Ok, because of the comments, or lack therof, for my last episode i gather that it sucked. I will try to make it more interesting by dropping the whole diary format and making my characters more expressive, and try to put it into a format more like the episode, using words like scene, as well as little asides to you, the reader. the show/comic blend is coming, so be patient. it starts to happen pretty early on in the episode. also, i will start this episode from an episode 1 story that is slightly different, in that they are more poorly armed. Paul has a rifle and an axe, Anders has a Pistol, and Anders has a Pistol. the weapons are shared throughout the group, but the owner of each weapon specializes in it. also, my story will differ a little from TWD canon, obviously.
If it seems like an episode is short, that is because i have left off writing for a bit, and will return soon.
Scene opens with Paul and anders looting a dollar store, followed by King, who regularly sniffs the air as they go. Paul carries the axe, and Ander's carries his pistol.
Anders: "what are we doing here again?" he asks, he is still rather curious as to why they would loot a dollar tree, of all places. they are about 3 miles out of the city, and are camped out about a half mile away, in a fenced off tennis court. the Apocalypse occured about a month and a half ago.
Paul: "I told you, I think we can find some pretty useful stuff in here. I've adopted the mantra "think smarter, not harder.", and I think it is a good mantra to have.
They creep through the store, which is almost untouched, save for most of the food that used to be there. Suddenly, King sniffs the air, and begins whimpering on the ground, crouched down silently. Paul notices this.
"hey, anders, we got walkers. King smells em."
Anders: "that dog of yours is a life saver. what should we do? bring them to us, or us to them?"
Paul:"there is a bathroom up ahead, they may be in there. if not, we leave king there, climb onto one of the shelves, and bring them to us."
the bathroom is empty, and, dog safely stowed away, they climb onto one of the shelves, safe in their elevation. King whines softly from the locked bathroom.
Paul: "ok, lets cause ourselves a ruckus!" he picks up a box from the shelf and throws it at a neaby soda can display pyramid, destroying the contents and causing a sufficient amount of noise to draw out 3 walkers from the nearby aisles.
Paul: "we should be able to manage these with just the axe."
The fight that follows goes pretty smoothly, the walkers get up to the shelves, but since Paul and Anders are on top, they cant really be a serious threat. the walkers are soon on the ground, axe shaped gashes in their skulls, and the two scavengers are climbing to the ground. King is soon back with the pair, and their hunt resumes.
Paul leads Anders through the store, until they reach the childrens toys section of the store, with all the water guns and pool noodles.
Anders: "dont tell me you brought me in here just to pick up a toy for sarah, callie's worried sick, man!"
Paul: "dont worry, this will be worthwhile. i'm sure."
He crosses the aisle and finds his prize. the air horns. about 30 in all. he looses a short bleep from one of them, as a test, and begins to stuff his backpack.
Anders: "Air horns? you brought me all this way for air horns? Callie is gonna kill me, and eat my flesh."
Paul: "hey man, not funny. these arent just air horns. they're decoys. we're gonna need duct tape, too, for these to work properly. to hold the buttons down."
An hour later, the two are driving back to camp, supplies in hand, with their extra cargo of air horns, duct tape, and walkie talkies. Paul is preparing one of his new decoys when Paul slows down the car, moaning "oh, no..."
Their camp in the tennis court is surrounded by walkers. Frank can be seen at the top of the fence waving. he gives a thumbs up sign to show that Callie and Sarah are ok.
Paul: "allright, time to think smarter, not harder. he quickly whips out an air horn and some duct tape, and swiftly tapes the button down. he opens the car window, and throws it as far as he can, in the direction of some nearby baseball courts. the walkers, hearing the sound, are quick to follow it. The crowd is thick, so it takes three more air horns, and half a roll of duct tape, for the last few walkers to meander off. Inside the fence, the others have been busy. their stuff is packed up, and they are ready to break camp.
They drive for a while, and resettle in a nearby Bank, which they promptly clear of walkers and settle into. their plan is to wait for night, to see if any lights come on in the city. if lights come on, they will know if it is safe to enter, because light means people. and people means security.
as night falls, the city remains dark, and quiet, save for the moans of the damned. suddenly, they hear an ear-shattering explosion, and then nothing.
Frank: "what was that?"
Callie: "no way of knowing, and pretty soon, wherever that was will be walker central.'
Sarah: "are we safe?"
Paul: "probably. that was pretty far. Maybe me and Anders should go over to wherever that was and see if we can find someone. maybe it was the military. we could also find a map. even if nobody's here, the CDC might be a rewarding place to investigate. Also we're out of dog food again, so we need that too."
Anders: "idiot"
Morning comes and the survivors begin to wake up.
Frank: "i'll watch Sarah for you while you're gone, Paul"
Paul: "Frank, i appreciate the kindness but we don't need a chaperone. I'm capable of looking after my sister on my own.... but if you could watch her that would actually be great... it might be an hour or more before we get back, and king keeps whimpering at that bank vault."
Paul and Anders pile back into the car to find a map and then the explosion. Once the map is located, they proceed to the explosion. taking a quick glance at the map, Paul notices they are closing in on the CDC.
anders: "oh, christ..."
Paul: "what? oh..."
the only clue as to what this building used to be is a charred sign with the words just barely legible: United States Centers for Disease Controll. A huge Herd of walkers idles in the smoking ruins of the parking lot.
Paul: "maybe we should have seen this coming. what do you think it was, terrorists, maybe?"
Anders: "I dont know... lets take a break... I need a minute."
Paul goes back to struggling with the casing on the walkie talkie, and finally gets it open, just as a car drives up. it stops just beyond a building, out of their sight.
???: "SHIT! it's gone! get back in the car, duane, we need to get back. maybe they went back to their old camp"
???: "what if they were inside?"
???: "lets not consider that just yet. it'd be pretty rediculous if rick let a little thing like an exploding building come between him and his family."
Paul: "hey! who is that?"
???: "Duane, shush, we don't know these people... lets not tell them anything just yet"
Anders: "Dude, we can hear everything you're saying. It's alright, we're not even really armed. just an axe."
???: *giggles*
???: "Duane! Shush!"
Paul gets out of the car and quickly moves towards the other car
Paul: "Calm down. we have no intention of harming you or your... son, i would presume? Nephew?"
Morgan: "look, just stay away for a minute, i'm not inclined to trusting strangers who may or may not kill me at a moment's notice. How many people do you have? Name's Morgan, by the way, and the boy's my son, Duane."
Anders: "Just the two of us here, but we have five back at our camp. we came to investigate the explosion. I presume you are here for the same?"
Morgan: "we're here looking for a friend of ours. we met a while back and we were supposed to meet up if the city was safe. obviously, it wasnt."
Paul: "look, i don't like the look of that herd over there, so why dont we finish this conversation back at our camp. please, it isnt safe for your son to be out this far into the city."
Morgan looks worriedly at duane, then makes a decision.
Morgan: "alright, i guess we'll go with you, for now. We dont really have the fuel to go very far though."
Anders: "oh, don't worry, we'll be fine. it's about five miles from here. just follow the only other moving car in the city."
they pile back into their cars and drive through the city back to the Bank. upon their arrival, introductions are made, and Morgan relaxes somewhat seeing Sarah, a young girl, in the group he and his son have just joined.
Frank: "well it sure is nice meeting some new people after so long with these idiots. the boy still makes his sister do schoolwork, and these other two, always rushing off for..." he eyed the children "well, you can guess."
Morgan: "well, i'm not quite sure we're staying for long we have to move on soon. this city is too dangerous for my boy."
Callie: "But what about the CDC? did you guys drive by it? we won't have to leave if that place is secure."
Anders: "the CDC's gone. that explosion last night took it out."
Callie is horrified at this and buries herself in anders' arms, and sarah rushes to her brother, worried about their future.
Frank: "well, there's no sense staying here now. we might as well move on again, though i hate the idea. supplies are so easy to come by in these-"
he is interrupted by a buzzing at his feet, and at morgans waist. There follows ricks speech about the CDC and moving on, to fort benning.
Morgan: "fort benning? do you think we should follow?"
Frank: "I don't know! we passed by that place on the way here and it was even worse than atlanta! it seems like most refugees assumed they'd just move the CDC there instead of keeping it in a walker time bomb like atlanta. it really only was people, after all, and people can be moved. but if this Rick and his people are heading there they could get killed, or worse!"
Callie: "but should we? i'm not sure it's a good idea to go rushing off like vigilantes in the direction of more trouble. I don't like the idea of leaving these people, but who knows if we can catch up to them in time."
Morgan: "I don't even like considering it. that man is my friend, and god damnitt if the things he did for us havent saved my boy's life a hundred times over. if we leave now we can catch them, and we'll be better off. That man found his family despite all odds, and it would just be cruel for him to lose them now."
Callie: "the world is cruel, it's a fact of life. I wasnt saying we should do nothing, i was just saying we shouldnt put ourselves through hell and worse for strangers."
Frank: "look, it's no use arguing. we need to leave Atlanta anyway, and we can catch them if we leave now, so let's go! even if we dont catch up immediately, they will have to stop and clear the road, whereas we will have had it cleared for us by them. we'll catch em, alright. before sundown today." Anders: "then what are we sitting here talking about! lets go!"
Paul: "alright then, in case things ever get hairy, you guys just follow me and Sarah in our car, we'll be the front of this convoy."
They pack their bags, pile into the cars, and drive off in the general direction of fort benning, hoping against hope they can reach rick and Rick's people before disaster strikes. (DUM DUM DUUUUUUM (intense close up at an angle of EVERYONE))
After they leave the city, after several siphonings of gas, the group is back on the highway. soon there are signs that people have been there, such as cars pushed off the road, or walkers with tire track marks across their skulls. It isnt long doing this, before disaster DOES strike. Paul stops suddenly out of reflex, and almost gets rear ended by Anders and Callie.
Anders: "What the hell is wrong with you!"
Paul: Not me, what's wrong with THEM is what you should be asking." He points ahead, to where a herd of walkers hundreds, maybe thousands strong is marching towards the cars. "this isnt the kind of herd we can just drive through. they'll rip the cars apart. We can't use the decoys wither, the trees are too thick, and this highway has guard rails."
Sarah: "do you think Mr. Jones' friend is OK?
Anders: "they're probably fine. they can just drive away, like we're about to do. come on, there's a bypass right back there a bit, we can just circle around and get back on their trail."
Morgan: "That could take all day! they could be halfway to fort benning by the time we get back on the highway."
Anders: "yeah, well the herd is almost here, and they see us by now. we really dont have much choice at this. Maybe they got mucked down in this. we'll set up camp at the on ramp back on to the highway, it'll be night by then, and leave someone on watch for anybody coming by."
By this time the walkers are close enough that they cant talk without being ripped apart, so they turn back and drive tothe bypass.
Frank was right, and driving past the little town the bypass led to took all day, and it was time to stop by the time they made it to the on ramp. Frank drove ahead for a bit to confirm that nobody had gone past this road in a while, and came back showing that Rick and his people were behind them somewhere.
The next tw days are spent waiting for somebody to come down the highway, but nobody came by. On the third day, Paul and Frank started walking back down the highway with the intention of finding the other group. They left Morgan watching Sarah, as she and duane were becoming fast friends, and Morgan was not quite ready to leave his son with people he met the day before, and was definitely not ready to take his son into that highway with only strangers for protection.
Paul: "what do you think of Morgan?"
Frank: "he seems an all right sort. he'll make a good addition to the group, and his son seems to be getting along with Sarah just fine. i've worried about her, living without anybody to spend time with."
Paul: "Frank..."
They are stopped by the sound of a gunshot in the woods off to their right.
Paul: "should we follow it?"
Frank: "is that a serious question? it's probably them."
It isnt them. It is a fat man carrying a Rifle
???: "Dont you come any closer, whoever you are. I'm not afraid to fight to protect what's mine."
Paul: "Woah, woah, we're looking for a friend of ours. You wouldnt happen to be rick, would you?"
???: "Rick? Never heard of him. I can see pretty plainly that you two arent very well armed, so you probably arent a threat, either. Name's otis."
Frank: "Well, it's just new people all over the place! I'm Frank, and the boy's Paul."
Otis: "It certainly it nice to see a new face, after so long with just a few other people as your entire world. People being hard to come by nowadays, i can see some cooperation in our future. how's about we walk and talk. you two know anything about hunting?"
Paul: "in Skyrim or New Austin maybe..."
Otis: "afraid i don't know those places. do they have deer?"
Paul: "yes, but I usually just throw blasts of fire at them. it does the trick."
Otis: "so you know nothing."
Paul: "yes, that is correct, i know nothing."
Otis: "inexperienced hunters make for poor hunting partners, but i get the feeling with that rifle of yours that you can shoot straight. come with me."
They walk for a while, and share experiences. when Frank brings up having killed a walker, otis cringes, and changes the subject. this goes on for a while, and is the first peaceful moment Frank and Paul have enjoyed in days. Suddenly otis stops them, there, in a small clearing, is a beautiful brown buck, covered in beautiful, beautiful meat. Otis fires, and is greeted by a scream of "CARL!!!"
Suddenly, Running, runnin like never before. Otis directs Paul, Frank, and the two men who were with the boy who was just a victim of friendly fire to a farm about a mile away. It becomes clear that Paul is the fastest of them, having been in cross country in school. He offers to run ahead, to have the survivors at the farm otis meantioned ready to provide medical care for the boy."
Otis: "Just keep running! you'll find it."
Paul runs, and soon the farm is within sight. He is greeted at the front of the farm by a girl in her twenties. Panting, Paul recounts the story, she quickly rushes inside to tell her family, who quickly emerge.
(you people know who they are so i wont bother with the ???)
Hershell: "now, son, calmly, tell me what happened."
Paul: "Me and a friend of mine found your man, Otis, and we were walking back here with him, when we saw a deer." he takes a minute to pant. "Otis was out hunting so he shot the deer, but somehow, there was a little boy behind it. *pant* *pant* so *pant* they sent me ahead to tell you to be ready to treat the kid. he was shot, about here. *he gestures to his stomach area* I could'nt really tell you more than that. They should be here in a few minutes. i was only going a little faster than them"
Hershell: "Patricia, when they get here, we're gonna need everything. set it up in the guest bedroom. Boy, you have saved this boy some time, and we'll be better able to treat him because of this, you did a good job. do you need anything?"
Paul: "no, i'm fine. maybe a glass of water."
Hershell: "Maggie, see to it. I'll wait here with the boy for his friends and Otis."
END EPISODE