"Of course Dave and Tony are gonna be at the bar," Sean snorted. He was in the passenger seat of our silver four-wheeled drive. Lewis nodded, gripping the steering wheel tightly. "Bev said they would be."
"It's getting late. The roamers are gonna start swarming in. We grab them, and then run back to the car," He declared. Lewis had always been the most level-headed in our group, a total opposite to Sean.
It was my first real trip out to town, and so far we hadn't seen a single roamer in the area. It had been eerily quiet, the moon slowly creeping up as we drove our way along the main road. My brother, Dave, had always been a big drinker.
"You might even get your first kill, Ames." Randall shoved my arm jokingly from beside me.
Only Dave called me that, since it was a pet name that only my family and friends called me.
I wouldn't call Randall a friend.
I didn't reply, giving him a short smile before turning back to the window. Or, what was left of the window. The glass had been smashed out when we found the car, the keys switched off in the ignition.
It was what we'd call a lucky find. Most cars we found those days were either occupied by a corpse, or out of petrol.
The cool night air calmed my heated skin; the pressure of my first visit to town had been particularly worrying since Dave hadn't taught me how to use my weapon properly.
"Just pull the trigger," He had said. I looked down at the rifle beside me.
There were at least three possible "triggers".
Usually I would've stayed home at camp, but lately it had been somewhere I would like to avoid.
There were a few gunshots, distant, but still loud enough for us to hear.
"Probably ran into some roamers." Lewis shook his head. "Tony needs to learn to kill silently. Always shooting up anything he can find."
The car slowed to a stop, outside a grubby old bar. I took this time to peer out the non-existent windows. We were parked in an empty main road, with three buildings. Sure enough, on the opposite side of the road, was the pharmacy Dave and Tony were meant to be in.
Sean jumped out immediately, taking his handgun with him. I remained inside the car with Randall, as Lewis began to follow Sean to the door. They quickly glanced around for any roamers.
"Dave? Tony?" Sean was the first to call out. He was quiet, cautious.
It was silent. An eerie kind of silence. Randall didn't say anything; instead he fiddled with the strap on his gun.
"They said over here?" Lewis asked again.
"Yeah." Sean nodded, his handgun raised in suspicion. I stuck my head out of the car window, so I could see their faces.
"I'm telling you man, I heard shots." Lewis began to panic. So much for his level-headedness. I knew Dave would be alright. Tony, I wasn't so sure about.
He was a big man, almost always covered from head to toe in some sort of grease. I had been very suspicious when Tony volunteered to scout for medicine with my brother, splitting from the group.
Looking back on it, I should've known the two would've ended up in the bar across the road from the pharmacy. Men like Tony always affected Dave's decisions like that.
"I saw roamers, two streets over. Might be more around here." Sean looked around again, gulping silently.
"We gotta get out of here," Lewis stated, turning back to the car. I shook my head at him.
"Not without my brother," I said quietly.
Randall groaned from behind me. But I knew Dave was probably in there, drunk, or maybe even passed out.
"Dave! Tony!" Sean called again, louder this time as he walked back from the door.
"Shut up, idiot!" Lewis whispered at him angrily. "You wanna attract them? Just stick close. We're gonna find them."
Sean walked up close to the door, looking into the foggy window. My worry for my brother's safety began to peak. Did he run? Was he lost? I knew Dave; he had never struggled to kill roamers. Or lamebrains, as he called them. Randall jumped out of the car, leaving me alone.
"Dude, he said to stay close," Randall snapped at Sean, who was still peering into the window. Randall was younger than me, at least in his late teens. He had always wanted to be a part of the action, even if that meant putting himself in danger just to act like the older men. Lewis had begun to scale the building, looking around for any walkers.
"Tony," Sean whispered. He followed Lewis, leaving Randall and I alone again. I sat in the car as silently as possible, my breath forced out in white tufts of air. The once calming, cool night had now turned into a nightmarish one.
I jumped in my seat when a few more shots sounded out, much closer. Randall ran to the right side of the building, emerging with Sean and Lewis.
"What happened?" I called as quietly as I could.
"Roamers." Sean shrugged. "I nailed them."
"They disappeared, but their car's still there." Lewis pointed to Dave's black pickup truck. "And I cleared that building." He then pointed to the shoe store beside the bar and the alleyway in the middle.
"The bar?" Sean nodded to the ruined old building. I could see the hesitation in Lewis' eyes as the trudged up to the splintery door.
Lewis pushed the door open quickly, but it rebounded on him and he almost hit his head on the wooden surface.
"What?" Sean sounded exasperated, scratching his bald head. His dark skin was soaking with sweat, and I could tell it was from the uneasiness of being outside this late at night. But I could also tell he was afraid of what we could find in there. Although if there were roamers in that building we would've heard their growls.
"Someone pushed that shut." Lewis indicated to the door. "There's someone in there."
"Yo, someone in there?" Sean called through the door. "Yo, if someone's in there, we don't want no trouble. We're just looking for our friends."
Dave had to be in there.
I tugged the strap for my rifle over my shoulder and pushed open the car door, Randall giving me a questioning look from where he stood.
I was afraid, afraid for my brother, and with that adrenaline I found the courage to walk up to the door. I stopped next to Lewis, whose pale skin was also glistening with sweat in the moonlight. Even my skin was clammy, the thought of leaving here without my older brother made me feel extremely ill.
"What do we do? Bum rush the door?" Sean asked Lewis. Randall was pacing back and forth behind us, probably readying himself for a fight. My breathing began to accelerate, the worry becoming too much for me. I just wanted to know if he was alive.
"No, we don't know how many are in there," Lewis reasoned, before turning to me. He could sense the weakness in my knees, as I wobbled beside him. "Just relax, Amy."
"We don't want any trouble. We're just looking for our friends," He called through the door. I noticed how he made his voice sound deeper than it actually was, probably to intimidate whoever was in there. "If something happened, please tell us." I gripped the dirty brick wall for support. "This place is crawling with corpses. If you could help us not get killed, I'd appreciate it."
Randall stopped pacing and stepped toward us. "Dude, you're bugging. I'm telling you nobody's in there."
"Someone guard the door," Lewis said to us quietly, ignoring Randall. "If they're in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are."
Sean stepped closer to the door, raising his handgun.
There was a moment of silence, the kind of silence that pounded in my ears like the beat of a drum. I looked down at the ground in dismay. He could be running through the streets of this small town, looking for us. He could be holed up in a building, waiting for sunrise. He could have caught up with some of the other scouts in our group, and maybe they went back together.
Maybe I would never know if Dave is okay.
I paused, waiting for any kind of noise that could indicate Dave's presence in that building.
"They drew on us!" A deep voice suddenly called from within the building. It was a man, with a strong southern accent, and a raspy voice. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping Dave was alive and okay.
"Dave and Tony in there?" Randall asked, "They alive?"
I held myself up against the wall, dreading the possible reply. I knew what Dave was like, he could talk his way out of anything.
"Are they alive?" Lewis repeated impatiently, I knew he was getting fidgety about the whole situation.
I held myself up against the wall, as the man inside finally gave his answer.
"No."