Don't Fade Away

Chapter 3

The first thing I notice when I step out of the car is the peacefulness of it all. We were right outside of the woods, but we were far enough that walkers wouldn't find us for a while.

There was one tent, which was placers about twenty feet away from the fire pit. This area gave off a nice vibe, almost like this was nothing more than one big camping trip.

Sitting by the fire was a man in his late 50's, who I'm guessing is Lucas' father. He was like an exact replica of Lucas, except for the aging lines and wrinkles on his face.

He hasn't noticed us yet, his eyes glued on the open fire before him. I watched as the flames twisted and turned, almost as if it were dancing to the sound of the crickets around us.

Lucas nudges me a little with his shoulder, pushing me closer to his dad. The man suddenly looks up from the flames and stares directly at me.

At first, a grim line etches its way across his face. I start to worry that he doesn't like me, that I have already managed to mess something up. That is, until he smiles at me.

"Welcome," The man stands up,"My name is Grant. I see you have met my son already." He chuckles slightly.

I give him a small smile. I'm glad to know that there are still some nice people out there. He seemed genuinely happy that I was here.

"Nice to meet you. My name's Charlie."

Grant looks at his son,"Where did you find Charlie, exactly?"

Lucas rubs the back of his neck, clearly nervous about something. "Well, I found her at the intersection."

Grant gaped at his son,"What the hell were you doing there? You were supposed to go to the food bank! You could have died out there!"

Lucas sighs,"I know. I know. I'm sorry. I heard Charlie screaming for help and I couldn't just leave her there. There was a big horde following us so we had to leave before I could go to the pantry.."

I scrunch my eyebrows up at him. What was he talking about? I thought we had a whole argument about this in the city.

"What are you-" Lucas clamps his hand around my mouth, keeping me from telling Grant the truth. I screamed and bit his hand, hard. He flinched and clamped his hand around my mouth even harder. I squeaked.

Grant looked at the two of us, clearly confused. Glad to know I wasn't the only one. "Well, I'm just glad that you're okay. I think next time, we'll just go together. Now if you excuse me, I'm very tired. Nice meeting you, Charlie."

Grant heads towards what I assume to be his tent, only stopping for a few short seconds to tell us that dinner was by the fire if we were hungry. Once he had zipped up his tent for the night, I kicked Lucas's leg. He lets out a string of profanities and releases his death grip on me.

"What the hell was that for?!?" By now he was hopping around on one leg, acting like he had just gotten shot. It was a funny sight, and it was hard to not laugh in his face about it.

"You wouldn't let me go! You can't just manhandle me whenever you want to!"

He suddenly looks strained, as if he was just faced with the hardest decision of his life. He quickly shakes his head before roughly grabbing me by the elbow and leading me past the stray tent by the woods.

This time, I don't fight it when he grabs me because I know that there's no use for it. I just hope that whatever he's doing, there's a good explanation behind it.

Once we reach a safe distance into the woods, I turn to him. "Okay, what's your deal? Why didn't you tell Grant the truth?"

Lucas sighs,"You can't tell Grant." I nod my head. He continues,"Dad and I had agreed to let me take the runs because I was faster and stronger than him. Well, he thought that I should go on a run to the city's food bank. I told my dad that I would, because I knew that this would be my only excuse to go to the city. Once I got there, I was just checking empty buildings and houses for someone. My mom.

"You see, when this whole shitty thing started, my mother had gotten separated from us. Dad got depressed really fast, and I was basically the only one doing anything to keep us alive. I couldn't just tell my dad that I was going to go look for my possibly dead mother, so I just told him that I was going for food."

That explained everything. His dad's sudden change in behavior, food habits, sleeping schedule. It was because he was mourning over his wife. I immediately felt bad for Lucas and Grant.

I place my hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Luke." I know, I know. I'm being hypocritical. In the car I had blown up on Luke, telling him that I didn't want his pity. Now, here I am. Pitying him.

He shakes my hand off of his shoulder, "Don't call me that."

I chuckle at his childish behavior, "Okay, Luke."