Telltale's The Walking Dead: A PARALLEL JOURNEY Episode 1. A New Start

Act 2. Learning to Survive. Part 5.

   As Chris and Jason re-enter the main area of the shop, the older brother points to the middle of the room and silently says "Better check the shelves before we go any further. Need to be extra careful not to draw their attention though."

   [Entering Hub] "I'm right behind you," says the younger sibling as the two of them make their way over to the center of the area. As the two brothers look through the aisle for supplies, Chris can clearly see that the shelves are almost completely empty, save for two rolls of toilet paper and a block of soap. Jason takes both of them, and Chris shrugs "Better than nothing I guess."

   "Yeah well...it's not exactly ideal. Don't forget, we still need fuel for the car. If we don't find gas, we're gonna have to coast our way to the next station. You know how Mom feels about that, don't you?"

   With a nervous look on his face, the younger brother replies "Yeah, that's...not gonna be good."

   "Precisely." Brother Jason turns his attention over to the cash register. "The only remaining loot is either behind the cash register, or the employee doorway next to it."

   The younger brother is concerned about this. "Hmm. Can't get over there with all those infected in the way."

   "That's where things get tricky. There's only four of those monsters left, but if we aggro them all at once we're screwed."

   1) "So No Guns Then?"

   2) "How do we go about this?"

   Chris shrugs. "I'm guessing we can't just shoot our way over there. Can we?"

   The older brother shakes his head. "Afraid not, Slick. Guns will only attract more attention, and we can't risk another incident like what happened yesterday."

   Chris scoffs. "Yeah. Mom would freak if we tried something like that."

   Jason can't help but smile hearing this. "Agreed. We need to be smart about this...separate the infected one by one, just like I showed you."

   The younger sibling is skeptical. "Uhh." He shakes his head. "I dunno, Jason. See any more bottles lying around? Cuz I don't see any-."

   Jason cuts him off. "We have another option. I picked up a few small rocks from outside the building. Here. Take em." The older brother hands a few of these rocks over to Chris.

   A smug look appears on the younger lad's face. "Ah. This will do."

   As the boy Chris prepares to make his move, he tosses a rock over towards the back of the store. The sound of the rock leads one of the infected to stray away from the rest. "There you go," says Jason. "Now move on ahead and take him out, brother."

   Right on cue, Chris closes in from behind the creature and stabs it at the back of the head with the knife. Then he regroups with Jason before asking "What if I throw more than one of these things?"

   "Hm. Be a good way to draw more attention. Go ahead. Try it."

   Chris immediately prepares to make his next move. He then tosses two rocks towards the back. This causes two of the remaining walkers to move over in that direction, thus leaving the third one by itself.

Jason's Perspective

   "Good pitch there," Jason says. "Just like B. Gibson."

   The younger sibling quietly chuckles hearing this. "Yeah right."

   "Here...I got this one," says Jason as he puts the lone walker in a choke-hold and breaks the neck. He then stomps the creature's head on the ground. "Only two left, Slick. We can take them both if we work together."

   "Loud and Clear, Big Guy." The two brothers both make quick work of the two walkers that remain. This time with no need for stealth, Jason breaks the spine of one of the walkers with a quick swing from the bat before stomping on it's head after it falls to the ground. Meanwhile, Chris uses the crowbar to send the other walker to the floor with three quick swings before stomping on it's head.

   With all walkers dealt with, the younger sibling takes a breath. "Think I'm getting stronger already," he says.

   As Chris returns the knife to his older brother, Jason comments "We make a good team, brother."

   Chris nods in concurrence. "Yep, we sure do. Now we need to see what's behind the register."

   "Here, I'll handle it." As the older sibling checks behind the register, he manages to come across a first aid kit. He smiles. "This could be useful if we get injured. Still need gas tho." As he puts the kit in his bag, Jason also finds a key lying on the floor. Naturally, the word 'Storage' is written on the chain attached to it. "Interesting. I think this might open the door off to the side, assuming it's locked of course."

Chris's Perspective

   Chris immediately tries to open the Employee Door. Not surprisingly, he can't. "Yep...It's locked alright. Could you hand me that key, Jason?"

   "Sure." Jason walks over and passes the key over to Chris.

   Then the younger sibling unlocks the door. "Bingo." With the door unlocked, Chris opens it before entering with Jason close behind him.

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   In what appears to be some kind of storage closet, the two brothers turn on their flashlights and look around to see a bunch of boxes piled up on the shelves next to them. "Holy Shit," Chris exclaims. "I think we hit the Jackpot here."

   "Don't celebrate yet," Jason says. "We don't have that much room in our bags and we still need to find-."

   The younger sibling cuts Jason off after looking directly ahead with the flashlight. "Fuel!"

   As Chris heads over to where the gas container is situated, the older brother exclaims "Oh shit!" Then he follows the younger brother further into the closet before picking up the fuel container. After lifting up the container to get an idea of how full it is, the older sibling says "It's not enough for a full tank, but...it should keep us going for a little while."

   "Sweet," Chris replies. Looking right next to where the gas was sitting, he reaches for a large can, and suddenly a squeaking rat brushes past the boy's hand. "Ahh Shit!" he exclaims as he pulls his hand away. "Oh, God dammit!"

   "What the hell was that?" Jason says.

   "Fucking rat!"

   "Seriously? That scared the shit outta me."

   The younger lad takes a breath. "Yeah. You're telling me. My hand was right next to it, man."

   Jason crosses his arms. "Yeah, I know. Stay frosty, brother. Never know what could happen."

   Chris once again reaches for the large can and he picks it up. Looking at it closely, the can turns out to be a container of wet cat-food. "There's some food for Salem." After putting the can in his bag, The boy then turns his attention toward a little bag of cat treats. He picks up the bag. "This should be good."

   As Chris puts away the treats, the sound of the opening of the store's front entrance can be heard. Jason taps Chris on the shoulder and whispers "Hey, Chris. You hear that?"

   "Yeah," the younger brother says silently. "Is that Mom out there do you think?"

   "Not sure. Keep your guard up."