We Continue On

Another Familiar Face?!

The man with the rifle kept walking, finally stopping about several yards away from Luke and Lee.

"Well, who are you?" he called.

"I'm Lee, and this is Luke!" Lee answered, deciding to try and make things as civil as possible. The last thing he wanted was for anyone in their group to wind up dead.

"Lee and Luke," the man said, probably to get some memory as he walked a little closer. "Huh. You don't look like assholes. Are you assholes?"

"I'm not an asshole," Lee replied, crossing his arms.

"What, you callin' me an asshole?" Luke joked.

"Are you heading up north, like everyone else?" the man inquired, finally walking to stand right in front of them. "I see at least one group a day walk through here."

Luke shrugged. "We're just tryin' to find some shelter."

The man shook his head. "Well, I gotta say, you guys look like shit. If you need food, I've got a few cans in that station back there."

"That's very kind of you," Lee replied.

"What's the catch?" Luke questioned, suspiciously.

"No catch, I've got plenty." The man smiled.

"Well, alright then," Luke smiled in return. "Thank you."

"Hey, no problem," the man responded. "Nice running into friendly faces out here. Like I said, I've got food and supplies back in the station. And if you want..." He paused, and his eyes widened at something behind them.

Lee and Luke turned around to find Nick quickly walking on the bridge, holding his rifle. He stopped, and pointed it right at the man. The man did the same, pointing it back.

"No, stop! He's with us!" Luke shouted, holding his hands up. He turned around and waved his arms at Nick. "NICK, NO!"

Lee did the same, running a little closer. "DON'T SHOOT, HE'S FRIENDLY!"

Apparently, that seemed to do the trick, as Nick lowered his rifle as well. He marched over to where the three of them were standing. "I thought y'all were in trouble! Who the hell is this?"

"He wants to help us," Lee told him. He glanced back at the stranger. "It's okay, we're all friendly."

"You have a very large group," the man commented, as the rest of the group slowly crossed the bridge.

Lee rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, that's why it's a little difficult for us to find shelter."

The man outstretched his hand towards Luke. "Well, you all seem friendly enough. My name's Matthew."

"Luke," Luke introduced while shaking Matthew's hand.

"And I'm Lee," Lee shook his hand as well.

"Nick," Nick said, keeping his hand to himself. As they all finished their introductions to one another, the rest of the group was approaching, and Matthew was shocked at how many survivors there actually were. He had never seen a group that big before.

"You have a pregnant woman with you?" he inquired, turning back to Luke. Luke merely nodded, and waited for the group to catch up.

"What the fuck is going on?" Lilly asked rudely.

"Lilly, everyone, this is Matthew," Lee introduced, gesturing over to said man. "He said he would help us."

"Help us how?" Pete wanted to know.

"I've got food and supplies, and my group and I are staying in that ski lodge back there," Matthew explained. "It's large enough for all of you, and if you want, you can stay there, at least for the night. We've had many groups come and go."