The Ones Who Remain/Issue 3

This is issue 3 of The Ones Who Remain, entitled: What I Wouldn't Do For You.

Issue 3; What I Wouldn't Do For You
Mike walked forward, not taking his eyes off of Nikki who chatted with Cal & Jared. He's more pissed than anything, for multiple reasons. One, Nikki barely knows how a gun works, two, she doesn't know the routine for supply runners, and three, now he has to worry about her. He didn't know if this could get any worse when...

Brenda steps in his way, putting her hand on his chest. She looks annoyed as well, and Mike already knows what's coming.

"You know the drill." she said, rubbing her temples. "Get in, get out, and hope Nikki doesn't fuck everything up."

"It's fine, I'll keep my eye on her." Mike said, crossing his arms. Brenda only nodded before giving Mike a quick peck on the cheek.

"I love you, Mikey." she said. "Stay safe."

"I will... love you too." he said, before brushing past her, going with the other supply runners, who waited patiently for him.

Nikki was the center of attention with the supply runners, all of them male besides Adrianna, because it was her first supply run. All of these guys were experienced, and were thrilled to see a young gun attempting to help out.

"Never have your finger over the trigger." Jared said, handing her a pistol. "Only when you're in a tight spot, but other then that, don't even bother."

"I got it." she said, smirking and nodding her head as she examined the shiny pistol. "No need for the lecture."

"Alright," Jared said, before turning to the rest of the runners. "Let's move out!"

The group started to make their move, and all filed their way into a big red van. Adrianna sat in the driver's seat, adjusting the rearview mirror, Cal sitting next to her. Mike sat in the back next to the smirking Nikki, who just watches Mike, who looks beyond stress. Jared hung out with a few of the veterans, boasting about one of the runs he went on years ago.

In the front, as the van started to drive, Adrianna paid as much attention to the road as she could, but was still distracted. She kept looking through the rearview mirror at Mike. Cal quickly takes notice, and smiles at her.

"Yo, why you staring at Mike like that?" he asked, to which Adrianna quickly turned her attention back to the road. "Don't act like your not."

"Just, thinking about the past..." she quickly said, offering a smile to Cal.

That answer seemed to suffice for Cal, who sat back in the seat, getting comfortable... but he wasn't done just yet. "What's with the beef between you and Nikki?"

Adrianna turned toward him, and instead of giving him an answer, she just shrugged her shoulders. There was so much history between her and Mike, but she didn't want to get into it right now.

Cal quickly picked up on it, and smiled. He hit a nerve and he knew it... he's not done. He'll stop for now, but, he's going to get to the bottom of it. For some reason he was really interested, he doesn't even know why. But, he let's it go, and closes his eyes... at least for now.

Emma walked along the streets of Livingston, pushing her way through a crowd of people, whom were watching a street fight. She quickly pushed her way to the front, and watched as a big, buff man stood over a scrawny guy, kicking him in the gut. She quickly ran over to them, and jumped in front of the buff dude, attempting to push him back, but he didn't pay much attention to Emma. he continued to kick, no matter how hard Emma tried to push him away. "Break it up you two..." she muttered to them.

It didn't take much longer for another man to come and help her. He quickly pulled away the buff man with all his might, and started to try and calm him down. The man looked back at Emma and nodded. Emma quickly offered a nod and smile of thanks, before turning to the scrawny man, who was still on the ground.

She quickly got on her knees, and looked over the man, before a woman joins her in looking him over.

"What was this about?" Emma quickly asked her. The woman just shrugged her shoulders, obviously not knowing the answer. Emma then turned toward the man who had pulled the buff dude away. "What happened?"

"That skinny mo' fucka dude pissed the big mo' fucka off." the man said. "The fought over some stupid shit, I think the skinny dude fucked his girl or some shit."

"Ok then..." Emma said, before looking back up at the woman. "Can you help me get him to the clinic?"

"Of course." the woman said, and both Emma and the woman proceeded to help the scrawny guy up.

As Emma helped him up, she looked from the woman who was helping her, back to the man. These people were good people. She didn't want to see them all get slaughtered by Echo's men... she needed to think of something, fast.

The van pulled up in front of a large supermarket, and the bodies of men and women who volunteered for the supply run piled out. They quickly disposed of any biters who were in close proximity, and within seconds they were all dispatched.

Jared led a group of eight, Mike & Adrianna included into the super market, while Cal & Nikki stayed back to defend the van. The group from the supermarket then seperated into four groups, and Mike, along with Adrianna went along to the beverage aisle, throwing things in their backpacks as quickly as they could.

"I know this isn't the best time..." Adrianna started, looking at Mike, who simply kept on going. "But, why does Nikki still hate me?"

"I don't know." Mike said, shrugging his shoulders. "No matter how much I try to tell her everything was fixed-- she just doesn't listen to me."

"You think it's jealousy?"

"Jealousy? Why would she be jealous?"

"C'mon Mike, you're probably the worse when it comes to women." she said, offering a playful nudge.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, throwing the backpack around his shoulders.

"She has been giving you so many signs-- it's unbelievable how you haven't picked up on it yet."

"Well, how am I supposed to know! It's not like I was alive before I needed to worry about survival everyday. Like, how old were you when shit hit the fan? Sixteen?"

"I was twelve."

"Ok, see, just when you were hitting puberty. At least you had time to socialize with people your age and to at least from relationships like that. Me? I never got that shit. It's not like we lived in some fancy paradise like Madagascar or some shit. We live in Linvingston, under constant threat from Echo-- fuck, man."

Sensing that his rant was going a little too far, he leaned back against the wall, taking deep breaths. Adrianna simply smiled, and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You really think she's been giving me 'signs'?" Mike quickly asked.

"Only one way to find out, little man." she said, turning toward Jared and another man, who walked toward the two. "Talk to her..."

"Seriously, it's like I can show up at his front doorstep, naked, with a huge sign that says 'Mike, I love you! Why can't you sense that?'" Nikki complained, leaning against the van with Cal, who was smoking a cigarette.

"Damn, that bad, huh?" he asked, looking in the direction of the floor. "Y'know... I wouldn't mind if you showed up naked..."

"Watch yourself," she quickly said, interrupting him. "You wanna get slapped?"

"Wouldn't be the first time." he simply said, shrugging his shoulders. "And of course, I wouldn't do that to my boy, Mikey, of course."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." she said, trailing off. "So, how's your life? Haven't talked in a while."

"It's okay, the old lady still crazy." he said. "Yesterday she found my fucking stash."

"She did...?"

"Yeah, you know how expensive that shit is? Like, goddamn..."

"I still got mine, if you need any." Nikki said, offering a smile.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need some... especially after today. Like, what the fuck is up with those Echo guys? They think they're so special cause they wear fucking designated uniforms... fucking faggots."

"Tell me about it... do you really think we're going to war?"

"Probably, though, it won't be much of a war, let's be honest. We're nothing compared to their army."

"I suppose..."

"Everything will be fine, we just need to make sure we get what they want." he said, forcing a smile to Nikki. But, Cal knew better. They were going to be demolished if they even showed signs of a rebellion-- they just had to get as many supplies as quickly as they could... and everything would be just fine... or at least, that's what he hoped.

Emma sat in her house, alone, a big bottle of scotch in front of her. The cap was off, and the bottle was half-empty. Emma picked up the shot glass which lied in front of her, filled to the brim with scotch, and took the shot. She slammed it on the table, and she spit back up some of the scotch. She hated the taste-- but it helped, with, well, everything.

She peered to her left, where, on the side of the table sat a couple of pictures. She reached over the table, picked them up, and plopped back down in her seat. The first one was a picture if a teenage girl and boy. The two looked very happy, smiling, the girl kissing the boy on the cheek while he laughed. But, the boy was missing an arm.

That was James, Emma's ex-boyfriend, the father of Nikki. After his death, that was when Emma seemingly lost her will to live, even with Nikki on the way.

She then turned to the next picture, which was one of a thirteen year-old Nikki. She was smiling, a rose in her hand, and a dandelion in her hair.

The picture reminded Emma of how much she loved her daughter, how much she'd hate to see her die... she has to find a way to stop Brenda from going to war with Echo.

She poured herself another shot of scotch, and stood up from the table. As she finished in, she dropped it onto the table, and stormed off, determined to stop this.

The van drove down the highway, back on their way to Livingston. Adrianna & Mike sat in the front now, and Mike looked uncomfortably at Nikki, who sat in the back, chatting away with Cal, Jared, and the other guards. He didn't know what to say or what not to say with her, especially knowing how she feels about him.

Adrianna senses the awkwardness from Mike, and simply smiles and laughs to herself. Mike quickly takes notice of this, and turns to her.

"What's so funny?" he asked, as she turned her attention back to the road.

"You're stressing over nothing-- it's cute." she replied, offering a smile.

"I am not stressing..."

"C'mon, Mikey. Just look at yourself, your bent over, holding onto that necklace of yours-- something you only do when your nervous, and your shaking like a cold baby."

"Whatever," Mike said, pretending like he didn't notice nor care what she was talking about. But, he did care, and he did notice how Adrianna could quickly sense the nervousness and stress in him.

"I'm just saying, it's nothing to stress out over." Adrianna said, still smiling. "And if I could tell tha something was wrong that quickly, imagine when Nikki sees you? Boy, she'll be all over you and will interrogate you until you tell her the truth. So, get better at hiding your feelings, boy, or, just come out and say it."

"It's not that I don't like her back, it's just, I see her like a sister-- nothing more. So, I just think it's kinda weird, y'know?"

Adrianna nodded her head, and decided to drop the conversation, which was fine by Mike. He slouched back in his seat, and quickly put his necklace back in his pocket, before closing his eyes...

Brenda sat in her office, with one of her bodyguards. The man stood by her door, tall and mighty-- the man was definitely threatening. Brenda herself went over a list of dossiers. Pretty much, it was a list of survivors in her town, along with a picture.

She had a line of ten of the dossiers in front of her, Jared's included. These were the ten she wanted on the front lines in case she did go through with her plan to attack Echo's soldiers.

She looked over the ten dossiers, they were all men, all big in structure, all capable of handling a weapon. Then behind that list was the second line of soldiers, Adrianna & Cal were included in that one-- Brenda was going all out on this.

Emma stormed into the office, making her way toward Brenda. She slammed her hands down on the desk in front of her, and Brenda could smell the alcohol from where she sat.

Brenda looked toward the bodyguard, who watched her, his grip on a pistol in his back pocket.

"Foster, you can go." Brenda said, motioning to the door.

The bodyguard nodded, and left the room, leaving Brenda with the drunk, yet determined, Emma.

"What's wrong, Emma?" Brenda asked, standing up.

"You need to call off the attack." Emma said, not taking her eyes off of Brenda.

"Nothing is final yet, don't worry, but, if worse comes to worse, and we don't get the supplies we need-- we're gonna have to."

"No. There is no way we can even think about taking them on, and if you put my baby in danger..."

"She's not in any danger, Emma." Brenda quickly reassured. "Again, if worse comes to worse and there is an assault, all the children, elderly, and the weak will be taken into the factory at the edge of town. If we end up losing, a couple of vans will be taken to evacuate them... Nikki will be among them."

"I don't think you're getting the fucking point." Emma muttered, to which Brenda rised. "I don't want to see anyone else die, and with how this is going to end up-- too many will die."

"I get what you're trying to say, but, my mind is made up. I'm sorry."

Emma sighed, before slamming her fist into the table, in anger. She turned away from Brenda, and stormed out of the office, face red, sweating.

Foster, the bodyguard, shuffled back into the room, looking at Brenda, who just sighed, and sat back down.

"Is everything okay, ma'am?" Foster asked, to which Brenda quickly nodded her head.

"If anything happens to me, take care of this place." she said, to which Foster just looked baffled.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"I don't know-- I really don't. I just have a bad feeling." she said, to which Foster nodded, understandingly.

"I'm sure it's just a feeling, ma'am."

"Yeah, thanks." she said, before looking over the dossiers again.

Jared stood in his kitchen, cooking eggs by the stove. Nikki sat behind him at the counter, and Emma sat next to her, looking at Nikki, trying to force a smile, but couldn't get it to come. She was beyond nervous-- she didn't want to go to war, she didn't want to see Nikki die, she didn't wanna see anyone else die...

"Well, Emma, I have to admit, I was really impressed with Nikki on today's supply run." Jared said, turning toward the two, to which Nikki smiled proudly. "I'm serious, I have not seen her kill a thing yet, and, she handled herself well out there. She wasn't nervous, scared, y'know, like most people."

"That's good to hear." Emma said, looking from Nikki to Jared.

"Yeah, so, with your pemission, I'd like to take her out on a couple more runs. Train her, if you will."

"Up to her..." Emma said, looking back at Nikki.

"I'd love to." Nikki said, smiling. "I wanna help out more."

"And, you'd get to hang out with that boyfriend of yours..." Jared teased.

"Not my boyfriend... not yet, anyways." Nikki said, looking back out the window at Mike, who spoke with Brenda and another woman in the streets.

A loud beeping goes off in the house, scaring Nikki, who jumps out of her seat, and Jared only sighed, as Emma looked at Nikki.

"Only smoke alarm, damn thing is broken..." he muttered, before rushing out of the room.

Nikki stood back up, slightly embarrassed before sitting back down next to Emma. Now that Jared was gone, Emma quickly turned toward Nikki, who sat back, trying to get relaxed.

"Nikki..." she started, catching her attention. "Before any of this drama with Echo goes down, I just want you to know something... I love you, and there is nothing I wouldn't do for you... you know that, right?"

"Yes mom..." she said quietly. "I know."

"Good, I love you sweety."

"I love you too."

As the sun set, and the moon rose, all was quiet around Livingston. The only signs of life, were a few teenagers who roamed the streets, a couple of drunk residents, and the guards who sat on top of the walls.

Foster guarded the back wall, a silenced assault rifle in his hands. He was completely stoic, and his sights were set on a biter who roamed toward the wall, aimlessly. Foster raised his gun, and with one quick pull of the trigger, the brain's of the biter flew out of it's head, and it fell to the ground.

"Mind if I join you?" a faint feminem voice calls out to him.

Foster quickly turned around, and saw Emma, who climbed up on the wall, pistol in hand. Foster nodded, his face still stoic. He simply didn't like Emma, she was a drunk, she is only high up in command beause of her past with Brenda... he has no respect for a survivor like that. She wasn't a good leader, wasn't that smart-- at least, she never showed it.

He turned away from her, and looked back out on the road in front of him. Emma moved cautiously next to him, a tight grip on her pistol.

"What brings you out here?" he asked, not paying much attention to her.

Emma quickly brought her gun back behind her head, and, with all her might, hit Foster over the head with it. Foster fell to the ground, inside the perimeter of Livingston, and fell unconscious.

Emma jumped down on the opposite side of the wall and ran off, not looking back.

It took a couple of hours for one of the other guards to come across Foster's unconscious body, and he was immediately rushed to the clinic. It took him even longer to awake, and when he did, Brenda was standing by his side, looking down on him.

"What happened?" she asked. He could see the fear and nervousness in her eyes.

"That Emma cunt attacked me-- I think she jumped the wall." he said, looking from Brenda to the doctor who stood next to me.

"Goddamnit..." Brenda muttered before storming out of the clinic.

Emma stood in the office of Davie, the leader of Echo. He sat at the desk in front of her, and after thoroughly explaining Brenda's plan for attack to him, he sat back in his chair, pondering what to do.

"Ms. Flowers, thank you for this information." he said, still thinking to himself about what he should do.

"I had to." she said, watching him intently. "Now, you promised not to attack them-- I told you this for my daughter, so you'd spare the lives of my people."

"Of course, ma'am." he said, nodding his head. "We'll think of something that does not include the use of violence... again, thank you for the information."

"Of course." she said, nodding her head, before being escorted away by Johnson, an Echo soldier.

As Emma walked away from the office, the feelings of guilt, remorse, anger all consumed her. She wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, or if she just killed all of her people-- but she's hoping it's the former. Only time will tell though, and she knows that all she could do is hope and pray that the lives of Nikki, and the rest of Livingston, were spared.