"Put him in the back of the truck", a man said. Travis had regained consciousness now and could now hear what the men were saying.
"Where did the other trespassers go?" another man said as they threw Travis into the back of the truck. Travis crashed on to the hard, metal truck.
"We already brought them to the theatre."
"Shut up! He might not be able to see, but he might still be able to hear."
"He's out", another man said as he pulled off the bag that was on Travis' head. Travis didn't want them to think that he was up, so he closed his eyes again. The man slapped Travis' face lightly and said, "Look. The guys still passed out."
"He better stay that way. At least until we get back. Then it doesn't matter if he is up."
"Well let's get going then. It's getting late", a man said as he pulled open the truck door. He climbed inside the truck and started it. The men that were with him hopped into the truck and they started to drive away.
"I need to get out of here", Travis thought, "But I can't see anything with this bag on my head." He started violently shaking his head, trying to get the bag off. After a few minutes of this the bag fell off of his head. He could now see, and he looked around the truck for something he could use to free his hands. He saw a bottle rolling around near the back of the truck. He dragged himself across the trunk, towards the bottle. He reached out his hands to grab the bottle. He grabbed it and attempted to smash it on the back of the truck. As he was swinging the bottle down, the truck hit a bump and he and the bottle went flying in the air. He crashed down on the metal floor of the truck and the bottle shattered. The blades of glass sliced into his hands, leaving them covered in blood.
"Shit!" one of the men inside the truck said as the truck went over the bump, "Somebody check on the guy."
The truck slowed to a stop and a man walked out. He looked at the trunk and said, "Ya the guys okay. Looks like he landed on some glass though. His hands are pretty cut up and bloody."
"Is he still alive?"
"Well he's breathin' so I assume that he's still alive."
"Okay. Now get back in the truck. We are gonna get going", another man ordered. The man got into the truck and they started to drive again. Travis looked up for a shard of glass. He found one and grabbed it. He instantly start slicing at the rope. Bit by bit the glass cut through the rope until it was weak enough for Travis to rip through it. He pulled his hands apart and moved them in front of his body.
"God. My fucking hands screwed", he stated as he observed his hands, "Now I just gotta get off of the truck."
He moved towards the side of the truck and started to climb up. The blood on his hands smeared onto the side of the truck. He lifted himself over the side of the truck and looked down at the road that was moving fast underneath him. He went to jump off of the truck when it turned the corner. He fell back into the truck and smashed his head on the metal floor.
"Son of a bitch! Fuck that hurt!" he fumed, grabbing his head. He was about to get back up when the truck stopped. He layed down again, and held his hands behind his back, to make it look like he was still binded.
"Look at that!" one of the men said as he climbed out of the truck.
"What is it?"
"I don't know. Looks like a walker."
"Well let's go kill it."
"Okay then get back in the truck, we will go run it over!"
The man got back in the truck. And they started to drive again. They drove towards the figure that was down the road. They were less than twenty metres away from the figure when one of the men said,
"Shit! Stop the truck! That isn't a walker! That's a living person!"
The driver slammed on the breaks as fast as he could. They kept on getting closer and closer to the person, but they weren't stopping fast enough.
"Shit we're gonna hit the guy!" one of the men said when they were five metres away from the figure.
"Swerve away from it, dumbass!" a man said as he grabbed the steering wheel. He turned it as fast as he could but it was too late. The truck spun out and the trunk slid towards the man. All he had time to do was lift up his arms before the truck hit him, sending him flying back five feet.
"Shit!" a man yelled as he jumped out of the truck, "You hit the guy! Is he still alive?"
"How the hell am I suppose to know?" another man asked, getting out of the truck as well.
The men ran towards the person and felt for a pulse. They sat there waiting to see if he was alive for about a minute, but then decided to leave.
"Guy's dead. Nothin' we can do about it." They started walking away when they heard a groan. They looked back at the man to see that he was attempting to sit up.
"Look it! The guy's alive!"
"Holy shit! How the hell did he survive that?"
"I don't know", a man replied as he crouched down beside the man, "You okay there buddy? Can you here me?"
"Ya, I'm alive", the man muttered as he rubbed the back of his head, "Did you just hit me with a truck?"
"Ya, we are really sorry about that. Thought you were a walker. How 'bout we bring you back to our base? Get you cleaned up and fed. Since we just hit you with our truck."
"That's fine with me."
"You'll have to sit in the trunk though. Not enough room in the front. You can watch over our hostage for us."
"I really don't care. I just want off of this fucking road."
"Okay let's pick the guy up", a man said as he grabbed underneath the man's arms. They picked him up and brought him to the trunk of the truck and lifted him inside. Then they hopped back into the truck and started driving again. The man sat up on the side of the trunk and looked at Travis. He stared at him for a while then said,
"Travis?"
"How did you know my name?"
"It's Josh. You know, the dumbass one that tried to climb up that cliff."
"How? That Josh died. I saw him die."
"I never did die. I almost did, but a man named Liam found me. Nursed me back to health. Now I'm up and going again."
"You're barely moving. You just got hit by a truck."
"It was slowing down. I'm fine."
"You got lucky, Josh. You should've been dead a long time before this, but for whatever reason you seem to survive anything that gets thrown at you."
"I guess that's true. Where did the rest of the group go."
"I don't know. I'm assuming that they are at the same place that we are going."
"What do you mean? Weren't you with them?"
"No. Me and Jordan got split up from the rest of the group, when we fell down an elevator shaft."
"Wait. If you say that you and Jordan got split up from the rest of the group, then where is he now?"
"He..." Travis said as he lowered his head, "He's dead."
"Let me guess. You two got in to a fight and since nobody was there to stop it, you ended up killing him."
"No! It was nothing like that. We settled our issues. There was a huge hoard of walkers swarming us, and since Jordan had broke his leg, he was slowing us down. So he offered to sacrifice himself, so that I could make it out. I tried to convince him not to. But his mind was already set. He said that he needed somebody that he could trust to protect Jessica and his baby. He wanted me to do it."
"Wow. That's pretty crazy. It's going to be difficult trying to explain this to Jessica."
"Ya, that's what I've been thinking. She won't be able to handle it. And she will instantly think that I killed him. I don't her to think that."
"Don't worry. I'll try and help you out. I'm sure that she will believe it, if I tell her", Josh said as the truck stopped. They were parked outside of a movie theatre. The men started to get out of the vehicle and Travis put his hands behind his back again. The men walked to the trunk and one of them said,
"Okay. This is our stop. It's time to get out."
"We are stopping at a theatre? This is an odd place", Josh commented as he hopped out of the truck.
"Well, it's home for us. It's big and with all of the survivors we have here, it's pretty safe", one of the larger men said, "How has this guy been? Has he been any trouble?"
"No. He's just been sitting here telling ne about the group of survivors he's with. His hands are pretty fucked up though. Might need to get those cleaned up."
"Ya, we will probably clean them up and wrap them up. Then he can rejoin his group", the man said as he lifted Travis out from the truck, "Speaking of groups, did you have anybody with you, or have you been alone?"
"I'm alone. Just me against the world."
"That's got to suck. What'd you say your name was again?" the man asked as he opened up the theatre doors.
"Josh."
"So Josh. How about we take you upstairs to meet our boss, while this guy get's taken to our little prison", the man said as he handed Travis off to another man.
"Sounds good to me", Josh said as they walked by many families that were in the theatre lobby, "There sure are a lot of people here."
"Yes there is. And that's why we need to use as much supplies from this city as possible. We can't have other people taking it. We have families to feed."
"I understand why. It must be stressful having to keep so many people alive."
"It is. I think last time I checked, we had about thirty families living here. This is our community now. We have to do everything in our power to keep everybody alive."
"Sounds like a difficult task. I used to have a group that I took care of, but they left me to die, so I just worry about myself now."
"Well maybe if the boss likes you he'll let you stay with us. We could always use the extra hands", the man said as he knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" asked a voice from behind the door.
"It's Barry, sir. I have somebody here that I want you to meet."
"Okay. Come in in", the voice called back. Barry grabbed the door handle and opened up the door. They walked in and looked at the person sitting at the desk. He was a older man, probably in his fifties. He was sitting behind a desk that was in front of a huge window. The window overlooked one of the theatres.
"Sir, this is a man named Josh. We accidently hit him with our truck on our way back here. We were wondering if we could get him something to eat."
"That's fine with me. He didn't take any of the supplies from the city did he?"
"Not that we know of. What he has on him is all that he has."
"Okay. Well then nice to make your acquaintence young man. My name is Samuel. I run this fine facility. I make sure that everybody in this theatre has a food in their bellies and a bed for them to sleep on."
"You sound like you care about all of the people who live here."
"I do. I act as if all of the people here are my children. If they are afraid, I will do anything in my power to give them hope again. Cause that's what a leader does", Samuel explained as he walked over to the window, "That's why I worry about these new guests that we have. They don't seem to have a very positive attitude. And my patience is running dry with them. They've only been here for a few hours and I'm already sick and tired of them."
"Do you know who they are?", Josh asked as he joined Samuel at the window.
"No idea. They haven't told us anything. All we want to know is who they are, where they came from, and what they want. They are three very simple questions, but they are acting as if we want them to walk on water. We just want to make sure that they aren't in any way a danger to us."
"I might be able to help. I'm good at persuading people to talk. I think I can get them to talk."
"Are you sure?" Samuel asked, "You haven't even ate anything yet."
"It will be fine. After all, I you guys welcomed me into your facility with open arms. It's the least I can do."
"If you say so", Samuel agreed, "Just don't do anything stupid. I don't completely know you yet. For all I know, you could be trying to help them. Just remember, you just gained my trust. And you can lose my trust just as quickly as you gained it. So if you do anything foolish, I will make sure that you get thrown out of this facility. Do you understand, boy?"
"I understand, sir. I promise nothing will go wrong."
"That's good. Now Barry, take this man to downstairs to the prisoners."
"Yes sir", Barry said as he and Josh walked out of the room. They shut the door and walked to the left towards some stairs. The stairs led into the theatre down below Samuel's room.
"Samuel has taken quite the liking to you. I'm surprised. I have never seen him trust somebody as quickly as he did for you", Barry stated as they walked down the stairs.
"I must be a likeable person then."
"Ya I'd say", Barry said as he opened the theatre door, "Now these people are very stubborn. They won't talk easily and they won't answer right away. You do not have to worry about them trying to escape because they are tied down. All except the mom. She is holding her baby. But I don't suspect she will try anything."
"Unless somebody took the baby. Then she would go into beast mode and kill us all!"
"Well you better not take the baby then."
"I don't plan on it. Now I work best alone. It would be great if you left me for a little bit."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I will call if I need any help."
"Okay. Good luck", Barry said as he walked out of the room. Josh walked over to the prisoners and they looked at him. They all stared at them, with shocked expressions. They stood there in silence for a few moments until Josh broke the silence.
"What's wrong with you guys? You're acting like you just saw a ghost."
"It seems as if the ghost we all see is talking to us as well", Martin replied.
"Well you might want to tell me where this ghost is, cause I haven't seen it yet", Josh said, looking around the room.
"Josh. Is that you?" Jessica asked.
"Well, I sure as hell ain't Santa Claus", Josh joked, "So could you please stop staring at me, you're making me uncomfortable."
"How are you alive", Ray asked, "I was there when you died. You weren't breathing."
"Well I'm not dead. I am actually very much alive."
"You almost died though", Travis added, "He got hit by a truck."
"Shut up, Travis! Nobody wants to hear anything from you!" Jessica yelled, on the verge of tears.
"Woah, woah, woah! Why are you yelling at him, Jessica?"
"Because, Josh, this bastard killed Jordan!"
"No I didn't!" Travis stated, "I told you that I didn't kill him! Even Josh knows that I didn't kill him."
"He's telling the truth. I was with him and Jordan when Jordan died. It had nothing to do with Travis. Jordan sacrificed himself so that Travis and I could make it out alive. When I found them, they were joking and acting like good buds", Josh lied. He and Travis knew very well that Josh wasn't with them, but Josh knew that lying was the only way he could make Jessica believe his story.
"Really? I didn't think that he was telling the truth..." Jessica said.
"Ya, he's telling the truth. Now I'm going to tell you why I'm in here", Josh started, "I am working for these guys right now. They don't think that I know you guys. But I still want to help you guys. So I'm going to tell you guys straight up. These guys are not people you want to mess with. So the stupid, we aren't going to tell you anything act, has to stop. These people are just trying to survive. They have families to feed and people they need to protect. So if you don't tell them what they want to know, they will not hesitate to kill every single one of you if they think you are dangerous. So smarten the hell up! I'll leave you guys with that information", Josh explained as he walked away from the group.
"What happened to you, Josh?", Jessica asked, "Something is different about you."
"I don't know. I guess some people just need to die to learn how to grow up."