chapter 5 : Rick Grimes

(We'll call him Cal now)

 The next day Cal wandered around the west side of town guided by his Instinct as he was looking for a useful vehicle for a situation like this and he didn't know how or why but he felt drawn to the west.

On the way, he saw a drugstore and he went in to get some tools, fortunately, few people had thought of looting this place because they still had a lot of stuff.

 Cal was rummaging around a bit to see what things to bring in his vehicle later when he found a box of large 160mm flat head nails, he took them in his hands when three zombies who had followed him for a while entered the store.

Angry, he looked at the long nails in his hand before throwing one into the head of the zombies and thanks to his strength, the nail stuck into the head of the zombies who fell directly.

Cal had a big smile on his lips before killing the other two zombies in the same way. He took a few boxes before leaving.

 After about 20 minutes of brisk walking, he came to a place where there was a very large gathering of large cars.

Trucks, vans, campers and other customized vehicles. He looked at one of the old banners and it was actually a car show for heavy-duty vehicles.

He has a few zombies that he killed without problem but doesn't have any vehicles that would have interested him until he saw in the distance a very large black tarpaulin covering a large vehicle.

He approached and after a few minutes he had removed the tarpaulin to see a real gem.

 Cal had a MAN KAT Overland 8x8 in front of him and seeing how it was covered, the large vehicle must have been converted.

 "Oh…JESUS…" he said as he approached the vehicle and touched it when all the information about the vehicle came to him.

Cal stood in a daze for a few moments before taking a deep breath. This large vehicle was not only armored and highly customized but the options inside were horribly crazy and like the solar panels on the top which were of the same quality as those of the Naza, of frightening performance and resistance.

The best part of all this is that this monster actually had two interchangeable engines, one diesel and the other gasoline.

 « Lord...which of my ancestors whispered something to you for me ? » He said thinking of everything inside waiting for him.

However, there was a problem and it was that of the vehicle key. Cal looked at the building where there were several decorations and he went there once again guided by his Instinct like a compass, entering it silently and found a few zombies which he killed with his assault rifle.

 Near the entrance he saw the registration room with on the other side of the window a lot of keys hanging on the wall with labels for the types of vehicles as well as the names of the owners and he quickly picked the key

lock access it. After inspecting for minutes, he found nothing until he came across a clue.

He saw the calendar in the room and the background image on each page was a photo of a man near the vehicle he was eyeing outside.

He read a few words at the top and the calendar was edited by the Director Gary McMayers.

 « The director huh…!? » He went upstairs to see several doors, one of which was the director's office.

He entered there to first be assaulted by an atrocious smell before seeing a man sitting on the back desk with his head almost exploded.

It was the director who apparently took the easy way out. He looked at the ground to see the gun he had used and it was a beautiful silver Desert Eagle.

 "This guy was really an idiot..." He took the gun and put it on him before starting to search the body but he didn't find a key, he searched the desks and other furniture but he found nothing.

He prayed earnestly that the instinct that took him there would help him again and his eyes darted to a painting behind the desk. It was in fact the photo of the director shaking the hand of David Duke, one of the big guns of the Ku Klux Klan.

 "It's the south, why is that supposed to surprise me?! I hope all These bastards got eaten " He wondered before removing the painting to see a Safe in the wall.

He rubbed his hands before touching the trunk and immediately understood what the combination was to unlock it and once opened, he saw a few wads of bills, a bunch of keys with documents and Desert Eagle ammunition.

 By touching the paper, he no longer even needed to read it to understand the documentary information of the vehicle and apparently although incredible, this vehicle was only there for the collection because it was prohibited from circulation because of its two polluting engines. 

 "Thank you so much dear racist friend, I love you man…" He said mockingly as he left the office as a strange feeling welled up inside him.

He was seriously beginning to appreciate this world and felt more and more in his element.

 For several days thanks to a pick-up, Calvin wandered around town taking what was necessary to equip the interior of his mobile palace because the interior was in fact very large and luxurious, the electrical system worked perfectly like any other the facilities elsewhere.

Today he was a little further north and was not far from the clothing and equipment store on the map when he was shocked to see a helicopter flying over the area.

 Stunned, he tried to follow him when at an intersection, he saw a man on horseback being attacked by a horde of living dead while his horse reared and the man ended up falling from his mount, It was Rick.

The walkers began to devour his horse while the man began to fight the zombies.

 « THE TANK ! CLIMB INTO THE TANK ! » Calvin shouted at the man as he ran towards him with a black ax with which he started killing the zombies up to the man who was already climbing on the tank whose opening was fortunately open and they there both entered before closing.

 "We narrowly escaped...luckily your horse was there to occupy the dead" Cal said, putting down his ax before closing the opening at the bottom as well.

 Rick: Thank you...thank you for helping me. I would have died without your intervention.

 Cal: hum maybe, maybe not…

 "Rick Grimes... deputy sheriff in King County" Rick reached out his hand towards Calvin but didn't notice the dead soldier waking up to his right but as he wanted to bite the completely surprised Rick, Cal quickly threw a nail that lodged in the zombie's head.

 Calvin: Calvin Lincoln, ex-convict and drug dealer in Los Angeles. Nice to meet you.

 Rick: And you save the life of a police officier ?

Cal : There are no more police officers, my friend, only the living and… these things outside.

 Rick wanted to talk again when the tank's radio went off because someone contacted them.

 [Hey you two, still alive?!] a male voice asked. and Rick banged his head under Calvin's mocking laughter to respond.

 Rick: Hello! Hello ?!!

 [ I was starting to think that you and the other one with the ax were dead.]

 Rick: Who are you ?! Where are you?! Do you see where we are?!

 [Yes I see you and you are surrounded by geeks . That's the bad news]

 "Is there a way out for us from your point of view?! " Cal asked, taking the mic from Rick.

 [They are busy eating the horse so there are fewer of them on the other side of the street. If you move then you have a chance. What do you have on you ?! ]

 "I have my ax and my new friend has...a revolver and...a pistol" Cal said pointing his finger at the dead soldier and Rick saw the pistol stored there before taking it.

 [Okay, jump to the right and there's a street about 50 meters away, we'll end up there.]

 Cal: Are you ready man?

 Rick: (breathes) Yeah…

 Cal opened the top of the tank and got out before front-kicking the single zombie on the tank and helping Rick out, they both jumped out and Rick fell.

 " Are you serious ?! Damn, these white people !! » He grumbled as he helped Rick up and decapitated the nearby zombies with his ax while Rick fired his pistol. They ran towards the alley where Glenn called out to them.

 « QUICKLY ! » Glenn said before running towards the metal ladder to start climbing, Cal asked Rick who was shooting to climb up while the zombies were a few meters away from them, while Rick climbed up and there was no more of space for Cal who made a big vertical jump to hang his ax on the metal hoops around the staircase to start climbing under Glenn's shocked gaze.

 Calvin: Mr. Grimes, when someone asks you to climb, you stop pulling and do it. I almost got eaten because of you !

 Rick: I'm so sorry.

 « Yeah, that's it ! (looks at Glenn) Hey buddy. » he said sharply still angry without remembering Glenn's face before climbing the second, longer ladder leading to the roof. He reached the summit without even being out of breath and the other two joined him later.

 Glenn: Damn man, what are you made of ?

 Cal: flesh and Bones . Okay, where are we going?

 "Follow me…" Glenn said and they went from roof to roof while Rick asked him questions. They eventually went down the stairs that led to another alley and Glenn warned his friends in the Walkie-Talkie.

 "I'm back, I have company and there are four geeks in the alley…" he said when he stopped his steps because two dead people were walking with them in the alley.

Rick and Glenn stayed behind but Cal walked past and decapitated the two walkers effortlessly while T-dog and Morales came out with wards and bats to ask them to go inside.

 Cal entered the room first when a blonde ran up to him, it was Andrea.

 "You son of a bitch! We should kill you and your friend" She screamed pointing his gun on Cal .

Calvin looked at her smiling as Morales and Jacqui tried to calm her down, Rick wanted to intervene but she also pointed her gun at him.

 Andrea: We're going to die because of these big idiots.

 Calvin: Madam, with all due respect...

 She brought the gun back to her face but he quickly grabbed her wrist before giving her a swipe that sent the woman to the ground after he had already snatched her gun.

 « …you did not remove the safety from the weapon. » he said, placing his foot on Andrea's chest to keep her on the ground before pointing the gun at the others who wanted to intervene.

They raised their hands and he brought the gun back to Andrea's face filled with terror.

 Calvin: Why do you look terrified? You said you were going to die, right?

 Rick: Calvin, don't do that. They opened up to us and she's just angry.

 Calvin: When I'm angry, I don't just point my gun at people. 

 He removed his foot and put the gun away before addressing the others.

 Calvin: We're sorry for getting you into trouble and thank you for opening the door.

 Morales: We came here to get supplies and the only way to do that is to stay alive. For that we remain silent and not shoot any way.

 " Oops ! Rick, this is your fault" Cal said looking at Rick as outside they saw the dozens of Zombies trying to enter through the double glass doors of the clothing store.

 Rick: My God.

 T-dog: Do you understand now?

 They asked T-dog if he could contact the refugee camp for help.

 "Can I have my gun?" Andrea came to ask Calvin.

 Cal: What gun?

 Andrea: The one you took from me. He is mine…

 Cal: The nerve!! Madam, consider yourself lucky that I didn't kill you with the gun you used to threaten me. I'll give it back to you when I feel like it...or not, it will depend on my mood.

 Andrea wanted to answer but they heard a gunshot coming from the roof.

 Morales: Dixon!!

 "But what is this idiot doing!!?? »