The Dead World/Issue 76

Things were much better around camp lately, Frank observed as people were having beers, joking and having fun, as well as hanging around with the new group. This made Frank disappointed.

He was trying to get rid of this new group and now everyone was starting to love them, even Angelica had joined in on the fun and was talking with them. For some reason Frank felt betrayed.

Shoving his hands in his pockets in an attempt to get warmer, Frank looked up at the darkening sky, they all knew it was the first days of winter now. They all didn't know what to expect, they knew what winter was like, but what was it like during an apocalypse?

Shaking his head of these thoughts Frank was about to walk off to his RV until he noticed something.

Standing a little away from everyone else like he was, was Bradley one of the guards here. That wasn't what stood out, what did stand out was he was looking quite angry at the new group just like he was.

Grinning, Frank walked up to the man and quickly got his attention as Bradley soon put his cigarette out but before he could apologize, Frank held up his hand for Bradley to be silent...which he did.

"do you like this new group?" Frank bluntly asked and like he expected, Bradley shook his head causing Frank to grin even more.

"well how would you like to get rid of them?" Frank asked and Bradley's grin told Frank his answer was yes.

"what's your plan?" Bradley asked and Frank looked around to make sure no one was looking before he pulled Bradley around the corner of the RV.

"I hear your going on Angelica's supply run tomorrow...."

Sitting alone, away from everyone else, Jamie observed as everyone was sitting around joking and drinking either beers or water. Annie had attempted numerous times to get him to come and join everyone but every time she would get the same answer, no.

Sighing as he looked down at his drawing, he pondered what part he was going to do next. He'd decided to do a little drawing of a dragon but the problem was off of the top of his head he was rubbish at drawing, he preferred to have something to look at.

"nice drawing" he heard a female voice say and on instinct Jamie covered up the book and looked up to see the pretty woman, Karen from earlier smiling down at him and behind her he could see Annie from a distance smiling at him, he knew she had sent Karen over...

"don't hide it, I think its lovely" she said pouting as she came and sat down next to him much to his discomfort.

"w-what do you w-want" Jamie stuttered out rudely making her eyes widen in a little shock but she brushed it off and just sat closer to him still smiling.

"to talk to you" she said softly but he shook his head shoving the drawing book back in his bag.

"b-bullshit, p-pretty girls never want to talk t-to me" Jamie stated not even bothering to hide the rudeness in his voice but again Karen brushed it off and instead pretend to be blushing.

"awww you think I'm pretty?" Karen asked and this time Jamie blushed as he had been caught out but he still nodded just wishing she would go away but she wouldn't.

"whatever, I-I know, A-Annie sent you o-over" Jamie said but surprisingly Karen just shrugged.

"so what?" Karen asked and realizing she wasn't going to go away, Jamie sighed as he bowed his head getting the book out of his head and passing it to her.

"t-there, go ahead and l-laugh" Jamie said but as she looked through the book her reaction was the complete opposite.

She was shocked, she saw the "dragon drawing" was good when she looked over but the rest of his drawings? he could've been an artist if the world hadn't ended.

"these are amazing!" Karen exclaimed looking to him and this time he looked towards her with a genuine happy expression.

"r-really?" Jamie asked surprised and she nodded smiling as she gently turned the pages knowing how rare it was to get paper these days.

"I-I have more I-if you want to take a l-look" Jamie stated and she nodded a bright smile on her face as she spoke "I'd like that".

From the little "campfire" they had in the middle of camp, Annie smiled as she watched Jamie finally talking with someone different from her.

Watching from his RV, Harris saw that everyone was having a good time and smiled at that fact. He was glad that the new group was bringing "the life" back to his little community.

The truth was that before the group got here, the community was getting a bit low on moral due to not seeing new people for a while but now they were here it seemed Harris wouldn't have to deal with that problem for now and he could focus on winter which was starting.

Hearing a knock on his RV door, Harris walked away from the window and opened it surprised to see Angelica standing there looking apologetic before he moved aside so she could come in, which she did.

"look I wanted to apologize for my actions earlier, sir" Angelica said and Harris chuckled patting her back before he walked away to his desk, sitting down at it as he looked through his draws.

"what did I tell you Angelica, you can call me Harris, we are friends aren't we?" Harris asked and she nodded giving him a small smile, sitting down on the chair opposite him when he gestured for her to.

"although I gather you've come here for a lot more than to say that" Harris said as he offered a bit of wine which she took, taking a sip as she nodded in response to his statement.

"promise to keep it to yourself and not confront him about it sir?" Angelica said putting down her glass of wine as he raised an eyebrow at her sipping his before he put it down on the desk.

"depends on how serious it is" Harris stated leaning forward so Angelica could tell him whatever it was.

"Frank came to me earlier, saying he didn't like the new group" Angelica told him and he nodded gesturing for her to continue.

"well he knew I didn't like them and he offered me a deal, take some of them on the run and...dispose of them" Angelica said waiting as Harris took in a long breath shocked, knowing he'd believe her.

He did believe her, she was his most trusted friend after all, but Frank wanting to kill the new group? this was shocking....

"what do we do?" Harris asked out loud, more to himself as he sat back in his chair while Angelica just sat patiently in her chair.

"we cant stop the new group from going on the run because it will be suspicious and we cant just kick Frank out, most of what we have depends on him" Harris continued and Angelica nodded in agreement.

"alright" Harris said after a few moments of silence, gesturing for her to lean in close so he could whisper which she did.

"I'll keep an eye on Frank and I want you to keep an eye out for anyone that might be working for him, is that ok?" Harris asked and Angelica nodded in response before getting up.

"will do" she stated but just as she turned around and was about to walk away he grasped her sleeve causing her to turn around and look at him. His face looking up at her worried.

"and be careful on this supply run will you?" Harris asked personally causing her to smile at him, a genuine smile.

"I will" she assured him.

Setting her baby gently in his crib, Lori hummed a child's song as she gently rocked him to sleep before leaving him silently, turning when she heard the RV door open and saw her husband and the "community sheriff" David walk in.

"shhhh" she went as she held her finger to her lips smiling before she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, gently pressing her lips to his in a sweat kiss while he wrapped his hands around her waist.

"how was your day?" Lori asked helping him out of his jacket before going to their small kitchen to get him a beer as he sat down on their bed.

"boring as usual" David responded with a smile before he took the beer gratefully and drunk it, pulling her close to him which she accepted.

"although, that new group did bring a load of supplies back, put the spirit of the camp up" David whispered to her kissing neck in a loving gesture.

"yeh, I noticed..." Lori responded but the way she said it made David raise an eyebrow and turn her so they was looking at each other face to face.

"what's the matter?" David asked her and she sighed turning to look away from him before answering.

"I don't trust them, their little girl has a knife!!" Lori exclaimed causing David to sigh in turn as he pulled her so they were laying on the bed together.

"that's only for her own protection Lori" David tried to convince her but she shook her head and just looked up at him.

"just promise you'll be careful on this next run, ok?" Lori asked and David gave her a small nod promising to watch his back as he kissed her forehead.

He didn't understand why she didn't trust this new group so much but he did know that he would do anything in his power to make sure he would get back to her from the supply run.

Standing at the fence as night fell over the camp, Will took a drag of his cigarette. He wasn't on watch but he just couldn't sleep in the tent, never mind how much he tried so he had decided to come out side and get some fresh air.

However hearing some people approach he turned to see Logan and Anthony who quickly joined Will by the fence as the two exchanged a greeting. Despite the peaceful night, Will could tell something was wrong.

"what's the matter?" Will asked sighing as he knew he wasn't going to like this and as it happened, he wouldn't.

"Anthony doesn't trust the Bradley guy and he also saw him talking with the Frank guy a little suspiciously earlier" Logan answered Will since Anthony was too busy shifting on his feet to answer.

"you didn't hear what they were talking about?" Will asked Anthony who shook his head leaving them in silence for a minute before Anthony spoke up.

"no but they were looking around to make sure no one was watching them and it was in hushed whispers" Anthony said quietly like he was trying not to draw any attention, although most of everyone was asleep.

"alright, we'll keep an eye on them, ok?" Will asked the two and they both nodded in response so Will continued "and whatever you do watch your backs, we lost enough people already".

They both couldn't help but agree with that statement....