PART TWO
In silence, they trudged on.
Penguin and Shachi took up the rear out of pure habit, letting Law take the lead and allowing them to talk amongst themselves if they felt like it. But that afternoon, none of them were really in the talkative mood. Not out of any particular reason, no, it was just one of those days. Well, that, and they were all pretty hungry. Hell, that was an understatement too. The constant grumbling of their stomachs forced their thoughts on one thing and one thing only: food.
They still had a few cans left to their name, but Law refused to part with them unless they were genuinely starving, trying to prolong the supply as long as they could. While they hadn't quite reached that point just yet, it wasn't too far off.
Law was only half relieved that his two friends decided to lapse into silence for awhile, his ear having practically been talked off during the past few months. His migraine would have been a lot worse otherwise. It was a bit worrying to hear them so quiet, it wasn't like them at all, but considering that they were running low on supplies it wasn't all too surprising. They were all a bit on edge, fearful that they wouldn't be able to find anything else to sate their hunger.
From the path they'd taken so far, they'd passed into Ohio a few days ago, but the edge of the state didn't offer much in terms of residence or supplies. They'd been hopping from town to town, trying to find a more permanent place to stay with more options of sustenance, but nothing was really safe anymore. Worst of all, most of the resources like food and water had either gone bad or already been scavenged. Most places had broken windows and doors swinging wide open, graffiti all over them, indicating there was nothing left to take. An entirely destroyed and ruined town was more commonplace than the exception.
Law had been searching the map for any sort of promising places to go, but one after the other, they all turned out to be disappointments. So, their meandering path kept them naturally heading West, following the roads between towns, always on the search for a better place to stay, a better place to survive.
Shachi and Penguin weren't even sure what Law was truly looking for. It was as if part of his brain kept telling him that if they kept moving they'd find some sort of respite. Some sort of light at the end of the figurative tunnel. Additionally, and they wouldn't ever mention it, of course, but they had a strange suspicion their back and forth path always heading West wasn't a coincidence. Since a certain woman was heading that direction, it was no surprise they were heading that way too. Some part of Law was wanting to follow her. Maybe not even he knew it himself, but the two friends weren't blind or stupid.
Penguin's mind brought up the brunette once again, not the first time that morning, and he finally decided to break the silence after a long, good stretch of time. "It's been awhile since we've seen Lexi." He started, intentionally leaving it open to other comments.
Shachi latched onto the offered string of conversation and shrugged. "It's been, what, maybe three months?" Then, he turned to Law who hadn't spoken up yet. "How long's it been since we saw those bandits, Law?"
Their leader shrugged nonchalantly. "Like you said, a couple months."
"Can't believe she didn't stick around so we could thank her." The group was passing under a bridge, and they were enclosed in the shade from overhead. "I miss seeing her." Penguin admitted, glancing at Law subtly. He made sure the tiny smile didn't give itself away too easily.
Law glanced behind him at his two companions, wondering what made them bring up Lexi after such a long time of silence. Their faces, however, didn't give them away, and he turned back to the road ahead. Far off in the distance, they could see a small group of zombies wandering aimlessly.
"Feels like it's been a lot longer since we've seen her than other times." Shachi added. "I wonder if she's ok, wherever she is."
"Lexi can take care of herself, I'm sure." Law finally said, hoping to bring the discussion to a close. He was missing the silence right about now. Then, feeling strangely apprehensive, he narrowed his eyes. "Though, it has been quite a long time since we've seen her."
There was always the possibility that she simply decided to change direction and head somewhere else, in which case they would never know exactly what happened to the mysteriously kind and strange woman they'd grown to enjoy fleetingly bumping into. At one time he would have welcomed the probability of her never seeing them again, trusting her less than he could throw her. Most of it wasn't even having to do with her directly, but the byproduct of having to survive in hell for a prolonged period of time. Though, since last time, he'd felt he hadn't exactly been fair with her up to this point.
Lexi was trustworthy, as she'd demonstrated by saving them from those bandits. There was no skirting that issue. While they may not know much about her, she had saved their lives, and that wasn't to be taken lightly. At least in Law's opinion. She had every opportunity to leave them be, but she risked her own safety by firing her weapon for their sake. There were very few people Law would do the same for. So saying, he was willing to give her a chance.
One chance. No others.
And if she were to ruin that chance…
He wouldn't allow her the opportunity to try again.
It was a sobering thought, but a necessary one. For as tough and stoic as Law had come to be in the apocalypse, he didn't exactly cherish the thought of killing the brunette but if it came down to it he wouldn't hesitate. In fact, he hoped that she'd prove to be a genuine ally. God knew they could always use another pair of eyes to watch their backs. She could hold her own with a gun or knife. Maybe they didn't have the food enough for another mouth to feed, but hey…
Law frowned, stopping his train of thought before it could go any further. Here he was, already thinking that she'd join their little group. That was jumping the gun a bit. First things first, of course. They'd have to see her again, not only to evaluate her once more, just for good measure and Law's peace of mind, but to thank her properly for saving their lives.
So lost in his thoughts, Law almost didn't bring his weapon up in time to slice the head of the zombie before it got too close. Only the sudden noise of it's loud groan snapped him out of his reverie, and by then, it was a lot closer than was comfortable. A bit startled, he flicked his wrists and chopped the head from it's shoulders, felling it with a loud thud.
"You space out or something?" Shachi questioned, taking care of the last of the zombies, which him and Penguin had taken care of while Law hadn't been paying attention. He pulled his knife free from its skull and walked over towards him. "You ok?"
As if he weren't seeing properly, he waved his hand in front of Law's eyes just to be sure. Giving the hatted man a bland look, Law pushed his hand away and shook his head. "I'm fine."
He set off walking down the road again, the large expanses of meadow on either side of them. It all made them feel so much smaller. Unfortunately, before Law could dwell on their surroundings any further, he felt a hand pulling on his shoulder annoyingly.
"What are you thinking about anyways? You've had this faraway look for like ten minutes." Pushing up on his other side was Penguin, that knowing grin in place. "You daydreaming about Lexi, yeah?"
"No." Law denied shortly, glaring daggers at his friend. Unintentionally, it came across so obviously like the lie it really was. Not that they would have believed it anyways, but still. "Why would I be doing that?"
"Oh, I don't know…If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's pretty much got you wrapped around her little finger." Just for emphasis, Penguin held up his pinkie and made a twirling motion, jumping out of the way before Law could shove him away. "Hey, I'm just calling it like it is!"
Shachi, eager to take the opportunity to tease their leader, jumped in with a matching smirk. "Don't think we don't notice the way you look at her."
"Enough." Law sternly replied, feeling fed up for even participating in the conversation at all. He should have known to leave well enough alone and leave them to their talking.
"No way, you can't be all brooding silence this entire time!" Penguin argued, running a bit ahead and walking backwards to look him pointedly in the face. "If you've got a thing for her, just fess up."
"I don't have a 'thing' for Lexi." Law air-quoted, emphasizing the word just for good measure. Even his irritated eye roll did nothing to deter them, much to his chagrin. There was a time when that alone could stop any conversation, but it seemed that wasn't the case any longer.
"Admit it." Shachi pressed.
"There's nothing to admit."
"Aww, come on! She's hot, you have to agree to that much." Shachi came to his friend's aid. "You can't tell me you don't find her attractive."
Law stubbornly kept his silence, but unfortunately it didn't deter them from rapid-firing accusations and questions one right after the other. Most of it he tuned out, but others were hard to ignore outright.
"If she were anyone else, you'd have killed her on the spot back at that house." Penguin finally accused, referring to when they'd given her a place to stay for the night. "You're sweet on her, Law."
It seemed his two companions wouldn't be giving up on this anytime soon, and he'd rather not spend an hour trying to defend himself. It didn't help that they were hitting very close to things he'd made it a point not to think about for the time being. Sighing deeply, Law decided that ignoring them was the best approach. "You're both insane."
"You can't hide something like that from us forever, you know." Shachi bragged in a sing-song-like voice. He returned to his usual place behind Law, dragging Penguin with him. "We know the truth."
Saying nothing, Law allowed them to fall in line behind him, but he could still feel their stares at his back as they walked. After a few minutes, their whispers were barely audible to him with the distance between them, but Law was sure he could make out the words 'hookup' and 'need a little push' at least once in their hushed conversation.
With a measured breath, he resisted the urge to rub at the growing headache, knowing that they'd only take that as an invitation to resume their attack. They were his best friends, but sometimes the greatest pains in the ass there ever was. Depended on the day.
"Seriously, what does this thing mean?" Penguin cocked his head, looking up and down at the strange graffiti-covered wall. They were walking through an alley, what would have once been shady or ghetto if all the artwork was anything to go by. Misspelled words and other various gang signs riddled the concrete walls, but one in particular, obviously the most recent since it covered everything else, was large and loud.
The dark green image of a woman wearing what looked to be a spiked collar took up most of the wall. Whoever made it had certainly had the time and skill to do so. The paint looked fresh, well, as fresh as pain could look in the zombie apocalypse. The rest of the markings had begun to fade with time and weather, but this one remained vibrant and bright.
"You expect me to know? I wasn't in a gang." Shachi crossed his arms, leaning against the nearest rusted car.
"So it's a gang symbol?"
"Most likely. 90 percent of graffiti is gang related, the rest are normally street artists trying to get a message across." Law replied nonchalantly, though his eyes were narrowed in concentration. He felt like he'd seen that symbol before, not too long ago. Where had he seen that before? That familiar feeling wouldn't leave him, and it constantly nagged at the back of his head. It was as if he should know, but just couldn't connect the dots.
Shachi gave a chuckle before double checking his gun. "Heh, maybe the artist doesn't know there's been an apocalypse. Freelance guys are like that and all."
"Idiots?" Penguin questioned, kicking away at some loose debris by his feet.
"I meant out of touch with reality." The bland look quickly turned into a thoughtful one. "But if you really feel that way…"
"Hey, don't make me out to be the bad guy here."
Shachi shrugged with a grin. "I'm not the one who called them idiots."
"Shh!" Law hissed, holding up a hand to silence them both. Their sentences died on their lips, and they all three stood next to some kind of department store, listening to the air around them. Law had sworn he'd heard someone talking on the edge of his hearing. Now that it was quiet, he strained his ears, intent on hearing it once again.
Several seconds passed with no sound besides the wind, then-
There it was! A man laughed somewhere in the distance, and the three hungry friends shared glances. Law pointed in the general direction he believed the noise to be coming from, and they silently edged around the building to the perpendicular street in hopes of remaining hidden. With the city as empty as it was, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where an echo originated from.
The talking continued over the sound of the wind, floating in and out of hearing as the speaker changed voice tone. Individual words were impossible to make out, but it was definitely male.
Penguin and Shachi readied their guns, and Law unsheathed his sword in preparation for a fight. So far it looked like they'd gone undetected, but knowing their luck, this would end in a scuffle. Besides, it was best to be prepared for the worst no matter the situation.
Law narrowed his eyes, still hearing the man talking, but unable to understand what he was saying at this distance. Looking pointedly at Shachi and Penguin, he pointed at the ground and held out his hand in the universal signal for 'stay.' They nodded, and he edged his way around the corner alone, keeping low behind a line of broken and rusting cars. Wherever this other person was, Law wanted to lay eyes on him and make sure he wasn't a threat.
At the end of the block, Law stopped moving and looked back to where his friends were hidden, knowing they'd have eyes on him the whole time in case things went south. Peeking from behind the cars to look up the street, Law still couldn't see any sign of the other man, or anything at all for that matter, but it was much easier to hear what he was saying in this spot. Or, more correctly, yelling.
"come on down!…it's alright, we're not…food and water, and even…" Law frowned. Several moments of just listening and it appeared that this man was trying to convince someone to come down from somewhere.
"safety…camp…" The man continued to yell, but there didn't appear to be any sort of response from whoever he was trying to communicate with.
Turning back to the direction of Shachi and Penguin, Law waved them forward and they walked in a crouch just as he had done towards him. They settled silently besides him, heads tilted as they listened to the man talking.
"Stay here, I'm going to get closer." Law instructed once they'd arrived, but Shachi grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Don't you think we should just leave the city? This seems unnecessarily dangerous."
"I want to know who we're dealing with, they may have more people nearby." Law explained, placating his friend quickly. "It'll be fine, just stay here and provide cover if need be."
And so saying, Law left behind the row of cars, slowly approaching closer and closer to the man who was still talking. His stomach gave a particularly sharp pain, and he winced. Hopefully this town, or perhaps this person he could hear talking, would have some food on them. If it came down to it, he'd forcefully take what his group needed to survive because at this rate they would starve to death before other people even became a problem.
Another block closer and Law stopped behind a nearby car, eyeing the figure of a man standing and facing an apartment building. Surprisingly, there was another man with him. Up to this point it didn't sound like he'd spoken yet.
The original man continued to talk up at the building, where Law assumed the other survivor must be that they were trying to convince to come down.
"You can't live by yourself forever! Where do you expect to go? How do you expect to find all the food you'll need? Or water?"
Silence answered him, but the man apparently refused to give in. Cupping his hands against his mouth, he yelled louder. "We can't let you just wait out your death! Please, come with us back to the camp and you'll be surrounded by others who are all trying to survive just like you!"
From his vantage point behind the car, Law saw the second person tap the man's shoulder hesitantly. "Hey, maybe we should just let it go, Zack. It's been hours and the guy isn't budging."
Looking rather irritated, the man supposedly named Zack shook his head with a scoff. "Don't you remember how I was when you first took me in? It took me four days before I even left that police station! And that was only because I was running out of food." He sadly returned his attention back onto the apartments and sighed deeply. "We can't just leave him behind. I have to try to save this guy. And we need all the help we can get back at the camp."
Law frowned, instantly wary, but there was a time spark of hope that came with it. A camp? Other people. A coalition of survivors. Supposedly all working together. That would be something.
He wondered what Shachi and Penguin would think, but couldn't dwell on it much longer before the sound of a door opening caught all of their attentions. The entrance to the apartment building opened, revealing a disheveled and skinny older gentleman. His hair had once been red, but was now faded to a graying salt and pepper color. His beard and mustache were untrimmed, unruly and wild. He clutched a long rifle in his hands, shakily aiming it at Zack and the as-yet unidentified man.
"You said somethin' about…food? And water?" His gravelly voice croaked. Obviously it had been some time since he'd had either.
Eagerly, yet still aware of the weapon being trained on him, Zack raised his hands and slowly reached for his backpack. "You betcha. Here, have this." He unzipped the pack cautiously, eyeing the barrel of the gun aimed at his head, as he pulled a water bottle and can of food from within.
The older man instantly lowered his weapon, visibly shaking at the proffered nourishment, and after only a second's hesitation, he dropped the gun to the ground and hastily snatched it from Zack's hands.
"There's more where that came from," he started with a chuckle, "but you'll have to come back to camp with us. You can get some rest too. You look like you need it."
The older man didn't even appear to be listening as he greedily chugged the container of water. It was gone in a matter of seconds, and he let out a satisfied 'ah' of appreciation. "Alrigh' fine. I'll go with you boys. But the moment I don't see something I like, I'm hightailin' it out and you'll never see me again."
"Fair enough, old man. What's your name?" The unnamed man grinned, holding out a hand to shake.
The bearded survivor returned the gesture, though still shaking and visibly weak. "Stanley, but just call me Stan."
"Alright, Stan. I'm Jared, this is Zack." Jared gestured to his partner, and Stan repeated the handshake with the other man. "There'll be more to introduce you to once we get back to the camp, and then we'll get you all hooked up with some more food and a nice bed."
The old man laughed aloud, following the other two as they began to walk in the direction away from Law. Stan must have said something else, which made the others laugh as well, but as they got further and further away, their conversation became much too quiet to hear properly.
Waiting until he could no longer hear the trio, Law rose back from his seated position behind the car and snuck his way back towards Shachi and Penguin. They remained quiet and patient until he returned.
"So, what was all that about?" Penguin questioned curiously. "What was going on?"
"Two people were trying to convince another survivor to join their encampment. They appear to be genuine." Law quickly explained, sticking a thumb in the direction he'd just come from. "They're heading there now, and if we follow, we can get a closer look."
"Hmm, you sure we shouldn't just leave?" Shachi reasoned, gesturing to the city around them. "Who knows how many people are crawling in this town. If there's a few, there's gotta be more, like you said. Maybe it would be better just to leave well enough alone and keep moving."
Penguin turned to his apprehensive friend incredulously. "Are you kidding? The first sign of other people that might be friendly and you want to just up and leave? We're slowly starving and they have food."
"You don't know that." Shachi shook his head, looking stricken. "They could be just as starving as us and are looking for people to rob. Going there could just as sooner be a death sentence than a blessing."
"Well, even if things aren't what they seem, it beats having never tried." Was Penguin's retort. He crossed his arms and sighed deeply. The sound was punctuated by another grumble of his stomach. "Things go south? We just ditch and pretend we were never there. It turns out to be true? We eat, then we can go."
"What do you think, Law? You've been quiet this whole time." Shachi turned pointedly to their leader, and Penguin followed suit.
Law stared down the road in thought, chewing his bottom lip as he mulled the question over. What did he think? The possibility of food and water was tempting beyond belief, especially now. Penguin had a point, even if it didn't turn out to be all it was promised to be, they had at least taken the chance. But risks like that was an easy way to be killed. There were so many unknown variables here, and for a calculating person like him, it was maddening.
Yet the opportunity to…well, settle in one place for more than a few days? To find a…home? Was that too much to hope for? Was that even something he could hope for? It had been awhile since he'd really anticipated something so positive or…actually wanted to believe in.
The trait was very reminiscent of a certain brunette…
"I saw we try." Came his eventual response, and he turned his attention back to his friends, looking them each in the eye. "Penguin's right. On the chance things aren't as they seem, we can always find ways to leave. Besides, one little look wouldn't hurt, right? We don't like what we see right off the bat, we'll keep moving."
Shachi sighed but shrugged. "I'm outvoted either way, so let's do this."
"You never know." Law started, standing from his crouch a moment before the others. "Just maybe, things might work out for once. Say these people are friendly. We could-"
"Settle down? Like, permanently?" Penguin asked hopefully, all too thrilled at the prospect. Shachi still looked doubtful, but there was no mistaking that spark of happiness behind his half smile.
"Wouldn't that be something. Two years as nomads and you begin to think you'll never stop moving."
Law said nothing, though he felt a slight pang of guilt at his friend's words. He was their leader. He made most of the final decisions. The choice to keep moving had been his, and he'd never really stopped to think what Shachi and Penguin thought about it.
Pushing it to the back of his mind, he lead them towards the direction the other group had gone, hoping that they weren't too far behind so as to lose them.
ns 18.68.41.183da2
