Beside the Dying Fire

Samuel's POV

1 month later...

I was sad. I was broken. I was depressed. A part of me had died a month ago, and everyone still looks at me as if I were a monster. But I wasn't, and I had to prove that to everyone. I found Kai in the cafeteria and asked what I could do to help.

"Uhh," he said, "Tonight we are doing a feast in honor of that doctor that the group brought home a month ago. Death rates ave dramatically gone down thanks to him. You could help prepare food, if you wish."

"I'll pass," I told him. "I want to do something big. Go on a run, kill some walkers, save someone's life, for God's sake!"

"Preparing a meal without giving someone Salmonella is something big."

I growled at him as I left. There was a larger reason of why I didn't want to participate in the feast. That doctor, he just seems so suspicious. He fakes a smile every time he looks at me in particular. He hasn't even told anyone his real name. Any time someone asks, he changes the subject. Speaking of him, I bumped into him as I reached for the cafeteria doors.

"Hey, watch it!" he yelled at me. "Kai! What are with those railroad track out behind the armory? Where do they go?"

"Hey, doc," Kai responded. "We haven't checked them out because we always thought they'd be a lost cause."

"Well, what if there's something good back there? A train stocked with food? Medical supplies? Ammo?"

"You bring up a good point. How about at about 5:00, the 2 of us check it out?"

"Make that 3 of us," I said confidently.

The doctor faked his smile again, "3 it is then."

1700 hours came and I met Kai and the doctor in the armory. Kai picked up his cane and handed the doc a knife. I picked up my knife and a revolver.

"Woah there, Samuel," Kai said. "Let's not take guns. It's just gonna be a quick stroll down the tracks."

I grunted at him. I put the gun in the drawer, but when Kai wasn't looking, I pocketed it.

"So, doctor-, I can't do this," Kai complained. "Calling you 'Doctor' makes me sound like someone from Doctor Who. Can we just call you something else?"

"Fine," the doctor groaned. "Even though it's not my real name you can call me...uhh...Scott? I guess that's fine."

"Okay, Scott," I said. "Let's go."

Outside of the gates, we walked around to the back of the armory. A loading bay had a set of railroad tracks reaching far away. We began our walk. Hours flew by. I began to grow awfully tired. Sundown was upon us, illuminating the sky in a mellow orange. We must have traveled over 20 miles by that point. We noticed a building up ahead.

"Should we check it out?" Kai asked.

"You go ahead," Scott said suspiciously. "Samuel and I will keep going, and you can just catch up."

Kai shugged and ran into the building alone.

Scott and I walked another mile. The sun was almost completely out of the sky. The dark blue sky made a yellow barricade at the end of the tracks.

"It looks like this is the end of the line," I observed.

"Yes," Scott smiled for real this time. "It would seem that way."

I feel a sharp pain in my back. It isn't like a knife, it's more like getting a shot from a nurse. I turned my head and saw a needle jabbed into my flesh just below the ribcage. Scott was now laughing.

"WHAT DID YOU INJECT ME WITH?!" I shrieked.

"Only enough sedative to kill a man."

"WHY!?!"

"Because I needed a fresh sample. Let me explain myself. I get Gavin to fly me to Los Angeles. There, I run test only your walker. Being that it won't have rotting flesh like the others, the results will be more exact. I could see what reacted to walker flesh, but not human flesh. I could transmit what ever caused that reaction into the air, eradicating the walker virus! There is a way that we could turn away from all of this madness!"

The sedative had taken my control over my limbs. I crashed to the ground, not able to get the pistol that fell out out of my pocket upon impact. I bellowed out my final words for him to hear.

"THERE IS NO TURNING BACK! DO YOU KNOW WHAT EACH OF US HAVE BEEN THROUGH?! WHAT KAI HAS BEEN THROUGH?! WHAT SARAH HAS BEEN THROUGH?! WHAT SAVANNAH, GABE, HAILEY, WHAT ALL OF THEM HAVE BEEN THROUGH?! WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH, JUST TO STAY ALIVE?!!!"

The drug now blurred my vision.

"SAMUEL!"

I saw the blur of Kai run up to me and kneel beside me.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM?!" he yelled at Scott.

Scott picked up the pistol that I had left laying on the ground.

"Nothing that I won't do to you," Scott said as he cocked the pistol and pointed the weapon at Kai. Kai stood up and threw his hands in the air. My vision was completely gone now. Only my hearing was left.

"We live in a society where you don't have to kill. Scott, you can turn away from this," Kai's voice tried to calm the doctor down.

"In the words of your dead friend here," Scott was probably smiling evilly as he said this, "There is no turning back."

Bang!