RE: The Walking Dead [Zombie LitRPG]

Michael turned his attention towards the people watching them from inside the bus and were curious about what was going on.

"So, does that mean we're stuck?" Andrea's face was painted with a mix of worry and frustration.

Michael shrugged, "For now, I guess we are."

Walking past her, Michael went inside the bus and addressed the crowd.

"Alright folks, you might have already heard that we're stuck here until Dale and Glenn fixes that RV."

Michael saw someone raising their hand and quickly pointed at him. "Yes you, you have something to say?"

"Wouldn't it be better to just leave it behind?" The man stated the most obvious and practical decision in this kind of scenario.

"But we need the RV. it's important since it's too dangerous doing your business out in the wild. I don't want a scenario where a walker suddenly appears while I'm doing it. I don't want my shit staining my pants from trying to escape from it." Michael didn't even need to respond to that as one of the women already answered it for him.

"While the men only need to unzip their pants while we're almost naked trying to pee." Backed another woman, which quickly gained approving nods among the other women in the group.

Obviously, the men lost this one since they don't really have anything to counter that if the women are even bringing those up.

"Alright, alright. For the time being, you can go down the bus and help the others search for supplies. If nature's calling, just do it behind one of the cars, but make sure you bring someone with you. Do not..move alone. Stick together in groups of either two or three. Another thing, do not go beyond the guard rail and into the wooded area. We don't know what's out there. Lastly and the most important, do not stray too far from the caravan. Do not stray past the 50 yards or we wouldn't be able to help you if something happens. Does everyone understand?" Michael warned in a solemn voice. He knows what will happen soon, but he doesn't have any grounds to prevent them from leaving the bus and helping the others. He could only present those conditions so that they would be able to easily return to the bus and hide.

By the time Michael got down from the bus, Andrea had already gone somewhere. Trailing him were several others who also got off and went to do their own things.

"Where's Andrea?" Amy also came down and approached Michael.

Michael turned to her and gestured with his chin. "Probably up ahead with Lori and the others."

"Thanks." Amy smiled and started walking away, but after some hesitation. She slowly turned around and returned to Michael's side and whispered in his ear. "If you ever want something new, there's always me."

Stunned by those words from her, Michael just stared. Amy smiled in response before she finally left him alone.

"Wow, so those two sisters have this side of theirs." Michael chuckled. He was a little amused by their random antics.

Michael turned to his reflection on the car window in front of him. 'Well, I can't deny that I'm also quite the looker. But it seems those sisters already figured out a way to survive and I'm not one to complain.'

"Now then, how much time do we have before those things appear?"

On the other side of the caravan.

Daryl is currently working with T-Dog on siphoning fuel from the abandoned cars, while Carol is seen happily trying a fit for a red dress she found on the back in one of the cars.

Carol noticed Lori looking at her and shyly put the dress away. "My husband never let me wear nice things like this."

Lori didn't respond and just kept tidying up the supplies they found.

"My husband killed himself shortly after my in-laws died during the outbreak." Carol added.

Lori turned to her and offered her regards. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be, he's a coward for leaving both of us."Carol scoffed, then she immediately added. "We're gonna need clothes. Let me pack this up."

"Alright." Lori nodded, then turned her attention to her son and called his attention. "Hey Carl. Always within my sight, okay?"

"You too, Sophia."

Just a car away from their mothers, both kids just responded with a nod.

*****

Shane is currently accompanying Glenn, who is out looking for a replacement for the radiator hose in his hand.

"Found one." Glenn uttered after stumbling across a vehicle that has a radiator hose that looks identical to the one he has

Shane spotted a nearby water delivery truck. He threw caution to the wind and just lifted up its shutters, revealing rows of sealed gallons of water.

Astonished at the sight and his eyes still glued on it, Shane called out to Glenn. "Glenn, are we short on water?"

Splash!

When Glenn turned around, he witnessed Shane wasting the water by taking a shower.

"Hey, save me some!"

"It's like being baptized, man" Shane let out a chuckle.

On the other end of the caravan, Cole slowly turned around and saw a scene that sent a shiver down his spine.

'What the! There were only several of them behind us earlier!' He screamed internally as he witnessed, just a hundred yards behind the caravan, were tens of walkers slowly emerging from the wooded area on the side of the highway.

"G-guys!" He softly called out in a stutter.

"Shh! Stay there and lie prone" Michael also saw it and quickly shushed him while standing on the hood of the bus.

Cole listened and quickly lied down.

Michael quickly got down from the bus and quickly alerted the others.

The others who weren't far from the bus quickly went back and closed the doors just as the walkers had just crossed half the distance from earlier.

"Quickly, do not make any noise and cover your mouths if possible." Alan advised the people who escaped to the bus.

"Hide under the cars and do not make any noise." Michael advised those who were too far from the bus or the RV and got them to hide underneath the cars near them.

He didn't need to go far as Dale and Rick had also spotted the herd of walkers and alerted the others.

"Lori, under the cars." Rick ran ahead and stopped beside the kids as he called her wife's attention.

"Carl, Sophia, under the cars now." He commanded the kids with authority as the three ran for cover.

Lori pulled the worried Carol under the van while Shane quickly grabbed Glenn and shoved him under the truck he was working on.

"Oww, what's going on?"

"Shhh"

Everyone had almost run for cover as the walkers had now moved past the bus and the RV.

Unfortunately for T-Dog, he injured his arm in his panic and got slightly disoriented from it. His injury incapacitated him and was at the mercy of a walker who spotted him.

Just as he thought he was done for, Daryl emerged from behind and killed it. He laid T-Dog on the ground and placed the dead walker on top of him and also did the same to himself, and the walking dead just walked right past them.

Staying quiet as much as possible, it left everyone on edge as they watched the walkers march past them.

Just when everyone thought they were safe and the walkers had moved on. Sophia suddenly peeked out from the car she was hiding under, but she didn't expect that there were still some lagging behind and it immediately spotted her.

"Ahh!"

She let out a cry and continued to do so as the walker had started trying to grab her under the car. She crawled past the road barrier in her panic and ran to the woods with the walkers hot on her heels.

Carol was horrified, but Lori kept her down while Rick hastily followed after them.

"Lori, there's two walkers after my Sophia" She sobbed while Lori hugged her from behind.

In the wooded area.

Letting out whimpers Sophia kept sprinting across the woods with the two walkers still hot on her heels.

Rick followed her voice and eventually spotted her and resumed his pursuit.

Unbeknownst to them, there was another silhouette that entered the forest floor just a couple of seconds right after them and were also heading towards the cries of the kid.

"Dammit! This wouldn't have happened if only I had gotten to her faster on that highway. Just where are they?" Obviously, Michael had lost them after he had blindly followed the sound of her scream, which eventually died down through the chase.

"This is not good. Her voice is bouncing too much from a lot of surfaces. Finding her will prove difficult" Michael was growing worried by the second since Sophia's voice had long gone and he can't find them.

"Dammit. How the hell can a kid and two walkers move faster than me? Even Rick is nowhere to be seen."

He wouldn't have lost them had he not gotten disoriented after he had rolled down the hill right after he jumped over that guard rail.

Yelling for their names is also not a good idea since that would be a death sentence, not only for him, but for the people on the highway too. Michael had seen first-hand how walkers can easily pinpoint a direction even within the confines of the forest.

'What I need to do now is to find that creek where Rick would hide Sophia. Only then can I ensure she survives. It would be better if Rick could realize that he can just circle around back to the highway with how much time they had wasted on that location.'

Michael resumed his search, but this time, he was looking for something else.

*****

Panting as she kept looking back, she eventually tripped herself. She immediately picked herself up and was about to resume running when Rick came out of nowhere and grabbed her.

"Ahh!"

"Shh! Are you alright?"

"Shoot them!" Sohpia tried to reach out to his gun.

Rick quickly stopped her. "No, no! Those walkers on the road would hear it. Then it wouldn't be just two, but hundreds."

Listening to the rustling that's coming closer towards them, Rick quickly carried her and went even deeper into the woods and soon stumbled across a creek.

"Alright, just hold here. You stay there. Wait." Rick let her down and immediately jumped down to the water.

"Come on."

Rick swiftly turned around and caught her in his arms. He looked around and noticed that on the steep slope of the creek, there was a small space, like a mini cave inside and even had tree roots concealing it.

He quickly brought her there and advised her. "Sophia, you have to do exactly as I say. Hide in there and squeeze in tight. I'll draw them away from you."

Sophia shook her head. "No no, don't leave me."

Rick went eye level to her and gave her a short explanation of what's happening. "Listen, listen. They don't get winded. I do. I can only deal with them one at a time. I wouldn't be able to protect you."

Sophia nodded in understanding. Rick then cups her face and continues. "This is how we both survive. You understand?"

Sophia responded with multiple nods before she carefully entered the small cave's space and hid there.

Rick peeked inside. "If I don't make it back. Run back to the others straight the way we came. Keep the sun on your left shoulder. Understand?"

While Rick is giving her one final pep talk, the walkers have now caught up to them.

"You ugly son of a bitch. Come on!"

Rick quickly lured them away, and they had only gotten slightly far when Sophia immediately came out of her hiding place and left.

It was a couple of minutes later when Rick came back and discovered Sophia was gone.

"Did she go back?"

Unsure, Rick hastily made his way back to the highway but was met with bad news.

Sophia's not back yet.

Rick quickly created a search party and led them back to the creek where he left her.