Strongest Survivors

State of Mine. 2

I turned around as I felt the undead man advancing towards me, and as the rest of the team turned to get inside the shelter, I stood up, meeting his eyes. He walked over to me, boots crushing anything he stood on as I held my ground, waiting for him to reach me. When he did, he stopped, and we stood there, neither of us backing down. "Let me help you." I was the first to speak, "I feel it. You just want to be left alone, and I can help you, but only if you let me." I waited, just watching as the saw attached to his arm whirled, I could be dead within seconds. But then, he turned, shutting it off and walking away with a small nod. I took this as my permission to go with him, walking beside him.

Now he was allowing me to see him, I noticed the metal going from his brain down his spine. He used the scrap batteries to power himself, by doing so, he also remained somewhat human. "You like it here, why?" I asked the question, and he met my eyes, again, remaining silent and walking on. "Is it for the power? There are other ways to remain human." I told him.
"Not for me." He finally spoke to me.
"Why not?" I creased my brows in confusion.
"It's too late for me."
"And you just want to be left here to rot?" I shook my head in disbelief, my heart begging to help him.
"It's my home, now." He turned the corner, heading towards a far trash pile.
"Is there anyway I could convince you to come with me? Find a new home?" I looked at him with hope, but the silence gave me my answer, he wasn't leaving. The tunnel we had entered was growing much darker, and soon we arrived in a small alcove. On the table, piles and piles of scrap electronics. On the floor, bodies.

I walked over to the stack of opened electronics, looking up at my newest friend. "What is all this?"
"Power," he tapped the small device on his chest with a single finger, before picking up the nearest old phone and tearing it apart. "The other Talkers, they're afraid of this place. It's because of you, isn't it?" This time, he didn't answer my question, instead he turned away and began to walk out. "Where are you going now?" He ignored me. "Hey! You can't just leave me down here, I'll get lost! Are you even..." I gave up, letting out a groan, before following behind him. I wasn't taking my chances at the maze they called a mine alone.

"Where are we going?" I moved to walk beside him, catching the glance he spared to look my way. "I saw that."
"Up. We're going up." He turned ahead again, raising the arm with the saw attached, pointing out the light at the end of the tunnel. "But we just got down here." I gave him a confused look. I was met with silence, now losing track of how many times he'd opted to ignore me. He stepped out into the daylight, and I saw the Talkers working across the mine scatter. "You won't hurt them, will you?"
"So long as they stay out of my way." He didn't mean it, but I could sense the reputation he wanted to keep, and sighed. "Ok." I mentally sent the message to the talkers, nodding at one who peered around the corner. By the time I looked back to the larger Talker, he was gazing down from atop a trash pile. "What is it?" I could sense the rage, watching him look down at me, then back out.
"Your friends." His response made me scramble up, and when I looked out across the mine, I saw the team struggling to take over one of the trucks.

"George!"

Warren's shout made me glance at the front of the truck, where a man stood above George after knocking her out with his gun. "I have to help them." Just as I went to jump down, the Talker grabbed me, pushing me down into the pile and sending me crashing through the trash, until I landed on the ground. "What the hell'd you do that for?!" I coughed as I looked up, his face vanishing as my eyes adjusted to the dark. "Don't hurt them!" It was too late, his heavy footsteps were fading fast, and the all too familiar sound of a sniper sounded out. Then I felt the Talkers begin to dig. "Yes! I'm in here! I hear you!" I smiled as I saw the trash begin to move around me, the talkers coming to my rescue. "I hear you." It was a sigh of relief as the digging grew in speed, and light slowly broke through. "She's here." I saw a face come through, and the hole was pulled apart, the talkers reaching down. "You guys are awesome," I smiled, stepping back, before launching myself upwards and into their arms.