ᴍᴇʟᴏᴅɪᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ

Chapter 7: Trap Schmap

You raised a hand to shield your squinting eyes from the beams of the morning sun peaking through the canopy and glistening against your irises. The rays that settled upon your skin elicited a warmth within your cheek. Birds sang symphonically - each chirp a harmony. The beams of light flickered as a cool wind slithered through the forest, causing the leaves to gently flutter.

Snapping back to reality, you quickened your pace to catch up with Louis and Violet who were instructed to show you their walker trap mechanisms in addition to fixing and rebuilding the recently used ones. 

Trailing behind the duo, you noticed Louis carrying a chair leg impaled by an onslaught of nails. "Is that a chair leg?" You asked.

Louis looked over his shoulder, "It is indeed! I call him Chairles."

"Chairles?" You echoed.

"You know, like Charles but he's a chair so Chairles." Louis explained.

"So I guess you could call him Chairlie as a nickname?" You speculated.

Louis lit up at the idea. "Absolutely I could!" He held out his spare hand for a high five which you accepted.

"Oh, my God." Groaned Violet. 

"Let's not get jealous here, Vi." Louis said, evoking a middle finger from her. He turned back to you and mouthed 'jealous'. 

"It's ridiculous. One day, that thing's gonna snap in half and you'll die." Violet remarked with annoyance.

"Ok, well, one day your meat cleaver will rust and you'll die." Louis stated quickly, "It's called a meat cleaver instead of a bone cleaver for a reason." He gestured to you, "Now (Y/N) here was smart in choosing her weapon, she settled on the efficiency of a knife, unlike you, Violet."

Violet shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Why are you like this?"

"By 'this' you mean awesome?" Louis grinned. With an unhappy huff, Violet trudged forward, putting distance between herself and Louis. You gave him a worried look. "She'll be fine." He reassured.

Admiring the scenery, you noticed large red ribbons wrapped around numerous trees with rope securely tied to the midsection. Boulders encased in rope were scattered amongst the forest floor with splatters of dried blood surrounding them. You covered your nose, a fetid stench invading your nostrils. "What is that smell?" You grunted, disgusted, peering down at a boulder.

"Crushed walker." Louis answered. You looked at him incredulously. "You see these red ribbons? That means there's a trap." 

Locating a red ribbon, you stared up to see an additional boulder hanging (somehow) securely from a thick tree branch. "I'm surprised you managed to get those up there."

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises." Louis joked. You slowly looked between him and the crushed walker - he had a point. 

Hearing grunting to your left, you redirected your attention to where Violet was pushing the boulders off the corpses. Despite despising the putrid smell of decomposition, you decided to assist. 

"Here, let me help." Standing beside her, you placed your hands adjacent to hers and began pushing. There was hesitancy before Violet acted in kind.