The Collapse of Mankind

Chapter Eight, TCOM Part II

Cisco drove the group back to the camp. They were bombarding Nicholas with questions about how he survived and what he did.

Alexis: What happened?
Ellie: How did you survive?
Sophia: Did you sleep?

Nick got immediately overwhelmed at the questions and attention.

Nick: Okay, okay. Slow down. What happened? Okay. So I lost Ellie and Nova in the hoard. And I completely lost any sense of direction. So I just started walking. And it was obviously in the wrong direction.
Ellie: Did you not hear us calling out?

Nick shook his head.

Nick: Not at all.
Ellie: Interesting.
Nick: I survived by eating and drinking some of the food I picked up on the food run. It helped a whole lot. Obviously, I figured out that if you disguise your smell, the dead can't tell you apart from a human or one of them. So I covered myself in their guts. It was really disgusting. But I'll do all I can to get it off me when we get back. And no, Soph, I didn't sleep.

Sophia nodded.

Nick: But-

Nick's words were cut off by Cisco.

Cisco: Carter is coming for us again.

Nick looked over at him in disbelief.

Nick: What?
Cisco: You heard me.
Nick: How... how do you know?

Cisco sighed.

Cisco: We ran into some guy on the road. He was digging through the trash. We asked what he was doing and he explained that Carter is going to attack a group. And he didn't want any part of it. So he left.
Nick: Did you kill him?
Cisco: I... couldn't.

Worry immediately spread all around Nick's body. Cisco looked over at Nick with exhausted eyes and then back at the road. Nick sighed, leaning back in the chair. He noticed smoke in the distance. His eyes squinted at the sight as he raised his hand to point at it.

Nick: Is that... smoke?

Cisco looked at where Nick was pointing to.

Cisco: I think so.

Nick and Cisco looked at one another as Cisco stepped on the accelerator harder. They had to check it out. In case somebody was in danger. The three girls in the back stared out of the window at the smoke high up in the air.

They eventually reached a smoking car. The hood was crashed against a tree. Infected surrounded the vehicle.

Cisco: Holy fuck.

Cisco stopped the car and pulled on the handle to open the door.

Nick: Woah woah. Come on, dude. We can't just go out there.
Cisco: If there's people in there, they need help.

Nick sighed, letting Cisco exit the car. Nick, Alexis and Ellie followed Cisco whilst Sophia stayed seated, not wanting to get hurt. Cisco and Nick ran straight up to the infected, stabbing their heads with whatever weapons they had on them. Alexis and Ellie stayed behind, letting the dead come to them. Ellie kicked the back of one of their legs, making it fall over. She pushed her knife into the back of it's head. Alexis looked over at Ellie with a smirk. She was happy to know that Ellie remembered what Alexis once taught her.

Ellie: Alex!

Alexis looked straight in front of her. An infected pushed her to the ground, making her knife slip out of her hand and fall a meter or so away from her.

Alexis: Fuck! Get this thing off of me!

Cisco looked at Alexis on the floor and got his revolver out, aiming it at the infected. Before he could pull the trigger, Ellie killed it. Alexis pushed the lifeless body off her and reached for her knife. Ellie held her hand out for Alexis. She grabbed it willingly and got pulled up.