The Walking Dead: Life And Death Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 4 [2/2]
Atlanta, Street Level, 1:14 PM. Day 4
Victoria
Oliver and Victoria were rushing through the alley, the African-American man often taking glances to make sure the walkers stayed distant from them. Victoria had a bit of difficulty keeping up; her injured leg limping along the way while the man resembled an athlete.
“So…this bar you’re settled in…you got other people there?” Victoria inquired, pausing once in a while to breathe.
“Yeah.” Oliver confirmed with a rapid nod, as they turned around the corner. They faced another extended, roamer-free street but devastated beyond belief. “I got my friends Jill and Andrey there. And the bar owner Anson. He’s a real nutcase though.”
Atlanta, Shed, 1:45 PM. Day 4
Bianca
Victor led Bianca through the woods. Their eyes flicked back and forth towards the dense forest, always paranoid that a walker or two would ambush them. “Look, Victor…where the fuck are you taking me?” Bianca asked, somewhat impatient.
“I’m taking you back where I’m holing up.” Victor explained in a vague manner. “I might have a hammer or something there. Get those cuffs off.”
“Why exactly are you doing this?” Bianca suspiciously inquired.
“Look, I’m already offering to get those restraints off, I don’t have to explain myself to you.” Victor harshly responded.
Bianca shook her head and didn’t say anything, her mind too jumbled up in random thought and confusion. Her distraction though, cost her to trip over her own feet. Her restrained hands prevented her to soften the fall with her palms, so she fell right in a face palm against the dirt.
Victor halted, twirling around and letting out a frustrated sigh at Bianca. The woman glared at him. “So…are you gonna help or what?!” Bianca demanded with a grunt.
Victor’s eyes flicked around in his orbits, showing that he was somewhat annoyed. He stood firm in his place, probably pondering if he should do it or not. Eventually, he marched up to her and gripped her shoulders, yanking her to her feet in a brutal way.
“Stop delaying us and let’s hurry.” Victor reprehended, beaming his finger towards the forest. Bianca peeked to where he was pointing and saw the outlines of a shed hidden amongst the vegetation. “We’re almost there.”
Atlanta’s Local Zoo, 8:01 PM. Day 4
Steve
The leopard known as Sunshine leans its paws on Steve’s tummy, as it licks it with eyes glowing with excitement. Steve smiles back along with a chuckle, as he petted it along its furry head.
Sunshine returns back onto its four-legged position. Sunshine has been Steve’s only companion since his father died. They complicity couldn’t possibly be denied. The two shared the pain and the laughter.
“Oh! Wait a sec’!” Steve exclaimed, sudden realization zapping into his brain. He plundered his hand inside the bucket and dug around through it, before he pulled out a hunk of meat, the size of his greasy palm. He tossed it onto Sunshine’s mouth, and the animal graciously caught it in the air with its mouth, like a dog catching a Frisbee. He chewed it with its sharp teeth and swallowed it in a matter of seconds. “Atta boy.”
As he saw the crumbs of meat being torn to pieces in the beast’s mouth, the worry of the lack of food concerned Steve even further. Sunshine, being his most loyal companion, could get for a couple days with little to no nutrition, but the other animals were different. Most of the creatures had fallen to the claws of the walkers, so the only remaining ones were the crocodile, Skinny, the elephant Big Paw and the friendly panther. But both of them wore down the rations pretty quickly. Steve had a stock of food that the zoo kept handy, and Steve had been rationing as well as he could, but the mammal and the reptile devoured them. Steve was overwhelmed with fear, that he would either have to put them down eventually or leave them for the walkers.
He was yanked back to reality once Sunshine ate the food. Strangely, it began growling and groaning, almost in a menacing way. Steve furrowed his eyebrows in bafflement. He knew that those threatening grunts couldn’t be towards him. Sunshine seemed to understand his tamer’s confusion, so it spun around and strolled towards the fence that surrounded the entire perimeter of the zoo.
Steve followed the panther closely, his mind riddled with anticipation and a certain anxiety instilled in his body. Sunshine sauntered near a very specific point in the fence. That part of the fence had a hole in it, and it was barricaded with a few nailed planks. Sunshine used its paws to scratch on the boards, as if he wanted to shove them out of the way.
Steve kneeled near the hole and rotated the planks, allowing the panther to pass through. He became more preoccupied, because he was leading him into the coniferous and dark forest that surrounded the zoo. But his gut also told him that Sunshine was wanting to show him something important.
Steve crawled through the hole in a prone position. Sunshine entered further into the woods. Steve was right behind it, in a protective stance, careful for any walkers lurking around the area. With each step he took, a smell of something rotten reached his nostrils, which almost made him vomit.
Sunshine stopped near a tree. By then, the putrid odor was intensified, and Steve had to cough and wave his arm to dissipate the smell. He could hear a hive of flies flying around. When he rose his head, he saw something that made his blood run cold and made him freeze on the spot.
A river of blood streamed down the bark of the oak-tree. In the gargantuan log of the tree, the body of a person was strapped on. This dead male’s legs were crossed, and nailed to the bottom of the tree with a massive nail. Its arms were nailed in two separate branches. The way the corpse was nailed to the tree resembled like it had been crucified to a cross. The person was apparently zombified. The man zombie had a stale, rotten skin, while its eyeballs didn’t show the pain of the crucifixion. Its moans were muffled by the sound of the flies hovering.
Steve ran back to the zoo, horrified, whilst the panther followed suit.
Atlanta, House In The Forest, 6:07 PM. Day 4.
Matt
Matt looked down at his backpack, rummaging through it. In his head, he was counting to see everything was accounted for. Canned food, water, matches, map, knife…
He had made a decision. He could no longer focus. Not with Billy around. At first, he managed to ignore it, but now Matt’s desire to find his family was bigger than ever. And he realized that he had to detach from Billy in order to succeed. He was leaving that night.
He slung one of the Marlin .22 on his shoulder, before he marched up the stairs. Even with the biters outside, he was sure he could run through the horde. Outside it was raining with downpour. He could hear the rain echoing down the sewage drains and wetting the grass. He didn’t have a brolly, but he’d make it.
He marched up the stairs, expecting to sneak out of the house. Once he entered the living room, Billy was surveilling through the windows. He noticed Matt near the main door.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Billy bluntly asked in a flat voice.
“I’m leaving.” Matt replied, his fingers already wrapping around the handle.
“What?!” Billy exclaimed loudly, like he had awakened from a deep slumber.
“You can’t stop me now.” Matt revolved the handle, before glaring at Billy. “Goodbye.”
Billy’s brain began running a mile as he heard the click of the lock opening. He had to stop Matt, but he didn’t want to engage into a fight with the dangerous herd outside. He found the solution when his eyes rolled towards a Marlin .22 butted against the wall.
Billy dashed towards it and grasped it, before aiming it towards Matt. The uneven weight made his arms sore, making his hands tremble. He could see through the open door a handful of walkers, appearance details hidden by the night, “Stop!”
Matt was already by the door frame of the open door, before he glanced at Billy. His eyelids extended and he froze in horror. “You…c’mon man. You really…gonna kill me?” Matt stammered.
Billy pressed the trigger. Matt shrunk, clouting his face with his hands like it would make the shot less painful. He whimpered, waiting for death to take him. But after a few seconds, he still felt very much alive in his body. The gun didn’t fire. He opened one of his closed eyelids, and saw that Billy had forgotten to load the gun.
“You…you…you…you were gonna shoot me…!” Matt stuttered in fright.
Up to that point, Matt believed that Billy could get over what had happened to his mother. But after seeing that he was willing to kill his sole friend, he began realizing that perhaps Billy was too far gone.
“I’m…” Billy sputtered and gulped, dropping the gun like it was a cursed object. His head jerked towards the door, when an expression of dread was stamped on his face. “THE DOOR!”
When Matt spun around, he saw that the walkers had noticed their argument, and were biting, battering their jaws and staggering towards them. Matt should’ve shut the door, but the fear usurped his legs and forced him to flee in the other direction.
Billy groaned in anger, picking the gun back up. This time loading a round discretely. “TO THE BASEMENT!” He roared with a furious voice.
A/N: If you’re still reading, thanks a lot for being patient. I really couldn’t find the time to write this. Expect updates to be more frequent (this time it’s a promise). I think I'm gonna focus the next chapter on these characters' personalities and give them distinct features. There will also be a moral choice within. See ya next time!
The character I submitted, Hopeless, was pretty badly made, but you've turned it around and made him into a amazing character that I love! He's on that road, I can see that now... He's almost too far gone. This was well worth the wait, amazing work!
The Walking Dead: Life And Death Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 4 [2/2]
Atlanta, Street Level, 1:14 PM. Day 4
Victoria
Oliver an… mored Victoria were rushing through the alley, the African-American man often taking glances to make sure the walkers stayed distant from them. Victoria had a bit of difficulty keeping up; her injured leg limping along the way while the man resembled an athlete.
“So…this bar you’re settled in…you got other people there?” Victoria inquired, pausing once in a while to breathe.
“Yeah.” Oliver confirmed with a rapid nod, as they turned around the corner. They faced another extended, roamer-free street but devastated beyond belief. “I got my friends Jill and Andrey there. And the bar owner Anson. He’s a real nutcase though.”
Atlanta, Shed, 1:45 PM. Day 4
Bianca
Victor led Bianca through the woods. Their eyes flicked back and forth towards the dense forest, always paranoid that a walker or two would … [view original content]
Wow, I have to say, thanks a lot for your compliments. I was expecting everybody to get pissed at me due to the wait, but this really gives me a boost to write more of this. Thanks, Sir!
I gotta say, this is amazingly written!
The character I submitted, Hopeless, was pretty badly made, but you've turned it around and made … morehim into a amazing character that I love! He's on that road, I can see that now... He's almost too far gone. This was well worth the wait, amazing work!
Wow, I have to say, thanks a lot for your compliments. I was expecting everybody to get pissed at me due to the wait, but this really gives me a boost to write more of this. Thanks, Sir!
The Walking Dead: Life And Death Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 4 [2/2]
Atlanta, Street Level, 1:14 PM. Day 4
Victoria
Oliver an… mored Victoria were rushing through the alley, the African-American man often taking glances to make sure the walkers stayed distant from them. Victoria had a bit of difficulty keeping up; her injured leg limping along the way while the man resembled an athlete.
“So…this bar you’re settled in…you got other people there?” Victoria inquired, pausing once in a while to breathe.
“Yeah.” Oliver confirmed with a rapid nod, as they turned around the corner. They faced another extended, roamer-free street but devastated beyond belief. “I got my friends Jill and Andrey there. And the bar owner Anson. He’s a real nutcase though.”
Atlanta, Shed, 1:45 PM. Day 4
Bianca
Victor led Bianca through the woods. Their eyes flicked back and forth towards the dense forest, always paranoid that a walker or two would … [view original content]
Hey guys. Just wanted to say that the next chapter will be due in the next few days. Even better, there will be two major choices! And both of them branch off in like three or four different choices!
A/N: I didn't finish the second half of the chapter tonight, so I'll just leave you with this one half and post the next one somewhere in the next days. Don't worry, this time for real! Have fun with that choice.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death
Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 5
Atlanta, Shed. Day 4
Bianca
Bianca sat in a tree stump outside the shed Victor was holing up in. The shed was located in a small clearing in the woods, but around them thick and dense vegetation cornered them. The shed wasn’t that big. Its four walls were decrepit, thermites and beetles chewing at the void-filled wood of the defective planks erecting the walls. The ceiling of the shed, built of more disastrous wooden boards stacked upon one another, comported a hole in the middle. The door was rusty, and Victor had to give it a good yank to pull it off.
Bianca was just standing outside in the tree stump, gaping around her now and then to make sure that no walkers were nearby. She could hear Victor rummaging inside amongst tools and objects, while she became more eager and eager to get those cuffs off.
Victor eventually waltzed out of the hut, a massive pair of bolt-cutters clutched in his hand. He marched all the way behind Bianca, before he kneeled and involved the blades around her restraints. “Don’t move.” He warned.
Victor shut the blades with all of his might, the link chain of the cuffs breaking apart with a metallic sound. A vicious smile cracked in Bianca’s face, as she sighed in relief and gazed at her hands that hovered in front of her face. Her wrists were red from the pressure and a bit sore.
Victor sat across in another tree stump in the opposite side of Bianca. She stared at her freed hands like they were the holy grail and enjoyed her recently-acquired freedom. Victor shot a sharp look at her.
“Y’know, I kinda forgot…what did you say your crime was again?” Victor inquired with a raised eyebrow, and a hint of fake curiosity in his tone.
“Fraud.” She flatly said, not even looking at Victor.
“Y’know, I had the impression you said you were innocent.” Victor remarked.
Bianca stiffened and her expression became blank. “I mean…I was accused with fraud. But I was innocent.”
“Oh. Okay.” Victor acknowledged with little conviction.
A silence crumbled upon them. The sun was shining bright above them, despite a few gloomy clouds that started to accumulate. They only heard a few birds singing here and there, perhaps even a few moaning sounds carried by the wind. “So…got any crosswords?”
“Why in the hell would I have any crosswords?” Victor wondered. “Do I look like a kiosk owner?”
Bianca shrugged. “A no would be fine.”
Victor arched his body and neared his face to Bianca’s. “I was kind enough to fucking release you. Trust’s a two-way deal. Now how about you tell me your real crime? ‘Cause this whole theater ain’t working for me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Bianca deceived, leaning away her face.
“I’m pretty sure only murders and escape artists are transported in highly-secured trucks with armed guards in every corner.” Victor smirked at his own intelligence. “I doubt there would be that much security if you only took too much spare change from the cash register.”
“Jesus, lay off.” Bianca dodged the question.
“Have you got any idea what happened to the world?! You probably don’t, so I’ll explain…” Victor elaborated, beaming a finger at her. His voice showed that he became more infuriated. “Corpses are roaming the streets. Zombies you could say, for your understanding. I could’ve let you that undead cop chew your neck off, but I didn’t. However, I can still let you pack and force you to leave now. You won’t make it a single day. Especially in those prison clothes.”
Bianca sighed, seeing that she was pinned to the wall. “Listen…it’s none of your business!”
Victor exhaled in frustration, running his hands through his hair. “Fuckin’ hell…”
“Look, I’m sorry, but it’s fuckin’ true! You have no reason in the matter! If I don’t want to tell you about it, then I won’t.” Bianca barked back.
Victor elevated an eyebrow. He shoved his hand inside the backpack that laid beside him, as Bianca kept contemplating the sunny nature. After thrusting objects around to find what he intended, Victor finally pulled out a knife. He lent it to Bianca, who peered at it with hesitation and confusion.
“Gonna need this, princess.” He said, as Bianca gradually took the weapon, somewhat reluctant. “Y’know, you could be less of a pain in the ass now and then.”
Afterwards, Victor got up, closed his rucksack and dangled it from his shoulders. “C’mon, girlie. Got other places to be.”
Bianca swallowed her cheeks with air like a grumpy teenager, before sheathing her knife in her belt and followed Victor, who was marching towards the forest. “Where we going?”
“I scouted out a town not too far from here.” Victor informed a bit pissed off, avoiding any eye contact. “Think I saw a clothes shop. You can’t go around dressed up like that. People won’t trust you.”
Atlanta, House In The Forest. Day 4.
Matt
Matt tackled the door open, remembering his rugby playing days. His first instinct was to stomp the stairs down the dim-lit space, that smelled like mold and must. Billy however, who was driven by the madness of a bull that was poked, slammed the door closed the second he passed through the door frame. He spotted a lock, and he twisted to reinforce the barricade. Taking a few steps down the stairs, he could already hear the groans of the walkers outside and see their claws beating down the door.
Matt leaned against his knees, standing at the bottom of the room. The basement was pretty much empty, except for a squawking table and a folding-chair. The walls were made out of solid concrete. He panted, before he glanced at Billy. He made robot-like movements, as he descended the stairs with a fixed and cold gaze, beads of sweat pouring down his skin and the grip on the Marlin .22 ready to shoot.
“Fuck…I think…I think we’re good…” Matt spattered, recomposing himself and returning to his normal respiration.
“No…NO! WE’RE NOT FUCKIN’ GOOD!” Billy yelled with anger. Matt was terrified; this beast no longer seemed like the friend he always knew. His wrath was visible by his red taint and the thick arteries that could be seen through his epidermis.
“Jesus, bro…calm down…!” Matt pleaded in agonized whimpers. The fear within him made his legs tremble, at one point almost making him collapse on the floor. He took a few steps backwards, wanting to get away from that beast of a teenager this world turned him in to.
“I…I think I realize it…I THINK I FUCKIN’ REALIZE IT NOW!” Billy hollered again. This time, he turned to Matt. His bright, snake eyes met his gaze, and his murder look sent a violent shiver down Matt’s spine.
Billy rose the rifle towards Matt. Matt lifted his arms in protection. “Whoa, whoa! Billy…c’mon, man…don’t do this…!” Matt begged, getting teary-eyed.
“I…I got to man!” Billy responded, his arms shaking and his voice hoarse yet steady. “I…I KNOW IT! I CAN’T HAVE YOU AROUND! I won’t make it if hang out with you through all this mess…”
“Bro…we’re friends…we’ll…we’re gonna survive this!” Matt replied, essaying to put more conviction into his tone, but ultimately failed from the dread.
“No man! Ever since we got here…everything’s gone to shit!” Billy reprehended, beaming his hand at the door. A pair of tears streamed off his eyes. “LOOK WHAT YOU DID! WE’RE TRAPPED IN HERE BECAUSE OF YOU! I KNOW IT NOW!”
“Think about this, man…! Think about Janice, think ‘bout your mom!” Matt beseeched, nervous tics and fearful spasms moving his extremities.
“DON’T YOU MENTION HER!” Billy commanded, adjusting the gun. “IT…it was just like any other day…she drove me to school…she…she made pancakes that day…we’re…we’re too far gone Matt. This is the end…!”
“I…I know that she meant a lot to you…but we can still find hope…! We can…we can still find something to keep us going! This isn’t the end.” Matt scrutinized, becoming more confident of himself. “Now…just put down the gun…please.”
“I’m…I’m not fit for this world!” Billy confessed in a shout. “I just…I just can’t! But I’M NOT GONNA GET MAULED BY THOSE THINGS!” Billy didn’t speak, he thought for a while. “I know what you can do…YOU’RE GONNA DISTRACT ‘EM!”
“What?!” Matt enquired in bafflement.
“YEAH! YOU GOT US INTO THIS MESS…NOW YOU GET US OUT!” Billy further ordered, his gun becoming more stable in his hands.
Matt’s brain began thinking, as he sweated like a pig and he gulped nervously. He knew that he had a choice to make. He couldn’t allow himself to get devoured, because that was a nasty death he wanted to avoid. But Billy wasn’t really giving him a choice.
[REASON WITH BILLY]
[DON’T OBEY BILLY]
[PULL OUT YOUR GUN AND SHOOT BILLY]
[PULL OUT YOUR KNIFE AND FIGHT BILLY]
[DISTRACT THE WALKERS, BUT DIRECT THEM TO BILLY INSTEAD]
[REASON WITH BILLY] - Other then tying to directly kill Billy, this is the only thing I can see working, any other option could make Matt die, but each does have a chance at saving himself. But disobeying him may make him give up, you never know, but there's still the chance to reason with him, I'm gonna take it.
Billy's too far gone, just like I submitted him as, but I sure as hell didn't expect such an amazing lead up him losing it! Great chapter, once again!
A/N: I didn't finish the second half of the chapter tonight, so I'll just leave you with this one half and post the next one somewhere in th… moree next days. Don't worry, this time for real! Have fun with that choice.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death
Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 5
Atlanta, Shed. Day 4
Bianca
Bianca sat in a tree stump outside the shed Victor was holing up in. The shed was located in a small clearing in the woods, but around them thick and dense vegetation cornered them. The shed wasn’t that big. Its four walls were decrepit, thermites and beetles chewing at the void-filled wood of the defective planks erecting the walls. The ceiling of the shed, built of more disastrous wooden boards stacked upon one another, comported a hole in the middle. The door was rusty, and Victor had to give it a good yank to pull it off.
Bianca was just standing outside in the tree stump, gaping around her now and then to make sur… [view original content]
A/N: I didn't finish the second half of the chapter tonight, so I'll just leave you with this one half and post the next one somewhere in th… moree next days. Don't worry, this time for real! Have fun with that choice.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death
Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 5
Atlanta, Shed. Day 4
Bianca
Bianca sat in a tree stump outside the shed Victor was holing up in. The shed was located in a small clearing in the woods, but around them thick and dense vegetation cornered them. The shed wasn’t that big. Its four walls were decrepit, thermites and beetles chewing at the void-filled wood of the defective planks erecting the walls. The ceiling of the shed, built of more disastrous wooden boards stacked upon one another, comported a hole in the middle. The door was rusty, and Victor had to give it a good yank to pull it off.
Bianca was just standing outside in the tree stump, gaping around her now and then to make sur… [view original content]
A/N: I didn't finish the second half of the chapter tonight, so I'll just leave you with this one half and post the next one somewhere in th… moree next days. Don't worry, this time for real! Have fun with that choice.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death
Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 5
Atlanta, Shed. Day 4
Bianca
Bianca sat in a tree stump outside the shed Victor was holing up in. The shed was located in a small clearing in the woods, but around them thick and dense vegetation cornered them. The shed wasn’t that big. Its four walls were decrepit, thermites and beetles chewing at the void-filled wood of the defective planks erecting the walls. The ceiling of the shed, built of more disastrous wooden boards stacked upon one another, comported a hole in the middle. The door was rusty, and Victor had to give it a good yank to pull it off.
Bianca was just standing outside in the tree stump, gaping around her now and then to make sur… [view original content]
A/N: I didn't finish the second half of the chapter tonight, so I'll just leave you with this one half and post the next one somewhere in th… moree next days. Don't worry, this time for real! Have fun with that choice.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death
Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 5
Atlanta, Shed. Day 4
Bianca
Bianca sat in a tree stump outside the shed Victor was holing up in. The shed was located in a small clearing in the woods, but around them thick and dense vegetation cornered them. The shed wasn’t that big. Its four walls were decrepit, thermites and beetles chewing at the void-filled wood of the defective planks erecting the walls. The ceiling of the shed, built of more disastrous wooden boards stacked upon one another, comported a hole in the middle. The door was rusty, and Victor had to give it a good yank to pull it off.
Bianca was just standing outside in the tree stump, gaping around her now and then to make sur… [view original content]
A/N: I didn't finish the second half of the chapter tonight, so I'll just leave you with this one half and post the next one somewhere in th… moree next days. Don't worry, this time for real! Have fun with that choice.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death
Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 5
Atlanta, Shed. Day 4
Bianca
Bianca sat in a tree stump outside the shed Victor was holing up in. The shed was located in a small clearing in the woods, but around them thick and dense vegetation cornered them. The shed wasn’t that big. Its four walls were decrepit, thermites and beetles chewing at the void-filled wood of the defective planks erecting the walls. The ceiling of the shed, built of more disastrous wooden boards stacked upon one another, comported a hole in the middle. The door was rusty, and Victor had to give it a good yank to pull it off.
Bianca was just standing outside in the tree stump, gaping around her now and then to make sur… [view original content]
The Walking Dead: Life & Death. Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 6
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4, Afternoon.
Victoria
Victoria and Oliver stood outside the door of his friends’ bar. Her eyes flicked through the building, to inspect it. The bar was constructed into an apartments edifice; the walls built of brick cloaked in a worn-out sand paint and vandalized with graffiti. The two large windows beside the main door were both quite wide and the glass crystal clear, but both windows were barricaded with lengthy planks and liquor cases. The perpendicular avenues and boulevards were empty. Albeit Victoria constantly felt like somebody observed her. She tried to dissipate the thought away; maybe it was due to the contours of lurkers that she could see ambling through the broken shop vitrines.
Oliver knocked on the door, with Victoria standing right behind him, clutching her leg. For a few seconds, she could hear muffled footsteps from the inside. “Password?” A voice hauling a Russian accent demanded from the inside.
“Jack Daniel’s.” Oliver responded.
“Jack Daniel’s?” Victoria repeated, feeling a bit confused. On the interior, she could hear metallic sounds.
“Yeah. It’s our password.” Oliver informed with a sheepish smile. “To make sure nobody else tries to get in there.”
The door opened. Oliver gazed at the male with a smirk, whilst Victoria inspected him. His head was an empty wasteland of a cue ball, lacking any hair except for a small soul patch on his lower lip. His fair-skin somewhat matched his cyan eyes that were sharp as daggers.
“Hey Andrey.” Oliver said with a beckon. “This here’s Victoria.”
Andrey glanced at Victoria. He was surprised as seen by his elevating eyebrows, but he quickly donned an angrier expression. “Oli! What the fuck?! Why’d you bring this girl here?!”
“Look, man, she’s in a bad shape.” Oliver argued, remarking Victoria’s head cut and her messed up leg with a hand gesture. “I couldn’t just leave her for the rotters.”
Andrey sighed and slapped his own face. “I swear…sometimes you’re dumb as a bag of hammers.”
“Not like being smart would’ve helped you nowadays.” Oliver replicated, placing a hand on Andrey’s shoulder. “Just let her come in. We’ll fix her up. She might be useful.”
Andrey stared into Oliver’s eyes for a few seconds, pondering on the matter. “Fine.” Andrey finally accepted, in a smoother tone. Despite the fact that he shot a raged glare at Victoria. “Anson will not be happy.”
“He’ll just have to deal with it.” Oliver grinned, motioning Victoria to follow him. “C’mon inside now.”
Victoria lackadaisically followed Oliver and Andrey inside the bar, in a limp. Andrey let her pass and made sure to shut the door tight, activating all of the sturdy locks. The bar was dimly lit, only a few straws of light penetrating the improvised barricades of the windows. The left side of the bar was crammed with rows of tables and padded seats that were nailed to the walls. To her right, she detected a large counter, stretching throughout the room, surrounded by benches. Behind the counter, there were a couple of shelves, that comported a multitude of alcoholic beverages. There were a gigantic variety of drinks, probably one of each kind. Andrey stood by the windows, peeping through the holes of the barricades, keeping watch.
Sitting beside a table, there was a woman, probably Jill. She was a quite attractive woman, naturally, no artificial such as make-up. Her chocolate hair just dangled above her shoulders and she had bright, green eyes. Her sleeve-less tank-top highlighted her slender, beautiful arms that met a bracelet on her wrist. Once she spotted Victoria, she abruptly leaped onto her feet.
“Who is she?” Jill curiously inquired.
“She’s a friend.” Oliver introduced, with his hands in his hips. “She’s hurt pretty badly.”
“Oh God…” Jill mumbled, examining her wounds. “I think I there’s a medkit somewhere in the back. I’ll be back.”
As she finished her sentence, Jill marched out through a saloon door next to the counters. “Come here.” Oliver directed her to one of the long, comfy seats.
Victoria hobbled up to the seating, before she sat down and laid down, releasing a sigh of relief. Despite having her head twirling and her leg burning from the injury, it felt great to just be off her feet. Oliver kneeled beside her.
“Sorry about Andrey. He just has an issue in trusting people. Especially in this day and time.” Oliver muttered to her, so Andrey wouldn’t hear. “I know it might be difficult to be like this, surrounded by strangers…but we’re good people.”
“It’s okay.” Victoria asserted with an exhale. “Thanks for bringing me here. So…what happened to the world?”
Oliver sighed, shifting his gaze away, as if in wondering how to put this. “It’s a depressing story…so prepare for the worst.” Oliver took a deep breath. “Everything started exactly three days ago.”
“Geez…” Victoria gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. Her arm and shoulder were all sore. “I was three days down there?”
“In the subway? I guess so.” Oliver confirmed with a nod. “Anyways…reports came all over the news, warning about dead bodies that had reanimated and were…biting people…to death. The government tried to solve it, the CDC runnin’ their heads to find a cure. Chaos instilled. There was looting everywhere. Murders and muggings ruled the cities. Car accidents, suicides…the shit really hit the fan. At the end, everything fell. Those UN-dead things you see out there…it’s because of them society collapsed.”
“Jesus…” Victoria sputtered, her stare locked on the ceiling above her.
“You didn’t have any family around here, did you?” Oliver asked.
“No. I didn’t.” Victoria answered, shaking her head in negativity.
“Oh. Good. Are you okay?” Oliver further quizzed, elevating a brow.
“Yeah…it’s just a lot to take in.” Victoria admitted, whilst Jill finally arrived with a first aid kit in her palm.
“Here.” Jill walked up to them. She set the kit beside her, opening the lid and pushing it open. She rummaged through the contents, removing a roll of bandages, a batch of cotton and a bottle of peroxide. Andrey kept lurking in the background, often launching infuriated black looks at her.
Oliver unscrewed the lid off the bottle, dipping the liquid onto the cotton. “This is gonna burn. Ready?”
“Yeah.” Victoria gave the green light.
Oliver ripped off a bit of the tissue of her trousers, since they were clouting the wound. After making a disastrous hole around the chop, he compressed the cotton against her wound. Victoria whimpered in pain, but just low enough that nobody or nothing on the exterior could hear it.
“Does Anson already know she’s here?” Oliver questioned, worriedly looking at Jill.
Jill shrugged, chewing her lip. “He’s figured it out on his own. He’ll probably be here anytime now.”
Oliver gave her a hesitant nod, before applying peroxide to Victoria’s head. This time, only a teensy noise escaped between her teeth. While he did this, Jill was already ahead of him, covering her femur with the bandages. When she was done, she tossed a Band-Aid at Oliver, who strapped it onto Victoria’s forehead.
“All done.” Oliver told her. Utilizing the bench for support, Victoria gradually got up, eventually standing on her feet. She contemplated the work Jill and Oliver had done on her. Her leg was stinging from the disinfectant, but she felt more comfortable that she was being healed.
All of the sudden, they heard heavy footsteps from the hallway. Jill and Oliver dived onto their feet and stiffened. A man emerged through the saloon door. Victoria was a bit surprised due to his appearance; he looked like a person who had been taken from the 1960s. He wore flared pants, an impeccable white buttoned shirt along with a lozenge-patterned vest. His hair was blond like the sun and combed into a pompadour style. His small blue eyes were contrasted by his broad and high-graduation lensed glasses. To top it all off, he bore a Walter White moustache above his lips.
Something that she found weird was that he seemed a bit resentful as he was marching inside the saloon, but once he laid eyes on Victoria, a smile drew under his furry mustache and his expression lightened.
“Welcome to Anson Barnard’s pub, lady!” Anson hollered, widening his arms around him. Oliver and Jill exchanged baffled looks, like they were amazed that he wasn’t pissed off.
“Uh…this is Victoria…Anson.” Oliver introduced her.
“I can see.” Anson concurred, taking a step towards Victoria. “I can see you sustained a few injuries.”
“Yeah…subway I was in…collided.” Victoria declared, trying to be confident like she always was.
“That’s gotta be nasty.” Anson twitched his face, before he sprang around and slid his old-school styled figure behind the counter. He spoke in a suave and welcoming tone. “Feel like taking a drink? Oli? Jill? Andrey? Victoria?”
All of the survivors responded no with a head movement. “I’m not really in the mood for a drink.” Victoria said.
“Well…I suppose we can delay the cocktails for later.” Anson observed, tapping his fingers on the counter before exiting from behind it. “Well, Victoria…I would be to suppose that Oli has informed you on the status quo, right? Everything that’s going on out there, right?”
“Yes.” Victoria certified with a nod.
“Well, then what are you planning to do?” Anson kindly enquired, his fingers intertwined behind his back.
“I’m…not sure. I only just discovered about the…rotters.” Victoria confessed, scratching her head. She was usually a social, relaxed and talkative person, but she didn’t know that man, which made her uncomfortable. Plus, something about his nice attitude was eerie.
“Well, look, you’re welcome to stay with our little group if you want.” Anson proposed with a wide simper. “We’ve been holding out here ever since all of this started. We got food, a lot to drink and we’ve rather fortified this place.”
Everybody succumbed to a prolonged silence. Victoria didn’t really know what to say. Sensing the palpable tension, Oliver stepped forward. “You know, I was just about to give her the tour…”
“That won’t be necessary.” Anson glimpsed at Oliver, in which his smile faded away. But once his head jerked back to Victoria, his smirk merged. “I’ll do it. C’mon now.”
Oliver
Oliver folded his arms, as he studied Victoria disappearing from the room along with Anson. His twisted lips and constrained brows showed an expression of disapproval stamped on his face. Once they were out of earshot, Andrey departed from the windows and joined him and Jill.
“What in the fuck was that?” Andrey queried in total awe from Anson’s amiable behavior.
“Yeah! I mean, Anson was like a total different person!” Jill retorted in a whisper.
“Who knows?” Oliver thought out loud, shrugging. “He seemed really keen on Victoria. And I highly doubt they knew each other before the turn.”
Oliver was now fully immersed within his thoughts. Anson, for the past few days, had been a cold, complete asshole. The three other people essayed to avoid him as much as they could due to his personality, but Victoria seemed to snap something in Anson…
Victoria
Anson led Victoria through the saloon door, jabbing his finger at a lateral door. “That’s the washroom. If you need to attend to your necessities, that’s the place. Excuse me if the flushing doesn’t work.”
They continued to stroll down the passageway. It was a humid, badly-preserved hall that comported various doors. Anson opened another metallic door. Victoria reluctantly passed through, and inside she came across a tall spiraling stairway. Obscurity had conquered the stairwell, except for a few glass skylights in the ceiling that permitted a few rays of light to pierce it. “This is our only way to the rooftop. The apartments above are all cramped with walkers.”
Anson and Victoria walked up the stairs, Victoria using the rail as a support. She now felt extremely uneasy, because she knew from her peripheral vision that Anson had his gazed fixed on her.
“Do you want to tell me about how your life used to be, Victoria?” Anson suggested.
“Well…I just worked as a waitress.” Victoria bluntly disclosed, followed by a discreet gulp. “I had better dreams, sure…but they were just dreams.” She tried to keep details at a minimum, but she didn’t lie since she didn’t deem it necessary. Something about that individual was just wrong.
“What ambitions did you have?” Anson insisted, broadening his grin.
“Oh…just live a high life. Always wanted to work in the fashion line of work.” Victoria conveyed, limping along the stairs.
“Oh…it’s a shame. I’m sure that you would have been quite talented.” Anson unveiled in a convincing voice.
Victoria shrugged. “What about you?”
“Oh…I was just the average Joe.” Anson confided in a modest manner. “I just worked in this little unsuccessful bar, barely paid my bills, went back home. Repeat the cycle. Y’know…my wife passed away a few years ago. Ever since…it’s been on my own.”
“I’m sorry.” Victoria flatly said.
Anson sighed, as if in spitting out the grief. “At least she didn’t live to see all this.”
Once they reached the rooftop, Anson shoved the door, and politely allowed Victoria to pass through. Once outside, she was blinded by the sunlight. From the roof, she could see a bunch of abandoned buildings, malls, sky-scrapers and landmarks erected throughout the land. Occasionally, there was a street or an alley with a few zombies roaming around.
“One thing I like about all of this it’s how quiet it became.” Anson told her, looking around the panorama with pleasure. “No more traffic noises…no more alarm clocks…” He stopped talking, once he spotted a horde of walkers drumming along the road. A multitude of putrid zombified corpses dragged their rotten limbs along the asphalt, the moaning ringing in their ears. They bumped against each other like a herd of bleating sheep. They marched in a numerous mob like a marching band. “Shit…I mean…pardon my French. But it looks like a horde is sauntering around here.”
“Oh no…where are they going?” Victoria interrogated, glancing at the herd.
Anson moaned, speculating a response. “At least they’re not heading this way. I think they’re heading towards the old zoo towards the edge of Atlanta.”
Atlanta’s Local Zoo, Day 4, Night.
Steve
Night had arrived. The canvas of a bleak, star-specked and dark cobalt sky arrived. The crickets chipped away in the woods. Fireflies landed on trees and buzzed their lights. Tucked away in the stinky public bathroom, was Steve Leopard, hidden inside his sleeping roll.
His entire body shivered. He still hadn’t managed to remove those images from his head. What kind of monster would crucify a zombie to a tree?! He became more paranoid and anxious than ever. At the smallest sound, he would sit on his derriere as fast as a lightning bolt, looking around him, trying to hear an intruder entering the zoo, but there wasn’t nobody there. He couldn’t manage to sleep.
Worst of all, he felt lonelier than ever.
Before, his father was everything to him. He was his paradise of security, a part of his being, his comfort…and now he was gone. He used to feel accompanied by imagining Sunshine trekking around the zoo, climbing and leaping on top on fences and cages, but that one night, not even that could keep him joyous.
Suddenly, he heard a noise. This time, a real one.
He jumped onto his feet, banding his eyepatch around his skull and hurriedly dressed his trousers. He picked up an improvised spear he created, built out of a broom pole and a knife taped at the end, without forgetting his flashlight. Without street lights, the night became way murkier. He waltzed out of the damped space.
“Oh God…” He rumbled, beaming the light towards the entrance.
The iron main gate had both of its doors open. He was frozen in his place, his facial expression perplexed. He always kept that thing firmly locked with a padlock. But just then, he discerned the silhouette of a person thrusting the gate open, the rusty hinges creaking.
“Hey!” Steve shouted at the person. Its shadow was only a black outline, so he couldn’t distinguish any of his or her physical aspects. The person however, spun around and dashed into the forest, soon vanishing into the night. “Fuck!” Steve cursed, kicking a rock.
But then, he rose his head back up, and saw a flock of walkers making their way through the breached gate. They stumbled, toppled and staggered inside the zoo, releasing guttural groans and waving their arms in front of them. They were a mix of females, males, young people, adults, elderly, but they all had one thing in common: they were all hungry for some human flesh. Despite being only an illusion, they seemed to be led by a male lurker that wore an army outfit, and a name tag saying ‘Banner’.
Sunshine instantly ran beside Steve, readying into an offensive stance and growling at the intruders. Steve silently cursed, knowing that his only way out was cut off. But when he listened to the elephant Big Paw trumpeting and lifting its legs in dread, he had an idea. He knew that he really loved that animal…despite him being just a baby specimen, if he released it from its cage, it would probably knock over dozens of walkers. But that could also mean the death of the elephant. The only thing that mattered was that he had a choice to make, and the lurkers just kept on investing.
[RELEASE BIG PAW]
[DON’T RELEASE BIG PAW]
A/N: Will you give up on an animal friend to save yourself or take your chances? Who do you think is stalking Steve? Or is this person not only stalking Steve?
The Walking Dead: Life & Death. Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 6
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4, Afternoon.
Victoria
Victoria… more and Oliver stood outside the door of his friends’ bar. Her eyes flicked through the building, to inspect it. The bar was constructed into an apartments edifice; the walls built of brick cloaked in a worn-out sand paint and vandalized with graffiti. The two large windows beside the main door were both quite wide and the glass crystal clear, but both windows were barricaded with lengthy planks and liquor cases. The perpendicular avenues and boulevards were empty. Albeit Victoria constantly felt like somebody observed her. She tried to dissipate the thought away; maybe it was due to the contours of lurkers that she could see ambling through the broken shop vitrines.
Oliver knocked on the door, with Victoria standing right behind him, clutching her leg. For a few seconds, she could hear muffled footsteps … [view original content]
The Walking Dead: Life & Death. Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 6
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4, Afternoon.
Victoria
Victoria… more and Oliver stood outside the door of his friends’ bar. Her eyes flicked through the building, to inspect it. The bar was constructed into an apartments edifice; the walls built of brick cloaked in a worn-out sand paint and vandalized with graffiti. The two large windows beside the main door were both quite wide and the glass crystal clear, but both windows were barricaded with lengthy planks and liquor cases. The perpendicular avenues and boulevards were empty. Albeit Victoria constantly felt like somebody observed her. She tried to dissipate the thought away; maybe it was due to the contours of lurkers that she could see ambling through the broken shop vitrines.
Oliver knocked on the door, with Victoria standing right behind him, clutching her leg. For a few seconds, she could hear muffled footsteps … [view original content]
The Walking Dead: Life & Death. Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 6
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4, Afternoon.
Victoria
Victoria… more and Oliver stood outside the door of his friends’ bar. Her eyes flicked through the building, to inspect it. The bar was constructed into an apartments edifice; the walls built of brick cloaked in a worn-out sand paint and vandalized with graffiti. The two large windows beside the main door were both quite wide and the glass crystal clear, but both windows were barricaded with lengthy planks and liquor cases. The perpendicular avenues and boulevards were empty. Albeit Victoria constantly felt like somebody observed her. She tried to dissipate the thought away; maybe it was due to the contours of lurkers that she could see ambling through the broken shop vitrines.
Oliver knocked on the door, with Victoria standing right behind him, clutching her leg. For a few seconds, she could hear muffled footsteps … [view original content]
The Walking Dead: Life & Death. Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 6
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4, Afternoon.
Victoria
Victoria… more and Oliver stood outside the door of his friends’ bar. Her eyes flicked through the building, to inspect it. The bar was constructed into an apartments edifice; the walls built of brick cloaked in a worn-out sand paint and vandalized with graffiti. The two large windows beside the main door were both quite wide and the glass crystal clear, but both windows were barricaded with lengthy planks and liquor cases. The perpendicular avenues and boulevards were empty. Albeit Victoria constantly felt like somebody observed her. She tried to dissipate the thought away; maybe it was due to the contours of lurkers that she could see ambling through the broken shop vitrines.
Oliver knocked on the door, with Victoria standing right behind him, clutching her leg. For a few seconds, she could hear muffled footsteps … [view original content]
The Walking Dead: Life & Death. Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 6
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4, Afternoon.
Victoria
Victoria… more and Oliver stood outside the door of his friends’ bar. Her eyes flicked through the building, to inspect it. The bar was constructed into an apartments edifice; the walls built of brick cloaked in a worn-out sand paint and vandalized with graffiti. The two large windows beside the main door were both quite wide and the glass crystal clear, but both windows were barricaded with lengthy planks and liquor cases. The perpendicular avenues and boulevards were empty. Albeit Victoria constantly felt like somebody observed her. She tried to dissipate the thought away; maybe it was due to the contours of lurkers that she could see ambling through the broken shop vitrines.
Oliver knocked on the door, with Victoria standing right behind him, clutching her leg. For a few seconds, she could hear muffled footsteps … [view original content]
I'd rather just read stories, but this story is fantastic, I did not want this story to die because of lack of comments, I hope you keep sending more parts to this story often.
[RELEASE BIG PAW] I know no one wants him to die, but he will die anyway, if we leave him stuck in the cage, he will starve, he better die quickly without much suffering than starve in two days, and he still can save the Steve's life and even other animals.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death. Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 6
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4, Afternoon.
Victoria
Victoria… more and Oliver stood outside the door of his friends’ bar. Her eyes flicked through the building, to inspect it. The bar was constructed into an apartments edifice; the walls built of brick cloaked in a worn-out sand paint and vandalized with graffiti. The two large windows beside the main door were both quite wide and the glass crystal clear, but both windows were barricaded with lengthy planks and liquor cases. The perpendicular avenues and boulevards were empty. Albeit Victoria constantly felt like somebody observed her. She tried to dissipate the thought away; maybe it was due to the contours of lurkers that she could see ambling through the broken shop vitrines.
Oliver knocked on the door, with Victoria standing right behind him, clutching her leg. For a few seconds, she could hear muffled footsteps … [view original content]
The Walking Dead: Life & Death. Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 6
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4, Afternoon.
Victoria
Victoria… more and Oliver stood outside the door of his friends’ bar. Her eyes flicked through the building, to inspect it. The bar was constructed into an apartments edifice; the walls built of brick cloaked in a worn-out sand paint and vandalized with graffiti. The two large windows beside the main door were both quite wide and the glass crystal clear, but both windows were barricaded with lengthy planks and liquor cases. The perpendicular avenues and boulevards were empty. Albeit Victoria constantly felt like somebody observed her. She tried to dissipate the thought away; maybe it was due to the contours of lurkers that she could see ambling through the broken shop vitrines.
Oliver knocked on the door, with Victoria standing right behind him, clutching her leg. For a few seconds, she could hear muffled footsteps … [view original content]
I'd rather just read stories, but this story is fantastic, I did not want this story to die because of lack of comments, I hope you keep sen… moreding more parts to this story often.
[RELEASE BIG PAW] I know no one wants him to die, but he will die anyway, if we leave him stuck in the cage, he will starve, he better die quickly without much suffering than starve in two days, and he still can save the Steve's life and even other animals.
Okay guys, since we had a tie in the last choice, I used a random generator to make the call. Out of three tries, the winning choice is...[RELEASE BIG PAW]. Sorry if you voted otherwise. Anyways, expect a new chapter soon!
Okay guys, since we had a tie in the last choice, I used a random generator to make the call. Out of three tries, the winning choice is...[RELEASE BIG PAW]. Sorry if you voted otherwise. Anyways, expect a new chapter soon!
I know that the waiting periods might sometimes be long, but I just don't have the possibilities to update everyday or day yes day no. Just know that the chapter is under the works and it will be uploaded.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death [Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 7]
Atlanta, Local Zoo. Day 4
Steve
[RELEASE BIG PAW]
Steve rushed towards Big Paw’s cage. The masses of walkers – a mix of waitresses, office clerks, grey suits, bald and old dungarees-using farmers and garbage cleaners and that leading zombie, the zombified soldier named Banner – growl an eerie and hefty sound, as they limp inside the zoo. Steve couldn’t discern any of this though; the night only provided their feeble silhouettes that were nearly imperceptible. That place is done for. It won’t be too long until that place will be overrun. Steve was getting more nervous with each step they made.
He marched in front of the cage’s gate. The elephant gawked at Steve with sad, heavy eyes. That depressed look that meets Steve’s made the young man shiver at the act he was about to commit. It was like the beast was awaiting for the man to save him, but Steve only felt worse that he was throwing him onto his death.
Steve yanked the bolt off the lock, before pulling the barred entrance with all of his force. His movements were sloppy and sudden, while his legs seemed like a deformed Jenga structure. He shoved the gate and allowed it to swing on its hinges.
The elephant banged his paws against the floor, emitting once again his trumpeting noise. He then sprinted out of the cage, decreasing his head and wielding his horns. He was about to tackle the horde, in a desperate, frightened attempt to shoo them away. The tackle sent half a dozen walkers flying, who squirmed their limbs airborne and groaned like a strangled cat. However, only if their brain was destroyed, they would die. And since they didn’t felt pain, when they fell back on the ground, they just shook it off and got back again, battering their jaws and roaming towards the nearest prey.
Big Paw found himself in the center of the herd now. The undead Banner clawed his dull and yellow nails on its leathery skin, scratching them and wrapping his teeth around the elephant’s leg. Big Paw trumpeted again, elevating his front limbs like a hurt horse, which sent Banner gliding a few feet away and knocking down a couple walkers along the way. Big Paw downed his paw once again on the dirt, and squashed one of the knocked over lurkers’ head, which exploded in a spectacle of grey matter, brains and blood, like a watermelon.
But it was impossible for the animal to fend off such an immense horde, containing about sixty walkers and increasing. Another female biter emerged, chewing his rear viciously, until it ripped off its tail. Big Paw roared from the pain; his screams almost resembling a human cry. The elephant was gushing a jet of blood from his rear end, while ten more zombies etched and bit his sides. The elephant eventually succumbed to the horde, collapsing on his side. The mob toppled over one another in a disastrous way, opening Big Paw’s skin to reach the meaty buffet that they would be able to find inside his body.
Steve was viewing this with an immense sadness, the tears falling down his eyes. What had he done? Those animals he treasured so much…how did he come to this? Was survival now the sole thing that was important?
He snapped out of his trance when he heard Sunshine gnarling, before readying itself onto an attacking stance and ran towards the horde. “Sunny, NO!” Steve tried to stop it, uselessly waving his arm to reach it, but it was to no avail.
Sunshine leapt on top of the walkers, who turned their heads in all directions with a deadened and dazzled expression, wondering what was that panther that walked on their heads. Sunshine was biting their heads, ripping through their carrion, but eventually fell into the pit of the horde, vanishing out of sight. The wind carried to Steve’s ears the panther’s last suffering whining.
“No…! Fuck…!” Steve sobbed, the tears streaming down his cheeks. His only friend in the world was gone…at first it was his dad. In an attempt to save him. And now it was Sunshine, who was the second one to perish in order to save Steve.
Suddenly, a hard object struck Steve’s nape, sending him against the dirt. Steve’s safari hat flew off and his eyepatch slid out of place. Steve let out a low wail and moved his jaws slowly, trying to recover from the shock. Everything was blurry. At least the horde was distracted munching the animals, meaning that they wouldn’t attack him for the moment.
Steve just barely perceived a pair of thick boots walking in front of his face, before unconsciousness usurped him.
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4.
Victoria
After a few slick arguments, Victoria finally managed to get off Anson’s hook. She slithered to the bar, before she sat in a stool. Jill was counting arrows in a quiver behind the counter. Victoria buried her forehead in her palms, before releasing a long sigh and constraining her eyebrows.
“So…how’d it go with him?” Jill inquired, glancing at her.
“Anson talks too much. What’s the deal with him?” Victoria asked in a fatigued tone.
“Don’t look at me! He’s a damned mystery.” Jill confessed, sliding the arrows inside the quiver. “You seem kinda under the weather.”
“It’s just that…” Victoria said, stopping to sniff. She recomposed herself and gulped. “It’s too much to take in. If you guys hadn’t come along…just hard to believe that everything I knew is gone.” She made a short pause, in which she let out a long exhale. Then, she peeked at the alcohol-filled shelves. “I could go for a stiff drink right now.”
Jill reached for a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a random glass that she spotted underneath the counter, and then shoved it across the table. “Serve yourself.” She coldly said.
Victoria opened up the jar, positing the lid aside. She picked it up and poured a long stream of whisky onto her glass. “Don’t forget the ice.” Jill remarked, dropping two icy cubes on the myrrh-colored fluid.
Victoria thanked with a nod. Bottom’s up, she thought. She brought the glass upon her mouth, chugging the liquid like there was no tomorrow. In a single blow, she drank it all. When she was done, she set down the vacant glass with a thud and she let out a satisfied breath, panting.
Back before the apocalypse, she wasn’t the one to drink too much. Sure, she was constantly going out, hanging with her friends and going to the club, but she never enjoyed booze. Only on a few rare occasions she drank. Well…that occasion wasn’t exactly special, but she needed to relax.
Everything just seemed like a bad, a really bad nightmare. Only in the few minutes she had been introduced to those rotting, soulless monsters, her life and vitality were sucked into a void. Her talkative nature was gone. Every time she spoke, she choked on her words, and preferred to stay silent. She felt nauseated…phantom pain ran through her stomach.
“Go easy there.” Jill cautioned, crossing her arms on the wooden counter. “It never gets easier.” Victoria peeped towards the quiver, that was accompanied by a long, curvy and rufescent archery bow, equipped with a scope and colored distance indicators. State of the art.
“Whatcha got going on there with that bow?” Victoria rose her brow, peering towards the compound bow. Jill directed her gaze at it, before she forced a sad smile and looked back at Victoria.
Jill shifted her attention elsewhere. She passed her hand on her other arm, like a sudden breeze had swept through. “I…it’s just a memento. From my family.” She said, although she seemed like had something else to say, but she didn’t.
Victoria gawked around her. “Where are Andrey and Oliver?”
“They’re suiting up. The three of us decided to go clear one apartment building.” Jill informed. “That way we’ll have beds for us and we won’t be so crammed. Wanna come?”
“Oh, I…” Victoria pondered. She felt a bit insecure and wasn’t too sure if she was ready for it. “I’m not sure if…I can…”
“Are you sure?” Jill insisted, certifying that she made her mind. “I know it’s hard…but it’s best not to put it off. The sooner you adapt, the better.”
Victoria nodded, assimilating the information. “F…okay. But I…it’s gonna be safe…right? I don’t…want to kill one of them.”
“You’ll just watch.” Jill slung her compound bow and quiver on her back. “C’mon. This way.”
The Walking Dead: Life & Death [Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 7]
Atlanta, Local Zoo. Day 4
Steve
[RELEASE BIG PAW]
Steve… more rushed towards Big Paw’s cage. The masses of walkers – a mix of waitresses, office clerks, grey suits, bald and old dungarees-using farmers and garbage cleaners and that leading zombie, the zombified soldier named Banner – growl an eerie and hefty sound, as they limp inside the zoo. Steve couldn’t discern any of this though; the night only provided their feeble silhouettes that were nearly imperceptible. That place is done for. It won’t be too long until that place will be overrun. Steve was getting more nervous with each step they made.
He marched in front of the cage’s gate. The elephant gawked at Steve with sad, heavy eyes. That depressed look that meets Steve’s made the young man shiver at the act he was about to commit. It was like the beast was awaiting for the man to save him, but Steve only fe… [view original content]
The Walking Dead: Life & Death [Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 7]
Atlanta, Local Zoo. Day 4
Steve
[RELEASE BIG PAW]
Steve… more rushed towards Big Paw’s cage. The masses of walkers – a mix of waitresses, office clerks, grey suits, bald and old dungarees-using farmers and garbage cleaners and that leading zombie, the zombified soldier named Banner – growl an eerie and hefty sound, as they limp inside the zoo. Steve couldn’t discern any of this though; the night only provided their feeble silhouettes that were nearly imperceptible. That place is done for. It won’t be too long until that place will be overrun. Steve was getting more nervous with each step they made.
He marched in front of the cage’s gate. The elephant gawked at Steve with sad, heavy eyes. That depressed look that meets Steve’s made the young man shiver at the act he was about to commit. It was like the beast was awaiting for the man to save him, but Steve only fe… [view original content]
Episode finale coming soon! I know this episode was small, but the next one will be much longer, better and have way more character development. Always like to hear people's predictions, what do you think will happen?
Episode finale coming soon! I know this episode was small, but the next one will be much longer, better and have way more character development. Always like to hear people's predictions, what do you think will happen?
Episode finale coming soon! I know this episode was small, but the next one will be much longer, better and have way more character development. Always like to hear people's predictions, what do you think will happen?
FINALE coming soon! Expect it to be up either today or tomorrow. I'm excited to write the next chapter, I want to see in which directions I can take the plot and the characters.
Comments
Yep. Been a while we've seen him.
I got an announcement to make! Expect a new chapter tomorrow!
......................................................................................................................................
That's a lot of dots.
Chapter arriving soon! It'll feature all of the stories.
The Walking Dead: Life And Death Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 4 [2/2]
Atlanta, Street Level, 1:14 PM. Day 4
Victoria
Oliver and Victoria were rushing through the alley, the African-American man often taking glances to make sure the walkers stayed distant from them. Victoria had a bit of difficulty keeping up; her injured leg limping along the way while the man resembled an athlete.
“So…this bar you’re settled in…you got other people there?” Victoria inquired, pausing once in a while to breathe.
“Yeah.” Oliver confirmed with a rapid nod, as they turned around the corner. They faced another extended, roamer-free street but devastated beyond belief. “I got my friends Jill and Andrey there. And the bar owner Anson. He’s a real nutcase though.”
Atlanta, Shed, 1:45 PM. Day 4
Bianca
Victor led Bianca through the woods. Their eyes flicked back and forth towards the dense forest, always paranoid that a walker or two would ambush them. “Look, Victor…where the fuck are you taking me?” Bianca asked, somewhat impatient.
“I’m taking you back where I’m holing up.” Victor explained in a vague manner. “I might have a hammer or something there. Get those cuffs off.”
“Why exactly are you doing this?” Bianca suspiciously inquired.
“Look, I’m already offering to get those restraints off, I don’t have to explain myself to you.” Victor harshly responded.
Bianca shook her head and didn’t say anything, her mind too jumbled up in random thought and confusion. Her distraction though, cost her to trip over her own feet. Her restrained hands prevented her to soften the fall with her palms, so she fell right in a face palm against the dirt.
Victor halted, twirling around and letting out a frustrated sigh at Bianca. The woman glared at him. “So…are you gonna help or what?!” Bianca demanded with a grunt.
Victor’s eyes flicked around in his orbits, showing that he was somewhat annoyed. He stood firm in his place, probably pondering if he should do it or not. Eventually, he marched up to her and gripped her shoulders, yanking her to her feet in a brutal way.
“Stop delaying us and let’s hurry.” Victor reprehended, beaming his finger towards the forest. Bianca peeked to where he was pointing and saw the outlines of a shed hidden amongst the vegetation. “We’re almost there.”
Atlanta’s Local Zoo, 8:01 PM. Day 4
Steve
The leopard known as Sunshine leans its paws on Steve’s tummy, as it licks it with eyes glowing with excitement. Steve smiles back along with a chuckle, as he petted it along its furry head.
Sunshine returns back onto its four-legged position. Sunshine has been Steve’s only companion since his father died. They complicity couldn’t possibly be denied. The two shared the pain and the laughter.
“Oh! Wait a sec’!” Steve exclaimed, sudden realization zapping into his brain. He plundered his hand inside the bucket and dug around through it, before he pulled out a hunk of meat, the size of his greasy palm. He tossed it onto Sunshine’s mouth, and the animal graciously caught it in the air with its mouth, like a dog catching a Frisbee. He chewed it with its sharp teeth and swallowed it in a matter of seconds. “Atta boy.”
As he saw the crumbs of meat being torn to pieces in the beast’s mouth, the worry of the lack of food concerned Steve even further. Sunshine, being his most loyal companion, could get for a couple days with little to no nutrition, but the other animals were different. Most of the creatures had fallen to the claws of the walkers, so the only remaining ones were the crocodile, Skinny, the elephant Big Paw and the friendly panther. But both of them wore down the rations pretty quickly. Steve had a stock of food that the zoo kept handy, and Steve had been rationing as well as he could, but the mammal and the reptile devoured them. Steve was overwhelmed with fear, that he would either have to put them down eventually or leave them for the walkers.
He was yanked back to reality once Sunshine ate the food. Strangely, it began growling and groaning, almost in a menacing way. Steve furrowed his eyebrows in bafflement. He knew that those threatening grunts couldn’t be towards him. Sunshine seemed to understand his tamer’s confusion, so it spun around and strolled towards the fence that surrounded the entire perimeter of the zoo.
Steve followed the panther closely, his mind riddled with anticipation and a certain anxiety instilled in his body. Sunshine sauntered near a very specific point in the fence. That part of the fence had a hole in it, and it was barricaded with a few nailed planks. Sunshine used its paws to scratch on the boards, as if he wanted to shove them out of the way.
Steve kneeled near the hole and rotated the planks, allowing the panther to pass through. He became more preoccupied, because he was leading him into the coniferous and dark forest that surrounded the zoo. But his gut also told him that Sunshine was wanting to show him something important.
Steve crawled through the hole in a prone position. Sunshine entered further into the woods. Steve was right behind it, in a protective stance, careful for any walkers lurking around the area. With each step he took, a smell of something rotten reached his nostrils, which almost made him vomit.
Sunshine stopped near a tree. By then, the putrid odor was intensified, and Steve had to cough and wave his arm to dissipate the smell. He could hear a hive of flies flying around. When he rose his head, he saw something that made his blood run cold and made him freeze on the spot.
A river of blood streamed down the bark of the oak-tree. In the gargantuan log of the tree, the body of a person was strapped on. This dead male’s legs were crossed, and nailed to the bottom of the tree with a massive nail. Its arms were nailed in two separate branches. The way the corpse was nailed to the tree resembled like it had been crucified to a cross. The person was apparently zombified. The man zombie had a stale, rotten skin, while its eyeballs didn’t show the pain of the crucifixion. Its moans were muffled by the sound of the flies hovering.
Steve ran back to the zoo, horrified, whilst the panther followed suit.
Atlanta, House In The Forest, 6:07 PM. Day 4.
Matt
Matt looked down at his backpack, rummaging through it. In his head, he was counting to see everything was accounted for. Canned food, water, matches, map, knife…
He had made a decision. He could no longer focus. Not with Billy around. At first, he managed to ignore it, but now Matt’s desire to find his family was bigger than ever. And he realized that he had to detach from Billy in order to succeed. He was leaving that night.
He slung one of the Marlin .22 on his shoulder, before he marched up the stairs. Even with the biters outside, he was sure he could run through the horde. Outside it was raining with downpour. He could hear the rain echoing down the sewage drains and wetting the grass. He didn’t have a brolly, but he’d make it.
He marched up the stairs, expecting to sneak out of the house. Once he entered the living room, Billy was surveilling through the windows. He noticed Matt near the main door.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Billy bluntly asked in a flat voice.
“I’m leaving.” Matt replied, his fingers already wrapping around the handle.
“What?!” Billy exclaimed loudly, like he had awakened from a deep slumber.
“You can’t stop me now.” Matt revolved the handle, before glaring at Billy. “Goodbye.”
Billy’s brain began running a mile as he heard the click of the lock opening. He had to stop Matt, but he didn’t want to engage into a fight with the dangerous herd outside. He found the solution when his eyes rolled towards a Marlin .22 butted against the wall.
Billy dashed towards it and grasped it, before aiming it towards Matt. The uneven weight made his arms sore, making his hands tremble. He could see through the open door a handful of walkers, appearance details hidden by the night, “Stop!”
Matt was already by the door frame of the open door, before he glanced at Billy. His eyelids extended and he froze in horror. “You…c’mon man. You really…gonna kill me?” Matt stammered.
Billy pressed the trigger. Matt shrunk, clouting his face with his hands like it would make the shot less painful. He whimpered, waiting for death to take him. But after a few seconds, he still felt very much alive in his body. The gun didn’t fire. He opened one of his closed eyelids, and saw that Billy had forgotten to load the gun.
“You…you…you…you were gonna shoot me…!” Matt stuttered in fright.
Up to that point, Matt believed that Billy could get over what had happened to his mother. But after seeing that he was willing to kill his sole friend, he began realizing that perhaps Billy was too far gone.
“I’m…” Billy sputtered and gulped, dropping the gun like it was a cursed object. His head jerked towards the door, when an expression of dread was stamped on his face. “THE DOOR!”
When Matt spun around, he saw that the walkers had noticed their argument, and were biting, battering their jaws and staggering towards them. Matt should’ve shut the door, but the fear usurped his legs and forced him to flee in the other direction.
Billy groaned in anger, picking the gun back up. This time loading a round discretely. “TO THE BASEMENT!” He roared with a furious voice.
A/N: If you’re still reading, thanks a lot for being patient. I really couldn’t find the time to write this. Expect updates to be more frequent (this time it’s a promise). I think I'm gonna focus the next chapter on these characters' personalities and give them distinct features. There will also be a moral choice within. See ya next time!
I gotta say, this is amazingly written!
The character I submitted, Hopeless, was pretty badly made, but you've turned it around and made him into a amazing character that I love! He's on that road, I can see that now... He's almost too far gone. This was well worth the wait, amazing work!
Wow, I have to say, thanks a lot for your compliments. I was expecting everybody to get pissed at me due to the wait, but this really gives me a boost to write more of this. Thanks, Sir!
No problem! And If anything, people would get pissed from the wait because of how great this is! But I'll wait patiently for the next part.
Awesome Chapter!!!!
Hey guys. Just wanted to say that the next chapter will be due in the next few days. Even better, there will be two major choices! And both of them branch off in like three or four different choices!
A/N: I didn't finish the second half of the chapter tonight, so I'll just leave you with this one half and post the next one somewhere in the next days. Don't worry, this time for real! Have fun with that choice.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death
Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 5
Atlanta, Shed. Day 4
Bianca
Bianca sat in a tree stump outside the shed Victor was holing up in. The shed was located in a small clearing in the woods, but around them thick and dense vegetation cornered them. The shed wasn’t that big. Its four walls were decrepit, thermites and beetles chewing at the void-filled wood of the defective planks erecting the walls. The ceiling of the shed, built of more disastrous wooden boards stacked upon one another, comported a hole in the middle. The door was rusty, and Victor had to give it a good yank to pull it off.
Bianca was just standing outside in the tree stump, gaping around her now and then to make sure that no walkers were nearby. She could hear Victor rummaging inside amongst tools and objects, while she became more eager and eager to get those cuffs off.
Victor eventually waltzed out of the hut, a massive pair of bolt-cutters clutched in his hand. He marched all the way behind Bianca, before he kneeled and involved the blades around her restraints. “Don’t move.” He warned.
Victor shut the blades with all of his might, the link chain of the cuffs breaking apart with a metallic sound. A vicious smile cracked in Bianca’s face, as she sighed in relief and gazed at her hands that hovered in front of her face. Her wrists were red from the pressure and a bit sore.
Victor sat across in another tree stump in the opposite side of Bianca. She stared at her freed hands like they were the holy grail and enjoyed her recently-acquired freedom. Victor shot a sharp look at her.
“Y’know, I kinda forgot…what did you say your crime was again?” Victor inquired with a raised eyebrow, and a hint of fake curiosity in his tone.
“Fraud.” She flatly said, not even looking at Victor.
“Y’know, I had the impression you said you were innocent.” Victor remarked.
Bianca stiffened and her expression became blank. “I mean…I was accused with fraud. But I was innocent.”
“Oh. Okay.” Victor acknowledged with little conviction.
A silence crumbled upon them. The sun was shining bright above them, despite a few gloomy clouds that started to accumulate. They only heard a few birds singing here and there, perhaps even a few moaning sounds carried by the wind. “So…got any crosswords?”
“Why in the hell would I have any crosswords?” Victor wondered. “Do I look like a kiosk owner?”
Bianca shrugged. “A no would be fine.”
Victor arched his body and neared his face to Bianca’s. “I was kind enough to fucking release you. Trust’s a two-way deal. Now how about you tell me your real crime? ‘Cause this whole theater ain’t working for me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Bianca deceived, leaning away her face.
“I’m pretty sure only murders and escape artists are transported in highly-secured trucks with armed guards in every corner.” Victor smirked at his own intelligence. “I doubt there would be that much security if you only took too much spare change from the cash register.”
“Jesus, lay off.” Bianca dodged the question.
“Have you got any idea what happened to the world?! You probably don’t, so I’ll explain…” Victor elaborated, beaming a finger at her. His voice showed that he became more infuriated. “Corpses are roaming the streets. Zombies you could say, for your understanding. I could’ve let you that undead cop chew your neck off, but I didn’t. However, I can still let you pack and force you to leave now. You won’t make it a single day. Especially in those prison clothes.”
Bianca sighed, seeing that she was pinned to the wall. “Listen…it’s none of your business!”
Victor exhaled in frustration, running his hands through his hair. “Fuckin’ hell…”
“Look, I’m sorry, but it’s fuckin’ true! You have no reason in the matter! If I don’t want to tell you about it, then I won’t.” Bianca barked back.
Victor elevated an eyebrow. He shoved his hand inside the backpack that laid beside him, as Bianca kept contemplating the sunny nature. After thrusting objects around to find what he intended, Victor finally pulled out a knife. He lent it to Bianca, who peered at it with hesitation and confusion.
“Gonna need this, princess.” He said, as Bianca gradually took the weapon, somewhat reluctant. “Y’know, you could be less of a pain in the ass now and then.”
Afterwards, Victor got up, closed his rucksack and dangled it from his shoulders. “C’mon, girlie. Got other places to be.”
Bianca swallowed her cheeks with air like a grumpy teenager, before sheathing her knife in her belt and followed Victor, who was marching towards the forest. “Where we going?”
“I scouted out a town not too far from here.” Victor informed a bit pissed off, avoiding any eye contact. “Think I saw a clothes shop. You can’t go around dressed up like that. People won’t trust you.”
Atlanta, House In The Forest. Day 4.
Matt
Matt tackled the door open, remembering his rugby playing days. His first instinct was to stomp the stairs down the dim-lit space, that smelled like mold and must. Billy however, who was driven by the madness of a bull that was poked, slammed the door closed the second he passed through the door frame. He spotted a lock, and he twisted to reinforce the barricade. Taking a few steps down the stairs, he could already hear the groans of the walkers outside and see their claws beating down the door.
Matt leaned against his knees, standing at the bottom of the room. The basement was pretty much empty, except for a squawking table and a folding-chair. The walls were made out of solid concrete. He panted, before he glanced at Billy. He made robot-like movements, as he descended the stairs with a fixed and cold gaze, beads of sweat pouring down his skin and the grip on the Marlin .22 ready to shoot.
“Fuck…I think…I think we’re good…” Matt spattered, recomposing himself and returning to his normal respiration.
“No…NO! WE’RE NOT FUCKIN’ GOOD!” Billy yelled with anger. Matt was terrified; this beast no longer seemed like the friend he always knew. His wrath was visible by his red taint and the thick arteries that could be seen through his epidermis.
“Jesus, bro…calm down…!” Matt pleaded in agonized whimpers. The fear within him made his legs tremble, at one point almost making him collapse on the floor. He took a few steps backwards, wanting to get away from that beast of a teenager this world turned him in to.
“I…I think I realize it…I THINK I FUCKIN’ REALIZE IT NOW!” Billy hollered again. This time, he turned to Matt. His bright, snake eyes met his gaze, and his murder look sent a violent shiver down Matt’s spine.
Billy rose the rifle towards Matt. Matt lifted his arms in protection. “Whoa, whoa! Billy…c’mon, man…don’t do this…!” Matt begged, getting teary-eyed.
“I…I got to man!” Billy responded, his arms shaking and his voice hoarse yet steady. “I…I KNOW IT! I CAN’T HAVE YOU AROUND! I won’t make it if hang out with you through all this mess…”
“Bro…we’re friends…we’ll…we’re gonna survive this!” Matt replied, essaying to put more conviction into his tone, but ultimately failed from the dread.
“No man! Ever since we got here…everything’s gone to shit!” Billy reprehended, beaming his hand at the door. A pair of tears streamed off his eyes. “LOOK WHAT YOU DID! WE’RE TRAPPED IN HERE BECAUSE OF YOU! I KNOW IT NOW!”
“Think about this, man…! Think about Janice, think ‘bout your mom!” Matt beseeched, nervous tics and fearful spasms moving his extremities.
“DON’T YOU MENTION HER!” Billy commanded, adjusting the gun. “IT…it was just like any other day…she drove me to school…she…she made pancakes that day…we’re…we’re too far gone Matt. This is the end…!”
“I…I know that she meant a lot to you…but we can still find hope…! We can…we can still find something to keep us going! This isn’t the end.” Matt scrutinized, becoming more confident of himself. “Now…just put down the gun…please.”
“I’m…I’m not fit for this world!” Billy confessed in a shout. “I just…I just can’t! But I’M NOT GONNA GET MAULED BY THOSE THINGS!” Billy didn’t speak, he thought for a while. “I know what you can do…YOU’RE GONNA DISTRACT ‘EM!”
“What?!” Matt enquired in bafflement.
“YEAH! YOU GOT US INTO THIS MESS…NOW YOU GET US OUT!” Billy further ordered, his gun becoming more stable in his hands.
Matt’s brain began thinking, as he sweated like a pig and he gulped nervously. He knew that he had a choice to make. He couldn’t allow himself to get devoured, because that was a nasty death he wanted to avoid. But Billy wasn’t really giving him a choice.
[REASON WITH BILLY]
[DON’T OBEY BILLY]
[PULL OUT YOUR GUN AND SHOOT BILLY]
[PULL OUT YOUR KNIFE AND FIGHT BILLY]
[DISTRACT THE WALKERS, BUT DIRECT THEM TO BILLY INSTEAD]
[REASON WITH BILLY] - Other then tying to directly kill Billy, this is the only thing I can see working, any other option could make Matt die, but each does have a chance at saving himself. But disobeying him may make him give up, you never know, but there's still the chance to reason with him, I'm gonna take it.
Billy's too far gone, just like I submitted him as, but I sure as hell didn't expect such an amazing lead up him losing it! Great chapter, once again!
[REASON WITH BILLY]
Oh man, looks like Billy finally lost it.
Btw, I love the interaction between Victor and Bianca.
[REASON WITH BILLY]
Great part! Matt's PoV was really intense. And I agree with Hope, the chance to reason with Billy is still there and should be taken.
I loved Biancas PoV, Victor is just great
[PULL OUT YOUR KNIFE AND FIGHT BILLY] FIGHT!!!!!!
Awesome Chapter!!!
Everybody's voted to reason with Billy? To be honest, I didn't expect that. I'll try to upload a chapter, with a bit of luck two, during the weekend.
I didn´t :P. I want to stab the hell out of him XD
Yeah, but unless four more people vote, the option is gonna be to reason with him. And I doubt anyone else with vote.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death. Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 6
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4, Afternoon.
Victoria
Victoria and Oliver stood outside the door of his friends’ bar. Her eyes flicked through the building, to inspect it. The bar was constructed into an apartments edifice; the walls built of brick cloaked in a worn-out sand paint and vandalized with graffiti. The two large windows beside the main door were both quite wide and the glass crystal clear, but both windows were barricaded with lengthy planks and liquor cases. The perpendicular avenues and boulevards were empty. Albeit Victoria constantly felt like somebody observed her. She tried to dissipate the thought away; maybe it was due to the contours of lurkers that she could see ambling through the broken shop vitrines.
Oliver knocked on the door, with Victoria standing right behind him, clutching her leg. For a few seconds, she could hear muffled footsteps from the inside. “Password?” A voice hauling a Russian accent demanded from the inside.
“Jack Daniel’s.” Oliver responded.
“Jack Daniel’s?” Victoria repeated, feeling a bit confused. On the interior, she could hear metallic sounds.
“Yeah. It’s our password.” Oliver informed with a sheepish smile. “To make sure nobody else tries to get in there.”
The door opened. Oliver gazed at the male with a smirk, whilst Victoria inspected him. His head was an empty wasteland of a cue ball, lacking any hair except for a small soul patch on his lower lip. His fair-skin somewhat matched his cyan eyes that were sharp as daggers.
“Hey Andrey.” Oliver said with a beckon. “This here’s Victoria.”
Andrey glanced at Victoria. He was surprised as seen by his elevating eyebrows, but he quickly donned an angrier expression. “Oli! What the fuck?! Why’d you bring this girl here?!”
“Look, man, she’s in a bad shape.” Oliver argued, remarking Victoria’s head cut and her messed up leg with a hand gesture. “I couldn’t just leave her for the rotters.”
Andrey sighed and slapped his own face. “I swear…sometimes you’re dumb as a bag of hammers.”
“Not like being smart would’ve helped you nowadays.” Oliver replicated, placing a hand on Andrey’s shoulder. “Just let her come in. We’ll fix her up. She might be useful.”
Andrey stared into Oliver’s eyes for a few seconds, pondering on the matter. “Fine.” Andrey finally accepted, in a smoother tone. Despite the fact that he shot a raged glare at Victoria. “Anson will not be happy.”
“He’ll just have to deal with it.” Oliver grinned, motioning Victoria to follow him. “C’mon inside now.”
Victoria lackadaisically followed Oliver and Andrey inside the bar, in a limp. Andrey let her pass and made sure to shut the door tight, activating all of the sturdy locks. The bar was dimly lit, only a few straws of light penetrating the improvised barricades of the windows. The left side of the bar was crammed with rows of tables and padded seats that were nailed to the walls. To her right, she detected a large counter, stretching throughout the room, surrounded by benches. Behind the counter, there were a couple of shelves, that comported a multitude of alcoholic beverages. There were a gigantic variety of drinks, probably one of each kind. Andrey stood by the windows, peeping through the holes of the barricades, keeping watch.
Sitting beside a table, there was a woman, probably Jill. She was a quite attractive woman, naturally, no artificial such as make-up. Her chocolate hair just dangled above her shoulders and she had bright, green eyes. Her sleeve-less tank-top highlighted her slender, beautiful arms that met a bracelet on her wrist. Once she spotted Victoria, she abruptly leaped onto her feet.
“Who is she?” Jill curiously inquired.
“She’s a friend.” Oliver introduced, with his hands in his hips. “She’s hurt pretty badly.”
“Oh God…” Jill mumbled, examining her wounds. “I think I there’s a medkit somewhere in the back. I’ll be back.”
As she finished her sentence, Jill marched out through a saloon door next to the counters. “Come here.” Oliver directed her to one of the long, comfy seats.
Victoria hobbled up to the seating, before she sat down and laid down, releasing a sigh of relief. Despite having her head twirling and her leg burning from the injury, it felt great to just be off her feet. Oliver kneeled beside her.
“Sorry about Andrey. He just has an issue in trusting people. Especially in this day and time.” Oliver muttered to her, so Andrey wouldn’t hear. “I know it might be difficult to be like this, surrounded by strangers…but we’re good people.”
“It’s okay.” Victoria asserted with an exhale. “Thanks for bringing me here. So…what happened to the world?”
Oliver sighed, shifting his gaze away, as if in wondering how to put this. “It’s a depressing story…so prepare for the worst.” Oliver took a deep breath. “Everything started exactly three days ago.”
“Geez…” Victoria gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. Her arm and shoulder were all sore. “I was three days down there?”
“In the subway? I guess so.” Oliver confirmed with a nod. “Anyways…reports came all over the news, warning about dead bodies that had reanimated and were…biting people…to death. The government tried to solve it, the CDC runnin’ their heads to find a cure. Chaos instilled. There was looting everywhere. Murders and muggings ruled the cities. Car accidents, suicides…the shit really hit the fan. At the end, everything fell. Those UN-dead things you see out there…it’s because of them society collapsed.”
“Jesus…” Victoria sputtered, her stare locked on the ceiling above her.
“You didn’t have any family around here, did you?” Oliver asked.
“No. I didn’t.” Victoria answered, shaking her head in negativity.
“Oh. Good. Are you okay?” Oliver further quizzed, elevating a brow.
“Yeah…it’s just a lot to take in.” Victoria admitted, whilst Jill finally arrived with a first aid kit in her palm.
“Here.” Jill walked up to them. She set the kit beside her, opening the lid and pushing it open. She rummaged through the contents, removing a roll of bandages, a batch of cotton and a bottle of peroxide. Andrey kept lurking in the background, often launching infuriated black looks at her.
Oliver unscrewed the lid off the bottle, dipping the liquid onto the cotton. “This is gonna burn. Ready?”
“Yeah.” Victoria gave the green light.
Oliver ripped off a bit of the tissue of her trousers, since they were clouting the wound. After making a disastrous hole around the chop, he compressed the cotton against her wound. Victoria whimpered in pain, but just low enough that nobody or nothing on the exterior could hear it.
“Does Anson already know she’s here?” Oliver questioned, worriedly looking at Jill.
Jill shrugged, chewing her lip. “He’s figured it out on his own. He’ll probably be here anytime now.”
Oliver gave her a hesitant nod, before applying peroxide to Victoria’s head. This time, only a teensy noise escaped between her teeth. While he did this, Jill was already ahead of him, covering her femur with the bandages. When she was done, she tossed a Band-Aid at Oliver, who strapped it onto Victoria’s forehead.
“All done.” Oliver told her. Utilizing the bench for support, Victoria gradually got up, eventually standing on her feet. She contemplated the work Jill and Oliver had done on her. Her leg was stinging from the disinfectant, but she felt more comfortable that she was being healed.
All of the sudden, they heard heavy footsteps from the hallway. Jill and Oliver dived onto their feet and stiffened. A man emerged through the saloon door. Victoria was a bit surprised due to his appearance; he looked like a person who had been taken from the 1960s. He wore flared pants, an impeccable white buttoned shirt along with a lozenge-patterned vest. His hair was blond like the sun and combed into a pompadour style. His small blue eyes were contrasted by his broad and high-graduation lensed glasses. To top it all off, he bore a Walter White moustache above his lips.
Something that she found weird was that he seemed a bit resentful as he was marching inside the saloon, but once he laid eyes on Victoria, a smile drew under his furry mustache and his expression lightened.
“Welcome to Anson Barnard’s pub, lady!” Anson hollered, widening his arms around him. Oliver and Jill exchanged baffled looks, like they were amazed that he wasn’t pissed off.
“Uh…this is Victoria…Anson.” Oliver introduced her.
“I can see.” Anson concurred, taking a step towards Victoria. “I can see you sustained a few injuries.”
“Yeah…subway I was in…collided.” Victoria declared, trying to be confident like she always was.
“That’s gotta be nasty.” Anson twitched his face, before he sprang around and slid his old-school styled figure behind the counter. He spoke in a suave and welcoming tone. “Feel like taking a drink? Oli? Jill? Andrey? Victoria?”
All of the survivors responded no with a head movement. “I’m not really in the mood for a drink.” Victoria said.
“Well…I suppose we can delay the cocktails for later.” Anson observed, tapping his fingers on the counter before exiting from behind it. “Well, Victoria…I would be to suppose that Oli has informed you on the status quo, right? Everything that’s going on out there, right?”
“Yes.” Victoria certified with a nod.
“Well, then what are you planning to do?” Anson kindly enquired, his fingers intertwined behind his back.
“I’m…not sure. I only just discovered about the…rotters.” Victoria confessed, scratching her head. She was usually a social, relaxed and talkative person, but she didn’t know that man, which made her uncomfortable. Plus, something about his nice attitude was eerie.
“Well, look, you’re welcome to stay with our little group if you want.” Anson proposed with a wide simper. “We’ve been holding out here ever since all of this started. We got food, a lot to drink and we’ve rather fortified this place.”
Everybody succumbed to a prolonged silence. Victoria didn’t really know what to say. Sensing the palpable tension, Oliver stepped forward. “You know, I was just about to give her the tour…”
“That won’t be necessary.” Anson glimpsed at Oliver, in which his smile faded away. But once his head jerked back to Victoria, his smirk merged. “I’ll do it. C’mon now.”
Oliver
Oliver folded his arms, as he studied Victoria disappearing from the room along with Anson. His twisted lips and constrained brows showed an expression of disapproval stamped on his face. Once they were out of earshot, Andrey departed from the windows and joined him and Jill.
“What in the fuck was that?” Andrey queried in total awe from Anson’s amiable behavior.
“Yeah! I mean, Anson was like a total different person!” Jill retorted in a whisper.
“Who knows?” Oliver thought out loud, shrugging. “He seemed really keen on Victoria. And I highly doubt they knew each other before the turn.”
Oliver was now fully immersed within his thoughts. Anson, for the past few days, had been a cold, complete asshole. The three other people essayed to avoid him as much as they could due to his personality, but Victoria seemed to snap something in Anson…
Victoria
Anson led Victoria through the saloon door, jabbing his finger at a lateral door. “That’s the washroom. If you need to attend to your necessities, that’s the place. Excuse me if the flushing doesn’t work.”
They continued to stroll down the passageway. It was a humid, badly-preserved hall that comported various doors. Anson opened another metallic door. Victoria reluctantly passed through, and inside she came across a tall spiraling stairway. Obscurity had conquered the stairwell, except for a few glass skylights in the ceiling that permitted a few rays of light to pierce it. “This is our only way to the rooftop. The apartments above are all cramped with walkers.”
Anson and Victoria walked up the stairs, Victoria using the rail as a support. She now felt extremely uneasy, because she knew from her peripheral vision that Anson had his gazed fixed on her.
“Do you want to tell me about how your life used to be, Victoria?” Anson suggested.
“Well…I just worked as a waitress.” Victoria bluntly disclosed, followed by a discreet gulp. “I had better dreams, sure…but they were just dreams.” She tried to keep details at a minimum, but she didn’t lie since she didn’t deem it necessary. Something about that individual was just wrong.
“What ambitions did you have?” Anson insisted, broadening his grin.
“Oh…just live a high life. Always wanted to work in the fashion line of work.” Victoria conveyed, limping along the stairs.
“Oh…it’s a shame. I’m sure that you would have been quite talented.” Anson unveiled in a convincing voice.
Victoria shrugged. “What about you?”
“Oh…I was just the average Joe.” Anson confided in a modest manner. “I just worked in this little unsuccessful bar, barely paid my bills, went back home. Repeat the cycle. Y’know…my wife passed away a few years ago. Ever since…it’s been on my own.”
“I’m sorry.” Victoria flatly said.
Anson sighed, as if in spitting out the grief. “At least she didn’t live to see all this.”
Once they reached the rooftop, Anson shoved the door, and politely allowed Victoria to pass through. Once outside, she was blinded by the sunlight. From the roof, she could see a bunch of abandoned buildings, malls, sky-scrapers and landmarks erected throughout the land. Occasionally, there was a street or an alley with a few zombies roaming around.
“One thing I like about all of this it’s how quiet it became.” Anson told her, looking around the panorama with pleasure. “No more traffic noises…no more alarm clocks…” He stopped talking, once he spotted a horde of walkers drumming along the road. A multitude of putrid zombified corpses dragged their rotten limbs along the asphalt, the moaning ringing in their ears. They bumped against each other like a herd of bleating sheep. They marched in a numerous mob like a marching band. “Shit…I mean…pardon my French. But it looks like a horde is sauntering around here.”
“Oh no…where are they going?” Victoria interrogated, glancing at the herd.
Anson moaned, speculating a response. “At least they’re not heading this way. I think they’re heading towards the old zoo towards the edge of Atlanta.”
Atlanta’s Local Zoo, Day 4, Night.
Steve
Night had arrived. The canvas of a bleak, star-specked and dark cobalt sky arrived. The crickets chipped away in the woods. Fireflies landed on trees and buzzed their lights. Tucked away in the stinky public bathroom, was Steve Leopard, hidden inside his sleeping roll.
His entire body shivered. He still hadn’t managed to remove those images from his head. What kind of monster would crucify a zombie to a tree?! He became more paranoid and anxious than ever. At the smallest sound, he would sit on his derriere as fast as a lightning bolt, looking around him, trying to hear an intruder entering the zoo, but there wasn’t nobody there. He couldn’t manage to sleep.
Worst of all, he felt lonelier than ever.
Before, his father was everything to him. He was his paradise of security, a part of his being, his comfort…and now he was gone. He used to feel accompanied by imagining Sunshine trekking around the zoo, climbing and leaping on top on fences and cages, but that one night, not even that could keep him joyous.
Suddenly, he heard a noise. This time, a real one.
He jumped onto his feet, banding his eyepatch around his skull and hurriedly dressed his trousers. He picked up an improvised spear he created, built out of a broom pole and a knife taped at the end, without forgetting his flashlight. Without street lights, the night became way murkier. He waltzed out of the damped space.
“Oh God…” He rumbled, beaming the light towards the entrance.
The iron main gate had both of its doors open. He was frozen in his place, his facial expression perplexed. He always kept that thing firmly locked with a padlock. But just then, he discerned the silhouette of a person thrusting the gate open, the rusty hinges creaking.
“Hey!” Steve shouted at the person. Its shadow was only a black outline, so he couldn’t distinguish any of his or her physical aspects. The person however, spun around and dashed into the forest, soon vanishing into the night. “Fuck!” Steve cursed, kicking a rock.
But then, he rose his head back up, and saw a flock of walkers making their way through the breached gate. They stumbled, toppled and staggered inside the zoo, releasing guttural groans and waving their arms in front of them. They were a mix of females, males, young people, adults, elderly, but they all had one thing in common: they were all hungry for some human flesh. Despite being only an illusion, they seemed to be led by a male lurker that wore an army outfit, and a name tag saying ‘Banner’.
Sunshine instantly ran beside Steve, readying into an offensive stance and growling at the intruders. Steve silently cursed, knowing that his only way out was cut off. But when he listened to the elephant Big Paw trumpeting and lifting its legs in dread, he had an idea. He knew that he really loved that animal…despite him being just a baby specimen, if he released it from its cage, it would probably knock over dozens of walkers. But that could also mean the death of the elephant. The only thing that mattered was that he had a choice to make, and the lurkers just kept on investing.
[RELEASE BIG PAW]
[DON’T RELEASE BIG PAW]
A/N: Will you give up on an animal friend to save yourself or take your chances? Who do you think is stalking Steve? Or is this person not only stalking Steve?
[DON'T RELEASE BIG PAW]
I don't think Steve would risk one of his animals lives just so he can survive.
[DON’T RELEASE BIG PAW]
[DON’T RELEASE BIG PAW]
Awesome Chapter!!!
[RELEASE BIG PAW]
[RELEASE BIG PAW]
That seems like an asshole choice, but by the looks of it the zoo is lost, so the elephant would die anyway.
I'd rather just read stories, but this story is fantastic, I did not want this story to die because of lack of comments, I hope you keep sending more parts to this story often.
[RELEASE BIG PAW] I know no one wants him to die, but he will die anyway, if we leave him stuck in the cage, he will starve, he better die quickly without much suffering than starve in two days, and he still can save the Steve's life and even other animals.
OH MY GOODNESS! WE HAVE A TIE! LOOKS LIKE THE NEXT DECISION WILL HAVE TO BE MADE THROUGH A COIN FLIP!
Thanks for reading and voting. Your vote made quite a difference, now I have a draw which is interesting!
Okay guys, since we had a tie in the last choice, I used a random generator to make the call. Out of three tries, the winning choice is...[RELEASE BIG PAW]. Sorry if you voted otherwise. Anyways, expect a new chapter soon!
soon
Soon
SOON
SOON
COMING SOON
I know that the waiting periods might sometimes be long, but I just don't have the possibilities to update everyday or day yes day no. Just know that the chapter is under the works and it will be uploaded.
The Walking Dead: Life & Death [Episode 1 – Who We Once Were Part 7]
Atlanta, Local Zoo. Day 4
Steve
[RELEASE BIG PAW]
Steve rushed towards Big Paw’s cage. The masses of walkers – a mix of waitresses, office clerks, grey suits, bald and old dungarees-using farmers and garbage cleaners and that leading zombie, the zombified soldier named Banner – growl an eerie and hefty sound, as they limp inside the zoo. Steve couldn’t discern any of this though; the night only provided their feeble silhouettes that were nearly imperceptible. That place is done for. It won’t be too long until that place will be overrun. Steve was getting more nervous with each step they made.
He marched in front of the cage’s gate. The elephant gawked at Steve with sad, heavy eyes. That depressed look that meets Steve’s made the young man shiver at the act he was about to commit. It was like the beast was awaiting for the man to save him, but Steve only felt worse that he was throwing him onto his death.
Steve yanked the bolt off the lock, before pulling the barred entrance with all of his force. His movements were sloppy and sudden, while his legs seemed like a deformed Jenga structure. He shoved the gate and allowed it to swing on its hinges.
The elephant banged his paws against the floor, emitting once again his trumpeting noise. He then sprinted out of the cage, decreasing his head and wielding his horns. He was about to tackle the horde, in a desperate, frightened attempt to shoo them away. The tackle sent half a dozen walkers flying, who squirmed their limbs airborne and groaned like a strangled cat. However, only if their brain was destroyed, they would die. And since they didn’t felt pain, when they fell back on the ground, they just shook it off and got back again, battering their jaws and roaming towards the nearest prey.
Big Paw found himself in the center of the herd now. The undead Banner clawed his dull and yellow nails on its leathery skin, scratching them and wrapping his teeth around the elephant’s leg. Big Paw trumpeted again, elevating his front limbs like a hurt horse, which sent Banner gliding a few feet away and knocking down a couple walkers along the way. Big Paw downed his paw once again on the dirt, and squashed one of the knocked over lurkers’ head, which exploded in a spectacle of grey matter, brains and blood, like a watermelon.
But it was impossible for the animal to fend off such an immense horde, containing about sixty walkers and increasing. Another female biter emerged, chewing his rear viciously, until it ripped off its tail. Big Paw roared from the pain; his screams almost resembling a human cry. The elephant was gushing a jet of blood from his rear end, while ten more zombies etched and bit his sides. The elephant eventually succumbed to the horde, collapsing on his side. The mob toppled over one another in a disastrous way, opening Big Paw’s skin to reach the meaty buffet that they would be able to find inside his body.
Steve was viewing this with an immense sadness, the tears falling down his eyes. What had he done? Those animals he treasured so much…how did he come to this? Was survival now the sole thing that was important?
He snapped out of his trance when he heard Sunshine gnarling, before readying itself onto an attacking stance and ran towards the horde. “Sunny, NO!” Steve tried to stop it, uselessly waving his arm to reach it, but it was to no avail.
Sunshine leapt on top of the walkers, who turned their heads in all directions with a deadened and dazzled expression, wondering what was that panther that walked on their heads. Sunshine was biting their heads, ripping through their carrion, but eventually fell into the pit of the horde, vanishing out of sight. The wind carried to Steve’s ears the panther’s last suffering whining.
“No…! Fuck…!” Steve sobbed, the tears streaming down his cheeks. His only friend in the world was gone…at first it was his dad. In an attempt to save him. And now it was Sunshine, who was the second one to perish in order to save Steve.
Suddenly, a hard object struck Steve’s nape, sending him against the dirt. Steve’s safari hat flew off and his eyepatch slid out of place. Steve let out a low wail and moved his jaws slowly, trying to recover from the shock. Everything was blurry. At least the horde was distracted munching the animals, meaning that they wouldn’t attack him for the moment.
Steve just barely perceived a pair of thick boots walking in front of his face, before unconsciousness usurped him.
Atlanta, Barnard’s Pub. Day 4.
Victoria
After a few slick arguments, Victoria finally managed to get off Anson’s hook. She slithered to the bar, before she sat in a stool. Jill was counting arrows in a quiver behind the counter. Victoria buried her forehead in her palms, before releasing a long sigh and constraining her eyebrows.
“So…how’d it go with him?” Jill inquired, glancing at her.
“Anson talks too much. What’s the deal with him?” Victoria asked in a fatigued tone.
“Don’t look at me! He’s a damned mystery.” Jill confessed, sliding the arrows inside the quiver. “You seem kinda under the weather.”
“It’s just that…” Victoria said, stopping to sniff. She recomposed herself and gulped. “It’s too much to take in. If you guys hadn’t come along…just hard to believe that everything I knew is gone.” She made a short pause, in which she let out a long exhale. Then, she peeked at the alcohol-filled shelves. “I could go for a stiff drink right now.”
Jill reached for a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a random glass that she spotted underneath the counter, and then shoved it across the table. “Serve yourself.” She coldly said.
Victoria opened up the jar, positing the lid aside. She picked it up and poured a long stream of whisky onto her glass. “Don’t forget the ice.” Jill remarked, dropping two icy cubes on the myrrh-colored fluid.
Victoria thanked with a nod. Bottom’s up, she thought. She brought the glass upon her mouth, chugging the liquid like there was no tomorrow. In a single blow, she drank it all. When she was done, she set down the vacant glass with a thud and she let out a satisfied breath, panting.
Back before the apocalypse, she wasn’t the one to drink too much. Sure, she was constantly going out, hanging with her friends and going to the club, but she never enjoyed booze. Only on a few rare occasions she drank. Well…that occasion wasn’t exactly special, but she needed to relax.
Everything just seemed like a bad, a really bad nightmare. Only in the few minutes she had been introduced to those rotting, soulless monsters, her life and vitality were sucked into a void. Her talkative nature was gone. Every time she spoke, she choked on her words, and preferred to stay silent. She felt nauseated…phantom pain ran through her stomach.
“Go easy there.” Jill cautioned, crossing her arms on the wooden counter. “It never gets easier.” Victoria peeped towards the quiver, that was accompanied by a long, curvy and rufescent archery bow, equipped with a scope and colored distance indicators. State of the art.
“Whatcha got going on there with that bow?” Victoria rose her brow, peering towards the compound bow. Jill directed her gaze at it, before she forced a sad smile and looked back at Victoria.
Jill shifted her attention elsewhere. She passed her hand on her other arm, like a sudden breeze had swept through. “I…it’s just a memento. From my family.” She said, although she seemed like had something else to say, but she didn’t.
Victoria gawked around her. “Where are Andrey and Oliver?”
“They’re suiting up. The three of us decided to go clear one apartment building.” Jill informed. “That way we’ll have beds for us and we won’t be so crammed. Wanna come?”
“Oh, I…” Victoria pondered. She felt a bit insecure and wasn’t too sure if she was ready for it. “I’m not sure if…I can…”
“Are you sure?” Jill insisted, certifying that she made her mind. “I know it’s hard…but it’s best not to put it off. The sooner you adapt, the better.”
Victoria nodded, assimilating the information. “F…okay. But I…it’s gonna be safe…right? I don’t…want to kill one of them.”
“You’ll just watch.” Jill slung her compound bow and quiver on her back. “C’mon. This way.”
Awesome Chapter!!!!
R.I.P
R.I.P
Episode finale coming soon! I know this episode was small, but the next one will be much longer, better and have way more character development. Always like to hear people's predictions, what do you think will happen?
Something bad will happen soon
Yes...SOON...hehehe
Can't wait!
FINALE coming soon! Expect it to be up either today or tomorrow. I'm excited to write the next chapter, I want to see in which directions I can take the plot and the characters.