Gloom Boy | The Walking Dead | Awsten Knight

Chapter 2

We speed down the tracks. "I didn't catch your name," the man says to me, he doesn't take his eyes off of the road. "Uhmm, Awsten," I reply awkwardly. I haven't spoken my name to anyone in a long, long time, and the word is odd to be heard from my mouth.

"Well, Awsten," He starts. "We were out on a run the last few days looking for supplies. Right now, we're heading towards the Sanctuary. We have a leader, too. His name is Negan. He will probably explain more about the place when we get there. I'm one of his top men so he will probably take you in wihout too much question. Just try not to act suspicious around him, okay?" This guys has a protective vibes radiating off of him, and for the first time in a long time, I feel safe. The guy on the other side of me speaks u, a joking tone settled in his voice, "There's quite a few of us, probably at least a hundred by now, so you'll have to work extra hard if you want to get noticed by the big man."

I don't say a word. I'm too overwhelmed by all of this new information to conjure up a reply. The driver glances at me with a curious tilt of the head. "You don't talk much, do you?" He asks awkwardly. I take a breath before answering, "No, not really. I just, uh, I'm not really used to beng around people anymore, that's all.'

"Well you're going to have to get used to it, like he said, there's a lot of us so you're going to have to get used to being around other groups. Try not to freak out about it, okay?" He replies smoothly. "You can hang around us for your first few days while you get used to everything." For the fifth time in the last hour, my heart beat picks up. It comforts me that I'm not going to be alone in this new place, at least not at first. "Thank you," I mumble, refusing to look at either of them. I just need to calm down; They're good people and they're not going to hurt me. "Yeah, no problem," He replies  without missing a beat. "My name is Geoff by the way, he's Otto. I would suggest trying to get on Negan's good side, try to get a good job or something and you'll be treated better than the best. I'm not gonna get into that stuff right now; I'll leave that to whoever you get handed off to when we get there." Geoff finishes his mini monologue in a heart beat, leaving us in awkward silence for a few moments. It's probably for the best, I'm not sure if I'm capable of processing every word that is spoken with the blood pulsing through to my ears.

The man named Otto speaks up, breaking the absence of sound. "Do you have any questions for us?" He asks. My mind snaps back into place as I realize this question hadn't occurred to me yet somehow. I'm so desperate to find people that I know I would blindly follow anyone, good or bad. And I did exactly so. When I dive deeper into the question, I'm dumbfounded. I really don't know anything about them. I know their names and where their from, but that's it. I don't know any of their history or the things they've done, I just know that they're people and right now that's all that matters. Regardless, I can tell that they aren't going to hurt me, their eyes are too kind for that. "Hmm," I start hesitantly. Do I have any questions for them? "How long has your group been together?" I blurt.

"Since the very beginning, my dude. Obviously people have came and gone, but the ones that really mattered stayed around." The words spill out from Geoff's mouth casually. How is he always so confident when he speaks? He doesn't even seem to have to think twice before he speaks. Well duh, Awsten, he has friends, I think to myself. Not everyone's lives are as sad as yours.

I fall back into a daze, contemplating whether I should say anything else; I don't want to say something stupid but I also don't want to stay quiet so they don't think I'm some arrogant idiot who blindly follows command. When I don't continue, I see Geoff glance at me from the corner of his eye, Otto mirroring his action. My internal frustration must be noticeable because Otto nudges me with his elbow and gives me a sympathetic smile. "Hey, don't worry about it, we've picked up tons of guys before who were even more freaked out than you. We get it." Something about the tone of his voice makes my nerves calm down slightly. I sigh breifly, then reply, "Thank you."