Ellie Dixon

Fancy a Beer

The next day, I headed to the bar with the map that Rosita and mum had found. I was going to stick out in the town like a sore thumb. So, I had grabbed the black bandana that I always had in my back pocket and tied it around my face. It covered everything from under my eyes to my chin. I walked into the bar and scanned the area with my eyes. I had the blueprints in my backpack, safely secured. I looked at all the folk in there. All of them were at least seventy. They looked malnourished, tired, over worked. There were a group of men in the corner. They looked strong, well fed. They were younger as well. Maybe thirties, some forties. I saw Chris sitting alone at the bar. I ignored my heart skipping a beat as my forever celebrity crush was sitting there.

I walked over and sat next to him. "Hey ho." I tried, my voice shaking slightly. I cursed myself in my head at my strange opening as I fumbled with my back pack.

"Not here." He said, putting his hand over mine. My lips parted slightly. "Let me finish my beer first, then I'll take you out back and show you."

I almost choked on air. "Like in the alley?"

He nodded. "You want a beer?"

"No, thank you. I'm sober." I responded.

"In this day and age?" He asked.

"It'll all or nothing with my genes I'm afraid." I shrugged.

"You mum or dad?" Chris asked.

I scoffed. "Both."

He nodded. "So... Your dad said something about you being in love with me for ten years? What are you like sixteen?" He was clearly making fun of me, but in a nice manner.

I laughed. "I'm eighteen... And, yea... You may be my childhood celebrity crush. Then the world fell along with technology and magazines so I never really moved on."

Chris grinned. "Call me a narcissist but it's nice to have someone who still remembers me from before the fall. Here I'm just a soldier. There's a reason I went into acting and not the army. I'm not strong enough for this shit."

"What if I told you there was a way out of it?" I asked.

He glanced at me. "How'd you mean?"

"We're from this place called Alexandria. Also, the main Commonwealth? It's under new ruling. The Milton's have fallen. There's plenty of place for you and all of these old folk. They wouldn't have to work until they die. They could retire as far as I'm concerned. You could all live good lives." I explained.

He took another sip of his beer. "For that to work we need to kill all the guards."

"Why?" I asked.

He grunted. "The fall changed everyone, right? Well... It changed them more. The power's gotten to their heads. Some of these guys are my friends, but I don't like what they believe in. You should see their faces during the executions. They enjoy forcing the old to work even though they clearly can't. They've been doing this for nearly a decade. I'm relatively new. I was with a group before this. Actually, there was this one girl who I was with there. Her name was Bowie. She loved the Marvel movies too. Loved me. She reminded me of who I was, but three years ago she and everyone else from our group perished. One by one. It was just me and her until she died of an infection that got into an open wound on her leg. That's when I came across this place."

I frowned. "I'm sorry for your losses. That must be very hard."

Chris shook his head. "You have no idea what it's like to lose so many people."

Emily. Amy. Eliza. Louis. Jim. Jacqui. Jacob. Isabella. Dale. Shane. Patricia. Jimmy. T-dog. Lori. Judith. Oscar. Axel. Merle. Andrea. Zack. Karen. Hershel. Adam. Bob. Beth. Tyreese. Noah. Deanna. Sam. Ron. Jessie. Denise. Abraham. Aaron. Spencer. Olivia. Sasha. Eric. Beth. Saint. Jesus. Enid. Jessie. Tara. Luke. Jules. Glenn.

I nodded, biting my bottom lip. "You almost done with that beer? I'm on a time limit before my family comes in with guns blazing."

He downed the last couple sips before standing up. He started walking towards a back door. "Use protection!" A man laughed from the group of soldiers. 

"Your mum wishes she did." I retorted while Chris ignored them. He held the door open for me, before closing it after me.

I took off my backpack, and went down onto my knees to lay it out on the ground. He squatted next to me. I handed him a black marker. He put an "R" in the cell Rick would be in, and an "M" in the cell mama would be in. "We'll all be in here." He pointed to a very large room, writing the word "ball" on it. He then circled the door. "This is where you meet me tomorrow night. Ten pm. No later; I won't be able to wait for long."

"Got it." I nodded.

"You got outfits to blend in with?" Chris asked.

I smiled. "Me and Sophia did a little shopping."

"Now, how are we going to handle all of the guards?" He asked.

"You got access to explosives?" I hoped.

He shook his head. "Something better."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What's better than an explosive?"

"A herd of walkers coming from the North. About a couple thousand, probably more." Chris answered. "I saw it, but I didn't call in. By my prediction? It'll be on us by three in the morning tomorrow night. The party will be over by one, so everyone will be in bed hopefully."

"Why didn't you call it in?" I asked.

Chris let out a breath. "I didn't see a way out of this. I was ready to die, and to take the compound with me."

"And the old folk?" I questioned.

He shook his head. "It would be merciful. They're basically being tortured here."

"We need to get them out of here before three tomorrow morning." I decided.

"How are we gonna get two hundred seniors out of here and to the Commonwealth?" Chris questioned.

"We only need to drive them half way before we can arrange for a train to meet us. Back at that town we passed a school with a few busses in the yard. We should be able to get a couple of those up and running. We'll handle it and get these people to safety. You as well. Rick and mama too. Everything's gonna work, we're all gonna go home. I promise." I smiled, trying to assure him. "Tomorrow night? Me, dad and Carl will go get Rick and mama. You, Rosita, my mum and Sophia will go around and padlock every exit apart from two. Then the four of you head to start gathering the seniors." I took the marker from him and highlighted a door that was close to the cells but away from the ball room, and on the south of the building. "We'll slip out of it, barricade it and run. We'll gather the seniors on the busses and take off." I then circled another door on the North. "We leave this open just to make the job easier for the walkers."

He nodded. "That's a good plan, kid."

I smiled, before letting it fall. "Are you sure you're ready for it? A lot of people will die."

Chris let out a breath. "I know these men and women are my colleagues. But, after what I've seen? Trust me. They deserve it."

"Okay then." I agreed, rolling up the blue prints before putting it back in my bag. "I'll see you at the ball. We'll get the transport sorted for the seniors. We got it from here."

He smiled at me. "Thank you, for saving us."

I shrugged. "It's what I do, I guess."