(Hours earlier, Alexandria)
Mercedes was bored. A pretty often thing, especially when all her friends had things they had to do. But that all was about to change.
Mercedes was laying on the couch with Juno. She had a book in her hands that she was lazily reading. Suddenly the front door flung open and in walked her favorite twins.
She lowered her book and smiled seeing the two. "Hey, guys." She said as she sat up.
"Let's go on an adventure!" Chloe exclaimed as she walked over to the girl. She snatched her book out of her hands and laid it on the table.
"Where to?" Mercedes asked, cocking a brow.
Kane crossed his arms. "Fucking Disney world." He sarcastically said as Juno hopped off the couch and walked over to him, begging to be petted.
Mercedes looked away from Kane and gave Chloe a questioning look. The Raleigh girl sighed with a roll of her eyes. "So... There's a water park—"
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Somehow, with little effort Chloe managed to get Mercedes to sneak out with her and Kane. Chloe herself was a bit surprised with how Mercedes hardly needed convincing... But of course she should've known that her friend would be all for it.
The three teenagers and Juno walk along an old beaten down road. Kane led the way with his head held high. Both Chloe and Mercedes were getting tired of walking it was going on two hours and they still haven't made it to the water park.
"Are we almost there?" Mercedes asked, kicking a pinecone across the pavement. There hadn't been many walkers for a while and while that was a bit refreshing to not have to worry about the dead, Mercedes was getting bored and at least you can't get bored if you're fighting off walkers.
"Soon! Five more minutes!" Kane sang as he swung his arms through the air.
Chloe scoffed, readjusting her backpack. "You've been saying that for two hours." She grumbled, shaking her head.
A sigh left Mercedes nose and she stopped in the middle of the road. "Admit it, Columbus, we're lost." She said, tiredly throwing her arms in the air.
Kane stopped and turned to her. "We're not lost. Besides, Columbus was lost when he discovered America."
"Columbus didn't discover shit, dumbass." Mercedes told the boy.
Kane looked at her confused. "What do you mean? My history teacher told me so."
Chloe sighed. "Technically, Columbus was just some guy who got lost. Others had stumbled across our “amazing” country hundreds of years before Columbus was born... Like the Vikings?" She explained.
Kane turned his attention to her. "Since when have either of you been history experts?"
The two girls looked at each other and started to laugh a little, only confusing Kane even more. "You know what? I'll just ask one of the dads when we get home. They'll be more helpful than the two of you." He rolled his eyes.
"What? We do know things, you know? We weren't born yesterday." Mercedes said, she narrowed her eyes at the boy.
Kane scoffed and opened his mouth to say something but decided against it and shook his head.
"You know what, Kane? Give me the map." Chloe said, stepping closer to him.
The boy quickly stepped back and shook his head. "Sorry, Sis, no can do." He told her, there was a hint of nervousness in his voice
Chloe looked at him annoyed. "Dude, quit. Just give me the damn map." She demanded.
"I can't." Kane shook his head.
Mercedes stared at the boy with her head titled. She scoffed when she realized that Kane literally couldn't give over the map. "He can't. The dumbass doesn't have it." She said as she crossed her arms.
Chloe's eyes widened. "What?" She narrowed her eyes at her brother.
Kane smiled at her. "I may have forgotten to get the map back from Derek this morning." He confessed with a nervous smile.
"You dumbass!" Chloe scolded, shoving her brother's arm. "We don't even know where the hell we are! We don't know how to get home from here!" She shoved him again.
"Stop shoving me!" Kane grumbled, grabbing her shoulders. "We can find a map somewhere."
"Oh, man." Mercedes mumbled, shaking her head. "We're so dead. Rick and my dad will literally kill us. Your dads too, probably."
Kane looked over at her after letting go of his sister. "Mercedes, dude, don't worry. I have a plan." He proudly told her.
"No!" Chloe exclaimed. "Absolutely not! Mercedes and I are now taking over." She waved her hand through the air, gesturing to herself and Mercedes.
Kane groaned and stomped his foot. "That's not fair!" He whined
Mercedes laughed a little. "Stomping? Are you five?" She asked with a small smirk.
Kane glared at her. "I hate you... I hate both of you." He grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Love you too, Kay." Chloe sarcastically smiled.
"Might not want to be so loud." A voice suddenly said from the woods.
Juno started to growl and the three teenagers pulled out their guns. They all look off in different directions, trying to pinpoint where the voice came from.
"Luckily you haven't attracted the dead... Yet." The voice said, this time sounding a whole lot closer.
Mercedes' eyebrows furrowed, the voice sounded oddly familiar.
"Auggie?" She hesitantly called out.
"Mercedes?" Auggie soon appeared out of the woods and Juno growled at him.
"It's okay girl. He's nice." Chloe said, walking over to stand by Mercedes side.
"And Chloe too? Shit, where's Michelle?" The boy asked.
"Oh, she went out with some other people from back home." Chloe responded almost immediately.
An uneasy look flashed through Auggie eyes. One that only Kane seemed to have noticed. The Raleigh boy looked at Auggie through narrowed eyes. "Who is this guy?" He asked, keeping his hand on his gun.
"Oh, Kane this is Auggie. Auggie this is Kane, Chloe's brother." Mercedes quickly introduced the two.
Auggie sent Kane a slight nod before looking at the two girls. "What are you guys doing out here?" He asked.
"Exploring. You?" Chloe asked, tilting her head.
The boy shrugged. "hmm, just wanted to get away from home for a bit." He explained.
"You heading anywhere?" Mercedes asked, crossing her arms.
Auggie smirked with a shrug of his shoulders. "I got a cool place in mind. You three wanna come with?"
Chloe smiled. "Hmm? Only if you've got a map we can have after."
"I might be able to make that happen." Auggie hummed, nodding his head.
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"A bowling alley?" Mercedes asked with a huge grin on her face. She and the other three teenagers and Juno stand in a parking lot to a bowling alley. "I love bowling!"
"Impressive." Chloe nodded as Auggie led them to the front door.
Auggie smiled proudly as he pulled out a ring full of keys.
"Why do you have so many keys?" Kane asked. He was beginning to become very suspicious of the new boy.
"My dad likes for me to have a set of keys for just about all the places we have... I dunno... Found?" Auggie shrugged as he unlocked the door. "Dad wanted to use this place as a shooting range a few years ago back at the beginning but I talked him out of it so I could have a cool place to hang out."
Auggie pushed the door open. He turned to face the three Alexandrians. "Ladies." He gestured for Mercedes and Chloe to walk in.
The two girls walked in followed by Auggie, Kane and Juno. Once they were all inside Auggie shut the door. "Give me just a sec." Auggie told them before disappearing into the office
Seconds later the electricity flickered on and Auggie ran back out. "We've got a generator." He smiled.
Mercedes glanced around the bowling alley with a big grin. "Mic is gonna flip her shit when I tell her about this place." She laughed, her eyes lit up with awe.
"So, what do ya think?" Auggie asked, moving so he stood in front of the three and dog.
"Marry me!" Chloe beamed, throwing her arm over the boy's shoulders.
"Whoa! Don't you think it's a bit too soon? You haven't even taken me out to dinner yet." Auggie playfully gasped, holding his hand to his chest.
Kane rolled his eyes. He just couldn't understand how his sister and Mercedes just trusted Auggie. In his opinion there was something up with the guy.
Mercedes glanced over at the boy and noticed the expression on his face. "oh, Kane, smile. Let's have fun!" She told him as she looped her arm with his.
Kane glanced down at her and huffed. "Fine." He muttered.
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Mercedes sighed, tiredly as she sat down on the bench beside Auggie and Kane. They had been at the bowling alley for going on three hours now. It would be getting dark soon so Mercedes, Kane and Chloe would need to get home.
Within the three hours of getting to know Auggie, Kane has actually grown to like the guy. He still had his suspensions but for the time being he decided to just push them to the back of his mind.
"We should head home soon. Don't need Rick and our dads worrying." Mercedes said a little disappointed.
Kane nodded with a scoff. "My dads will lose their shit if Chloe and I aren't home for dinner." He said before standing up. "I'll go tell Chloe we're leaving." He then walked away leaving Auggie and Mercedes alone.
Auggie smiled a bit before grabbing his backpack and placing it on his lap. Seconds later he pulled out a map. "Here take this." He said, handing Mercedes the map. "We're here." He pointed.
Mercedes nodded giving the map a good look "what are the colored X's for?" She asked, her eyes scanned across each of the colored X's. Some of them were red. A feww were yellow and only one of them were blue.
Auggie looked at her and was silent for a moment. There was a nervous look on his face. "Uh... Nothing important." He mumbled as his right leg started to bounce.
"So, um... Do me a favor, okay?" He hesitantly asked, glancing over at Mercedes.
Mercedes nodded and titled her head. "What is it?"
The boy cleared his throat and his eyes wandered around the room. "Stay at home for a few weeks. You and your friends."
The Warren girl raised a brow. "Why?" She asked confused.
"I, uh-- I hear there's gonna be a huge herd headed this way. Begged to be on the safe side." Auggie said.
He was very obviously lying. But either way Mercedes nodded her head. "Fine. Thanks for the heads up." Mercedes sighed.
9.1.23
1:52pm
1798words
This was supposed to be out yesterday but... I kinda forgot to publish it. Anyway the next chapter will be out in a few days!