You should name one of the Episodes Walk Among the Cobras.
I wanted to name one of the episodes that, but I didn't know how that could fit with anything I have planned. However, I found a way. Not going to say how it fits because spoilers but the last episode will be named Walk Among The Cobras.
*Because I realized I haven't really described how they looked like. I'm sorry these descriptions are so terrible*
Vaughan Gender: Male Hair colour: Black Hair type: Straight, short Facial hair: None Eyes: Dark brown (Wears clubmaster type glasses) Age: Three years younger than Nate (Nate is in his late 20s, early 30s according to the walking dead wiki) Height: (I don't know how tall Nate is, so I'm going to use his body as a reference point for height) Top of his head reaches Nate's eye level Body type: Average build. Race: Japanese
Charlie Gender: Female Hair colour: Dark brown Hair type: Curly kinky hair, medium length, tied into bun Eyes: Violet Age: Two years older than Nate Height: Top of head reaches Nate's nose Body type: Average build, androgynous features Race: Half black, half Japanese
Speaking of Walk Among the Cobras, he has some other good songs that could be used as names. Leeches, The World is Gonna Break Your Little Heart, Place to Call My Home. (The last two are some of my favorite works of his).
But I recommend checking his music out. Fans of hard blues will not be disappointed.
Speaking of Walk Among the Cobras, he has some other good songs that could be used as names. Leeches, The World is Gonna Break Your Little Heart, Place to Call My Home. (The last two are some of my favorite works of his).
But I recommend checking his music out. Fans of hard blues will not be disappointed.
After looking at some other walking dead fan-fics, I'm glad this one exists. A probable story that takes it's playbooks and morals from the source material. Keep on keeping on, Visa!
Also, searched up the glasses you say Vaughn wears, and they are friggin sweet.
This game series adapts to the choices you make.
The story is tailored by how you play.
TELLTALE GAMES
presents
in association with
SKYBOUND ENTERTAINMENT
Nate lay in a field of flowers. He watched the plants sway in the breeze and brush against him. The plants perfumed the air and made it sweet and musky. Nate noticed that the scents were weak, as if he smelled everything from far away. He didn’t know how this was possible as he was completely surrounded by flowers, but the longer he laid there the more it felt like his senses were distanced from his body.
He was aware that these were the same flowers that he had seen a little over five weeks ago, the ones that had been used for the flower memorial in honor of the man who was purposely run over. Vaughan had told him that he hoped there would be no more violence in his neighborhood, but there was violence everywhere now.
Nate lifted himself off the ground and looked around. The field of flowers met the afternoon sky on the horizon. There was no disruption in the meeting of these two planes except for a building to Nate’s right.
(o) Look at building
“...I feel sick.” He said to himself. His voice was low; he didn’t want anything to know that he was here, but he didn’t know why this was necessary. To his knowledge, he was the only person in this peaceful yet desolate world. He also didn’t know why looking at the building made his muscles tense, his stomach cramp, and caused him to feel an overwhelming sadness that started in his brain and leaked down to pool in his chest.
He shook his head and began to turn away. He couldn’t remember why the building was causing him so much physical pain and emotion distress, but that wasn’t important. He didn’t have to look at it. He needed to find his friends. He wasn’t sure where Charlie and Vaughan had gone.
He turned his back to the building and was confronted by a hoard of zombies.
Nate froze. There were hundreds of them; twitching, drooling, and groaning in makeshift harmony. He took a moment to wonder, panicked and unbelieving, how so many were about to sneak up on him without him noticing. Then he turned back towards the building and ran.
/!\ Get away from hoard
As he dashed forward he heard the hoard following him, their groans growing louder and more furious with every stride he took. He reached for his gun in the back of his pants, pulled it out, and shot at the zombies.
(o) (o) (o) (o) (o)
Streams of blood jetted from the heads of the creatures that he managed to hit. It was difficult for Nate to aim properly as he was running away. Didn’t matter, the mass of monsters couldn’t catch up to the speed that Nate was running. He could get to the building before-
Something grabbed Nate’s left leg and pulled. He screamed as he was forced face first into the ground. The pain from the impact felt distant. Recovering from the fall as quickly as he could, Nate turned on his side to look at the thing that had grabbed him. It was Anya.
“You murderer.” Anya snarled. “I was scared. I thought he was bitten. I just wanted to protect everyone. You murdered me due to a misunderstanding!” Her skin was pale. Blood trailed down the corners of her mouth and pooled around her stomach. Her hand held a ferocious grip on his leg and he could feel how cold they were through his pants.
| I didn’t want that to happen | | YOU were going to MURDER him |
| Get off of me now |
| ... |
“You were going to murder Vaughan, you stupid bitch!” Nate said. “Your death is your fault!” Anya screamed at him. The hoard of zombies was getting closer.
(o)
Nate shot Anya in the face. Her brains escaped out of the back of her head and her body fell to the side, positioning itself in the same way she had been when he had shot her five weeks ago. Nate stood up and ran. The distance between Nate and the mass of rotting monsters was shorter than it had been before.
(o)(o)(o)(o)
He shot at them again, only one bullet missing it’s target this time. He was halfway to the building when something cold seized both of his legs and pulled him down. Nate was able to free himself from the assailants long enough to turn himself onto his back and look at who grabbed him before his legs were held still. It was Guatier and Hanna.
“How can you have no sympathy for us?” Guatier grieved, his pale hands tightening on Nate’s leg. Blood seeped out of the wound on his shoulder and mixed with the blood leaking out of his and his wife’s stomachs.
“How could murder us and feel nothing?” Hanna moaned. Her eyes were as wide as they had been when she died.
| I do feel something | | Charlie killed you two |
| Don’t touch me |
| ... |
“Charlie killed the both of you, not me!” Nate said. Their grip on his legs intensified. The smell of putrid flesh overpowered the flowers as the monsters drew near.
(o)
Nate shot Hanna in the head. The force of the bullet knocked her onto her back, laying the same way she did when she died. Her eyes were still wide.
(o)
Nate pointed the gun at Guatier and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.
“Shit!” Nate cried. The footsteps of the undead mob grew louder.
(o)
Nate raised his free leg and kicked Guatier in the face. He felt the older man’s nose break and flatten under the heel of his foot. The man didn’t let go.
(o)
Nate drew his foot back and kicked him again. The bones in the man’s cheek dented inwards. He still didn’t let go.
(o)
Nate heard Guatier’s teeth break. The zombies were getting closer.
(o)
With all of his strength, Nate kicked him in the forehead. Pieces of Guatier’s skull broke off and impaled him in the brain. The man keeled over. Before he stood up and ran away from the advancing monsters, Nate heard Guatier make a wet and painful gasp.
Nate ran the last hundred meters as fast as he could; stumbling on tired legs, panting hard, and not bothering to look behind him. He couldn’t stop himself by the time he reached the entrance to the building. His body slammed into the door. Nate didn’t let himself focus on the pain from the impact, which was distant anyways, and pulled at the door. It wouldn’t open. There were boards nailed to the door and writing spray painted in large letters. Nate read them.
“No.” Nate said. He meant to sound stubborn but his voice came out weak and scared. He quickly turned around and saw that the monsters a few feet away. He backed up and pressed against the door. He didn’t want to go in there again, once had been horrible enough, but he knew if he did he would be able to escape the hoard.
Nate looked to his right. He saw the broken window and darted to it. He put his hands on the ledge, paused, heard the zombies getting closer, and jumped through the window.
When his feet touched the other side, he was not in the hall with the map at the end as he should have been. He was standing in front of the pharmacy. Startled, Nate looked behind him, expecting to see the window looking out to the field of flowers and the living dead. The window was gone, replaced by the corridor that led to this place.
Nate wanted to leave, but his feet wouldn’t move. He stood in front of the pharmacy, waiting for the thing that he hoped he wouldn’t see but knew he would. All of his senses, which had been dulled before, were now mercilessly heightened. The litter, the dusty counters, the stale air, the bloody floors, and the hazardous darkness; everything in the hospital seemed more real and more oppressive than anything Nate went through since the apocalypse started.
(o) Look at pharmacy
He pointed his flashlight at the pharmacy and waited, wondering feverishly at what point he had picked the flashlight up. The light trembled with the movement of his hand. The trembling grew stronger when the zombie walked out of the store. It had a bloody mess in its hands.
| Wake up |
| Let her go | | Stay away |
| ... |
“Stay away from me.” Nate whispered, his voice shaking. The zombie looked at him, stopped chewing and smiled. Bloody drool slimed down its face. Its broken teeth were filled with fleshy food debris. A chunk of meat fell out of its mouth. It looked down at the bloody mess, at what used to be a baby two days ago.
One of the arms of the infant had been torn off, only a few tendons hung from the shoulder. The other had a bite taken out of the upper arm. The lower torso of the baby had been completely devoured. The upper half of the baby was removed from the lower half. Her legs, which no longer received any signal from the brain, did not move. The rest of her did. The undead infant growled into the air, its arm reaching up to the ceiling as if trying to reach invisible prey. Its eyes rolled thickly in its head, focusing on everything at once.
The zombie holding the baby walked forward, stretching is arms toward Nate as if offering the infant as some macabre gift. The baby turned its head towards Nate and reached for him.
The hum of the engine, the tires moving across the pavement, and Vaughan’s occasional hisses of pain were the only noises that were made in the truck. Nate’s grip on the steering wheel cut off the circulation in his hands and made them go white. There were trees to both sides of the truck but he paid them little attention to them. His eyes where fixed on the road ahead. He had no fixed destination in mind; his current goal was to drive far away from the nightmare he had.
Vaughan sat beside Nate, holding his head in his hands. The muscles in his face tensed and twitched as he waited for his migraine to go away. Vaughan groaned something in Japanese and Charlie muttered a reply back to him. Whatever she said caused Vaughan to frown more but he gave no retort. Slowly, the pain lessened. Vaughan sighed and leaned back into his seat. He took his glasses off his lap and placed them on his face.
“...Are you alright?” Vaughan asked after a moment. Nate spared him a quick glace before looking away. “You look like you haven’t slept.”
| Worry about yourself |
| I’m fine | | Sleeping is stupid |
| ... |
“Sleeping is stupid. I fucking hate it.” Nate grumbled. “I’m never sleeping again.”
(?) Charlie and Vaughan will remember that
“...Okay.” Vaughan said after a pause. “I’m just concerned. I don’t think you’ve been sleeping well for the last two days.”
“Do you know what I found out two days ago?” Charlie spoke up. “I found out that you had cancer.” Nate ground his teeth together and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“Charlie...” Vaughan sighed. “Please-”
“I still can’t believe that you didn’t tell me you were sick!” Charlie moved her head off of the window and faced Vaughan. Her face contorted into a nasty snarl as she talked to him. “I’m your girlfriend! You don’t just hide shit like that from me!”
Vaughan ran his fingers through his hair. “I was going to tell-”
“You keep on saying that. ‘I was going to tell you, I was going to tell you’.” Charlie interrupted. “But more than a month passed and you still didn’t say a Goddamn word to me! No one disrespects me like that.”
| Shut the fuck up |
| You should have told her |
| Don’t be so hard on him |
| ... |
“Will the both of you shut the fuck up!?” Nate screamed. Vaughan and Charlie flinched away from him. “You two are so annoying with your bullshit!” Vaughan’s shoulders dropped and he looked away from him. He stared at the window closest to Charlie.
(?) Charlie and Vaughan will remember that
“Oh fuck you Nate!” Charlie snapped after the initial shock of him screaming. “You knew about Vaughan being sick too and you didn’t say anything to me either!”
“But you know now, so shut the fuck up!” Nate said.
“Or what?” Charlie demanded. “You’re going to fail at choking me again?” Vaughan looked away from the window.
“You choked Charlie?” Vaughan asked, his voice was high and hurt. Nate placed his forehead on the wheel and let out a heavy sigh.
“God, I need a drink.” Nate said. There was a hint of desperation in his voice. Charlie huffed and rolled her eyes.
“...You shouldn’t drive like that.” Vaughan told him. Nate glared at him before sitting up straight. The younger man looked back outside the window and was quiet for a moment before speaking again.
“We just passed someone with alcohol.” Vaughan said. Nate unconsciously slowed down the truck.
| And? | | We could trade with them |
| Are you sure they’re real? |
| ... |
“We could trade with them. Get some alcohol that way.” Nate said. He didn’t ask for any details and he didn’t need them. He was so desperate for a drink that it didn’t occur to him that Vaughan might be hallucinating. Nate needed something to take the edge off and allow him to forget about psychopathy and nightmares and dead children.
Charlie shook her head. “We shouldn’t do that.” She warned. “Food and supplies are more important than alcohol.”
| We’re not giving everything away |
| More important than alcohol? |
| That’s true |
| ... |
“We’re not going to give everything away.” Nate said irritably as he stopped the truck. “Don’t give your tubes tied up in a knot.” Charlie growled indignantly. She was about to reply when Vaughan spoke up.
“We should get the alcohol.” He said. Nate and Charlie looked at him surprised.
| Two against one Charlie |
| Then it’s settled | | Seriously? |
| ... |
“Seriously?” Nate asked, arching an eyebrow at him. “You’re agreeing with me? I thought you’d be more ‘practical’ like Charlie and agree with her.” Vaughan laughed at took off his glasses. He gave Nate a sneaky sideways glace as he wiped him.
“Fuck yeah, I agree.” Vaughan said. “We haven’t had something to drink in a long time and let’s face it, after all the shit we’ve been through we deserve to get wasted. If the guy is dangerous, we’ll just beat them up right?” Vaughan put back on his glasses and flashed Nate a smile. Something about the smile seemed off to Nate, but he didn’t know why. Charlie was staring at Vaughan like she had never seen him before.
Vaughan clapped his hands. “Let’s procure ourselves some alcohol!” He cheered. Vaughan took hold of his bow and bag of arrows, climbed over his girlfriend, opened the door and went out. The two of them watched him go.
| What are we waiting for? |
| He seems happy | | Does Vaughan have MPD? |
| ... |
“...Does Vaughan have MPD?” Nate asked.
“It’s called DID now, and no. He doesn’t.” She said.
“Then what the fuck? He wasn’t acting like that a minute ago.” Nate said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him act that way.” Charlie said. Nate shook his head and got out of the truck. Vaughan’s odd personality change could be dealt with later. There was a bottle or two waiting for him and that was far more important.
They walked on the manmade path through the woods. Bugs flew around them and whined in their ears. They did their best to wave them away. Vaughan walked in front of Nate and Charlie, tripping every so often on invisible obstacles. The two men held small boxes filled with supplies in their hands. Charlie refused to bring anything.
“What if these people are bandits?” Charlie grumbled.
| There’s more than one now? |
| You never stop bitching do you? | | Then you’ll need to be careful |
| ... |
“Then you’ll need to be careful. They might try to take advantage of you.” Nate told her.
(?) Charlie noticed your concern
“I don’t think I have to worry.” Charlie said. “Bandits only prey on women and, apparently, I look like a boy!” She said this last part frowning at him. Nate smirked.
They made it to a clearing where a small camp laid. There were two tents, a table, and a fire with a pot cooking on top. There were seven people in the area; talking to each other, sitting by the fire, reading, and taking turns drinking out of bottles of alcohol. Nate’s attention was fixated on the bottles that he didn’t notice what these people were until they all began to stare at the three of them.
“Fuck, they’re bandits.” Nate said.
“Who the hell are they?” One of them asked. The rest of the bandits looked at a man who Nate presumed was the leader.
“Never mind that! Get them and take their things!” The leader said. Three of the masked men advanced towards them. The others looked for their crossbows. Nate dropped his box and shot one of them in the chest. The bandit screamed, clutching his chest as he fell.
“Run!” Nate screamed. All three of them sprinted back into the woods.
“Motherfuckers! Get them!” The leader screamed. The thieves let out a battle cry as they chased after them. Trees flew past them as they ran back towards the main road. Vaughan fought to keep his balance as he ran. Nate panted hard as his legs kicked off the ground. The sounds of the mob grew nearer. For a horrible moment he thought he was back in his dream with the hoard of zombies and the field of flowers, but he hastily pushed this thought out of his mind.
“We won’t make it to the truck! We have to confront them!” Charlie shouted as they ran.
“Damn it!” Nate said. They stopped, turned around, and hid behind three adjacent trees. Charlie was to the left of him and Vaughan was to the right. The bandits were getting closer, arrows zipping in their direction.
“When we attack them, we have to keep moving and keep cover!” Nate ordered. “Charlie, you don’t have a gun so be careful!” Charlie nodded. Nate grabbed hold of the tree and aimed his gun.
“Go!” He yelled.
(o)(o)(o)
Nate shot at a bandit directly in front of him and hit him in the head. The other two shots missed his next target, a man to his right. He hid behind the tree and two arrows zoomed past where he had been standing. He ran to another tree, narrowly missing more arrows.
He looked to see what Charlie and Vaughan were doing. Charlie hid behind a tree and waited for a bandit to run near. When he got closer, Charlie stabbed him in the stomach. Vaughan shot two in the shoulder and was aiming to shoot another one. Nate looked away from them and raised his gun.
(o)(o)(o)(o)
Nate shot the two that had been hit by Vaughan’s arrows.
“There’s two more left!” Nate said. The leader of the bandits, seeing the rest of his men dead, grabbed hold of his last member and pulled him back. They both turned around and tried to go back their camp. Nate ran after them, pushing his body off of any trees that were in the way. His mind was burning with anger as he ran.
(o)
He shot the leader in the back as the bandit was a few feet away from the clearing. The leader struggled to his hands and knees. He tried to crawl back to the camp, swearing and panting heavily.
Nate walked up to the leader and slammed his foot on his back. The side of the leader’s face was forced against the grass and dirt.
“Don’t you fucking dare shoot me!” The leader screamed, spit flying out of his mouth. “Don’t you fucking da-” Nate shot him in the head. Blood, brains, and skull fragments gushed out of the man’s head. His body spasmed violently, legs and arms moving in an erratic death dance.
(o)
Nate stepped off the body and shot it. It kept moving.
“Fuck you.” He snarled.
(o)
“Fuck you.”
(o)
“Fuck you!” Nate knew that the man was already dead. He knew that it was only moving due to the nerves firing around in the body. None of that knowledge helped him stop shooting.
“All I wanted was some Goddamn alcohol-”
(o)
“But you had to get your stupid lackeys to try and kill us-”
(o)
“And now your dead but you won’t stop moving. Stop fucking moving!”
(o)(o)(o)
Nate heard a scream in front of him and looked up. Vaughan was kneeling on top of someone. Nate looked back down at the hole filled body. The spasms had stopped. Nate stepped around the puddle of blood growing out of the man and walked towards Vaughan.
(o) Look at Vaughan
His friend had one leg bend on top of the bandit’s chest and the other on the ground beside him. He held an arrow in his left hand and was swaying it back and forth in front of the bandit’s eye. His other hand covered the bandit’s mouth. Nate stood to the side of the two of them and watched.
“It wouldn’t be hard to take your eye out.” Vaughan said. “I could stab the arrow in, twist, and pull it out. Pop!” He giggled. The bandit’s pleas were muffled against his hand. The thief shook his head, tears forming in the corners of his wide eyes. Just as it seemed that Vaughan preparing force the arrow down, the sadistic tint Nate had seen in his eyes went away. The smile fell from the younger man’s face.
“...Oh my God.” Vaughan said, horror growing in his voice. He pulled the arrow away from the man’s eye. “Oh my God. I am so sorry, I-” He moved his leg off the bandit. The man took this opportunity to roll onto his stomach, push himself off the ground and dash off. Nate pointed his gun at the fleeing bandit and pulled the trigger. The gun made a clicking noise.
“Shit.” Nate grunted. The bandit ran into the woods and out of sight.
“Nate.” Charlie said as she entered the clearing. Nate looked at her. “The only reason why I’m not incredibly pissed off at you right now is because I believe finding this camp was worth dodging some arrows. Bandit’s rob people all the time, I’m sure we’re standing in front of some very useful stuff. But,” She was standing close to Nate now, glaring up at him. “If it turns out I’m wrong, I will fucking kill you for putting us in danger again.”
| No you won’t |
| We’re going to find lots of stuff |
| Don’t threaten me |
| ... |
“You’re not going to kill shit.” Nate retorted, frowning back at her.
“That’s what you think.” Charlie said. “But unlike you, I know how to choke people. Now let’s get the supplies and get out.” She purposefully bumped into his shoulder as she passed him and made her way to the table. Vaughan cupped his face in his hands.
Vaughan was breathing heavily, the sounds of his shaky breath echoing off the palms of his hands. He heard Nate getting closer and slid his hands down his face.
“Hi.” Vaughan said. His voice was low and shaking. The corners of his mouth rose up in an attempt to smile. After a moment they twitched back down again.
| That was different |
| Are you all right? | | Hi |
| ... |
“Hi.” Nate replied. Vaughan tried to smile again.
“About what just happened...” Vaughan said. He wrapped an arm around himself. “I- I don’t... I mean...”
| Just tell me |
| I don’t care why it happened |
| You don’t have to tell me |
| ... |
“Just tell me.” Nate said. Vaughan inhaled, held it, and let it out.
“I don’t understand! One minute I was fine and then I started acting all strange and horrible!” Vaughan said. He took off his glasses and ran a hand through his hair.
“Did you black out?” Nate asked. Vaughan shook his head.
“No, I didn’t. I was fully aware of what I was doing. I just didn’t care.” He told him. “He might have deserved it, but that’s not the point! I don’t know why I acted like that...”
| That doesn’t seem so bad | | It’s mood swings |
| Maybe it was a one-time thing |
| ... |
“So you’re having mood swings then. Isn’t that another symptom of brain cancer?” Nate suggested.
“It is a symptom.” Vaughan said after a pause. “But... I don’t think you can call what happened a mood swing. Normal mood swings is going from being sad to happy. I was going to gorge that man’s eye out! I even laughed about it!” Vaughan’s glasses trembled in his hand. His bit his lip, watery eyes staring at Nate.
“Maybe you’re right,” Vaughan continued. His voice was thick with fear and wavered. “Maybe I acted like that because I’m sick. But what if it isn’t the cancer? What if the apocalypse is making me lose my mind?”
| Then you won’t be alone | | It’s the cancer |
| We can’t stop the apocalypse |
| ... |
“It’s the cancer. Trust me, you’re not going crazy.” Nate told him.
(?) Vaughan will remember that
Vaughan looked away, eyes downcast. “Maybe.” He said hesitantly.
“...Let’s just look for supplies.” Nate sighed. Vaughan nodded. He placed his glasses back on and made his way to one of the tents. Nate turned his face up to the sky and frowned at the clouds. Charlie was completely ruthless and cold, he was a possible psychopath, and now the cancer was fucking up Vaughan’s head.
“I wonder how long it’ll take before we kill each other.” Nate murmured to himself. He looked back at the camp and walked forward.
There were boxes piled up around the camp. Most of them were closed, but the few that were opened had an assortment of supplies in them. Nate pick up a can from one of the boxes and shook it. It was full.
“All these boxes make it look like they were getting ready to leave.” Vaughan said from the tent.
“They didn’t look like they were packing up when we got here.” Nate told him.
“Maybe they were taking a break?” Vaughan suggested. Nate shrugged.
(o) Look at pot
Nate heard boiling coming from the pot on top of the fire. He picked up a stick and used it to knock over the lid.
“Its just water.” Nate said. “Probably trying to purify it or make soup. I haven’t had hot soup in a long time...”
(o) Look at table
Nate walked to the table. More boxes were stacked on top of it. Nate was about to look through them when a loud noise startled him. He jumped back.
It was Charlie. She had activated a propane torch, looking at the blue flame escaping from the top. She turned it off and placed it back on the table.
(o) Talk to Charlie
“There are a lot of usefully things here.” Nate said.
“So it seems.” Charlie replied civilly. Nate walked away from the table and went to tent Vaughan was near.
(o) Look at alcohol
The bottles were in a box beside the tent. They were the most beautiful bottles Nate ever saw. He smiled.
“Fucking finally.” He said.
(o) Drink alcohol
Nate pulled one of the bottles from out of the box.
“Parsons’ whiskey.” He read. “I’ve never had whiskey before.”
“Tell me how it tastes okay?” Vaughan said. Nate opened the bottle and took a huge swig out of it. He enjoyed the taste for two seconds before, it seemed to Nate, the whiskey materialized a fist in his mouth and punched him in the throat. He pulled the bottle away from his mouth, coughing violently.
“Fuck!” Nate cried. He bent over and kept coughing, the strong flavor still assaulting his body. Vaughan looked mildly concerned.
“It has a kick to it then?” Vaughan asked. Nate did his best to stand up straight and nodded.
“It has a kick,” Nate strained out. “Like deep-throating a foot is a kick. Holy crap.”
“So it’s bad?” Vaughan asked.
“No, no, it’s perfect.” Nate said. “We’re taking all of it.” Vaughan raised an eyebrow at him and looked back into the tent. Nate put the lid on the bottle and put the whiskey back into the box. He looked at the other tent across from him and walked towards it.
(o) Open tent
Nate opened the tent up. Other than clothes, sleeping bags, and blankets, there seemed to be nothing of value. Then he saw the book.
(o) Look at book
It was an average, leatherback book. The spine was worn out and a few of the pages were torn.
“Should I take it?” He asked himself. “It doesn’t look very useful.”
(o) Take book
“Fuck it.” He said. Nate took the book, put it in his jacket pocket, and left the tent.
They took the last of the supplies from the camp and placed them into the back of the truck. The afternoon sun beat down on them. Though Nate wished that he could find a swimming pool or some body of water he could cool himself down with, the heat was tolerable now that he had something to drink.
Taking another swig of whiskey, he briefly wondered if it was worth becoming an alcoholic if it meant he would be calm. It was hard for him to believe that he had become so anxious; he hadn’t been stress-prone before the apocalypse and until recently, other than worries of his mental health, he had taken everything in stride. Now he was constantly on edge. Charlie and Vaughan had no idea how bad it was, even if they could see he was tense.
“How bad are your dreams?” Vaughan asked. Nate moved the bottle away and coughed. He was slowly getting used to the whiskey, but it was still difficult to drink.
“What?” Nate asked after catching his breath.
“Ever since...” Vaughan paused. “For two days now you’ve been sleeping outside instead of in the truck. And that’s fine, but sometimes in the middle of the night I hear you making noises in your sleep. You sound like you’re in pain. And last night I heard you scream.” Nate frowned and looked away. Charlie turned away from the supplies and looked at Nate with mid interest.
| Don’t worry about me |
| Stop listening to me when I sleep | | Its not nightmares I’m having |
| ... |
“It’s not nightmares I’m having you know.” Nate lied. His tone was purposefully suggestive. Charlie walked back into the truck, rolling her eyes. Vaughan tilted his head at him, momentarily at a loss for what Nate was trying to say. It came to him after a few seconds. Vaughan’s eyes grew larger and a light blush went over his face.
“Oh. Um, okay.” Vaughan said lamely.
“Why do you always get flustered when we talk about things like this?” Nate asked. Whiskey knocked inside the bottle as he crossed his arms and leaned against the truck. “Is it a Japanese thing or what?”
“Charlie was born in Japan too, and she’s more... vocal about this kind of thing.” Vaughan said.
“Yeah, but she moved to America when she was a kid. You were fifteen or something when you came here.” Nate said. “Now I know you had sex before because-”
“No!” Vaughan exclaimed. “No no no no no!” The intensity of his blush was increasing. Nate snickered. Charlie rolled down the window and stuck her head out.
“You know,” Nate said before she could say anything. “People should be applauded for their ability to take his clothes off without him running out of the room, let alone sleep with him. Like you Charlie.” Charlie gave him a puzzled look, wondering where that comment had come from, before speaking.
“...Who said I was able to get his clothes off?” Charlie asked. Vaughan screamed something in Japanese and covered his beet red face in his hands. Nate laughed and almost spilt all of the whiskey on to the ground.
“In all seriousness though,” Charlie continued. “I make him do what I want so that’s never a problem. Are we leaving now?” Nate chuckled and opened the door to the truck. Charlie moved out of the way and allowed him to sit down. Vaughan slowly made his way to the passenger’s side. Nate thought he heard him say something about wishing he never learnt how to speak English.
| Wait | | Drive |
Before Vaughan touched the handle of the car door, Nate pressed on the gas pedal. The truck drove away from Vaughan.
Charlie shrieked. “Nate!? What the fuck are you doing!?” He drove fifteen meters head of the younger man before stopping. He stuck his head out of the window and looked at him. Even from this distance, he could still see Vaughan’s expression of dumb horror on his face. Nate looked past Vaughan and smiled.
“You better get to the truck before the zombies get you!” Nate called. Vaughan turned quickly around. The undead were walking towards him, rotting arms outstretched and grabbing for him. Vaughan ran, stumbling every so often.
| Wait | | Drive |
Nate drove another fifteen feet before Vaughan was able to reach the door.
“Nate,” Charlie said. “If you let my boyfriend get eaten I-”
“Relax.” Nate said as he stopped the truck again. He took the book out of his jacket and tossed it into her lap. She made a startled noise when it landed on her. “I wouldn’t do this if I thought he would get hurt. I’m just having fun.” Charlie frowned at him. Nate stuck his head out the window.
“Vaughan. Vaughan. Hurry up! I don’t have all day!” Nate called. Vaughan ran after the truck again, panting hard.
| Wait | | Drive |
Nate drove off again.
“You’re an asshole.” Charlie said. She opened the book and began reading through it.
“I know.” Nate replied. He stopped the truck and poked his head out the window.
He called out again. “Hey Vau- Oh shit.” Vaughan was bent over, gasping for air, with his hands on his knees. The zombies were getting closer to him. Nate reversed. A zombie was knocked over when Nate hit it with the back of his truck. He opened the door and pulled Vaughan in. The younger man let out a surprised squeak as he was placed over Charlie and Nate’s legs. Nate closed the door and drove away.
The stone woman on top of the fountain was covered in dried shit. She held a Roman style wine jug, to match her ancient Roman style clothing, which she elegantly poured out unseen water into the fountain below despite her ‘decorations’. The water itself was free from bird feces as far as Nate could see, but it looked no less dirty. Litter, leaves, and pieces of clothing added to the unappealing nature of the cloudy water, but Nate supposed he wasn’t any cleaner. Not like he was going to take a bath in this anyways. He stepped into the pool and laid himself down. Resting his head on a part of the base that wasn’t covered in filth, his hazy mind wondered where all the maintenance workers had gone.
“Why did we stop in a park?” Vaughan asked. Nate looked up at him. Whenever the younger man wasn’t looking at the truck and around the park, he was frowning down at him.
| I was hot |
| We’ll leave soon |
| [Mimic] Why did we stop? |
| ... |
“I was hot.” Nate said. “I saw the fountain and I thought, ‘Wow! There’s a place to cool off and stuff’. So I stopped and I’m here in the water now.” He paused, and then pointed to the statue above him. “She’s hot. I’d do her if she weren’t covered in shit. I’m not into that.” Vaughan took off his glasses and huffed. He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Nate, how drunk are you right now?” Vaughan asked.
| Not as much as I want to be | | A little drunk |
| Are you my mom? |
| ... |
“I’ll be honest with you.” Nate slurred. “I’m a little bit drunk. Not to the point where I won’t remember things, but I’m drunk enough so that my brain’s kind of fuzzy and my hangover will hurt a bit.”
(?) Vaughan is annoyed with you
“I can’t believe this.” Vaughan sighed peevishly. He put back on his glasses and stretched a hand towards Nate.
“We can’t stay here. I saw a man with a walkie-talkie leave from under the truck and run off. I think he might have been a bandit.” Vaughan said. Nate looked past the truck, expecting to see a man running off into the distance. He didn’t. “Get out of the fountain and give Charlie your keys.” Vaughan waved the fingers in his hands, expecting Nate to hand them over right away.
| You’re hallucinating again |
| I’m not giving you the keys |
| Let’s stay here a while longer |
| ... |
“You’re hallucinating again.” Nate told him. Vaughan tried to protest but he continued. “I know we didn’t drive that far away, but a bandit couldn’t have held on to the bottom truck for so long. Besides, we killed them all.” Vaughan let his arm fall to his side.
“You two killed them all.” Vaughan grumbled. “I didn’t kill anybody.” He looked around the park again. Charlie stepped out of the truck. Her head was down, inspecting the pages of the book as she went near the two men.
“Vaughan.” She said slowly. “I think we can find you a doctor.”
“What?” Vaughan asked. He went beside Charlie was tried to grab the book. She moved it out of his reach. Nate got out of the fountain and walked to them.
“This journal mentions a doctor community.” Charlie continued. Vaughan and Nate leaned closer. Charlie moved the book away from Nate. “You’re going to get the pages wet!” She told him. Nate raised his hands, smiled apologetically, and leaned back.
“Here,” She pointed to the paragraph in question and began reading. “Johnny’s been fucking sick for about a week now. He hasn’t been chomped, we checked him and made sure, but he looks God-awful. I think he has the black plague or some shit. We were thinking about offing him ‘cause we can’t have no burdens or nothing.”
“Then this twink comes out of nowhere and asks us if we got any sick people. We were gonna blow his fucking head off. I mean who the shit just asks people if they got any sick with them? Well, the guy gets nervous and starts explaining himself. Apparently he’s from some sort of doctor camp or something like that, and they want to get sick people and make them well so they have a better chance to survive the apocalypse.”
“Now boss-man wouldn’t let me ask any questions (asshat) but I have a lot of fucking questions. How did all the doctors find each other? How did they find all the things they needed, like beds or tents or fucking meds and medical equipment or food to feed everyone? How are they running the place? Why the fuck are they still doing their jobs when the world has ended!? If I were a doctor I would keep that shit to myself!”
“They are doing one thing properly though. The guy said that they’re not taking anybody in. You have to have a pass to go. The guy gave the pass to boss-man and I have no idea where he put it, but now we have to pack all our stuff. Apparently we’re all going to go to the doctor camp. I think he wants to take it over and make the doctors work for him, but what do I know? I’m just a stupid moron, right?”
Charlie closed the book. For the second time that day Vaughan’s eyes were watery, but his body had relaxed completely and he was beaming.
“I can get help.” Vaughan said, his voice soft and light. He let out the most relieved laugh Nate had ever heard. “I can get help.”
“You need a ticket though.” Charlie reminded him. “They’re not going to help you if you go to them empty handed.”
| We’ll get the ticket |
| Charlie’s right |
| What if it’s a trap |
| ... |
“We-” Nate started, and then an arrow nearly killed him. The projectile brushed past his cheek, moving fast enough to hurt without breaking the skin, before hitting the statue and bouncing off. The three of them spun around. There were five bandits surrounding them, their bicycles discarded a few meters behind the truck. They had their weapons drawn on them.
“How did you miss!? Your aim fucking sucks!” One of the bandits screamed at other. He had a walkie-talkie attached to his pants.
“I didn’t mean...” The bad aim bandit trailed off. He was the one who almost lost an eye to Vaughan. Charlie looked at both of her friends, silently asking them where their weapons were. Nate reached for his gun until he remembered that he left it in the truck. Vaughan’s own bow and arrows were in the truck as well. Charlie was the only one who still armed. She looked at the bandits and tightened her grip on the handle.
“You.” The new leader of the bandits pointed at Charlie. “Bring your knife over here.” She glowered at them, and Nate was sure that Charlie wouldn’t do it. She would throw herself at the thieves, swinging her knife wildly at them, and then be impaled by multiple arrows. She didn’t. Instead, she hesitantly lowered her knife. Before it touched the ground, the leader spoke up.
“No. I said bring it here.” The leader ordered.
“...Fine.” Charlie said. She walked forward. Nate and Vaughan had the same puzzled expression on their faces. Why wouldn’t he want her to kick it over? The man ran the risk of getting attacked this way. Even with the other four pointing their weapons at her, carefully following her every move, she still could slit his throat before getting hurt.
She pointed the hilt at him. “Here you go, you-” The leader’s fist connected hard with her lower jaw. Charlie’s head whipped to the side. She lost consciousness before she hit the ground.
“Charlie!” Vaughan screamed. He took a step towards her and an arrow landed inches from his foot. The younger man looked hopelessly at his girlfriend and backed away. Nate glowered at the bandits. His legs juddered from locking them in place to keep himself from charging at them. The bandit who had chastised the other for missing Nate picked up Charlie. Vaughan shouted something in Japanese.
“Don’t shout at me in your Jap language. You’re in America now. Speaking English.” The leader chastised. He turned to the other bandit and placed the knife across Charlie’s body. “You know where to take her. Don’t have too much fun.”
“Of course boss-man!” The man holding Charlie said ecstatically. Nate forced himself not to run up to him and rip his head off. The bandit got on one of the bicycles. He sat the unconscious Charlie on his lap and rode away. Vaughan’s look of complete horror and anguish followed them until they were out of sight.
“The both of you. Get on your knees. Now.” The leader demanded. Vaughan’s legs gave out and he fell onto his knees. He placed trembling hands on top of his head. Nate raised his hands and eased himself to the ground. The bandits closed the distance between the two of them until their world consisted only of a wall of masked men.
“Do you know what you assholes did?” The leader asked. He moved in front of Vaughan and bent over. “Well Jap? What do you think happened?” The younger man stared ahead of him, focusing on nothing. Nate thought he heard him say something about his mother.
The leader straightened himself out. “I asked you a question!” He growled. The bandit raised his leg and brought his foot down.
Nate shifted himself in front of Vaughan and took the blow to his shoulder. The pain spread across his chest. His leg brushed against the arrow on the ground as he fell back into the younger man. He grabbed onto his shoulder and hissed in pain. The haze of grief and apprehension lifted off Vaughan’s eyes. He pressed a hand against Nate’s back and unharmed shoulder and eased him slowly to a kneeling position. All the bandits laughed except for the one on Vaughan’s right, the one who had missed Nate.
“Are you alright?” Vaughan said into his ear.
Nate’s face twitched in pain but he managed to smile. “I’m kind of drunk remember?” Nate intoned. “This doesn’t too tough.”
“Oh how valiant.” The leader said. His sarcasm made the others, except for the bad aim bandit, laugh again. “So tell me hero, do you know what happened?”
| What? |
| We stole from you | | Fuck off you piece of shit |
| ... |
Nate looked up at him and snarled. “Fuck off you piece of sh-” He kept himself from screaming out as the leader slammed his foot into Nate’s stomach. He keeled over, gasping and coughing and feeling like he was going to vomit. Vaughan grabbed hold of Nate’s shoulders again. He whimpered something but Nate couldn’t make out what it was.
“I’ll tell you what happened.” The leader chimed in. Nate and Vaughan looked up at him. “The commotion the two of you and your half-breed friend caused back at the camp attracted the undead. Did you notice how there were only five of us that came to get you? There used to be more. But when we went back to the camp we were taken by surprise. Many of us fucking died.” The other bandits grunted in agreement. Nate slowly eased himself up again. The leader hovered over the two men on the ground. A sadistic glow glinted his eyes.
“Here’s what we’re going to do.” The leader continued, his voice soft with feign kindness. “We’re going to beat the shit out of the both of you. Then we’re going to kill you. After that, we’ll take our stuff back and meet up with your friend.” He paused and then added offhandedly. “I wasn’t quite sure whether the half-breed really was a chick when I made her hand the knife to me. I’m still not so sure, but I guess Eli can tell us when we get back.”
| I’m going to kill you |
| Leave us alone |
| You motherfucker |
| ... |
“I’m going to kill you.” Nate glowered.
“Oh, really?” The leader said, tiling his head at him. The bandit bent over Nate, his face inches away from him. “And how are you going to do that?”
(o)
Nate pulled the arrow from the ground, faced it forward, and stabbed it into the leader’s eye. The leader shrieked. The other bandits froze. Vaughan made a pained whimpering sound. Nate grabbed the back of the man’s head, and with a roar he forced the arrow into his brain. The leader screams turned into a high-pitched squeal and then ceased. Nate pushed him and the leader fell down like a bag of stones.
“Holy shit.” The bad aim bandit said. This caused the others to snap out of their paralysis and draw their weapons at Nate.
(o)
Nate grabbed one of the bandits. He seized his arm and twisted it behind his back. The man screamed in pain. Nate wrapped an arm around the bandit’s neck and forced the man to stand in front of him before the other one began shooting at him. The bad aim bandit didn’t move. The other thief released the arrows, aiming for Nate’s head. Nate dodged them, shifting his head from side to side. The man in his hold tried pull away.
<<<<Q>>>>
Nate’s hold on him tightened. He growled, pulling the bandit back. The fellow thief moved his bow erratically in an attempt to follow Nate’s movements without hitting the other bandit.
[E]
Nate gave a sharp tug at the bandit’s arm and the man jumped back up. The fellow thief released an arrow. It impaled the man’s eye. He went limp in Nate’s grasp. Nate dropped him.
“Fuck!” the other bandit cursed. He produced another arrow and drew it back. Before he could fire it, Vaughan stood up and shoved him over. The bandit stumbled back. He tried to keep balance and failed. He toppled over. The side of his head hit the truck before he fell to the ground. The bandit grunted and lost consciousness. Trails of blood oozed down his face.
“I will not throw up. I will not throw up.” Vaughan repeated desperately. He wrapped an arm around his stomach and covered his mouth, looking at the two dead men with identical arrows sticking out of their heads. Nate scowled at the bad aim bandit and the man balked.
“H-hey man.” The bad aim bandit stammered. He raised his hands in the air. “Hey I-” Nate darted towards the bandit and punched him in the face. The man shrieked as he flew to the ground. Before he had a chance to get up, Nate stomped on his stomach. He held his foot there as the man trembled in the grass.
“Where is Charlie!?” Nate thundered. Vaughan looked away from the bodies and stood beside Nate.
“I’ll tell you! Just- just give me some supplies.” The bad aim bandit said.
“What?” Nate asked indignantly. “Why the fuck would we do that?”
“I- I just need something to get me by.” The bad aim bandit explained. “I only joined them for protection, I swear! Now that they’re all dead... I just need something to support myself for a while. You can take everything else! I’ll even let you take the ticket the boss has on him!” Vaughan went to the dead leader and searched through his pockets. He took out a crumpled up, medium sized piece of paper. He smoothed it out and read it. A brief smile lit up his face.
“See! That’s okay!” The bandit said. “I’ll tell you everything after you give me some stuff!” The man dug his shaky hands into the earth.
“Or we could make you tell us where she is.” Nate’s voice was dangerously low. The man beneath him shrunk under his vengeful gaze.
“Just give him some of the supplies.” Vaughan said. Nate looked at Vaughan with an expression of pure disbelieve which turned into rage. When Vaughan stood beside him again, Nate clutched the younger man’s collar and yanked him forward until their foreheads touched.
“Your girl is probably getting raped right now,” Nate seethed. “And you want to reward one of his friends for it?”
“Of course not!” Vaughan said. He shook his head and Nate’s hat moved. “I know... I know what probably happening to Charlie right now. But there is absolutely no reason why we should be like that too. We’re better than that.” He looked away from Nate and stared at the bandit. “Nate, look at him.”
Nate did as he was told. A dark spot was growing on the bandit’s pants, starting from his crotch and spreading outwards. The man didn’t notice. He was digging dirt out of the ground, distracting himself from his fear of the two men in front of him.
“He’s not going to go after us and he’s not going to lie.” Vaughan continued. He looked back at Nate. “We won’t accomplish anything more by hurting him.”
| How do you know that? | | What if I want to hurt him? |
| You’re morals will get us killed |
| ... |
Nate looked at Vaughan. “What if I want to hurt him?” He asked. Vaughan closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
(?) Vaughan will remember that
“Please don’t.” Vaughan begged. Please don’t. Nate winced slightly. His hands uncurled from the younger man’s collar. Vaughan rubbed his throat and stepped away. Nate looked from the bandit, to the truck, and back to the bandit again. The man sat in the grass, pants soaked with urine and hands filled with dirt, waiting for Nate to do something.
Nate walked to the back of the truck. He heard both Vaughan and the bad aim bandit let out identical sighs of relief. He opened the tonneau cover. The back was filled with boxes.
(o) Look at box
There was an empty box on its side, waiting to be filled with the provisions the bandit needed to make it on his own for a while. Nate frowned.
(o) Look at whiskey
As he was looking for goods to fill the box, his eyes fell upon the bottles of whiskey and the propane torch.
“Why did she put those two so close together?” Nate murmured to himself. He paused when a thought entered his mind. “...I could set the bastard on fire. He’d talk then and he won’t come after us. The fountain is right over there so I could put him out before he burned to death.”
“Nate?” Vaughan asked.
“Coming.” Nate said over his shoulder. He looked back and forth between the empty box and the propane torch.
He picked the torch up and pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the box. He held the torch under his arm as he opened the bottle. After throwing the lid away, he held the two items in both of his hands and walked back towards the bandit.
“...What am I supposed to do with that?” The bad aim bandit asked once he saw the torch and whiskey. Nate ignored him and poured the whiskey on the man’s shoulder. Vaughan face tensed as Nate’s intentions dawned on him.
“Don’t-” Vaughan started. Nate pointed the propane torch at him and turned it on. Vaughan could feel the flame through his shirt.
“I’m going to burn the son of a bitch.” Nate said. “You can watch if you want.” Nate smiled at him. The crazed expression on his face made Vaughan recoil from the older man. Nate turned towards the bandit. Before the thief could even think of darting of, Nate slammed his foot into his stomach again.
“This is what’s going to happen.” Nate told the quivering man. “I’m going to take this torch and set you on fire. When you tell me where Charlie is, I’ll take the fire out.”
“No!” The man cried. “No! Please!” Tears ran down the man’s eyes. The dark spot on his pants grew in size. The bandit grabbed onto Nate’s leg, his grip tight and desperate as he pleaded to be left unharmed.
(o)
Nate yanked his leg away from the man’s grip. The bandit tried to crawl away.
(o)
Nate snatched the bandit’s arm and turned him forward. The man was blubbering, screaming for someone to help him.
(o)
Nate brought the propane torch down. The fire hit the bandit’s shoulder. The man’s upper torso burst into flames. The bandit wailed. He writhed on the ground, bawling in pain and fear. Vaughan ran up to the man. Nate grabbed hold of him before he could reach the bandit.
“You’re going to kill him!” Vaughan cried. He struggled against Nate’s grasp.
| No I won’t | | Stop being a pussy |
| Just hold on |
| ... |
“Stop being a pussy and shut up!” Nate shouted. Vaughan looked at his face and the crazed expression he saw again terrified him. The younger man stopped struggling. Nate let him go.
“I’ll talk! Oh God, I’ll talk!” The bandit wailed. “Fuck! Take the fire out! Take it out! I’ll talk!”
“Talk first, then the fire goes out.” Nate told him. Vaughan quaked in place. He stared at the screaming, burning man and couldn’t tear his eyes away. He placed a hand over his mouth and moaned.
“Ah fuck! Help me!” The man bawled. Nate looked at the smoldering man and felt nothing. For the first time since the apocalypse started, he didn’t mind.
It only took them two minutes to get to the town houses. It would have taken less time, but Nate accidentally took a wrong turn while looking for the place. The houses were cheap. It was clear that they needed work before the world had come to ruin, and now that there was no one to maintain the adjoining homes the place looked days from collapsing all together.
Nate and Vaughan stepped out of the truck. Nate could hear faint moaning sounds coming from some of the houses. He walked quietly over to Vaughan’s side and looked at him. Vaughan swayed where he stood. His eyes gazed distantly into nothing. Sections of his clothes were seared.
After he had let Vaughan drag the blazing bandit into the fountain, he made him leave the man in the pool without tending to his wounds. The man’s chest and face were ruined. The skin melted and sagged, boils formed like polka dots on his injured flesh. Vaughan nearly threw up. Nate left him alone as he drove to the town houses. The older man knew he had traumatized him.
Nate tapped his hand against the truck and the younger man reluctantly turned his attention to him.
“When we walk to house thirteen, we’re not going to make a sound.” Nate whispered. “We’re going to wreck the motherfucker who took Charlie, and then we’re going to get her out of there. Let’s go.” Vaughan nodded. His hands fidgeted anxiously with the bow in his hand.
/!\ Sneak up to house thirteen
They crouched down and crept forward. They passed house after house with the upmost care and caution. Vaughan lost balance a few times but managed to keep himself from falling. Nate counted the numbers of the doors they passed.
One, three, is Charlie dead?
Five, seven, did she get raped?
Nine, eleven, I’ll kill the son of a bitch!
Thirteen.
Vaughan and Nate move stealthily up the stairs and to the door.
(o) Look at door
The door was ajar.
“It’s open.” Nate said. A sweaty and musky smell wafted through the gap.
(o) Open door
Nate looked at Vaughan. The younger man nodded back, his eyes large but determined. Nate pressed his hand against the door and pushed gently until there was enough room for them to squeeze through. The two men went in.
They took a few wary steps into the home when something hit the door behind them. The door slammed shut. They spun around, weapons raised. There was no one behind them.
“Oh my god!” Vaughan whispered hoarsely. Nate followed his gaze to the ground and flinched. It was a head. The neck had been severed unevenly. Pieces of shredded flesh and bone hung from the opening. The eyes bulged, the mouth was open in a silent scream, blood oozed from the stab wound on its forehead, and the face muscles were tensed in extreme pain.
“It’s the man who took Charlie...” Vaughan strained.
“It took you two long enough.” A voice said from their right. They jumped and turned towards the owner of the voice.
“Charlie!” Vaughan cried. Charlie’s clothes were wrinkled and haphazardly worn on her body. Her kinky curly hair was tied in a loose bun, though a section of her hair was freed and frizzed outward. Blood dripped from her hands, her knife, and soaked into her clothes. She was smoking a cigarette.
Vaughan dropped the bow and ran to her. Charlie moved the cigarette away from her mouth before he embraced her. Vaughan kissed her lips, cheek, and neck with fervent relief. Nate let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and smiled.
“Are you alright?” Vaughan asked when he finally pulled his face away from her. “Did he hurt you? Did he make you do anything?” He placed his hands on her shoulders. Charlie put the cigarette to her lips and inhaled.
“He didn’t make me do anything.” Charlie said. “I did sleep with him though.” She turned her head away from Vaughan and exhaled the smoke. The two men gave her matching looks of confusion. Nate walked up to her.
“I don’t understand.” Vaughan said slowly. He sounded puzzled and concerned. “I thought you said he didn’t make you do anything.”
“He didn’t.” Charlie repeated.
| I still don’t understand |
| Why did you do that? | | Oh holy shit |
| ... |
“Oh holy shit.” Nate said, dumbfounded. “You slept with him on purpose?” She nodded. Vaughan’s hands fell from her shoulder like dead weights. All the questions tried to come out of his mouth at once and caused him to stutter pathetically.
“I know.” Charlie told her boyfriend. “Its quite surprising. Wouldn’t it have been terrible of me if I had kept it from you? It’s a good thing I told you right away.” She walked past the stunned Vaughan and left the house. Nate looked at him. Vaughan curled his trembling hands into fists. His head and shoulder’s sagged. It looked as if gravity had increased around the younger man, crushing him with its invisible force from the outside in.
She was standing at the bottom of the stairs. Smoke rings flowed out of her mouth. She tilted a head at Nate as he descended down the stairs.
“I haven’t had a cigarette in a long time.” She told him. “I’ve forgotten how good they are post-coitus.” Nate stopped in front of her.
| You couldn’t lie about it? |
| I’ve never smoked after sex |
| [Slap Charlie] |
| ... |
“You couldn’t have lied about what happened?” Nate said, irritated. “You were just compelled to tell him the fucking truth?”
“If I were going to lie about it I wouldn’t have slept with the bandit in the first place.” Charlie told him. She exhaled the rest of the smoke. “I’m going to tell you what happened.”
| Fine |
| I don’t want to know |
| Eww | | ... |
Nate crossed his arms and said nothing. Charlie went on. “When I woke up, Eli was carrying me towards the house. He saw that my eyes were open and he got scared, but he acted like he was tough shit and start threatening me. ‘If you scream I’ll kill you’ he says. ‘You don’t have to worry about anything’ I tell him. ‘I’m more than willing to do what you want.’ Now he may have looked stupid, but he wasn’t. Not by much anyways. He didn’t believe that I’d go with him without a fight.”
“So I started kissing him. Not only did that surprise him, but it also made him stop threatening me. He carried me into the house and he put me down. At that moment I could have killed him. The butcher’s knife was close by; I could have grabbed it and stabbed the asshole. But Vaughan needed to be taught a lesson. So I slept with him.”
“After we were done, he was very relaxed and I was... rather impressed, actually. He told me that the others were going to want to have me too. I told him I didn’t mind and he laughed. I asked him for a cigarette, he gave me one, I lit it, and then I decapitated him. It was somewhat difficult to cut completely through, he did struggle quite a bit, but in the end his head came off clean enough I suppose.”
“What do you think? Are you impressed?” She took another drag from the cigarette, held the smoke in, and let it out.
| Yes | | Somewhat |
| No |
| ... |
“Somewhat.” Nate admitted.
“Why somewhat?” Charlie asked.
“That you were able to decapitate the guy’s head is awesome.” Nate said. “That you slept with him just to get back at Vaughan is not fucking awesome!” Charlie rolled her eyes. “Okay, yeah, Vaughan lied to you. I know that sucks. And I would be fine with you doing something minor to get back at him. But what you did was not fucking minor!”
“It’s not like you never cheated before.” Charlie said. “Besides, Vaughan will get over it.”
Nate grunted. “You cut a man’s head off. That would be more incredible than it is now if you weren’t a fucking slut.” Charlie opened her mouth to speak when the bandit’s head flew past the both of them.
“Score!” Vaughan cheered. He put his leg down and hopped down the stairs. Charlie and Nate stared at him as he skipped towards them.
“Well Charlie!” Vaughan said. He leered at her and she moved away from him. “I can see why you fucked him. His was a face to die for!” Vaughan laughed again and walked towards the truck.
“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Charlie asked.
| It’s mood swings |
| What’s wrong with YOU? |
| Let’s just get out of here |
| ... |
“It’s mood swings.” Nate told her. “You know, from the tumor he has in his head.” He walked away from her before she could reply.
Nate flinched when he woke up. He could still hear the baby scream in his head. He shivered in the back of the truck. It was still nighttime, the stars were bright and mocked him with their peaceful appearance. He thought he heard an owl screech, which was odd because he swore he parked the truck in a parking lot. He grabbed onto the side of the trunk and pulled himself up.
A light hit his face and he recoiled. He reached for his gun.
“I thought you said sleeping was stupid.” Vaughan said. He moved the flashlight away from Nate’s face. He kept talking before Nate could reply. “You set a man on fire, even after I told you we didn’t have to. You set him on fire and I can still smell him burning.” Vaughan’s eyes glinted like pitchforks.
| What can I do about that? | | I’m not as bad as Charlie |
| Go back to sleep |
| ... |
“Yes, I lit a man on fire.” Nate said. “But at least I’m not as bad as Charlie.”
Vaughan scoffed at him. “You said you wanted to hurt him!”
“...I did,” Nate agreed. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t necessary.” Vaughan opened his mouth and Nate covered it with his hand. “Shut up and listen for a second. I had to hurt him. He wouldn’t have told us the truth otherwise. I know you think he differently, but you’re wrong. He hung out with those bastards willingly, he said so himself. He would have done shit like that on a regular with those fuckers, why would he stop if we gave him our stuff for free?” He moved his hand from Vaughan mouth.
“What Charlie did to you, that was much worse.” Nate continued. “She could have killed the bandit right away, but she didn’t because she wanted to get back at you for something you did because you were scared and you didn’t want her to leave you. Not that Charlie sees it that way but whatever.” The younger man looked away.
“I set that guy on fire for all of us, alright?” Nate’s voice went soft. “How the hell does fucking someone help anyone but her?” Vaughan looked back at Nate. All the anger that had been radiating off him was gone.
| Move over |
| Do nothing |
“C’mon up.” Nate said. “You probably don’t want to go back in there now that I’ve said all that.” He shifted himself to the side. Vaughan looked into the back of the truck.
“Is there enough room?” Vaughan asked, pointing his flashlight at the boxes.
“Sure there is.” Nate told him. “I kick around in my sleep so I move the stuff on the ground so I don’t break anything.” Vaughan looked at the boxes on the ground. He hesitated before climbing up into the back of the truck. He stumbled as he tried to sit. Nate grabbed hold of his arm and eased him down. After a moment of silence, Vaughan spoke.
“I fear for my mental health.” The younger man said. “I’m not sure if I agree with you in thinking that the cancer is ruining my mind. But whether that’s the case or not, I still need help.”
| We all need help | | You need a doctor and a therapist? |
| You’re going to get tougher |
| ... |
“You need a doctor and a therapist then?” Nate asked.
Vaughan sighed. “A therapist... the thing about therapists nowadays is that they’re either dead or in need of therapy.”
Nate nodded. “At least we found you doctors.” He said.
“Yeah,” Vaughan replied. He brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them. “At least I’ll have them. That’s more important, I guess.”
Silence fell over the two men again. Nate rested his head against the back window of the truck and sighed. Tomorrow would be less stressful. Tomorrow hopefully marked the start of normality in their lives again. That didn’t make what happened today easier to deal with. It didn’t make the nightmares bearable or his mental health less disturbing. Nate closed his eyes.
Comments
I wanted to name one of the episodes that, but I didn't know how that could fit with anything I have planned. However, I found a way. Not going to say how it fits because spoilers but the last episode will be named Walk Among The Cobras.
Thank you so much. I don't feel like I'm that good, but it's comments like this that make me try that much harder.
Thank you.
OH MY GOD!!!
Thank you, I can't wait!
...wait, do you know how Vaughan and Charlie looks like? I don't think I've been very clear.
*Because I realized I haven't really described how they looked like. I'm sorry these descriptions are so terrible*
Vaughan
Gender: Male
Hair colour: Black
Hair type: Straight, short
Facial hair: None
Eyes: Dark brown (Wears clubmaster type glasses)
Age: Three years younger than Nate (Nate is in his late 20s, early 30s according to the walking dead wiki)
Height: (I don't know how tall Nate is, so I'm going to use his body as a reference point for height) Top of his head reaches Nate's eye level
Body type: Average build.
Race: Japanese
Charlie
Gender: Female
Hair colour: Dark brown
Hair type: Curly kinky hair, medium length, tied into bun
Eyes: Violet
Age: Two years older than Nate
Height: Top of head reaches Nate's nose
Body type: Average build, androgynous features
Race: Half black, half Japanese
*Tell me if you need more physical descriptions*
And by the way I love how you described Charlie as "androgynous" haha. Suits her personality though. Vaughan and Charlie are both great characters
You're welcome. Thank you for doing this and liking my characters!
But I recommend checking his music out. Fans of hard blues will not be disappointed.
I'm going to check those out.
Also, searched up the glasses you say Vaughn wears, and they are friggin sweet.
The story is tailored by how you play.
TELLTALE GAMES
presents
SKYBOUND ENTERTAINMENT
Nate lay in a field of flowers. He watched the plants sway in the breeze and brush against him. The plants perfumed the air and made it sweet and musky. Nate noticed that the scents were weak, as if he smelled everything from far away. He didn’t know how this was possible as he was completely surrounded by flowers, but the longer he laid there the more it felt like his senses were distanced from his body.
He was aware that these were the same flowers that he had seen a little over five weeks ago, the ones that had been used for the flower memorial in honor of the man who was purposely run over. Vaughan had told him that he hoped there would be no more violence in his neighborhood, but there was violence everywhere now.
Nate lifted himself off the ground and looked around. The field of flowers met the afternoon sky on the horizon. There was no disruption in the meeting of these two planes except for a building to Nate’s right.
(o) Look at building
“...I feel sick.” He said to himself. His voice was low; he didn’t want anything to know that he was here, but he didn’t know why this was necessary. To his knowledge, he was the only person in this peaceful yet desolate world. He also didn’t know why looking at the building made his muscles tense, his stomach cramp, and caused him to feel an overwhelming sadness that started in his brain and leaked down to pool in his chest.
He shook his head and began to turn away. He couldn’t remember why the building was causing him so much physical pain and emotion distress, but that wasn’t important. He didn’t have to look at it. He needed to find his friends. He wasn’t sure where Charlie and Vaughan had gone.
He turned his back to the building and was confronted by a hoard of zombies.
Nate froze. There were hundreds of them; twitching, drooling, and groaning in makeshift harmony. He took a moment to wonder, panicked and unbelieving, how so many were about to sneak up on him without him noticing. Then he turned back towards the building and ran.
/!\ Get away from hoard
As he dashed forward he heard the hoard following him, their groans growing louder and more furious with every stride he took. He reached for his gun in the back of his pants, pulled it out, and shot at the zombies.
(o) (o) (o) (o) (o)
Streams of blood jetted from the heads of the creatures that he managed to hit. It was difficult for Nate to aim properly as he was running away. Didn’t matter, the mass of monsters couldn’t catch up to the speed that Nate was running. He could get to the building before-
Something grabbed Nate’s left leg and pulled. He screamed as he was forced face first into the ground. The pain from the impact felt distant. Recovering from the fall as quickly as he could, Nate turned on his side to look at the thing that had grabbed him. It was Anya.
“You murderer.” Anya snarled. “I was scared. I thought he was bitten. I just wanted to protect everyone. You murdered me due to a misunderstanding!” Her skin was pale. Blood trailed down the corners of her mouth and pooled around her stomach. Her hand held a ferocious grip on his leg and he could feel how cold they were through his pants.
| YOU were going to MURDER him |
| Get off of me now |
| ... |
“You were going to murder Vaughan, you stupid bitch!” Nate said. “Your death is your fault!” Anya screamed at him. The hoard of zombies was getting closer.
(o)
Nate shot Anya in the face. Her brains escaped out of the back of her head and her body fell to the side, positioning itself in the same way she had been when he had shot her five weeks ago. Nate stood up and ran. The distance between Nate and the mass of rotting monsters was shorter than it had been before.
(o)(o)(o)(o)
He shot at them again, only one bullet missing it’s target this time. He was halfway to the building when something cold seized both of his legs and pulled him down. Nate was able to free himself from the assailants long enough to turn himself onto his back and look at who grabbed him before his legs were held still. It was Guatier and Hanna.
“How can you have no sympathy for us?” Guatier grieved, his pale hands tightening on Nate’s leg. Blood seeped out of the wound on his shoulder and mixed with the blood leaking out of his and his wife’s stomachs.
“How could murder us and feel nothing?” Hanna moaned. Her eyes were as wide as they had been when she died.
| Charlie killed you two |
| Don’t touch me |
| ... |
“Charlie killed the both of you, not me!” Nate said. Their grip on his legs intensified. The smell of putrid flesh overpowered the flowers as the monsters drew near.
(o)
Nate shot Hanna in the head. The force of the bullet knocked her onto her back, laying the same way she did when she died. Her eyes were still wide.
(o)
Nate pointed the gun at Guatier and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.
“Shit!” Nate cried. The footsteps of the undead mob grew louder.
(o)
Nate raised his free leg and kicked Guatier in the face. He felt the older man’s nose break and flatten under the heel of his foot. The man didn’t let go.
(o)
Nate drew his foot back and kicked him again. The bones in the man’s cheek dented inwards. He still didn’t let go.
(o)
Nate heard Guatier’s teeth break. The zombies were getting closer.
(o)
With all of his strength, Nate kicked him in the forehead. Pieces of Guatier’s skull broke off and impaled him in the brain. The man keeled over. Before he stood up and ran away from the advancing monsters, Nate heard Guatier make a wet and painful gasp.
Nate ran the last hundred meters as fast as he could; stumbling on tired legs, panting hard, and not bothering to look behind him. He couldn’t stop himself by the time he reached the entrance to the building. His body slammed into the door. Nate didn’t let himself focus on the pain from the impact, which was distant anyways, and pulled at the door. It wouldn’t open. There were boards nailed to the door and writing spray painted in large letters. Nate read them.
“No.” Nate said. He meant to sound stubborn but his voice came out weak and scared. He quickly turned around and saw that the monsters a few feet away. He backed up and pressed against the door. He didn’t want to go in there again, once had been horrible enough, but he knew if he did he would be able to escape the hoard.
Nate looked to his right. He saw the broken window and darted to it. He put his hands on the ledge, paused, heard the zombies getting closer, and jumped through the window.
When his feet touched the other side, he was not in the hall with the map at the end as he should have been. He was standing in front of the pharmacy. Startled, Nate looked behind him, expecting to see the window looking out to the field of flowers and the living dead. The window was gone, replaced by the corridor that led to this place.
Nate wanted to leave, but his feet wouldn’t move. He stood in front of the pharmacy, waiting for the thing that he hoped he wouldn’t see but knew he would. All of his senses, which had been dulled before, were now mercilessly heightened. The litter, the dusty counters, the stale air, the bloody floors, and the hazardous darkness; everything in the hospital seemed more real and more oppressive than anything Nate went through since the apocalypse started.
(o) Look at pharmacy
He pointed his flashlight at the pharmacy and waited, wondering feverishly at what point he had picked the flashlight up. The light trembled with the movement of his hand. The trembling grew stronger when the zombie walked out of the store. It had a bloody mess in its hands.
| Let her go |
| Stay away |
| ... |
“Stay away from me.” Nate whispered, his voice shaking. The zombie looked at him, stopped chewing and smiled. Bloody drool slimed down its face. Its broken teeth were filled with fleshy food debris. A chunk of meat fell out of its mouth. It looked down at the bloody mess, at what used to be a baby two days ago.
One of the arms of the infant had been torn off, only a few tendons hung from the shoulder. The other had a bite taken out of the upper arm. The lower torso of the baby had been completely devoured. The upper half of the baby was removed from the lower half. Her legs, which no longer received any signal from the brain, did not move. The rest of her did. The undead infant growled into the air, its arm reaching up to the ceiling as if trying to reach invisible prey. Its eyes rolled thickly in its head, focusing on everything at once.
The zombie holding the baby walked forward, stretching is arms toward Nate as if offering the infant as some macabre gift. The baby turned its head towards Nate and reached for him.
Nate screamed.
The hum of the engine, the tires moving across the pavement, and Vaughan’s occasional hisses of pain were the only noises that were made in the truck. Nate’s grip on the steering wheel cut off the circulation in his hands and made them go white. There were trees to both sides of the truck but he paid them little attention to them. His eyes where fixed on the road ahead. He had no fixed destination in mind; his current goal was to drive far away from the nightmare he had.
Vaughan sat beside Nate, holding his head in his hands. The muscles in his face tensed and twitched as he waited for his migraine to go away. Vaughan groaned something in Japanese and Charlie muttered a reply back to him. Whatever she said caused Vaughan to frown more but he gave no retort. Slowly, the pain lessened. Vaughan sighed and leaned back into his seat. He took his glasses off his lap and placed them on his face.
“...Are you alright?” Vaughan asked after a moment. Nate spared him a quick glace before looking away. “You look like you haven’t slept.”
| I’m fine |
| Sleeping is stupid |
| ... |
“Sleeping is stupid. I fucking hate it.” Nate grumbled. “I’m never sleeping again.”
(?) Charlie and Vaughan will remember that
“...Okay.” Vaughan said after a pause. “I’m just concerned. I don’t think you’ve been sleeping well for the last two days.”
“Do you know what I found out two days ago?” Charlie spoke up. “I found out that you had cancer.” Nate ground his teeth together and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“Charlie...” Vaughan sighed. “Please-”
“I still can’t believe that you didn’t tell me you were sick!” Charlie moved her head off of the window and faced Vaughan. Her face contorted into a nasty snarl as she talked to him. “I’m your girlfriend! You don’t just hide shit like that from me!”
Vaughan ran his fingers through his hair. “I was going to tell-”
“You keep on saying that. ‘I was going to tell you, I was going to tell you’.” Charlie interrupted. “But more than a month passed and you still didn’t say a Goddamn word to me! No one disrespects me like that.”
| You should have told her |
| Don’t be so hard on him |
| ... |
“Will the both of you shut the fuck up!?” Nate screamed. Vaughan and Charlie flinched away from him. “You two are so annoying with your bullshit!” Vaughan’s shoulders dropped and he looked away from him. He stared at the window closest to Charlie.
(?) Charlie and Vaughan will remember that
“Oh fuck you Nate!” Charlie snapped after the initial shock of him screaming. “You knew about Vaughan being sick too and you didn’t say anything to me either!”
“But you know now, so shut the fuck up!” Nate said.
“Or what?” Charlie demanded. “You’re going to fail at choking me again?” Vaughan looked away from the window.
“You choked Charlie?” Vaughan asked, his voice was high and hurt. Nate placed his forehead on the wheel and let out a heavy sigh.
“God, I need a drink.” Nate said. There was a hint of desperation in his voice. Charlie huffed and rolled her eyes.
“...You shouldn’t drive like that.” Vaughan told him. Nate glared at him before sitting up straight. The younger man looked back outside the window and was quiet for a moment before speaking again.
“We just passed someone with alcohol.” Vaughan said. Nate unconsciously slowed down the truck.
| We could trade with them |
| Are you sure they’re real? |
| ... |
“We could trade with them. Get some alcohol that way.” Nate said. He didn’t ask for any details and he didn’t need them. He was so desperate for a drink that it didn’t occur to him that Vaughan might be hallucinating. Nate needed something to take the edge off and allow him to forget about psychopathy and nightmares and dead children.
Charlie shook her head. “We shouldn’t do that.” She warned. “Food and supplies are more important than alcohol.”
| More important than alcohol? |
| That’s true |
| ... |
“We’re not going to give everything away.” Nate said irritably as he stopped the truck. “Don’t give your tubes tied up in a knot.” Charlie growled indignantly. She was about to reply when Vaughan spoke up.
“We should get the alcohol.” He said. Nate and Charlie looked at him surprised.
| Then it’s settled |
| Seriously? |
| ... |
“Seriously?” Nate asked, arching an eyebrow at him. “You’re agreeing with me? I thought you’d be more ‘practical’ like Charlie and agree with her.” Vaughan laughed at took off his glasses. He gave Nate a sneaky sideways glace as he wiped him.
“Fuck yeah, I agree.” Vaughan said. “We haven’t had something to drink in a long time and let’s face it, after all the shit we’ve been through we deserve to get wasted. If the guy is dangerous, we’ll just beat them up right?” Vaughan put back on his glasses and flashed Nate a smile. Something about the smile seemed off to Nate, but he didn’t know why. Charlie was staring at Vaughan like she had never seen him before.
Vaughan clapped his hands. “Let’s procure ourselves some alcohol!” He cheered. Vaughan took hold of his bow and bag of arrows, climbed over his girlfriend, opened the door and went out. The two of them watched him go.
| He seems happy |
| Does Vaughan have MPD? |
| ... |
“...Does Vaughan have MPD?” Nate asked.
“It’s called DID now, and no. He doesn’t.” She said.
“Then what the fuck? He wasn’t acting like that a minute ago.” Nate said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him act that way.” Charlie said. Nate shook his head and got out of the truck. Vaughan’s odd personality change could be dealt with later. There was a bottle or two waiting for him and that was far more important.
“What if these people are bandits?” Charlie grumbled.
| You never stop bitching do you? |
| Then you’ll need to be careful |
| ... |
“Then you’ll need to be careful. They might try to take advantage of you.” Nate told her.
(?) Charlie noticed your concern
“I don’t think I have to worry.” Charlie said. “Bandits only prey on women and, apparently, I look like a boy!” She said this last part frowning at him. Nate smirked.
They made it to a clearing where a small camp laid. There were two tents, a table, and a fire with a pot cooking on top. There were seven people in the area; talking to each other, sitting by the fire, reading, and taking turns drinking out of bottles of alcohol. Nate’s attention was fixated on the bottles that he didn’t notice what these people were until they all began to stare at the three of them.
“Fuck, they’re bandits.” Nate said.
“Who the hell are they?” One of them asked. The rest of the bandits looked at a man who Nate presumed was the leader.
“Never mind that! Get them and take their things!” The leader said. Three of the masked men advanced towards them. The others looked for their crossbows. Nate dropped his box and shot one of them in the chest. The bandit screamed, clutching his chest as he fell.
“Run!” Nate screamed. All three of them sprinted back into the woods.
“Motherfuckers! Get them!” The leader screamed. The thieves let out a battle cry as they chased after them. Trees flew past them as they ran back towards the main road. Vaughan fought to keep his balance as he ran. Nate panted hard as his legs kicked off the ground. The sounds of the mob grew nearer. For a horrible moment he thought he was back in his dream with the hoard of zombies and the field of flowers, but he hastily pushed this thought out of his mind.
“We won’t make it to the truck! We have to confront them!” Charlie shouted as they ran.
“Damn it!” Nate said. They stopped, turned around, and hid behind three adjacent trees. Charlie was to the left of him and Vaughan was to the right. The bandits were getting closer, arrows zipping in their direction.
“When we attack them, we have to keep moving and keep cover!” Nate ordered. “Charlie, you don’t have a gun so be careful!” Charlie nodded. Nate grabbed hold of the tree and aimed his gun.
“Go!” He yelled.
(o)(o)(o)
Nate shot at a bandit directly in front of him and hit him in the head. The other two shots missed his next target, a man to his right. He hid behind the tree and two arrows zoomed past where he had been standing. He ran to another tree, narrowly missing more arrows.
He looked to see what Charlie and Vaughan were doing. Charlie hid behind a tree and waited for a bandit to run near. When he got closer, Charlie stabbed him in the stomach. Vaughan shot two in the shoulder and was aiming to shoot another one. Nate looked away from them and raised his gun.
(o)(o)(o)(o)
Nate shot the two that had been hit by Vaughan’s arrows.
“There’s two more left!” Nate said. The leader of the bandits, seeing the rest of his men dead, grabbed hold of his last member and pulled him back. They both turned around and tried to go back their camp. Nate ran after them, pushing his body off of any trees that were in the way. His mind was burning with anger as he ran.
(o)
He shot the leader in the back as the bandit was a few feet away from the clearing. The leader struggled to his hands and knees. He tried to crawl back to the camp, swearing and panting heavily.
Nate walked up to the leader and slammed his foot on his back. The side of the leader’s face was forced against the grass and dirt.
“Don’t you fucking dare shoot me!” The leader screamed, spit flying out of his mouth. “Don’t you fucking da-” Nate shot him in the head. Blood, brains, and skull fragments gushed out of the man’s head. His body spasmed violently, legs and arms moving in an erratic death dance.
(o)
Nate stepped off the body and shot it. It kept moving.
“Fuck you.” He snarled.
(o)
“Fuck you.”
(o)
“Fuck you!” Nate knew that the man was already dead. He knew that it was only moving due to the nerves firing around in the body. None of that knowledge helped him stop shooting.
“All I wanted was some Goddamn alcohol-”
(o)
“But you had to get your stupid lackeys to try and kill us-”
(o)
“And now your dead but you won’t stop moving. Stop fucking moving!”
(o)(o)(o)
Nate heard a scream in front of him and looked up. Vaughan was kneeling on top of someone. Nate looked back down at the hole filled body. The spasms had stopped. Nate stepped around the puddle of blood growing out of the man and walked towards Vaughan.
(o) Look at Vaughan
His friend had one leg bend on top of the bandit’s chest and the other on the ground beside him. He held an arrow in his left hand and was swaying it back and forth in front of the bandit’s eye. His other hand covered the bandit’s mouth. Nate stood to the side of the two of them and watched.
“It wouldn’t be hard to take your eye out.” Vaughan said. “I could stab the arrow in, twist, and pull it out. Pop!” He giggled. The bandit’s pleas were muffled against his hand. The thief shook his head, tears forming in the corners of his wide eyes. Just as it seemed that Vaughan preparing force the arrow down, the sadistic tint Nate had seen in his eyes went away. The smile fell from the younger man’s face.
“...Oh my God.” Vaughan said, horror growing in his voice. He pulled the arrow away from the man’s eye. “Oh my God. I am so sorry, I-” He moved his leg off the bandit. The man took this opportunity to roll onto his stomach, push himself off the ground and dash off. Nate pointed his gun at the fleeing bandit and pulled the trigger. The gun made a clicking noise.
“Shit.” Nate grunted. The bandit ran into the woods and out of sight.
“Nate.” Charlie said as she entered the clearing. Nate looked at her. “The only reason why I’m not incredibly pissed off at you right now is because I believe finding this camp was worth dodging some arrows. Bandit’s rob people all the time, I’m sure we’re standing in front of some very useful stuff. But,” She was standing close to Nate now, glaring up at him. “If it turns out I’m wrong, I will fucking kill you for putting us in danger again.”
| We’re going to find lots of stuff |
| Don’t threaten me |
| ... |
“You’re not going to kill shit.” Nate retorted, frowning back at her.
“That’s what you think.” Charlie said. “But unlike you, I know how to choke people. Now let’s get the supplies and get out.” She purposefully bumped into his shoulder as she passed him and made her way to the table. Vaughan cupped his face in his hands.
Vaughan was breathing heavily, the sounds of his shaky breath echoing off the palms of his hands. He heard Nate getting closer and slid his hands down his face.
“Hi.” Vaughan said. His voice was low and shaking. The corners of his mouth rose up in an attempt to smile. After a moment they twitched back down again.
| Are you all right? |
| Hi |
| ... |
“Hi.” Nate replied. Vaughan tried to smile again.
“About what just happened...” Vaughan said. He wrapped an arm around himself. “I- I don’t... I mean...”
| I don’t care why it happened |
| You don’t have to tell me |
| ... |
“Just tell me.” Nate said. Vaughan inhaled, held it, and let it out.
“I don’t understand! One minute I was fine and then I started acting all strange and horrible!” Vaughan said. He took off his glasses and ran a hand through his hair.
“Did you black out?” Nate asked. Vaughan shook his head.
“No, I didn’t. I was fully aware of what I was doing. I just didn’t care.” He told him. “He might have deserved it, but that’s not the point! I don’t know why I acted like that...”
| It’s mood swings |
| Maybe it was a one-time thing |
| ... |
“So you’re having mood swings then. Isn’t that another symptom of brain cancer?” Nate suggested.
“It is a symptom.” Vaughan said after a pause. “But... I don’t think you can call what happened a mood swing. Normal mood swings is going from being sad to happy. I was going to gorge that man’s eye out! I even laughed about it!” Vaughan’s glasses trembled in his hand. His bit his lip, watery eyes staring at Nate.
“Maybe you’re right,” Vaughan continued. His voice was thick with fear and wavered. “Maybe I acted like that because I’m sick. But what if it isn’t the cancer? What if the apocalypse is making me lose my mind?”
| It’s the cancer |
| We can’t stop the apocalypse |
| ... |
“It’s the cancer. Trust me, you’re not going crazy.” Nate told him.
(?) Vaughan will remember that
Vaughan looked away, eyes downcast. “Maybe.” He said hesitantly.
“...Let’s just look for supplies.” Nate sighed. Vaughan nodded. He placed his glasses back on and made his way to one of the tents. Nate turned his face up to the sky and frowned at the clouds. Charlie was completely ruthless and cold, he was a possible psychopath, and now the cancer was fucking up Vaughan’s head.
“I wonder how long it’ll take before we kill each other.” Nate murmured to himself. He looked back at the camp and walked forward.
There were boxes piled up around the camp. Most of them were closed, but the few that were opened had an assortment of supplies in them. Nate pick up a can from one of the boxes and shook it. It was full.
“All these boxes make it look like they were getting ready to leave.” Vaughan said from the tent.
“They didn’t look like they were packing up when we got here.” Nate told him.
“Maybe they were taking a break?” Vaughan suggested. Nate shrugged.
(o) Look at pot
Nate heard boiling coming from the pot on top of the fire. He picked up a stick and used it to knock over the lid.
“Its just water.” Nate said. “Probably trying to purify it or make soup. I haven’t had hot soup in a long time...”
(o) Look at table
Nate walked to the table. More boxes were stacked on top of it. Nate was about to look through them when a loud noise startled him. He jumped back.
It was Charlie. She had activated a propane torch, looking at the blue flame escaping from the top. She turned it off and placed it back on the table.
(o) Talk to Charlie
“There are a lot of usefully things here.” Nate said.
“So it seems.” Charlie replied civilly. Nate walked away from the table and went to tent Vaughan was near.
(o) Look at alcohol
The bottles were in a box beside the tent. They were the most beautiful bottles Nate ever saw. He smiled.
“Fucking finally.” He said.
(o) Drink alcohol
Nate pulled one of the bottles from out of the box.
“Parsons’ whiskey.” He read. “I’ve never had whiskey before.”
“Tell me how it tastes okay?” Vaughan said. Nate opened the bottle and took a huge swig out of it. He enjoyed the taste for two seconds before, it seemed to Nate, the whiskey materialized a fist in his mouth and punched him in the throat. He pulled the bottle away from his mouth, coughing violently.
“Fuck!” Nate cried. He bent over and kept coughing, the strong flavor still assaulting his body. Vaughan looked mildly concerned.
“It has a kick to it then?” Vaughan asked. Nate did his best to stand up straight and nodded.
“It has a kick,” Nate strained out. “Like deep-throating a foot is a kick. Holy crap.”
“So it’s bad?” Vaughan asked.
“No, no, it’s perfect.” Nate said. “We’re taking all of it.” Vaughan raised an eyebrow at him and looked back into the tent. Nate put the lid on the bottle and put the whiskey back into the box. He looked at the other tent across from him and walked towards it.
(o) Open tent
Nate opened the tent up. Other than clothes, sleeping bags, and blankets, there seemed to be nothing of value. Then he saw the book.
(o) Look at book
It was an average, leatherback book. The spine was worn out and a few of the pages were torn.
“Should I take it?” He asked himself. “It doesn’t look very useful.”
(o) Take book
“Fuck it.” He said. Nate took the book, put it in his jacket pocket, and left the tent.
Taking another swig of whiskey, he briefly wondered if it was worth becoming an alcoholic if it meant he would be calm. It was hard for him to believe that he had become so anxious; he hadn’t been stress-prone before the apocalypse and until recently, other than worries of his mental health, he had taken everything in stride. Now he was constantly on edge. Charlie and Vaughan had no idea how bad it was, even if they could see he was tense.
“How bad are your dreams?” Vaughan asked. Nate moved the bottle away and coughed. He was slowly getting used to the whiskey, but it was still difficult to drink.
“What?” Nate asked after catching his breath.
“Ever since...” Vaughan paused. “For two days now you’ve been sleeping outside instead of in the truck. And that’s fine, but sometimes in the middle of the night I hear you making noises in your sleep. You sound like you’re in pain. And last night I heard you scream.” Nate frowned and looked away. Charlie turned away from the supplies and looked at Nate with mid interest.
| Stop listening to me when I sleep |
| Its not nightmares I’m having |
| ... |
“It’s not nightmares I’m having you know.” Nate lied. His tone was purposefully suggestive. Charlie walked back into the truck, rolling her eyes. Vaughan tilted his head at him, momentarily at a loss for what Nate was trying to say. It came to him after a few seconds. Vaughan’s eyes grew larger and a light blush went over his face.
“Oh. Um, okay.” Vaughan said lamely.
“Why do you always get flustered when we talk about things like this?” Nate asked. Whiskey knocked inside the bottle as he crossed his arms and leaned against the truck. “Is it a Japanese thing or what?”
“Charlie was born in Japan too, and she’s more... vocal about this kind of thing.” Vaughan said.
“Yeah, but she moved to America when she was a kid. You were fifteen or something when you came here.” Nate said. “Now I know you had sex before because-”
“No!” Vaughan exclaimed. “No no no no no!” The intensity of his blush was increasing. Nate snickered. Charlie rolled down the window and stuck her head out.
“You know,” Nate said before she could say anything. “People should be applauded for their ability to take his clothes off without him running out of the room, let alone sleep with him. Like you Charlie.” Charlie gave him a puzzled look, wondering where that comment had come from, before speaking.
“...Who said I was able to get his clothes off?” Charlie asked. Vaughan screamed something in Japanese and covered his beet red face in his hands. Nate laughed and almost spilt all of the whiskey on to the ground.
“In all seriousness though,” Charlie continued. “I make him do what I want so that’s never a problem. Are we leaving now?” Nate chuckled and opened the door to the truck. Charlie moved out of the way and allowed him to sit down. Vaughan slowly made his way to the passenger’s side. Nate thought he heard him say something about wishing he never learnt how to speak English.
| Drive |
Before Vaughan touched the handle of the car door, Nate pressed on the gas pedal. The truck drove away from Vaughan.
Charlie shrieked. “Nate!? What the fuck are you doing!?” He drove fifteen meters head of the younger man before stopping. He stuck his head out of the window and looked at him. Even from this distance, he could still see Vaughan’s expression of dumb horror on his face. Nate looked past Vaughan and smiled.
“You better get to the truck before the zombies get you!” Nate called. Vaughan turned quickly around. The undead were walking towards him, rotting arms outstretched and grabbing for him. Vaughan ran, stumbling every so often.
| Drive |
Nate drove another fifteen feet before Vaughan was able to reach the door.
“Nate,” Charlie said. “If you let my boyfriend get eaten I-”
“Relax.” Nate said as he stopped the truck again. He took the book out of his jacket and tossed it into her lap. She made a startled noise when it landed on her. “I wouldn’t do this if I thought he would get hurt. I’m just having fun.” Charlie frowned at him. Nate stuck his head out the window.
“Vaughan. Vaughan. Hurry up! I don’t have all day!” Nate called. Vaughan ran after the truck again, panting hard.
| Drive |
Nate drove off again.
“You’re an asshole.” Charlie said. She opened the book and began reading through it.
“I know.” Nate replied. He stopped the truck and poked his head out the window.
He called out again. “Hey Vau- Oh shit.” Vaughan was bent over, gasping for air, with his hands on his knees. The zombies were getting closer to him. Nate reversed. A zombie was knocked over when Nate hit it with the back of his truck. He opened the door and pulled Vaughan in. The younger man let out a surprised squeak as he was placed over Charlie and Nate’s legs. Nate closed the door and drove away.
“Why did we stop in a park?” Vaughan asked. Nate looked up at him. Whenever the younger man wasn’t looking at the truck and around the park, he was frowning down at him.
| We’ll leave soon |
| [Mimic] Why did we stop? |
| ... |
“I was hot.” Nate said. “I saw the fountain and I thought, ‘Wow! There’s a place to cool off and stuff’. So I stopped and I’m here in the water now.” He paused, and then pointed to the statue above him. “She’s hot. I’d do her if she weren’t covered in shit. I’m not into that.” Vaughan took off his glasses and huffed. He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Nate, how drunk are you right now?” Vaughan asked.
| A little drunk |
| Are you my mom? |
| ... |
“I’ll be honest with you.” Nate slurred. “I’m a little bit drunk. Not to the point where I won’t remember things, but I’m drunk enough so that my brain’s kind of fuzzy and my hangover will hurt a bit.”
(?) Vaughan is annoyed with you
“I can’t believe this.” Vaughan sighed peevishly. He put back on his glasses and stretched a hand towards Nate.
“We can’t stay here. I saw a man with a walkie-talkie leave from under the truck and run off. I think he might have been a bandit.” Vaughan said. Nate looked past the truck, expecting to see a man running off into the distance. He didn’t. “Get out of the fountain and give Charlie your keys.” Vaughan waved the fingers in his hands, expecting Nate to hand them over right away.
| I’m not giving you the keys |
| Let’s stay here a while longer |
| ... |
“You’re hallucinating again.” Nate told him. Vaughan tried to protest but he continued. “I know we didn’t drive that far away, but a bandit couldn’t have held on to the bottom truck for so long. Besides, we killed them all.” Vaughan let his arm fall to his side.
“You two killed them all.” Vaughan grumbled. “I didn’t kill anybody.” He looked around the park again. Charlie stepped out of the truck. Her head was down, inspecting the pages of the book as she went near the two men.
“Vaughan.” She said slowly. “I think we can find you a doctor.”
“What?” Vaughan asked. He went beside Charlie was tried to grab the book. She moved it out of his reach. Nate got out of the fountain and walked to them.
“This journal mentions a doctor community.” Charlie continued. Vaughan and Nate leaned closer. Charlie moved the book away from Nate. “You’re going to get the pages wet!” She told him. Nate raised his hands, smiled apologetically, and leaned back.
“Here,” She pointed to the paragraph in question and began reading. “Johnny’s been fucking sick for about a week now. He hasn’t been chomped, we checked him and made sure, but he looks God-awful. I think he has the black plague or some shit. We were thinking about offing him ‘cause we can’t have no burdens or nothing.”
“Then this twink comes out of nowhere and asks us if we got any sick people. We were gonna blow his fucking head off. I mean who the shit just asks people if they got any sick with them? Well, the guy gets nervous and starts explaining himself. Apparently he’s from some sort of doctor camp or something like that, and they want to get sick people and make them well so they have a better chance to survive the apocalypse.”
“Now boss-man wouldn’t let me ask any questions (asshat) but I have a lot of fucking questions. How did all the doctors find each other? How did they find all the things they needed, like beds or tents or fucking meds and medical equipment or food to feed everyone? How are they running the place? Why the fuck are they still doing their jobs when the world has ended!? If I were a doctor I would keep that shit to myself!”
“They are doing one thing properly though. The guy said that they’re not taking anybody in. You have to have a pass to go. The guy gave the pass to boss-man and I have no idea where he put it, but now we have to pack all our stuff. Apparently we’re all going to go to the doctor camp. I think he wants to take it over and make the doctors work for him, but what do I know? I’m just a stupid moron, right?”
“I can get help.” Vaughan said, his voice soft and light. He let out the most relieved laugh Nate had ever heard. “I can get help.”
“You need a ticket though.” Charlie reminded him. “They’re not going to help you if you go to them empty handed.”
| Charlie’s right |
| What if it’s a trap |
| ... |
“We-” Nate started, and then an arrow nearly killed him. The projectile brushed past his cheek, moving fast enough to hurt without breaking the skin, before hitting the statue and bouncing off. The three of them spun around. There were five bandits surrounding them, their bicycles discarded a few meters behind the truck. They had their weapons drawn on them.
“How did you miss!? Your aim fucking sucks!” One of the bandits screamed at other. He had a walkie-talkie attached to his pants.
“I didn’t mean...” The bad aim bandit trailed off. He was the one who almost lost an eye to Vaughan. Charlie looked at both of her friends, silently asking them where their weapons were. Nate reached for his gun until he remembered that he left it in the truck. Vaughan’s own bow and arrows were in the truck as well. Charlie was the only one who still armed. She looked at the bandits and tightened her grip on the handle.
“You.” The new leader of the bandits pointed at Charlie. “Bring your knife over here.” She glowered at them, and Nate was sure that Charlie wouldn’t do it. She would throw herself at the thieves, swinging her knife wildly at them, and then be impaled by multiple arrows. She didn’t. Instead, she hesitantly lowered her knife. Before it touched the ground, the leader spoke up.
“No. I said bring it here.” The leader ordered.
“...Fine.” Charlie said. She walked forward. Nate and Vaughan had the same puzzled expression on their faces. Why wouldn’t he want her to kick it over? The man ran the risk of getting attacked this way. Even with the other four pointing their weapons at her, carefully following her every move, she still could slit his throat before getting hurt.
She pointed the hilt at him. “Here you go, you-” The leader’s fist connected hard with her lower jaw. Charlie’s head whipped to the side. She lost consciousness before she hit the ground.
“Charlie!” Vaughan screamed. He took a step towards her and an arrow landed inches from his foot. The younger man looked hopelessly at his girlfriend and backed away. Nate glowered at the bandits. His legs juddered from locking them in place to keep himself from charging at them. The bandit who had chastised the other for missing Nate picked up Charlie. Vaughan shouted something in Japanese.
“Don’t shout at me in your Jap language. You’re in America now. Speaking English.” The leader chastised. He turned to the other bandit and placed the knife across Charlie’s body. “You know where to take her. Don’t have too much fun.”
“Of course boss-man!” The man holding Charlie said ecstatically. Nate forced himself not to run up to him and rip his head off. The bandit got on one of the bicycles. He sat the unconscious Charlie on his lap and rode away. Vaughan’s look of complete horror and anguish followed them until they were out of sight.
“The both of you. Get on your knees. Now.” The leader demanded. Vaughan’s legs gave out and he fell onto his knees. He placed trembling hands on top of his head. Nate raised his hands and eased himself to the ground. The bandits closed the distance between the two of them until their world consisted only of a wall of masked men.
“Do you know what you assholes did?” The leader asked. He moved in front of Vaughan and bent over. “Well Jap? What do you think happened?” The younger man stared ahead of him, focusing on nothing. Nate thought he heard him say something about his mother.
The leader straightened himself out. “I asked you a question!” He growled. The bandit raised his leg and brought his foot down.
Nate shifted himself in front of Vaughan and took the blow to his shoulder. The pain spread across his chest. His leg brushed against the arrow on the ground as he fell back into the younger man. He grabbed onto his shoulder and hissed in pain. The haze of grief and apprehension lifted off Vaughan’s eyes. He pressed a hand against Nate’s back and unharmed shoulder and eased him slowly to a kneeling position. All the bandits laughed except for the one on Vaughan’s right, the one who had missed Nate.
“Are you alright?” Vaughan said into his ear.
Nate’s face twitched in pain but he managed to smile. “I’m kind of drunk remember?” Nate intoned. “This doesn’t too tough.”
“Oh how valiant.” The leader said. His sarcasm made the others, except for the bad aim bandit, laugh again. “So tell me hero, do you know what happened?”
| We stole from you |
| Fuck off you piece of shit |
| ... |
Nate looked up at him and snarled. “Fuck off you piece of sh-” He kept himself from screaming out as the leader slammed his foot into Nate’s stomach. He keeled over, gasping and coughing and feeling like he was going to vomit. Vaughan grabbed hold of Nate’s shoulders again. He whimpered something but Nate couldn’t make out what it was.
“I’ll tell you what happened.” The leader chimed in. Nate and Vaughan looked up at him. “The commotion the two of you and your half-breed friend caused back at the camp attracted the undead. Did you notice how there were only five of us that came to get you? There used to be more. But when we went back to the camp we were taken by surprise. Many of us fucking died.” The other bandits grunted in agreement. Nate slowly eased himself up again. The leader hovered over the two men on the ground. A sadistic glow glinted his eyes.
“Here’s what we’re going to do.” The leader continued, his voice soft with feign kindness. “We’re going to beat the shit out of the both of you. Then we’re going to kill you. After that, we’ll take our stuff back and meet up with your friend.” He paused and then added offhandedly. “I wasn’t quite sure whether the half-breed really was a chick when I made her hand the knife to me. I’m still not so sure, but I guess Eli can tell us when we get back.”
| Leave us alone |
| You motherfucker |
| ... |
“I’m going to kill you.” Nate glowered.
“Oh, really?” The leader said, tiling his head at him. The bandit bent over Nate, his face inches away from him. “And how are you going to do that?”
(o)
Nate pulled the arrow from the ground, faced it forward, and stabbed it into the leader’s eye. The leader shrieked. The other bandits froze. Vaughan made a pained whimpering sound. Nate grabbed the back of the man’s head, and with a roar he forced the arrow into his brain. The leader screams turned into a high-pitched squeal and then ceased. Nate pushed him and the leader fell down like a bag of stones.
“Holy shit.” The bad aim bandit said. This caused the others to snap out of their paralysis and draw their weapons at Nate.
(o)
Nate grabbed one of the bandits. He seized his arm and twisted it behind his back. The man screamed in pain. Nate wrapped an arm around the bandit’s neck and forced the man to stand in front of him before the other one began shooting at him. The bad aim bandit didn’t move. The other thief released the arrows, aiming for Nate’s head. Nate dodged them, shifting his head from side to side. The man in his hold tried pull away.
<<<<Q>>>>
Nate’s hold on him tightened. He growled, pulling the bandit back. The fellow thief moved his bow erratically in an attempt to follow Nate’s movements without hitting the other bandit.
[E]
Nate gave a sharp tug at the bandit’s arm and the man jumped back up. The fellow thief released an arrow. It impaled the man’s eye. He went limp in Nate’s grasp. Nate dropped him.
“Fuck!” the other bandit cursed. He produced another arrow and drew it back. Before he could fire it, Vaughan stood up and shoved him over. The bandit stumbled back. He tried to keep balance and failed. He toppled over. The side of his head hit the truck before he fell to the ground. The bandit grunted and lost consciousness. Trails of blood oozed down his face.
“H-hey man.” The bad aim bandit stammered. He raised his hands in the air. “Hey I-” Nate darted towards the bandit and punched him in the face. The man shrieked as he flew to the ground. Before he had a chance to get up, Nate stomped on his stomach. He held his foot there as the man trembled in the grass.
“Where is Charlie!?” Nate thundered. Vaughan looked away from the bodies and stood beside Nate.
“I’ll tell you! Just- just give me some supplies.” The bad aim bandit said.
“What?” Nate asked indignantly. “Why the fuck would we do that?”
“I- I just need something to get me by.” The bad aim bandit explained. “I only joined them for protection, I swear! Now that they’re all dead... I just need something to support myself for a while. You can take everything else! I’ll even let you take the ticket the boss has on him!” Vaughan went to the dead leader and searched through his pockets. He took out a crumpled up, medium sized piece of paper. He smoothed it out and read it. A brief smile lit up his face.
“See! That’s okay!” The bandit said. “I’ll tell you everything after you give me some stuff!” The man dug his shaky hands into the earth.
“Or we could make you tell us where she is.” Nate’s voice was dangerously low. The man beneath him shrunk under his vengeful gaze.
“Just give him some of the supplies.” Vaughan said. Nate looked at Vaughan with an expression of pure disbelieve which turned into rage. When Vaughan stood beside him again, Nate clutched the younger man’s collar and yanked him forward until their foreheads touched.
“Your girl is probably getting raped right now,” Nate seethed. “And you want to reward one of his friends for it?”
“Of course not!” Vaughan said. He shook his head and Nate’s hat moved. “I know... I know what probably happening to Charlie right now. But there is absolutely no reason why we should be like that too. We’re better than that.” He looked away from Nate and stared at the bandit. “Nate, look at him.”
Nate did as he was told. A dark spot was growing on the bandit’s pants, starting from his crotch and spreading outwards. The man didn’t notice. He was digging dirt out of the ground, distracting himself from his fear of the two men in front of him.
“He’s not going to go after us and he’s not going to lie.” Vaughan continued. He looked back at Nate. “We won’t accomplish anything more by hurting him.”
| What if I want to hurt him? |
| You’re morals will get us killed |
| ... |
Nate looked at Vaughan. “What if I want to hurt him?” He asked. Vaughan closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
(?) Vaughan will remember that
“Please don’t.” Vaughan begged. Please don’t. Nate winced slightly. His hands uncurled from the younger man’s collar. Vaughan rubbed his throat and stepped away. Nate looked from the bandit, to the truck, and back to the bandit again. The man sat in the grass, pants soaked with urine and hands filled with dirt, waiting for Nate to do something.
Nate walked to the back of the truck. He heard both Vaughan and the bad aim bandit let out identical sighs of relief. He opened the tonneau cover. The back was filled with boxes.
(o) Look at box
There was an empty box on its side, waiting to be filled with the provisions the bandit needed to make it on his own for a while. Nate frowned.
(o) Look at whiskey
As he was looking for goods to fill the box, his eyes fell upon the bottles of whiskey and the propane torch.
“Why did she put those two so close together?” Nate murmured to himself. He paused when a thought entered his mind. “...I could set the bastard on fire. He’d talk then and he won’t come after us. The fountain is right over there so I could put him out before he burned to death.”
“Nate?” Vaughan asked.
“Coming.” Nate said over his shoulder. He looked back and forth between the empty box and the propane torch.
He picked the torch up and pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the box. He held the torch under his arm as he opened the bottle. After throwing the lid away, he held the two items in both of his hands and walked back towards the bandit.
“...What am I supposed to do with that?” The bad aim bandit asked once he saw the torch and whiskey. Nate ignored him and poured the whiskey on the man’s shoulder. Vaughan face tensed as Nate’s intentions dawned on him.
“Don’t-” Vaughan started. Nate pointed the propane torch at him and turned it on. Vaughan could feel the flame through his shirt.
“I’m going to burn the son of a bitch.” Nate said. “You can watch if you want.” Nate smiled at him. The crazed expression on his face made Vaughan recoil from the older man. Nate turned towards the bandit. Before the thief could even think of darting of, Nate slammed his foot into his stomach again.
“This is what’s going to happen.” Nate told the quivering man. “I’m going to take this torch and set you on fire. When you tell me where Charlie is, I’ll take the fire out.”
“No!” The man cried. “No! Please!” Tears ran down the man’s eyes. The dark spot on his pants grew in size. The bandit grabbed onto Nate’s leg, his grip tight and desperate as he pleaded to be left unharmed.
(o)
Nate yanked his leg away from the man’s grip. The bandit tried to crawl away.
(o)
Nate snatched the bandit’s arm and turned him forward. The man was blubbering, screaming for someone to help him.
(o)
Nate brought the propane torch down. The fire hit the bandit’s shoulder. The man’s upper torso burst into flames. The bandit wailed. He writhed on the ground, bawling in pain and fear. Vaughan ran up to the man. Nate grabbed hold of him before he could reach the bandit.
“You’re going to kill him!” Vaughan cried. He struggled against Nate’s grasp.
| Stop being a pussy |
| Just hold on |
| ... |
“Stop being a pussy and shut up!” Nate shouted. Vaughan looked at his face and the crazed expression he saw again terrified him. The younger man stopped struggling. Nate let him go.
“I’ll talk! Oh God, I’ll talk!” The bandit wailed. “Fuck! Take the fire out! Take it out! I’ll talk!”
“Talk first, then the fire goes out.” Nate told him. Vaughan quaked in place. He stared at the screaming, burning man and couldn’t tear his eyes away. He placed a hand over his mouth and moaned.
“Ah fuck! Help me!” The man bawled. Nate looked at the smoldering man and felt nothing. For the first time since the apocalypse started, he didn’t mind.
“Tell me where Charlie is.” Nate said.
Nate and Vaughan stepped out of the truck. Nate could hear faint moaning sounds coming from some of the houses. He walked quietly over to Vaughan’s side and looked at him. Vaughan swayed where he stood. His eyes gazed distantly into nothing. Sections of his clothes were seared.
After he had let Vaughan drag the blazing bandit into the fountain, he made him leave the man in the pool without tending to his wounds. The man’s chest and face were ruined. The skin melted and sagged, boils formed like polka dots on his injured flesh. Vaughan nearly threw up. Nate left him alone as he drove to the town houses. The older man knew he had traumatized him.
Nate tapped his hand against the truck and the younger man reluctantly turned his attention to him.
“When we walk to house thirteen, we’re not going to make a sound.” Nate whispered. “We’re going to wreck the motherfucker who took Charlie, and then we’re going to get her out of there. Let’s go.” Vaughan nodded. His hands fidgeted anxiously with the bow in his hand.
/!\ Sneak up to house thirteen
They crouched down and crept forward. They passed house after house with the upmost care and caution. Vaughan lost balance a few times but managed to keep himself from falling. Nate counted the numbers of the doors they passed.
One, three, is Charlie dead?
Five, seven, did she get raped?
Nine, eleven, I’ll kill the son of a bitch!
Thirteen.
Vaughan and Nate move stealthily up the stairs and to the door.
(o) Look at door
The door was ajar.
“It’s open.” Nate said. A sweaty and musky smell wafted through the gap.
(o) Open door
Nate looked at Vaughan. The younger man nodded back, his eyes large but determined. Nate pressed his hand against the door and pushed gently until there was enough room for them to squeeze through. The two men went in.
They took a few wary steps into the home when something hit the door behind them. The door slammed shut. They spun around, weapons raised. There was no one behind them.
“Oh my god!” Vaughan whispered hoarsely. Nate followed his gaze to the ground and flinched. It was a head. The neck had been severed unevenly. Pieces of shredded flesh and bone hung from the opening. The eyes bulged, the mouth was open in a silent scream, blood oozed from the stab wound on its forehead, and the face muscles were tensed in extreme pain.
“It took you two long enough.” A voice said from their right. They jumped and turned towards the owner of the voice.
“Charlie!” Vaughan cried. Charlie’s clothes were wrinkled and haphazardly worn on her body. Her kinky curly hair was tied in a loose bun, though a section of her hair was freed and frizzed outward. Blood dripped from her hands, her knife, and soaked into her clothes. She was smoking a cigarette.
Vaughan dropped the bow and ran to her. Charlie moved the cigarette away from her mouth before he embraced her. Vaughan kissed her lips, cheek, and neck with fervent relief. Nate let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and smiled.
“Are you alright?” Vaughan asked when he finally pulled his face away from her. “Did he hurt you? Did he make you do anything?” He placed his hands on her shoulders. Charlie put the cigarette to her lips and inhaled.
“He didn’t make me do anything.” Charlie said. “I did sleep with him though.” She turned her head away from Vaughan and exhaled the smoke. The two men gave her matching looks of confusion. Nate walked up to her.
“I don’t understand.” Vaughan said slowly. He sounded puzzled and concerned. “I thought you said he didn’t make you do anything.”
“He didn’t.” Charlie repeated.
| Why did you do that? |
| Oh holy shit |
| ... |
“Oh holy shit.” Nate said, dumbfounded. “You slept with him on purpose?” She nodded. Vaughan’s hands fell from her shoulder like dead weights. All the questions tried to come out of his mouth at once and caused him to stutter pathetically.
“I know.” Charlie told her boyfriend. “Its quite surprising. Wouldn’t it have been terrible of me if I had kept it from you? It’s a good thing I told you right away.” She walked past the stunned Vaughan and left the house. Nate looked at him. Vaughan curled his trembling hands into fists. His head and shoulder’s sagged. It looked as if gravity had increased around the younger man, crushing him with its invisible force from the outside in.
Nate followed Charlie out the door.
“I haven’t had a cigarette in a long time.” She told him. “I’ve forgotten how good they are post-coitus.” Nate stopped in front of her.
| I’ve never smoked after sex |
| [Slap Charlie] |
| ... |
“You couldn’t have lied about what happened?” Nate said, irritated. “You were just compelled to tell him the fucking truth?”
“If I were going to lie about it I wouldn’t have slept with the bandit in the first place.” Charlie told him. She exhaled the rest of the smoke. “I’m going to tell you what happened.”
| I don’t want to know |
| Eww |
| ... |
Nate crossed his arms and said nothing. Charlie went on. “When I woke up, Eli was carrying me towards the house. He saw that my eyes were open and he got scared, but he acted like he was tough shit and start threatening me. ‘If you scream I’ll kill you’ he says. ‘You don’t have to worry about anything’ I tell him. ‘I’m more than willing to do what you want.’ Now he may have looked stupid, but he wasn’t. Not by much anyways. He didn’t believe that I’d go with him without a fight.”
“So I started kissing him. Not only did that surprise him, but it also made him stop threatening me. He carried me into the house and he put me down. At that moment I could have killed him. The butcher’s knife was close by; I could have grabbed it and stabbed the asshole. But Vaughan needed to be taught a lesson. So I slept with him.”
“After we were done, he was very relaxed and I was... rather impressed, actually. He told me that the others were going to want to have me too. I told him I didn’t mind and he laughed. I asked him for a cigarette, he gave me one, I lit it, and then I decapitated him. It was somewhat difficult to cut completely through, he did struggle quite a bit, but in the end his head came off clean enough I suppose.”
“What do you think? Are you impressed?” She took another drag from the cigarette, held the smoke in, and let it out.
| Somewhat |
| No |
| ... |
“Somewhat.” Nate admitted.
“Why somewhat?” Charlie asked.
“That you were able to decapitate the guy’s head is awesome.” Nate said. “That you slept with him just to get back at Vaughan is not fucking awesome!” Charlie rolled her eyes. “Okay, yeah, Vaughan lied to you. I know that sucks. And I would be fine with you doing something minor to get back at him. But what you did was not fucking minor!”
“It’s not like you never cheated before.” Charlie said. “Besides, Vaughan will get over it.”
Nate grunted. “You cut a man’s head off. That would be more incredible than it is now if you weren’t a fucking slut.” Charlie opened her mouth to speak when the bandit’s head flew past the both of them.
“Score!” Vaughan cheered. He put his leg down and hopped down the stairs. Charlie and Nate stared at him as he skipped towards them.
“Well Charlie!” Vaughan said. He leered at her and she moved away from him. “I can see why you fucked him. His was a face to die for!” Vaughan laughed again and walked towards the truck.
“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Charlie asked.
| What’s wrong with YOU? |
| Let’s just get out of here |
| ... |
“It’s mood swings.” Nate told her. “You know, from the tumor he has in his head.” He walked away from her before she could reply.
A light hit his face and he recoiled. He reached for his gun.
“I thought you said sleeping was stupid.” Vaughan said. He moved the flashlight away from Nate’s face. He kept talking before Nate could reply. “You set a man on fire, even after I told you we didn’t have to. You set him on fire and I can still smell him burning.” Vaughan’s eyes glinted like pitchforks.
| I’m not as bad as Charlie |
| Go back to sleep |
| ... |
“Yes, I lit a man on fire.” Nate said. “But at least I’m not as bad as Charlie.”
Vaughan scoffed at him. “You said you wanted to hurt him!”
“...I did,” Nate agreed. “But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t necessary.” Vaughan opened his mouth and Nate covered it with his hand. “Shut up and listen for a second. I had to hurt him. He wouldn’t have told us the truth otherwise. I know you think he differently, but you’re wrong. He hung out with those bastards willingly, he said so himself. He would have done shit like that on a regular with those fuckers, why would he stop if we gave him our stuff for free?” He moved his hand from Vaughan mouth.
“What Charlie did to you, that was much worse.” Nate continued. “She could have killed the bandit right away, but she didn’t because she wanted to get back at you for something you did because you were scared and you didn’t want her to leave you. Not that Charlie sees it that way but whatever.” The younger man looked away.
“I set that guy on fire for all of us, alright?” Nate’s voice went soft. “How the hell does fucking someone help anyone but her?” Vaughan looked back at Nate. All the anger that had been radiating off him was gone.
| Do nothing |
“C’mon up.” Nate said. “You probably don’t want to go back in there now that I’ve said all that.” He shifted himself to the side. Vaughan looked into the back of the truck.
“Is there enough room?” Vaughan asked, pointing his flashlight at the boxes.
“Sure there is.” Nate told him. “I kick around in my sleep so I move the stuff on the ground so I don’t break anything.” Vaughan looked at the boxes on the ground. He hesitated before climbing up into the back of the truck. He stumbled as he tried to sit. Nate grabbed hold of his arm and eased him down. After a moment of silence, Vaughan spoke.
“I fear for my mental health.” The younger man said. “I’m not sure if I agree with you in thinking that the cancer is ruining my mind. But whether that’s the case or not, I still need help.”
| You need a doctor and a therapist? |
| You’re going to get tougher |
| ... |
“You need a doctor and a therapist then?” Nate asked.
Vaughan sighed. “A therapist... the thing about therapists nowadays is that they’re either dead or in need of therapy.”
Nate nodded. “At least we found you doctors.” He said.
“Yeah,” Vaughan replied. He brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them. “At least I’ll have them. That’s more important, I guess.”
Silence fell over the two men again. Nate rested his head against the back window of the truck and sighed. Tomorrow would be less stressful. Tomorrow hopefully marked the start of normality in their lives again. That didn’t make what happened today easier to deal with. It didn’t make the nightmares bearable or his mental health less disturbing. Nate closed his eyes.
“I’m tired.”