The Ones Who Remain/Issue 5

This is issue 5 of The Ones Who Remain, entitled: The Outside World.

Issue 5; The Outside World
Mike is thrown out of the truck by Johnson. He lands right on his face, and is subsequently kicked in the gut, while Emma watches from the truck, remorse and guilt all over her face. Johnson grabs Mike by the shoulder, and ushers him to his feet, while Emma gets out of the truck.

Mike spins around, but is met by the barrel of Johnson's gun. Fear strikes Mike's face, and Johnson smiles, even gives a light chuckle.

"Get your ass movin', boy." he muttered. It was to no use though, as Mike was frozen in fear, refusing to move. Johnson scoffed, and without warning, hit Mike right in the nose with the pistol. As Mike stumbles back, grasping onto his nose, Johnson smiled once again. "Move..."

Mike complies this time, turning around, the warm, dark red blood dripping down his face. He desperately tried to rub it away as he walked, but all it did was spread the blood across his face, making it look even worse. He was scared. He wanted to go back to Livingston. Wanted to go back to Nikki, Cal... Brenda. Emma watched as Johnson brings Mike away, before turning toward the front gates, where Davie hopped out of his car. Davie had a large smile on his face. He looked proud, undeniably happy with the effort today.

She stormed right toward him, fire in her eyes. When he looked toward her direction, and Emma got within arms distance, Davie lifted his hand for a high-five. Emma gave him a sickening look, Are you kidding me? Davie rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming.

"We had a deal." she spat out, digging her finger into his chest, to which he chuckled.

"And as far as I'm concerned, we didn't cross any boundaries. The kid drew on us." he scoffed.

"You said you wouldn't kill anybody."

"I said I wouldn't use violence, and, he gave us no choice."

Emma threw her face into her hands, rubbing her temples, before looking back toward Mike, who was still being ushered away by Johnson. "What are you going to do with the kid?"

"You know the answer to that." he said, smiling. "He's considered a P.O.W... a prisoner of war. He'll be jailed... and, you know what happens next."

"Please-- I'll do anything, just, don't hurt him." she pleaded, grabbing his shirt.

"You know I can't do that, Ms. Flowers." he said, grabbing hold of her hands, pulling them off of his shirt. "Now, I should mention that I have every right to have you jailed or killed. So, before you say anything you're going to regret..."

Emma quickly backs away to him, to which Davie's smile gets even bigger. And as Emma hurries away, Davie turns toward a young Echo soldier, no older then seventeen, who watched the exchange, gun trained on Emma... just in case.

"You enjoy the show, son?" Davie asked, offering a smile, to which the young Echo soldier nodded in response, lowering his weapon. "You see, when I pass and Echo rests in your hands, and the rest of the youngins... that's what you're going to need to do. Install fear in your enemies. Let them know that you're not fucking around. But, whatever you do... never show fear yourself, got it?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the young soldier said, like a robot. Davie nods, before drawing his gun from his pants, and aiming at the young man's head. The young soldier jumped back with a small shriek, and Davie laughs.

"That's what I'm talking about, son." he said, tossing the gun to the young soldier. "Safety was on, that thing ain't even loaded. But, I put fear in you, which means I have the upper hand. Never show fear again, private!"

"Sir, yes sir." the young man said, but his voice fainter and less-confident.

Mike is thrown into a secluded building at the end of town. Johnson stands there with a couple of other guards, who start to maul Mike. Mike doesn't have any time to react... he doesn't even know what's happening. Johnson threw the first hit, punching Mike right the jaw. The next man, with a nightstick, hits Mike right in the chest, and he topples over.

The three men start kicking him, and the attack is relentless. Mike doesn't have any time to process his pain, and he just lies there in shock, getting attacked by the guards.

Jared led Nikki, Adrianna, and Cal through the empty woods. Jared was looking down at the map in his hands, while Nikki and Cal walked close next to on another, keeping a watch out for any signs of movement. Adrianna stood in the back, smoking a cigar, not paying much attention to her surroundings.

"How much longer?" Nikki asked, wiping some sweat from her forehead.

"Judging from the map--" Jared said, before doing some math in his head. "Around thirteen hours... not including setting up camp for the night."

"Shit..." she muttered, just loud enough for Cal to hear. "And these people can help us get Mike back?"

"Look, if we're lucky-- there won't have to be any killing." Jared said, looking back at her. "Maybe, just maybe, Mike won't be killed or whatever."

"There's an alternative?" Cal asked, butting into the conversation.

"If we're lucky, he'll be sold... maybe to one of our allies."

"Sold? What do you mean sold?" Nikki asked quickly. Jared could sense the worry he put into her almost instantly.

"Shit, like, fuck..." he muttered. "Ok, I didn't wanna have to tell you guys this, but, a lot of the time, Echo sells their prisoners for manual labor. I'm just saying, maybe one of our guys will pick him up."

"Why don't we just but him ourselves?" Adrianna asked, taking the cigar out of her mouth.

"It's only for close allies of Echo." Jared said, looking back at her.

"We don't have any close allies, remember?" Cal asked. "Brenda severed ties with all of the local safe-zones."

"Well, we're not going local." Jared quickly said. "We're going out of Echo control."

"Woah," both Cal and Adrianna said, stopping short.

"Look, I know it's going to be hard--"

"Hard?" Adrianna quickly spat back in a hushed whisper. "Those guards defend the border with their life."

"Yeah, man." Cal said, his voice uneasy. "How do you suggest we do that?"

"I'll explain later, just, trust me on this." Jared said, as Nikki took a spot next to him. The two looked at each other, and back to Adrianna and Cal who stared at each other, uneasily. "C'mon guys..."

"Please." Nikki spat out, interrupting Jared. "I--I just lost everyone today! You can't really consider leaving the two of us out here!"

"Nikki..." Cal started, before receiving a glare that could kill from Nikki. "Look, I'm sorry, I really am. You know how much I love both you & Mike, but, I got family I need to take care of. My mom-- who knows what she'll do if I never come back."

"Please, Cal!" she pleaded, her voice breaking as she said so. "I need you."

Cal only sighed, before nodding his head. "I'll go." he said silently.

Both Jared and Nikki looked toward Adrianna, who was still staring at Cal. When she looked back at the two, she only shrugged her shoulders. "I wasn't considering leaving." she calmly said, throwing her cigar to the ground, before walking toward them.

A bloodied, beaten, unconscious and naked Mike was being dragged through a cold, dark hallway by two Echo soldiers. Johnson walked behind the group, smiling to himself, humming along with the sound of the footsteps which echoed throughout the hallway.

"Throw him in Cell A2-32." he said, to which the two guards nodded, before Johnson made a quick turn around, leaving them be.

The two guards walked over to a large set of double doors, which another guard opened for them, and they dragged Mike inside. Inside the room, was another long hallway, but, on the left side of the hallway were jail cells.

Each jail cell held two or three prisoners, each one in a prison uniform, as miserable and depressed as the next, and they all stared at Mike with open-eyes. They all approached the bars, watching the guards drag him down the hallway.

The guards got to the last cell, and one of the guards let go of Mike's shoulder, and he simultaneously collapses to the ground. The guard who dropped Mike went through a set of keys, before using one to unlock the cell door. He pushed the door open, and the next guard, who still had a grip on Mike, tossed him in, with no effort.

Mike his the ground with a large thud, and, the two guard walk off, not looking back. Two prisoners, who were in the same cell, immediately look at the unconscious Mike, before looking back at each other, confused and a little worried.

That night, Jared, Cal, Nikki, & Adrianna sat by a campfire. The four all sat silently by the fire, Nikki sitting extra close to it, for warmth. Jared had his gun in his lap... just in case. Cal was eating a can of beans, some of what he packed for the trip, and Adrianna was squeezing a stress ball... the stress apparent on her face.

"Alright," Jared said, breaking the silence. "Now, I know that this is the first time we've been out on the road in, well, a long time. So, I think there are some precautions we need to go over... first off, Nikki, don't sit so close to the fire."

Nikki looked back at him, shivering and confused.

"If you breathe in too much smoke you'll pass out-- probably fall right into the fire."

Nikki immediately backed away, but still remained in arms distance of the warm fire.

"Now, onto survival..." Jared started, looking from Nikki to both Cal and Adrianna, who just watched him. "We need someone on watch at all times. When we're eating, when we're sleeping-- someone needs to keep an eye out. Secondly, we go to the bathroom in pairs. Last thing we want is to get caught alone with our pants down, got it?"

"I think it's safe to say we all knew this, Champ." Adrianna retorted.

Jared brushed her off, continuing what he was saying. "Next, don't trust anyone. They could be cannibals, under-cover Echo soldiers, bandits, rapists... you get where I'm going with this. If, by any chance, you see another survivor, let me know, got it? I don't wanna risk getting caught by Echo, or, getting kidnapped and made a meal over. Next, I need y'all to remember: Guns are a last resort. We don't go firing these things cause we don't wanna get our hands dirty, no, we fire these if we need to. Melee weapons, when fighting biters, are definitely the best way to do this, especially if we want to do it silently. And last, but probably most important, do not underestimate anyone or anything, got it? Just cause you see a cute six year-old in trouble, doesn't mean you should go help. Same goes with biters, just cause they're slow, doesn't mean you should get careless, they're still trouble."

As Jared finishes up, Nikki, Cal, & Adrianna all look at him, nodding comprehensively. "Now, get some sleep. We got a long journey ahead of us."

"I'll take first shift." Adrianna said, standing up, wrench in hand.

"Wake me up in a couple of hours, you need to sleep too." Jared said, to which Adrianna nodded her head.

"Wait," Nikki quickly said, looking at Jared. "I know this probably isn't the best time, but, um, where are we going?"

"I'm taking us to an old friend of mine, a guy named Nichols. He'll help us."

Nikki nodded, satisfied with that answer, before lying down, head in the leaves. Cal quickly crawled next to Nikki, placing his head next to hers.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, to which she turned her head away from his.

"I'll be much better once we get Mike back." she simply said.

"I'm sure he's fine." he said, to which Nikki shrugged her shoulders.

"Just, leave me alone, please?"

Cal nodded and got up, walking away from Nikki, who threw her fur-covered hood over her head.

Around an hour later, Adrianna stood awake, keeping watch over the three sleeping survivors. She looked over Nikki the most though. She knew she was the youngest, the most emotional, the one who needed the most protection. No matter how much Nikki hated Adrianna, no matter how much Nikki would love for her to turn away, Adrianna wasn't going to do it. She knew she couldn't let that bother her, and she knew needed to protect Nikki, no matter how much she hated her.

A moaning sound quickly drew Adrianna out of her thoughts, and she gripped her wrench even more tightly. She turned in that direction, and moved closer to the moaning, winding the wrench back behind her head. A biter, hidden amongst the darkness, grabbed at her collar as she passed a big tree, which it stood behind.

The biter, grabbed hold of her hair, tugging at it, and Adrianna dropped the wrench to the ground. She quickly span around, facing the biter, and tried pushing it's face back, which came flying toward her back. She dropped to her knees, and the biter, who was attacking with full force, tripped over her leg.

She quickly grabbed the rusty wrench, and hit the biter in the face as it sat back up to grab her. The biter fell back, and Adrianna hopped to her feet, slamming the wrench against it's head again, and again, and again. Pretty soon the biter's face was nothing but a mixture of blood and brains splattered against the grass.

Adrianna quickly wiped her mouth, and stumbled back to the campfire, adrenaline still pumping. As she got back to them, nothing changed, they were all still asleep, and Adrianna walked over by the fire.

As she started to calm back down, she looked toward the sleeping Nikki, who was shivering, her eyes squeezed shut. Adrianna yawned, but, for some reason, she felt bad for her. Maybe it was the loss of her best friend, or, her youth that made this extra hard on her, but Adrianna felt for her. She quickly went through her bag, pulling out a large blanket. She made her way over to Nikki, and gently, placed the blanket over her.

As Nikki stopped shivering, Adrianna let a small smile out, and a tear or two escaped her eyes. She remembers what it is that made her feel for Nikki... a distant memory which Adrianna still held onto. A memory that she didn't want to lose anytime soon.

Mike's eyes slowly opened, his vision blurry, only able to hear the mumbles and inaudible words coming from other people who talked. He could make out two people who stood over him, one was looking down on his face, the other was looking down on his chest and his stomach.

Mike let out a small moan, but it was just enough for the two to hear him. The one who was checking out his chest, immediately looked over his face, and held Mike's face in their hands. As Mike's vision started to come back, he could make out an older woman, who held Mike's face, and a middle aged man, who watched Mike.

Mike quickly pulled himself away from the two, scared. He stood back up against the bars, as the two prisoners watched him. The older woman put her hands into the air, a sign of peace, and to calm down Mike.

"Get--get away from me." he spat out, his heart beating fast, his head pounding.

"Kid, calm down." the woman said, her voice light and reassuring. "Don't strain yourself out, you're still hurt."

Mike just looked around at the two, and suddenly he started to feel light-headed. As he grasped his head, he fell back down, leaning against the cold, brick wall. The man passed a bottle of water to the older woman, who made her way over to Mike. She tilted his head back, and poured a little of the water into his mouth, and he almost soughed it all back up, but stopped himself.

"Where am I?" he asked weakly.

"You're at the local prison, kid." the man said, who stood back against the wall, arms crossed. "So, what are you in for?"

"Freddy!" exclaimed the older woman, looking back at him. "Cut the kid some slack, will you? He'll need some time before being able to tell us what happened."

"Sorry, geez." he said, moving over to the bed.

"So, you got a name?" the old woman said.

"Mi--Mike." Mike said, closing his eyes, still deathly afraid about what's going on.

"Mike, that's a lovely name." the older woman said, offering a kind smile. "I'm Caitlyn, that's Freddy." Caitlyn said, pointing to the mad who sat on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Everything hurts..." he said under his breath.

"Well, I checked out everything. You seem to be fine, for the most part. They bruised you up real good, broke your right index finger... and cracked a couple of your ribs. I still need to check your head, so if you wouldn't mind opening your eyes..."

Mike's eyes slowly opened, taking a good look at Caitlyn for the first time. She had shorter brown hair, pale white skin, emaciated. She was probably there for a long time, barely fed, barely washed.

"Alright, look toward the beds." she said, looking at Mike's eyes. Mike looked toward the beds, more specifically, Freddy. He had cuts all over his chest, light blonde hair. He looked strong, but, his eyes said otherwise. They looked broken, like he's holding something back.

"Look toward the wall." she calmly said, to which Mike did instantly. "Alright... you're good." she said, and Mike looked back at her. "You have a small concussion, which is lucky, considering how most come with a more serious concussion, which is topped off with memory loss, and well, death."

"Ever hear of the expression, 'Too Much Information'?" Freddy asked from the bed, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you..." Mike said, silently, to which Caitlyn smiled, patting him on the shoulder.

"Freddy, if you wouldn't mind..." Caitlyn started, motioning to the prison uniform which hanged in the cell. Freddy nodded, and hopped up, and grabbed it, tossing it at Mike.

"Thank you," Mike repeated, and Freddy gave a simple nod of his head.

"Get some rest, Mike." Caitlyn said, standing up. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day, for all of us."

"What? Why?"

"You're a new guy, Mike. You're going to get bombarded by questions all day, from prisoners to guards alike... not to mention you're the youngest guy we've seen here in a while." Freddy said from the bed.

"Do I-- have to worry about the other prisoners?" Mike asked, his voice still faint and weak.

"Nah, the prisoners here all have respect for one another. It's the guards you're gonna need to look out for. They'll taunt you, try to break you-- don't let them."

"Can we give him the rundown in the morning?" Caitlyn quickly asked, looking from Freddy back to Mike. "He needs to rest up."

Freddy shrugged his shoulders. "Alright,"

Caitlyn offered Mike her hand, which he hesitantly took. She helped him to his feet, and he nearly fell back down, but she catches him. She helped him over to one of the beds, his clothes still in his hand, and helps him onto the cold, hard bed. As Caitlyn climbed back up on the top bunk opposite him.

Mike couldn't fall asleep though. There was so much on his mind. He didn't know what was happening, what was going to happen... where Nikki was. He could only hope and dream that Nikki was still safe, but, how could he be sure? How could he be sure that everyone he knew and loved were still alive? With those thoughts on his mind, Mike could only stare at the bottom of the bunk bed he laid under, wondering about Cal, Adrianna... Nikki, before drifting off into a light and painful sleep.