the morning after an unsuccessful forage, four men lay starved in their mats, outside the undead groaning. all of the groups eyes were open while they stared up to the chipped ceiling. one man sits up, brushing his long hair behind his ear followed by a sigh, "i'm going out," he says. the man's feet brush against the wooden floor as he walks down the steps of the torn farm house, almost losing his balance. the man meets himself to the front porch, breathing in the spores that surround him. he collapses to the ground taking in deeper breaths. he begins humming his favorite song to himself. he then is met with an abrupt knock on wood from behind him, his friend dempsey. his friend doesn't say anything but instead sits next to him. "are you not tired?" the man asks dempsey. his friend shifts his head over to the man with a slight grin, "no," he answers. the man waits for his friend to give more input but he doesn't. "i'm sorry if i woke you," the man speaks again. dempsey pushes back his tangled brown hair raising a quick eyebrow, "you didn't tak." tak looks away embarrassed and begins rubbing his hands together. "you seemed distant today," dempsey uttered. tak grasped his hands together finally looking back at dempsey, "oh sorry i didn't want to get in the way today with the hunt," he says with nervous laughter. dempsey stares as tak looked away and shifted further from him. dempsey felt himself frown, "i meant with me." tak frowned too while he said "oh" under his breath. dempsey began bouncing his foot as his breath shuddered, when he opened his mouth to speak he caught himself. "i'm sorry you feel uncomfortable around me." dempsey spoke nervously while began picking himself up off the floor, "i hope that's enough." dempsey soon went back inside the farm house with blurred vision as he stumbled back up the stairs. his stomach met a painful ache. his scarred face soon met his stiff pillow, pulling his torn blanket close to his mouth. as tak sat outside, he felt ashamed of letting himself become so far from his friend. he covered his mouth holding his breath. he then stood up and lead himself into the crisp lawn surrounding the farm, the sky was a neutral shade of brown and the moans of the undead grew more aggressive. tak crossed his arms across his naked chest when he started to shiver. he stayed awake until the night sky turned dark. it never did.
"where is takeo?" richtofen asked early morning as he rapped himself with his belt. nikolai looked up answering, "i haven't seen him." both nik and richtofen looked over to dempsey after that response. dempsey shrugged saying "i don't know." once dempsey said it, he looked away meeting that same feeling in his stomach from last night. "i'll look for him," nik said but dempsey turned back quickly saying, "no i will." nik squinted his eyes towards dempsey but soon brushed it off letting him go off. dempsey slipped on his combat boots and his rugged jacket followed by marching outside. "tak?" he called out on the front porch. his boots soon scraped the burnt grass and found himself walking through the barn. he calls out takeo's name again but there's still no answer. he finds himself up the stairs of the barn, where he sees his friends figure in the corner. he bends over next to him, shaking him gently. tak groans as his eyes meet with dempsey's. "here." dempsey says, holding out his hand to him. "i'm alright." tak declines propping his head off the floor. dempsey looks away. "i didn't realize i was out here all night." tak speaks. "yeah," dempsey laughs nervously, standing again. "what's going on?" tak asks him, sitting with his knees bent. "well, richtofen says he found a bus." "a bus?" tak repeats. "yeah, stupid right? i mean what engine have you heard of lately that works?" "it doesn't seem so unlikely." tak says. dempsey clears his throat, "no yeah, you're right of course." he looks away again. takeo stands himself up to dempsey, "i guess we should join them," he suggests. dempsey avoids eye contact but shakes his head; following behind his friend.
"so you've decided to join us." richtofen spoke as dempsey and takeo made their entrance. "i couldn't sleep." takeo says, sitting down on a broken chair. "i see, well i've found a bus and i figured that would be our best source of transportation; unless we all want to continue walking for days?" richtofen pauses, "none of us want that." dempsey speaks up, "how do you know how far it will get us?" richtofen laughs, "i am not sure dempsey, but i'm willing to guess that it'll get us far enough." "and which one of us is driving? is it you?" nikolai asks richtofen. he smirks announcing, "none of us! this bus is operated by a machine." "sorry?" dempsey remarks, "a machine?" "who knows? we should get going though, i think he can be a bit impatient." richtofen laughs to himself. dempsey scoffs following richtofen and the others out.
as the crew stepped through the charred grass, above them lightning struck. rain soon began to fall amongst them all and they all began to run; covering themselves. "damn, where is it?" dempsey asked, holding onto his gun holster. "we are almost there!" richtofen exclaimed, running faster ahead. soon the four of them were met with a broken bus; all the windows replaced with planks and rust consuming the rims. "you've got to be kidding." dempsey complained. "trust me dempsey, it works." richtofen assured him, entering the bus meeting the operator. "t.e.d.d, i think my friends and i are ready to leave now, yes?" he spoke. the rest of the group entered in quietly; nikolai and takeo sitting across eachother. "are you really talking to that thing?" dempsey mocked. richtofen caught his tongue, glaring back at dempsey as he propped himself against t.e.d.d's shoulder. dempsey laughed, throwing his bags down next to takeo. "i have a bad feeling about this too." nikolai announced. "all of you enough! we aren't even off yet, be patient." richtofen said impatiently, gripping t.e.d.d's shoulder tightly with anger. "but where are we going?" takeo spoke up. richtofen closed his eyes and sighed to himself, "i think there's a diner near, maybe we can find leftover food." richtofen sat himself. "you better hope we can." dempsey remarked, "i'm tired of your tricks." richtofen ignored him, looking away towards the front. the bus suddenly started moving forward, a slight jump came from nikolai; and dempsey's face puzzled. takeo grasped his hands together in caution. "we got zombies on our tail." dempsey spoke as he poked up, checking the back window. "i think we've arrived at a power station." richtofen said. the group all stood up looking out. "great, get ready to run." dempsey told. the four of them began sprinting to an outside and into the underground powerhouse by dropping into a hole. "you go, tak and i will hold them off!" dempsey yells to richtofen and nik; with a slight touch on takeo's arm. both men began shooting their firearms while closing into eachother ever so slightly. while their arms stayed pressed together, a yell from richtofen came from behind them, "we've turned it on, the power!" dempsey began to turn and run after richtofen until takeo was tackled by a corpse. dempsey wrestled the zombies out of his path to takeo, pulling his friend up, "i got you tak, come on." he said, pushing tak ahead of him as they ran to richtofen and nik.
"what is taking you long?" richtofen groaned, opening a door out of the power station. "we're fine." dempsey replied, eyeing takeo nervously. "it's open, let's go now!" nik yelled, letting the group run in front of him. the four men jumped across broken floors until they eventually made their way out and back to the bus. "the doors are closed!" richtofen cried out, pounding on the doors of the bus, "let us in t.e.d.d!"
soon the men were surrounded by undead, loud yells came from each of them as they fought off how enclosed they were. the bus doors finally opened, richtofen shoved takeo in; resulting in him chipping his teeth. he held his hand over his mouth; almost crying. the rest of them made their way in, nik and dempsey holding each door off. "get a move on t.e.d.d!" dempsey yelled as he struggled using all his body weight on the broken door. richtofen shook his head in disbelief and sat himself alone. the bus started moving as nik and dempsey sighed out of relief. "you almost got us killed!" dempsey announced at richtofen as soon as they were off. richtofen ignored him; fidgeting to himself. tak continued holding his mouth closed with his eyes shut. "you okay tak?" dempsey asked, bending over next to him. he didn't answer in fear it would hurt more. "let me see." but takeo shook his head. dempsey complied as he stood up approaching richtofen. "the hell did you do?" dempsey said pulling richtofen up off the ground, holding him by his shirt against the wall. "what are you talking about?" richtofen asked.
"why is tak doing that? did you break his tooth?"
richtofen shook his head in confusion.
takeo stood up telling dempsey to stop.
"it's okay, it's just chipped, two of them."
dempsey glared followed by punching richtofen in the nose.
"fuck, it was an accident!" he cried out with his hands up in defense.
"it's always you who puts us in these situations." dempsey said, shoving himself off richtofen.
richtofen said nothing but held his nose in pain.
takeo turned away to go sit in the back of the bus.
nik shook his head, approaching richtofen with sentiment.
"what is that?" dempsey said to himself as he looked out the window.
up ahead, a town lit up with much color and all sorts of buildings.
"i was going to tell you about this town." richtofen said sounding congested with his nose blocked.
"you wonder how much money is left in that bank?" dempsey questioned.
"right because you can do so much with a-hundred dollar bill these days." nikolai mocked.
dempsey rolled his eyes.
the bus came to a stop and dempsey exited first; his face painted with astonishment.
"oh great, there's a bar." nikolai said as he followed behind dempsey.
"we gotta check that out, it's been years since i've been in a place like this; this is what i call the apple pie life."
takeo found his way out, following nik and dempsey into the bar with the neon red sign.
the floor was creaked on the first step in, most of the floor boards ripped out.
dempsey found his way behind the bar; he poured himself some beer. he unzipped his jacket and began to play pretend. "can i interest you in some of our finest red wine?" he said persing his lips.
"funny joke, where's the vodka?" nik said sitting down on a bar stool.
dempsey grinned, "coming right up."
takeo caught up, sitting next to nik.
"hey tak, what can i get you?" dempsey asked, handing nik his drink.
"i don't think i want anything because of my teeth." tak said.
"alright, where's richtofen?" dempsey asked.
takeo looked back, realizing he wasn't followed.
"i don't know." he said.
nikolai glared suspiciously at dempsey and tak.
dempsey took one last sip of his beer and suggested they find him.
"hey wait dempsey." tak called out before he followed him out.
"yeah?"
"your jacket."
dempsey stared, slowing reaching out for his coat.
"thanks." dempsey nervously laughed.
he turned away quickly.
"richtofen!" nikolai called out.
he noticed music from that came from his right ear.
"richtofen?" he said again, walking into a bowling alley.
"oh hello nikolai!" richtofen waved while messing with a jukebox.
"what is this?"
"what? we can't have some fun?" richtofen gleamed.
soon tak walked in, and dempsey behind with his jacket in his arms.
"oh man i haven't bowled in forever!" dempsey explained, running over to start a game.
nikolai followed dempsey as they picked out their bowling balls.
richtofen stayed put by jukebox, scavenging through the songs.
dempsey grew annoyed that he kept changing them over and over.
"tak you coming?" nikolai called out.
takeo was caught off guard but quickly shook his head while verbally declining.
dempsey frowned a bit.
"what's his problem?" nik asked dempsey.
dempsey caught himself about to say something he didn't want to; he then cleared his throat and said he didn't know.
nik looked at him oddly but brushed it off and began bowling first.
"richtofen will you pick a god damn song and stick with it?" dempsey finally called out after being blinded with frustration. richtofen glared over, leaning off the jukebox finally.
"you're up." nik said, patting dempseys shoulder.
stepping up to the front of the lane; he bowled smoothly, getting a strike.
"that's what i'm talking about!" dempsey exclaimed in nikolai's face; he then gave a little finger dance.
nik rolled his eyes, bowling his turn, resulting in a strike. nik laughed in dempsey's face, mocking his dance.
dempsey looked over at tak, sitting at a table alone by a vending machine.
"i think i should talk to him, yeah?" dempsey asked nik.
"is there something going on with you both?"
"it's nothing i don't think, but it would be best to talk to him to make sure?"
"go for it." nik told him.
dempsey let all the air out of his lungs as he approached takeo. "hey tak." he said as he propped himself against the table. "i'm sorry that i'm sitting out, my teeth do really hurt."
"i know, i'm sure." dempsey paused, "i'm sorry, can i see now?"
takeo hesitated but eventually nodded and opened his mouth.
"damn, that stings." dempsey said, "you would not want to have a bite of ice cream with those bad boys." he teased.
"shut up." tak smiled, but got squeemish.
dempsey hesitated looking tak in the eyes; he felt his hands getting close to his ally.
"i found sausages!" richtofen called out from the kitchen.
dempsey pulled his hands away, running his fingers through his hair.
"well, i wish you would join us." dempsey spoke.
takeo looked at him shrugging.
"and i hope you wish the same."
"i might." tak said.
dempsey felt his face light up, "okay great."
he made his way back over to nikolai, feeling better about everything.
"how did it go?" nik asked him.
"okay i think."
nik and dempsey continued to bowl as the brown sky went down to a darker shade.
eventually takeo made his way to join the two of them; later the four of them stopped to go back to the bar and play pool.
the group ended up passing out on the second story of the bar.
the next morning they all boarded the bus to get back on the road.
a few zombies managed to get on the roof of the bus and break the roof hatch.
they found themselves at the bus station and ended up looking around, yet there was nothing but lava creased into the floor. there next stop was finally the diner, they made themselves comfortable in the booths as richtofen acted out as a server.
later nikolai and richtofen went out to fix the bus hatch, leaving tak and dempsey alone in the diner.
"hey tak, how bad would you say this piece of pie is that i just found?"
tak rolled his eyes, "don't eat that please, it's poison."
"i wasn't, i was gonna dare you to." dempsey said, jumping in the booth next to tak.
"if you do, i will." tak said.
without hesitation, dempsey took a bite out of the old diners pie.
tak's mouth flew open, which was a mistake because this was dempsey's chance to shove the pie in his mouth.
tak spit it out immediately, dempsey's laugh echoing throughout the diner.
"i'm gonna throw up." tak spoke, scraping his tongue.
dempsey rested his arm on the seat behind tak, staring at his ally softly.
he suddenly was tired of holding back.
"i don't want you to continue being mad at me. i want you to know i dont regret a thing with you."
tak didn't reply but waited for more.
"i don't know how i could." dempsey finished.
tak looked down, his palms filling with sweat. he suddenly felt a bit of relief rush over him, and a realization that he did requit these feelings. he didn't know how serious it was.
tak looked up at him, noticing the tenderness in his ally's eyes.
he reached up toward dempsey, pressing his lips against his quickly.
when he stopped, dempsey smiled saying, "what's that for?"
tak shrugged, digging into his nails.
dempsey didn't mind, he moved his way out of the booth and offered they go help their friends outside.
tak followed him out and they successfully fixed the hatch.