RE: The Walking Dead [Zombie LitRPG]

The group drove for another five miles and reached the outskirts of the city. They eventually decided to look for a place to crash for the night. They drove several more minutes looking for a more isolated area and eventually stumbled across a three-story motel.

Driving past the gate, the vehicles came to a quick stop. Daryl quickly got down from his truck and ran towards the entrance and pushed the sliding gates to close it, while the others that had followed after him killed the several zombies that followed them inside.

"That gate and those fences look sturdy. We can turn this place into a sturdy camp." Daryl gathered with Rick and the others and thought of a good idea.

Rick looked around them before addressing Daryl's proposal. "This place is still a little close to the city, but we will see how it goes."

"For now, let's sweep this place up so we can have a nice place to rest for the day. I'm sure everyone is already feeling tired after what happened"

Rick turned to Michael and relayed him some instructions. "Michael, take some people with you and secure the perimeter. We don't want any walker suddenly sneaking up on us while we're out here."

"Got it." Michael nodded and brought Cole and Alan with him. The two are armed with a hammer and a fire axe that they looted from CDC while Michael is armed with one of the M4s he took.

"The compound is not that spacious. So, stay sharp and don't go near places that a zombie must have wandered into. Got it?" Michael reminded them.

"I hear ya"

Alan acknowledged his words while Cole just responded with a nod.

While the main group did a sweep through the interior of the building, Michael led the two in a perimeter sweep. When they made their way at the back of the building, they ran across several zombies and quickly took them down.

"Should we check that storage?" Cole pointed towards a small tool shed close at the edge of the property and near the wall from the next building.

"Knock first for unexpected guests" Michael reminded.

Cole nodded and brought Alan with him towards the tool shed.

There was not anything noteworthy on sight except for that tool shed and the bodies lying on the ground.

With nothing else to do, Michael soon followed after the two.

"There's a lot of things inside we can use" Alan came out of the door with a smile on his face.

'It seems like they're satisfied with their find.'

"It'd be better to have lots of tools." Michael said in passing and entered.

"Michael, look! It's a generator."

He had just gotten in to witness Cole pulling out a small blue generator from below a shelf and turned to him with a huge smile on his face.

"Check it if it works." Michael's lips broke into a grin as he wasn't expecting this find.

Cole answered him with actions as he immediately started pulling on the recoil starter to start the machine.

With Cole busy with the generator, Michael finally had the time to sweep over the room, taking in every detail. The inside wasn't big, probably around the size of those cheap one-bedroom apartments.

"Holy shit, look!"

When Alan was pulling out a drawer from down below on one of the shelves. He was amazed to discover a set of murder tools stored inside.

Alan quickly carried them out and spread them onto the floor. Each murder tool was stuffed inside its own pocket that were sewed onto the fabric they were rolled on.

There were two machetes, one hatchet, five small fixed-blade knives and lastly, a multi-tool.

"Looks like a camping trip has been delayed, indefinitely" Michael chuckled, he couldn't believe it!

There wasn't a lot lying around except for a lot of cleaning equipment and a bunch of detergents, but this place actually gave them a couple of surprises!

Brringhmmmm!

"It works!"

Just then, the sound of the generator roaring to life rumbled from behind him, followed by Cole's delighted voice.

"Shut it off, quick!" Though delighted too, Michael quickly told him off. The cement walls might help with blocking most of the noise, but the noise would still travel a considerable distance in this quiet environment.

Anxious, Cole hurriedly shut it off and only then did he release a sigh of relief.

Fortunately for them, there weren't a lot of zombies hanging around the area and only lured several of them to the motel.

"Sorry"

"It's fine. We'll take care of whatever troubles that comes with it later" Michael patted him on his shoulder. He did not blame him. Showing joy after a good find would make anyone delighted, even for him.

"Take whatever you think we'll need. If you can't carry them all, bring some people back here with you."

Michael took the set of camping tools or whatever they were for from Alan and instructed them to do the following.

He returned to the parking area at the front of the building and gathered with Rick and the others who were just coming out of the door after securing the building.

"Everything good?" Michael asked while walking over

Daryl turned his head and quickly went over to him with a curious look, "Yeah, what you got there?"

"Weapons, Alan found them in the storage room at the back." Michael smiled and spread the tools on the ground.

Following right after him, Alan and Cole emerged from the corner with the generator and various tools they tried to carry with them.

The sight of the generator brought excitement and anticipation to the group.

"You even got a generator?" Glenn was amazed at the sight of the generator. It wasn't only him, the others were too.

"Does it work though?" Shane brought up the million-dollar question that caused everyone to look at Cole.

"Y-yeah, we tried it inside the storage room earlier." Cole slightly stuttered when he saw everyone looking at him.

"Good, a generator will prove to be useful in the future. Go and store it in the back of the bus for now."

"Got it."

Satisfied, Rick smiled and instructed Cole, who immediately handed the other things he brought with him to Glenn before making his way inside the bus.

Michael ignored the others who were browsing the weapons like they were on the market and turned his attention to Rick. "What's the plan after this, Rick?"

With his hands on his hips, Rick looked at him. "We'll go with Shane's idea this time. We'll depart for Fort Benning early tomorrow. We can only hope..that the base is still standing strong."

'Nope, I think they fell even faster than the CDC.' Michael kept those thoughts to himself and just responded to Rick's words with a nod.

"If that's the next plan, then we should further reduce the caravan to just three and leave Daryl's truck here." Michael's suggestion quickly brought a dissatisfied voice from behind him.

"Why my truck? Why can't it be T-Dog's van?" Daryl walked up to them with his brash attitude and pointed at T-Dog's van parked near the guard house.

"Because it's a waste of fuel if it's just for carrying Merle's bike." Shane chimed, which quickly annoyed Daryl as he tried to walk up to him.

"What did you say?!"

"Brother, calm down." Michael quickly stopped him with his hand on the man's chest and threw Shane a look.

"What Shane meant is that it's better for you to ride the bike. Then divide the remaining fuel of the truck for the bus and the RV. It's most efficient this way."

Daryl, still staring at Shane dead in the eye, slowly turned his head to Michael. "Is that so? Alright, I hear ya"

Michael smiled at how Daryl was so easily convinced since it was clear as day that Shane is showing his obvious dislike for Merle. 'It's good that Daryl is still a little naive during this time.'

The following night was uneventful except for the constant moaning of passing walkers that bugged the hell out of the survivors, especially the children shivering in fear inside their covers.

The following morning, the survivors had started preparing for the trip to Fort Benning. 

Excluding the last crew who all looked tired from keeping watch last night. Michael noticed that most of the women are now armed with kitchen knives of differing sizes. They crafted sheaths out of cardboard and strapped them around their thighs with the use of packing tape.

"It was Amy's idea."

Noticing the way Michael was looking at the women, Andrea came over to his side and mentioned whose idea it was behind the change.

Michael turned to her and repeatedly nodded his head in approval. "That's good. We won't always be around to protect them. A weapon will come in handy for an unexpected crisis."

"That's what I also told her." Andrea smiled, then brought up something she had been meaning to ask. "What do you think? Is Fort Benning still a good idea?"

"With CDC out of the game, the army base is our next best bet. So yeah, I think it is." Michael voiced his approval since it's also in line with his current plan.

"Is it really? You've just been cruising along with their plans and never really bothered bringing up your own. I don't know if you've noticed, but they value your opinion." Andrea pulled him to a corner and chided him in an almost whisper.

Michael let out a small smile at her. "And why do you always bring this up? Don't you trust them?"

"I do, but I always have this nagging feeling that you actually have something in mind. Maybe a better plan than theirs. However, you clearly never bothered raising the idea to the others." Andrea looked concerned. Though the intent behind her feelings remained vague.

"Just what do you want me to do?" Michael was feeling a little helpless towards her relentless pursuit of this matter.

Andrea stared at him straight in the eyes. "Take a more active role in leadership. I'm blonde, but I'm not stupid. I know there was something going on between Lori and Shane, and I can already see the tensions slowly building up between Rick and Shane ever since Rick came back."

Michael raised an eyebrow at her bold statement. 'Except Dale, I thought no one knew about them until not much later on.'

"How did you arrive to that?"

The two kept whispering to each other.

Andrea scoffed with a shrug. "I don't know about the others, but back at the quarry, I noticed how those two would disappear around the camp. Not once, but multiple times. Dale probably noticed it too, that old man has a keen eye for things."

"And you want me to take over because of that reason? You do know that if I do what you say I should do, it will create more complications than it already is, right? People will die since they do not know who they should listen to. Democracy is what the group currently needs right now." Michael let out an amused chuckle. He knows that an Authoritarian rule right now would prove difficult since these people hadn't lost a lot yet. He'd need more reason than a love triangle to insert himself in a leadership role alongside Rick and Shane.

Andrea raised an eyebrow. "Is this somehow amusing to you?"

Michael shook his head and had another chuckle, "No, I also just realized something. I think this is what people call "pillow talk", right? Except we're not on a bed."

"Seriously?" Andrea looked at him dead in the eye.

"Look, I know most of them probably feel that I'm someone they can rely on. But those people…inside that bus would still turn to Rick and Shane for any problems since they were police officers prior to this. Most of them still haven't grasped the severity of our situation and haven't truly realized that we've once again devolved to our primitive ways." Michael grabbed her shoulders and gently explained his side of things to her.

"You already told them that back at the CDC. I'm sure they already know this."

"I did, but people tend to become very forgetful, you know. I don't know what you've seen in me that you think I can pull this off, but I'll try to be..more active on the discussions regarding the well-being of the group from now on, alright?" Michael tries to make her feel better but does not promise her anything major since even he is not confident if he can become a better leader than Rick.

"Alright, but I still hope that it doesn't reach a point where we have to break apart." Clearly her wishes and feelings contradict each other.

"That won't happen."

The group were all ready. They were just waiting for Rick to finish with whatever he's doing on the rooftop of the motel.

"Is everyone here?! Then, let's go!" It took a while before Rick came down and joined them.

Rick and Michael exchanged a look before giving each a nod, and the former quickly boarded the RV.

Soon, the caravan resumed their journey out of the city and towards their next destination, Fort Benning.

*****

The caravan is currently cruising through Interstate 85 with Daryl driving ahead on his bike.

Michael, like the others, was enjoying the breeze through the window when Andrea suddenly leaned over towards him and whispered.

"Hey, can you teach me how to use a gun later?"

Michael turned to her. "You've had that gun with you since. Have you never used it?"

"Not even once. Our father suddenly gave it to me one day for our protection." She shrugged her shoulders, then added. "Now, I want to learn how to properly handle it."

Michael replayed the scenes of the night their quarry camp was attacked inside his head, and realized that she never did once fire it even when it was just there..strapped around her waist.

"Your father sounds like a good dad. Alright, I'll also ask around if there are others who would want to learn how to shoot too." It was a simple request and would benefit the group too. So, Michael immediately agreed.

The two were just talking when the bus suddenly started slowing down. The people inside watched as the bus slowly weaved through the abandoned cars on the road.

Though it didn't take long before the caravan came to a complete halt.

"What's happening?"

The people at the front started stretching their necks out to see what was going on ahead.

Michael stretched half of his body out of the window and finally figured out what was happening.

"I think there's a gridlock ahead."

"What? Then shouldn't we turn back and look for another road?"

Michael ignored her and left his seat while Shane had started addressing the crowd.

"Everyone is to stay inside the bus. No one leaves until one of us says so, got it?"

"Look after them, especially Jacqui" Michael whispered to Andrea, who responded to him with a nod.

Shane and Michael quickly disembarked and gathered with the others ahead.

"What's happening?" Shane asked while walking over.

Rick turned his head towards them and responded. "The road is blocked. This is a dead end."

"Or we can just go back. There's an interstate bypass-'

"I told you; we can't spare the fuel, and the RV is busted..again."

Holding onto a map, Glenn wanted to advise, but Dale just cut him off.

"Didn't we just got it fixed the other day?" Michael already saw the steam coming out of the car earlier, but was a little confused.

Dale shrugged his shoulders. "Well, escaping from the explosion yesterday didn't help. There's only so much a duct tape can do."

"Should we just leave it behind and continue on the bus?"

"We're not doing that. The RV is too important for this road trip."

T-Dog's suggestion to leave it just invited some ire from Dale. Michael would also be among those who would disagree since the RV's self-sufficiency would go a long way for the group, especially for the women.

"Well, I guess we're stuck here in the middle of nowhere then." T-Dog shrugged his shoulders.

While the crew are having a discussion, Daryl has already started rummaging through the abandoned cars around them.

"Instead of talking, why don't you guys look around and see if you can find a replacement for that radiator hose. There's a lot of cars to choose from."

"Alright, I'll siphon more fuel from the cars for a start." T-Dog moved past the others and stopped near Daryl to look at the others.

"Maybe some water or food." Carol added while hugging her daughter.

"This is a graveyard." Lori suddenly remarked and everyone paused in their tracks and looked at her.

".."

There was a short silence before Lori added, "I don't know how I feel about this."

"Alright, alright. Come on y'all. Just look around and gather what you can." T-Dog just ignored her comments and urged the others. He went over to the side of the RV and took out a hose and two plastic fuel containers from its storage compartment.

Soon, the others also scattered and started looking around for supplies while Michael made his way back to the others and spotted Cole on top of the bus, keeping watch on the surroundings.

"What's going on?" Andrea quickly came down from the bus when she spotted Michael returning.

"I was right. This road is a dead end."