Second {Z Nation}

Chapter 14

Season 3, Episode 1 [No Mercy]

     The field we wander in is full of dead grass and more dead grass. Warren called a break from our hike and told us to try and find anything useful. Unless a few rocks are useful she's sent us on a wild goose chase. I walk around with my sniper in my arms, scanning the area. Suddenly something about hip-height and squishy runs into me, it falls and I point my gun at its face.

     The thing is a small child, he has insane, ratty, dirty blonde hair and he wears torn up clothes. I grab his arm and drag him back to the dip in the ground where the rest of the group has gathered. The kid struggles and caws like a crow as I drag him back to the group. He mutters words between caws, only the words 'doctor' and 'Red' are distinguishable.

     "Hey, guys- look what I found," I announce as I near them.

     "Shhh," Warren warns, lifting her hand to me, I now see that they are all staring off into the distance at a group of zombies that hobble over the horizon, "puppies and kittens," she points out.

     I wrap an arm around the kid's chest and shoulders and clamp a hand over his mouth to keep him from cawing. But as the Zs near I can see that there are a lot of them, so I let the kid go and ready my sniper, waiting for the go-ahead. Warren slices the top off of one of the Zs heads and I take down one that teeters on the edge of the dip. By my side, 10k takes out two zombies with one bullet, and I take out the one just behind them that the bullet didn't reach.

     Off to the side, Addy takes out a Z with her bat, Doc takes out a Z with his two hammers and spins around, taking a second one out before charging up the hill, smashing Z heads in all the way. I take out one that he doesn't see nearing on his shoulder and he turns around, nodding at me- I nod back before taking more out. Nearby on a small hill of rocks Murphy scrambles away from the Zs with the baby-thing in his arms. Cassandra stands at the base of the mountain with bared teeth. Two Zs approach and she tackles one, ripping out its throat. 

     We all rush forward as 10k and I take out the last of the Zs that near Murphy. Murphy coos the crying monster in his arms as he lowers it into the beer cooler we've been using as a crib. Cassandra advances towards the kid I found, like a curious dog. I take a step to the kid's side, not knowing how either of them will react.

     "Where'd this come from?" Murphy asks about the kid. 

     "Stay back," I snap at Cassandra, "I found him, no clue where he came from, though."

     "Was anybody with him?" Addy asks.

     "He said something about a doctor," I divulge.

     "Man gonna kill him," the kid grunts like a caveman.

     "What?" Addy asks.

     "He's gonna kill him!" The kid screams, grabbing onto my shirt.

     I lower myself to my knees and put my hands on his shoulders, "who's gonna kill who?" I ask calmly.

     "The man gonna kill the doctor," he explains.

     "Where is this man?" I ask.

     "I don't know," the kid admits.

     "Where is the doctor?" I ask.

     "I can show you," he informs me.

     "Oh no, no, no, no," Murphy protests and I glare over at him, "we can't follow you- we're on a mission."

     "You kill man?" The kid asks me.

     "No, no, no- we no kill man. Scram kid," Murphy tells him.