rotter. It was practically standing over her.

THUNK!

An arrow pierced the unfortunate rotter through the temple. From the corner of her eye, she saw Winona looking in her direction with another arrow already nocked on the bow.

I'll have to remember to thank Winona for the save.

The rotter then fell over and landed on top of Willow.

Or not.

* * * * *

Kelsey heard Eli's words, but processing them was hard. He talked about how she was 'better' than Lowell. How she was 'good.' That... what did that even mean? What was that going to get her?

"Being good... hasn't worked out for anyone..." Kelsey whined into Eli's shirt.

Being good hadn't gotten her anything so far. All it left her with was regrets. Dead friends. Dead family. And now, after losing almost everything, after leaving everyone that cared about her behind on a quest for revenge... and she couldn't even pull the trigger and get that revenge. She sure as hell didn't feel 'better' than anyone else right now.
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Emily flicked her machete to shake some of the gore off it, the almost black blood was sticky and clung to everything it touched. She wiped the blade on the clothes of the creep she downed and looked around. There barely any left nearby as their people and Church's quick work of them. The natives made so impressive shots with their bows with practiced ease. Emily waved at Emmett.

"How are we looking from up there? They only coming at us from this direction?" she shouted to him.
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Kelsey’s words made Eli’s heart hurt with sympathy. He knew good was a hollow word right now, not at all a comfort. He wished there was a way to make her feel better, but the truth was there wasn’t. Killing Noah certainly wouldn’t have done it. That would have just made her feel empty. Empty might have felt better for a while, but in the end, it was much worse.

“I know,” he said. “But trust me, ‘cause I know this too, ‘cause I really do – the other way doesn’t work any better.”

He left it that, and just held her for the next couple minutes. When her tears finally dried, he helped her to her feet, stood up himself, and said it was time to go. Then he went to collect Noah – the young man hadn’t moved from his spot on the ground. When Eli stood over him, he noticed tears drying in the sun. He didn’t react, except to reach down and help him back to his feet.

* * *

Hank stayed back and let Church’s people with their spears and their bows take on the first wave of rotters. He didn’t want to get in the way. Then, once the first wave was downed, and the next wave closed in, he chose his spots. Twice, he lunged forward with his hatchet, felled a rotter, and fell back.

He was looking for a third target in the midst of the melee when he saw Willow, with a rotter on top of her. The rotter in question had an arrow in the face, so the situation wasn’t as dire as it could have been, but he still moved fast to intervene.

He dragged the corpse off Willow, then with both hands, he dragged her to her feet and away from the fight.

* * *

Emmett watched the proceedings with a slightly furrowed brow. Billy Church’s people showing up in force made him nervous, and the rotters appearing shortly after made him more nervous, but things seemed to be under control. Church and his men knew what they were doing – they fought silently, quickly, effectively. And they seemed to be a threat only to the dead, not to Emily, Hank, or Willow.

After Emily shouted her query, Emmett did a quick survey of the horizon. Indeed, there were more on the way. Church’s men were fighting quietly, but not silently. The skirmish was loud enough to attract the attention of another dozen-or-so rotters, now appearing from the corners of nearby buildings and shambling towards the fray.

He took the time to get the count right, and then gave his answer to the radio, for Willow to relay to Emily.

“Sixteen more coming,” he said. “They’re spread out. Church’s people should have it under control.”

* * *

“This is your stop,” Eli said, as the Silverado pulled into the nearest gas station.

Noah’s only response was to turn his head, staring blankly out the window at the empty building and the unattended pumps. And it was empty, by all indicators. No cars, no rotters, no sounds of rotters. It was as good a spot as any to say their goodbyes, or not say them.

Eli flipped the lock, exited the car, and once again helped Noah onto the desert road. He spun him around and unlocked the cuffs. When he spun him around again, Noah glanced down at the chef’s knife now in his hands. His eyes registered some alarm – just a little, not a lot, but Eli noticed. Eli snorted in response, and then casually tossed the knife a few feet away. Then he retrieved one of their bottles of water, and did the same thing. The cap was on the bottle tight, so it didn’t spill.

Noah looked from the items, back to Eli. Now there was some surprise in his eyes. It seemed he didn’t expect the help. As far as Eli was concerned, though, anything less than a knife and some water and they might as well kill him then.

And Eli wasn’t going to do that. Kelsey had made a decision, and Eli was going to honour it.

“The rest is up to you,” Eli said.

“Eli, I…” Noah started to speak – like before, the words struggled to escape from his dry throat.

Eli had started to turn away, but stopped. He turned back and looked at Noah with an unfeeling glare.

“I’m…”

Sorry? It seemed like that’s what he wanted to say. But it was too late for sorry, sorry wasn’t going to help anyone. Not him, not Eli, not Kelsey and least of all Nolan. What was done was done.

Noah seemed to recognize that, and didn’t finish his sentence. He looked away from Eli, towards the car, towards Kelsey in the passenger seat. For a moment, his expression was no longer empty. To Eli, it looked painfully sympathetic. Maybe he really was sorry. Maybe he recognized something in her. They had both lost the people in the world they were closest to. And now they both had to live with it.

“Goodbye, Noah,” Eli said, and the moment passed. Noah broke his stare, turning from Kelsey to the ground.

Eli returned to the car. In the rear-view, he could see Noah remained rooted in place. He turned to Kelsey.

“Your dad would be proud,” he said.
Edited by DoctorYerishi, Apr 30 2018, 09:46 PM.
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