Dead Frontier/Issue 8

This is Issue #8 of Dead Frontier by Walkerbait22, titled The Savior.

Issue 8 - The Savior
Cole stops the car when he sees the man on the roof of the store with the rifle. “What are you doing?” Hannah asks.

“I’m gonna go talk to him,” Cole says, pointing to the man on the roof.

“Talk to him? Why? He could be a fucking psycho.”

“True, but he did save us. The least we could do is see if he needs anything.” Cole and Hannah exit the car and approach the entrance of the store, stepping over dead infected on the way. The shelves are empty, so they don’t bother looking; instead, they head to the stairwell that leads to the roof.

When they reach the roof, they see the man bent over the ledge, looking down the scope of his rifle. He fires a shot and hits an infected in the head. “How did you guys manage to keep your asses alive?”

Cole and Hannah are a little surprised that he speaks, since he hasn’t even faced them yet; he still looks down the scope of his rifle. “Well, you saved us,” says Cole.

The man turns. “So you two were the dumbasses in the car? The ones that honked the horn?” He chuckles. “I’m Gord,” the man says.

“I’m Hannah.”

“Cole. Thanks for saving us, man.”

“Don’t mention it,” Gord says. “It was kind of fun taking out all of those infected. Sort of like target practice.”

“Is there anything we can do for you? You know, in return for helping us,” says Hannah.

“Hmm,” says Gord thoughtfully. “What can you do for me? What are you willing to offer?”

“We live in a house that’s close by here; we’ve got food and water. You could stay with us instead of staying on top of this roof.”

“Food, shelter, and water? How could I turn that down? What about booze? You’ve got booze, right?”

“My dad’s pretty stocked on beer.”

“Then what the hell are we waiting for? Let’s go!” He turns away from them and stands on the ledge of the roof. “Woah, what the hell are you doing?” Cole asks.

“Stairs are for chumps.” He takes a deep breath and takes a leap off of the building.

Luckily, the store isn’t very high up. Gord lands safely in a pile of infected; he stands up and brushes dirt off of his already dirty clothes. Cole and Hannah run down the steps and burst through the front door to the sidewalk where Gord stands. “Are you okay?” Cole asks.

“I’m fine. Now just drive me to the booze,” Gord replies.

They hop into the car and take the short drive back to the Fleetwood residence. When they get there, Mick Fleetwood is obviously not very enthused about the new arrival. “Who the hell is this?” Mick asks when he sees Gord.

“I’m Gord, your new best buddy.” He extends his hand to Micah and shakes it. “I’m Gord.”

“New best buddy my ass! I want to you out of my house,” Mick demands.

“You can’t just bring strange men into my home,” says Mrs. Fleetwood.

“He saved us, Mom,” Hannah explains. “If it wasn’t for him, me and Cole would be dead. The least we can do is give him some food and somewhere to sleep, for the night at least.”

“You should listen to her,” says Gord.

“I don’t care,” Mick protests. “I don’t know him, I don’t want him in my house.” He grabs Gord by the shoulder in an attempt to forcibly remove him from the residence. Gord grabs Mick’s wrist from his shoulder and twists it hard until Mick lets out a whimper.

“You’re going to let me stay here,” Gord says with finality. He finally lets go of Mick’s wrist; Mick just stares at the man with hatred and walks back up the stairs with Mrs. Fleetwood behind him.

Micah laughs as soon as Mick is back upstairs. “Dude, you are cool as fuck,” Micah says.

Gord bows jokingly. “Thank you. I just have a way of getting what I want. Now, where’s the beer?”

They drink and eat as Hannah and Cole fill in Micah and Gord about the new people at the motel. Before they know it, they are all drunk, and Gord lies facedown on the living room floor. “I’m gonna...go to bed,” Micah says as he walks upstairs, tripping a few times on the way up. Hannah and Cole sit on the couch, laughing at Gord’s snoring.

Cole slurs his words slightly. “Remember when you thought I was...gonna propose but I just got you a cheap necklace?”

“Yeah, that was embarrassing.” Hannah takes another swig of her beer. “Or when I saw you with that girl and got super jealous?”

“Oh my God, yeah! I was so pissed.” They go on like this for a while, remembering happy memories and bad, but having a good time all the same. Eventually, after another beer or two, Cole says, “How come you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you, Cole,” Hannah says.

“Yeah you do, a little bit.”

“You just get me really mad sometimes. That’s all it is.”

“So do you love me?”

“Cole, you’re drunk.”

“So? I still want an answer.”

She sighs. “I’m going to go to bed.” She starts to get up, but he grabs her by the arm. “Cole, stop.”

“Please, just answer my question. I love you, but do you love me?”

She yanks her arm away. “I’m going to bed.”

“Why can’t you just answer my fucking question?! Why can’t you just let the past go and say it?”

Furious, she turns on him. In an angry whisper, she says, “How can I let the past go? You can’t just fuck another girl and expect me to ‘let the past go!’ Get it through your head that it will never be the same between us.” She marches up the stairs, leaving him frozen on the couch. He buries his face in a pillow. A mixture of beer and guilt make him feel sick to his stomach.

Previous/Next Issues
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Acknowledgements
Big thanks to TheWalkingDeadFan156 for suggesting the character of Gord Ramos!