The Dead World/Issue 119

Driving down the road alone again, Will looked down at his watch in his usual habit and chuckled at that fact before looking at the road in front of him, turning on the head lights so he could see through the darkness.

''He had the music playing and despite being alone on his journey he was smiling. He had judged that it must've been about half way through the year since the apocalypse started and he had been one of the lucky few to make it this far.''

Although he wasn't sure whether he should even consider it luck....

''Groaning as he reached another double crossing, Will mentally cursed himself for not having a map since he had to choose where to go. He knew he was heading to Charleston but he wasn't exactly sure which way Charleston was.''

'''However as Will looked to the right, he had a strange feeling. Something telling him to go right so eventually he turned the wheel and done just that, headed right on gut instinct.''

However by going right he didn't know that he had just set a load of events in motion....

''Going down this road he would meet Natasha. He would then reach Charleston and meet another group and then the motel group and so on. He may have been through a lot of heart break but if Will had to make that decision again, he would always choose right.''

Sitting down on the sofa while the RV drove, Jamie looked down at the bible in his hands. The same one the group had carried for ages apparently ever since they left the motel. They must've held onto it for hope or something....

Truth be told Jamie didn't even know what he was thinking about. He just couldn't believe how he had killed that person before, how brutal he slashed the man through the neck before finishing him off, how much he had changed....

"hey Jamie, I wanted to say thank you for saving me" Maria said as she came back from the toilet to sit down next to Jamie while she broke the silence which had been in the RV but Jamie just simply gave the little girl a smile as he put the bible into his back pocket.

"n-no problem and I believe this is yours" Jamie stated as he handed Maria her knife back causing the little girl to grin at how she was trusted with a weapon before she took it carefully and put it back in its holster on her leg.

"your stutter's nearly gone" Maria observed as she tilted her head to look at him as if she was asking why his stutter had practically disappeared causing him to chuckle as he ran his hand through his hair nodding.

"yeah, guess I-I finally toughened up" Jamie responded jokingly as he bumped his shoulder against hers causing Maria to giggle while Emily spoke up from where she was sitting next to a slightly unconscious Bella as she dabbed the woman's forehead to keep her cool.

"you were always tough Jamie, you just needed to believe in yourself" Emily said softly causing the teenager to give her a smile in appreciation before Bella finally woke up properly, coughing a little as she remained laying down knowing getting up wouldn't be the best right now.

"you ok Bella?, how you feeling?" Annie asked from the front of the RV where she was driving but for a moment Bella just nodded her head as she continued coughing a little until finally she could answer Annie's question, luckily before the doctor got too worried.

"like crap but nothing major" Bella responded with a smirk on her face causing them all to smile until Maria called Bella out on a swear causing them all to laugh and the little girl to smile at her success of getting them to laugh before Annie suddenly got all their attention again by speaking.

"hey guys, looks like we're here, looks like we've reached Charleston" Annie said with a huge smile on her face as she saw Will's truck in front of her pulling to a stop causing her to pull the RV itself to a stop as she let out a huge sigh of relief.

They'd finally made it.

Driving the truck in silence, Will sat next to Anthony who currently held a picture of him and Karen that had been taken by Maria while he looked down at it sadly. Anthony really wished the woman was with him now.

"she would've been glad you made it you know, that would of made her happy" Will stated and Anthony nodded in agreement as he put the photo back in his pocket before taking a deep breath and turning to look at Will with a serious look on his face.

"hey man, I wanted to say sorry for all I said to you before, you know.... the bad things" Anthony said in a barely speaking voice as he sighed and laid his head on his arm which was leaning on the truck door.

"its alright, I done the same to you when Natasha died remember?" Will asked as he briefly turned and looked at Anthony while the man himself nodded, remembering when Will lost his temper after he found out Natasha had died.

"guess we've both had our fights and friendly moments hey?" Anthony asked and Will nodded in agreement as he chuckled a little before he freed one of his hands from the steering wheel and held it out to Anthony.

"fresh start, agreed?" Will asked and Anthony smiled as he shook Will's hands stating a "agreed" in return causing them both to smile even more as they turned their attention back to the road, now glad that they were again friends.

However their attention was soon taken away from that as they noticed the "welcome to Charleston" sign up ahead causing them both to share a look and a smile as they knew soon, they would behind the safety of Charleston Safe zone.

Pulling his truck to a stop, Will grabbed his crossbow from the back of the truck and made sure the arrow was already in it before he looked in shock at what was in front of him and Anthony while the RV pulled to a stop behind them.

This was it, they had arrived at Charleston....

"damn those are some strong walls" Anthony commented and Will nodded in agreement as he looked along it although he couldn't see it clearly through the darkness. He could make out that the whole front side had a wall along it protecting whatever was behind it and from where he was sitting he could tell the city was going to be very protected.

"lets check it out" Will stated with a smile as he opened his truck door and got out, quickly followed by Anthony who got out of his side looking out the city in amazement while Will took a quick glance to the sign that said "welcome to Charleston"

Staring at the sign that read Welcome To Charleston, Natasha was trying to decide whether she was crazy or just stupid for going here while Will came up from behind her.

"ya know, I never thought signs were so interesting" he stated causing Natasha to smile and playfully bump him on the shoulder before walking away heading towards the truck leaving Will to look over the city...

"never thought I'd be here again" Bella commented a little groggily as she looked over the city like everyone else while leaning on Annie for support slightly as she walked out of the RV, sharing a small smile with Will as they remembered the times they had spent in the city.

"so do we k-knock or not?" Jamie asked quietly causing Will and Anthony to notice that he'd stutter had mostly gone but they shrugged it off as they all looked over the city before Will boldly walked over to the "gate" and banged it with his fist a couple of times, although he got no answer.

"looks like no one's home" Anthony stated but before anyone could respond to him Emily let out a little gasp as she drew the pistol she had been carrying and aimed it into the darkness and as the rest of the group turned to look at what she was aiming at they saw a mini herd of zombies coming there way.

"shit" Annie exclaimed as she allowed Bella to lean on her a little more awkwardly while the woman got her machete and grabbed it tight ready to fight while Jamie protectively moved Maria behind her as the little girl handed him her knife to allow him to protect her.

"Will, if we're going to get their attention we got to do it now" Anthony stated as he raised his rifle and began firing at the incoming zombies to by them time while Emily began doing the same with the pistol.

Sharing a worried look with Bella, Will began frantically banging on the gate trying to draw any attention from inside while Jamie dared to move forward a bit and kill some of the zombies but he soon came back as he didn't want to be overwhelmed by the monsters.

"is anyone in there, we're seeking sanctuary!!" Will shouted to anyone but much to their dismay there was no answer causing the whole group to sigh and look at Will sadly as he desperately hit the gate in different ways trying to attract someone's attention.

"Will honey, we should go now before we're surrounded" Bella said softly but Will shook his head as he angrily ran his hand through his hair. He had gone through too much to get here and he wasn't about to give up now.

"go where?, and go how? we have no fuel, no food, no supplies and we barely have weapons and energy, there is no where else we CAN go!!" Will shouted at her without meaning to but Bella knew he didn't mean it, he was just angry at their situation.

"guys, whatever we're going to do, we should do it now" Emily commented as she began moving back while still shooting at the incoming zombies causing Anthony to groan in frustration as he thrust the rifle into Jamie's arms who held it awkwardly as he was also holding Maria's knife until the little girl took the knife off him again.

"Will lets go!!" Anthony told the man as he practically speed walked over to Will and grabbed is arm but Will shrugged his grip off as he went closer to the wall again and looked through the gap to see if any safe zone residents were around.

"there's two people further down standing by a tree, we got to get their attention!!" Will exclaimed causing the group to share nervous glances while Will frantically ran his hand through his hair trying to come up with an idea until he finally did.

"Maria, have you got any paper and a pen on you?" Will asked the little girl as he jogged over to her, crouching down in front of her as she began going through her pockets until eventually she pulled out a pen and a piece of paper.

"here you go" she said quietly as she handed them to Will who quickly ran back over to the gate and began writing something down on the paper while Maria hugged Jamie's leg as the teenager shakily shot at the zombies, managing to hit a few.

"Will, what are you doing?" Annie asked nervously while she bit her lip trying to hold Bella up due to Bella being unable to hold herself up because of her wound and once she noticed this, Emily went over to help leaving Jamie alone to shoot the zombies.

However Will in response just ignored her as he placed the paper carefully on the tip of his arrow and aimed it through the gap in the gates, taking a few deep breaths before he fired, preying it hit the tree where the two people were.

"what the hell was that for?!!" Bella demanded, unsure why her boyfriend had just wasted his last arrow but before Will could respond Anthony grabbed Will and began moving him away from the gates roughly, noticing that they were about to be surrounded if they didn't get away soon.

"Will, we HAVE to go!!" Anthony told him as he tried to move him to the vehicles but Will kept on struggling as he tried to go back to the gates. Will knew they had no chance on the road, if they left now the whole group would die one way or another and their blood would be on his hands.

However before anyone of the group could say or do anything else the gates suddenly opened much to all their shock as they stared at a couple of people coming out and beginning to shoot at the zombies before realization suddenly hit them.

They had made it....

They had survived....