Trevor McAllister
I woke up in the tree I had slept in, I untied the ropes around my legs and adjusted myself.
For the past month, that had been normal, only now I was alone. Two days ago, my mom and dad had been taken by a herd.
After checking my surroundings, I climbed down the tree. I slid my backpack off of my back and grabbed one of the protien bars from inside. As I walked in the direction I had been heading all day yesterday, I ate my breakfast. Lucky for me, I never had much of an appetite.
"Thanks ADHD," I muttered to myself.
I had little sense of where I was going. My compass had been lost during the herd attack. I had the sun to guide me, but that wasn't much help in the middle of dense woods.
As I walked I took in my surroundings, although it wasn't much. Just woods. I shoved the granola bar's wrapper into my pocket. Even now, I refused to litter.
Well past noon, I spotted a large rock and decided to take a break there.
I pulled out my book, "The Unwanteds," and read for a while. I pulled out the picture of my family that I had been using as a bookmark and relaxed.
I had read about twenty short chapters when I heard a twig snap somewhere behind me, two people were talking.
Shit, Magnus's men.
I shoved the book and the picture back into my bag and zipped it, then ran as fast as I could in the same direction I had been heading in.
I ran as fast as I could, but I soon became winded. Being trapped behind walls didn't do me any favors.
I stayed focused on what was behind me, but that was a mistake. I didn't know what was in front of me.
Eventually, I ran into someone. I could tell it was someone, and not something, because they were talking.
"Please don't kill me," I squeaked hurriedly, crawling frantically away.
The boy I had bumped into turned around and chuckled. "Why would I do that?" He asked cockily.
Damn, he's hot.
He had long brown hair, a piercing blue eye, and freckles peppered his face. His other eye was covered with gauze.
My lip quivered and I glanced between the boy and the man he had been talking to. He offered me a hand up, and I hesitantly took it. He lifted me off the ground.
"What were you running from?" The man asked.
"People," I breathed. "I think they're from my old community."
The boy shot me a questioning glance, but before either of them could ask any more questions the two people who had been chasing me burst through the bushes. They both raised pistols, but lowered them once the people appeared.
"Rick, there's some kid out- oh he found you," another man retorted. "Why'd you run from us?"
The woman who was with him sheathed her katana and wiped some sweat from her forehead. I hadn't seen any of them before.
"I've been running from some assholes from my old community, my parents and I saw some things we weren't supposed to a few weeks back and they tried to kill us. My parents didn't make it. We ran into a herd. I've been on my own for a couple days." I glanced between the four of them before "Rick" asked me a question.
"How many walkers have you killed?"
I shrugged. "Not many. My parents didn't let me leave often."
"How many people have you killed?"
"None. Haven't had to." I hoped this was some sort of initiation, I needed a group. There was no way I was gonna survive on my own much longer. "Do you guys have a community or something? You look too clean to just be drifting."
The first man scratched his stubble. "You from around here kid?"
"Yeah, I grew up in Reynold's Run. Lived there all my life," I replied slowly. That didn't answer my question.
"Have you heard of Alexandria, the self-sustaining community they tried to open up?"
"Yeah, my parents bought one of the houses," I replied honestly. "I thought that place wasn't finished?"
"It wasn't. There used to be an architect in our community, he and a few others fixed the place and built walls," the other man chimed in.
"Would've been nice to know that sooner," I retorted. "I bet it's way better than the shit hole I was staying at. My name's Trevor, Trevor McAllister." I held out my hand, but nobody took it.
"I'm Rick, this is Aaron, Michonne, and my son Carl," he replied as he beckoned to each of them. "We should probably get headed home. For the time being, you'll be staying in our cell."
"Rick, he's just a kid," Aaron piped in.
"We don't know who could be following him, he stays in the cell."
Nobody else objected and we began on our way. Rick lead the group, Michonne at his side, followed by Aaron, then Carl.
I fell into stride with Carl.
"So, how many people are at your community?"
He looked slightly surprised that I was talking to him. "I don't know, probably about twenty or so, give or take."
"You've got walls, right?" He nodded. "Are there any other kids our age?"
"One. She's cool."
"You two dating?" It came out before I could stop it.
He gave me a confused sideways glance and stopped walking. "No, I haven't really thought about that for a while." He had turned bright red, it was kind of hilarious.
"Sorry, I didn't mean-"
"-No, no it's fine." He shook his head. "I don't like her like that. I don't think she's interested in dating anyway."
I almost forgot he doesn't know. "I don't like girls," I replied flatly.
Once again, his face flushed. "Oh."
We both stayed silent for a moment. "I didn't make you uncomfortable, did I? If I did, I-"
"-Nah, it's fine. I just didn't think people thought that way about me, especially after..." His voice sounded sad as he trailed off.
I figured it was best not to pry any more after that, so we stayed silent the rest of the way back to their community.
Dusk had begun to break and Carl poked my arm. I jumped slightly and he chuckled.
"We're here, Trevor. Welcome to Alexandria."
I glanced up at the walls, and I was in instant shock. Up until that point, I had only seen the wimpy chain-link fence surrounding Reynold's Run. But these walls were MASSIVE. They looked like slats of roofing metal that had been bolted together.
Someone on the inside pulled open the two-layered gate and the group started inside.
I glanced around in awe. "This place is huge," I remarked.
Carl nodded. "After being out there for a while it's a shock, I know. My group had been on the outside for a while before we found this place too."
We had just caught up with Rick. "Alright Trevor, we need all of your guns and knives, Michonne's going to check your bag," he ordered.
I nodded. "I've got five knives and a pistol, pistol's almost outta ammo though. The one knife is in the bag," I replied, removing the other four knives and the gun as Michonne rummaged through my bag and removed my utility knife. "I'll get 'em back, right? A few of those knives are sentimental."
Rick nodded and looked me over as he handed my bag back to me. "As long as we can trust you. Do you mind if I have Michonne pat you down?"
I shook my head. "Not at all." I was still in awe of how big the houses were. I knew my parents had money, but I didn't know it was that much.
Michonne patted me down and, after not finding anything, Rick continued to explain the situation.
"Alright. The cell is just a mattress. Someone will guard you at all times. Shifts will change around meal time, and once while you're asleep. Meals will be brought to you at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sound good?"
I nodded. "Yeah, one question, do y'all have a doctor?"
Rick shook his head. "Why? Are you injured?"
"Nope, just curious. Does someone at least know basic first aid?"
He nodded and rubbed his beard before hesitantly replying. "There is another community with a doctor, if we ever need one."
I nodded. No hormones I guess, shit.
"Carl, can you take first watch? Michonne and I have some things to discuss."
"Sure, dad," Carl replied. Rick tossed him a set of keys. "Follow me Trevor."
He lead me farther into the community, past more massive houses.
"The cell is pretty close to my house," he broke the silence. "If you ever want to talk or hang out or whatever, just have whoever's on watch walkie my dad or Michonne, okay?"
I nodded and smiled slightly. "Thanks for being so nice. The other kids at my community were jerks 'cause I have a few mental conditions and they weren't exactly accepting of people like me."
He smiled too. "No problem. Just so you know, I don't think anyone here is disproving of gay people. I know there are 3 other gay people here at least."
I smiled slightly and breathed a sigh of relief. "That's refreshing."
Finally, we reached a set of basement stairs and Carl guided me down them. He opened the basement door and we entered.
The inside was a decently sized half-finished basement, and in one corner about a quarter of the room had been turned into a cell. Inside the cell was a mattress and a few blankets, and outside sat a small chair.
He beckoned for me to enter the cell, so I did. He shut the door.
"Don't tell my dad, but I trust you enough not to try to escape. I'm not going to lock the door, just in case something happens and you get trapped."
My face fell. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"
He hesitated.
"Is this place not safe? Do the walls not keep out the rotters?"
"It's not them you should be worried about." He sat in the chair. "Nobody here now is going to hurt you, it's another group. They call themselves the saviors. They're, well..." he trailed off.
"...Assholes?"
"You could say that."
"How so?" I asked, intrigued.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"That's fine." I thought for a moment. "So, uh, what's there to do for fun 'round here?"
He shrugged. "We read comics, play video games, that's about it."
"Playstation or Xbox?" I asked eagerly.
"Only Xbox, why?"
"Damn, I was hoping you had the Sly Cooper games. I haven't played them in years. We had electricity back at Reynold's run but it was conserved for fridges 'nd shit."
"I think I played those once at my cousin's house. Those are the games about the raccoon thief, right?"
I nodded. "Yup. They were my sister's and my favorites games. I probably beat them a good twenty times each. Never gets old."
There were a few brisk knocks at the door.
"Hey, Carl. Aaron told me you guys found a guy our age out there," a girl's voice carried through the door. She opened it and came inside. She wore her long brown hair in a tight ponytail, her plain shirt was covered by a flannel. She had a shy look to her, but looks can be deceiving.
"Enid, this is Trevor. Trevor, Enid. She's the girl I told you about."
"What do you mean you told him about me?"
"He just asked if there were other kids our age here. I told him about you."
"Oh. So what were you two talking about? I heard something about video games?"
"Yup," I replied. "You don't have any I really liked as a kid, I grew up on Playstation."
"What, you never played Minecraft?" Enid asked sarcastically.
"No, it's just you don't have Sly Cooper, or Crash Bandicoot, or Ratchet and Clank, or nearly a hundred other games that are Playstation exclusive."
"C'mon man, don't be snooty," I could hear Enid rolling her eyes.
"I'm not, I just haven't played any of 'em in ages. I miss playing Sly, my sister and I used to play it together before she passed. My old community didn't have electricity like you do here."
"Did your old community fall or what?"
"We left, my parents and I. We saw something we weren't supposed to, they didn't make it."
"My parents didn't either. It's rough."
I nodded as the man from earlier entered the room holding a tray of food.
"Time for you to go home you two. Carl, your dad wants you," he remarked.
"Alright. Talk to you later Trevor." Carl stood up and left the room. Enid waved and did the same.
Aaron sat down and handed me the tray of food. There was a nice sized piece of lasagna and a styrofoam cup of water.
I don't think I've eaten anything that fast before. I shoveled fork full after fork full into my mouth until it was gone, minus one bite.
"That was fucking delicious," I remarked after I'd finished my meal.
He chuckled. "Carl made it. It was leftover from last night."
"Damn, he'll have to teach me. I'm good at baking but cooking is difficult."
He nodded. "Not to change the subject, but I overheard you and Carl talking, you're gay?"
"I, uh, yeah. Why?" SHIT
"I am too. My husband Eric and I are probably going to end up taking you in once we let you out. If you ever need to talk, we're here okay?" He smiled warmly and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah. For a second there I thought you were gonna go off on me for it. Reynold's Run wasn't very welcoming of people who are 'different.' It wasn't a good place to grow up."
"I'm sorry," he replied softly. "At least you're here now, nobody here should treat you any differently."
I yawned as I nodded. "I should probably get to sleep. It's been a long day."
At that I layed down and slowly drifted off to sleep.
A/N:
I hope yall enjoyed this. Hopefully I can actually update this on a regular basis, I'm very bad at that bc I mostly just write for fun. Please vote and comment if you can think of something to say (even if it's just a random fact or something). By the time this is published, I should have chapter 2 done and so forth, idk yet tho.
Don't die!
Quint