I actually had a hand cranked radio when I was younger in 2008 maybe? So they are definitely out and about I think I remember seeing one in a hardware store a couple months ago and in a Walmart at least a year ago.
Small and Sweet [TWD SI]
- Thread starter StrangerDanger51
- Start date
- Alt. History Horror
You can. They just cost alot.
I remember around the time this series came out I saw one when I lived in the farmland area. It was fairly windy. Had a decorative weathervane windmill thing. The wind would get so strong it spin itself right off the tower structure. No matter how much we reinforced it and how matter it was made if metal to begin with. Kept thinking we'd save on electricity if we upgraded it with magnets.
Saw one like that at TSC once when I went looking. The decorative one I had was taller than me but this was tall and bigger too. More heavy duty. And cost far too much for my family's wallet.
Would require some modifications to attach to a car to charge on the go.
I mean warehouses for more than fireworks. Most people in apocalypse fics think stores, groceries and whatnot. Nobody ever thinks of warehouses and distribution centers for all the food and gear you might need.
Can't wait till the farm for Clem to ask how the nice farmers can have so much meat to share on a dairy farm with one cow. Children say the darndest things don't they?
Had a flashlight when I was younger. Magnetic cylinder inside. The more you shake it the more power the light had.
Last edited:
StrangerDanger51
Novice Writer
- Location
- New Zealand
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Huh. Cool.
As someone who worked in a packhouse for a while, I can tell you they store weeks and weeks of food, backlogged. Problem is finding one, though Lee, Lilly and Doug lived in the area so they might know.
Shame on you. You're assuming I'm gonna let them butcher Mark? Where is your humanity!?
I meant before. Like in in the barn when you see the sick milk cow and nothing else...
StrangerDanger51
Novice Writer
- Location
- New Zealand
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I meant before. Like in in the barn when you see the sick milk cow and nothing else...
Remember Andy and Danny are really keen to keep the motel group out of that room, and Lee doesn't see it till after everyone's already headed off to the house to eat dinner.
We can assume the rest of the cows succumbed to sickness or were slaughtered to keep the St Johns alive. One cow produces enough milk each day for one family to live off.
TheOmnimercurial
Dragon Bard
- Location
- UK
It's kind of sad that clockwork Radios have become less known and or expensive....
The guy who first invented them "Trevor Bayliss", made them because doing so would be both much cheaper than a battery or mains powered device and also because they would be of use out in the boonies.
en.m.wikipedia.org
He was pretty awesome, sad end to his life though....
Yeah wind up torches are around, but the Dynamo on them is loud as hell, physically intensive to spin and loses charge very quickly.
Clockwork essentially stores a charge until it unspools and regulates the power.
The guy who first invented them "Trevor Bayliss", made them because doing so would be both much cheaper than a battery or mains powered device and also because they would be of use out in the boonies.
Trevor Baylis - Wikipedia
He was pretty awesome, sad end to his life though....
Yeah wind up torches are around, but the Dynamo on them is loud as hell, physically intensive to spin and loses charge very quickly.
Clockwork essentially stores a charge until it unspools and regulates the power.
Idk. Lee seemed to convince them pretty well before Zombie Mark showed up enough to question it. And Lee and Kenny both were Sus'ed already. Could ask to be shown where they keep all that supposed meat.
Chapter 5: Life in the Apocalypse
StrangerDanger51
Novice Writer
- Location
- New Zealand
- Pronouns
- He/Him
AN: A Little timeline for you: Video Game Timeline.
I'm working with this for dates and such, though it's Canon the infection started late 2010, sometime in Early August. The original writer has been intentionally vague on start dates and timelines, but hints have let us know a few things. So, I'm going with the running theory Day 0 is August 7th. The last month of Summer. The three month time-lapse between episodes 1 and 2, which Occurs on Day 92, puts us on the 7th of November, the last month of fall.
No wonder they're so worried about food in the game.
Winter is coming.
Day 5: The 12th of August
The next day brought discord. Of course it did. But, probably not the kind you're thinking of.
You see, I put all the food in the one pantry for a reason.
So, there I was, stood in front of the pantry with grown adults frowning at me.
"We need to ration this food." I said, again. They had all wandered in this morning to get breakfast before working on the wall.
"Why?" Kenny asked, "We have plenty! If we're getting low, we can just go to town for more." I pointed at him, making him blink.
"That's exactly the reason we SHOULD be rationing. I said this to Carly in the Pharmacy: No one is making food anymore!" I explain. It's not really their fault, they think the military is going to get rid of all the zombies for them, and then life will go on.
I know better.
"We need to make sure this food lasts as long as possible. We should definitely go to town for more, but it shouldn't be because we've run out. It should be to make sure we have plenty." I continued, not letting the adults get a word in edgewise.
"Eventually, we're going to run out of food and we won't be able to find any more in Macon. I'd rather that day was months and months away, than a few weeks because you couldn't stop from stuffing your faces!" The adults were all shocked. This little slip of a girl was chewing them out. Some looked guilty though, Doug and Kenny mostly. They probably were gonna have a hearty breakfast.
Others though...
"Now, look here you little sh- Oof" Larry started, but quickly got an elbow to the side from his daughter, and glares from the others.
"Okay Clem, we get it. We'll ration the food." I squinted at her, then turned my judging gaze over the others. They looked suitably contrite.
"Good. Two of you help me. Everyone will get their fair share, and I'll make sure of it."
Day 6: The 13th of August
Not everyone (Larry) was happy with the rationing, but they understand why, even if they don't believe it's necessary just yet. Lilly and Katja helped me get food sorted for everyone. Two meals a day, everyone gets the same portions.
Work on the wall began yesterday, but those were mostly stop-gaps. Today, Cars were moved across the entryways and the low fence around the front was extended up. The back fence was mostly fine, but needed reinforcing. It wouldn't handle a dozen of the things trying to push it over. The work was mostly done by Lee, Kenny and Doug. Larry did almost nothing to help. Carly, Lilly and I all kept watch in different directions. We were vulnerable and didn't want to be caught off-guard
By the time night fell, cars lined with outward-facing wood blocked off the entrances and the walls were tall enough no walker could just 'climb' over it.
Everyone's claimed rooms. Lilly and Larry claimed two rooms from the middle building. Lee, Doug and Carly got the three rooms upstairs. Lee ended up choosing the room the girl hid in. Cleaning up that mess was not pretty, but it needed to be done.
Kenny, Katja and Duck all claimed one of the downstairs rooms in the main building. I grabbed the other one. That leaves four empty rooms for anyone that joins later. That thought reminded me of Mark, the man hiding in the Air Force base with the Commissary food.
I had overheard the adults talking about how supply runs were going to work. Two person teams with empty backpacks going out, and hopefully full coming back in.
"Hey, Lilly" I asked that night, when we were sitting down to eat.
"Yeah, Clementine?" She replied.
"You said the Air Force base was overrun, right?"
"Yeah, Why?" She raised an eyebrow at me.
"Shouldn't there be food there, since people lived on the base?" She frowned and thought, while i continued speaking. "And there should be ammo, guns and other supplies there too!" She slowly nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah! The commissary should still be well stocked. The armory too." She smiled at me. "Good thinking, Clem."
I smiled back at her. Lilly's actually a pretty nice person. Hopefully I can prevent the infighting and paranoia getting to her. She brought it up to Lee and Kenny that night, and they agreed it was worth a look. At least to see how overrun the place was.
The next day, Lee and Lilly when to check out the Air Base.
Day 7: The 14th of August
Lee and Lilly left early in the morning, just before sunrise. They walked out after a quick breakfast of canned beans, cooked over a gas burner.
The rest of us spent the morning organizing. Katja and I took full stock of all our supplies. We had another few days of food at full rations (Previously mentioned), as well as various other bits ands bobs. A few couches had been pulled from the unoccupied rooms to make up a little outdoor seating area next to the RV. Kenny also started looking into the engine on the RV. Someone had already boarded up the side and back windows on the thing, though not well.
"We can probably use this, when Macon dries up." He'd said to me when I asked, "Fill it up with food and spare fuel, jump in and drive away!"
"And where do you plan on going, huh? You don't honestly believe somewhere else will be any better than here, do you?" Carly butted in, pessimistically.
"No, but I'm a fisherman by trade. If we can get to the Coast and find a boat, we're home free. Those things can't swim, so we'll be safe." She didn't look convinced, and neither did I. Boat God was not to be deterred, however.
"It's a good plan!" He insisted. "Don't you want to go to Savannah anyway, Clem? Lee told me that's where your parent's went, before all this started." Ouch, dick move bro.
"Yeah," I said. "I want to know if they're okay." Honestly, I didn't. Savannah is a fucking deathtrap. I can't exactly tell them that, though. They'd find it supremely strange that a little girl wouldn't care about what happened to her parents.
"The last message they left for me on the answering machine didn't sound good, though." I said, sounding sad. "Mom said some guy attacked Dad, and that they were in a hospital." (My voice gained a quiver at that.)
The adults shared a glance, then Carly knelt next to me and gave me a hug. "It's okay, Clem. I'm sure they're fine. From what I know, they seem like smart people." I nodded. "Then they'll know what to do. They did a great job teaching you everything you needed to know, right?" Eeeeeeh.
Then Kenny tried to start the RV. It didn't even turn over.
"Shit. Well, guess we've got a lot of work to do." He stated.
Later that evening, Lilly and Lee returned.
"Well, the place is mostly clear," Lilly said as they ate a late dinner. "If we take the truck, we could get in pretty easily, pack as much food as we can in it, and get back here before lunch." Smart. A backpack can only hold so much food. A truck's bed, however, can hold a lot more.
Day 8: The 15th of August
Kenny was right. By lunch, they were back.
And oh boy, they'd come home with a haul.
First, they introduced us to Mark. He'd barricaded himself in the commissary just as the base fell. Eventually the walkers that knew he was there gave up and wandered off. He was relieved to be saved, and happy that we'd let him join us.
"After all that food you let us share," Lee had said, "You definitely deserve a place."
Boxes and boxes of food, ammunition and other supplies. Warm clothes for everyone, (Army issue, but better than nothing.) Automatic Rifles and Semi-Automatics, Pistols and Shotguns.
"That's a lot of guns." Doug noted, looking uneasy. It was, indeed, a lot of fucking guns.
"Better in our hands, than going to waste" Kenny said, attitude upbeat and not coming down.
"I'll sort out a training schedule." Lilly volunteered, "No offence, but you people aren't military. You have almost no gun discipline, and we should fix that asap."
No one protested when I added myself to her schedule.
---SaS---
Day 16: The 23th of August
We still had plenty of food, but plenty isn't enough. Every other day, teams of two went to town to scavenge. Most of the time, they didn't bring back much. Walkers interrupted them or blocked the way, and they couldn't exactly start shooting without drawing a whole bunch of them.
We only had the once silencer, and the more we use it, the worse it'll get.
We'd also gone back to the Air Base to pick up the rest of the commissary food.
What, you think a half-dozen boxes of food were all they stored there?
That base had hundreds of personnel on site. After some math and counting, Katja and I (Mostly Katja, a first grader won't know calculus) predict that with our current food consumption, we've got enough to last five months. That's not counting the supermarkets and grocery stores we haven't looted yet.
We've got plenty of meds too, looted from the pharmacy. Hell, we took the supplements and vitamins as well. They would keep us healthy when we were still eating the minimum amount we needed to get by.
What? Like I said before, nobody is growing food. Gotta keep up the rationing.
Oh, and Katja cut my hair. We tried a few styles, but I didn't like any of them. Eventually, we just cut most of it off.
I like it. Makes me look less like a girl.
Day 31: The 7th of September
August had ended, and with it the summer.
Exactly one month after it all started, we came together by the campfire and shared stories of the times before.
"...and so I said, 'Barry you lazy bum, get over here with the net!' " Kenny exclaimed, miming that he was straining to hold on to a fishing rod. "So he grabs it and runs over, leans over the side to get the damn thing in a net and then Splash!, he falls right over the side and into the freezing cold Atlantic water." He shook his head as we all laughed.
"Lost the Marlin, too. Crying shame." Warm chuckles and smiles all around. Duck and I were roasting some marshmallows. Well, I was roasting them. I didn't have a taste for them in my previous life, but Clem's tongue loved the sweet, gooey, sugary goodness.
Duck let his first two catch fire, before he got told off for wasting food. The little pyromaniac still let his go almost charred before he ate them.
Doug and Carly were sitting quite close, stealing glances at each other. You know, I had noticed them sneaking off together. Sad, I liked Lee with Carly.
Mark was next in line to talk. He went on to describe some of the stupid shit his group in basic training had done.
For one night, we forgot about the apocalypse just outside the motel walls.
It was a good night.
Day 32: The 8th of August
The next morning, however, was not as fun.
Our revelry had drawn quite a few zombies, who's noise in turn brought more zombies, and our walls were tested for the first time since we set up here.
The back fences, being properly installed and thoroughly reinforced, held well. The front, almost entirely hand-built, wall; not so much. The non-combatants of the group, (Katja, Duck, and Doug) had retreated to one of the balcony rooms. I was on the balcony itself, picking off zombies coming down the street to join the assault.
I'm so glad they trusted me with one of the semi-autos.
Meanwhile, on the ground, The walkers were climbing over the cars.
Turns out, the freshly turned still had plenty of motor control. It's likely that, as they degrade and rot, that'll change.
Lee, Lilly, Larry, Kenny, Carly and Mark were picking them off as they climbed the fence. For a whole twenty minutes we worked to clear the small horde that was determined to eat us.
It was the work of hours to pull all the bodies off the wall and pile them up on the road. That night, we watched from within our hastily-reinforced walls as the corpses burned.
"We need a name for them." Lee said, breaking the sombre silence. "Something to sperate them from the people they were, before." A few people nodded.
"Well, They're dead, but not. So, Undead?" Doug blurted out his suggestion. A few looks had him flush. "I, uh, you might have noticed that I'm a bit of a nerd. I've been calling them that in my head for weeks."
Some people nodded, but Katja shook her head. "Probably better not to think of them as the Dead. I don't think its good for us focus on that." Doug frowned, then nodded, accepting that. Carly nudged his side, cheering him up.
"Walkers?" Lee suggested, "Cuz, you know, they're walking around when they shouldn't be?"
"Maybe." Kenny continued, giving his wife a side-hug. "I vote for Lurkers. Some of you wouldn't have seen it, but in town they like to hide and wait. When someone makes a noise they come pouring out of every little place, when before you didn't even know they were there."
The discussion went on long into the night. The bonfire burned down slow. By morning all that was left was charred bones and ashes.
They still ended up calling them Walkers.
Sometimes I really wish this universe had zombie movies and fiction. Maybe then, people would have been more prepared.
At least one good thing came of this. No-one was acting like the military was going to come in and fix everything anymore. We needed to fend for ourselves.
Day 85: The 31st of October
"Pleeeeeease!" Duck begged his mother, and anyone else who would listen.
"No, Duck."
"But it's Halloween!" He insisted. "Can we please have some candy?"
Almost three months into the apocalypse, and we were chugging along fine. We still had loads of food, plenty scavenged from local supermarkets and the pantries of most of the houses on our side of the town. Lee said they'd started putting red crosses of paint on the front door of houses they'd checked.
One thing they hadn't brought back though, was candy. Personally, I agree. While candy has plenty of sugars it's not exactly necessary for survival.
"Duck, baby, we haven't got any." Katja explained. Duck drooped and walked off, looking depressed.
It was just after breakfast on that cool morning. A chill wind had started blowing from the south and i was bundled up in an army-issue windbreaker and thermal top. They didn't exactly have anything my size though and tailoring could only do so much. The sleeves slipped down just past my fingers and the thing was so long it would count as a dress.
"Did you want any Candy, Clem?" Lee asked me, watching Duck walk away candiless.
I shook my head. "No, I'm good." He raised an eyebrow at me.
It was only later that evening, not long after dinner, when Lee and Kenny approached us.
"Here you go kids. Happy Halloween!" Kenny said with a massive grin. In his hands, he held a bowl filled with different candies. Then I remembered.
They'd gone on a supply run yesterday, but said they got chased off. They were gone a long time though, long enough to sneak into a store and loot it for all it was worth.
Lee handed me a bowl of my own, with a cheeky grin.
"I know you have a sweet tooth, Sweetie. If you want something, just tell me, okay?" I nodded. (blushing)
That candy was the best thing I'd had since the marshmallows
Day 92: The 7th of August
It was a good day. We had food, warmth, shelter and defences. We could stay here another four months, at least.
Lee, Mark and Kenny had all gone out hunting, hoping to put some fresh meat on the table tonight.
When they came running out of the woods with a legless man and a tall, skinny boy who could only be Ben, I remembered.
Shit. The St Johns.
How the fuck am I gonna prevent this mess.
AN: Slice of Life. A much happier, less conflict-filled group, fed and healthy.
Too bad they haven't learned that it's not the dead you need to be afraid of.
I'm working with this for dates and such, though it's Canon the infection started late 2010, sometime in Early August. The original writer has been intentionally vague on start dates and timelines, but hints have let us know a few things. So, I'm going with the running theory Day 0 is August 7th. The last month of Summer. The three month time-lapse between episodes 1 and 2, which Occurs on Day 92, puts us on the 7th of November, the last month of fall.
No wonder they're so worried about food in the game.
Winter is coming.
---SaS---
Day 5: The 12th of August
The next day brought discord. Of course it did. But, probably not the kind you're thinking of.
You see, I put all the food in the one pantry for a reason.
So, there I was, stood in front of the pantry with grown adults frowning at me.
"We need to ration this food." I said, again. They had all wandered in this morning to get breakfast before working on the wall.
"Why?" Kenny asked, "We have plenty! If we're getting low, we can just go to town for more." I pointed at him, making him blink.
"That's exactly the reason we SHOULD be rationing. I said this to Carly in the Pharmacy: No one is making food anymore!" I explain. It's not really their fault, they think the military is going to get rid of all the zombies for them, and then life will go on.
I know better.
"We need to make sure this food lasts as long as possible. We should definitely go to town for more, but it shouldn't be because we've run out. It should be to make sure we have plenty." I continued, not letting the adults get a word in edgewise.
"Eventually, we're going to run out of food and we won't be able to find any more in Macon. I'd rather that day was months and months away, than a few weeks because you couldn't stop from stuffing your faces!" The adults were all shocked. This little slip of a girl was chewing them out. Some looked guilty though, Doug and Kenny mostly. They probably were gonna have a hearty breakfast.
Others though...
"Now, look here you little sh- Oof" Larry started, but quickly got an elbow to the side from his daughter, and glares from the others.
"Okay Clem, we get it. We'll ration the food." I squinted at her, then turned my judging gaze over the others. They looked suitably contrite.
"Good. Two of you help me. Everyone will get their fair share, and I'll make sure of it."
---SaS---
Day 6: The 13th of August
Not everyone (Larry) was happy with the rationing, but they understand why, even if they don't believe it's necessary just yet. Lilly and Katja helped me get food sorted for everyone. Two meals a day, everyone gets the same portions.
Work on the wall began yesterday, but those were mostly stop-gaps. Today, Cars were moved across the entryways and the low fence around the front was extended up. The back fence was mostly fine, but needed reinforcing. It wouldn't handle a dozen of the things trying to push it over. The work was mostly done by Lee, Kenny and Doug. Larry did almost nothing to help. Carly, Lilly and I all kept watch in different directions. We were vulnerable and didn't want to be caught off-guard
By the time night fell, cars lined with outward-facing wood blocked off the entrances and the walls were tall enough no walker could just 'climb' over it.
Everyone's claimed rooms. Lilly and Larry claimed two rooms from the middle building. Lee, Doug and Carly got the three rooms upstairs. Lee ended up choosing the room the girl hid in. Cleaning up that mess was not pretty, but it needed to be done.
Kenny, Katja and Duck all claimed one of the downstairs rooms in the main building. I grabbed the other one. That leaves four empty rooms for anyone that joins later. That thought reminded me of Mark, the man hiding in the Air Force base with the Commissary food.
I had overheard the adults talking about how supply runs were going to work. Two person teams with empty backpacks going out, and hopefully full coming back in.
"Hey, Lilly" I asked that night, when we were sitting down to eat.
"Yeah, Clementine?" She replied.
"You said the Air Force base was overrun, right?"
"Yeah, Why?" She raised an eyebrow at me.
"Shouldn't there be food there, since people lived on the base?" She frowned and thought, while i continued speaking. "And there should be ammo, guns and other supplies there too!" She slowly nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah! The commissary should still be well stocked. The armory too." She smiled at me. "Good thinking, Clem."
I smiled back at her. Lilly's actually a pretty nice person. Hopefully I can prevent the infighting and paranoia getting to her. She brought it up to Lee and Kenny that night, and they agreed it was worth a look. At least to see how overrun the place was.
The next day, Lee and Lilly when to check out the Air Base.
---SaS---
Day 7: The 14th of August
Lee and Lilly left early in the morning, just before sunrise. They walked out after a quick breakfast of canned beans, cooked over a gas burner.
The rest of us spent the morning organizing. Katja and I took full stock of all our supplies. We had another few days of food at full rations (Previously mentioned), as well as various other bits ands bobs. A few couches had been pulled from the unoccupied rooms to make up a little outdoor seating area next to the RV. Kenny also started looking into the engine on the RV. Someone had already boarded up the side and back windows on the thing, though not well.
"We can probably use this, when Macon dries up." He'd said to me when I asked, "Fill it up with food and spare fuel, jump in and drive away!"
"And where do you plan on going, huh? You don't honestly believe somewhere else will be any better than here, do you?" Carly butted in, pessimistically.
"No, but I'm a fisherman by trade. If we can get to the Coast and find a boat, we're home free. Those things can't swim, so we'll be safe." She didn't look convinced, and neither did I. Boat God was not to be deterred, however.
"It's a good plan!" He insisted. "Don't you want to go to Savannah anyway, Clem? Lee told me that's where your parent's went, before all this started." Ouch, dick move bro.
"Yeah," I said. "I want to know if they're okay." Honestly, I didn't. Savannah is a fucking deathtrap. I can't exactly tell them that, though. They'd find it supremely strange that a little girl wouldn't care about what happened to her parents.
"The last message they left for me on the answering machine didn't sound good, though." I said, sounding sad. "Mom said some guy attacked Dad, and that they were in a hospital." (My voice gained a quiver at that.)
The adults shared a glance, then Carly knelt next to me and gave me a hug. "It's okay, Clem. I'm sure they're fine. From what I know, they seem like smart people." I nodded. "Then they'll know what to do. They did a great job teaching you everything you needed to know, right?" Eeeeeeh.
Then Kenny tried to start the RV. It didn't even turn over.
"Shit. Well, guess we've got a lot of work to do." He stated.
Later that evening, Lilly and Lee returned.
"Well, the place is mostly clear," Lilly said as they ate a late dinner. "If we take the truck, we could get in pretty easily, pack as much food as we can in it, and get back here before lunch." Smart. A backpack can only hold so much food. A truck's bed, however, can hold a lot more.
---SaS---
Day 8: The 15th of August
Kenny was right. By lunch, they were back.
And oh boy, they'd come home with a haul.
First, they introduced us to Mark. He'd barricaded himself in the commissary just as the base fell. Eventually the walkers that knew he was there gave up and wandered off. He was relieved to be saved, and happy that we'd let him join us.
"After all that food you let us share," Lee had said, "You definitely deserve a place."
Boxes and boxes of food, ammunition and other supplies. Warm clothes for everyone, (Army issue, but better than nothing.) Automatic Rifles and Semi-Automatics, Pistols and Shotguns.
"That's a lot of guns." Doug noted, looking uneasy. It was, indeed, a lot of fucking guns.
"Better in our hands, than going to waste" Kenny said, attitude upbeat and not coming down.
"I'll sort out a training schedule." Lilly volunteered, "No offence, but you people aren't military. You have almost no gun discipline, and we should fix that asap."
No one protested when I added myself to her schedule.
---SaS---
Day 16: The 23th of August
We still had plenty of food, but plenty isn't enough. Every other day, teams of two went to town to scavenge. Most of the time, they didn't bring back much. Walkers interrupted them or blocked the way, and they couldn't exactly start shooting without drawing a whole bunch of them.
We only had the once silencer, and the more we use it, the worse it'll get.
We'd also gone back to the Air Base to pick up the rest of the commissary food.
What, you think a half-dozen boxes of food were all they stored there?
That base had hundreds of personnel on site. After some math and counting, Katja and I (Mostly Katja, a first grader won't know calculus) predict that with our current food consumption, we've got enough to last five months. That's not counting the supermarkets and grocery stores we haven't looted yet.
We've got plenty of meds too, looted from the pharmacy. Hell, we took the supplements and vitamins as well. They would keep us healthy when we were still eating the minimum amount we needed to get by.
What? Like I said before, nobody is growing food. Gotta keep up the rationing.
Oh, and Katja cut my hair. We tried a few styles, but I didn't like any of them. Eventually, we just cut most of it off.
I like it. Makes me look less like a girl.
---SaS---
Day 31: The 7th of September
August had ended, and with it the summer.
Exactly one month after it all started, we came together by the campfire and shared stories of the times before.
"...and so I said, 'Barry you lazy bum, get over here with the net!' " Kenny exclaimed, miming that he was straining to hold on to a fishing rod. "So he grabs it and runs over, leans over the side to get the damn thing in a net and then Splash!, he falls right over the side and into the freezing cold Atlantic water." He shook his head as we all laughed.
"Lost the Marlin, too. Crying shame." Warm chuckles and smiles all around. Duck and I were roasting some marshmallows. Well, I was roasting them. I didn't have a taste for them in my previous life, but Clem's tongue loved the sweet, gooey, sugary goodness.
Duck let his first two catch fire, before he got told off for wasting food. The little pyromaniac still let his go almost charred before he ate them.
Doug and Carly were sitting quite close, stealing glances at each other. You know, I had noticed them sneaking off together. Sad, I liked Lee with Carly.
Mark was next in line to talk. He went on to describe some of the stupid shit his group in basic training had done.
For one night, we forgot about the apocalypse just outside the motel walls.
It was a good night.
---SaS---
Day 32: The 8th of August
The next morning, however, was not as fun.
Our revelry had drawn quite a few zombies, who's noise in turn brought more zombies, and our walls were tested for the first time since we set up here.
The back fences, being properly installed and thoroughly reinforced, held well. The front, almost entirely hand-built, wall; not so much. The non-combatants of the group, (Katja, Duck, and Doug) had retreated to one of the balcony rooms. I was on the balcony itself, picking off zombies coming down the street to join the assault.
I'm so glad they trusted me with one of the semi-autos.
Meanwhile, on the ground, The walkers were climbing over the cars.
Turns out, the freshly turned still had plenty of motor control. It's likely that, as they degrade and rot, that'll change.
Lee, Lilly, Larry, Kenny, Carly and Mark were picking them off as they climbed the fence. For a whole twenty minutes we worked to clear the small horde that was determined to eat us.
It was the work of hours to pull all the bodies off the wall and pile them up on the road. That night, we watched from within our hastily-reinforced walls as the corpses burned.
"We need a name for them." Lee said, breaking the sombre silence. "Something to sperate them from the people they were, before." A few people nodded.
"Well, They're dead, but not. So, Undead?" Doug blurted out his suggestion. A few looks had him flush. "I, uh, you might have noticed that I'm a bit of a nerd. I've been calling them that in my head for weeks."
Some people nodded, but Katja shook her head. "Probably better not to think of them as the Dead. I don't think its good for us focus on that." Doug frowned, then nodded, accepting that. Carly nudged his side, cheering him up.
"Walkers?" Lee suggested, "Cuz, you know, they're walking around when they shouldn't be?"
"Maybe." Kenny continued, giving his wife a side-hug. "I vote for Lurkers. Some of you wouldn't have seen it, but in town they like to hide and wait. When someone makes a noise they come pouring out of every little place, when before you didn't even know they were there."
The discussion went on long into the night. The bonfire burned down slow. By morning all that was left was charred bones and ashes.
They still ended up calling them Walkers.
Sometimes I really wish this universe had zombie movies and fiction. Maybe then, people would have been more prepared.
At least one good thing came of this. No-one was acting like the military was going to come in and fix everything anymore. We needed to fend for ourselves.
---SaS---
Day 85: The 31st of October
"Pleeeeeease!" Duck begged his mother, and anyone else who would listen.
"No, Duck."
"But it's Halloween!" He insisted. "Can we please have some candy?"
Almost three months into the apocalypse, and we were chugging along fine. We still had loads of food, plenty scavenged from local supermarkets and the pantries of most of the houses on our side of the town. Lee said they'd started putting red crosses of paint on the front door of houses they'd checked.
One thing they hadn't brought back though, was candy. Personally, I agree. While candy has plenty of sugars it's not exactly necessary for survival.
"Duck, baby, we haven't got any." Katja explained. Duck drooped and walked off, looking depressed.
It was just after breakfast on that cool morning. A chill wind had started blowing from the south and i was bundled up in an army-issue windbreaker and thermal top. They didn't exactly have anything my size though and tailoring could only do so much. The sleeves slipped down just past my fingers and the thing was so long it would count as a dress.
"Did you want any Candy, Clem?" Lee asked me, watching Duck walk away candiless.
I shook my head. "No, I'm good." He raised an eyebrow at me.
It was only later that evening, not long after dinner, when Lee and Kenny approached us.
"Here you go kids. Happy Halloween!" Kenny said with a massive grin. In his hands, he held a bowl filled with different candies. Then I remembered.
They'd gone on a supply run yesterday, but said they got chased off. They were gone a long time though, long enough to sneak into a store and loot it for all it was worth.
Lee handed me a bowl of my own, with a cheeky grin.
"I know you have a sweet tooth, Sweetie. If you want something, just tell me, okay?" I nodded. (blushing)
That candy was the best thing I'd had since the marshmallows
---SaS---
Day 92: The 7th of August
It was a good day. We had food, warmth, shelter and defences. We could stay here another four months, at least.
Lee, Mark and Kenny had all gone out hunting, hoping to put some fresh meat on the table tonight.
When they came running out of the woods with a legless man and a tall, skinny boy who could only be Ben, I remembered.
Shit. The St Johns.
How the fuck am I gonna prevent this mess.
---SaS---
AN: Slice of Life. A much happier, less conflict-filled group, fed and healthy.
Too bad they haven't learned that it's not the dead you need to be afraid of.
- Pronouns
- He/him
Hurray for SoL, and everyone believing that Clem is just this weirdly mature 8 year old!
Oh no for the St Jones. This won't end well. It may not be Mark on the table, but who knows...
Oh no for the St Jones. This won't end well. It may not be Mark on the table, but who knows...
- Location
- usa
so good love this. =)
Chapter 6: The Truth and The St Johns
StrangerDanger51
Novice Writer
- Location
- New Zealand
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Day 92: The 7th of August
Of course it'd happen today.
On the afternoon of the three month anniversary of our new lives; Lee, Kenny and Mark brought back a man with one and a half legs, and a gangly brown-haired kid.
Things moved very quickly. Katja had been teaching Duck and I some first aid over the last few months, so i quickly joined her in examining the injured man.
Even as we tried to stem the blood loss, I knew it was too late. Katja did too, from the look in her eyes.
Lilly was a little pissed that they'd brought the man and teen back, especially with the man being down a leg.
"We can't take risks like this! We might have enough food for now, but two more mouths to feed means less food for the rest of us." She argued as Katja and I bandaged the leg. The group kept talking, and people welcomed Ben. People started drifting away and Carly went to organise Ben a room.
Twenty minutes later, David passed.
We tried our best, but he died painlessly. Never woke up even once. while we were working, the others had let us be, but as soon as we stepped back from the new corpse, the leaders of the group, Lee, Kenny and Lilly, approached us.
"Did you save him?" Lee asked, hope in his eyes. When we shook our heads, the man slumped. "It's my fault." He said. "His leg was caught in a bear trap, and the release mechanism wasn't there. I had to cut off his leg to free him."
"You did the best you could." Katja soothed, patting his shoulder.
"Yeah Lee, not your fault. Too bad about the other kid though. You'd think someone who'd survived this long would have better survival instincts." Kenny added, q hand on his shoulder.
Lilly frowned. "Maybe it's better this way. He'd probably not enjoy the rest of his life without a leg. Imagine trying to run from the Walkers on crutches, or in a wheelchair." The others cringed and agreed.
Meanwhile, I kept an eye on the corpse. The moment he shifted, I shouted, pointing.
"Walker!" The others jumped away, Katja bundled behind Kenny and everyone brought up their guns. When the Walker sat up, a shot from Lilly's rifle between the eyes put the thing down with a thud.
Then she turned to Lee and Kenny, expression thunderous.
"WHY THE HELL DID YOU BRING HIM BACK IF HE WAS BITTEN!?" She shouted angrily as the others ran over to see the commotion.
"Ben said he wasn't!" Lee Insisted. "We asked, and he said no. The man looked fine, apart from the bear-trap."
"It's true." Katja agreed. "That man had no other wounds. Just the leg. He wasn't bitten."
"You guys don't know?" Ben interrupted. He shrank back when everyone in the group turned to face him. When he had gathered his strength, he continued.
"It's not the bite that does it. You come back no matter how you die." He stated, to a shocked silence. "If you don't destroy the brain, that's just what happens. It's gonna happen to ALL of us."
"What..." "The Hell?" "God help us." Were among some of the mutters he received.
"Jesus Christ." Kenny spoke. "If you just DIE and that's all it takes, then, shit, one fatal car wreck and a family of five turns into a family of walkers."
"It makes sense." Lilly said. "Suicides, accidents... Everyone who died just made more of them."
"No wonder it spread so quickly." Mark agreed.
"When I first saw it happen, we were all hiding out in a gym and everybody thought we were finally safe." Ben said, starting quiet, but with more confidence as he went. "But one of the girls, Jenny Pitcher, I think, I guess she couldn't take it. She took some pills. A lot of them. Someone went in the girls' room the next morning, and... God..."
"So, we're all Infected?" I ask, into the silence. "We're all going to turn into one of those things?" Not on my watch, they wont.
"Not on my watch, you wont." Lee said to me, pulling me into a hug. Wow. We are so in sync.
Carly, who was on watch, did her job well. Even before Doug's alarm system went off, she spotted the two men on the street.
"Get Down! Two living from town!" She whisper-shouted. Quickly, everyone ducked behind the wall or the RV. Guns were pulled and loaded. Safeties' off. When Doug's alarm rang I smiled. The man was pretty smart. He'd used some string and pullies to hook a line across the road the through the trees, all the way over the west wall. He'd hooked it up to a little bell, which rang when something pulled on the shin-height string. He'd set it up after the horde dropped on us two months ago. A little warning is better than none.
"Damnit! Where'd this string come from?" The shorter one holding the rifle the rifle exclaimed
"Watch where you're walking, man." The taller, stockier one berated the other. Lilly, Lee and Ben and I were all near each other, backs against the wall. As the two men got closer, we ducked down out of view. Lilly started whispering.
"Who are those people?!" She asked, looking towards Ben.
"I--I don't know!" Ben replied quietly.
"Are they the people that raided your camp?" Lee asked, a bit more kindly than Lilly.
"I don't think so." He replied, calmer. "But they all had their faces covered, so I don't know."
"Well, they're friendly, we don't wanna hurt them." Lee nodded. "They're not part of your group, are they?"
"No. Mr. Parker, Travis, and I were the last--the last ones." Ben replied, a hitch in his voice. It was sad. A whole group of teenagers on a band trip. Very bad luck.
"You think there's some gas here?" The one with the rifle, Danny, asked his brother. They were still a dozen meters down the road.
"I don't know. Someone's been going through town, looting everything, and it's NOT those bastards from the Save-Lots. We just need to keep an eye out." Andy replied.
When they got closer, Lilly caught the eyes of everyone hiding she could see and started counting down with her fingers, mouthing the numbers.
Three. Two. One.
After one, everyone with a gun (Lilly, Lee, Kenny, Mark, Larry and Carly) Stood up from behind the wall and cocked their weapons loudly. The St Johns stopped, turned white, and probably dry swallowed.
"That's far enough" Lilly commanded, her rifle trained on Andy's forehead. "Gun on the ground, hands in the air."
The brothers nodded quickly. Danny placed his rifle on the ground and joined his brother in praising the sun.
"Who are you. What do you want." She continued. It had come up in previous group meetings, how to deal with any other people we find. The opinion that gained the most support was. Be friendly, but verify and negotiate from a position of power.
"I'm Andy St John, this is my brother Danny. We live on a dairy farm a few miles out of town." Andy stated, eyes jumping from gun to gun and the people behind them. When his eyes landed on the eight year old in army-issue with blood covering her sleeves, pointing a rifle at him, they widened further. Yes, the Gun-Loli is surprising and unexpected. Deal with it.
"A Dairy Farm?" Lilly enquired, "Not exactly the most defendable position." We'd also agreed to let Lilly be our spokeswoman. She was the calmest under pressure. Of course, with the given we were a republic, all decisions still needed to be made between our trifecta.
"We've got an Electric Fence. Fries those monsters up good." Danny answered. His brother nodded.
"Our generator runs on gas. We've been scrounging up any we can. The farm can support us just fine, food-wise." His eyes jumped around again. "You folks the one's lootin' town? You look well-fed."
"We're doing just fine." Lilly answered, without answering. She squinted at them. "You two stay there. No sudden moves. Carly, Mark, keep an eye on them." The two nodded, their guns and eyes not wavering.
Everyone else dispersed, but kept an eye on the strange men. It WAS kinda strange, seeing other people after so long alone. Lee, Lilly and Kenny all moved behind the RV. Katja and Duck stood with Kenny, Doug and I stood with Lee, and Lilly had her dad. She would have had Mark with her too, if he wasn't watching the brothers. Ben stood off to the side, watching. The Counsel was assembled.
"What are we thinking?" Lilly prompted. She was being quiet enough that the St Johns couldn't hear a word. Kenny quickly replied.
"Dairy farm means milk, potentially Eggs." He though for a second. "Chickens would be real noisemakers though. Probably not a good idea to keep them around." He added.
"Dairy farm means a lot of land." Lee said his piece. "Which is a lot to protect. I don't know how effective an Electric fence would be on the walkers, but it sounds flimsy, especially if they're running off a generator. They've also probably had to cull most of their cows, for food if nothing else."
"Could we trade for something? It'd be nice to get some milk." Katja offered, "We have a lot of gas we haven't used, too much to take with us if we leave in the RV." Everyone thought for a second.
"I'd die for a coffee." Larry stated, looking excited. When Lilly frowned at him, he looked sheepish. "Poor choice of words."
"We agree then, some gas for milk and maybe other products?" Lilly asks, looking around. Lee hummed.
"I don't know that milk is worth the gas. Gas is a finite resource, now, while they get more milk from their cows every day." He reasoned.
"We could ask them?" I said. When they looked at me, I continued. "We don't know what they have. We could ask what they think the gas is worth to them. If they need it to stay defended, they'll really want to trade for it." They took my suggestion seriously, thanks to all my work these last few months being mature and reasonable.
We discussed it a bit more, but we really did have loads of fuel, and we couldn't take it all with us.
Lilly walked back to the fence.
"What do you have to offer?" She asked. The two boys jumped on the question like a lifeline.
"We have milk, some fresh vegetables and herbs. We have plenty of baked goods too, as well as other things." Andy said evasively. "If you're willing to trade for it? A few gallons will keep our generator going for a while."
Lilly looked back at the grouping of people behind her. When she received nods, she turned back.
"Alright. We'll bring some gas to your dairy, When we can confirm what you're willing to trade, we'll bring the rest of the gas." She waved Mark and Carly to lower their weapons, making Andy and Danny sigh. Danny picked up his rifle, but kept it pointed at the ground.
"Much obliged!"
---SaS---
"I don't like this." I said to Lee as the others prepped for the journey. Lee, Carly, Doug, and Mark had volunteered to go and confirm they could trade. They were taking their guns, they were better trained, more cohesive, and definitely more prepared than if I hadn't been here, but I knew things could go wrong.
"It'll be alright, Sweetie. When we get there, I'll radio you, and let you know what's going on." He reasoned, with a reassuring smile.
"I still don't like it." I crossed my arms (and huffed, pouting). "Keep an eye on each other." I continued, serious. "Don't let anyone go off on their own. I don't trust those two. They give me a bad feeling" Lee smiled, but nodded seriously.
"Yes, miss Clementine, ma'am!" He mock saluted. I rolled my eyes. I maybe ordered people around a bit too often. I always had a reason for it, and they agreed to do what I said, but they still started joking around about it. I knew it was in good humour.
As they walked off, with the brothers leading the way and my friends wary, I kept my radio close.
I made sure the jerry cans were ready to go the moment he called.
We would get there before Mark got injured. He's a good guy. He doesn't deserve his canon fate.
I'm not losing anyone.
---SaS---
AN: Bit of a Shorter chapter. Just belted this out in two hours. I thought this was a good stopping point, though.
A Well-fed Motel group = Less reason to take the St Johns at their word or be desperate for food. No Tension from Lilly being in charge of rations. Consistent training and practice under Lilly meant people actually listen to what she has to say. Less conflict between the leaders means actual discourse and discussion, sans shouting and raving.
Don't expect another chapter today, But maybe one tomorrow. My Muse is being very accommodating today. I don't trust it.
Of course it'd happen today.
On the afternoon of the three month anniversary of our new lives; Lee, Kenny and Mark brought back a man with one and a half legs, and a gangly brown-haired kid.
Things moved very quickly. Katja had been teaching Duck and I some first aid over the last few months, so i quickly joined her in examining the injured man.
Even as we tried to stem the blood loss, I knew it was too late. Katja did too, from the look in her eyes.
Lilly was a little pissed that they'd brought the man and teen back, especially with the man being down a leg.
"We can't take risks like this! We might have enough food for now, but two more mouths to feed means less food for the rest of us." She argued as Katja and I bandaged the leg. The group kept talking, and people welcomed Ben. People started drifting away and Carly went to organise Ben a room.
Twenty minutes later, David passed.
We tried our best, but he died painlessly. Never woke up even once. while we were working, the others had let us be, but as soon as we stepped back from the new corpse, the leaders of the group, Lee, Kenny and Lilly, approached us.
"Did you save him?" Lee asked, hope in his eyes. When we shook our heads, the man slumped. "It's my fault." He said. "His leg was caught in a bear trap, and the release mechanism wasn't there. I had to cut off his leg to free him."
"You did the best you could." Katja soothed, patting his shoulder.
"Yeah Lee, not your fault. Too bad about the other kid though. You'd think someone who'd survived this long would have better survival instincts." Kenny added, q hand on his shoulder.
Lilly frowned. "Maybe it's better this way. He'd probably not enjoy the rest of his life without a leg. Imagine trying to run from the Walkers on crutches, or in a wheelchair." The others cringed and agreed.
Meanwhile, I kept an eye on the corpse. The moment he shifted, I shouted, pointing.
"Walker!" The others jumped away, Katja bundled behind Kenny and everyone brought up their guns. When the Walker sat up, a shot from Lilly's rifle between the eyes put the thing down with a thud.
Then she turned to Lee and Kenny, expression thunderous.
"WHY THE HELL DID YOU BRING HIM BACK IF HE WAS BITTEN!?" She shouted angrily as the others ran over to see the commotion.
"Ben said he wasn't!" Lee Insisted. "We asked, and he said no. The man looked fine, apart from the bear-trap."
"It's true." Katja agreed. "That man had no other wounds. Just the leg. He wasn't bitten."
"You guys don't know?" Ben interrupted. He shrank back when everyone in the group turned to face him. When he had gathered his strength, he continued.
"It's not the bite that does it. You come back no matter how you die." He stated, to a shocked silence. "If you don't destroy the brain, that's just what happens. It's gonna happen to ALL of us."
"What..." "The Hell?" "God help us." Were among some of the mutters he received.
"Jesus Christ." Kenny spoke. "If you just DIE and that's all it takes, then, shit, one fatal car wreck and a family of five turns into a family of walkers."
"It makes sense." Lilly said. "Suicides, accidents... Everyone who died just made more of them."
"No wonder it spread so quickly." Mark agreed.
"When I first saw it happen, we were all hiding out in a gym and everybody thought we were finally safe." Ben said, starting quiet, but with more confidence as he went. "But one of the girls, Jenny Pitcher, I think, I guess she couldn't take it. She took some pills. A lot of them. Someone went in the girls' room the next morning, and... God..."
"So, we're all Infected?" I ask, into the silence. "We're all going to turn into one of those things?" Not on my watch, they wont.
"Not on my watch, you wont." Lee said to me, pulling me into a hug. Wow. We are so in sync.
Carly, who was on watch, did her job well. Even before Doug's alarm system went off, she spotted the two men on the street.
"Get Down! Two living from town!" She whisper-shouted. Quickly, everyone ducked behind the wall or the RV. Guns were pulled and loaded. Safeties' off. When Doug's alarm rang I smiled. The man was pretty smart. He'd used some string and pullies to hook a line across the road the through the trees, all the way over the west wall. He'd hooked it up to a little bell, which rang when something pulled on the shin-height string. He'd set it up after the horde dropped on us two months ago. A little warning is better than none.
"Damnit! Where'd this string come from?" The shorter one holding the rifle the rifle exclaimed
"Watch where you're walking, man." The taller, stockier one berated the other. Lilly, Lee and Ben and I were all near each other, backs against the wall. As the two men got closer, we ducked down out of view. Lilly started whispering.
"Who are those people?!" She asked, looking towards Ben.
"I--I don't know!" Ben replied quietly.
"Are they the people that raided your camp?" Lee asked, a bit more kindly than Lilly.
"I don't think so." He replied, calmer. "But they all had their faces covered, so I don't know."
"Well, they're friendly, we don't wanna hurt them." Lee nodded. "They're not part of your group, are they?"
"No. Mr. Parker, Travis, and I were the last--the last ones." Ben replied, a hitch in his voice. It was sad. A whole group of teenagers on a band trip. Very bad luck.
"You think there's some gas here?" The one with the rifle, Danny, asked his brother. They were still a dozen meters down the road.
"I don't know. Someone's been going through town, looting everything, and it's NOT those bastards from the Save-Lots. We just need to keep an eye out." Andy replied.
When they got closer, Lilly caught the eyes of everyone hiding she could see and started counting down with her fingers, mouthing the numbers.
Three. Two. One.
After one, everyone with a gun (Lilly, Lee, Kenny, Mark, Larry and Carly) Stood up from behind the wall and cocked their weapons loudly. The St Johns stopped, turned white, and probably dry swallowed.
"That's far enough" Lilly commanded, her rifle trained on Andy's forehead. "Gun on the ground, hands in the air."
The brothers nodded quickly. Danny placed his rifle on the ground and joined his brother in praising the sun.
"Who are you. What do you want." She continued. It had come up in previous group meetings, how to deal with any other people we find. The opinion that gained the most support was. Be friendly, but verify and negotiate from a position of power.
"I'm Andy St John, this is my brother Danny. We live on a dairy farm a few miles out of town." Andy stated, eyes jumping from gun to gun and the people behind them. When his eyes landed on the eight year old in army-issue with blood covering her sleeves, pointing a rifle at him, they widened further. Yes, the Gun-Loli is surprising and unexpected. Deal with it.
"A Dairy Farm?" Lilly enquired, "Not exactly the most defendable position." We'd also agreed to let Lilly be our spokeswoman. She was the calmest under pressure. Of course, with the given we were a republic, all decisions still needed to be made between our trifecta.
"We've got an Electric Fence. Fries those monsters up good." Danny answered. His brother nodded.
"Our generator runs on gas. We've been scrounging up any we can. The farm can support us just fine, food-wise." His eyes jumped around again. "You folks the one's lootin' town? You look well-fed."
"We're doing just fine." Lilly answered, without answering. She squinted at them. "You two stay there. No sudden moves. Carly, Mark, keep an eye on them." The two nodded, their guns and eyes not wavering.
Everyone else dispersed, but kept an eye on the strange men. It WAS kinda strange, seeing other people after so long alone. Lee, Lilly and Kenny all moved behind the RV. Katja and Duck stood with Kenny, Doug and I stood with Lee, and Lilly had her dad. She would have had Mark with her too, if he wasn't watching the brothers. Ben stood off to the side, watching. The Counsel was assembled.
"What are we thinking?" Lilly prompted. She was being quiet enough that the St Johns couldn't hear a word. Kenny quickly replied.
"Dairy farm means milk, potentially Eggs." He though for a second. "Chickens would be real noisemakers though. Probably not a good idea to keep them around." He added.
"Dairy farm means a lot of land." Lee said his piece. "Which is a lot to protect. I don't know how effective an Electric fence would be on the walkers, but it sounds flimsy, especially if they're running off a generator. They've also probably had to cull most of their cows, for food if nothing else."
"Could we trade for something? It'd be nice to get some milk." Katja offered, "We have a lot of gas we haven't used, too much to take with us if we leave in the RV." Everyone thought for a second.
"I'd die for a coffee." Larry stated, looking excited. When Lilly frowned at him, he looked sheepish. "Poor choice of words."
"We agree then, some gas for milk and maybe other products?" Lilly asks, looking around. Lee hummed.
"I don't know that milk is worth the gas. Gas is a finite resource, now, while they get more milk from their cows every day." He reasoned.
"We could ask them?" I said. When they looked at me, I continued. "We don't know what they have. We could ask what they think the gas is worth to them. If they need it to stay defended, they'll really want to trade for it." They took my suggestion seriously, thanks to all my work these last few months being mature and reasonable.
We discussed it a bit more, but we really did have loads of fuel, and we couldn't take it all with us.
Lilly walked back to the fence.
"What do you have to offer?" She asked. The two boys jumped on the question like a lifeline.
"We have milk, some fresh vegetables and herbs. We have plenty of baked goods too, as well as other things." Andy said evasively. "If you're willing to trade for it? A few gallons will keep our generator going for a while."
Lilly looked back at the grouping of people behind her. When she received nods, she turned back.
"Alright. We'll bring some gas to your dairy, When we can confirm what you're willing to trade, we'll bring the rest of the gas." She waved Mark and Carly to lower their weapons, making Andy and Danny sigh. Danny picked up his rifle, but kept it pointed at the ground.
"Much obliged!"
---SaS---
"I don't like this." I said to Lee as the others prepped for the journey. Lee, Carly, Doug, and Mark had volunteered to go and confirm they could trade. They were taking their guns, they were better trained, more cohesive, and definitely more prepared than if I hadn't been here, but I knew things could go wrong.
"It'll be alright, Sweetie. When we get there, I'll radio you, and let you know what's going on." He reasoned, with a reassuring smile.
"I still don't like it." I crossed my arms (and huffed, pouting). "Keep an eye on each other." I continued, serious. "Don't let anyone go off on their own. I don't trust those two. They give me a bad feeling" Lee smiled, but nodded seriously.
"Yes, miss Clementine, ma'am!" He mock saluted. I rolled my eyes. I maybe ordered people around a bit too often. I always had a reason for it, and they agreed to do what I said, but they still started joking around about it. I knew it was in good humour.
As they walked off, with the brothers leading the way and my friends wary, I kept my radio close.
I made sure the jerry cans were ready to go the moment he called.
We would get there before Mark got injured. He's a good guy. He doesn't deserve his canon fate.
I'm not losing anyone.
---SaS---
AN: Bit of a Shorter chapter. Just belted this out in two hours. I thought this was a good stopping point, though.
A Well-fed Motel group = Less reason to take the St Johns at their word or be desperate for food. No Tension from Lilly being in charge of rations. Consistent training and practice under Lilly meant people actually listen to what she has to say. Less conflict between the leaders means actual discourse and discussion, sans shouting and raving.
Don't expect another chapter today, But maybe one tomorrow. My Muse is being very accommodating today. I don't trust it.
Lord_Anthrax
Daemon Prince of Nurgle
I wonder if this was one of the early cases
The timeline lines up
Cinical apocalypse mode
That's probably a good thing since well the scum of society do rather well when it crumbles
I wish we got a zombie show/book/movie where the military aren't ether brain dead chaff or powermad assholes
Is it to much to ask for a series about a platoon commander seeing the world ending and saying "fuck it we're taking our training and equipment and protecting our families"
You know what else dairy farming is
Hideously inefficient
You want meat in the apocalypse you get chicken or pork
Chicken because there small and don't take much space
Pig because they eat damn near anything
Sorry man/kid, but realistically, someone's bound to die in a zombie apocalypse
StrangerDanger51
Novice Writer
- Location
- New Zealand
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Much like Tanya, the gun loli is also more competent and mature than most 20-40 year olds.
As mentioned, chickens = Loud. Noisemakers and zombies don't go well. Especially since we know they hunt deer and rabbits.
Pigs, maybe. Problem with keeping an animal of any kind is that you need to feed it to raise it, then slaughter it to eat. It's an investment, when often groups can last from literal hours to years.
Spoiler. The next chapter title is:
You Can't Save Everyone
TheOmnimercurial
Dragon Bard
- Location
- UK
The best meat for that situation would be an Aquaponic set up.
Fish and Duckweed.
Duckweed filters and cleans the water while providing oxygen.
Fish poop feeds the Duckweed.
Duckweed has similar nutrition and vitamins, minerals etc to Spinach.
Either that or get a Trained Medic/Vet etc to snip Chicken Vocal Cords etc.
Goats eat almost anything too, less dirty than Pigs and also give Milk.
Guinea Pigs are very fast to mature and reproduce. Very good to breed for fast meat. Damn noisy though and they stink really bad sadly....
Potatos are your best bet for vegatables.
Starch for Carbohydrates, Vitamin C and they grow in darkness and can be bred via both Tuber/Root and by Cuttings.
You can grow enough in a Barrel full of Soil/Compost to feed a family of 4.
So if you have a reliable strong vehicle, you can even travel with your Crop of Taters.
Fish and Duckweed.
Duckweed filters and cleans the water while providing oxygen.
Fish poop feeds the Duckweed.
Duckweed has similar nutrition and vitamins, minerals etc to Spinach.
Either that or get a Trained Medic/Vet etc to snip Chicken Vocal Cords etc.
Goats eat almost anything too, less dirty than Pigs and also give Milk.
Guinea Pigs are very fast to mature and reproduce. Very good to breed for fast meat. Damn noisy though and they stink really bad sadly....
Potatos are your best bet for vegatables.
Starch for Carbohydrates, Vitamin C and they grow in darkness and can be bred via both Tuber/Root and by Cuttings.
You can grow enough in a Barrel full of Soil/Compost to feed a family of 4.
So if you have a reliable strong vehicle, you can even travel with your Crop of Taters.
Last edited:
They should liberate some some fences to keep areas cleared out. Zombies don't respawn .
Laying hens are about 70 decibels, roosters 90.
90 decibels is about as loud as a dog's bark.
Sound can be absorbed by a bunch of materials
So protecting from walkers is literally just building a fence around the chicken area to prevent them from getting in hearing range and getting a second fence to slow down walkers incase of a breach.
Assuming this takes place in 2010
This is the maximum amount of people infected (assuming everything went right for the zombies and no foreign survivors showed up and died )419,250
Realistically there would be less due to fires,explosions,evacuations,and survivors picking off some of the infected.
So all they need to do is start clearing the area and making several hidden stashes with some rooftop/indoor farms for food.
The only real threat is other humans.
Laying hens are about 70 decibels, roosters 90.
90 decibels is about as loud as a dog's bark.
Sound can be absorbed by a bunch of materials
So protecting from walkers is literally just building a fence around the chicken area to prevent them from getting in hearing range and getting a second fence to slow down walkers incase of a breach.
Assuming this takes place in 2010
This is the maximum amount of people infected (assuming everything went right for the zombies and no foreign survivors showed up and died )419,250
Realistically there would be less due to fires,explosions,evacuations,and survivors picking off some of the infected.
So all they need to do is start clearing the area and making several hidden stashes with some rooftop/indoor farms for food.
The only real threat is other humans.
Last edited:
I always agreed with Kenny. Not to leave right away. But the need for a getaway vehicle in case we get swarmed. Make sure he puts something like a train's cow plow thing. To push the Zombies out if the way. Maybe add some horizontal blades to cut them as the pass so they are damaged and easier to out run or kill for their next victims.
The other reason is that at some point as bad as it is out there, out there is still a question mark. Unless somebody has a long term solution, moving from place to place is the only idea we got.
Fun Factoid: Silencers in real life don't muzzle the sound as much as movies make them out to be. Shooting them in a place with good acoustics can be just as bad.
I like the Lurkers name. Fitting.
Heh. They think her parents taught her survivalist instincts! Can't wait for Empress Clem!
You should have Clem get a Notepad and write down the The Rules For Surviving LurkerLand. Double Tapping, Cardio, Rationing, are all golden rules.
I also agree with sending people out to kill off Lurkers. Spears good. I'd try to learn to make arrows. Save the modern ones for real targets. Expend homemade versions from safe areas. I know you don't like consumables here but that's why you learn to make your own and use them in more relaxed vantage points. Hey if you clear an area you can always get them back!
Did Lee kill the kid, try to save him or leave him to be turned?
The bigger issue is how do you catch that one kid from trading your resources?
The other reason is that at some point as bad as it is out there, out there is still a question mark. Unless somebody has a long term solution, moving from place to place is the only idea we got.
Fun Factoid: Silencers in real life don't muzzle the sound as much as movies make them out to be. Shooting them in a place with good acoustics can be just as bad.
I like the Lurkers name. Fitting.
Heh. They think her parents taught her survivalist instincts! Can't wait for Empress Clem!
You should have Clem get a Notepad and write down the The Rules For Surviving LurkerLand. Double Tapping, Cardio, Rationing, are all golden rules.
I also agree with sending people out to kill off Lurkers. Spears good. I'd try to learn to make arrows. Save the modern ones for real targets. Expend homemade versions from safe areas. I know you don't like consumables here but that's why you learn to make your own and use them in more relaxed vantage points. Hey if you clear an area you can always get them back!
Did Lee kill the kid, try to save him or leave him to be turned?
The bigger issue is how do you catch that one kid from trading your resources?
Sol?
StrangerDanger51
Novice Writer
- Location
- New Zealand
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Just like in Canon, Travis got chomped.
As for Ben, who knows. Certainly not I. I'm only planning a Chapter ahead. the end point of this story is as much a mystery to me, as it is to you.
Slice of Life aka a chapter where time progresses, but with no major plot points.
Like a beach episode in anime
Does this mean one day we are going to
Chapter 7: You Can't Save Everyone
StrangerDanger51
Novice Writer
- Location
- New Zealand
- Pronouns
- He/Him
When the radio sparked to life, I was cleaning the rifle I used on watch. Making sure I had the pistol I could hide in my jacket, I pulled the radio from one of my other jacket pockets and answered it.
"Clementine, do you read?" Lee's voice crackled over the airways.
"I copy, Lee. Are you okay?" I responded
"We're fine. The Dairy looks safe enough. We saw some bandits from a distance on the way here, but they didn't see us."
"The Save-Lots group?"
"I think so. Might be the guys that attacked Ben, too."
"I'll tell him."
"Alright. Some other things; they only have one cow. They haven't said what happened to the others, but their last one is sick. They offered to trade some of their butter and milk, as well as some of their dried herbs and spare vegetables for the gas. They've also invited the rest of us over for dinner in exchange for Katja looking over the cow."
"Absolutely not." I replied. "If there are bandits in the area, we can't just leave the motel unguarded. Someone has to stay behind on watch."
"Sort it out amongst yourselves. Bring two cans of gas. To get here, you need to...."
After relaying the directions, Lee signed off.
"Stay Safe, Lee out."
"You too. Clem out."
This having occurred out in the open, the others had joined me part-way through.
"I still don't trust it." I said, to them. "Inviting us all, when they know bandits are nearby? That's just asking to get our stuff stolen."
"I don't either," Lilly nods, "I'll stay behind." She offered.
"If Lilly's not going, I'm not either." Larry stated, crossing his arms.
"Alright, then. Lets take them the gas." Kenny said, picking up one of the heavy cans, while Ben picked up the other, grumbling.
It took about an hour to walk down the road towards town, then back out a few miles on a different road and finally off a dirt track into the woods. We didn't encounter anyone, and quickly found ourselves coming up on a white house on a hill, surrounded by a white picket fence. A red barn off to the left, entirely surrounded by a three-wire, barbed, electric fence.
Lee and Carly were out the front when we got there, They were joined by Andy and a short, dumpy woman holding a basket.
Doug and Mark nowhere to be seen.
"Hey there! I'm Brenda St John, and welcome to the St John Dairy." The woman says with considerable cheer. Fucking cannibal bitch.
Andy looked over the group.
"Where's the woman I talked to at the Motel? And the other guy?"
"They stayed behind to keep watch." I said, staring intently at the man. "There are bandits around, after all." He looks disturbed at my monotone. Or the glare. Either or.
Good.
"Well, that's unfortunate." Brenda said, sounding sad. Yeah, you bitch, think about that before you pull any shit.
Brenda took Kenny, duck and Katja over to the barn, to look at the cow. Ben went to chat with Carly, while Lee took me off to the side.
"You know that bad feeling you got?" Lee asked when he was sure we were too far away for the St Johns to hear. I nodded.
"Yeah. It got worse when you radioed." He nodded.
"I've got it too, now." Lee admitted.
When Doug and Mark returned from inspecting the fence, I was surprised.
Not because they came back, but because Doug was the one injured. He had a crossbow bolt embedded in his upper right arm, which quickly drew attention.
In a minute, Brenda, Katja and I were patching him up in the upstairs bedroom.
The one with the hidden bathroom. Not hidden right now, just a little ensuite with a bath.
We quickly removed the bolt and bandaged the wound. Brenda 'donated' some morphine to ease the pain, leaving Doug dozing.
"He's lucky the bolt didn't hit an artery, or that could have been a lot worse." Katja commented. Brenda nodded.
"Poor dear. Them bandit's been getting worse, recently. They're holed up in the big-box, on the other side of the woods.
They're real dangerous folks." She warned. So are you people, lady.
"Now, why don't y'all go finish checking up on Maybelle?" Brenda suggested. "We should let him rest."
Fuck. no.
"I'll stay with Doug." I stated, sitting down on an armchair in the corner. "Why don't you go get started on dinner, Brenda." I countered.
"Now, now, dear. Why don't we leave the poor thing to rest." Brenda simpered. "People heal best when they're asleep, don't ya know."
Despite repeated attempts, I refused to leave.
A few minutes after Katja left, Lee and Carly visited.
"How's he doing?" Carly asked, immediately be-lining to his side and grabbing a hand.
"He's on morphine for the pain, right now." I replied. "The bolt missed his arteries and bone, just got stuck in the muscle. To be honest, I think his fat layer absorbed most of the hit." I commented with some humor. Some light chuckles later, I continued in a more serious tone.
"Lee, remember what I said before you left the motel?" He nodded.
"Don't let anyone go off alone." He paraphrased.
"And, that I didn't trust the brothers." I continued. "Carly, can you stay with Doug till we leave?" She nodded, then turned to Lee.
"I checked out the barn when you were fixing that swing." She said. I fixed the man with a raised eyebrow, but he just smiled and shrugged. "The room in the back is locked shut. When I got close to the door, Andy warned me off. I think they're hiding something." He nodded, serious.
"I'll check it out. C'mon Clem, let's go outside." He said, innocently and with a stupid grin.
Urgh. Sometimes, it's hard having an attentive guardian. Lee keeps trying to get me to act my age; like with the s'mores and candy. He led me out the door, down the path and pushed me on the swing.
...
The swing was fun, though it didn't last long. Lee got sent off with Danny to check out the 'bandit camp' he spotted in the woods, and I found myself alone.
Hehehehe.
I'm so bored.
There's nothing to do.
Carly's watching Doug. Mark, Kenny and his family are in the barn, Andy and Brenda are cooking a meal.
I can't smell meat. That's good.
I did end up talking to Mark about what happened out by the fences. He mentioned pushing the walkers off the wire, then it turning on when they were outside the fence and the desperate escape from the bandits.
He also mentioned what they'd been shouting. And now, I have an in-universe reason for my suspicion.
Maybe if i keep up these 'gut feelings' that turn out right, people will start believing me from the beginning.
I did end up in their vegetable patch, sneakily grab a dozen potatoes and shoving them in my bag.
What? They had plenty.
When Lee got back with Danny, he pulled me aside again.
"Danny shot a woman we found, just as she was about to say something about the St Johns. He was real evasive when I found some boxes with their family name on them." He confided, eyes scanning for the brothers. I nodded.
"I think they've been trading with the bandits." I said, just as wary of eavesdroppers. "Mark said when he and Doug got attacked, the bandits were shouting 'We had a Deal!' and stuff like that." Lee nodded, rubbing his bearded chin.
"So the St Johns gave stuff to the bandits, probably food, to keep them from raiding the place? Sounds like a 'protection' racket." He reasoned. "The St Johns must have stopped giving them food?" I nodded.
"Maybe they had to cull the other cows to have enough meat to give them." I said. It would make sense, they obviously haven't had enough 'farm hands' to feed themselves AND the bandits.
We made our way to the barn, where Katja was just announcing that Maybelle was pregnant.
"Of course she's pregnant." I said, "Cows only make milk when they're pregnant." And the dairy farmers should know that, as well as all the signs.
"Well, we knew that," Andy had said quickly, "She just seemed out of sorts, and we wanted to make sure she was okay."
Then it was time.
Lee and Kenny were whispering closer to the locked door, so I joined them. I overheard Kenny being just a little racist. Rolling my eyes, I pulled out one of my screwdrivers and held it out to lee. I looked up at him, seriously.
"Unscrew the part of the lock attached to the door." I suggested. "I'll distract Andy."
The two adults shared a glance, then nodded at me. "You got it, Clem." Kenny said.
I went back outside, trying to look bored. Andy gave me a weird glance as I passed him, but went back to keeping an eye on Kenny and Lee.
I unscrewed the panel on the side of the generator, then really quickly turned it off and slipped the cambelt free. I closed the panel and screwed it in a few times, then rushed over to the swing. By the time Andy went to check it, I was idly going back and forth, looking out over the fields.
After a minute, i went back into the barn, past the frustrated Andy. He'd found the loose panel and was looking around for the belt he assumed had flung out.
Inside, I found the back door open, and almost everyone looking inside.
Blood everywhere.
Now, you could argue that this is normal, that it's expected even, for a farm who slaughtered their cattle, to have a place to do it. But there were a few things that damned them.
Bear traps without unlocking mechanisms, which Lee and Kenny recognized.
Hooks and chains, covered in blood.
An freezer, clean but empty of everything but a few salt blocks.
Very quickly we cleared out and closed the door, making it look, superficially, like we hadn't touched it.
When the dinner bell rang, I felt sick to my stomach. Because I could smell dinner.
It smelt like beef.
"Where did they get meat?" I asked Lee as we all walked up to the house. He and Kenny both hung back, with me. "They only have one cow, where did they get the meat?" I repeated. I knew where, though.
When we got inside, Brenda was setting the table with places for everyone. Counting the placemats, though, there were two missing.
No.
"I need to use the little girls room." I said, quickly.
"Just across the hall!" Brenda called, as people sat down.
I closed the dining room door, looked up at Lee, then we both rushed upstairs.
Doug and Carly were gone.
"Where'd they go?" Lee asked, starting to look horrified as realization set in.
"Lee! Help me!" I ran to the wardrobe and pulled it aside. "This wasn't here before, it was a bathroom!"
We pulled the wardrobe aside, and I threw open the door.
I was too late.
Carly was tied in the in the corner, gagged and missing her gun. She looked at us with wide eyes, tears streaming down her face.
Doug was still alive, but...
His legs were gone.
I Screamed.
In pain, and hurt.
And in Anger.
"NOOOOOOO! DOUG! YOU MONSTERS!" I broke down, sobbing.
"Jesus Christ!" Lee exclaimed. He rushed in, to let Carly loose. Squeaking chairs and thumping steps signaled that everyone else was running to join us.
I pulled my pistol out and, with what I assume was murder in my eyes, I stared down Andy as he entered the room.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you now." I growled down the iron sights of my gun.
Andy raised his arms.
"Woah! Hold on there, Little lady." He said, but he didn't stop approaching me.
He stopped when I shifted my grip and shot right past his head, the bullet hitting the roof behind him. In fact, he froze. The next second, I heard Lee and Carly emerge. They flanked me, Lee with his own pistol out and pointed at the man.
"Over by the wall, sicko!" Lee ordered, motioning with his gun.
"Jesus, Lee, What's going on?" Kenny asked, finally through the door.
"They butchered Doug. They cut his legs off, and were going to feed him to you!" Carly with rage in her voice.
"What?" "Oh my God." "So, the meat we could smell..."
"Now what in tarnation is going on in he-" Brenda said, trying to bustle her way past the group. She was stopped by a gun in her face. Kenny had pulled his rifle from his back, the barrel hovering between Brenda's eyes. He, very deliberately, flicked the safety off. Mark had done the same to Danny, who was also quickly divested of his own rifle. Katja, with a 'Stay here ducky', bundled past us and into the bathroom.
"Oh my god! Doug!" She cried.
With confirmation, Kenny growled.
"You absolute sickos! Where do you get off trying to feed us our friend, huh?" He shouted. I saw the hint of the man he could become in his eyes. In that resolute look.
"What made you even think you could get away with this?" Lee asked, also with rage in his tone. "We're all armed, Lilly and Larry are still at the motel. Why!?"
Brenda and Danny joined Andy over by the wall. My aim hadn't shifted from Andy's forehead. The man hadn't stopped looking at me either.
He looked Terrified.
"He was gonna die anyway," Danny reasoned, "Now or later, he wasn't hard enough to make the tough decisions."
"He doesn't NEED to be!" Carly shouted in his face. "I love that man for his kindness, for his softness!"
"Clem! I need your help!" Katja called.
"Coming!" I replied. Breaking my staring contest with Andy, I handed my gun to Carly. She gladly took over pointed the gun at the man who, I assumed, butchered her boyfriend.
Thankfully, the St Johns at least knew how to keep a man alive as they butchered him. As they kept going on and on about their philosophy and reasoning, about how meat taken from a dead human was 'tainted' and foul.
We did our best, but there was a whole fucking bathtub full of his blood right next to us.
Like the man earlier that day, Doug passed from blood loss.
Katja sighed, as she couldn't find a pulse. She shook her head.
"He's gone." I called, "We couldn't save him." The group cursed the St Johns.
"Carly." I said, pulling on her army-issue jacket. She looked down at me. "We need to destroy his brain, or he'll come back." I tried to speak evenly, but I know my voice tremored. She looked devastated, but nodded.
After a quick goodbye, she shot the corpse of the kindest, friendliest man we knew in the head.
And so, we left the house. Each St John was taken outside one by one. Not once was there a gun untrained on all of the cannibal family members.
We'd tied their hands behind their backs and put them up against the side of the house, lined up ready for a firing squad. Katja attempted to stop me from joining the firing line, but my glare obviously convinced her.
Lee spoke for the group.
"Brenda, Andrew and Daniel St John; you have committed dozens of cold-blooded murders, with the intent to eat the remains. You have then followed through with this intent, culminating in attempting to feed us the flesh and blood of one of our own that you have murdered." He attempted to make if official. Make it a sentence, rather than just mindless revenge. The anger in his tone revealed it for what it was. Though, is it really a Kangaroo court if the defendants have confessed?
"Prison isn't an option, as society has broken down. Imprisoning you ourselves would take time, effort, and resources we aren't willing to waste on you. Community service isn't an option, for the same reason." He continued.
"That leaves only two options." He said, as the generator ran out of fuel behind us.
"Death by firing squad, or facing a crowd of your peers, the walkers." We could hear the fences breaking down, the mindless, cannibalistic corpses
"Make your choice in ten seconds, or we shoot you anyway. Ten. Nine." The St Johns begged for their lives, Katja covered Ducks ears and turned him away.
"Two. One." He pause another second. "Fire."
With five guns aimed at them, only three needed to be hits.
I felt a visceral satisfaction in my gut as my shot destroyed the Cannibal Andy St John's left cheekbone, while Carly's shot hit him in the right eye.
When we trudged home that night, it was a solemn affair. Doug was carried by Kenny and Lee on a make-shift stretcher.
We encountered no abandoned cars on the way home.
The whole time, I knew.
I knew this was my fault.
An: I really struggled with writing this one, it took 7 hours to get everything down. By contrast, I popped out chapter 6 in two hours. By the time I got to the climax, I was 2.5k words in, so I decided just to run it to it's conclusion, rather than leave you with a cliffy. Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Some might ask why this episode was only one chapter, Well, Clem doesn't feature much in this episode anyway, and Lee wouldn't be willing to risk her. I could continue, but in reality, I just plain hated writing this chapter. I wanted it to be over and done. With this, Arc 1, the beginning, is over. Next is Arc 2: The Savannah Saga.
You all knew this was coming, though. This is The Walking Dead. SOMETHING bad needed to happen.
"Clementine, do you read?" Lee's voice crackled over the airways.
"I copy, Lee. Are you okay?" I responded
"We're fine. The Dairy looks safe enough. We saw some bandits from a distance on the way here, but they didn't see us."
"The Save-Lots group?"
"I think so. Might be the guys that attacked Ben, too."
"I'll tell him."
"Alright. Some other things; they only have one cow. They haven't said what happened to the others, but their last one is sick. They offered to trade some of their butter and milk, as well as some of their dried herbs and spare vegetables for the gas. They've also invited the rest of us over for dinner in exchange for Katja looking over the cow."
"Absolutely not." I replied. "If there are bandits in the area, we can't just leave the motel unguarded. Someone has to stay behind on watch."
"Sort it out amongst yourselves. Bring two cans of gas. To get here, you need to...."
After relaying the directions, Lee signed off.
"Stay Safe, Lee out."
"You too. Clem out."
This having occurred out in the open, the others had joined me part-way through.
"I still don't trust it." I said, to them. "Inviting us all, when they know bandits are nearby? That's just asking to get our stuff stolen."
"I don't either," Lilly nods, "I'll stay behind." She offered.
"If Lilly's not going, I'm not either." Larry stated, crossing his arms.
"Alright, then. Lets take them the gas." Kenny said, picking up one of the heavy cans, while Ben picked up the other, grumbling.
---SaS---
It took about an hour to walk down the road towards town, then back out a few miles on a different road and finally off a dirt track into the woods. We didn't encounter anyone, and quickly found ourselves coming up on a white house on a hill, surrounded by a white picket fence. A red barn off to the left, entirely surrounded by a three-wire, barbed, electric fence.
Lee and Carly were out the front when we got there, They were joined by Andy and a short, dumpy woman holding a basket.
Doug and Mark nowhere to be seen.
"Hey there! I'm Brenda St John, and welcome to the St John Dairy." The woman says with considerable cheer. Fucking cannibal bitch.
Andy looked over the group.
"Where's the woman I talked to at the Motel? And the other guy?"
"They stayed behind to keep watch." I said, staring intently at the man. "There are bandits around, after all." He looks disturbed at my monotone. Or the glare. Either or.
Good.
"Well, that's unfortunate." Brenda said, sounding sad. Yeah, you bitch, think about that before you pull any shit.
Brenda took Kenny, duck and Katja over to the barn, to look at the cow. Ben went to chat with Carly, while Lee took me off to the side.
"You know that bad feeling you got?" Lee asked when he was sure we were too far away for the St Johns to hear. I nodded.
"Yeah. It got worse when you radioed." He nodded.
"I've got it too, now." Lee admitted.
---SaS---
When Doug and Mark returned from inspecting the fence, I was surprised.
Not because they came back, but because Doug was the one injured. He had a crossbow bolt embedded in his upper right arm, which quickly drew attention.
In a minute, Brenda, Katja and I were patching him up in the upstairs bedroom.
The one with the hidden bathroom. Not hidden right now, just a little ensuite with a bath.
We quickly removed the bolt and bandaged the wound. Brenda 'donated' some morphine to ease the pain, leaving Doug dozing.
"He's lucky the bolt didn't hit an artery, or that could have been a lot worse." Katja commented. Brenda nodded.
"Poor dear. Them bandit's been getting worse, recently. They're holed up in the big-box, on the other side of the woods.
They're real dangerous folks." She warned. So are you people, lady.
"Now, why don't y'all go finish checking up on Maybelle?" Brenda suggested. "We should let him rest."
Fuck. no.
"I'll stay with Doug." I stated, sitting down on an armchair in the corner. "Why don't you go get started on dinner, Brenda." I countered.
"Now, now, dear. Why don't we leave the poor thing to rest." Brenda simpered. "People heal best when they're asleep, don't ya know."
Despite repeated attempts, I refused to leave.
A few minutes after Katja left, Lee and Carly visited.
"How's he doing?" Carly asked, immediately be-lining to his side and grabbing a hand.
"He's on morphine for the pain, right now." I replied. "The bolt missed his arteries and bone, just got stuck in the muscle. To be honest, I think his fat layer absorbed most of the hit." I commented with some humor. Some light chuckles later, I continued in a more serious tone.
"Lee, remember what I said before you left the motel?" He nodded.
"Don't let anyone go off alone." He paraphrased.
"And, that I didn't trust the brothers." I continued. "Carly, can you stay with Doug till we leave?" She nodded, then turned to Lee.
"I checked out the barn when you were fixing that swing." She said. I fixed the man with a raised eyebrow, but he just smiled and shrugged. "The room in the back is locked shut. When I got close to the door, Andy warned me off. I think they're hiding something." He nodded, serious.
"I'll check it out. C'mon Clem, let's go outside." He said, innocently and with a stupid grin.
Urgh. Sometimes, it's hard having an attentive guardian. Lee keeps trying to get me to act my age; like with the s'mores and candy. He led me out the door, down the path and pushed me on the swing.
...
The swing was fun, though it didn't last long. Lee got sent off with Danny to check out the 'bandit camp' he spotted in the woods, and I found myself alone.
Hehehehe.
---SaS---
I'm so bored.
There's nothing to do.
Carly's watching Doug. Mark, Kenny and his family are in the barn, Andy and Brenda are cooking a meal.
I can't smell meat. That's good.
I did end up talking to Mark about what happened out by the fences. He mentioned pushing the walkers off the wire, then it turning on when they were outside the fence and the desperate escape from the bandits.
He also mentioned what they'd been shouting. And now, I have an in-universe reason for my suspicion.
Maybe if i keep up these 'gut feelings' that turn out right, people will start believing me from the beginning.
I did end up in their vegetable patch, sneakily grab a dozen potatoes and shoving them in my bag.
What? They had plenty.
---SaS---
When Lee got back with Danny, he pulled me aside again.
"Danny shot a woman we found, just as she was about to say something about the St Johns. He was real evasive when I found some boxes with their family name on them." He confided, eyes scanning for the brothers. I nodded.
"I think they've been trading with the bandits." I said, just as wary of eavesdroppers. "Mark said when he and Doug got attacked, the bandits were shouting 'We had a Deal!' and stuff like that." Lee nodded, rubbing his bearded chin.
"So the St Johns gave stuff to the bandits, probably food, to keep them from raiding the place? Sounds like a 'protection' racket." He reasoned. "The St Johns must have stopped giving them food?" I nodded.
"Maybe they had to cull the other cows to have enough meat to give them." I said. It would make sense, they obviously haven't had enough 'farm hands' to feed themselves AND the bandits.
We made our way to the barn, where Katja was just announcing that Maybelle was pregnant.
"Of course she's pregnant." I said, "Cows only make milk when they're pregnant." And the dairy farmers should know that, as well as all the signs.
"Well, we knew that," Andy had said quickly, "She just seemed out of sorts, and we wanted to make sure she was okay."
Then it was time.
Lee and Kenny were whispering closer to the locked door, so I joined them. I overheard Kenny being just a little racist. Rolling my eyes, I pulled out one of my screwdrivers and held it out to lee. I looked up at him, seriously.
"Unscrew the part of the lock attached to the door." I suggested. "I'll distract Andy."
The two adults shared a glance, then nodded at me. "You got it, Clem." Kenny said.
I went back outside, trying to look bored. Andy gave me a weird glance as I passed him, but went back to keeping an eye on Kenny and Lee.
I unscrewed the panel on the side of the generator, then really quickly turned it off and slipped the cambelt free. I closed the panel and screwed it in a few times, then rushed over to the swing. By the time Andy went to check it, I was idly going back and forth, looking out over the fields.
After a minute, i went back into the barn, past the frustrated Andy. He'd found the loose panel and was looking around for the belt he assumed had flung out.
Inside, I found the back door open, and almost everyone looking inside.
Blood everywhere.
Now, you could argue that this is normal, that it's expected even, for a farm who slaughtered their cattle, to have a place to do it. But there were a few things that damned them.
Bear traps without unlocking mechanisms, which Lee and Kenny recognized.
Hooks and chains, covered in blood.
An freezer, clean but empty of everything but a few salt blocks.
Very quickly we cleared out and closed the door, making it look, superficially, like we hadn't touched it.
When the dinner bell rang, I felt sick to my stomach. Because I could smell dinner.
It smelt like beef.
---SaS---
"Where did they get meat?" I asked Lee as we all walked up to the house. He and Kenny both hung back, with me. "They only have one cow, where did they get the meat?" I repeated. I knew where, though.
When we got inside, Brenda was setting the table with places for everyone. Counting the placemats, though, there were two missing.
No.
"I need to use the little girls room." I said, quickly.
"Just across the hall!" Brenda called, as people sat down.
I closed the dining room door, looked up at Lee, then we both rushed upstairs.
Doug and Carly were gone.
"Where'd they go?" Lee asked, starting to look horrified as realization set in.
"Lee! Help me!" I ran to the wardrobe and pulled it aside. "This wasn't here before, it was a bathroom!"
We pulled the wardrobe aside, and I threw open the door.
I was too late.
Carly was tied in the in the corner, gagged and missing her gun. She looked at us with wide eyes, tears streaming down her face.
Doug was still alive, but...
His legs were gone.
I Screamed.
In pain, and hurt.
And in Anger.
"NOOOOOOO! DOUG! YOU MONSTERS!" I broke down, sobbing.
"Jesus Christ!" Lee exclaimed. He rushed in, to let Carly loose. Squeaking chairs and thumping steps signaled that everyone else was running to join us.
I pulled my pistol out and, with what I assume was murder in my eyes, I stared down Andy as he entered the room.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you now." I growled down the iron sights of my gun.
Andy raised his arms.
"Woah! Hold on there, Little lady." He said, but he didn't stop approaching me.
He stopped when I shifted my grip and shot right past his head, the bullet hitting the roof behind him. In fact, he froze. The next second, I heard Lee and Carly emerge. They flanked me, Lee with his own pistol out and pointed at the man.
"Over by the wall, sicko!" Lee ordered, motioning with his gun.
"Jesus, Lee, What's going on?" Kenny asked, finally through the door.
"They butchered Doug. They cut his legs off, and were going to feed him to you!" Carly with rage in her voice.
"What?" "Oh my God." "So, the meat we could smell..."
"Now what in tarnation is going on in he-" Brenda said, trying to bustle her way past the group. She was stopped by a gun in her face. Kenny had pulled his rifle from his back, the barrel hovering between Brenda's eyes. He, very deliberately, flicked the safety off. Mark had done the same to Danny, who was also quickly divested of his own rifle. Katja, with a 'Stay here ducky', bundled past us and into the bathroom.
"Oh my god! Doug!" She cried.
With confirmation, Kenny growled.
"You absolute sickos! Where do you get off trying to feed us our friend, huh?" He shouted. I saw the hint of the man he could become in his eyes. In that resolute look.
"What made you even think you could get away with this?" Lee asked, also with rage in his tone. "We're all armed, Lilly and Larry are still at the motel. Why!?"
Brenda and Danny joined Andy over by the wall. My aim hadn't shifted from Andy's forehead. The man hadn't stopped looking at me either.
He looked Terrified.
"He was gonna die anyway," Danny reasoned, "Now or later, he wasn't hard enough to make the tough decisions."
"He doesn't NEED to be!" Carly shouted in his face. "I love that man for his kindness, for his softness!"
"Clem! I need your help!" Katja called.
"Coming!" I replied. Breaking my staring contest with Andy, I handed my gun to Carly. She gladly took over pointed the gun at the man who, I assumed, butchered her boyfriend.
Thankfully, the St Johns at least knew how to keep a man alive as they butchered him. As they kept going on and on about their philosophy and reasoning, about how meat taken from a dead human was 'tainted' and foul.
We did our best, but there was a whole fucking bathtub full of his blood right next to us.
Like the man earlier that day, Doug passed from blood loss.
Katja sighed, as she couldn't find a pulse. She shook her head.
"He's gone." I called, "We couldn't save him." The group cursed the St Johns.
"Carly." I said, pulling on her army-issue jacket. She looked down at me. "We need to destroy his brain, or he'll come back." I tried to speak evenly, but I know my voice tremored. She looked devastated, but nodded.
After a quick goodbye, she shot the corpse of the kindest, friendliest man we knew in the head.
---SaS---
And so, we left the house. Each St John was taken outside one by one. Not once was there a gun untrained on all of the cannibal family members.
We'd tied their hands behind their backs and put them up against the side of the house, lined up ready for a firing squad. Katja attempted to stop me from joining the firing line, but my glare obviously convinced her.
Lee spoke for the group.
"Brenda, Andrew and Daniel St John; you have committed dozens of cold-blooded murders, with the intent to eat the remains. You have then followed through with this intent, culminating in attempting to feed us the flesh and blood of one of our own that you have murdered." He attempted to make if official. Make it a sentence, rather than just mindless revenge. The anger in his tone revealed it for what it was. Though, is it really a Kangaroo court if the defendants have confessed?
"Prison isn't an option, as society has broken down. Imprisoning you ourselves would take time, effort, and resources we aren't willing to waste on you. Community service isn't an option, for the same reason." He continued.
"That leaves only two options." He said, as the generator ran out of fuel behind us.
"Death by firing squad, or facing a crowd of your peers, the walkers." We could hear the fences breaking down, the mindless, cannibalistic corpses
"Make your choice in ten seconds, or we shoot you anyway. Ten. Nine." The St Johns begged for their lives, Katja covered Ducks ears and turned him away.
"Two. One." He pause another second. "Fire."
With five guns aimed at them, only three needed to be hits.
I felt a visceral satisfaction in my gut as my shot destroyed the Cannibal Andy St John's left cheekbone, while Carly's shot hit him in the right eye.
When we trudged home that night, it was a solemn affair. Doug was carried by Kenny and Lee on a make-shift stretcher.
We encountered no abandoned cars on the way home.
The whole time, I knew.
I knew this was my fault.
---SaS---
An: I really struggled with writing this one, it took 7 hours to get everything down. By contrast, I popped out chapter 6 in two hours. By the time I got to the climax, I was 2.5k words in, so I decided just to run it to it's conclusion, rather than leave you with a cliffy. Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Some might ask why this episode was only one chapter, Well, Clem doesn't feature much in this episode anyway, and Lee wouldn't be willing to risk her. I could continue, but in reality, I just plain hated writing this chapter. I wanted it to be over and done. With this, Arc 1, the beginning, is over. Next is Arc 2: The Savannah Saga.
You all knew this was coming, though. This is The Walking Dead. SOMETHING bad needed to happen.
Last edited:
Lord_Anthrax
Daemon Prince of Nurgle
Damn that's fucking savage
I approve
- Location
- usa
damn this will leave a scar i have a feeling the motel was raided while they were away to.