Walking Among the Dead

Part 1.5 (The New World We Live In): Chapter 5

Walking Among the Dead: The New World We Live In

CHAPTER 5

Sometime shortly into the dead of the night, a small group of lurking freaks are seen near the road to the back through a whiteout of a blizzard. Kyle, who returned to his post after dinner, whistles into the garage and his friends begin stumbling awake, hungover. Everyone from the supply-run team begins in the direction of the enemies and are stopped not but ten feet from the back door of the garage when they hear the shuffling of feet in snow and weapons behind them. Without anyone saying a word, the entire group draws their weapons of choice and begins approaching the small force. They are officially now on the offensive.

Andrew flickers a flashlight to grab one's attention and as it turns direction, Samantha steps up, wielding a long kitchen knife. Walking towards one another, she realizes there is more to it then swinging and slashing. The figure before her stands about five inches taller. Sure, it may not be exactly living or fully functioning, but it is much larger than her. He wears a flannel stained with blood and it's black. It could be his, from whomever attacked him, or maybe even someone he has victimized. Samantha steps back after realizing he stands a mere foot in front of her and can infect her in a second. She waits for the freak to make the first move. As he swings toward her, she dodges the arm and drives the blade through his nose bridge and blood pools as he crumbles to the whiteness beneath him. The noises made as he approached Samantha got the attention of his companions. Four more begin towards Andrew and the rest of the survivors. Chuck, almost entirely healed now, limps towards the attackers and winds up a powerful swing with a crowbar. The recipient of the force is a freak his height and the head is nearly severed, instantly falling. The rest of the group marches towards the remaining three. Erin claims one with a nicely fired arrow headed with a broad hunting tip, John adds another to his tally with his axe, and Mitch sends a spike from a fence upwards through the chin and out the top of the head, both completely without hesitation and almost without much effort at all. "I think we're ready," Andrew remarks, satisfied with the outcome.

The group starts to find confidence in their situation, and begins discussion of heading out to check on their homes to see if they can find any members of their family a few houses at a time. However, the next few days bring in a nearly record-setting amount of snow and definitely record-setting lows in temperatures. The subzero temperatures don't do well for the cars and those that are still working are boxed in. The survivors are snowed in. With not too much to do inside with no electricity, the group ransacks the nearest three homes for extra layers of clothes.

Keeping the door shut whenever possible, they keep the gas fireplace at a constant low to keep the house habitable. They take the time to make silencers for their remaining guns. Whatever progress Kurt had made on the radio is utterly pointless for now with the weather destroying any chance of getting a solid signal. The Schwin's take the time trapped indoors to exchange background stories with the group to get more comfortable with each other. Jacob takes an especial liking to Nikhil, giving him tips to the in's and out's of the medical field when possible. That is, when Nikhil isn't trying to use the lack of choice to his advantage in finally getting reciprocated feelings from Harvest. For the most part, there is a lot of waiting around, growing tired, and playing board games when daylight permits. Over the course of these three days a total of five freaks make their way within the sight of the home, trudging through snow at half their already snaillike pace.

"Everyone needs boots if they're going outside. We don't need wetness near our feet. I can't guarantee any medicine for sickness," Andrew says.

"Well, we're pretty much out of food, so someone needs to get out there eventually," Alex responds as he gestures out the window to the blinding white out.