Dead Frontier/Issue 91

This is Issue #91 of Dead Frontier by Walkerbait22, titled ''Innocence. ''This is the first issue in Volume 16.

Issue 91 - Innocence
A Gold Trans Am, with barred windows and spikes covering the bumper, slowly cruises through the snow covered streets, two women riding in the front seats. The darker haired of the two drives and adjusts her rearview mirror, where two dice hang.

"It's getting dark. Maybe we should start heading back to Lane," says the woman in the passenger seat.

"I'm not leaving Kendra and Ivy out here," says the other. "They can't be that far."

"Mae, we can get Nico to send out a search tomorrow morning. We're wasting our time out here with a two-person search party. And the creeps come out at night, you know that."

Mae sighs and tightens her grip on the leather print steering wheel. "Fine," she says, and she makes a left instead of heading straight. "But I didn't kill those guys just to have Ken and Ivy go missing."

"We'll find them."

"Whatever you say. I'm trusting you on th--" But she suddenly slams on the brakes as a figure stumbles from behind a row of houses and into the street. "What the hell!"

"He's alive," the other woman says.

"Yeah, Stef, I didn't notice," Mae says as she exits the car. Stef does the same. The man kneels in the street, one side of his head bruised and bloody. He looks delirious and mumbles something to them before falling onto his back. He groans something unintelligible.

"Hello?" Mae says, waving her pistol in his face. "Sir? Guy?"

"Are you okay? Are you bit?" Stef asks.

The man manages to shake his head.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"D...Duke..." he says after a bit of struggling.

"Duke?" Mae asks, and Duke nods. "He looks really bad. Wow."

"Should we...take him back?" Stef asks.

"I dunno. What if he's a weirdo?"

"I don't think he is."

"Are you sure about that?"

"...Not 100%. But it'd be our good deed for the day, saving a life." Mae doesn't look convinced, so Stef continues, "And look how cute he is. He's a catch."

"How can you even tell, Stephanie, when he's barely conscious?"

"All the more reason we should help him, right?"

Mae sighs. "No harm done, I guess. Let's go, bud."

After working to get Duke into the backseat, Mae and Stephanie are back on the road, now closer to their official residence, Lane Tech High School, after nearly an hour of tedious driving. Finally, Duke begins to stir.

"Hey, Duke," Mae says, looking at him through the rearview mirror.

"Wha...?" he mumbles, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm Mae, this is my friend Stephanie."

"How's it going?" Stephanie asks.

"Why--why am I in your car? Where..."

"We found you in the middle of the road. You looked pretty bad so we decided to take you to where we stay and get you fixed up."

"'Where you stay?' Which is where?" He finally manages to sit up fully in the seat.

"Lane Tech, the high school," Mae answers.

"I...I've heard of that, yeah."

"You're welcome, by the way," Stephanie says.

"Oh, Yeah. Thanks. It's just...this is weird... Being kidnapped by two pretty white girls. I've had dreams like this, and they always end good for me. Really good."

Stephanie and Mae both laugh. "Hey, you're funny. I like you," Stephanie says.

"Always have to...make a good impression."

"Keep it up. We're almost there."

The next morning, Cole arises feeling much better than he has in the last few days. He sits up on the mattress but keeps himself wrapped in the blankets.

"We don't have all day, boy, let's go," Kendra orders, practically ready to leave the house herself.

"Yeah, sorry," he says, and finally stands from the comfort of the mattress, dropping the blankets from his shoulders. He searches around for his coat, jacket, gloves, and other outerwear.

As he pulls on his boots, Ivy asks, sitting in the same chair she was last night, "So you were a prisoner. How was that?"

"Not very fun," Cole says. "There were some mean guys in that place."

"Did they beat you up? Is that why you look so terrible?"

"You really don't have a filter, do you?"

"What?" Ivy asks, confused, and Kendra laughs.

"No, I don't think she does,” Kendra says, smiling down at her daughter. Then, she looks to Cole. “You ready or what? Faster we get out of here, the better.”

“They capture people, test their physical and mental capabilities, then ship them off to be slaves, pretty much,” Cole explains as the three of them walk through the snow, checking any cars that may have keys in the ignition.

“That sounds scary,” Ivy comments. “Were you scared?”

“Yeah, I was.”

“And how did they end up capturing you?” Kendra asks.

“I--” he starts, then looks at Ivy and realizes an explanation of Roxie’s ambush probably wouldn’t be very appropriate. He doesn’t want to scare the girl. “There was an ambush and I got separated from everyone else. I should probably go into more detail...another time.”

Kendra nods, understanding, and they proceed in silence for a few minutes until Ivy beckons them over to a car. She peeks through the passenger side window and points to the keys dangling in the ignition. However, the only problem is the infected strapped to the seatbelt in the driver’s seat.

“Is it...dead?” Ivy asks.

“Only one way to find out,” Cole says. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Can--can we find another car? Please?”

“Ivy, we might not find another car for miles. It’s okay; if it’s dead we’ll get rid of it, and it can’t hurt you,” Kendra comforts her, but Ivy still looks skeptical.

“Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

Cole takes that as a sign to proceed, and moves around to the other side of the car, so he’s standing in front of the driver’s side door. He observes the unmoving infected inside with a grimace; the thinning hair, the peeling skin, the rotten eyes and mouth. It looks dead, but he’s not really sure. Nor is he taking any chances.

So, with the hatchet Kendra provided him in hand, he flings open the unlocked door. The infected inside stirs, but it looks to be partially frozen and can only manage to barely lift it’s left hand and groan softly. He smashes the hatchet blade into its head to shut it up for good, and holds his breath as he leans in close and unbuckles it from the seat belt. He lifts it and tosses it out of the car and to the icy ground.

“Car’s safe now,” Cole says, nodding to Ivy.

“Ew, you touched it,” she says.

“He can wash his hands later,” Kendra says and beckons her to the back seat. “I’ll drive.”

When Roxie enters the room, Hector removes his hands from his ears and glares at her. “Let me out of here! Please!” he shouts.

“Are you ready to tell me what you did?” Roxie asks condescendingly.

“Yes! Just let me out!”

“What about you?” she asks Hiro over the sounds of the infected. He doesn’t speak, but only nods as he stares down at the ground.

She walks to Hector, disregarding the infected that reach for her. In case either of them try anything, Walter stands near the door, armed. She orders Hector to stand, and he does, his knees shaking feverishly. The moans and guttural groans of the infected around him seem to have seeped into his brain, and he can feel his sanity deteriorating by the second.

“Why are you here? What happened at the hotel?” Roxie asks.

“Alexander knew it was me! He tried to kill me--I think he was going to kill me, so I killed him and I ran! I didn’t know where else to go--I don’t know! I’m sorry! If you take me in, I--I won’t mess up again!”

“Hector,” Roxie scoffs, “you think I want you here? You’re a spineless, pathetic, miserable piece of shit. You did all this to protect your sister to begin with, and you leave her behind? You’re scum, Hector, and I don’t deal with scum.”

Hector stares back at her, wide eyed, as she grabs him by the throat. Before he can react, she shoves him into the back wall, where the infected latch onto him.

Terrified, Hiro watches as an infected chomps on Hector’s neck and rips out a piece of flesh. Then, another feasts on his arm as he screams through the unbearable pain. Worried that this might be his fate in just a few moments, Hiro looks away.

“Your turn,” Roxie says once Hector’s screams die down.

“I’ll help you with whatever want if you just let me out of this fucking room,” Hiro says as calmly as he can. “Please.”

“You better not screw us over, Jackie Chan,” Walter says.

“No. No, I won’t.”

"I wanted to make sure she knew, at least a little bit, how to defend herself. How to be cautious," Kendra says, explaining why she, Ivy, Mae, and Stephanie were outside of Lane Tech's walls anyway. "Since I'm not always gonna be there. Now I regret ever leaving."

"But we're going back now, Mom, so it's fine," Ivy says from the backseat. "And we found Cole, and he's really cool."

"Can't say I disagree with that," Cole says with a grin.

"So how far is this hotel?" Kendra asks.

"Uh...a few miles, I think. I'm sure we can find it...I'm just not that good with directions..." He looks at her apologetically. "It's along the river, I know that."

"Along the river...okay, that should be--" she begins, but the car comes to an abrupt stop. "Shit." She presses down on the pedal, but the car doesn't budge; the front wheel is stuck in the snow. "Come on..." she mutters, but their predicament doesn't change.

"What's wrong?" Ivy asks.

"Car's stuck," Cole answers as he exits the vehicle. He observes the front passenger side tire lodged in the snow, spinning but not moving the car forward. He kicks at the ice and snow around the tire, but the ice barely chips. He sighs and shrugs to Kendra.

Kendra exits the car, Ivy following close behind, and stands next to Cole, frowning. "Can we push it?" Kendra asks.

"We can try," Cole says.

"Ivy--stay right there," Kendra orders, pointing to the side of the road. Ivy obeys, and Kendra positions herself behind the car with Cole. "On three, push." She counts down, and on three they push the vehicle together, but Cole quits almost immediately as the aches in his body protest against any strenuous movement.

"Sorry, sorry," he says. "Still hurting a lot over here. Try again."

"If you can't, don't push yourself," Kendra warns.

"I can do it, it's fine," he says. He feels his anger at himself rising; so close to reuniting with everyone at the Hyatt but, of course, his own injuries hinder his hopes.

“Cole--”

“I can do it.”

Kendra shrugs, deciding she probably won’t be able to get through to him, and they re-position themselves behind the car, ready to push again. But before they can, Ivy calls for her mother.

“Mom!” she shouts, and she points behind her, where two figures sprint down the road, yelling and flailing their arms.

Kendra immediately runs to her daughter and grabs her by the arm, tugging her toward the car. “Get in the car, Ivy,” she says calmly.

“Hey!” a man’s voice yells, coming from one of the figures.

"Should we--" Cole says.

"Get in the car," Kendra cuts him off, and she goes to the driver's seat whiled he takes the passenger seat. She starts the car again as the two mysterious people get closer and presses onto the pedal once more, but the car doesn't move an inch.

"Okay, let's just try to talk to them. They could--they could be decent people," Cole suggests.

Kendra reaches into the back seat and retrieves a two handguns. She gives one to Cole and says, "Just be prepared." He nods and takes the weapon from her.

They wait in nervous silence as the two people come into clearer view. One is a man, the other is a woman, both cold, dirty, and starving. When they reach the car, the man bangs onto Cole's window with his fist while the woman does the same on Kendra's side.

"H-hey, please, could you...could you help us?" the man shouts through the window. "We--please, we're starving."

"We don't have anything for you, I'm sorry!" Kendra tells him.

"N-no, you're lying!" the woman says.

"Mom, they need help," Ivy whispers.

Kendra sighs and looks to Cole for a suggestion, but he has none.

"Please!" the man repeats. "If--if we could have a ride...anything."

"Are you armed?" Kendra finally asks.

"N-No," the woman responds after a bit of hesitation.

"All of the food is in the trunk," Kendra whispers to Cole. "We can't go out there."

"If you want, I'll go. Give them a few cans and send them off," Cole says.

"What if they--" Kendra starts.

"It's the only way to get rid of them without...you know." He doesn't finish.

"Are you sure?" Kendra asks, and Cole nods. "Okay! We'll give you a few cans of food, then you're on your way, do you hear me? We don't want anything to do with you."

"Yeah, okay!" the man says, smiling from ear to ear. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Back away from the doors," Cole orders, and the man and woman both comply. Cole exits the car slowly, the pistol pointed at the man. Kendra pops the trunk open from inside the car, revealing the bag of food inside.

"That's all...food?" the woman says in awe.

"Give it," the man suddenly says as Cole reaches into the trunk, and he hears the sound of a gun cocking behind him.

"Jeremy!" the woman says to the man.

"L-look at it. They've got first aid too. We--we'd be set for a week at least. Maybe two."

"They have a little girl in there, you saw her."

"Like I give a fuck! She looks better fed than both of us, doesn't she? They--they'll be fine. Who knows how long we've got?"

"If you want it, take it," Cole says, his voice level. "Don't hurt anyone."

"I want the car, too," Jeremy says.

"I--I can't do that. We need this car."

"Sherry, back me up...Sherry!"

"No one gets hurt if you just give us what we're askin' for," Sherry says. "That little girl's life is worth more than this car."

"You're not hurting that girl," Cole says.

"You think I won't?" Jeremy challenges. "You think I haven't done more fucked up shit than killing a kid? Just give us the Goddamn car!"

Cole sighs, defeated. "Okay. Let me just talk to my friend."

"Drop that gun, too."

Cole places the gun to the ground slowly, and walks around the car to Kendra's side, Jeremy's gun pointed at his back. "They want the car," Cole explains as Kendra rolls down the window slightly. "Don't ask, just give it to them."

"We'll fucking freeze--"

"Give us. The Goddamn car," Jeremy says. Cole gives Kendra a warning look, but she finally gives in and puts her hand on the door handle.

"I'm coming out," she says.

"Get the girl out, too, Sherry," Jeremy says.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" Kendra shouts at him, and she proceeds to the back door. “I’ll do it.” She opens the door and holds out her hand for Ivy to take. Shaking, Ivy clasps her hand in her mother’s and exits the car. Kendra immediately kneels down and wraps Ivy in a hug, and Ivy, who glares at the man pointing a gun at Cole, returns it. “It’s okay,” Kendra soothes. “This is going to be loud, so don’t be scared.”

“I’m so sorry--” Sherry says, standing next to Jeremy.

“Sherry, shut the fuck up!” Jeremy demands, a wild fire in his eyes. “Survival’s most important now, you people know that.” Believing none of them are armed, he holsters his gun and reaches for the driver’s side door, and Sherry moves around the the passenger side.

At this point, still wrapped in her mother’s arms, Ivy squeezes her eyes shut, and Kendra reaches under her coat and into her waistband for the pistol she managed to conceal before exiting the car. She quickly stands, releasing Ivy, who quickly covers her ears, and fires one shot into the back of Jeremy’s head. Sherry yelps and covers her mouth with her hands. Although on the other side of the car, she raises her hands in defense.

“I--I didn’t want this,” Sherry rushes out, but Kendra keeps her gun raised and walks around the car until she stands in front of the hood, Sherry shivering just a few feet in front of her. “He--he made me. He’s crazy, he couldn’t--he wasn’t the same. Don’t--don’t kill me. I’ll just g-go!”

No words can save her now, though, and Kendra fires a shot that goes clean through her forehead. Sherry falls to the ground, the blood from her wound turning the snow a dark red. Ivy watches the entire ordeal, her bottom lip quivering as if she’s about to burst into tears. But she doesn’t, and instead stays petrified until her mother orders her into the back seat.

“We should probably...you know, deal with the car now,” Cole says to Kendra.

“I’ll take the left, you take the right,” she says succinctly, and positions herself behind the car once more. “Push, on three.”

“If we know Cole’s still at that warehouse, maybe we should go look for him,” Adam suggests at lunch that day. Sitting at the table around him are Chloe, Lienne, Alec, Tora, Luke, Lucy, and Billie.

“If they caught him trying to escape, chances are they killed him,” Alec says. “I mean, I’m not trying to be so blunt, but it’s possible.”

“It’s Griffin’s call, anyway,” Billie says. “But...finding him, rescuing him--whatever--is a long shot.”

“Escape is a death sentence,” Luke says. “That’s what they tell you right before they’re about to ship you off. And they were already mowing down prisoners when we tried to escape. I wish I could’ve stayed for him, but we--we really had to go. Or else we all would’ve been caught.”

“Not your fault, man. I think we can all agree on that,” Adam says, mutters of agreement following.

“Lucy, you’ve got a pretty clear say in this,” Lienne says.

Lucy stops pushing around her food and sets down her spoon. “If...if there’s enough people that want to go after him, okay, but nobody should be forced to go on some dangerous trip when we already have enough shit going on with Roxie," she says. "And everything else that’s happened recently. But I’ll go, if it means possibly getting him back.”

“I’m in, too,” Alec says.

“At least we have somewhere to look. A starting point,” Chloe says.

“I’ll help, too,” Tora says.

“Chloe, would you mind talking to Griff--” Adam begins, but then Logan rushes into the cafeteria, stopping at their table.

Out of breath, Logan says, “Your friend. He’s back.”