The Dead World/Issue 20

"this group needs a leader,a proper one....without one, its going to fall apart" 

Karens words echoed throughout Will's mind as he thought about them. He knew she was right but what could he do about it, he wasnt a leader...never was. Sighing to himself, Will took a final drag of his cigarette after what seemed like forever before putting it out and beginning to walk back to the motel.

Will never liked being in charge or having to step up in anyway but at the moment it was looking like he had no choice. Stopping, Will looked around the motel at the different members of the group doing things to keep their minds busy but he didnt see any sign of Connor and Will began to wonder where the man had gone.

However his thoughts went away when he heard a door open beside him and out stepped Anthony who looked like he'd been doing exactly what Will had....thinking.

"you good?" Will asked out of nowhere making Anthony jump slightly and look around before he realised Will was right next to him and sighed with relief.

"you scared the shit outta me man" Anthony stated and Will chuckled.

"I noticed" Will stated in response before getting serious again "I asked whether you was good? you look like you've been thinking about stuff?" Will asked him curiously and Anthony nodded.

"yeh, look I dont need to tell anyone else, I already shouted it out to pratically everyone" Anthony stated annoyed with himself and Will suddenly remembered hearing him shouting about how he'd left the gate open and Will understood.

"look -" Will started but Anthony cut him off.

"stop, I dont need to hear the it isn't your fault shit again" Anthony stated but Will shook his head.

"I wasn't going to say that, in fact by the sounds of it, it IS your fault" Will stated resulting in Anthony looking confused at him "I know exactly what your going through, before all this started I was a gunnery sergeant....there was this one time I was in charge of a squad, they were good men" Will said trying not to get lost in the memories that suddenly came flooding back.

"I led them right into a trap, they all died" Will told him while Anthony listened "and that WAS my fault, but you cant hang about on the past or you'll wind up doing the same in the future, YOU made a mistake, YOU caused it all...so what? now you know what NOT to do next time" Will told him.

"I aint telling you to just forget about it and move on...but I am telling you to keep your focus on here and now, ok?" Will asked him and Anthony nodded.

"yeh...i'm good" Anthony stated and the two men shared a smile before Will spoke up again.

"by the way can you do something for me?" Will asked and Anthony looked curiously at him.

"what is it?" Anthony asked and Will sighed, he didnt want to make the man do this but Anthony was the best man to do the job.

"can you keep an eye on Connor, make sure he doesnt...do anything?" Will asked and Anthony thought about if for what felt like a while before answering.

".....ok" Anthony answered

Laying down on her bed, Bella was lost in her thoughts about many different things but mainly the leadership of the group. She knew that the group wasnt expecting her to remain a leader like she'd been before but she didnt like feeling like she was useless.

She'd been leader for so long when they arrived at the motel she had no idea what she would do, job wise and now her brother was dead and everyone didnt want her to do anything but rest, however she WANTED to do something...she needed to, to get her mind off of things.

Sighing to herself, Bella got of the bed and looked around her room, she would've had a shower but none of them or the toilets were working. She tried going asleep but it didnt work, she only pictured her brother's face when she closed her eyes.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door making her jump slightly before she shook herself out of it and headed over to said door and opening it, finding herself face to face with Natasha who was standing there looking Bella over quickly to make sure she wasnt intruding but Bella was actually thankful for something to take up her mind.

"hey, sorry I wanted to come and check up on you see how your doing" Natasha said giving Bella a smile which Bella returned with a small one before moving aside to allow Natasha in which she accepted and walked inside the room.

"its ok and i'm fine, just lost in my thoughts is all" Bella said before sitting down on her bed "actually i'd like to take my mind off of it for a while" Bella said looking up to Natasha who smiled and sat down next to Bella.

"well, there is something else I wanted to ask you" Natasha said and Bella looked curiously at her so Natasha continued "well.... I mean I know how to use one..." Natasha said slightly shy about what she was saying.

Bella however didnt have any clue what the woman was going on about "what do you mean know how to use one?" Bella asked her and Natasha laughed a little before bringing out of her pocket her colt detective special.

"a gun, I know how to use one but well....i'm not very good" Natasha stated and Bella resisted a laugh as she finally got what Natasha meant.

"so what you was going to ask me to teach you?" Bella asked her giving a small teasing smile and Natasha blushed slightly in embarissment.

"yeh, could you?" Natasha asked her looking up to Bella who gave a little laugh.

"sure, just let me know when you want me too" Bella stated and Natasha nodded giving a grateful smile.

"ok" Natasha said before looking around at the room "now, what to do to occupy your mind?" Natasha asked and the two woman let out laughs with eachother.

Pacing his room, Connor held in his anger before he shouted out and kicked a metal bin over and sitting on his bed, head in hands. He was getting annoyed on how people were turning on him and he couldnt think of anything he could do about it, but he knew he needed to do something.

Getting up he went to the window and looked outside, watching as the old couple and them kids Aiden and Faith were sitting in a circle chatting about something he didnt know about but something in his head told him that it was him they were going on about causing him to get angrier.

However a knock on the door pushing the thoughts out of his head and turning slightly so he could see who was at the door, Connor noticed Josh was currently leaning against the door drunkingly knocking it and Connor sighed again, the last person he wanted to talk to was Josh.

Moving to the door, Connor opened it slowly to make sure Josh didnt fall into his room and make a complete mess. Looking at the man, Connor tried to hide his disgust as it was obvious Josh had drunk a LOT more than he usually does.

"you know....I noticed something" Josh stated and Connor raised an eyebrow at the drunk as he pushed his way into the room leaving Connor to close the door behind him.

"before, it was just me these people looked at in disgust but NOW.... they look at you in the same way, your a monster to them and whether you like it or not, we are both the same" Josh said and Connor glared at him as Josh walked around the room, oblivious to the glaring.

"I am nothing like you" Connor said as calm as possible but Josh just laughed before turning to him.

"yeh, yeh of coarse you aren't, anyway I came up with this idea, you and me right, we steal all the supplies we can carry and leave this place, I know that guy Will's truck is full of guns and supplies in the back...maybe we should steal them" Josh said while Connor just looked at him and was about to tell him to fuck off but just as he opened his mouth a plan formed in his head.

"you know Josh....I think I have an idea" Connor said giving the man a grin.

Walking away from the old couple after excusing themselves, Aiden and Faith laughed at their own joke as they headed to their rooms that conviently were next together and when she thought of this, Faith leaned to Aiden's ear and whispered something causing Aiden to blush and Faith to laugh again at his reaction.

However Aiden stopped causing Faith to be confused and following his gaze she saw him looking at Bella worridly and smiled at how nice he was before pushing him slightly in Bella's location and Aiden understood "meet you in your room, ok?" Aiden asked her and she giggled a "Ok" as she walked off leaving Aiden to walk over to Bella who instantly heard him approach and turned to look at him.

"ma'am I wanted to say sorry...about me telling the group what happened to Tyral, if I hadnt told them that guy Josh wouldnt have thought Tyral was vulnerable to....death" Aiden said looking down at his shoes shyly and Bella gave him a small smile before patting his shoulder.

"he was already dead I just didnt want to accept it, you had NOTHING to do with his death Aiden" Bella spoke softly causing him to look up and smile at her feeling better that she didnt blame him.

"now go on, I can see Faith is....waiting for you" Bella said causing Aiden to blush and nod.

"yes ma'am" he said and turned around beginning to head over to Faith's room but stopped when he heard her voice again.

"and Aiden" Bella called resulting with him to turn and look at her confused but she just gave another smile.

"I aint that old, so please dont call me ma'am" Bella said and Aiden chuckled nervously giving a nod before continuing his walk towards Faith's room.

Sitting on a deck chair opposite Connor's room, Anthony was doing as he was told by Will, keeping watch on Connor and noticed how Connor hadnt come out of his room for a while. Unusual, Anthony thought to himself, he knew that Connor usually came out for a walk around about now.

Curious, Anthony got up from his chair and headed towards the room's window before looking through hoping Connor didnt spot him, however Connor wasnt even in the room getting Anthony even more confused as he could've sworn he saw both Connor and Josh in the room.

Soon though he noticed the back window was open and curiosity took over him as he walked around the side of the building and exited the gate making some excuse to everyone he was going for a walk before heading over to the spot where Connor's room window was at and noticed a trail of trambled leafs resulting in Anthony coming to the conclusion the two had gone out of the window and headed into the forest which made him confused but Anthony followed the trail anyway.

It didnt take much walking before he heard Connor and Josh's voices and keeping low, Anthony soon saw Connor and Josh walking through the forest, Josh in front.

"so remind me again why we're walking through the forest?" Josh asked Connor keeping his back turned to the man as he walked.

"we want to find a path in between the motel and where we make camp so we can come back and steal more supplies and if we were to do that through the roads, the group would see us coming but not in the forest" Connor explained and Anthony was shocked at what they were planning, however the shock then was nothing compared to what he was about to witniss.

"ah ok" Josh said before laughing to himself "you know, if you had told me that us two were gonna wind up working together, I would've called you a pshyco" Josh said laughing more but Connor didnt find it funny.

"yeh...." Connor said quietly making Josh turn around about to ask what Connor had just said but before he could open his mouth a gunshot ringed throughout the forest as Josh was shot straight in the face before falling to the forest floor as Connor put his pistol back in its holster.

During this, Anthony just looked in shock as he watched Connor stand over Josh's body before bringing up his foot and crushing Josh's head repeatedly making Anthony feel like he was going to be sick but he held it in until Connor was finally done letting out his anger.

"sorry bud.... I needed to prove i've got the group's best intentions in mind and quite frankly....somebody had to do the hard thing and no other fucker was gonna step up" Connor said copying what Josh had said previously to justify his killing of Tyral.

"it just.....needed to be done"