The Mission

Saying goodbye to Jack, Jeremy headed out on a mission to help Lexi, he knew that the pharmacy would be the biggest risk and reward, but since the sun was going down he didn’t want to risk another battle, especially since everyone was exhausted and wasn’t focus enough to the goal. Everyone was either focusing on their own survival or Gary’s death. Alexander was one of the people who was affected by the news. Dude didn’t look the same after that, he also told me about Jack and how fierce he looked that night. All I know is that Jack, whether he likes it or not he’s the leader and Jeremy was tasked with finding medicine for an ally in need.

 

He still had the gun that he found earlier in the day and forgot to give it to Jack, Jeremy figured that he would only use it only for emergency. Looking at the rising sun Jeremy hopped that he wouldn’t need to use it for an emergency because the zeds love to come out at night because who knows why? All Jeremy knew was one shot from the gun is like ringing the dinner bell and that by then it would probably be too late. He unclipped the magazine and counted the bullets, there are five bullets and about two more could fit in the magazine if Jeremy ever finds more.

 

Looking through houses after houses, they all looked the same. Something smells in one room, dust waking up in the air making it hard to breathe and the occasional dead person trying to sink their teeth into Jeremy’s flesh. Jeremy was too focus on the goal that he didn’t feel any fear or stress when it came with the undead. Just stab in the head with his knife and continue on quietly.

 

It was then that Jeremy found an antique shop that caught him off guard. Jeremy was confused as to why there was a shop in a small town and knew that there wouldn’t be any medicine there but he still had to look in case there was. The shop had the word antique in big letters on the front and the windows were still intact and were even reinforce with wooden boards. Jeremy tried to pull onto the wood to see how loose it was but when he tried to remove the board, it didn't even budge, not even a squeak that old planks make when the weather wears them down.

 

There was a secret rule when scavenging supplies and that was if something was locked away then there was something worth value and medicine is one of the most valuable things that Jeremy could find right now. Looking around the shop Jeremy was trying to find something to pry off the planks but didn’t find anything that would prove useful. Getting angry with his results Jeremy was about to punch the planks when he realized that if he did that he would alert others of his present and that would really suck for Jeremy because at the moment his vision is already bad enough as it can be.

 

Jeremy was going to look around again but something caught his attention. Someone or something moved past him, almost pushing Jeremy down, not knowing what it was Jeremy drew his knife and tried to locate the mysterious figure. Jeremy focused on not just his eyes but his ears, every breath he heard belonged to the infected elsewhere, roaming freely, hunting their next dinner. None was what Jeremy was looking for, though. He tried to focus harder, but his focus was broken when he heard something charges at him. He tried to slash at the thing that was approaching him and succeeded but wasn’t able to do serious damage before he was pinned to the ground.

 

He heard something click and something cold was pressed on his head and he heard a girl’s voice saying, “Who are you and why the hell are you breaking into our armory?”  Jeremy tried to break free but knew that he wasn’t going to break free so he knew he had to comply or else something bad was going to happen. Jeremy told the mysterious girl about Lexi and her sickness, he apologized for trying to break in. Jeremy was glad that it was night time because his cheeks were getting warm and he didn’t want her to know this. Jeremy could figure out that it was only one person nearby so he wasn’t outnumbered, he wondered who’s faster if he had the chance to run but Jeremy knew that she would follow him so he knew running was not an option.

 

Jeremy felt foolish getting defeated in his own playstyle but he had to not show emotion, especially right now. He shows the girl any weakness she will abuse it until it destroys him, he feels that the girl is reducing weight on his back but he still felt the cold object on his head so he knew that everything was as peachy as it seems. “Up” the girl said, Jeremy slowly got to his feet but he knew that he wasn’t safe, he knew that the girl was armed with her own weapon and now his knife. He was screwed if she thought otherwise. Trying to come up with an idea, the girl lowered her weapon and said, “follow me, if I sense that your trying to run I will kill you, understand?” Jeremy nodded his head and the girl led Jeremy to a house that was a couple of houses away from the antique shop or the “Armory” that the girl called it.

 

The way she was leading Jeremy, he could see a little bit of what she looks like. She was wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood down, the hood looks like it would cover her face in case she needs to stay invisible. Like him. She was also wearing a beanie and it looks like a character was on it or used to be on it since the color faded out and it looks like a glob of color. Most of her clothing was black so Jeremy couldn’t see much but it made him wonder, was she like Jeremy? Close to getting to the building that she was leading him to Jeremy finally realize what her weapon was, it was a handgun. It was very similar to the gun that Jeremy found. Thinking about the gun Jeremy slowly patted himself and could feel the gun hidden next to his left hip, it was in between the cloak and the shirt under it. She must’ve not have felt it. The fact that Jeremy had a card up his sleeve made him feel a little bit comfortable then when he was on the ground.

 

Jeremy had fired guns before but wasn't fond of the noise, especially during the apocalypse. He had spent time with his uncle during the summer and his uncle is, some would say, interesting. He never went to war but he acted like a soldier of war, when Jeremy was young he suspected his uncle to be a spy of some sort because he was given medals to the government. He would never agree or disagree with the thought but he did always smile and wink every time Jeremy brought the subject up. His uncle was the one to teach Jeremy how to be quiet and learn about everything. Unlike Alexander, Jeremy wanted to learn more about the art of stealth.

 

Now, in this situation, his uncle would laugh at him, but with the secret card up his sleeve, Jeremy felt that he could make the situation turn out in his favor. Once he felt that he was getting close to where the girl was taking him he asked, "Who are you?" She didn't turn around when she said, "Doesn't matter right now, if she believes your story, then I'll tell you who I am." I responded, "She?" She didn't say anything else after that because she stopped and pointed to a building that looks to be like a small warehouse. "That's where your going. The gang knows that your coming so I'd hurry up if I were you or else they would suspect you an enemy." She didn't allow Jeremy to ask another question when she went on ahead of Jeremy. He figured that he shouldn't wait for the red carpet and caught up with the girl as they both entered the warehouse.

 

The inside looked like a warehouse and Jeremy didn't expect a lot of people here, but here he was looking at about twenty people, all ages and sizes, including a girl standing next to a debate looking pedestal and two people wielding weapons. They were all looking at Jeremy. The cloaked girl that escorted Jeremy here walked up to the girl next to the pedestal and gave her a piece of paper for the girl, who Jeremy suspected to be the leader, to read and the leader smiled and said something to the girl in the cloak. The girl in the cloak looked at me and signaled me to approach and as I walk up, everyone in the crowd began to back away from Jeremy. His nerves were shooting up warnings and as he walked closer to the leader the more his hands threaten to shake.

 

Once Jeremy got close enough the leader held up her hand to signal him to stop, he obeyed and then the girl spoke. "Ladies and gentlemen, our scouts have stumbled upon a boy who was trying to break into our armory." she stopped to let the audience whisper to each other and once it had quiet down she continued, "Since he is an outsider we must take precaution because we can't always trust the living more than the dead." Everyone started to nod and she picked up the piece of paper that the girl in the cloak had given her, "But he does have a reason, he wasn't intentionally trying to rob us, he was trying to save another person's life, but the act of thievery isn't acceptable in any case." She said the word thievery with enough acid to make Jeremy felt the pain the word had caused. He knew this looked bad but he has to convince that he didn't know that the shop was already claimed. He knew that if he failed, he was doom.

 

Before he could say anything the girl continued, "There is another group in town. For all, we know this thief right here could be an act of war.” Jeremy was going to stand up to protest what was accused but before he could speak one of the guards next to the girl in the cloak lift a spear tip towards Jeremy's neck in one swift movement. Despite the tip on his throat, Jeremy said, “That’s not true.” The crowd began to murmur again, Jeremy couldn’t understand what they were saying because there were too many voices and it would seem to the leader as well. She bangs the pedestal with a hammer and waited until it quieted and said, “Mackenzie, please tell the crowd what you’ve observed while you were out.” The girl in the cloak stepped forward and finally Jeremy was able to see the girl’s face.

 

Her hair was half buzzed and the other half was cut short and tied into a braid. Her hair was brown while her eyes were green, her skin looked smooth or would have if the apocalypse hasn’t messed up her face with all the grease and cuts and bruises that the apocalypse provided everyone in it. To Jeremy she looks cute but right now he couldn’t afford to focus on that, he had to focus on helping his group and most importantly, Lexi. The girl in the cloak, Mackenzie, stepped forward and the crowd started to speak louder again. Jeremy observed that people in the crowd haven’t seen her face either, interesting.

 

Once the crowd quieted down Mackenzie said, “I did see this man attempt to break in the armory but with a goal in mind, not to steal for personal gain, but to help a little girl named Lexi.” She looked at the leader and said, “I apologize Ray, but I think your over exaggerating a little bit” the leader, Ray, looked a little redder than usual and said, “Are you sure that he isn’t lying?” Jeremy suspected that Mackenzie knew that Ray was going to say that because once Ray said that she went over to Jeremy and looked me in the eyes and asked, “Well, are you? Are you lying?” her stare was cold as ice when she said that and Jeremy couldn’t look away because he knew that if he did he was doomed. With all of the courage he could develop, Jeremy spoke as confidently he could and said, “No, I’m not lying.” He stood up, the guard with the spear was going to do something but Mackenzie held up her hand and signaled me to continue, “We just came into this town after walking a days’ worth. We used to spend our time in an abandoned house, just like you are with an abandoned town. We figured that we didn’t have enough supplies to stay there so we left the house and walked a path until we reached your town.”

 

Jeremy felt that he didn’t need to mention Gary. That was only personal for his group, these people didn’t need know that. Jeremy’s confidence seems to have done the job because Mackenzie looked like she was pleased about something, Ray on the under hand felt embarrassed because it looked like, in Jeremy’s eyes, that everyone was starting to believe him. Ray was starting to understand her position and wasn’t liking it, with a bang on her pedestal, she was able to quiet the crowd once more. Once everything had quieted down Ray said, “None the less we can’t provide you with the medicine because we to, have people in our group who are ill.” The crowd began to agree with Ray and Jeremy knew that he was losing them, he was able to attract the crowd’s attention and said, “That’s fine, really I didn’t mean to steal from you, but what if we could make a deal, will you at least hear me out?”

 

Jeremy was hoping that he would be given the chance because he had developed another card up his sleeves and while Ray’s hand was starting to become clearer after every argument, Jeremy was starting to develop his own hand.

 

The crowd was getting louder when Ray had banged her pedestal again and once it quieted down she called forth Mackenzie and two other people he didn’t know. One of them was the boy with the spear and the other was a girl with glasses that Jeremy haven’t seen in the crowd. They gathered together away from Jeremy and started whispering and occasionally taking glances at him. After what felt like minutes Ray said, “We’ll hear you out but beware we might not agree to your terms.” Jeremy nodded and started speaking to the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen of this warehouse, when my group came to this town we saw the infestation in the pharmacy, at first, coming into your fine establishment I wondered ‘why wasn’t that cleared out and looted?’ then I look around and, no offense to the audience but I see now. You are all scared to.” Jeremy waited to see what the crowd had to say and they looked ashamed, which means Jeremy wasn’t wrong, which was good for him because honestly, he was risking an educated guess.

 

Jeremy continues with, “Our group have some good fighters, even I’ll take part in my offer, and that is, we join forces to gather medicine for your group and mine to, it’s a win-win.” Jeremy’s offer had surprised the crowd and even Ray and Mackenzie, before anyone could protest Jeremy concluded with, “Ray, you said you said have sick people to, maybe you are low on supplies to and is desperate to help your group. You seem like a nice lady and a respectful one to, I see that with this crowd, they listen to you plus you probably feel responsible for them so why not let us help you with your little problem, not only would you get medicine but also reduce the threat in this town.” Once Jeremy finished Ray called over the same people before and they whispered, wondering if they should put their trust in a bunch of strangers.

 

Jeremy was watching the group talk it out and felt that something was wrong, like catastrophic wrong. He couldn’t feel it but he felt that the gun was hidden in his cloak now more than any other time, what was going on here? Once Ray and the rest of them stop talking Ray was going to give Jeremy an answer. That was until something started to bang on the entranceway that Jeremy had come from. With everyone in tense and the crowd gathering together away from the door. The boy with the spear went to investigate the commotion. Once he got there the door bashed opened and the force of the door had knocked the boy down and to Jeremy’s surprise, he saw the person he didn’t expect to see.

 

Jack

 

What was he doing here?

 

Before he could ask Jack, what was going on, Jeremy saw the group of undead that was pursuing him. In one swift motion, everything was about to be good or bad, now everything became a game of survival all over again. Jeremy pulled out the gun and his knife and ran towards Jack, Jack was trying to pick up the boy but was struggling and needed help. No one was quicker than Jeremy at the point, he was from the pedestal to Jack in a heartbeat. He stabbed a father in the head closest to Jack and fired two shot and killed another one.

 

The gunshot had shaken everyone else and chaos brew with panic in everyone’s eyes.

 

Everything went from bad to worst instantly from there.