The Dead World/Issue 22

Laying low, the badit's leader Riley watched quietly as the two teenagers kept walking in their direction before one of his fellow bandits suddenly came laying beside him, his eyes also on the teenagers and Riley recognised them as the same bandit who made that comment about the body.

"you think they're the same ones that shot that body back there?" the man asked him and Riley sighed and slapped the man on his bald head "what was that for?!" the man exclaimed but Riley shut him up by putting his finger to his lips before pointing towards the teens.

"look for once will you Leon, they aren't armed and if they DID kill that guy back there then they're more psychopathic than me, even I dont laugh that much when i've killed someone" Riley told Leon who nodded from beside him before reaching for his gun but again Riley stopped him.

"what? aint we gonna get 'em?" Leon asked him and Riley chuckled shaking his head.

"I'M going to get them quietly, YOU are going to take some bandits and follow the path they just came, see if there's any kind of camp and then come back to base and tell me, got it?" Riley told the man and Leon instantly nodded before turning and giving a low whistle to 3 bandits behind him to get their attention.

"follow me" Leon ordered them before carefully and slowly moving forward through the forest so not to alert the teenagers while the 3 bandits followed close behind him, leaving Riley to continue watching the teenagers with no emotion on his face until a scary grin appeared on his face.

Laying on his bed, Anthony sighed as he put his hands on his head trying not to think about what happened in the forest, how could Connor even do that? Anthony knew Josh was an asshole but he didn't think Connor would just shoot him in the face.

Anthony could swear he didnt know anyone properly anymore, what had happened to them all? Anthony asked himself before he heard a sudden knock on the door jolting away his memories for a minute as he looked at the door.

He didnt really want any company at the moment but Anthony wasn't rude enough to just ignore them so he got up off of his bed and walked to the door before opening it, revealing Natasha to be standing there smiling at him.

"hey, just wanted to check up on ya" she said leaning against the side of the door way looking at him "you didnt look good when you came pratically running in here" she continued looking worried at him but Anthony just shook his head.

"i'm fine, I was just resting" Anthony lied but with a quick look over his shoulder, Natasha could tell he was lieing...unless if he always made an effort to make his bed completely neat before he answered the door.

"you can tell me anything you know, I wont tell anyone" she said softly but she could tell he wasnt going to reveal anything, he was too busy looking around sneakily at the rest of the motel and Natasha made note that the only person that he must be looking for is Connor as he was nowhere to be seen.

"I aint got anything to tell, I promise" Anthony said pratically forcing out the "I promise" bit and Natasha narrowed her eyes slightly in thought.

"if your su-" Natasha started but Anthony suddenly closed the door making her have to move back in shock at how he just shut her out, before turning around and sharing a look with Will until she closed her eyes and walked away from the door.

Sighing to himself, Anthony leaned against the door once it was closed and banged his head lightly against it, why did HE have to be the one going through this, Anthony thought to himself before quickly pushing the thought to the side of his head, he couldnt think like that...

Watching as Natasha walked away from Anthony's door, Will leaned his head on the wall by the side of him in thought, he'd come to the conclusion that Connor had threatened Anthony into silence and he also was beginning to believe that Connor had killed Josh.

However he knew that he needed to find out the truth in a more quieter way as he could tell if Connor felt like he was under threat he would cause trouble and not everyone in the motel were fighters.

"you know you think too much, your head's gonna explode one of these days" Bella stated from the side of him and Will turned to raise an eyebrow at her but shook his head.

"cheers" Will stated and Bella gave a smile playfully bumping his shoulder.

"so what you thinking about?" Bella asked him that smile remaining on her face which caused Will to stop and think for a moment, she'd just lost her brother and she was trying to be as happy as possible....did he really need to tell her what was going on right now? he asked himself before he answered.

"nothing much....Karen just said how we might need a new leader and it was kinda obvious everyones been trying to nudge me in that direction" Will told her leaving out the Josh going missing stuff, deciding to tell her that later.

"and what you dont want to be leader?" Bella asked him, studying him but as always he gave away no emotions.

"its not that I dont want to be leader, I just dont like to be leader" Will corrected before turning to her "but if the group wants me as a leader, suppose I aint got a choice" Will stated and Bella nodded.

She could've said that without Connor and if Will didnt want to do it someone else could take leadership but the truth was, she was currently struggling inside and no one else was leader potential so in the end....that left only Will to be in charge.

"well if you need any help...just say, ok?" Bella asked him and Will nodded at her so she patted him on the shoulder before walking away heading over to have a chat with Lewis and the old couple leaving Will alone to look around everyone and he quickly noticed that Aiden and Faith had disappeared but he soon shrugged it off, they're probably in their room....they aint stupid, Will thought to himself.

Walking alone, Faith and Aiden continued laughing and sharing looks with eachother before they looked around the area they was in then back at eachother.

"I think we're far enough" Aiden said and Faith giggled before grabbing his shoulders and kissing him deeply resulting in both of them closing their eyes and getting lost in the kiss until they suddenly heard an unknown voice speak up.

"woah, well thats something you dont see everyday" Riley stated loudly and the two teenagers turned around to see him standing to the side of them in plain view grinning like a mad man at them but not giving off any signs that he was a threat, this didnt stop Aiden protectively standing infront of Faith while they stared at the man.

"I mean as much as I love watching people have sex and even more taking part in the sex, I got some stuff to talk about with you two and I cant exactly do that if his head" Riley stated pointing to Aiden before he pointed to Faith "is in between your legs" he finished still grinning but the two teens didnt find it funny as they looked scared at him.

"so if you'd please, part away from eachother" Riley said politely but the two teens didnt make a move away from eachother knowing that if they wern't watching eachothers back they would be properly weaponless which they pretty much were already.

"its just to make sure you dont get....distracted while were talking" Riley said his grin slightly going as he noticed that the two teens were still looking warily at him and when they didnt respond, Riley sighed and threw his hands up in the air as he turned his back to them and the two teens thought about running unaware there was a load of bandits hiding around them.

"I really didnt wanna have to do it like this" Riley said quietly but they still heard him, however they had no time to react as he suddenly turned around pointing a revolver at them and as the two teens seperated slightly as they were in shock a few bandits charged out of their hiding places, tackling Aiden to the ground and pinning him there while Faith was grabbed and held from behind so she couldnt move.

"we could've done this a much easier way" Riley said an evil look suddenly appearing on his face as he walked towards the two now helpless teens as they struggled against their captors....

Back at the motel, Natasha sat on her bed looking through a book which she had found in one of the wooden draws and she had quickly found out it was a romantic novel which she didnt usually like but it was better than nothing, she thought to herself as she put it to the side of her just as she heard a knock on her door.

Opening it, she found herself face to face with Anthony who quickly moved into the room leaving Natasha to close the door behind him "if I tell you what happened, you promise not to tell anyone else but Will" Anthony told her looking at her seriously and she nodded stepping close to him, worried that he had seemed to completely change personality.

"I promise" she told him as the two of them sat on the bed and Anthony sighed before looking straight at her.

"Connor killed Josh" Anthony said suddenly and Natasha was shocked and didnt know what to say, what was she meant to say? she had actually kinda expected that to be the result of the lies but hearing it wasnt any less shocking.

"...he threatened me to keep quiet....." Anthony said quietly bowing his head and Natasha instantly felt sorry for him and brought him in for a hug while rubbing his arm comfortly.

"its ok, you done the right thing in the end, now Will can try and sort this out, ok?" Natasha asked him and he nodded happy with her hug and she smiled before turning her head to look out the window feeling like something was off but she couldnt decide on what it was that felt off....

Kneeling down in a little clearing of the forest but still hidden from view, Leon looked over the motel making note of the different people he could see, however he could tell some of them wasnt going to be a problem but he knew never to judge a book completely by his cover.

"so, when do we go back and tell the boss?" a bandit beside him asked and Leon narrowed his eyes in thought, he knew deep inside of him he had an urge to go in and kill every single member of the unknown group but he also knew that if he was to do that he would be in BIG trouble with the bosses.

"lets go back and tell the boss....." Leon said moving back into the forest and heading towards his base camp "and lets hope we find something to shoot along the way" Leon said to himself while the 3 other bandits began to follow him.