'What's up with people and popping up out of nowhere?' Realizing the hypocrisy in his thoughts. He shook his head and focused his gaze back on the boy in front of him.
'His movements were pretty quick, maybe if he had a weapon he wouldn't have surrendered so easily.' But seeing Sage aiming her bow at his head, he chuckled to himself.
The boy stood there, his brown curly hair falling over his forehead in disarray. His brown eyes, wide with shock just moments ago, now darted around the room, searching for an escape route. Unfortunately for him, Sage blocked the doorway and Winter stood in front of the window, spear still pointed at his throat.
The tension was thick in the air, every movement carefully measured as the boy realized his options were limited.
Raising his hands in surrender, he sighed, "Alright, I give up." His eyes flicked nervously toward the spear hovering in front of him. "Now, can you please stop threatening my life with that?"
He smiled as he lowered his spear. Though he lowered his weapon, Sage kept her aim pointed at him, in case he tried something.
An amused smile tugged at her lips. 'Oh how the tides have turned,' she thought.
With a breath of relief, he questioned, "So what do you two want?"
"We don't want any trouble," he said calmly. "We're just looking for supplies—medical supplies."
He glanced between Winter and Sage, realizing he wasn't in a position to negotiate. "Alright, take whatever you need," he muttered, still eyeing Sage's drawn bow.
Winter nodded, but kept his tone firm. "Don't make any sudden moves, and we won't have a problem."
Sage lowered her bow slightly but remained alert, her gaze still on him.
Searching around the room, Winter found a hemostasis laying on the table. He stuffed it in his bag, and looked around more.
To his dismay, Winter found nothing useful except for the hemostasis. Despite the lack of more useful supplies, he figured this would have to suffice. The other supplies they gathered earlier should cover any remaining medical needs.
The tension in the room was thick. With any sudden movement, the boy would find an arrow through his chest—if not, his head. Watching them, Winter walked over, standing in front him once again.
"Sorry for the late introduction. I'm Winter," he introduced.
As if queued, Sage introduced herself too. "Sage."
Gazing into his eyes, he questioned, "So what's your name?"
Sage, still alert, added with a firm tone, "You've got ours. Now, we need yours."
Glancing at Sage, Winter shook his head with a slight smile.
'She's enjoying this a bit too much.'
The boy hesitated, eyes flicking between the two before he finally spoke.
"My name is Simon-"
Directly after saying his name, a shrill shriek could be heard from above.
A look of concern and fear washed over Simon's face as he bolted for the door, shoving past a distracted Sage. For a brief moment she was caught off guard, but quickly regained her composure. In one fluid motion, she spun around, pulling back her bowstring. An arrow materialized between her fingers, aimed for Simon's back as he made his escape.
Before Sage could release the arrow, Winter's hand gently grasped hers, stopping her. She shot him a confused glance, but Winter simply shook his head. Without a word, he turned and sprinted after Simon, maintaining a close enough distance to sprint into action.
Realizing the urgency of the moment, Sage made the arrow vanish with a quick thought. Without hesitation, she took off in pursuit, her footsteps echoing down the corridor as she followed Winter and Simon.
As they reached the third floor, Simon stood rooted in fear. Looking through the glass of the door, a small wave of about 20-30 walkers could be seen surrounding one door.
Hearing the footsteps behind him, Simon immediately pleaded to the two before they could even say anything. "Please help them! My sister is in there, and if those walkers get inside they're all gonna die!"
Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at them with desperation, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
Sage glanced at Winter with pleading eyes as well.
'Not you too...'
*Sigh*
Winter folded under maximum pressure. The door opened slightly as he crept through, Sage following closely behind. If this was gonna work, it'd be best to take out a few walkers in surprise first.
Watching them walk through the doors, there was slight hope in his eyes. They seemed like seasoned fighters in his eyes, but only time would tell.
Slowly, Winter approached the group of walkers, his movements silent and steady. Behind him, Sage kept her bow drawn, ready to cover him from a safe distance. But just as Winter was closing in for the first strike, one of the walkers spotted him. Its body stumbled forward, colliding into other walkers, causing a chain reaction of alertness among the group.
"Fuck." Winter cursed under his breath, realizing their element of surprise was gone.
Focusing on the group of walkers approaching, he got into a defensive stance. Unfortunately for him, kiting was not an option. Unlike last time where he fought on a wide street. If he kept getting pushed back, he would eventually lead them to Sage and Simon. That was out of the question.
"Sage cover me. If one slips into a blind spot, you know what to do."
Nodding, Sage kept an arrow ready in the notch, her grip steady as she eyed the approaching walkers.
'System, distribute 9 attribute points to strength, 10 points to constitution and the rest to agility.'
Feeling a familiar surge of strength coursing through him, Winter noticed the pressure from the walkers beginning to lessen. If the walkers had once felt like a group of rowdy teenagers, now they seemed like nothing more than toddlers.
His movements became quicker and more confident, his spear in hand cutting through the air with precision. Sage too felt the shift in energy, her bow steady as she readied to release it any given moment.
Shifting his gaze to the nearest walker, Winter rose his spear before slashing down. As the walker took another step, its body split apart into two, collapsing onto the ground.
The once intimidating force now appeared to be slow and clumsy, their movements easily anticipated.
Loosening his grip on the spear, Winter shifted to a more fluid, passive-aggressive fighting style. His movements became seamless, effortlessly weaving between the walkers and striking with precision. With one powerful thrust, he skewered an unsuspecting walker through its head, the spear piercing straight through and taking down two more behind it.
Sage stood in the back, her mouth slightly agape in disbelief. Earlier, he made it seem as if he was going to need help. But now, watching him tear through the horde with ease, it was clear this was now nothing more than a trivial task for him. Her arrow still drawn, now seemed unnecessary.
Winter stood atop the pile of fallen walkers, his breath steady despite the scene of blood and carnage around him. It had only taken minutes for him to erase the entire horde, leaving the hallway filled with the stench of blood and decayed flesh. His spear dripped with gore, his clothes and body splattered in blood—yet he wore a smile.
The ease with which he handled the situation showed, but the feeling reminded him of a past situation that he had almost forgotten about. Swatting away the thought, he turned to Sage signaling her to bring Simon along.
The two walked over, stepping over the bodies of fallen walkers. Sage's nose scrunched, clearly disgusted by the overwhelming stench. On the other hand, Simon's face paled, trying to keep everything down. He gagged every now and then, but he knew better than to waste food in his stomach—hard times were here and food had become a luxury.
*Knock, Knock*
Simon knocked on the door, calling out, "Ava, it's me, Simon! The walkers are dead! You can open the door now!"
From behind the door, scuffling noises could be heard before a familiar voice shouted, "Simon?!"
There was hesitation from other voices inside, arguing against opening the door out of fear or mistrust. Ava wanted to rush to her brother, but the others held her back.
Winter and Sage exchanged a glance. With a calm voice, Winter stepped closer and added, "You can open the door. We don't want any trouble, we're just trying to make sure the kid is safe." The sincerity of his words made the others reconsider, and slowly, the door opened.
Immediately after the door opened, a small figure rushed out and pulled Simon into a hug. Right after, Ava pulled onto her brothers ear bringing it down to her lips.
Briefly after, she backed away from him as anger clouded her vision. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YOU NIMROD!?!"
Simon responded, visibly in pain, "Sis I was trying to help out! We needed supplies and I'm the only one that was willing to go."
Infuriated, Ava wanted to retort but she knew there was nothing to say. After asking the group if anyone was willing to scout for supplies, only Simon raised his hand. There were men twice his age in the group, yet he was the only one to raise his hand.
Releasing his ear, Simon winced as his ears glowed red from the pain and embarrassment of the situation. He rubbed his ear, avoiding eye contact from both Winter and Sage.
Remembering the two newcomers, Ava turned toward them, properly greeting them. "My name's Ava, I'm Simon's older sister."
Winter reached out his hand and introduced himself. "Winter."
She lightly shook his hand, noticing the roughness of them.
Ava and Sage introduced themselves. They seemed to hit it off pretty well, starting a conversation shortly after.
Interrupting their conversation, Winter questioned, "Was there a specific need for the supplies?"
Ava looked up at him as if forgetting something. She beckoned for them to follow her, guiding them to a door. Pushing a key inside, she grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open.
The room appeared to be a bedroom of some sort. A man lied strapped down on the bed, a visible bite wound was seen on his right forearm.
Ava walked over to the bedside, "We had another 'recon mission' before Simon decided to leave on his own. He was bitten by a walker when he went out looking for supplies."
"And I don't know if you guys heard, but the people out there aren't exactly the most sympathetic. Once they found out he was bitten, they all turned out to be Geminis, turning their back against him."
"After sometime, we finally came to an agreement. We decided it would be best for the group if he was locked in a different room, away from everybody else."
Sage glanced at the man, before her eyes shot back up to Ava.
"How long ago was he bitten?" she asked.
Thinking about it, Ava responded, "Maybe about an hour."
Shaking her head, Sage drawn her bow as an arrow materialized between her fingers. Winter saw her actions and knew it was the only way to go about it.
Before Ava could get a word out, the arrow already flew out from Sage's fingers, piercing the man in the head.
In shock, Ava just stood there. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
Sage lowered her bow and gazed into Ava's eyes with sympathy, "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but he was already gone."
Ava knew.
Tears began to fall from her eyes as they grew red.
"I know. I just thought that, maybe. Just maybe he would be able to survive. But I guess that was all just wishful thinking." She collapsed onto the bed, sobbing.
Sage walked over to Ava wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Feeling the sudden warmth, she sobbed even harder as snot began to flow from her nose.
'Must've been a loved one or she wouldn't be crying so heavily.' Winter thought.
Walking out the room, Winter decided to give them some space knowing emotional support wasn't his strong suit.
Closing the door behind him, he found the group of people whispering to one another; but as soon as they notice him, the chatter came to a halt. Ignoring the stares, he found a chair in a secluded area of the room to sit down at.
Taking off his backpack, Winter noticed a slight shift of energy in the room. Sitting down, he looked up, noticing something off. Their eyes weren't on him no more. No, they were on his backpack.