Survivors

Axel walked around the camp and saw a lot more people than he thought there actually would be. If he didn't miss a count, then there were about at least 80 people here.

The age groups were pretty thrown together from young to old. But the number of kids was actually rather high in his opinion. In a world like the current one, it meant this group was not hardened to the point where they would go to extreme measures.

But it was also a death trap in itself to keep them all safe. The bigger the group and the less experience it was, the higher the chance of a wipeout. Hell, even he was now somewhat of an extra burden for all those adults.

At least in their minds. And at some point even in his own.

The camp itself was actually not badly positioned. It placed itself near the cliff with its back. The perimeter around it was really stubbed down as Daryl said. And it was done rather well. The clearing surrounding the camp was wide and far enough to see the danger quickly.

When they met Shane just a minute ago it was only at the spot where they kept clearing wood for campfires and stuff. There was even the equipment like axes lying around at those spots.

Axel noted that down in his mind. Just in case.

The cars that were parked around the camp seemed to be some kind of protection wall. Which was clever and all, but the tents and personal space of most survivors being right behind those cars, was everything else but safe.

What made Axel smile a little was the old man that was sitting on an RV outlook and looking through some binoculars in his direction. He knew he was looked at currently and so just made a friendly nod towards the oldie and kept walking.

Everyone in the camp seemed to do their thing and seeing a new kid with a large backpack walk around, sure enough, got the attention of a lot of them.

Daryl patted Axel's shoulder to get his attention for a short moment. "Listen, make yourself at home for now. Get to know the others. If anything bugs you, just tell me."

Just when he wanted to go away from him, a woman with long brown hair approached them both. She wore a white blouse and blue jeans.

"Who's this? Did you find the kid on your hunt?" She asked towards Daryl who only nodded without saying anything else.

She then kneeled down on one knee to lower herself to his eye level. In his mind, at that moment Axel lamented being short again. It just irked him madly.

"What's your name? How old are you?", she asked him.

"My name is Axel and I am 10 years old." There was no real use to lie about things like that so he kept it true.

"Nice to meet you, Axel. I am Lori Grimes. It is good that you found us."

Axel knew what she meant by that so he immediately interrupted her.

"I am not staying forever. I am just taking a break here. But yes, it is good to see real people again..." Axel was still not lying. At least not about him going soon. And he really did enjoy the company. Beats the white space every time.

But he also knew staying on one spot was not going to work out in this world. Especially with the fate that is about to hit this camp for trying so.

So he would stay for a while and move on. About until Rick is here should be long enough. Just so he could meet that guy in person. No, scratch that. He did plan to meet him in King County.

Axel somewhat wanted to change a few fates and see how it would all develop later.

Lori seemed to think a little and even narrowed her lips by pinching them against each other. After that, she smiled again.

"You know, I got a son about your age. If you want, you can go play with him. Don't be such a stranger." She probably wanted to integrate him but didn't know what made him decide to keep moving on. And most of all, just being alone without anyone protecting him. What she saw was just a child and that made her feel very uncomfortable.

"I am alright. I will keep it in mind." Axel was not so sure about her worry but still kept it friendly with her.

Lori looked at him and sighed lightly. She nodded and then stood back up. "Did you see Shane somewhere?" She quickly accepted this since the world did change a lot. Her focus was on Daryl again.

"He was at the outer perimeter collecting wood for the campfire.", answered Daryl which got Lori nodding and leaving them only after going through the hair of Axel.

'What was that for now?' Axel looked after her with a light frown and then looked back at Daryl.

"Don't take it to heart, kid. I know you probably don't like it, but people still think as long as you are not at least 16, you are a kid who can't take care of himself."

"And you don't think so anymore?", asked Axel after hearing that.

"Not since I saw how you dealt with that walker. And I know people can have different upbringings and all that..." He looked sideways when mentioning the second part. "Anyway, gotta keep going and use the remaining daylight. See you around."

When Daryl left, Axel went back to looking around himself.

'Great, thinking about it now it feels so freaking weird being around complete strangers. What exactly am I supposed to do now?'

His eyes found the campfire and a blonde young woman sitting around it and what seemed to be preparing food.

'Well, can't hurt to share some of my stuff with them. That should get me on their good graces.'

Having decided that, he went over to the woman.

"Are you preparing a meal?", he asked when he arrived.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. But it won't be much since the last few supply runs were a little bit...dangerous.", she responded with a friendly smile and looked at him. "So you are new here? What's your name?"

"Axel. Actually, I can give you something. Just a friendly gift for meeting and not killing me." Axel smiled.

That got the woman frowning. "Who would kill a kid like you?" She seemed worried now.

"...I guess you are right. But with those things running around you never know, right? Anyway, can you do something with this?" Axel ignored the naive viewpoint the woman had and rummaged in his backpack taking out some canned food. It was 4 big tin cans of tomato soup.

"Whoa, that sure is something nice you got there. Are you sure you want us to take that?" The woman seemed to be a little bit hesitant about using that food.

"It's alright. Besides, I expect to get some of it as well." Axel grinned at that and handed her the food.

She smiled. "That would only be proper. The name's Amy by the way. Nice to meet you." She then used the cans and filled a pot with the content and slowly let it warm up over the fire.

Axel just sat down on a log that was placed close by and stretched himself.

His mind while staring at the flame went towards his CS and it was about time to roll the lucky wheel again.

It has been a few days getting his situation up to date and his store leveled up again and that meant a free roulette ticket.

This time around it actually stopped at the field where a *+1 up* was written.

[Gained 1 attribute point. Please select attribute.]

'Oh, so this time it wasn't a bad spin as well. Then let's increase endurance.' Axel thought about it and increased the most crucial attribute he needed in this world.

[Endurance increased by 1]

Strength - 5

Perception - 4

Endurance - 6

Charisma - 4

Intelligence - 3

Agility - 4

Luck - 3

Sure, he had his skills that could boost his overall stats slightly like the *Uncommon Footballer(Soccer)* one.

But those were only boosting and since switching skills from active to nonactive had a serious cooldown it meant it was better to not rely too much on those boosts that would essentially take away a slot for more important skills.

Just by his base endurance increasing, he could feel the much more abundant energy in his body. Besides that, it meant his overall health would be staying healthy.

Starting to smile he looked at Amy cooking.

So he met Andrea's little sister. Looking at her closely he noticed something obvious. Damn, she looked hot. That made him lament his current body even more.

But then again. Thinking about something he really hoped she had not the same relationship with Dale as in either the show or comic. That old dude on the RV is really some sly bastard if it comes to something like that. The world goes to shit and the first thing he does is collect a small harem.

For some reason, he found it interesting to think about changing things here. Maybe he could pry this woman away from him and get her hooked with someone else?