Chapter 55

- Xenon -

We woke up early next morning. We had a quick breakfast, before we departed. Everyone in our camp had a handgun with him at least, though a few had rifles. I was rather vocal they don't waste bullets, and use single fire if they had to. Not to mention prioritize handguns over rifles, and they seemed to agree.

I was the one driving this time, though Glenn was in the van with me. He was playing that game I brought him most of the time though. We did have a little discussion about games, though I wasn't entirely aware of what games were available in this world before the apocalypse.

We drove for hours, until we found a blocked road. Daryl, who was now driving his motorcycle, having abandoned his pickup, went ahead to scout the area to see if there was any way to go through. We transferred the machine guns to Shane's car. He was driving alone, so he could spare the space.

"Maybe we should just go back, there is another way around, right?" Glenn said hesitantly, as he noticed the area ahead was not looking good. This scene was oddly familiar to me.

"I'd rather not." I shook my head. "We can't spare the fuel." Plus, this is a very good opportunity for us.

Daryl came back shortly after, and nodded at Dale, then guided us through it. Not even a minute in, and we heard a loud whirring voice coming from the RV, clearly a sign of malfunction, especially when you consider the white vapor coming from it as well.

I stopped the van, and went ahead to check it out.

"I said it, didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water." Dale sighed as he checked out the front of the RV.

"Problem Dale?" Shane asked him.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-" Dale finally noticed that we were surrounded by vehicles we could freely loot, as Daryl was doing exactly that with no hesitation. "Okay, that was dumb."

"You can find a new radiator hose in here." I offered.

"A whole bunch of stuff you can find." Daryl nodded, never stopping rummaging through the car's rear.

"We can siphon fuel from the cars as well." Theodore chimed in.

"Water, food you name it." I nodded.

"This is a graveyard..." Lori said somberly. We all turned to her, hoping she can enlighten us about how that's an issue. Rick was looking around awkwardly. "I- I don't know how I feel about this..." I facepalmed. And here I was expecting her to say something relevant, maybe I set the bar too high for her.

"Ahem... While Lori sorts through her feelings about this place..." I said vaguely, as they turned at me. Daryl wasn't interested anymore in the discussion and went back to looting. "This place is a gold mine. We should start clearing the path to go on, get all supplies we can find. Take the fuel, food, water, everything. We can even camp nearby in the woods if we have to. We can't let go of this opportunity." They nodded, while Lori was giving me the stink eye.

"I'll go scout ahead, and cover the front, in case we're attacked by walkers. Dale will cover our back, while Jim helps him fix the RV." I looked at them for confirmation, and they nodded. I'm surprised they don't mind following my "suggestions", I'd expect a lot more resistance from them.

"And one more thing: I'm sure there are a lot of corpses around here. If it doesn't have its head smashed, assume it's alive and finish it." Lori was about to say something, but Rick took her arm, preventing her from saying anything.

I was obviously monitoring the map. In fact, I also cast [Detect Presence] to make sure we weren't being stalked. I saw a few walkers on the map, only three, surprisingly. I would expect more from this place, but I guess a lot of people had run away when they could.

"I'll come with you." Amy said, I turned to her with a frown. While I do appreciate the company, I'd rather she helped the rest, so we could finish faster.

"There is no need for us to work on the same place, I'm sure there are cars to check in the front as well." She added, noticing I didn't completely agree with that decision. I nodded as that seemed rather reasonable.

I had my HK417 on my back, with a silencer equipped. I got quite a few rewards from my latest quest.

< Quest Complete : Gather Resources. >

Description: Loot enough resources from the CDC's surroundings.

*Rewards:

-> Suppressor

-> + 3 CHA

-> + 2 LUK

-> + 1 WILL

-> + 49 EXP

-> [Weapon Mastery: Rifle. (Passive)] LVL 1

[Weapon Mastery: Rifle. (Passive)]

Increases your accuracy and recoil control when using a rifle.

< Status >

Name : Xenon

Age : 16

Level : 7 | Progress : 100/130

-

Stamina (SP) : 240/240

-

STR : 17

DEX : 12

CON : 4

END : 12

CHA: 17

WIL : 5

INT : 24

WIS : 13

LUK : 11

Unused Stat Points: 6

<>

The suppressor was a nice addition. When it came to weapons, I didn't truly need anything. The HK417 was a pretty decent weapon: it was a DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle), which meant it was good for middle range combat. A sniper rifle was definitely better for longer range, but this is more than enough for me, as I doubt I'd ever have to shoot something beyond 500 meters, which was within the range of my weapon.

"I didn't take you for the leader type." Amy teased me, as we made our way through the cars.

"I'm not a leader." I shook my head with modesty. "I'm just trying to do what's best for us."

"That's what a good leader would say." She grinned at me.

- Rick -

Rick didn't understand why his wife was acting the way she was. Surely, she was smart enough to recognize the situation they were in. They couldn't afford to be picky about anything, and had to do with what they've had.

He dragged her away as soon as the talks were over.

"Lori, what's the matter? You've been acting strangely lately, is something wrong?" He asked her with a frown.

"Are we seriously gonna let some sixteen-year-old boy tell us what to do?" She hissed furiously. "He's just gonna keep manipulating us just because he has a few weapons?"

"Lori, what are you talking about?" Rick was puzzled at her words. "He's not manipulating anybody. And we are listening to his SUGGESTIONS, especially when they are right, what's wrong with that?"

"He's just a kid!" She hissed again. "He barely knows how to walk, and now he's ordering everybody around! Don't you see how bad this is getting? The more we allow him to do this, the more he gains influence with the others. Next thing you know, they follow every single word he tells them!"

"Lori!" Rick was getting a bit impatient at her screwed up logic. "You're not making any sense. He made a few suggestions, that were spot on, may I add, and we agreed on them. What's the issue with that? You're overthinking things. Besides, why does his age matters that much to you? He's only doing what he believes is best for us. Like I did when I brought us to the CDC, remember? Even if he became our leader, what's wrong with that? As long as he can keep us all safe, I certainly wouldn't mind. Would you?" Lori fell silent for a while, unable to find the words to disagree with her husband.

"This is about the jab he made at you, isn't it?" Rick said with a knowing look. "I agree it was cheap on his part, but you aren't without blame either."

"You're right, I let my frustration get the better of me." Lori, for all her faults, was a rather smart woman. Now that she had some time to cool down, she could see how her actions wouldn't get her any support, neither from her husband, nor the others.

Rick was glad they could come to an agreement. He cared very much about his wife, and hoped to make up for all the time she had to look after their son alone.

- Xenon -

"By the way, I know we don't have many bullets, but is it possible we could practice shooting with our guns? Neither my sister nor I have any experience..." Amy said uncertainly, as we were checking on of the cars.

"Hmm, that's a pretty good idea, actually. We could teach Carol and Lori as well, would help you guys stay safe." I mused out loud. "A few bullets are a good investment for that."

"Gee, so we're all investments to you?" She pouted, though I could see she was joking. "Um? Xenon? What's wrong?"

I stopped paying attention as I noticed a few red dots started appearing on my map. They were walking very slowly, which means they didn't have a specific target in mind yet. A few more appeared, and judging by the amount and the distance between them, it is safe to assume it's a horde of walkers.

I didn't have a visual on them, since the place we were stuck in was on a turn, and the tall trees were obstructing vision. I took out my weapon, and used the scope, trying to see if I could notice any of them, but the trees were stopping my vision. Not that it mattered here, because when we are actually able to see them, it would be too late to react, and we would have to eliminate them, and I wasn't certain we could afford the bullets if the horde was too big.

"Walkers ahead, big horde, we gotta warn the others!" I said seriously, dragging her by the hand away from there. I needed to act, and act fast if I wanted to control this situation.