We Don't Die

The Stranger

Morning

Jeremiah wakes up. The first thing he looks at is the ceiling until he looks to his left and notices Clem, still sleeping and cuddled up next to him. He smiles and places her hair behind her ear. He decided to sleep on the right, closer to the wall. He slowly moves to the right, trying not to wake Clementine or AJ up. He gets out of bed and heads outside. He notices the sun is rising and he can't help but smile. He stretches and yawns. "Good morning." Derek says. "Morning. Ready to start the day?" Jeremiah asks. "Yeah, let me just finish waking up first." Jeremiah nods and heads back inside. He walks into the kitchen to grab something to eat. He notices that he still has ham for a sandwich so he decides to make that. He begins eating.

Afternoon

Jeremiah goes to his workout station outside and begins lifting. Figures he should start the day off with exercise. He picks up some dumbbells, and starts lifting. In the distance, he notices Diana talking to her friends and he saw that she was staring at him. He kindly waved and she turned her face blushing, trying not to show it. She waves back and starts laughing. Jeremiah looks down and focuses on his reps. Alex approaches Jeremiah. "Hey man. You ready to see if we can find some recruits?" He questions. "Yeah. I noticed we're getting smaller but bringing more people means more scavenging for more mouths to feed." Jeremiah responds. "I hear you, ight? But we need more people for what's coming next." Jeremiah stands up. "And what's next?" He questions. "The herd that you brought to our home." Alex snarls. "It wasn't my goddamn fault. I tried leading them away, but they kept spotting me." "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." Alex says walking off. Jeremiah rolls his eyes and lays down on the bench, ready to lift. He places his hands on the bar and begins to lift.

Thirty Minutes Later

"We got everything?" Derek asks. Alex and Jeremiah check their bags. "I'm good." Alex says. "Let's go." Jeremiah orders. They begin walking. "Why did you decide to come scavenge after what happened yesterday?" Derek asks. "I got to do something other than just sit on my ass." Jeremiah replies. "Why not be with AJ? You love that kid." Alex steps in. "Yeah, I do, but I got to get things done first. Trust me, I'd love nothing more than to be with Clementine and AJ right now." "Ooooh, so you and Clem huh?" Alex jokes. Jeremiah playfully punches him in the shoulder. "Shut up." He jokes. "Hey, I don't blame you. She's a beautiful girl and can survive on her own." Derek says. "The correct term is woman, and yes, she is a survivor." Jeremiah corrects Derek. "Think we'll get the car back?" Alex asks. "I don't know. It's a possibility." Jeremiah says. "What are the chances?" Derek asks. "I'd say 50/50." Alex replies. "Just so we're clear, we're not heading into town for supplies. The only reason why we're stopping is to see if the car is still there. If it is, we get in and drive to our destination. This town has been cleared." Jeremiah says. Everyone nods and proceed to walk to town.

On The Hill

"How's it looking?" Alex asks. Jeremiah lowers the binoculars. "It's somewhat clear. We still have a couple of walkers in the town, but we should be able to sneak past them and get to the car." Jeremiah responds. "You think today will go better than yesterday?" Derek asks. "Oh, I hope so." Alex replies. The three begin going down the hill and walk to the town.

In The Town

Jeremiah, Alex, and Derek approach town and begin crouch walking to avoid making sound. They reach the car. "Wait a minute. Wasn't it making noise yesterday? Why did it stop?" Alex asks. Jeremiah's eyes widened as soon as he noticed it too. "Fuck, you're right. Let's take a look at the car. Derek, you up for taking watch?" "You got it." Derek walks off and Jeremiah and Alex walk to the front of the car. Jeremiah opens the driver door and presses a button. Alex opens the hood and his eyes go wide. Jeremiah steps out and notices that Alex is worried. "What? What is it?" He asks. "The battery is gone!" "What?! You gotta be fucking kidding." Jeremiah walks up to the hood and Alex steps aside. "Shit." Jeremiah says under his breath. "Looks like we drew more attention than what we intended to." Jeremiah says. Derek comes back. "Everything okay?" He asks. "Take a look at this." Jeremiah says stepping aside. "Well that's just fucking peachy. When in the hell did this happen?" "Must've been yesterday. We used the panic button on the keys to attract the walkers to the car so we could escape, but we attracted more than just walkers. Someone must've tried to stop the noise." "Or they needed the battery." Derek cuts Jeremiah off. "Things don't go smoothly anymore." Jeremiah says with a deep voice. "Not another word." Jeremiah feels a gun placed behind his head. "Drop your backpacks. Now." The stranger says. "We're already having a bad fucking day here." Derek cuts in. "I can tell. And you're about to have a worse one if you don't cooperate." He cocks the gun. "I'm not going to tell you again." Derek and Alex take their backpacks off. "Didn't you fucking hear me, kid? Take the backpack off!" Jeremiah turns around. "Buddy, you got a gun pointed at me, and you have the nerve to get pissed off? As soon as I lower my hands and reach for the straps you'll shoot. I know cowards like you. Do what you have to do. Just make sure the gun is off the safety, make sure it's loaded, and pull the trigger." Jeremiah says aggressively. Derek looks at the stranger and hits him with a hard left, causing the gun to fly out of his hands. Alex catches the gun and aims it at the man. Alex notices a mark on the mans neck. "The hell is that on your neck?" He asks. The man laughs. "You mean this?" He says moving his collar. The mark was burned into the mans skin. "This is a brand. A brand that says I belong. And we will find where you live and we will take whatever and whoever we want and leave you three to watch." Jeremiah is unconvinced. He punches the stranger with a hard right and immediately gets knocked out. "You talk too much, asshole." He says. Jeremiah looks around. "Let's tie him up." He suggests. Derek nods and ties his hands to the car handle. "Search him. He might have something useful on him." Jeremiah orders. Derek starts looting the unconscious body and ends up with nothing. "Alex, check the gun. See if it's loaded because this dick didn't have anything on him." Alex pulls the chamber back and a bullet flies out. He takes out the clip. Empty. "Asshole only had one bullet." He says. Jeremiah nods. "What do we do now?" Alex asks. "It would be better if we keep moving." Jeremiah suggests. "No. We need more info on this guy. We need to know what his group is and where they are set up." Derek says. Jeremiah turns around. "I am not going to wait around and wait for this bitch to wake up." He says with hatred. "We need to keep moving." "How about we bring him back to the ranch and question him?" Derek asks. "Are you out of your fucking mind?! I am NOT bringing him back to where Clementine is! To where AJ is! To where we live! Have you lost your common sense?!" Jeremiah says aggressively. They stare down at each other and Alex steps in between them. "Enough! Both of you are right, but we can't fight over this! Not now. We need more info on him, that's true, but we also need to keep moving. Stop being assholes and work with each other." Jeremiah and Derek continue to stare at each other until Jeremiah turns his head and walks away. "Derek, stay here with this guy. We don't know who he is and we shouldn't take any chances. I'll go with Jeremiah, see if I can calm him down." Derek nods. Alex runs off trying to catch Jeremiah.

Ten Minutes Later

Jeremiah and Alex begin to walk back to town. "Listen man, I know you were upset but you have to cool down on tough situations like this." Alex says to break the silence. "You're right. Ever since yesterday, I've been feeling all hostile towards everyone when I shouldn't be. I'm sorry." "It's okay man. I get it. I would be pissed too if someone left me behind to die." They finally approach town and notice Derek on the road unconscious next to the car. "Derek? Derek!" Alex says before sprinting. They begin sprinting towards him. They get to him and Jeremiah checks his pulse. "He's fine. He's just unconscious." "Wait, where's the guy?" Alex asks. They look around. Nobody is in sight. "Fucking shit." Jeremiah says under his breath. Derek begins to wake up and moans. "The hell happened?" He asks. "You tell me. What do you remember?" Jeremiah asks. "I remember just talking to the guy and then out of nowhere the asshole headbutts me. He somehow got out of the ropes and smashed my face on the ground. Made me go unconscious.." he begins to feel his head. "I have a migraine now." He says. Jeremiah reaches in his bag and takes out old water and a washcloth. He pours the water on it and wipes Derek's face off. He got the blood and the pebbles off as best as he could and gave Derek the bottle to drink. Derek takes a massive swig. "Thanks." He says trying to catch his breath. "I needed that." Jeremiah places the bottle in his bag. "What else do you remember?" Jeremiah asks. "I remember what his group was called. They call themselves the New Frontier.."