chapter 34 : Here's my gangster

Calvin and Walen entered King but nothing prepared him for the excitement of the girl inside who let out sounds as well as giggles of wonder as she looked at King's luxurious interior.

 "Mi amor…" Christina came to kiss Calvin on the lips and Walen looked at them shyly before seeing Rachid who was looking at her suspiciously, she approached him smiling before holding out her hand.

Rachid looked at Calvin who told him that she was harmless and he shook the hand of Walen who happily shook Rachid's hand as if she was really happy to meet them.

 Tina: Where did you find this sweet little girl ?

 Calvin: She says her name is Walen and watched me kill our Aryan friends earlier. She's mute and according to her, her group is hungry. We're going to continue on our way but first, we are going to take her back to her group and leave them some food.

 "My poor little princess" Christina approached Walen and asked her if she was hungry before giving her something to eat.

Calvin first asked for the address of their camp and she wrote him the address on paper, he knew the city thanks to the map he touched earlier and immediately started King with Rachid sitting next to him.

The address was on the other side of town in a fairly large house with a concrete barrier that kept the zombies out, it was a pretty safe shelter. They saw the walkers in front of the barrier and there were 14 of them…

 "Go get your weapons, it's time for your combat drills." Calvin said to Rachid who went straight to get his things before both going out.

Calvin asked him to kill as many walkers as he could before landing on King's roof with a single jump before sitting down comfortably.

 Obviously, the walkers had already noticed them and began to move towards Rashid who drew his sword. He began applying the tricks Calvin had taught him to attack a small group of walkers by moving strategically to attack the more isolated ones.

Because he didn't yet have enough size and strength, he cut off their legs before finishing them off once they were on the ground. He was calm, methodical and above all very disciplined.

 To make up the difference in size and kill them much more quickly, Rachid climbed onto the roof of a car to hit their heads more easily. Calvin looked at Rachid with pride, the child fought with intelligence and above all with great caution, he could see the boy's eyes inspecting the surroundings to avoid being taken by surprise while always maintaining an excellent distance between him and the walkers.

 "This all makes no fucking sense, a kid with good training managed to do this so how did our army which is the most powerful in the world get defeated by the walkers. Something must have happened at the start of the outbreak..." Calvin thought in deep thought as he watched Rashid kill the zombies, this whole thing made no sense.

Christina and Walen saw everything from inside King and when they came out, Walen totally impressed and excited ran towards Rachid with a big smile to start waving and talking to him in signs while imitating his gestures. 

 She imitated Rachid's movements and while that made Christina smile, Calvin noticed something quite impressive with the girl.

She managed to imitate some positions very well and especially the balance of her legs.

Obviously, these were far from excellent imitations but for someone seeing this for the first time, being able to imitate these movements was really very impressive.

 He went to get the bag of food for the survivors and Walen started knocking on the gate. A lookout came to notice Walen with strangers and a large truck.

 "WALEN !? WE WERE SEARCHING FOR YOU EVERYWHERE AND THE OLD MAN SENT PEOPLE TO SEARCH FOR YOU. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE ?" The redheaded young man asked while pointing a shotgun at Calvin and the others but just as soon, Rachid pointed his silenced pistol at the redhead.

It was an automatic mechanism for him, he loved and idolized Calvin enormously and if someone threatened him in front of him then Rachid would react quickly.

 Calvin: I can't stand having a gun pointed at me so put it down before I get mad. We met Walen on our way and she said you were hungry so we brought you some canned goods.

 " WHO ARE YOU ?" he shouted menacingly and Rachid was ready to shoot at any moment. 

 "The nigga who'll kill you if you don't put your gun down in 5 seconds" Calvin said before starting a countdown and Walen started to get agitated asking the boy to open the door for them.

He finally lowered his weapon to open the portal while Rachid put his weapon away to the congratulations of Calvin who patted him on the shoulder.

 "We don't take time, we drop off the food for them and we leave, we have people to find and time not to waste." Calvin said as he entered with the others.

Several people came out, including a Caucasian man in his fifties dressed as a priest who saw Walen and rushed to hug her.

 "Oh honey, I was so worried. Why did you go out like that? It's dangerous outside and I sent Nikki and Ryan to look for you, they are looking for you outside." He said in a mixture of relief and annoyance.

 [Sorry, I wanted to get some food for all of us and also find my sister...] Walen said as a sign and the man straightened up to look at Calvin and the others.

 "Thank you for bringing us our little Walen, this girl is not at all afraid to go out and thought she could be useful by finding us food. I am Father Abraham Davis…" He said as he walked forward with his hand outstretched towards Calvin who shook it before throwing the bag of groceries to the ground.

 Calvin: There are canned goods and dried meat, deal with that as you wish. We came to leave the kid who told us that you were hungry so there you go.

 Abraham: Thank you very much, thank you very much. Please be our guest and stay at least for the night.

 "Thank you but we're good, we are in a hurry and have to leave…" Calvin said but Walen held his hand to look at him with puppy ​​eyes.

 [You are strong and brave, please help me find my sister...] She said to him as a sign and Abraham gently pulled the girl towards him telling her that they had their problems and that they should not not give them any more.

 Christina : Her sister ?

 [The bad guys he killed (points finger at Calvin), they took my sister. Please, we have to find her...] Walen came in front of Christina to explain to her and she looked at Calvin.

 "We have our own family to reunite with and we are in a hurry. Sorry kid, we don't have time for that..." He said and Walen came to grab his arm to beg him in tears but he told her he was sorry before turning around to leave, Christina followed him asking him if he was sure he wanted to leave like that but he didn't answer her.

A few minutes later, they resumed their journey and Christina was sitting in the front seat next to him. She looked at him insistently. 

 Cal: I know what you're thinking and we had no choice, we came here for a specific purpose and it's not by making enemies that we're going to make our job easier.

 Tina: I know and I understand but this little...these people are from the Aryan Brotherhood and a good part of their workforce was certainly in prison when it became the apocalypse. Don't you wonder what kind of fate these people have in store for the girls they take with them ?

 Cal :…

 Tina: The man you are becoming will be defined by his choices, it is this man who is the father of my children.

 Cal: You realize that I'm not an invincible god and that a bullet to my head will make our children grow up without their father, right ? I don't know why I got my gifts, but I'm not confident enough in them to take reckless risks and and losing everything. 

 "I understand, you're right Calvin...it's just...This little girl wants exactly the same thing as us, to find a member of her family...Don't worry, I understand you perfectly " She told him that sincerely because she knew he was right, it was good to be idealistic but reality wasn't a movie superheroes.

If Calvin ever died because she wanted to help strangers, she would never be able to look her child in the face. But just as she got used to the idea that they should continue on their way, Calvin stopped the truck...

 "I...I don't know what to do..." He said to Christina who looked at Calvin.

 Tina: Talk to me…

 "I can't stop thinking about this kid's face, she looked at me like hope and her tears...this little one was so pure, she needed my help. I know we have priorities and I...everything I just told you about the risks is true but...I don't know what to do." He said looking her straight in the eyes.

 Tina: You want to help this little one deep inside, don't you? Calvin, you have a big heart inside of you and you have saved many lives. There're people born with the vocation deep within them to do good in their own way.

 Calvin: A big heart? How many people have I killed since this all started ?

 Tina: The question is not how many people you killed but why you did it . You can sometimes be very cruel against people with bad intentions, but look at your reaction when you have a child as pure as this kid in front of you.

In a short time, we have come a long way since we met. The ex-drug dealer who saved me and who I fell in love with now runs a thriving community and wears elegant suits while taking on big responsibilities for the survival of those who follow him.

 Cal: I had to mature to lead Lincoln.

 Tina: You have become an excellent leader who knows how to avoid risks by making logical decisions for survival and safety. Your responsibilities have given you the maturity you need but you're no longer really as intrepid as before to avoid risks. I must admit that sometimes I miss who you were. When you have to be the one in charge, you can be the president you are now but when you have to bare your claws to defend or protect innocent people...

 "I gotta go back to being that gangster again…" He finished Christina's sentence as her look changed.

 Tina: I know you don't consider yourself a good person or a hero, but even if it means killing bastards, do you want to help this little girl ?

 Calvin: Fuck yeah…

 "Here's my gangster…" She said before jumping on him to kiss him and Calvin definitely cut the engine to carry Christina, kissing her, to their room under the eyes of Rachid who paused his video game to look at them before continuing, shaking his head.

It was already dark when King came back to park in front of the gate of the big house and when the people inside heard the noise, they sent the lookout who checked their identity before opening the gate once they got out of the vehicles.

 Walen came with Father Abraham and a few others, it seemed that the girl had cried a lot. She and Calvin looked at each other and he nodded at her before the child ran to him and hugged him, crying.