Dead But Not Gone

Teamwork & Expansion

3 months later...

I managed to deal with John for a little bit. We just avoided communication unless it was necessary, which was really rare. Xander has been planning this little meet up for a couple months now and he wanted me to accompany him just in case things didn't go as planned. Mike's shoulder was healed so he opted into our little expedition. We grabbed some weapons and supplies for our journey that awaited us.

Xander walked out into the center of town and called for a meeting. The survivors of Gunther came pouring out onto the streets to hear the news. Mike and I stood behind him, waiting for what he was going to say.

"Listen up," Xander started, "Today marks the day that Gunther will finally have true support. I will head to Machton with Derek and Mike. There, we will establish communications with their leader. If things work out, we'll be able to expand and grow our communities and hopefully rebuild civilization. We head out in 10 minutes, and we'll be back soon. Anyone have comments?"

When Xander didn't get a reply from anybody, a smile formed on his tanned face and he added, "For Gunther!"

The crowd cheered and a roar of claps echoed throughout the town. I couldn't help but smile. Mike noticed it and said, "Damn I never thought I'd see Mr. Loner smile."

"I never thought the apocalypse would happen but shit it happened anyway."

Mike let out a chuckle and Xander motioned for us to come to the gate. I had my glock on my waistband and a book bag full of goodies. Mike sported a fanny pack (because why not) and held a M1911 in his right hand. Xander made sure to carry his trusty revolver.

"This thing has saved my life so many times," He said a couple weeks ago.

Mike, Xander, and I headed out and the gates closed behind us.

As we hiked past Paramus I spotted a giant wall just like ours. It was located in Rochelle Park.

"There," I said, "Be careful though. The Deads are still around."

Xander nodded and took point. Mike went to the left and I went to the right. A couple steps down, I heard an eerie moan. A Dead was walking in my direction. I pulled out the knife Xander had given me when I first arrived and stabbed it in the skull. The blade sank into the fleshy being and with a swift yank, came right back out. The Dead dropped to the floor and I continued moving forward. More were ahead of us, so we were ready for some carnage.

Xander walked up behind one and stabbed it in the back of his head. Mike followed up by tripping one and curb stomping it. Brains with bits of hair left the poor woman's crushed skull.

"Show off." Xander commented.

I pushed forward taking out two more Deads. Once it was clear, we headed to the entrance of Machton and knocked on the giant iron door.

"It's Xander from Gunther. Please, open up!" He shouted.

The doors opened up and 4 men came out, guns drawn. A bald guy who I assumed to be their leader stood in the middle of them. The gunmen looked around and saw the area was safe then holstered their guns. Xander walked up and offered a hand to the unarmed man. He took it and welcomed us inside. The familiar sound of closing doors followed us as we went inside.

"It's a pleasure to meet you in person Xander. I'm excited to see what we can accomplish." He stated with enthusiasm.

"Same goes to you, Rodney. Do you have a place we can discuss in private?" Xander replied as he put his gun away.

"Yes," The man named Rodney started, "Follow me. Your friends have to stay here though." Rodney pointed to a bench placed in an alley.

"Oh, well alright." Xander turned to Mike and I. "You guys okay with that?"

"Yeah man no problem. Get shit done." Mike answered for the both of us.

Xander smiled at us and walked with Rodney to a building. Mike and I went to sit down at where we were told.

An hour or two went by and Xander finally finished the meeting. Mike and I passed time by either sleeping or playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. I won most of the time. We stood up and followed Xander back to the gates. Rodney joined us and shook Xander's hand once more. I assumed that everything worked out since there were multiple smiles traded between the two.

"Thank you for your time Rodney. I'm glad we worked this out." Xander said with a large grin.

"Likewise." Replied Rodney.

We left Machton and headed back to Gunther.