Welcome to Waltonville

Raindrops fell in a dull applause from the unforgiving clouds overhead. The young boy shuffled atop the pine needles, his arms crossed over his chest for the semblance of protection. His nervous eyes darted from left to right, and he could barely see in the darkness of the bleak night. He latched onto a branch for support and climbed atop the next hill, and once he was there, he saw a flicker of light in the distance. He didn't know what it was from, but it was all the same to him: hope.


He crept across the way and came to stand behind a tree. He recognized the light as fire before he actually saw it, was able to judge by the way it danced along the other trees. He poked his head out slightly and peeked into the campsite. A small fire burned in the middle of the camp, and the flames hissed and seethed as little drops of rain kamikazed into the blaze. A man sat a foot or two from the fire, and the boy was surprised as how still he was. He sat on his haunches, with his elbows resting over his knees. His hands dangled in the empty space between, and he stared into the fire in solemn silence. He didn't flinch as rain trickled down his form, dribbling from his elbows and fingertips, the tip of his noise, lingered behind on the ends of his hair. The fire danced along his face, casting shadows against his high cheekbones, along his strong jaw. Tattoos lined his body, the greens and blacks amplified by the flickering flames, and as he sat in total stillness, they made him look as if he was a statue. He didn't move, he didn't blink, he didn't even appear to breathe.


The boy blinked. That was all it took, that fraction of a second, and Aki was on him.


He shouted in surprise as Aki rushed him. He hit the ground before he knew what was happening, the other somehow so fast, and by the time he managed to steady his vision, he was on his front with the other kneeling into his back, sprawled out atop the muddy topsoil.


"Shut up," Aki said. When he didn't stop shouting, Aki slammed his face into the mud, muffled his noises with muck and twigs. "Shut up. You'll draw them out."


The boy struggled beneath him, choking on dirt and sticks, his legs kicking helplessly out behind him. Aki stared down at the boy with cold eyes, crushing his wrist under his knee, while his free hand held his arm pinned down at his side. He tightened his grip on the boy's scalp to get his attention. "I'm going to lift your head, and when I do, you're going to tell me why you were watching me."


Aki lifted his head up, but when he erupted with a frightened, panicked chorus of 'I'm sorry! Oh God, I'm so sorry!', he sighed and stuffed his face back into the mud. "That's not the answer I was looking for. I'm going to ask you again." He pressed his face into the muck until it almost reached his scalp and rubbed it around. "Why were you watching me?"


He pulled his face up, and when all he heard was frightened whimpers, he started to shove his face back down again. "No, wait!" the boy pleaded. "Please, wait!"


"Clock's ticking," Aki said. "Better make it quick."


"I just....I just..." the boy panicked and trembled beneath him. "Please don't hurt me."


Aki shook his head and buried his face back into the dirt, much to his dismay. "You're not a bright one, are you? The instructions aren't that difficult to follow." He pulled his knife out from the sheathe at his side and turned the boy's face enough to show it to him. "You have ten seconds to tell me why you were watching me or I will skin you alive so slowly, you'll wish the walkers got you first." He pulled his head from the dirt and watched him with a stern stare. "One, two..."


When his head was lifted a fraction, the boy tried to gather his thoughts, and let out a convoluted, stammering response. "I didn't mean to, I just...I just...Mister, I didn't mean any harm..." he yelped when Aki stabbed the knife a mere inch from his face, close enough to prop the loose dirt against his chin. "Y-You said ten! That was only two!"


"Yeah, well, I suck at math." Aki stood just enough to flip the boy onto his back, and he lowered himself back down to kneel against his stomach. He brought the knife to his throat and started to slice through his skin.


"I'm sorry!" the boy yelled, his words spilling messily out of his mouth like dribble. "I was just looking for my father!"


The admission gave Aki pause. He stayed the knife against his skin, and for the briefest of moments, something flashed across his eyes. He could feel her, then, all around him. Her raven hair danced about him in the breeze, and if he focused, he could smell her in the rain. The barely visible moon gave light to her eyes, and he could almost feel them boring into him, watching his every move.


The boy tried to squirm away from the knife and spoke in low pleas. "He...he said he saw a light, and was trying to follow it. I slipped down the wet hill and we got separated. Please, Mister, I just want to find my father."


Aki stared down at him, that same familiar strangeness moving behind his eyes. He stood up and kept the knife at the ready, but stepped one pace back away from the boy. "Go."


The boy rubbed at his throat, but staggered to his feet nonetheless. He brushed the dirt off of himself the best he could, and for a moment, he stared at Aki in listlessness and confusion. The man felt annoyance beginning to creep across his skin at the situation, and growled at the boy as he held up his knife. "Go! Before I change my mind."


The boy nodded and stumbled away. Aki watched him go, listened to the sound of wet pine sliding under his shoes. He could hear it, too, far in the distance, and cursed under his breath. The boy had made too much noise. Aki grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder, but left the fire burning as he left to the west. It would attract the walkers that had heard the ruckus, at the very least, and give him a few extra minutes to create distance. He kept his flashlight off, and used the moonlight only to travel. It was dark and difficult to see, but it drew much less attention to travel by his senses.


Suddenly, a spotlight swept across the tree line, and Aki couldn't help but remember what the boy had mentioned. He stopped and hid behind a tree, and waited again until he saw the spotlight once more. He followed it with his eyes and estimated the trajectory of the light, and decided it had to have been more west, and on top of something. He mapped the route out in his head, and headed that way. He walked for what felt like a half hour before he saw the light again, but much closer this time. He followed it out towards a clearing, and presumed that the source of the light was most likely just on the other side.


A scream stole his attention, and he flipped his knife in his palm, ready to stab. That same boy from before came barreling out of the trees, with two walkers scrambling behind him. He had no idea how to defend himself, clearly, and the brief thoughts that flashed through his mind, memories of her, were quickly stamped out by the threat before him. The boy tripped and fell, and Aki stepped over him without a second thought. He swung his leg and kicked the first walker back, and used the down time to grab the other walker by the throat and pound his knife into his skull. He dropped to the ground like a bag of rocks, unmoving, and the man bent down to stab the other in the temple before it had a second to get up.


He pulled the knife out of the skull and eyed the blade, the blood, with a dismal gaze. "Following me again?"


"N-No, Mister, you have to believe me...I just..." he was rattled, rambling, and getting louder by the second. "I can't...!"


Aki frowned at the sight, of unwanted walkers at his feet, and thought back to earlier that night. This boy, this pitiful boy, had summoned walkers to his campground, too. It was not as though Aki was unable to defend himself, but it was the principle that twice now he had been forced to because of someone else's folly. He looked down his nose at the boy, then, and saw what mercy got him: a trembling sack of flesh with no capabilities or sensibilities to not scream, who was already looking up to him with so much dependence.


No. It was unacceptable.


He stepped to the boy and lifted him up by his collar, stared him straight in his blubbering face. The wind blew through his hair, and if Aki listened closely, he could hear it, her laughter. He tightened his grip, resolved, and frowned. "Haruka, forgive me."


"W-What?"


But the boy didn't get to speak another word. Aki plunged the knife into his temple and watched as the shock of it pierced through his eyes, then darkened as his life faded away. He unsheathed his knife from his skull and dropped the boy at his feet, then crouched and wiped the blood off on the grass. As he put his blade away, the light shined over the clearing again, and Aki set off to finish his journey.


He walked through the last line of trees and found himself at the dilapidated entrance of a stronghold. It was well-guarded with men and material alike, and as Aki walked up and stood at the gates, he was sure he looked insane. Blood, both from the walkers and the boy, washed down his form in the rain, making unforgiving pink spiderwebs atop the grass at his feet. He stood, fearless, before the barbed wire fences and the armed guards, and oddly enough, it felt familiar to him, like home.


In silence, he stared up at a guard, and waited for him to speak his piece. He was sure he had something to say. They always did.

Aki recognized it as soon as he heard it; the guise of a leader. He had been immersed in the culture his entire life, from being a higher-ranking position in the Yakuza to running his own community in Virginia during the early days of the apocalypse. He had been in the position, he had been under the position, and this man, this Walton, wore the coat well. He had the perfect balance of being authoritative, while still being a bit grandiose, a little cheeky. Aki, however, had worn the coat on several occasions, and just because he had hung it up when he left Virginia didn't mean he wasn't able to see past the frilly fabric and into the heart of the beast.

It was a stronghold, there was no splitting hairs for Aki. Food and shelter on the inside, probably under strict rules and harsh supervision, with protection lining the walls. It was so like Virginia all over again, and he was sure that Walton had to prepare a pretty speech for those who didn't want to listen, for those who didn't understand. They weren't living in the modern world anymore. There were no more kisses on boo-boos or lollipops at the doctor's. It was just survival, pure survival, and if that meant killing to keep yourself alive, or biting a belt while your arm was sawed off, then that was the way it had to be. Aki had seen both, Aki had done both, and honestly, it was nice to not have to put on airs, to survive as nature intended.


That wasn't to say that Walton's words fell on deaf ears, however. Aki was listening, and it was clear in the way that he seemed to process every syllable he said, the way he seemed to weigh and calculate it all behind his eyes. He nodded along, here and there, and let his eyes travel along the walls and behind Walton's form. Walls, high and protected, with guards on every post. A blessing and a curse. Who knew what waited behind the walls? Either way, Aki was sure it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He had escaped worse situations before; hell, he managed to convince the entire Yakuza that he was dead and started over in America. If worse came to worse, he could find a way to escape, and if he couldn't find one, then he would make one. Or he could go out on a run, kill everyone, and never return. No one would be none the wiser.


But for now, Aki wasn't sure that was entirely necessary. Walton was a man who knew what needed to be done to survive in this world, Aki could tell that by looking at the structure of the stronghold, could feel the energy seeping off of the walls. Out here, tonight, walkers loomed about thanks to that boy, thanks to his momentary lapse in judgment. He could handle himself, but why take a sleepless night in the treetops over a bed behind protected walls? It wasn't as though he wasn't going to sleep with one eye open in either situation.

Aki nodded one last time to Walton, and when he extended his hand, Aki reached into his coat pocket and dug around for something. It wasn't a weapon, he liked to think that both men knew he wasn't a fool. He instead pulled out a picture, and placed it in Walton's outstretched hand. It was a picture of a girl, young, probably no older than eighteen. She was clearly Japanese in appearance, with long black hair and pretty pale skin, but her large eyes seemed to shine in the photo, and it gave Aki pause before he finally spoke.

"Have you seen this girl?" he asked.

Aki wasn't surprised to hear that he hadn't seen her. He never got his hopes up, couldn't dare to. He would much rather be pleasantly surprised by an answer than be disappointed every time he asked. He nodded his thanks to the man and tucked the picture back into his pocket. He looked to the walls as he walked inside with Walton, and returned the smile with a sly one of his own. This man knew what the world was now, what precautions existed without being spoken. He knew he wouldn't have to worry about confrontation over harsh actions or cruel decisions.

"Thank you." He took the keys when they were extended to him, and it almost felt a little strange, despite the rest of the stronghold feeling so familiar. It had been a long time since he had held keys in his hand like this, had a place to call his own. Hopefully, someday soon, he could share it with Haruka again.

"Do you have a generator that runs at night, or do you preserve the energy?" Aki hadn't stayed in a stronghold since Virginia, and he had lived in the wild a little too long, long enough to be out of touch with the current practices. "Do you have running water accessible during the night?"

He felt a little silly to ask, but now that he was placed in a home setting again, bathing in something other than a river was appealing. It would benefit him to know the layout of the electric and water situations, too, to see how he could better the town, in the case that he was going to stay.

Aki smirked at his response, coy, and offered a raised hand as his good night. He watched Walton walk away and eyed the guards with amusement. It was so like home, this place. He waited until they were out of sight to pull his blade out and keep it close to his side, then he unlocked the door. It was better to be safe than sorry, especially in this crazy world. He pushed the door open and listened for a moment before he grabbed the bag from the bench and entered the house. He didn't hear any walkers, didn't smell any humans. It seemed safe enough.

He flipped the light switch on and took the house in. It was as cozy as a home in a stronghold could be, which was just the way he liked it. He shut and locked the door behind him before he investigated the rest of the house, and finished in the bedroom. It almost didn't seem real, an actual bed and an attached bathroom, but there it was. He kept his guard up as he showered, and all the muck and grime dirtied the shower floor. The blood rinsed off of him in rivulets, and he realized then just how many things he had killed since he had bathed last. When he stepped out of the shower and was towel drying his hair, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and took pause. It had been a long time since he had last looked at himself. His hair had grown longer, and his dark roots were starting to show. His bad eye, the one partially scarred shut, seemed worse than usual, or maybe it was just his good eye playing tricks on him. His stubble had been rough before his recent shave, and he took a minute to touch his face. His body, already damaged and scarred, had only become more warped from the apocalypse, and for a moment, he thought of what Haruka looked like, if she was as broken as he.

He let out a low breath and forced his mind on to something else. He couldn't go there.

After securing the house, he laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. He was tired, but his thoughts of Haruka teased him, kept him awake. He wondered if she would like this house, this place. She would probably be scared, he thought with a soft smile. She had always been a bit of baby, had always needed him, but he loved it. Thoughts of her eventually lulled him to sleep, and when he woke up the next morning, it was because of the sunlight filtering in through his window, rather than the anxiety that a walker was near.

When ready, he exited his home and locked the door behind him. He crossed the street to Davey's house, noted the differences in Waltonville during the day. His distraction ended, however, when Davey answered the door before he even knocked twice. He was an older man, with a serious face and a no-bullshit kind of look in his eyes. Good. Just how Aki liked them.

"I take it you're the newcomer from last night." When Aki only nodded, he stepped out of his home and locked the door behind him. "Follow me, I'll show you around."

Aki followed Davey as he walked him through key points in the community. He showed him the pantry, the infirmary, and the outside of city hall. He didn't dare go inside, and warned Aki not to do the same. Finally, he took him to see Walton, and while they were waiting, he looked at Aki sideways, tried to find a way to make him speak. He eyed his tattoos, the designs, with only the slightest hint of curiosity. "You military?"

Aki shook his head. "Not quite."

"But you've got experience."

Aki nodded. "You could say that."

"I see." He looked forward again. "You'll probably be with me, then."

Aki wasn't sure what Walton wanted him to do, but he would do it without complaint. There was really nothing in this world that would bother Aki so long as he could look for Haruka. He was no stranger to hard work, and preferred to pull his weight. If he wasn't kept busy, he felt restless. It had been a long time since he had felt all right, and he probably would never feel that way again until he had Haruka at his side. But for now, he kept his mind focused on the task at hand, and waited for Walton to appear.

The scream caught his attention, made him nostalgic. He remembered every tortured scream, every dying whisper, every desperate murmur. He remembered watching the light vanish from behind the eye, watching the last twitches come to a stop. This time, however, the pain was for good use, or at least for borrowed time. This Fray that they spoke of wouldn't last without a leg, especially not if the walls ever fell. But for now, it was better than dying from a walker bite.

Aki let his eyes fall on Walton's as he spoke to him, and he, too, understood to implication. He had led plenty of men in his time, and doing so again would be a good distraction, something he could pour himself into it while he looked for his daughter. He nodded his respects and reached out to shake his hand, sealing the deal that had been left on the table from the night before.

"Good morning. My name is Akihiro Yamada." He gave it a moment to hang in the air before he added on simplicity. "But you can call me Aki. It's easier to say, and easier to remember."

As Aki suspected, he would lead the squad in Fray's stead. Perhaps it was the need for a distraction in his daughter's absence, or the pure nostalgia of life before all of this, but he felt a strange kind of fire in the pit of his stomach, one that he hadn't felt for a long time. He had worked under men, over men, and there was a brotherhood that came from it so poignant, so unable to be accurately described, that all he could do was take the map and the list with sure fingers.

"I understand." He looked the map over, saw where it ran, and assessed where he had and hadn't searched yet. After Virginia, he had searched all over the east coast, and there were a few spots on the map that were new to him. After all, he had found Waltonville by accident, while making his way through Tennessee. He would have to make time to search for his daughter, but given the circumstances and his newness in this community, he decided to possibly keep his desires under wraps for now. He nodded and folded the paper up, then tucked them into his jacket pocket. "My hope is to have no one die on my hands, but in the case that it were to happen, your instructions will be carried out."

He nodded to him, looked between Walton and Davey, before looking back over his shoulder for the aforementioned meeting hall. He didn't see it, but was sure that Davey would show him. He looked back to Walton and caught his eyes, matched his dedication. "Is there anything else?"

Aki's ears perked at the sound crackling over the radio, and as Walton left him with Davey, his interests were piqued. It would be interesting to see how, and if, they could get a cow back to the stronghold. Once it was within the walls, it would be safe enough, regardless of the noise. It was corralling the creature back that would prove to be the challenge. However, if they were able to get it back, Aki could make quick work of it for the community. He wasn't sure of anyone's occupation before or after the apocalypse, but before he had started killing for money again in the States in the dank basement of a butchery, he had tried his hand at being an actual butcher. It wasn't all that different, butchering humans and animals alike, and he had skilled hands for the task.

He couldn't help but smirk slightly at the irony. Davey caught the twitch of his lip, and as he turned on his heel and started walking towards the meeting hall, he let his arms cross behind his back, slightly relaxed, but still all business. "I wouldn't let your mouth water just yet."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Aki followed after him, and the two crossed through the community and towards the meeting hall. There was a silence between the two of them, but it was comfortable. There were some instances even in the apocalypse, like this, that were more normal to him than the usual everyday encounter. After the world ended, all of that noise faded away, and no longer did there need to be forced chatter, small chitchat in grocery store aisles and carpool lines. It was a world when you spoke when you needed to, acted as you needed to, and Aki preferred it that way.

As the two neared the hall, Aki thought on this man, on where he could have traveled outside the walls. Aki wasn't well-versed in the layout of Tennessee, not yet, and he was sure that Davey had visited numerous locations in the area. Davey looked to him as they walked, and could almost sense his musings. "What is it?"

Aki reached into his coat pocket and held the picture out to Davey. "Have you seen this girl?"

Davey took it and squinted, looked hard at the girl, at the pretty smile on her face, the way her black hair fell about her form. She was very cute, but he didn't recall seeing her in his travels. He shook his head and handed the picture back. "I haven't. Your girl?"

"My daughter." He tucked the picture back into his jacket. He wasn't surprised, as unfortunate as that fact was. Davey nodded once, and the two continued their walk in solemn silence, until they came to stand before the meeting hall.

"This is it." Davey motioned to the building with lackluster fingers. It wasn't much to look at: a small building, not unlike many of the others in this town. Once they entered the building, however, it became apparent that it was a different beast entirely. The mouth of the building opened into a sort of lounge, but it felt anything but relaxed. There were a few tables spread throughout the space, and atop them rested maps and folders. There were a few colored pens around the room, as well as a few lists hanging on the walls, but his attention was quickly drawn to a table in the corner, one that Davey started towards. "This was Fray's space. It'll be yours now."

Aki wasn't sure how the other felt about that, but he didn't let his mind dwell on it for any longer than he needed to. He nodded and walked past the man, and came to stand behind the table and assess the contents while he waited for his new crew members.

Aki heard them before he saw them. Four pairs of footsteps, some clunkier than others, entered the meeting hall and gave pause. He didn't look up from his map, from the outlines he drew along the routes in penciled granite, but he didn't need to; he could feel their eyes on him, could feel their confusion and apprehension as they approached the table. As they came to stand before the table, he finished up the last of the work he had been doing with short, precise strokes.

"Are you the new guy?" Apprehension, distrust.

"Where's Fray?" Irritation, annoyance.

"Didn't you just get here last night?" Confusion, uncertainty.

"Guys, Walton wouldn't put him in charge if he wasn't good. Knock it off." And there it was, that unwavering, glimmering hope and trust in his community and its leader.

Aki stopped his sketching and let the pencil rest against the crook of his hand. He looked up at them with a blank expression, and he wasn't impressed by what he saw. The four men stood in a pack, each one taller than the next. The shortest, the one with a dirty face and a bit of pudgy belly protruding from the bottom of his ill-fitting wife beater, watched Aki with beady, unsure eyes. Beside him was a tall, string bean of a man, with black hair that exploded from his scalp in springy wires. He looked down at the seated man with irritation in his eyes, narrow and dark. The third man was of average height and build, but he looked uncomfortable among the party, with his arms crossed firmly over his chest and his blonde hair fallen into his eyes. The fourth man, clearly the one who tried to smooth things over, offered up a slight, nervous smile.

Children. Babies. All of them, unkempt and uncontrolled, like putty. But that was okay. Aki liked putty. It was easier to shape and mold. And if these four were to make up his squadron, Aki would see to it that they would be molded into proper fighters, proper men.

"Answers in order of questions." He set the pencil down and rested his elbows on the table, steepled his fingers. He rested his face behind the calloused digits and scanned these new faces with uninterested, unamused eyes. "Yes, I am the new guy. Fray is in the infirmary, recovering from an amputated leg. Walker bite." He blinked once and readjusted his gaze on the other two men, all business. "Yes, I did just arrive last night. You're very perceptive." When the boy pursed his lips in annoyance, he met his hostile gaze with unwavering calmness, and then glanced to the final boy. "You are correct. Walton wouldn't put me in charge if I wasn't good. So the correct conclusion is..." He separated his hands and leaned one against his chin, then motioned with the other for them to finish his sentence.

"...you're good," the four said, in a chorus of disenchanted voices.

"Good." He stood abruptly and gathered his maps and lists. "Now that we have that covered, we can go on our run." He adjusted all of his weapons about his body, watching each boy as he did, watching as intimidation slowly overtook all prior emotions that they had felt walking through that door. "Know that in Fray's stead, I am your new squad leader. My name is Aki, and I will do my best to not let any of you die on my hands. Now, with that being said, know that I am not your baby sitter. You are expected to be alert, armed, and ready to fight the moment its necessary. If you are a danger to this group, or if your lack of common sense gets you in trouble, I will not endanger the lives of your fellow squad members trying to save you. We leave, we search, we fight, and we return home. Fluid, every time. It doesn't need to be a hassle. You just need to be smart."

As Aki walked towards the door, he glanced over his shoulder at the boy who had come to rest his hand on his knife's hilt, the blonde. "All the brawn in the world does nothing for you if you're an idiot. And an idiot is a dead man in this world."

Aki led the squad out of the meeting hall and through the town, towards the gate. The trek was a silent one, which Aki didn't mind in the slightest. He had led many men in his life, and there didn't need to be pleasantries, eager camaraderie. There needed to be trust, fluidity, and tact. None of which these boys seemed to have, but Aki would make damn sure to instill it in them.

The kind boy from the squad trotted up next to him, his strap a little too loose for his gun, which bounced and bobbed against his back as he approached. "Um, so, I figured it'd be good if you knew our names." Aki hadn't given it much thought after he had seen the rag tag crew come through the door. He had already nicknamed them in his head: Pudge, String Bean, Pretty Boy, Friendly. He nodded once to the boy to proceed with his musings, but in the back of his mind, he would always have the nicknames on file. They were probably more fitting than any of their given names anyway. "I'm Christian. The tall guy back there is Andy, and the shorter guy is Allen. The blonde is Kenny."

Friendly, String Bean, Pudge, and Pretty Boy. Got it.

Aki walked with the crew out of Waltonville's walls. The forest looked so different during the day, but it was all the same to him. Just scenery. As they walked to the first destination on their map, he eyed the list: the essentials were listed, food, water, and medicine, but there was also another list for pleasantries people hoped for. Aki smirked slightly at the list, at these people, and was only broken from his reverie when Kenny spoke.

"You spent the night out here?"

"I've spent most nights out here." Aki nodded to him, his hand on the hilt of his blade, and led them through the brush and the trees.

"How do you sleep?" asked the string bean. "You were alone, weren't you?"

A strange sort of reminiscence washed through his eyes, and he kept them forward, on the journey ahead. "You pick safe spots. If you can board yourself up somewhere while keeping an escape route open, you do. But if you're stranded outside, you have a lot of options." He nodded up to the canopy above as they rounded the large tree. "I like to sleep in the trees. These things can't climb, not yet."

The man's eyes widened, and at first, Aki thought it was in relation to the tree comment, which he didn't find that impressive. Why did that always throw people? But as he followed his gaze, he noticed it, then: the boy he had killed from the night before, sprawled out in the grass, with the dead walkers at his side. He raised a brow at the boys, for he didn't find this to be that impressive, either.

"See something you like?" He asked. He moved around the body without a second thought, without a second glance, and continued through the clearing. The boys followed him like ducks in a line, rubber necking the clearing, and when no one answered, he let out a low, thoughtful breath. "You boys haven't been doing this long, have you?"

"Allen is new," Christian explained. "Kenny and I have always been on Fray's squad, though."

"And you?" Aki asked the string bean.

"New," he admitted.

"Well, boys, get used to seeing dead bodies, walker or otherwise," Aki said. "That's all it is out here."

And he was right. As they traveled to each location listed on their map, gathered the supplies that they were able to find, the piles and piles of bodies astounded the newer boys, but not Aki. He led them with a steady hand and a firm disposition, killing anything that came in their path. He didn't trust them to fight, not yet, but he would test them on the next run, that was certain. The pack traveled back to Waltonville, and as Aki brought their haul into the meeting hall and set the sack on his desk, the other boys said their goodbyes and vacated the building.

He looked to Davey, his own haul on the table, and the bald man gave him a knowing smirk.

Linda and her fellow book club members continue gossiping on the street as a woman comes up to them, unrecognizable to the lot, asking about the SeaShell Manor? Asking where she is. "Well, you're in Waltonville. Didn't you get the usual introduction from Walton or is he out on a run?" Another chimes in. "I think he went out with Bobby to get a cow? I heard they found a whole farm." Linda chimes back with, "No no no, I think Toby said something about him taking Bobby out in the woods to exile him for being such a pervert." While the gossip continues and the young lady new to these parts continues on without a proper answer to her question, an arm comes up behind her, turning her around lightly.

"Hi, i'm Davey. Second in command. Follow me around and I will give you the tour. I think you came in this morning? "