The Dead World/Issue 78

Sitting in the cupboard, Karen cried her eyes out over her loss while she hugged her knees to her chest, rocking herself gently.

She didn't know what to do, she was alone with an unconscious Angelica with zombies right outside that could possibly just decide to come in at any moment. For once in her entire life since she met Logan...she felt alone.

Looking over to Angelica, Karen reached over on instinct to check her pulse and was relieved to feel that her heart was still beating. That meant she should be waking up soon which made her even more relieved.

She may have used to go on about how she preferred to be alone but really, deep inside. She always needed someone around her, just to let her know...she wasn't the only person still alive.

A little while later, Karen had nearly fallen asleep but was gently shook away from her dreams by the newly awakened Angelica who looked around confused so Karen helped her sit up against the wall being mindful of the bump on Angelica's head.

"do you remember anything of what happened recently?" Karen asked her softly and Angelica nodded but quickly regretted moving her head as a sharp pain went through it so she just kept it still as she spoke.

"yeh, that asshole Bradley smacked me around the face" Angelica stated obviously pissed about that fact which would've made Karen smirk if it wasn't such a bad time. Looking to Angelica, Karen sighed before she told her what else happened.

"turns out our good friend Bradley used a zombie bomb on us and had a whole herd of them hiding in this shopping mall, he then tried to take us down one by one before he must've escaped himself..." Karen said looking to the door, keeping an eye out for zombies.

"god damn it, suppose I better tell you the rest of it" Angelica stated causing Karen to turn back to face her with a raised eyebrow and a confused expression so Angelica continued.

"pretty much as soon as your group got here, Frank wanted you gone. Originally he tried to hire me to "dispose" of you lot while on this run but I refused, he must've hired Bradley instead..." Angelica admitted looking Karen right in the eyes as the woman nodded in response.

"alright well first we got to get out of here and then we can worry about all that later" Karen said helping her up before opening the cupboard door and looking around before turning back to Angelica.

"coast looks clear, lets move" Karen said but just as she was stepping out of the door way, Angelica tugged her sleeve gently causing Karen to turn back and look at her.

"I have a question, how did I wind up getting in the cupboard with you" Angelica asked looking the woman in the eyes but Karen just shrugged and gave her a smile.

"I rescued you" Karen told her before exiting the cupboard leaving Angelica shocked at the fact someone had risked their life to save hers. However she soon broke out of this shock when Karen called for her to hurry up which she soon did.

Running through the woods, Will, Bella and David moved as fast as they could but with zombies appearing from all areas, probably attracted by the gun shots, and them having to carry the bags...it was proving a difficult task.

They also had the problem of having no idea where they were going. Will would've been able to judge the way back to the camp if they wasn't being chased by a load of zombies but as it happened...they were.

"shit they're going to catch up to us" David observed as he carried the heavy bag of handguns and ammo while Will carried the rifles/machine guns bag and sharing a look with Bella, Will could tell she was thinking the same thing as David.

"alright lose the bag!!" Will told David who looked back at him shocked, like he was thinking Will was crazy.

"the fuck? are you legit crazy this bag has all the handguns and ammo you have in it!" David told him but instead of answering Will just sped up and took the bag off of him before chucking it behind the three as they continued running.

"HAD" Will corrected before he turned to see the zombies all surrounding the bag trying desperately to get any food that might be inside, unintentionally giving the three of them a chance while they did.

About half an hour later, the trio had managed to escape the zombie herd and were now resting for a bit, sitting on the floor as they got air into their lungs. However moral wasn't that high in between them.

They had lost all their vehicles, they had lost most of Will's weapons only having 6 handguns, 1 rifle and 1 machine gun now along with Will's crossbow in total. Also to make matters worse, they were in the middle of nowhere.

"want to try and look on the bright side now?" Bella snapped at Will but the man didn't answer, instead he just looked at the ground already blaming himself for what happened. How could he be so stupid?

He knew something was up but he still sent himself and some of his friends on the supply run anyway. Not only did he put their lives at risk but he's also made most of his weapons gone, lost the vehicles, could anything else have gone wrong?

Noticing this, Bella sighed as she gently moved over to him and laid her head on his shoulder. However she didn't say she was sorry, she didn't say it wasn't his fault because she knew that wasn't what he wanted, what he wanted....was someone to be there.

Watching the two interact, David sat in silence as he wished that he was back at camp with his wife and their child. However he didn't know if they'd even make it back at camp this time which made him worry even more...he just wanted to hold them again.

Meanwhile back at camp, Anthony sighed as he looked out past the fence for an unknown reason. Will had him stay behind and not go on the supply run so he could investigate Bradley and his dealings with Frank. However Anthony didn't know where to start.

After a few moments, Anthony sighed as he decided to first check out Bradley's RV and headed over to there, trying not to be suspicious but most probably failing as he shuffled on his feet and nodded/waved to people as he walked along.

Eventually he reaching it, Anthony smiled at his success of not drawing attention. However this smile soon disappeared as he found out the RV door was locked when he tried to open it. Sighing to himself, Anthony tried to look through the windows but the curtains were shut.

Just then he heard a voice which asked what he was doing here which startled Anthony so much that he nearly fell over. Luckily though when he turned around the person was revealed to be Harris, he wouldn't do anything to harm him....

"oh, I'm just, investigating, one of the kids reported a noise" Anthony lied but Harris's look told Anthony he could see through the bullshit.

"your group don't trust Bradley or Frank either, hmm?" Harris asked Anthony gave a small sigh before he nodded, a silent gesture to tell Harris that was indeed the case.

"well you all are right to distrust them, both Frank and Bradley are plotting against you, although everyone else likes you, ok? its just them two" Harris stated and Anthony nodded giving the leader a little smile.

"good to know at least some of the group trust us" Anthony muttered out loud before he leaned into whisper with Harris after the man gestured for Anthony to lean in and listen.

"Angelica came to me yesterday, told me that Frank had asked her to "dispose" of your group, she refused of coarse but I think he's hired Bradley to do it instead" Harris stated and Anthony nodded in agreement with him.

"they'll be fine" Anthony said out loud before he could even begin to have thoughts about what if Bradley had succeeded in killing his friends but Harris just gave him a small smile in response leaving them in silence for a few moments until Anthony finally broke it.

"apart from Angelica, anyone else know about this?" Anthony asked but Harris shook his head in thought before looking Anthony face to face and nodding to him.

"I think we should tell Ricky, he wont want to get involved but if this all goes to hell he'll be the only person who can bring this community back together...he needs to know" Harris stated but before Anthony could respond people were suddenly rushing towards the front gates.

"what's going on?" Anthony asked Doctor Annie who was passing by them and she stopped briefly to tell them.

"Bradley is back on the motorcycle....looks like he's alone" she told them causing Anthony and Harris to share a look.

When Harris, Anthony and Annie reached the front where everyone else had gathered around the motorcycle, the trio did see that Bradley was indeed the only member of the scouting group to have come back before they were joined by Ricky who had a very quick hushed talk with Harris.

However the four of them also noticed at how Frank and Bradley shared a nod and a smirk before turning to everyone else with fake regretful expressions on their faces as they were obviously about to break the worse news Anthony could think of.

"I regret to inform you that the rest of the supply runners haven't made it, we unfortunately came across a too big herd to handle and it became every man for themselves-" Bradley began the speech he had obviously planned but Anthony soon cut him off.

"LIAR" Anthony claimed stepping forward before any of the other three could stop him, leaving them to watch in shock and dismay as Anthony faced off with Bradley.

"excuse me?" Bradley asked with a face of disgust as he looked over Anthony "what is that meant to mean?" he asked but Anthony ignored him as he pointed the finger at Bradley.

"you and Frank planned to get rid of my friends because you didn't like them, who did you get rid of first, Logan? you didn't like him much did you?" Anthony spat and Bradley growled quickly getting angry at Anthony but he tried to remain his cool.

"now, now. I know your upset over their deaths but please don't blame me for their depar-" Bradley started but again Anthony interrupted him, this time with a punch to the face.

This caused Bradley to clutch his bleeding nose before growling at Anthony and launching forward and tackling Anthony to the ground and soon before anyone could do anything they had got into a fist fight.

Many tried to stop the two fighting but all they would get was a kick in the arm or leg by accident so they all decided to stay out of it as they both battled for the upper hand, pissed off at each other.

However this soon ended when Lily came to Anthony's aid and kicked Bradley hard in the balls causing him to roll over in pain before Emily done the second kick in the same area leaving Bradley in a lot of pain, although the three soon regretted their actions.

"SEE!!! this group is violent, their little girl has a knife and they are stealing some of our supplies" Frank said much to the shock of everyone even Harris and Anthony's allies.

"what do you mean stealing?" Harris asked stepping forward towards Frank but the man just chuckled and shook his head.

"don't pretend you don't know Harris, you help them after all" Frank continued and the two shared a look of hatred for each other while most of the residents began booing at the lesbians, Harris, Anthony and Maria.

"who agrees we should have new leadership?!!" Frank asked everyone and nearly everyone cheered Frank's name as they were completely unaware that the man was in fact lying. Apart from the "accused" Harris, Anthony, the lesbians and Maria, only Annie, Ricky and Jamie weren't cheering....