World of Anarchy/Chapter 25

This is Chapter 25 of World of Anarchy entitled: No Matter What

Chapter 25 – No Matter What
2007. “What...what do you mean you didn't make the appointment with the therapist?” David asked Jim's mom over the phone as he walked out into the streets. “But you left me a note earlier—Before Jim and I left to go to the prom king and queen voting—And you told me I had to go meet the therapist before coming back—Wait. What do you mean you didn't leave a note?”

He listened to Jim's mom as he walked away from the therapists office and toward Jim's home. She explained to him that she didn't leave him a note earlier and never set up an appointment with any therapist. He remembered clearly that she did though. He couldn't think of anyone else who would. Except for maybe Jayden.

As he listened to Jim's mom speak to him and contemplated whether or not Jayden was the one who actually left him the note, three men suddenly appeared in front of him out of nowhere. He stopped dead in his tracks and quickly examined each of the men. The one in the middle looked somewhat older and wore a dark coat and hat. The one on the right wore a tattered brown coat and a wild look in his eyes. The last one on the left wore a hood that covered most of his face.

“I have to call you back.” David told Jim's mom as he hung up. He sensed something was going to happen, but he didn't know what.

“It's been awhile, David.” The man in the middle with the almost hypnotic voice said.

“Do I...know you?” David asked arcing one eye brow.

The man laughed. “My apologies. I forgot the last time I saw you you were a baby. You and Ms. Burch. My name is Garland.” He said extending his hand out.

David didn't take his hand however. An uneasy feeling began to form in his stomach. The whole thing felt too weird, especially the part about him seeing him when he was a baby.

“Alright then.” Garland said returning his hand beside him.

David consider making some excuse but something donned on him. “You...knew me when I was a baby?”

“Of course. You father, Zachery, and I were good friends. Grew up in the same town.”

The man with the wild eyes and tattered clothes stepped forward and stared straight into David's eyes. “Yeah, he's definitely the one,” The man said turning to look at Garland. “I can feel the conflict running in his veins.”

“Look,” David said as tried to formulate his excuse in his head. “I have to get home—Homework and stuff I got to do—Plus my friend's family will be worried if I'm out to long so...” He said as he maneuvered around them, but Garland grabbed his arm tightly and held him in place. He stared at David a few moments before releasing him.

“Do it now.” Garland said looking to the hooded man. David turned just in time to see the hooded man place his hand on David's forehead. For a second there was nothing, then a white hot searing pain began to form in his head. He didn't even have time to react before his vision whited out.

Present Day “Hey, David, you alright bud?”

David slowly opened his eyes to see Riley and Leo above him. He was lying on the ground of the store that he had heard the music from earlier. As sat up and rubbed his head the memories of the dream he just had about Garland came flooding back. He didn't remember that memory before today, so why did he remember it now? What really stuck out to him though was that The Hooded Man was in the memory with Garland and the other guy. He had met The Hooded Man before the outbreak and hadn't remembered it until now. Not only that but this Garland guy knew Teresa. At least that was who he assumed by the name Burch. Had he repressed the memory, or simply forgotten it? The more he tried to remember about his past, the more he realized he couldn't. Like there were gaps in his mind.

“You okay?” Riley asked waving her hand in front of his face.

“Yeah—Yeah. What...what happened?” He said rubbing his temple.

“Well—You took off once we heard that creepy fuckin' music playin' and made it here before us. We heard you screamin' your head off when we got here, then the lights went out and back on and...well you were lyin' on the floor as silent as a mouse.”

“Oh...” He said looking around the store expecting to hear the music playing again but it didn't.

“I think it's time we brought you back to camp. We got enough supplies for now.” Riley said helping him to his feet.

Teresa's POV “There...” She said as she sat back and stared at the grave.

She had just finished burying Amber's belongings. It felt only right to bury them because they could bury her body. The thought of Amber roaming around out there as one of those monsters made her sick to her stomach. The added fact that there was nothing she could do about it killed her inside. She then grabbed the necklace around her neck and simply stared down at it.

“Umm,” Chris' voice from behind her said. “Are you okay, Teresa?”

“Yeah.” She said looking up at him then back down to the cross.

He sat in the grass beside her and stared at Amber's grave maker. They sat for a few minutes, no one saying a word, until Chris finally broke the silence.

“Are you mad at me?” He asked much to her surprise.

“Mad? Why would I be mad at you?”

“Because David chose to save me instead of Amber. I thought you might...blame me or something.”

“I don't blame you.” Teresa said looking back down at her cross.

“But you blame David, right?”

Teresa paused for a second before answering. “I don't...blame him.” She admitted, though she did blame someone. She blamed herself. If only she hadn't gotten captured. Then Amber would still be with them alive and well, and she and her could start rebuilding their relationship. But no.

“But you haven't talked to him since that night.”

“It's complicated, Chris.” She said, not wanting to explain anymore of the sore subject.

They sat in silence again for awhile until Chris spoke again. “I just realized something.” He said to her.

“What?”

“David kind of...killed I guess, one of each of our family members.”

“And we kinda killed one of his.” Teresa said as the guilt of her and David leaving without Jim and Jackie came rushing back to her. She hadn't thought about leaving them behind in a long time. Then she thought about how David must of felt leaving them behind and couldn't help but compare it to how she was feeling now.

“Oh yeah...” Chris said. “...why...why do you think he chose to get us out of the city and not, you know, keep looking for that Jim guy?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but realized she didn't know how to. Why didn't David decide to keep looking for Jim, the closest thing he had to family, and not escape the city with a kind-of friend and child he just met? She knew if it was her, she would have stopped at nothing to go find Amber. “I...I'm not sure.”

David's POV They returned to the camp with everything that they had gathered on the run, which surprisingly was a lot more than they usually managed to bring back. He handed his backpack to Leo as the Chris, Emily and Claire, Abby, Teresa, and Omid, who left after taking some food for him and Jane, came up to greet them. He could feel Teresa's eyes on him but avoided them and walked to his tent.

“You're not eatin'?” Leo asked him.

“No. I'm just...going to lie down for a while.” He said as he quickly entered his tent so no one could convince him to eat.

He sighed and collapsed to his “bed” face first. He wanted to see if sleep would bring anymore of the memories he couldn't remember up. At least that was his excuse for not going to eat with the others. Really he just couldn't face Teresa. He rolled over onto his back and stared above him for a few minutes until sleep over came him.

Emily's POV She tilted the bottle in her hand just enough so that Emily could eat it and not suffocate. Almost everyone else had finished their dinner and had left. Everyone except for Abby, Riley, and herself.

“Can I ask you a question?” Riley asked her as she dug her spoon into the can of beans she had been eating.

“Sure.” Emily said with a shrug. “What?”

“Why are you always the one taking care of Claire? There are other people here that can help out you know.”

“I...have to.” Emily said simply. “Her mom...we were friends. And now...I just have to protect Claire. For Victoria. No matter what.”

“You and Victoria were close?”

Emily nodded. “She used to watch me after school, and we were together when everything happened. And together after everything happened.”

“Well,” Riley said as she placed her can of beans down. “I'm sure she'd be happy that you're looking after her kid.”

“So how far are we from Rapid City?” Abby asked out of the blue.

“Not far now.” Riley said with a smile. “If we keep on going on like this, I'd say we'd bee there in...about a week.”

“A week!?” Emily said as excitement took over her face. “That's it!? We're really almost there!?”

“Ha, ha, ha, yeah, we are.”

Emily looked to Abby, expecting to see the same expression her face that was on her and Riley's face but saw the same indifferent look that Abby always seemed to have.

“Oh come on. Lighten up a little.” Riley said pushing Abby a little. “You should be happy. Not all teenage-y.”

“Why should I be happy?”

“What do ya mean “Why should I be happy”? We're about to be able to get back to our normal lives. No more scavenging for food, watching out for those fucking bandits, or even having to deal with infected every day. Once we get there you'll get to go back to school and have friends.”

“School? Friends? If the people at my school were assholes before the apocalypse what exactly would make them any better now?” Abby scoffed.

“Well...” Riley began. “Aren't you just a little bucket of joy.”

Chris' POV “Penny?” Chris asked as he peeked into her tent only to find she wasn't there.

They had made plans to read a book Leo brought back after a supply run after dinner, but he couldn't find her anywhere. Just as he was about to call out her name he heard someone talking not to far away. He craned his head to get a better listen. It was Penny. She was talking to someone not too far away from the tent. As he walked away from the tent he could make out Penny's figure a few feet ahead.

She was sitting at the base of a tree with her back turned to him. He stopped dead in his tracks once he was only a few feet away. He could of swore that she had heard her speaking with someone but no one else was there. But she was talking.

“Umm...Penny?” He asked.

“Huh?” She said as she turned to look at him. “Oh, hi, Chris.”

“Who...who are you talking to?” He asked taking another look around to make sure he hadn't overlooked someone, but in the night it was almost impossible to tell.

“My mom.” Penny said simply.

“Your...mom?” He asked giving her a quizzical look. “But your mom...she's dead.”

A hurt look flashed across her face. “I know.”

This only confused Chris more. “Hey, it's, erm, getting kinda late. Maybe we should go to sleep. I'll walk you back to your tent.” He said wanting to get her away from the area as soon as possible.

“Sure.” She said getting up and grabbing his hand as they began to walk away. Chris took one last look behind him and shook off the creepy feeling he had gotten over there before returning to his own tent.

Credits

 * David Andrews
 * Teresa Burch
 * Chris Collins
 * Leo
 * Penny
 * Omid
 * Abby
 * Emily Jayden
 * Riley Mercer
 * Claire
 * The Hooded Man
 * Garland

Deaths

 * None