The Dead World/Issue 79

3 weeks later....

Two zombies kneeled on the floor as they ate at some corpse. Silence filled the air, no birds calling, no rabbits running, nothing except for the sound of their eating. Suddenly and simultaneously, a machete went through one head and a crowbar went through the other.

Now revealed to be standing behind the zombies were Bella and Karen, both looking down at the corpse the zombies had been eating in disgust.

"god damn it, they got another deer" Karen stated kicking one of the dead zombies before walking through the woods again leaving Bella to silently follow her, a little worried about her attitude.

It had been three weeks since Bradley tried to kill them and the others on that run...and three weeks that Logan had been missing. Things had become tense at the camp now that everyone in Will's group knew that Frank and Bradley wanted them dead.

They had offered to leave the camp but Harris refused to have them leave just because of them two.

Thing is, Frank and Bradley couldn't be kicked out either, not only would the residents of the camp complain because they had no proof but it was also winter, none of them was evil enough to kick them out during winter.

At least the group had friends in the community in the form of Harris, Angelica, Annie, Ricky and David. Everyone else remained oblivious to the situation. Problem was, Frank was aware that these people were allies of Will's group.

It was bad enough it was getting harder to find supplies because of the cold weather....

"you should talk about it you know" Bella said softly to Karen but the woman in turn just scoffed and ignored Bella's statement causing her to sigh as she bowed her head, speaking again.

"Anthony's worried about you" Bella told her but she just shrugged and this time annoyed, Bella sped up a little until she was standing in front of Karen causing the woman to blow a hair out of her face before glaring at Bella.

"what's your fucking problem?" Karen asked while Bella held off her glare with one of your own.

"your acting like things don't matter, you need to talk to your boyfriend" Bella told her but Karen just shook her head pushing past Bella.

"I don't need to do shit" she exclaimed causing Bella to stamp her foot in frustration.

"for fucks sake Karen, your boyfriend is worried about you because he cares!" Bella shouted at her causing Karen to laugh slightly as she turned to look at Bella again.

"don't change a thing, I cared about Logan and he still disappeared" Karen stated causing Bella to sigh.

"that's my point, you should talk with him just in case something happens to either of you" Bella told her but again, Karen just shook her head.

"so? what if one of us disappears? it wont matter...."God" would've just claimed another victim" Karen spat but before Bella could answer they both heard screams and gunshots from further in the forest and quickly went on defense.

Suddenly an arrow went flying through the air and hit a tree in between the two causing them to exclaim swear words and begin running back to the camp. This was the third attack just this week.

Soon after THE supply run, it turned out there was this antagonist group that had threatened the camp leaders. They wanted all the supplies the camp had but Harris refused to turn them over. Now, the group had decided to attack whoever went on supply runs.

In a nutshell, the camp wasn't doing too well at the moment....

While firing their M4A1's back at the unknown attackers, Will and Angelica kept low while Anthony tried to tell them where to shoot, although it turned out to be a bit hard to do when someone is shooting at you.

"what's this the third one this week?" Will asked Angelica who nodded and done a few quick shots before ducking down again when Anthony said, surprised that she was trusting the man to watch her back.

"yeh, isn't as bad as last week though" Angelica stated in response and the two men couldn't help but agree with that fact. Last week was really bad, they hardly got any supplies and lost around 5 fighters.

"do you think Frank or Bradley tells them where to go, I mean it is curious how they always know where we are" Anthony said not quite believing his only statement but he had a point, they always did know where the supply group was going.

"I don't know, lets just get back to the camp safe and talk with Harris" Will answered and Angelica nodded in agreement to what Will said before shooting at their attackers again.

Looking over his hiding spot, Anthony saw the attackers moving back in retreat so Anthony gestured that they could run further towards the camp which all three of them done as quick as possible.

"I hope Karen's alright" Anthony said to Will as the two ran side by side, Angelica taking the lead back to the camp. After a few moments, Will responded with a question.

"how are you and her?" Will asked but Anthony didn't have to answer, his shaking of the head and sigh told Will all he had to know.

"she still ain't talking is she?" Will asked and Anthony nodded silently before suddenly tackling Will to the ground as gunfire shot at where they had been standing just two seconds ago.

"sorry I thought you was our attackers" they heard Bradley shout at them before seeing him continue to run back to the camp. However Will and Anthony both knew he shot at them deliberately. He'd done it with all of Will's group a couple of times now.

"I'll talk to her when we get back" Will told Anthony and the map gave him a thankful smile before the two men ran to catch up with Angelica.

Hearing gunfire throughout the nearby woods, Harris joined the rest of the community at the gates while the guards tried to move the residents back away from the danger. Despite the residents worried for their loved ones who were on the supply run.

"another attack?" Harris asked as he joined Ricky and David at the front looking over the woods and the two men nodded in response causing Harris to sigh sharing a look with Ricky. They just hoped Bradley wouldn't try anything this time, they'd lost enough people.

"doctor Alexander!!" Harris called back to the rest of the people and soon enough Annie joined them at the gates looking at Harris expectedly.

"get your tent ready, people might need fixing up" Harris told her and she nodded but before she went back to her tent he grabbed her hand.

"and ask for help if you need it this time" Harris ordered her and she bit her lip trying to ignore the feeling of blaming herself as it came back. Last time she had refused to let anyone help just in case things went wrong, two people winded up dead because of her refusal.

However she just pushed this back down like she always did and gave Harris a nod, sharing a quick look with her brother "I got this but ok" Annie told Harris before running through the crowd to her tent leaving Harris to turn to Ricky.

"get the people back will you, last thing we need is more casualties?" Harris asked and Ricky couldn't help but agree with his leader, giving one last look to the woods before he turned around to look at the residents.

"alright everyone lets stand back and-" Ricky started but before he got the chance to finish his sentence a gunshot filled the air while Ricky shouted out and grasped his shoulder which now had a gunshot wound in it.

"alright that's it, EVERYONE GET BACK NOW!!!" Harris ordered the people noticing Frank grin at the action going on which made Harris disgusted. How could a person like such violence down to innocent people.

Now panicked, the residents ran in all directions to get inside and safe while the guards gathered in a line at the gate all around the camp aiming there guns at any attackers that would try to get inside the camp.

"remember make sure its not one of ours coming before you fire!!" David told the guards and they all nodded in response concentrating as they kept their eyes open for another attack.

"you ok?" Harris asked Ricky as he helped the man up and was happy when Ricky gave him a nod and a small smile despite wincing at the pain in response.

"got it all under control have you?" Frank asked coldly through all the chaos of people running about causing Harris to glare at the man. However before Harris could retort he felt Ricky grasp his arm and turned to see Ricky shaking his head.

"don't fall to his level" Ricky weakly said to Harris so the man took a deep breath before nodding and letting Ricky lean on him for support as he took him to the medical tent, pushing his hatred for Frank away.

Harris needed to focus on his people, they were all that mattered.

About an hour later, things had called down. All but two members of the supply group had managed to come back. Now Harris looked outside of his RV window while Angelica told him their names.

They had been a male and female who were nearly always on guard duty. They didn't have any family but everyone in the community liked them, it turned out they had offered to go on the supply run so two others, a couple could spend time with their daughter....it had cost them their life.

"its them, I KNOW it is" Harris suddenly said interrupting Angelica causing her to look up at him with a confused look so when he turned away from the window and looked to her he continued.

"Frank and Bradley, its them" Harris told her causing her to sigh as she listened to him go on about how it must've been them. Ever since THE supply run where Bradley showed his true colors, he had been determined to find proof that it was them.

"I mean think about it, Will told me that Bradley took shots at him and Anthony, nearly killing them it all adds up, Bradley or Frank somehow tell that group where to strike" Harris stated trying to remain calm, he didn't want to shout at her.

"Harris think about it, it could be Bradley just taking the attack as an opportunity, our antagonists may just come across our supply groups or maybe they're just watching our camp, who knows?" Angelica asks but Harris just shakes his head getting out a bottle of wine.

"THEY DO, they know because they're telling the bad guys where to go!!" Harris near shouted but he still kept quiet not wanting to draw attention of anyone who might be walking outside of his RV.

"we cant tell for sure without proof" Angelica said softly while sitting back and watching as he took a large gulp from the bottle of wine before gesturing that she didn't want some when he offered her some.

"then we'll get proof" Harris said but she shook her head taking a deep breath. She needed to stop him from doing this. The drinking he was doing wasn't so bad, it was only on certain occasions like this one.

However he was getting more and more focused on stopping Frank and Bradley that he had nearly forgotten all about the fact his people needed him, her and Ricky had to start doing some of Harris's jobs since Harris was focused on the two traitors.

"Harris, maybe you should let me and David try and find proof, you need to start helping your people again" Angelica said softly but soon realized she said the wrong thing when he stood up in anger.

"THIS, what I'm doing is me trying to help my people" Harris shouted to her but before she could speak he spoke again.

"we have two traitors in our camp, possibly more. We have some antagonist group attacking us because I refused to hand over our supplies and we're barely managing to feed the community, what else can I do?!!" Harris asked but this time, Angelica didn't have an answer.

He wouldn't have listened anyway as he got up suddenly and headed to the RV door and opened it. However before he walked out he turned back to her and held her gaze.

"I've worked hard to make this place what it is, I am NOT going to stand by and watch THIS PLACE FALL" Harris told her before walking out and slamming the door, leaving Angelica alone to think about what he had said. How was she meant to help a guy who didn't want help?

Walking through the camp with a smile on his face as he greeted residents who waved at him, Frank headed towards his and Bradley's meeting spot. However the people failed to realize that his smile wasn't a sympathetic one but a cold one.

Turning the corner of an RV, Frank saw Bradley leaning against his RV smoking a cigarette so Frank quickly walked over. They didn't share a greeting or anything, instead they got straight to business.

"what did you want?" Frank said impatiently. He was unsure why Bradley had called him, the supply run turned out to be a "success" as two guards winded up dead and the residents were still slowly losing their faith in Harris's leadership.

"I think we should up our game, I failed to kill Will and that black guy again today" Bradley stated but Frank just shrugged so Bradley continued.

"I think we should begin meeting with that group, so we can tell them where and when to attack" Bradley bluntly stated causing Frank to think about it for a moment.

Despite what Harris and the guys believed, the two of them didn't actually meet with the bandits or whatever they were. In fact they just happened to come across their supply groups. Either that or they watched the camp.

"good idea and....I may have a guy that could do that for us" Frank stated grinning as he did.

Now with a plan to make things much worse than they already were, they walked in different directions, both with a cold smile on their face....