How we made it back first, I had no clue. But there was high tension when Alex and I rode through the gates with Karl and George behind us on their own horses.
Eyebrows were raised, drawn together, and pretty much everything else as hands were slowly making their way to personal weapons. I guess everyone was still on edge with what happened about three weeks ago. I don't blame them though. Two people you don't recognize riding straight into your home, I'd be concerned too.
I raised a hand up as I pulled back the reins on Spirit as soon I was within listening distance of the people hanging around the stables, "Friendlies! They're friendlies!"
Glances and looks were exchanged as movements were frozen and staggered, not really sure what to make of the situation. I hoped from me announcing that they are indeed friends, everyone could take a breath, but apparently not.
Phil came jogging out of the stables when he heard my voice and the sound of skidding hooves. He had his eyebrows raised as his arms were slightly out, pure confusion written on his face. "Kate? What's this?"
Immediately throwing a leg over Spirit's side to get my feet on the ground, I lowered my voice to speak to Phil. We didn't need anyone hovering around right now. This was too important to explain to every person asking questions.
"They are from a group hiding out in the community arts building about a mile off of the Black River route. They've been staying there for about a month. And Phil... it's a big group."
If Phil raised his eyebrows any higher, they would be straight up into his hairline. "You don't say?"
I glanced back over my shoulder at the guys patiently waiting on horseback before looking back at him. "They've been looking for us. A group of Fireflies sent them in our direction, looking for a place to call home."
The reaction was almost immediate from Phil. His shoulders loosened and his face lost all sense of worry and unease. "Why did you start with that?" He quickly leaned over my shoulder to take a gander at the new people in his town, "Are they armed?"
Phil wasn't a person who really understood the definition of whispering, so it wasn't really a surprise when George spoke up to answer his question.
"I got a fishing rod." He said as he stuck his thumb out to point it in the direction of his backpack.
Phil blinked for a moment as he leaned around me to get a better look at George, "It's broken."
"I got a broken fishing rod."
I couldn't help but close my eyes and press my lips into a thin line. George really is something else, huh.
"You sure about this?" Phil asked me as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
Either way, I nodded confidently, deciding to just let go of what George chose to have his first words to be towards the person who decides if he lives here or not. "Completely."
Phil took a deep breath and leaned back to wave over one of the stable hands. A kid, around the age of eleven came running up. She never really spoke but from her actions and hard work, I knew that she was a good kid.
I really should start to talk to more people around here, get closer to them. At the very least, learn their names.
Returning to his normal speaking voice, Phil said to her, "When the other advanced and seniors get back, send them to my place."
She diligently nodded her head. Her messy head of black curls bouncing all over the place before she moved ahead to take Spirit's reins, guiding him back into the stables.
Phil let out a sigh before clapping his hands together, "If my patrollers say you're good then welcome. Let your horses rest and get something to eat and drink. Let's continue this talk at my house."
"Thank you so much, sir," Karl said with a smile of relief on his face as he dismounted his horse, which I think he briefly mentioned whose name was 'Socks'. "Seriously, thank you. You have no clue how long we've been-"
"Easy," Phil raised his hand up to cut Karl off, who immediately clamped his mouth shut and stopped in his tracks, "I don't want to come off as rude, but we really must continue this at my house... away from prying eyes and ears."
I could see Karl swallow from where I was standing as I watched him slowly look around at the people around him. The only person who seemed to calm down and take a logical position on the new people was Phil. I didn't even know why there were so many loiters around the stables. These people weren't even patrollers. They have no business being here.
Phil led us in the direction of his house with me close to his side, George and Karl right behind him, and Alex bringing up the rear. Walking as fast as we could without gaining as much attention as possible from any more onlookers.
"Phil? What's up with all the people at the stables?" I asked him in a hushed voice as we crossed town square. Thankfully the square was almost empty. At least some people in this town were doing their jobs instead of just gawking at anything that moved.
"Some people were offering different ways to help towards the ambush since not everyone is able to donate items."
Karl cleared his throat, "Um, I'm sorry. Did I just hear 'ambush'?"
I pursed my lips and took a deep breath, sparing him a quick glance over my shoulder, "Yeah... that's a part of one of the things we need to discuss before you guys really decide if you want to come here or not. We don't want to hide anything."
"Son, we are going to be up front with both of you about everything that's going on here. No deceptions at all. We don't deal with that shit." Phil said loud and clear. "We aren't like that, but this should be done in private. We got some people here who aren't all on the same page."
For some reason, clarity ran across Karl's face as he listened to Phil and I talk. He must have liked the idea of having all the truth and problems laid out right in front of him before immediately making a decision.
Making it to Phil's house in record time, we all entered the house and congregated in the dining room, which apparently has become our meeting spot for anything important. Luke was already sitting in the middle of the table with his back to the windows, a book laying open in front of him as his free hand twirled a spoon inside a teacup.
"Whoa, hey. The fuck is going on?" Luke exclaimed as he stood up so fast that he almost knocked his chair over.
"Okay, okay," I breathed out and raised my hands up. It probably looked like I was trying to defuse a situation, but I was really just mentally preparing myself for what was going to come up with all this new information. "Luke, this is Karl and George."
Luke squinted his eyes for a moment and tilted his head as he slowly raised his hand in a low wave, still very confused about what was happening, "Uhh, hi?"
"They are from a group that's been hiding out in the community arts center about two miles west."
Luke's eyebrows shot up, "No shit?"
"So, you don't know anything about this group?" I asked him.
He drew his eyebrows in and shook his head, "No, nothing. No one ever said anything. I mean I've been with you guys these past three weeks."
George spoke up for the first time since the stables, "You're new here, too?"
Luke nodded and was about to speak again when Phil came around to the head of the table and gestured for the guys to sit. "This is what we needed to speak to you about... Umm, there's no way to slowly bring this up, so this is going to be blunt and hard." Phil dragged his tongue across his bottom lip and took a deep breath, steadying himself before starting this conversation. "We are being targeted by this group from across the country."
Karl and George said nothing. They didn't even move. It was like their whole world and mind went blank. Once hopeful and bright to empty and nothing of promise.
"You found us at an inopportune time, and I can't be more sorry about that. Just another reason why I and my own patrollers want you two to be able to make your, including the rest of your people's decisions, to come here or not." Phil folded his arms as he leaned over the table. His voice was calm and even as he most likely gave Karl and George some of the worst news they've heard in a while.
It had to be a punch to the stomach finding out that the place you've pictured as salvation is pretty much at war with other people simply trying to survive. The home you've been searching and walking towards for how many months was just as destroyed as the rest of the world.
I crossed my arms over my chest as I walked over to where Phil was sitting to lean against the cabinets, "Have you guys ever heard about a group of people called the Wolverines? They're from Pittsburgh."
George blinked and looked down at his hands that were scratching at the loose threads on his pants, "Pittsburgh? I-I'm sorry? I'm not good with the geography of the States."
Karl sniffled and scratched the back of his neck while shuffling in his seat to explain to George, "It's a major city in Pennsylvania, they had a major QZ zone there that fell a while ago."
My eyes widened, "You know what happened to the quarantine zone?"
Karl shook his head, "No, no. I was originally from New York. I was already traveling with a group, but we had a couple radios and were constantly listening to what was going on all up and down the east coast. We knew it fell but never heard why or how." He paused before continuing, "Wait, are you saying that this group from Pittsburgh is here? Is this the group that's targeting Jackson?"
"Yes." Phil said. "I was a Firefly years ago and I was there when the QZ fell to rebels- to the Wolverines." Phil nodded up at me, "Kate was in the zone as well."
"Shit, really?" Karl's face was an open book. You can easily read every emotion that he's feeling and conveying. Right now, he now seemed a bit lost in what was going to happen, like his dream was just crushed into pieces and there was no clear direction to go in now. "You two were there?"
"Phil and Techno saved me from the Wolverines..." My stomach was trying its best to flip as the contents of it was doing everything it could to crawl their way up the back of my throat. My hands turned into fists as I ignored the pitching feeling of my bitten and jagged nails digging into the skin of my palms. I was so done with explaining and repeating this story. "That's why they are here. Techno killed one of them who was trying to kill me, and they want revenge."
"Holy fucking shit," George cursed as he rubbed his hands over his face. He let out a loud huff as he rose up from his chair to walk a couple feet away, his back facing us.
"The leader, Bex," Luke added in, "she killed Techno for vengeance, and she didn't get enough closure from that so now her sights are on Kate."
"Techno's dead?" Karl said. His voice now low like he was starting to get overwhelmed from all of this new information. "The Fireflies specifically mentioned Phil and him. And- and he's dead?"
"Yeah, he's gone. Happened a little over three weeks ago." Luke finished the story as George stood up and ran a hand over his hair.
"What the fuck?" George mumbled as he started to pace the length of the dining. "What the fuck?"
"Now, this is why you mentioned an ambush. You want to retaliate." Karl shifted to rest his elbows on the dining room table. "You're going to war."
"We don't want to." Alex jumped in, waving his hands to convey that we weren't the bad guys in this situation. "But with the intel that we got; they aren't going to stop. Her people have learned everything about our patrol routes and among other things-"
The front door burst wide open as Nick stumbled through. His sneakers squeaked against the hardwood floor from being caked in mud and snow.
His eyes were wild and almost animal-like as they searched the dining room for something, only stilling when they landed on me.
"Hey-" I raised my hand, but he was already walking towards me with purpose. Clay and Morgan ran through the door moments later with their heavy breaths filling the silence as Nick wrapped his arms around my body. My entire balance was shaken with how hard Nick crashed into me.
"Whoa, easy, bub," I immediately go to rub his back and place my other hand on the back of his head as his face goes straight to the crook of my shoulder.
"Fuck, he's fast when in distress," Morgan said as she tried to catch her breath. "Phil, what the hell is going on?"
Nick's grasp only tightened as Phil quickly introduced everyone and explained what exactly went down this morning, filling everyone in as fast as possible. All of us annoyed and tired with repeating information over and over again.
Nick lifted his face from my neck to lean the side of his head against mine as he quietly spoke to only me, "When they said to go to Phil's and wouldn't say anything else..." His voice wavered. "And I didn't see you anywhere. My mind went to the worst."
His mind went to the worst? Did he think...? ... Oh, Nick, no... no wonder he sprinted here leaving Morgan and Clay in the dust.
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. "Hey, hey. Everything is okay. I'm okay. We're okay." I slid my hands around to his front to place them on his cheeks to move his head to look right at me. Rubbing my thumbs against his cheeks as his breathing slowly returned to normal, I kept talking to him, loud enough for only him to hear me. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. And we have some new hope. Alex and I found a group that they haven't had any contact with. We're gonna be okay."
"We're going to be okay," he repeated after me as his eyes closed for just a moment to regain his surroundings and mentality.
"Yes, now breathe, babe. Okay?"
He nodded as he breathed deeply through his nose and held it for a few seconds before letting it out through his mouth. "I'm okay. I'm good."
"Good," I gave him a gentle smile as I turned in his now loosened grasp to rejoin the conversation. Nick rested his chin against the side of my head as he kept up his calming breaths until his heart was back to a normal pace. It was probably going to take a few more minutes with the stress he just put himself through, but he was alright.
It was like no one acknowledged me having to bring my boyfriend back from the brink of a panic attack as the others were still discussing the state of which Jackson was in right now. We were just in the background until we showed our interest in joining the conversation.
"So, basically, you're saying that with all this shit, it's either retaliate or walk Kate straight to her death. Those are the only options." Karl slowly nodded his head.
I let out a breath as I jumped back into the discussion happening at the table, "I'm as scared as death as the next person, but if it saved-"
"Stop." Practically everyone in the room who lived in Jackson pointed harsh glares in my direction. Nick's hand on my waist tightened for a moment like a warning, to stop bringing up the possibility of me dying.
I tilted my head and raised my hands up in defeat, not like I should really be surprised at all by the cut off.
"Hold up." George shook his head hard enough that his hair was flying everywhere as his pacing came to a stop in front of Luke. "You said right when we walked in that you've been here three weeks, so you didn't know anything about me and Karl. And then you said that this Bex and her 'wolvies'-"
"Wolverines." Karl corrected.
George shot him a look that said 'same difference' and 'I don't care enough about saying the right animal's name'. "... Wolverines... showed their faces three weeks ago." George pointed his pale finger in the direction of Luke, "You were a Wolverine. You gave them the intel. Why are you here?"
Phil slammed his hand down on the table, ending George's remark right then and there.
"Because he doesn't share the same morals as them. He's proved himself. He has gained our trust, he's one of us now." Phil cut in fast, ready to shut this part of the conversation down and for it to not be questioned again. "He's in Jackson. He came to us unarmed and wishing for a new life, just like you and your group. Jackson is a place to start anew in this world. Pasts forgotten to look for a happy and brighter future. Many of our people have done terrible things, but they are ultimately good people. That's the point of this place."
Phil stood up tall and proud, looking at George and George only as he continued to speak.
"Anyone who wishes to join and live here has the option, and anyone who wants to leave can leave at any time they wish to. We are a community built on trust and hard work. That is why those Fireflies sent you here in the first place."
I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face. Thank god for Phil and his kind heart in this now gray and harsh world. Not every single thing has underlying evil in it.
"You- you guys trust me? I'm one of you?" Luke's voice cracked. He looked at all of us as his blue eyes got just a tad bit glassy. The harsh tension in the room evaporated with the look of true gratitude on Luke's face.
"Welcome to Jackson, dude." Clay smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "We've trusted you for a bit now. With everything going on, I guess we forgot to mention it to your face." Clay let out a laugh as Luke rolled his eyes and tried to shove Clay's hand off his shoulder, but he still had watery eyes and a hint of a smile on his face.
This right here. This was the point of Jackson. To breathe new life into the world and the people who deserved a second chance. People like Luke, people who weren't bad but were dealt a shit hand and handled it the best they could.
The whole world was gray. Nothing was black and white anymore. Morality and humanity changes with the person and what they have to do to survive and to protect the things they love.
The things I would do if Nick was the one with a target on his back instead of me. If it was my mom or my uncle, Morgan, or anyone else in this room.
I failed to protect Grace and the others. I won't let it happen again. And if I had to kill to do that, so be it. In this world, killing to keep yourself alive was your first priority.
Well, that's supposed to be your first priority. Some people's first priority is to keep alive the thing that keeps them going. If that thing is gone, why live? Why fight so hard to keep living in this unfair world?
I tilted my head up to look at Nick. He was focused on the conversation which moved on to Phil explaining how we came up with the idea of the shrapnel bombs and the supermarket ambush. His eyebrows were just barely pitched together as he watched the discussion take place.
He was my reason to live. He is why I keep fighting to survive.
It might sound stupid and naive and young love like, but with everything that has happened, he is my person, simple and easy. If he was taken from me, no one could stop the warpath I would go on.
I got what most people could only dream of even before the outbreak happened, and to find him afterwards, it's close to a miracle. If only we weren't so stupid, we wouldn't have lost a year or two to pinning and just being in the same friend group. We were lucky nothing happened during that time wasted.
Yes, I loved my family, and I adored my best friends, and I didn't even want to think of anything happening to them. I just know that I would be destroyed if something happened to Nick. The whole thing would hit so much harder.
And I know it's the same for him. One of the reasons why I won't walk straight out those gates and in front of Bex's awaiting and eager gunfire.
He has said it before. Hell, he showed it just mere minutes ago when he ran through the front doors of Phil's house in a panic because he thought I was possibly dead.
He also doesn't know where his family is, doesn't even know if they are alive. He feels like he only has Clay, Alex, and Morgan. So, if I was gone, I know he would take out an entire community to take revenge, not caring if he died himself. I don't want that.
I need to live, so Nick lives.
"So, that's everything you need to know about this place," Phil ended with a sigh as he sat back down in his chair and leaned back for a moment. "Now, if you decide not to join, we would be more than happy to let y'all replenish your resources-"
"We want to come- to live in Jackson." Karl stated, not allowing Phil to talk anymore about not staying. "Yeah, it's no longer what we imagined it would be, but we can't stay in that building much longer. Our resources and rations are practically nonexistent. And I think I can speak for everyone in that place when we really want a bed to sleep in and a place to call home."
"Are you sure?" Clay asked. "We can give you whatever you need if you want to move on past us."
"I thank you for the offer, but we have elderly and children that I don't think will be able to physically or mentally stand walking through yet another state for no reason or end point in mind. Jackson being in a state of distress isn't something we discussed as a group, but everyone is done." Karl looked back at George who has now grown quiet and bashful of his outburst earlier. "We would be happy to help defend a place we can call home."
George bit his lip before ultimately nodding along with Karl's words. "We're all tired. And many of us don't know how to properly survive out there. We don't have enough of an armory for everyone to be self-protected, none of the kids know how to shoot. We're destined for failure."
"I can teach them." I spoke up. "I'm not as much use right now so I have plenty of time to teach whoever needs lessons. They will know their way around a pistol, rifle, and a bow and arrow in no time."
Finally, something I can do. I won't be useless. I can help.
Nick slipped his thumb through my belt loop and tugged to gain my attention. I twisted my neck to look up at him, he gave me a small smirk and a wink before leaning over to place a kiss to the crown of my head.
Wherever he praises me, even when it's silent and small, my face goes so warm, and my stomach flips every time. I like him being proud of me, I really do... Oh...
"Okay, then." Phil nodded as he clapped his hands against his legs, breaking my train of thought thankfully. Standing up to walk around the table, he stuck hand out in front of Karl, who immediately went to shake it. "Welcome to Jackson."
Phil moved to shake George's hand as they both started to thank him and the rest of us profusely. Talk of what to do and how to get the rest of their group here started up as others began to plan on what to teach and prepare the weaker ones.
Were we going to teach them survival skills as well as weapon techniques, or was getting them knowledgeable on how to fight more important right now? How many were nursing old injuries that needed better treatment and medicine? What families were going to occupy which houses in the neighborhoods?
How were we going to get them here? Would all the patrollers go at the break of dawn to get them out and escort them here with extra horses and carts for their belongings? Would they even be allowed to bring more than a backpack since carts would slow the process? What if Wolverines were watching and decided to ambush? Go back for the rest at a later date?
There was a lot to figure out, but one thing we all knew was that they had to all get here as soon as possible. With the new knowledge of a violent group, the community arts building was not well defended enough to protect them.
Clay brought this up immediately. "You have one entrance through the ceiling and the only exit is through a vent system that you have to crawl through. No emergency exits. And your horses are locked away so there's no easy get away either. You're all fucked."
"Hence why we need to live here," George responded with a tilt of his head.
"I mean come on," Clay laughed as he pointed at George's backpack. "What are you going to defend with? Your fishing pole is broken!"
"Yes, we've established that, thanks. Please stop bringing up the fishing rod." George rolled his eyes as he pulled the rod out of his backpack and tossed it on the table to get it out of his possession.
Luke crossed his arms as he spit out theories as well, "Those wooden boards can easily be broken with enough force. That helps us, as well as being a major disadvantage. We can use that to move your people out as fast as possible while others get your horses ready to go and pack whatever is necessary. You don't need tents or sleeping bags anymore. Really just personals if you have any."
A lightbulb went off in my head as Luke was speaking, "Hey, Luke won't have to hide anymore."
The whole room turned to look at me.
"We can just say he was a part of Karl and George's group and he'll slip right in. You have over thirty people, what's ticking on one more person. Luke'll finally be allowed back into society."
Luke's eyes lit up with glee. "I can be let out of this house without anyone else knowing I was from Pittsburgh and not be afraid of anyone beating my ass up." He let out a sigh of relief before he froze and whipped his head over at Phil who crossed his arms at Luke's words. "I mean! This is a lovely home and I thank you for everything you've done! It's just- um, I-"
"Kid, chill," Phil rose his hand up and let out a chuckle, relaxing his stance, "I'm just fuckin' with you. You're always welcome here and can stay in the guest room as long as you want. Kristin and I actually like your company. Gets a little too quiet around here sometimes."
It's amazing how high spirits have gotten. The fact that we were gaining over thirty new people is mind blowing. So many new thought processes and skills that we don't have now. It won't just help with the Wolverine issue but in the long run as well. We will be stronger than before, and we will be aiding so many new people in making them survive better. It's a win-win for everyone.
We continued to talk for hours about what needed to be done, not just with how to get the rest of the new people here but about ourselves overall.
George was born in London but got stuck here in the States just like Phil. But unlike Phil, George wasn't visiting a long-time girlfriend. He was a sixteen-year-old kid on a field trip for his history class. He was in Washington DC learning about American history when the outbreak happened.
"My school finally got approval for an educational trip out of the country and while we were museum hopping and being all touristy, people are starting to rise back up and eat one another." George shook his head as he was able to laugh at the ridiculous nature of what happened in his past. "I just ran and didn't look back. No quarantine zone for me since all I had was a passport that wasn't even on my person. It's actually probably still in that hotel room safe untouched after all these years!"
Karl was a born and raised New Yorker who spent most of his time in either Yankee Stadium or Madison Square Garden watching the Yankees or Rangers play. He had a pretty normal life like the rest of us. His family ditched the quarantine zone they were designated to go to and stayed in the suburbs as long as possible before they were raided and looted. His family, sadly, weren't still around as they were lost to either sickness or infected over the years as they traveled with random people.
Karl found the group a couple years ago while George was already a part of it from almost the beginning. They together would walk from state to state, searching for some place stable to settle in, but nothing was working out.
"We were actually in Tennessee for almost a year." Karl looked over at George as he remembered the mall they made camp in. They even had power and a water system. "We all took different outlet stores as rooms for our own and the food court was a place for us to converse and all that. It worked out well until some infected wandered in and died in the ventilation system, sending spores all through the place. We all got out alive but since then we've been on the road."
It was getting late as even more time passed due to us simply enjoying our time together when we decided to break for the day for dinner, as well as to get Karl and George settled into their new homes. There was talk about our little patrol group going to Darryl's for food as Phil would escort the new guys across town so there wouldn't be any issue or any nasty callouts. And we did not want a repeat of some things mentioned at town hall.
George stopped in the middle of the archway of the dining hall as the rest of us filed out. He picked at his fingers before turning back around to face Luke who would have to hang back for just one more day until granted true freedom.
"Hey, Luke? I'm sorry for all that before, man. For accusing you of- Um, it's just that..." George paused for a second to collect his thoughts. He didn't want to come off the wrong way, but he felt like he needed to apologize for his outburst and quick judgment. "When you're just walking around for years and when you finally get something to head towards and it turns out to..."
Luke clapped a hand against the side of George's arm, "I get it. You find something to live for and it doesn't live up to your standards because of some shitheads from a place called as dumb as Pennsylvania. I get where you're coming from. And if it means anything at all, I'm sorry and I'm trying my best to make this place completely and truly safe and comfortable again."
I tucked on Nick's arm to follow me out the door to let the guys have their little apology moment. The smile on my face hasn't wavered in hours. I was running off the pure excitement of all this change, all this positive change coming.
"You're in a good mood." Nick commented as he threw his arm over my shoulder as I smiled up at him. The two of us walked behind Morgan, Clay, and Alex, who were happily, and hungrily, discussing and trying to guess what Darryl was serving at the diner for dinner tonight.
"I am." I smiled up at him as I knocked my head against his shoulder, my hand wrapping around his that laying over my shoulder. "I'm very happy. Things are looking up."
"I told you they would."
"Okay, shut up. No need for the 'I told you so'." I rolled my eyes at him, but the smile on my face ever wavered. Nothing could kill this happiness.
"Hey, I need to put you in your place whenever I can. I don't get that opportunity very often." He bumped his hip against mine.
"Hmm, enjoy it while you can."
"Oh, I definitely am."
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oh, come on, its last of us premiere day, you know I had to post a chapter in honor of the source content :)