Chapter 6

- Xenon -

I'm very glad not everyone is as friendly as Shane or Merle (They were not). I made sure to be all smiles, I can't have them thinking I'm an edgy teenager now, can I?

I picked a spot next to the tents to erect my own. I did struggle a bit, mainly because I had no fucking idea what I was doing. That's when Dale came to lend me a hand. I placed my sleeping bag inside and my bag. I kept my knife and most of my supplies in my inventory, and it would make sense, as I had been 'walking' in the forest for a few days, or that's what anyone of them would assume.

That's not me being selfish… Ok, that's me being selfish, but you've got to admit, having food in my inventory and taking it out when I / we truly need it is better, especially since what I've got on me isn't worth that much. And I plan to pull my weight, by going scavenging into the city. I know at this stage they are terrified of the walkers, and while I was reasonably afraid of them, I was quite confident with the system on my side.

I laid a bit on my 'bed', feeling the soreness from my hours of walk. It's a shame I didn't get gamer's body, otherwise this wouldn't have been a problem. I was lost in thought, before I suddenly remembered something.

Now don't judge me, I've read a LOT of fanfictions in my previous life, especially when I had a class where the professor wasn't particularly useful, I'd start reading whatever I could, and this is something I've seen in a lot of them. The Meditation skill, is something that's supposedly easy to acquire and grind, and it only comes with benefits and no downside. I wanted a piece of that.

I quickly sat cross-legged, don't ask me why, and tried to 'meditate'. It didn't take me long to realize that I didn't know what the hell you're supposed to do when meditating, and here Xianxia novels came to my aid. 'Breathing Technique' is something I've read a lot about, even though it was all half-assed pseudo-science. So I tried to control and regulate my breathing, while doing my best to calm and clear my mind, spending the next hour like that.

Long story short? Don't trust what you read in fan-fictions, that shit didn't work. No notifications, no new skills, and a total of sixty wasted minutes. To be fair, I shouldn't expect myself to pick it up the first time I try it, so I guess I would have to keep trying if I wanted to be rewarded. But I will have to spare some time for it later.

I was called by Dale when it was time to eat. The whole group was gathered around the campfire they used for cooking. It was quite neat, a set of rocks organized in a circular shape, some blackened logs inside and the pot they used to cook on top of it. A few foldable chairs were around it, though most were already claimed, but it's alright, they had a few ground sheets, with more than enough space for the rest of us. That's when I met the last members of the group.

"Hi, you're new here." Andrea said, looking at me curiously, sizing me up. She had blond hair arranged in a pony tail, high cheekbones and hazel eyes, just like mine, and slightly tanned skin.

"Yeah, I just met Daryl this morning in the woods. I'm Xenon, by the way." I said with the most charming smile I could muster. I'd like to believe I did a good job of it.

"I'm Andrea. This is my sister Amy." She motioned to her sister.

"Hello." She said, waving at me. She had a very kind disposition, from what I can tell, using the show as a reference. She had thin eye-brows, and a small nose, long blond hair, just like her sister's, though her eyes were a clear shade of blue. They were both wearing casual summer clothes.

We started eating our lunch, which consisted of squirrel stew and bread, before resuming our conversation. They asked me a few questions about where I was from, what I was doing in the woods, how old am I… standard stuff. I answered them all, untruthfully for most of them.