After The Fall

Town of Suspicion Part One

"They should be back by now." Nate says softly, peering out the window of the pawn shop.

Mark looks over at him, "They might be on their way back."

"Maybe.." Nate sighs.

"They'll come back," Mary-Jane smiles, "Ken promised!"

Nate looks down at her and he smiles lightly, "Yeah, you're right, kid."

Felix stands slowly, "I can help you look for them. If.. You want to.."

Nate looks over at Felix and Felix stares back for a moment before Nate shakes hid head, "If I'm going, I need someone to stay behind that can protect the group."

Felix frowns lightly, but he nods, "Yeah.. I get that."

Mark pushes himself to stand, "Then let me go with you."

"But you're hurt," Stephanie says, "You should be resting, too. We've been walking for awhile, so you need to stay off your leg for a bit."

"Stephanie's right," Nate turns to them, crossing his arms, "You need to rest, and with your.. Injury, you would just slow me down."

"But you shouldn't go alone," Mark states with worry, "It's too dangerous to be out on your own, what if you get into trouble and no one's there to help you?"

"He has a point.." Stephanie says softly.

Nate sighs, shaking his head, "I can't leave you guys unprotected, and Mark and Steph are in no condition to help me. I can't just keep waiting, our friends could need our help. So, I have to go alone."

"You're right, and Mark's right, too," Stephanie explains, "You don't feel right leaving us alone, I get that. But we don't feel right letting you go alone. Take Felix with you."

Nate stares at her in disbelief, "But--"

Stephanie shakes her head, cutting him off, "Mark and I can keep the place secure while you and Felix find the others. We just gotta keep the doors locked and stay quiet if we hear anything outside. We'll come up with a signal, so we know it's you guys trying to get back in."

Mark smiles, "Three knocks, like back at my place, Nate, remember?"

Nate looks at him and nods, then looks back at Stephanie, "Three knocks, each three seconds apart. Anyone else besides us and the others tries to get in, protect yourselves, any way you can."

Stephanie nods, smiling softly, "We'll be okay. Go."

Nate nods and looks at Felix, "Let's go."

Felix nods quickly, grabbing his knife from where he left it on the floor. Nate hands his backpack to Stephanie and she looks back at him questioningly as she takes it with gentle hands. Nate smiles, speaking softly, "Just in case we don't come back."

Felix unlocks and opens the door and Nate follows him out. Mark closes the door behind them and locks it back before sitting back on the ground. He exchanges glances with Stephanie and she smiles at him, though he can see in her eyes that she's worried. Mark smiles back, "They'll be okay."

"I hope so," Stephanie sighs, wiping her eyes, "I don't think I can handle losing anyone else right now, especially Nate, after everything that's happened.."

"I know what you mean," Mark replies, "But knowing them, especially knowing Nate, I know they'll make it back."

Stephanie nods, smiling a little brighter as tears start to fall from her eyes. Mary-Jane scoots a little closer to her, smiling softly. Stephanie smiles back at the child, wiping her eyes again. Mark smiles, just watching them. He has a good feeling that Stephanie will be a great mother when the baby is born.

Ken and Jack run across the road, towards the nearest house. Jack sighs, looking around, "I thought we were done with the running away after the forest."

Ken frowns, crossing his arms, "According to Felix, Tyler had a sort of break-down, freak-out moment. It could happen to anyone, I suppose. I just want to find him quickly, before something bad happens to him."

Jack nods, "Yeah. We got lucky, we could have lost all three of them."

"Yeah.." Ken continues, cautiously approaching the house.

Jack follows behind him, knife in hand. Ken prepares to open the door, glancing back at Jack. Jack nods and Ken throws the door open, knife poised to attack. They exchange glances before entering the house. Ken holds a finger to his lips, gesturing for Jack to be silent. Jack nods, gently closing the door behind them. The walk through the dark, silent hallway, coming to an open living room connected to a kitchen.

"Let's clear the house, then check for supplies." Ken whispers, "We need more food in particular, given we've lost our food supply when.."

Jack smiles lightly, whispering back, "Look for food, got it."

Ken nods, continuing through the house. Jack follows, knife at the ready as they approach a closed door. Ken looks back at Jack and Jack nods, raising his knife a little. Ken opens the door and the room is empty. He goes in, looking around. He opens the closet and it's empty as well, no clothes or anything inside. They go through the rest of the house and there's no one and nothing left. No clothes, not even any food left in the kitchen.

Ken sighs, pushing hair out of his eyes, "Guess whoever lived here packed everything and left a long time ago."

Jack crosses his arms, looking around, "They were smart. But this was a bust, we still need more food and Tyler's still missing."

Ken nods, leading Jack back outside. He looks around, squinting in the low sunlight, "We need to find him before it gets dark. It's too dangerous to be wandering around in the dark."

"I don't feel good about this place, Ken. We've been searching houses for hours, there's no people, and no supplies left. We haven't seen any infected besides the ones in the market. We need to find Tyler soon, and then we need to get the fuck out of here."

"I know." Ken frowns.

A voice suddenly speaks up to their left, "I can help you find your friend."