Say Goodbye to America/ Issue 22

The Wanting and The Waiting
Danielle: Oh Mierda!

''Reagan and Julió peer into the tent. Two walkers are notice the pair, but are still content with their meal Julió looks at what used to be his daughter. He turns and throws up all over the ground. This alerts the walkers. Reagan closes the flap and backs up, taking out his knife. He lets the first com out and stabs it. He waits for the next and does the same. He looks at Danille and Julió, both with tears in their eyes, and walks into the tent. He looks at the young girl on the ground, with some parts to the left, some to the right, and some where it doesn't belong. He wipes the single tear from under his eye and kneels by the girl's head''

Regina: puedes me ayudar.... Reagan?

''Reagan falls backwards, startled that the girl could still be alive. ''

Reagan: I will, child, I will

''Rather than tell her parents that she is still alive, he kneels by her side again, and puts the knife clean through her head. He pulls it out, cleans it off, wipes the next tear from his eye, and walks out of the tent. He is looked upon with puzzled faces by the survivors. He wipes the sweat from his head and walks towards Sophie. He whispered in her ear''

Reagan: She was still alive. She asked for my help. I did what I had to. She won't suffer anymore

Gina: Has anyone seen Lana?

Sawyer: I think she ran off

Gina runs into the woods, searching for her dog. Rufus, sensing danger, chases after her. Gina finds her dog eating a tattered women’s shoe. Gina has a shocked look on her face as Rufus runs up to her, only to see the same sight. It’s Annie’s shoe. And her socks, and her dress. The parts thrown around the place, they’re hers as well. The only thing not hers is the walker sitting on top of her. Rufus, angered at all the deaths happening around him, grabs the walker by the hair, pulls its head back, and stabs it through the eye, then into the brain. He kneels by Annie’s side and does the same

Rufus: She was… she was one of ours too. Couldn’t have been more than twenty-two. Her sister as well

Gina: We should be getting back

Rufus: What?

He looks towards the horizon to see a slow, shambling yet frightening horde moving ever-so closely towards the pair and the yippy dog. Gina picks up Lana and she and Rufus quickly head back towards the camp

Arianna: Oh good, you found her

Lisa: Rufus, what’s wrong

Rufus: Annie didn’t make it. And there’s a herd coming this way. Pack up quickly

Rufus looks towards Julió, still knelt on the ground

Rufus: Julió, necesitamos salir

Julió: I know

He stands up and quickly packs up his things. When they are ready to leave, he picks up his case and drops to his knees

Rufus: Puedes llevarlo?

Julió: Si, si. Necesito llevar

The group walks quickly out of the camp, leaving the devastation behind them

“Can we slow down a minute?”

“No, we have to keep moving”

“But I’m tired. And I’m hungry. We have been walking for days… we need to stop”

“Clea, you know I would love to, but Brett’s leading the way and IGNORING THE FACT THAT WE’RE TIRED!”

Brett: If we keep moving and keep the noise to a minimum, Geoffrey, we won’t be attacked

Alex: He’s right. Don’t argue with him

Clea: Hold up. Brett, why did you stop?

Brett runs towards the trio and motions they get down

Brett: Get in that building now. There are people coming

A group of six people walk by, three men, two women and a child. The one in front stops right by the building Brett, Alex, Clea and Geoffrey are in

“Let’s search these buildings. There might be something useful in there”

The lead man and the tall brunette woman walk into the building to the right, a curly haired man and shorter, brunette woman walk into the building next to it, and the girl walks into Brett’s building, alone. She is armed only with a pistol, and judging by her clothes and the way she shivers, she is not well trained with her gun or for combat. Brett feels the smart thing any survivor would do would be to kill the girl and then the rest. But his humane side tells him he should either stay hidden or show himself to help the girl. Before he can make his decision, however, a gun is placed in his back, and a gruff voice tells him to stand up. He cocks his head to the side to see it is the bald man. He had forgotten about the old bald man

“Snow, have you got anything?”

Snow: Nothing yet

“Alright, are those your people behind these crates?”

Brett slowly nods his head up and down three times

“Tell them to go outside. We aren’t gonna hurt unless you try and hurt us”

Brett: Clea, Alex, Geoffrey. Let’s uh… let’s go outside

The group walks outside, followed closely by the bald man

“Stop right here. Hey Griffith! We found a few survivors”

The original leader of the group comes outside, followed closely by the tall brunette woman. Brett notices the army jacket and dog tags on the man’s gray shirt. The woman slowly but closely sticks near him. She looks as though she has suffered a great loss, one much worse than other people have nowadays

Griffith: Might I ask who you are?

“The blonde guy here said their names, just didn’t catch his”

Griffith: So then… what is your name?

Brett: Brett Lars. This is my sister Clea and our friends Alex Harris and Geoffrey Johnson

Griffith: Nice to meet you Brett. I’m Griffith and this is Savannah

He motions his hand to the tall brunette woman and then points to the bald man and Snow

Griffith: You’ve already met Lawrence here, and the girl is Snow

Brett: And the other two?

Griffith: Johnno and Kelly. Might I ask where you’re going

Brett looks down at his shoes, and begins to chew his lower lip

Griffith: We’re not gonna hurt you. We’re just looking for a few of our friends. You see, our camp was overrun while we were awaiting their arrival. We hope they just missed the massacre and that they are alright. … I’m sorry, I need to ask again. Where is it y’all are headed?

Alex: We were just, walking. Nowhere in particular

Savannah: Why don’t you join us then? We could use a few extra hands around here, and definitely a few more pairs of eyes

Alex looks towards Brett questioningly. Brett shrugs his shoulders, but in the end, he decides it would be best to join the small group

Lawrence: Johnno! Kelly! We’re Oscar Mike!

Johnno: What?

Griffin: We’re leaving!

Johnno: Oh, ok!

-

Isaac: I hope they got alright

Sophia: I’m sure they did. We haven’t found any bodies, so that’s a good thing

Isaac: I pray to God Snow made it out safe

His prayers are quickly answered at the top of a hill. Out not too far away, ten figures with a quick enough pace and spread out so equally that they don’t look like walkers move towards the group

Rufus: Isaac… Your prayers are answered

Isaac looks to the horizon and sees his daughter running towards them under the cover of the sunset. The groups then meet and decide to set up camp right on that spot for the night. Canned food and leftovers of a deer are shared around the fire as the twenty-two of them eat and drink their problems away. Out aways, a man sees the fire and pulls out his binoculars. After seeing the men and women, he chuckles to himself

“What is it?”

“Never mind what it is, Vincent. Mind who it is”

The man looks among the twelve people near him

“Our friends are having a blast and we’re not invited. I think we need to make ourselves known”

Credits
Reagan Timm

Sophie Seamus

Lisa Anderson

Rufus Stewartson

Isaac Ames

Brett Lars

Griffith Ward

Rose Harrison

Julió Lopez

Arianna Davis

Savannah Brooks

Snow Ames

Sawyer Murphy

Jack Thompson

Clea Lars

Alex Harris

Geoffrey Johnson

Danielle Lopez

Gina Torrens

Vincent

Austin

Annie Williams

Regina Lopez

Deaths
Annie Williams

Regina Lopez