A/N: Hello readers! Sorry it's been a while, I've been on vacation for a while so I wasn't able to upload any new chapters lately, however you should get this one and another one about Yan soon after, so no worries!
UPDATE 7/28/15: I had to change some things around because I wasn't happy with the next chapter so I had to add a couple of paragraphs to this chapter.361Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGrhF7dqKz
Although the slap came from someone rather physically weak, it was still enough to send him flying off the wall and into the concrete below. Somehow, he only ended up with a scratch and a small stream of blood that trickled down the side of his head. Yan used his forearms to lift his chest up off the ground, his lungs working overtime to retrieve the wind that had been knocked out of him. Above he could hear the gun go off again. Mentally he cursed. He should’ve expected that bastard to do something like that. For a while he’d been ranting to just about anyone who would listen how ‘unfaithful’ Val was and how ‘soon enough’ he’d go against the greater good.
Yan wasn’t sure how standing up for a kid was going against the greater good, but then again, he didn’t need to. Greg had just been looking for a reason to make Val the bad guy and send him out as bait so he could pick the man off finally. That, of course, brought up into question what Greg might do the rest of them. Val had been the person closest to the man and if Greg was so willing to kill him, what was he willing to do to the others?
A hand with a grip strong enough to bruise, lifted him to his feet and twisted his arm behind his back. He let out a strangled breath in pain. He didn’t have to look up to know that it was Ulysses. The dark man had only been with them for a year, but he’d practically fallen head over heels for their leader and was willing to snap as many necks as he needed to get on the man’s good side.
His head was forced down to look at the ground, the pain of moving his neck and back too much with the ridiculous amount of muscle leaning on him. “Well shit. They’re faster than I thought.” He heard Greg say, then follow with a laugh. The man’s boots clunked down off the wall and before he knew it they were standing in front of him. The next thing he felt was the hand in his hair pulling his head up. Pain shot through him and Yan gritted his teeth. “And apparently you’re dumber than I thought.” He sighed and let go of the Asian man’s hair. “You know, I love this place, always seems to be just strong enough to keep the smart in and the stupid out.” He spat out the last couple of words. “Ah, you know what! I didn’t even think about it, but what are the citizens going to think? I have to doubt that those shots were quiet enough for no one to hear.” He hummed. “And word sure does travel fast here.
“Ah! I got it.” The laugh this time was like snakes, slithering out of his mouth and across the floor. Yan felt the urge to scratch at the phantom slithers around his feet. “I never wanted to shoot at them,” His voice had lowered a few octaves. “They left me no choice. Stealing a good week’s worth of food. That was just unacceptable. And they threatened my town…they said that they would return with a bigger group and take the town for themselves…yes…and you…” He looked to Yan. “You’re their accomplice, an inside man to weaken us.” He sounded passionate, like a politician pitching his new tax reform. “But I couldn’t kill you no, you’re one of my greatest men – at least that’s what I thought.” Yan spit on the ground.
“Fuck you, you crazy sunnvabitch.”
Greg ignored him. “So I tried to reason with you, but you killed one of the other soldiers in cold blood and well, I couldn’t handle that, so I swallowed my feelings and fought you.” Greg’s fist hurt a lot more when what Yan was punched into was the knife like elbow of Ulysses. He cried out in pain, limping even more in the bigger man’s grip. The next fist came to his face and Yan felt his whole body jerk to the side. Greg was shaking out his hand. “Ouch, damn I hate getting my hands dirty. Both literally and metaphorically, but it sells the bit.”
Yan laughed. “Yeah, but-,” He coughed violently. “Who-who are you gonna say I killed? Open ends cause questions to be asked. You’ll be found out. The people will never believe you.”
Tapping his chin Greg nodded. “You’re right. Ulysses, his gun.” Said man dug around in his holsters, dumping out his knife and baton, and handing over his sidearm. “Thank you,” Greg turned on his heel and aimed the gun at the closest guard. He fired before Yan could protest.
“What the hell!” He yelled, tugging against Ulysses’ grip. “You crazy motherfucker!”
“No,” Greg got up in his face, placing the gun back on him. “You crazy motherfucker.” And he nodded to Ulysses to ‘turn off the lights’.
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When he woke up, it was dark outside. His whole body hurt and he groaned, turning onto his side. He was in one of the cells, on the floor. “Shit.” For the second time that day he attempted to pick himself up off the floor. Yan didn’t get to his feet, but he did manage to get into a sitting position and lean against the bars. His face was sore and he attentively ran his fingers across the skin. His cheek was swollen and he was pretty sure that he had a split lip. Part of him wanted to see the damage done to his stomach, but the other part was much more convincing that if he did look at his stomach he’d somehow be in much more pain that he was already in. So he kept his shirt down.
Although the sun had fallen and the moon had risen, there were lights on outside. Typically Greg liked to keep things pretty quiet and dark when night rolled around, as to not draw too much attention to them. But that night, all of the street lights were on, and he could hear Greg’s voice even from inside the makeshift jail. Grumbling, he ran his hand through his hair, not surprised to feel that they hadn’t even tried to patch up the wound he’d received from his fall that morning.
He was screwed. If Greg didn’t kill him, the people would. They’d believe the asshole. No doubt. Most of them were sheep, with minds too small to even consider that their unruly leader might’ve done something wrong for once. He sighed. If he was just exiled he might have a chance. He was fast runner and he’d survived bait duty seven times already…but after he got away he wasn’t sure where’d he go. If only he had been out there with Val and the others. There was no way he could find them now, for all he knew they had become mincemeat not long after disappearing from his view.
Yan felt like he fucked up bad, but he knew that he hadn’t. He wasn’t the bad guy in this situation, he was the good guy. He had yet to do anything wrong. In fact, he might even go so far as calling himself a victim. But that was the kind of person Greg was. He made you feel like you were just the scum of the earth – the lowest of the low – even if you had done nothing that could be considered immoral.
He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head, listening to Greg’s words as he drifted off to sleep.
“-brought you all out here today to inform of the traitorous actions that have been plaguing our wonderful town this past day. Five people have shown their true colors and where their trust allies. Two were very close to me and it has pained me this past couple of hours to think that they could do something so terrible to me. The shots you heard this morning were me, but I do promise that each bullet was for our own safety. They had threatened to come back to us with weapons and more people, to take over the town. I’d like to thank that shots fired this morning were enough warning to them. The fifth person to betray all of our trust was a soldier of mine, and a friend of all of you. He was the ‘inside man’, the informant if you will, on our defenses. You all know him as Yan.” Gasps could be heard through the walls. “I know. He was detained, but not before killing another officer. I was forced to use physical methods to restrain him.
“And as much as I’d like to think that he could become a functioning member of society again, I doubt that he could. So I ask you all now, to give your opinion in this democratic society. Kill him? Let him loose? Or give him a chance?” Yan wasn’t awake when they decided his fate, but he already had a feeling of what it would be.
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Before then, he had been the one on the side lines lowering his head in a moment of silence for the person they were about to send outside to their death. But this time he was the one handcuffed and standing before the front gate. He smiled to himself. Eighth time’s the charm. The gate looked so daunting before him, the wood and metal more evil than usual. Must’ve been because Greg was preaching atop it. “It is a sad day when your fellow man turns against you, but this fellow man has done us all wrong.” That’s right, Yan thought, make it about everyone, don’t let them think that maybe, just maybe you’re doing this for your own agenda. “He has deceived us, planned to rage war against us, and most of all, he betrayed us. All of us. And under the laws of this Zone, he must be punished. Please remove his cuffs and open the gate so the prisoner may carry out his punishment of banishment.”
Both orders were carried out simultaneously and the former of the two wasn’t very gentle. He knew the man removing the cuffs off of him and as much as he’d like to be mad at him, he wasn’t. He was just a faithful soldier who didn’t know any better. He thought that one of his friends had betrayed him and he was pissed. Yan wasn’t about to blame him.
Once the gate was open Yan could tell that this would be much harder than any of the bait duties he had performed. First of all, he wasn’t allowed any weapons, second of all, he wasn’t going to be let back in the gate in a couple of hours, and third of all, no one was watching out for him. He was on his own, with nothing but his fists and the clothes on his back. And he was damned if he was going to die and give that bastard satisfaction.
The first step out of the gate was easy. He cast a glance around and noted that the streets were empty. It was when the barrel of a rifle pressed into his back and sent him toppling onto his face, that things got hard. Unconsciously he had cussed at the person touching him, thus drawing attention to himself. A few stranglers that had been hanging around the bend of the barrier to the Safe Zone stumbled out to see him. “Son of a bitch.” He grumbled, getting to his feet just as the gate was shut behind.
Commotion could be heard from the inside the gate and he knew that everyone must’ve been crawling over one another to see the traitor get ripped apart…barbarians.
He runs when he gains his balance and is able to think. Greg was boasting off the top of the barrier, preaching something about loyalty and honesty. The irony is overwhelming. The creatures stumble around behind him, pushing at each other to reach him. He makes a b-line for the line of shops that had already been raided. Wooden planks and broke glass would have to be his weapons at first. But he stopped mid run. And turned. And smiled up at the Safe Zone. “Greg!” The man stopped talking for once and looked over his shoulder. Yan flipped him off. “I’ll see you in hell.” Yan then winked, saluted, and continued to run for the shops.
Kicking out the still in-place glass, Yan crawled into a convenience store, grabbing a two-by-four that had originally been used to board up the window, and doing a quick look around to see if there were any supplies left. Obviously there weren’t. He should’ve know that. Hell, he led the expedition to clear out all the surrounding buildings under the order of the wannabe Napoleon. “Shit.” He jumped out of the store, smacking the plank into the face of one of the bitters. It gurgled and fell back onto its friends. Yan scrunched up his nose.
By the time he got to the edge of the city he had to drop the heavy wood slab and rub his arm. It had been a long time since he had been outside of the gate fighting for his life – it was exhausting. The highway was relatively clear, with a few biters here and there and a couple of cars. He tried to start a few of them, but they were either out of gas or had been stripped for parts.
The long walk ahead of him was daunting and he knew that he’d have to run parts of it so he could get to the next town as quickly as possible. Hopefully he’d find another group or some place with food and water so he didn’t die of starvation. The irony of that however, would be fan-freaking-tastic. He came across an abandoned semi-truck at one point and scavenged the cab for weapons. A tire iron and a crowbar would have to do for the moment being.
He broke the lock off the back of the trailer, not bothering with the faded writing on the side. Whatever was in the trailer was better than nothing. As soon as he opened it, the smell hit him. Yan fell backwards off the truck and onto the grass, barely able to get to his side so he could vomit up what was left of his stomach contents. The truck must’ve been for a dairy or some other cold food transport company because it smelled rotten. Almost as bad as the walkers. He got to his feet, covering his nose with his arm, and headed back for the road.
The crowbar was tucked into one of the belt loops on his jeans and he spun the tire iron in his hand as he walked. The trees on either sided towered over his head, casting a shadow of colors on the broken road. He took it one foot in front of the other, whistling at times, or mumbling the lyrics to a long forgotten song. The energy he expended trying to remember versus that he hadn’t heard in years was enough to keep his mind off the idea that he would probably be alone for a very long time.
Being alone wasn’t something new for him. He had only been in the Safe Zone for two years. The other three were spent wandering the woods and the streets alone, looking for somewhere safe, somewhere to hold down for at least a night without being woken up or being too afraid to fall asleep in the first place. He got sick more often than not and had once passed out in the middle of the road, waking up to find a biter chewing on his leather jacket. They were three years of hell. And he was about to start them all over again.
ns 18.68.41.139da2
