Dead Frontier/Issue 36

This is Issue #36 of Dead Frontier by Walkerbait22, titled Welcome. This is the last issue in Volume 6.

Issue 36 - Welcome
After the lunch in the cafeteria, Jennifer pulls Mulligan to the side. He looks confused, but he goes along with it.

"...Yeah?" he asks.

"Don't you think they're a bit suspicious?" she says.

Mulligan scoffs. "Suspicious? Have you seen them? They were pathetic when they got here. I mean, Jesus, Jen. They had eight bullets. Eight."

"That's my point, Scott. They were hungry, low on ammo. How'd they get here with barely a scratch?"

"How do you know that? They could've had more than eight people before they got here." He places a hand on her shoulder. "Lighten up. This is good that people are finding us. This is what we wanted."

"But not all people are good," she counters.

Mulligan sighs. "Fine. Believe what you will, Jen." He shrugs and turns away. Jen can't help but shake an uneasy feeling in her gut.

"Mr. Welsh?" Billie says. He turns, and she approaches him. "Billie Starr." She holds her hand out and he shakes it.

"You can call me Abe," he says with a smile.

"Okay. Abe. Thank you, for everything. The steak, the tents, the water, the steak."

"You said steak twice."

"I know." Abram laughs.

"I kind of have something important to talk to you about," Billie continues.

"What is it?" he asks.

"I know you've been trying to...'rebuild' I guess you would call it. Bringing more people here and all that. And I think I know where we can find some more people."

Abe realizes they're in the middle of the terminal, so he leads Billie into his office. It is a small room with a single desk, a lamp, and two chairs. He gestures to the chair opposite his desk. "Are they good people?"

"They're amazing people," Billie says. "A family of four, with a guy my age--18--and two parents. The mother used to be a nurse, and the dad was a cop. They could be pretty useful, I think, if you brought them here. They saved the lives of me and Cole."

"And you know where they are?"

"I can give you the general direction. But they live on a big plot of land. Huge house. It's hard to miss."

"You're not afraid of heights are you?" Billie shakes her head. "Good. Tomorrow, you'll ride in that helicopter and bring a few airmen with you to this family. Is that okay?" "Yes. Yes, thank you." She's ecstatic. She finally gets to repay the Evans' family, and she can't wait to see them again.

"Lay back for me please," Jennifer says to Cole. He is on a hospital bed, and it brings back terrible memories of his days in the underground lab. He follows Jennifer's orders and lies back. "Eyes wide." She shines a bright light in his eye, and then the other.

Cole can't help but notice how gorgeous she is. She's older than him, maybe in her early forties, but she doesn't look a day over thirty. She has caramel colored skin, and her dark hair is pulled back in a ponytail. "Okay, good," she says. "You can sit up."

"I'm not going to die, am I?" Cole asks. Jennifer smiles. "No. You're fine. No concussion, but you may have some pretty bad headaches for the next few days." She hands him a bottle of pills. "Take these. Two every six hours. If the headaches are still back after three days, come back to me and I'll see what's wrong." He begins to rise from the bed but she says, "Wait." He sits back down.

"Something wrong?" he asks.

"No. Not really. I just wanted to ask you a few things. And now I kind of feel like an asshole because you have a headache and I'm going to bombard you with weird questions."

Cold chuckles. "It's fine. Go ahead."

"...What was it like, getting here? I...I noticed you had a lot of guns but barely any ammo."

"Long story."

"I want to hear it."

He looks at her and sighs. He takes the time to explain to her everything, from the motel to the soldiers and scientists holding them captive, to being on the road for a few days. He mentions everyone they've lost, but leaves out the information about everyone being infected, feeling that it's Chloe's place to tell them. By the end, Jennifer's mouth is agape. She feels guilty for ever doubting these people.

Dwight stands, leaning his forearms against some sort of balcony railing in the terminal, and looks out the large window. He watches as a few airmen take out any infected that try to enter the airport's facility.

Hannah suddenly appears next to him; she places her forearms on the railing as well. "I guess our fresh start kind of got spoiled," she says, recollecting when Dwight apologized to her.

"Sort of," he says. There's a long pause, and he turns to her, slightly frustrated. "What do you want? Looking for an apology or something? Well, I'm sorry for kneeing your boyfriend in the head."

"I didn't want an apology, Dwight. I know you regret it. I can see it in your face. I just wanted to say...it's fine. I don't hate you or anything."

"God, I feel like such as asshole. I stuck a Goddamn gun in your face. I...I don't know what I was thinking. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing, you know?" He looks ashamed; instead of looking her in the face, he stares out the window.

"You're an essential part of our group, Dwight. I don't want you to go distancing yourself. We all do care about you." She sees he isn't responding, so she just squeezes his arm and walks away.

Finn, Harry, Adam, and Tyler are sitting on the floor of the terminal, a game of Monopoly set up in front of them. "Give me your properties!" Adam shouts.

"Goddamnit..." Finn mutters.

"I think you're cheating, Harry," Tyler says.

Harry looks legitimately shocked. "Me?" he asks. "Why?"

"Because you're winning, and you're the banker."

Harry puts a hand to his chest. "Scout's honor, man. I'm just good."

Finn sees Billie collapse in a chair in the waiting area. She looks exhausted. He hesitates and says, "I think I'm done for the day."

"What!" Adam says. "You can't just quit."

"I think I can," Finn says. He stands. "Thanks for the steak and Monopoly, Harry."

"Anytime," Harry says and smiles.

Finn whistles and walks over to the waiting area. He takes a seat next to Billie.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," she says.

"What? You're leaving?"

She laughs at his reaction. "Not forever. I told the leader guy about this family that saved me and Cole. So I have to take some of the airmen soldier guys or whatever and show them there. We'll pick them up and bring them here."

"That's nice, that you thought of them. " "The least I could do was repay them by bringing them here."

"Actually, the least you could've done was said thanks, but bringing them here works too."

She gives him a playful slap to the shoulder. "Hey, I thought you were playing Monopoly with hot stuff over there?"

"I was but thought I'd---wait. Hot stuff? Who's hot stuff?"

"I mean, none of them are too bad," she says, observing Tyler, Harry, and Adam as they play their board game, "but Harry is definitely hot stuff."

"Pshhh. Yeah. Whatever." The fact that he can't contain his jealousy is hilarious to her. "Well, Hannah's hot."

"She is," Billie agrees, nodding her head.

"You don't care?"

"Nope."

"I'm gonna go find someone to hit on, then," he says defiantly, standing. "Have fun."

Mulligan fires a shot into an infected's head. It falls over. "Jesus Christ, they're never ending!" he calls out to his fellow airmen. "Amir, behind you." Lt. Amir Thomas turns and hits an infected approaching him from behind. They've been out here for over an hour, trying to get rid of all the infected. Devon watches from afar. She steadily starts to approach, and Mulligan sees her. He sighs and stops his fire. "What the hell are you doing, Dev?"

“I want to shoot," she says.

"No way, no how. Your dad will shove his foot so far up my ass if he finds out, I'll have toes for teeth, okay?"

"No he won't. Come on, Scottie. Don't be a pussy."

He wags a finger at her. "No, no, no. I'm onto you. I'm not gonna let you emasculate me into giving you a gun."

Devon sighs and puts on her most persuasive voice. Scott sometimes thinks she would've been a lawyer if lawyer's were still relevant in today's world. "Think about it. My dad is kind of an idiot for not letting me use a gun. We live in a world where things that were formerly-people, but still kind of are people, are trying to eat us. Now, doesn't it sound a little crazy that a fully capable, seventeen year old girl isn't able to defend herself? And don't even get my started on the rapists and thieves I won't be able to protect myself from--"

"Okay, okay. Jesus..." He pulls out a handgun and gives it to her. "Go ahead. Shoot."

She stares at the gun. "I...you have to teach me." "You said you just wanted to shoot. So shoot, if you're such a hardass."

Devon suddenly looks nervous. She swallows and says, "Fine." Scott points to an infected to her right. She aims and tries to control her nerves. "Am I holding it right?"

"Don't lock your elbows like that...Good," he instructs.

She fires and the bullet goes straight through the infected's face. They let out a collective "Oh!" and Scott high fives her.

"Nice. You're a natural," Scott says.

"Maybe I should start going on missions and stuff with you guys," Devon suggests.

"Yeah, no. Don't get ahead of yourself. Come on, hit a few more," Scott says. Devon aims and fires, missing mostly, but she a content smiles appears on her face whenever she sees one fall.

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