Chapter 10: Whatever you may seek....

Chapter 10: Whatever you may seek….

The caravan had been driving for many hours, not stopping once.  In the one farthest behind, Negan and the others were sitting, waiting for the truck to stop and to see where they would arrive. Suddenly, the eldest amongst them, Max, a man in his 50’s who was quite fit for his age, with balding hair and a stern wrinkled face with an bushy white beard began to speak out, loud enough so everybody could hear.

‘’ I don’t like this. Not one bit. ‘’

‘’ How so, Max? ‘’

‘’ Didn’t you say he had been fucking spying on us? How can we  trust these guys? ‘’

Dwight interrupted him.
‘’ We don’t. We’ll go there…check the situation….and if it ends up we are wrong….then that’s how it is. If our mistrust is right….then we get the fuck out of there. ‘’

‘’ Unnnhg….Guys…stop the tr….unhh….. ‘’

The youngest among them, an blondehaired handsome man in his early twenties by the name of Edward started to groan in agony.

‘’ Edward, what’s wrong? ‘’

‘’ I…I think I ate something bad….My stomach is turnin…Unnhhgh….. ‘’

‘’ Hey, stop the fucking truck! Gerard! Stop the damn truck! ’’

Negan began to yell at the backwindow of the truck cab and in a second’s notice, it opened and Gerard looked in.

‘’ Why would we do that? ‘’

‘’ My friend here doesn’t feel too good. He needs to…I dunno, puke or something. ‘’

‘’ Edward, was it? How sick do you feel? ‘’

‘’ Hnnunhhgh…. ‘’

Gerard looked over towards the driver and nodded.

‘’ Mister Williams, sound the horn. ‘’

‘’ Yes, sir. ‘’

*loud truckhorn sound*

The truck suddenly came to a halt, and Gerard disappeared from the window’s view, only for the tarp to suddenly open up, letting the sunlight pierce through.

He let everybody step out, and he helped Edward get down first, as he didn’t seem in good enough of an condition to jump down by himself without hurting himself.

Negan then patted him on the shoulder.

‘’ Go and puke or something over in the forrest.. We’ll wait….just…don’t take too long. ‘’

Edward walked away about 20 meters and then turned right into the forrest.
Gerard walked up to Negan and gave him a pack of cigarettes.

‘’ I see on your face that you haven’t smoked in a while. ‘’

‘’ Huh? ‘’

‘’ You show irritation….And you are restless. Believe me….I’ve lived with my fair share of smokers. You learn to pick up the little things. ‘’

‘’ Thank you. I needed this. ‘’

‘’ We all need something that helps us go on. Be it a smoke, sex, food, or just the company of others. Nobody lives by being alone anymore. I hope that by showing you all Paradise….that you’ll see that, and accept our offer. ‘’

‘’ Paradise? ‘’

‘’ Heh….Just a name. It’s just a few hours….but we still need to hurry.  I hope your friend….comes back soo… ‘’

‘’ MASTER GERARD, WALKERS AT TWELVE O’CLOCK! ‘’

Gerard sighed and looked over his shoulder, and he gritted his teeth once he noticed it was an full-on herd, with at least a hundred deadies coming towards them down the road.

‘’ Jesus. Alright….Everybody, GET BACK IN THE THE TRUCKS! ‘’

Michelle began to tug at Gerard’s sleeve after his order, trying to stop him.

‘’ Edward hasn’t come back! We cant leave! ‘’

Edward suddenly jumped out from the side of the road 30 feet away.  But he suddenly fell badly and fell with a crash onto the ground. He seemed to have twisted his ankle in the fall, as he tried desperately to stand up. Meanwhile, the deadies were approaching quickly.

‘’ Edward! I’m coming! ‘’

Michelle was about to run towards him when Jennie suddenly blocked her path.

‘’ We leave. We are losing time. ‘’

‘’ Move out of my way, bitch! ‘’

‘’ I’am sorry, madam, but we are not staying. If you wish to be with that man in his last
moments….we will not stop you. He is done fo..*SMACK* ‘’


She punched Jennie across the face, but Jennie did not flinch.
‘’ You fucking skank, how dare you talk about him like he’s already dead?! ‘’

Jennie’s eye then suddenly rolled up and only her white was seen, as her face changed expression to one of redhot anger. Her hand flew up in the air and she wouldv’e hit Michelle,  but before she could attack, Gerard had grabbed her wrist Michelle and Jennie didn’t not try to fight back.

‘’Enough, Jennie. I’ll do it. Hand me my guns. ‘’

Jenny ran back to the truck cab and came back with an briefcase. Gerard put it down and opened it. Inside was a pair of C96 Mauser’s.

He put in the magazine’s and as soon as he stood back up, he began to shoot over towards the approaching zombies. He was taking down several of them with clean shots to their heads, the other bullets hitting close, in the necks and chest.

‘’ I divert them. Negan, do you think you can drag him back? ‘’

‘’ Yeah….o-ofcourse. ‘’

Negan ducked as the bullets went beside him and over him. He ran towards Edward, and he saw one deadie dangerously close to him. He unholstered his gun, but he was too late. Edward’s yells for helps turned into cries of pain.  The deadie was tearing off chunks of his left calf quickly.
Negan shot the deadie and then looked down at Edward, who was crying in worry and pain.

‘’ Don’t worry, I’ll carr..*PKOW* ‘’

Edward was shot right between the eyes by a bullet. Negan turned around to see who did it and saw Gerard holding one of his Muaser’s out, smoke still coming out of it’s barrel. Negan ran back over towards him, greatly infuriated.

‘’ Gerard, what the fuck..!!?  We could’ve amputated…or something…. ‘’

‘’ No. We could not. We are still hours away from the hotel. He would bleed out before even getting there, and I dont have to tell you what happens when somebody dies, right? I did it for your safet..*WRACK* ‘’

Gerard fell to the ground after Michelle had punched him over the nose.   He did not have time to put his hands up, crashing down with an heavy crash onto the pavement. Blood was trickling down from his bottom lip as he stood back up. The glasses had surprisingly enough not taken too much damage. Jennie was ready to draw her gun, but yet again, Gerard told her to stop.

‘’ No…Jennie. Stay back. I see where this one is coming from…No need to get hostile.. Michelle, was It? Edward…was he your husband? ‘’

She was trying her best to not cry, and looked away as he put his hand on her shoulder. His voice was compassionate, and he didn’t seem to be acting. Even his smile was gone.

‘’ I don’t need an answer. Your silence speaks for itself.  I’m sorry for your loss. I wish it could’ve been different….I was just making sure he didn’t suffer. I have had to see somebody close fall victim to that horrid process….and you do not want to see that. Trust me.  Now…Everybody, Get the hell back into the trucks. We will outdrive the walkers. We do not want them swarming us. ‘’

Negan helped Michelle back inside as she began to cry, and in a minute, as soon as Gerard whistled, the caravan began to drive away at full speed, leaving the herd in the dust.

_____________________________________________________

Lucille was still looking out over the forrest line. She thought to herself that it was time to go, but as soon as she turned around, her legs went numb and she lost her footing, falling down onto the floor.

‘’ Fuck this….*cough-cough* Kuh….I…I can do this. ‘’

Her legs were so numb that she couldn’t put any strength back into them, and she began to crawl towards the door.

She suddenly stopped and turned around to lie on her back.

‘’ Dad…..What would you have done right now? Mom? I could use some advice from you too. ‘’

There was nobody besides her in the room, yet she spoke as if they were there with her.


‘’ Y’know…I just remembered….that one trip we took to Chattanooga. 4 years old….aint never even been out of town….and we travel all across the states to go to River City. ‘’

‘’ I liked it a lot. It was a pretty place. Lots of friendly people….and the sun was warm and colorful. But I still shiver when I think about what happened. ‘’

‘’ You and mom lost track of me for a second…and I went to the old Walnut Sreet Bridge. I wanted to explore….what kind of kid wouldn’t, right? Anyhow….I climbed up the railing…took a logn time..but I did it. And then it happened. One little slip, and I fell. ‘’

‘’ I survived the fall…but I couldn’t swim. I tried to reach the surface…but it didn’t fucking do shit. It was…so cold…..so dark. I felt…darkness all around me. I closed my eyes….darkness. I opened my eyes….darkness. But then I breathed again. Some person on the bridge had seen me fall and jumped in after me. ‘’


‘’ I realized you never tried to save me. You were so close by……yet you weren’t there. It wasn’t you, dad. It was…just some guy. Some guy saved me. Why? Why didn’t YOU save me, dad? ‘’
She sat up and looked up at the roof, sighing.

‘’ No answer, huh? You want me to figure it out for myself, huh? That’s why you didn’t try to save me. That’s why you didn’t try to do anything…when I met him. Making mistakes makes a person, isn’t that what you said, dad? ‘’

‘’ Well…Fuck both of you. Fuck everybody who left me the fuck behind. ‘’

She suddenly grabbed ahold of the bed frame, and she began to pull herself up. As she struggled to get up, she began to speak to herself again.

‘’ I’am Lucille. I make my own damned decisions….I don’t fucking need to be saved…I don’t need to *cough* fucking save ANYBODY. Only person that matters is ME. My happiness….MY life. I’ve worked so hard to make all of this mine….To make MY life MINE.  I’AM NOT GONNA FUCKING LIE DOWN AND LET SOME FUCKING FLU TAKE ME OU….*heavy coughing* ‘’

Lucille suddenly coughed up blood in her hands. She looked down and clutched her fists before she fell down on her knees again.

‘’ Damn it all. ‘’




The truck came to a screeching halt, and somebody was banging the side.   Negan woke up instantly, having slept for most of the afternoon since the incident at noon.

‘’ You may come out. We have arrived. ‘’

Negan came out first, and he was speechless when he saw the Hotel. Not a deadie as far as the eye could see. The area that was outside was massive, and protected by big trucks and metal barriers. People walking around smiling and talking, reaching what seemed to be hundreds in number, and the whole air around him felt…fresh…free….safe. He looked over his shoulder to see the others standing in awe behind him.

‘’ H-how….This is… ‘’

Gerard walked infront of them and he clapped his hands, and the men and women in the trucks all went out, easily reaching 40 in number.

‘’ ..Just like how it was before, isn’t it? Hard work…..hope….belief…trust….THAT is what had allowed all of this to happen….and will allow our plan to continue. Now….ladies and gentlemen……Welcome….to the home of all those who seek shelter. This is Paradise. Here….we are free to live as we want to. Is that not right, my friends!!? ‘’

The crowd shouted in unison : ‘’ YES! ‘’

Gerard then pointed towards Negan and the others.

‘’ Excellent. Now listen up people….These are our guests. They will be treated with the respect you show one another. Anything less and you’ll surely regret it. Now…go. Tend your duties, everyone. I hope to see you all in the dining hall later. We will have to prepare a big feast for our new friends. ‘’

Everybody scattered across the area, until only Gerard and Negan’s group was left.


A portly man with a large bushy beard suddenly ran up to Gerard, out of breath and nervous. Gerard looked at him with worry.

‘’ Roscoe….Where is he? Where the fuck is Aiden? ‘’

‘’ I..I lost sight of him. I’m sorry. ‘’
Gerard suddenly broke out of his calm character and yelled out in anger. ‘’ Fuck. Fuck. FUCK! ‘’

‘’ What’s wrong? ‘’
He turned around towards Negan and calmed down.

‘’ Nothing….I’ll handle this. Roscoe, show our guests to their rooms. I’ll have to go find Aiden. Fucking damn it. I can’t trust you to do ONE thing right. ‘’

‘’ Let me help you. I can go looking for Aiden with you. ‘’

‘’ Fine. Roscoe…where did you lost sight of him? ‘’

‘’ Bottom level. I don’t know if he went down or up…I can find him anywhere. ‘’

‘’ Okay then. Roscoe, you’ll check the outside. Negan, come. By god, I hope we find him. ‘’
Gerard ran inside the hotel, and Negan followed suit.

The lights inside the hotel seemed to still work to some degree, although they were very dim.
Gerard ran quick up the stairs, Negan  wondering why he was so stressed as he ran through the halls on every level they came to. He seemed to get more nervous and unfocused after every level, shouting out ‘’ AIDEN!! ‘’

‘’ Geard….who are we looking for? ‘’

‘’ Aiden…He’s…. ‘’

‘’ Daddy! ‘’

Negan turned to see a young boy, only 6-7 years old, stand at the end of the hallway.  His hair was blonde, messy and his eyes a dark blue. His clothes consisted of an baggy blue hoodie and black jeans with white sneakers.
Aiden ran up to Gerard who knelt down to hug him and wrapped his arms tightly around him when they met.

‘’ Aiden! Oh, You know you can’t run away like that. You made me so worried. Why didn’t you stay close to Roscoe? I told you to listen to him. ‘’

‘’ I wanted to play, but he was so busy talking to the others that….Sorry, dad. I was just bored. I was gonna go to my friends…but I got lost. ‘’

‘’ I’m not mad….I’m just worried when I don’t know where you are. I’ll take you to the others….but promise me that you’ll never leave Roscoe’s line of sight again when I’m not here.  ‘’

‘’ Yes, daddy….I wont. Promise. ‘’

‘’  That’s what I like to hear. ‘’


‘’ Daddy….who is that? ‘’

‘’ Oh, Aiden, this is Negan. He and his friends will be staying here for a while. Negan, this is Aiden. My son. ‘’

‘’ Uhmm…Hello. ‘’

‘’ Aiden, Come here. Let’s see if your old man is still as strong he used to be.  ‘’

Gerard stood back up and he now had Aiden sitting on his shoulders.

‘’ Aiden, have you been eating sweets when I was gone? ‘’

‘’ NO! ‘’
*chuckle* ‘’ Oh, son. ''

‘’ Well…Negan, You have not eaten yet, right? Come, we’ll all go and get something to ea… ‘’
‘’ Mommy! ‘’

Gerard knelt down and let Aiden go and as soon as he reached the floor, he ran over and hugged Jennie. She hugged him back, and she looked back up at Gerard, smiling.

‘’ Jennie….Have everybody  settled in? ‘’

‘’ Yes, Gerard. The guests are in their rooms, and the others are keeping to their duties. ‘’

‘’ Good. Jennie, take Aiden and Negan back to the dining hall….I have something to attend to. Sorry I cant come to eat with you…but I will be with you all later. Jennie, tell the others to begin the feast without me.  ‘’

‘’ Is it him?  Shall I tell him to wait until later?‘’

‘’ No need to worry, Jennie. I got this. I’ll be back before the feast is over. You take Negan and Aiden with you….Sorry that I cant be a better host…but I need to deal with this. ‘’

He waved goodbye to Negan and the others, and turned away towards the stairs. He walked all the way to the top of the hotel.  He went along the hall, until he came to the suite in the middle. He went inside and as soon as he went inside, he went to the window. He could see for miles. He looked down, and saw his people rejoicing and living in happiness. He smiled as he saw the sun shine bright over the horizon.

Gerard looked over towards his bed, and a number of flutes of various models laid around it. He walked over, sat own and picked up his shakuhachi, and the melody that he began to play was that of the Lonely Shepard.

He stopped as he heard knocking on the door. He did not bother to say come in, as the door opened before he could say anything anyhow.

The old man that stepped in had wild unruly grey hair with a big mustache to match. He has emerald green eyes and an wrinkled, toughened face. He wore a loose orange dress-shirt as well as tattered blue jeans tucked into matted black oxfords.

‘’ Davidson….what a surprise to see you here. ‘’

‘’ You told me you had something to say….But I had already went away with the others before you could say it…..So….Please, tell me what you wanted to tell me yesterday. ‘’

‘’ Sorry to interrupt…..but….son… I need to talk to you about bringing….THEM here. ‘’

‘’ Alexander….‘’

End of chapter 10.