Tales of The Wallking Dead

Chapter 22

The school group were on the road, and it was expected to be a long haul to their next destination, but Philip was determined to do it whether only half the group made it back or not. Philip had brought the group up to where Oxgangs library used to be, but the parking lot where the Aldi sat right across from the library was flooded with walkers. Philip crouched done and encouraged everyone to do the same. "Alright, keep it down. This herd spots us were toast." He whispered as the younger kids tried their best to keep it together. As they moved past the library, Lily noticed a scrawny boy sneaking on the roof and wanted to shout so badly but couldn't. The boy watched them go before running down off the roof into the herd, setting off a car alarm. Philip seemed surprised at the sudden car alarm as he hadn't seen the boy but started running as did everyone else. As they ran, Lily couldn't help but blush as she knew full well who that was, but she was still hurt that he hadn't followed them.

Philip wasn't eager to keep pushing their luck after the car alarm so over the course of 2 and a bit days the group moved through woodlands, alley ways and did everything they could to keep off the streets as most streets had walkers every few feet. The group drew near to their destination, and as they did, the Wall became more and more nervous as they knew where they were going. Once they'd finally reached where they were meant to be going, Philip announced his plan. "Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Asda!" Philip announced as everyone, but The Wall became ecstatic as they knew there'd be food of all sorts and other supplies on top of what they'd salvaged from the school. Philip noticed that the Wall seemed uneasy, so to speak, and pulled the 7 of them aside. "Jacob, Sophie, Hannah, Leo, Clementine, Lily and Freyja. You guys seem uneasy. What's up?" Philip asked as Jacob sighed. "We just have history here. It's kinda where we experienced our first deaths, and it's where we got caught when it all kicked off." Jacob explained as Philip nodded. "I see. It's unfortunate that you have demons here, but hopefully, you can move past them because this is a nice area. It's really accessible too." Philip commented as The Wall nodded in agreement. Clementine spoke up, commenting on how she wasn't there. "I was never there for this period of time, but I've heard about it, that's for sure." She said as everyone nodded again. 

Philip seemed genuinely pleased with this area, and he got The Wall and a few older kids to clear out the walkers near the front entrance. Once that was all taken care of, he peeked inside, and it was relatively lit in most areas, but a few places were dim because of a deficit of windows. Philip ushered everyone inside, but the Wall all hung back in the entrance facing the back of the shop to discuss their own plans. Jacob being leader spoke first. "Alright, so we're in an interesting situation. We've lost Connor and Payton, Skye is still god only knows where. We have one competent grownup running the wider group, and people are on edge that much is obvious." Jacob said as few people stayed silent. Lily spoke up next, but it was about Connor. "I need to go back and find Connor." Lily said as Freyja glared at her, and Jacob chuckled. "That nerd? I remember he told me he started watching The Owl House a few weeks before the apocalypse. What a female!" Jacob said, trying to bring light to the situation, but it seemed to irritate Lily. "Yeah, whatever. I still need to find him." She said as Freyja sighed. "No, you really don't. I can personally guarantee he's dead by now." Freyja said rather sternly as Lily's face became one of worry. "N-no, I refuse to believe you." Lily said as Freyja shook her head. "This is the end of the world. Loss is just part of the package." Freyja said as Lily ran off. Jacob glared as Freyja. "Good job dumbass. You've upset her. Just what we needed." Jacob said, rolling eyes and following Lily to comfort her.

The remaining 5 all stood around awkwardly until Leo, who'd stayed out of all the drama, recently made his first contribution in a while. "Guys, this apocalypse has taught me many things. One of those is an epiphany I've had about my sexuality." Leo said as Sophie started laughing uncontrollably. "Seriously? Do you wanna be more gay now?" Sophie said, still shitting herself laughing. Leo sighed. "No, I'm saying I've decided that I'm not bothered with that stuff anymore. It's the apocalypse, I don't need to be gay as that's just not that big an issue anymore. I guess I'm saying I'm straight." Leo said as Hannah started laughing with Sophie. "You're kidding, right? This is some sort of stand-up skit, surely?" Hannah said in absolute stitches. Leo just sighed and started chuckling. "Hey, make of it what you will, but that's what I'm saying." Leo said as Sophie and Hannah finally calmed down. "Whatever you say gay boy." Hannah said, sitting down by the window. "I take it we're gonna stay here so we can keep our friendship circle in one place?" Hannah asked as Sophie sat down next to her. "I've been avoiding this for ages now, but it's time we set aside out old differences."