Surviving, Not Living/Issue 13

This is Issue 13 of Surviving, Not Living, entitled The Douglas Family Farm.

Issue 13:
“That’s ours!” The man called, pointing his gun at the rabbit. “We got it first!”

“Oh my god!” The woman shrieked. “Other survivors. I’m Charlotte and that’s Doug.” She stuck out her head in Bobby’s direction.

“I’m Amelia.” Amelia smiled.

“Sarah!” She called.

“Let’s not get carried away, we don’t even know you.” Doug snapped.

“We’ve got a farm just through here, there’s a whole bunch of us!” Charlotte told them. “You can come an join us, if you’d like.”

“Woah, stop right there, missy.” He said. “We can’t just take these people in, they’ll be a drain on our resources.”

“No, we wouldn’t.” Amelia protested. “I’ve got bottles and bottles of medecines and lots of seeds to plant.”

“And, we’ve also got weapons and ammunition.” Bobby told them.

“I could train some of the others that live in your farm to use a gun, or in hand-to-hand combat.” Sarah convincingly admitted.

“Okay...” Doug spoke up after a few moments of thinking. “We’ll see what Jack thinks about this.”

“They can help us save Danny.” Charlotte whispered to Doug, only loud enough for the pair to hear. “If they’ve got the right medecines, he would be healthy in no time.”

“Don’t get your hopes up.” He told her as he picked up the rabbit. “Let’s just wait and see.”

A fifteen minute walk later, the five survivors approached a shoulder-high wall.

“Welcome to the Douglas Family Farm.” Charlotte smiled.

“This is your farm?” Sarah asked Doug.

“No, my first name is Douglas but the farm is owned by Jack Douglas.” He explained. “Dunno why I’m telling you, though."

As Doug unlocked the gate and the five walked in, a little girl ran up and hugged Charlotte. A wise-looking, old man stood on the porch of a grand white house.

“Ava!” Charlotte squealed as she returned the hug.

“You’ve got kids!” Amelia exclaimed in complete shock.

“Hi.” Ava smiled as she politely stuck her hand out to Amelia. “I’m nine.”

“Hello, I think I’m thirty.” She returned the handshake.

“You think?” Ava laughed. “You’re funny.”

Ava was quickly ushered away by Charlotte and the group were led up to the man. He raised an eyebrow.

“Didn’t think I’d be seeing any new faces around these parts.” He admitted. “I’m Jack, Jack Douglas - owner of the farm.”

“This is Sarah, Amelia and Bobby. They seem nice.” Charlotte smiled.

“Please, if you let us sta-” Sarah blurted out but she was interrupted by Jack.

“Of course you can stay.” He pulled all three into a hug. “I’m sure we can find some use for you.”

“But-” Doug began.

“No, I won’t hear a word of it.” Jack told him. Jack’s face suddenly dropped. “Do you have medecine?”

“Yeah, we’ve got loads of the stuff.” Bobby said as Amelia showed him the contents of their backpack.

“Come inside, my son needs help.” Jack instructed as he dissapeared into the building. The three newcomers looked at each other before Amelia decided to follow.

She walked through an old-fashioned hallway with old, black and white pictures on the wall and into a living room. A bed had been wheeled into the middle of the room. A boy lay on it, covered in white sheets that matched his pale face. He has dark-brown hair and looks average height.

“What’s wrong with him?” Amelia asked.

“He’s got tuberculosis...” Jack told her. “We couldn’t help him with our limited supply of medecines and he just fell into this coma-like sleep... Please, can you save him?”

“Sarah and I wil try.” She answered his question.

“Oh, thank you.” He exclaimed. “Now, go and make friends with the other campers. You can start helping tomorrow, after you’re rested.”

Amelia nodded and retreated outside. She looked around and spotted Sarah and Bobby sitting with Charlotte, Ava, Doug and three other people - two female and one male.

“This Amelia.” Bobby stood up as she approached. “This is Vicky, Jackie and Anthony.”

“Hi.” Vicky and Jackie simultaneously smiled.

“Hey good lookin’.” Anthony commented, sending Amelia a very strange look. She felt extremely uncomfortable with the look but no-one seemed to notice so she takes a seat next to Bobby.

“Jack makes up sleep in tents during the warmer months but he lets us sleep inside when it gets colder.” Vicky continues their conversation.

“He’s a nice old man, Vicky and I were one of the first people he took in.” Jackie told them. “You’ll like it here...”

Bobby seemed happy but Amelia couldn’t shake off the uncomfortable feeling she got from Anthony.

Trivia

 * This episode sets the scene for the next few volumes.
 * First appearence of Ava.
 * First appearence of Jack.
 * First appearence of Danny.
 * First appearence of Vicky.
 * First appearence of Jackie.
 * First appearence of Anthony.

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