Surviving Walkers

S01E05 - Millar's Kingdom

The night had fallen upon the dead city, leaving us with nothing but a fire that we made with much effort. After being in the vehicle and its conditioned air for hours, to get out of it and enjoy the fresh air was golden. We had almost finished all the food that we had collected from Tara's grandfather's house while driving, and were not bothered to collect more on the way. All the terrible experiences we had vanished the fear of dying of hunger—which seemed to be the last thing that could have caused the end of us.

The fire was a quick setup using the help of our supplies, but it seemed strong enough to hold on through the cold night. After sharing the food we had among the three, we sat there around the fire which did its best to comfort us. The skin piercing wind that bashed on to our skin and the mild light of the dancing flames gave a strange feeling, as if we three were alone in the whole universe. The sky was painted black, but the moon was there to decorate it nice, staying above the clouds, lighting them up as they passed by. We enjoyed the break we had by talking about whatever the conversation's topic was.

Ryan didn't contribute much. I didn't feel the brotherhood like it was before. Honestly, I didn't care what Ryan thought. I wasn't that desperate for his approval. What I did—it was needed to be done. I remembered what Hancock said, "...right now, you're either a survivor or one of these dead walking pricks." And I was a survivor—I wanted to believe I was. My days weren't numbered.

Talking about our past life and good memories, I noticed Millar popping up, which confused me. How can there be a kingdom of his? Whatever happened, the outbreak, the end of the world, happened about only a day ago. Can they be forming survival camps just by now? I wanted to get information out of Beth, whom was a member of Millar's group before joining with Ryan and I.

"So who is this Millar?" I asked changing the direction of the conversation.

"Oh." Said Beth. "He saved me from my parents."

"Saved you?" I asked. I saw Ryan listening in.

"Yeah. I mean, me and my parents were in our home afraid to go out. We watched what happened on the TV. They said a new virus was turning people to these mindless monsters, dead or alive. Some people got affected as soon as it was out, and they started spreading it by biting the uninfected people. They said that was its only way of spreading. We heard all these noises and commotion from the outside. We had a nice couple as our neighbors, Mike and Nathasha. Their kid Wendy was with us. We were babysitting her while they went out. Suddenly we heard my dad screaming. Me and my mom ran to him but when we got there, Wendy was biting my dad's arm. Blood was everywhere. When my mom tried to pull her off, she bit her too. I ran to the top floor and locked myself in my room." Beth stopped and gazed into the fire with glittering eyes.

"So, what happened?" Ryan asked.

"Um, I don't know." She said. "I heard more of them coming breaking through the windows, I heard my mom and dad screaming. After a while it was all silent. They were all dead."

"Shit." Said Ryan. "I'm sorry."

"How did you meet Millar?" I asked.

"I could've saved her you know?" She said as a tear drop fell. "They were coming for her. She was like—frozen. I could've helped her to get up. But I was afraid." She said as more tears rolled down her cheeks and dropped onto her jeans. "I ran upstairs—while she begged for my help. I left my mum to die." She hid her face on her palm. "While I was in there I saw this man, holding a blood dripping sword on the road through the window. He had about six people with him. He went to every house on the road, one by one. Sometimes he came out alone, with fresh blood on his sword. Sometimes he came out with more people. I cried for his help. The second he looked at me, far away from the streets, it was like the best thing ever happened to me. He walked over to our house, leaving his people there. I watched him coming with his sword like a superhero. I figured he would kill the walkers and save me. I heard him breaking the door. Only one kick—that's it. Then the sounds of him roaring as he split the freaks into pieces. Then it got all silent. I heard footsteps of him coming up to my room. I didn't know what to do. Then he bashed through the door. He asked if I was bitten. I said no. He said he was collecting survivors to build a new world. An army to fight against the dead. And he said that he'd take me, only if I wasn't bitten. He told me to take my cloths off so he can be sure. I said no, but he raped me anyway."

Her long story ended leaving me with big eyes.

"So he took me." She started again changing her posture on the ground. "I said I was only sixteen but he said that it was every women's job to join in building a new world. Said we had to re-popularize the earth. He brought me to this big camp he had in a supermarket. They had some guns from the police station. He used real ammo to teach us to shoot. I asked if that wasn't a waste, then he said ammo with people who couldn't shoot was a waste itself. I was pretty good at it. He was impressed. Then he said it didn't matter if I could shoot or not because he'd be there to protect me. There were about thirty people in the camp. He split them into groups and sent away to kill walkers and bring in the survivors. Only young, strong people were allowed. Old people—he left them to die. Children were there. He said they were our first priority. That we had to save them for tomorrow. We went to houses that were marked on the map to cover. That was when we saw you guys coming. We were gonna take you down and get your stuff. The problem was we didn't have enough guns for everyone. Millar's son told me to act like I was stranded and find out stuff about you."

We kept silence, thinking. She had gone through a lot. I sensed she was a strong girl, and I felt my affection towards her growing within me.

"Why not welcome us? Why take us down?" Ryan asked.

"You weren't a part of the family. I don't know—they think other survivors are a threat."

"What? That's bullshit!" Said Ryan. "If they were looking for survivors?"

"No—they collect helpless people and turn them into survivors. Then they'll be under Millar. You guys would mess things up."

"Whatever happened—I'm glad we met you." I said to Beth.

"You guys aren't freaks like Millar are you?" Asked Beth looking at us both.

Her questions got me thinking as Ryan looked at me with his judging eyes.

"No way." I said as a part of me questioned myself.

***

Nice to see you again! Enjoy!