2 Episode 2: The Search

Sarah and Dex walk through the woods on the search, she holds the cloth from the farm in her right hand, they search around and come across a couple dead walkers. Dex walks up to investigate while Sarah stands behind him, keeping watch. He moves them around and rolls a sleeve up, "Oh god... I know them... They were apart of my old community, poor bastards probably fled a few days before the attack out of paranoia... They seem to have been here a while, he probably put them down when he was here last." Dex gets up and says, "Then we're on the right track, let's go", they walk some more, they keep an eye out for anything, any signs, they don't come across much else after the walkers they came across. They eventually leave the woods and end up on the road, they keep walking for a bit and get exhausted from the long search, Sarah suggested that they sit and rest for a bit, so they did.

"Since we are going to be sitting around for a bit, that community you said you were from, those people, your brother, the raiders, the smoke... What happened." Sarah takes a long pause as she messes around with a stick, she is drawing in the dirt, "It all happened when our community was caught in the middle of a gang war between the Peace Keepers and the Raiders... Long story short we supported the wrong side, and after 2 years of torment and torture we stood up, we fought, the other communities fell and... We were next, it was our final hope, the last stand, they used some gas and walkers to kill us, they burnt the place down and in a long fight, both sides were dead, my group, to my knowledge are dead, I sent my brother out so he can escape, told him our meet spot and when I got there he wasn't there, no sign of him and I spent the next two days searching, then I met you..." Sarah looks up at the sky, she feels very sad and blames herself for his vanishing and Dex notices this, "Ya know I was in a large group once, back in the beginning, I found them after LA was napalmed, we struggled until we got split up, shattered like glass, we couldn't find each other, we were lost and I kept losing people that I cared for until I gave up and became a drifter... I wanna escape my past as much as you do but it seems that the past will always find ways to catch up to you, you have to accept that..." Sarah finishes drawing a flower in the dirt and wipes the tear from her eye, "We should get going" Dex agrees and they pack up, they leave the small campfire behind, they continue on their journey.

The Sign:

The pair is surprised that they haven't come across any raiders yet, they keep going for what seemed like hours to them. Night is fast approaching but there is still daylight and they don't want to waste any time. They eventually come across a wooden sign by the state border, it mentions a safe haven for all who come by. Sarah sees this and says, "We heard rumors of this place back in the day, sounds like bs but it's worth a shot, maybe he ended up there, I hope." They see this as a small symbol of hope, that maybe their goal will be met. They push forward for a bit longer, tired, thirsty, hungry, they have food and water and the ability to sleep safely but refuse, they keep pushing, they pass by a small Raider kill on the side of a tree, a man, beaten and starved, nailed to a tree, it's old though so they don't worry too much.

They keep walking and Dex notices a bell on a branch, it has a paper slip on the bottom, Sarah opens it, it reads, "Not far now to safety, follow the road", they look at each other and they know that they're close. They happily walk some more, passing old cars, corpses and nature growing on the road and houses nearby, they eventually come across a big metal gate, Dex goes up to it and knocks, no response, he pulls his gun out, so does Sarah and they look for a lock on it. "I wouldn't do that if I were you..." They look up and a woman stands on the watch tower, she looks down on them, "Haven't had any new people 'round here lately, just the dead... What ya here for?" Dex looks at her and says out loud, "We're looking for someone..." Sarah adds on, "Young boy, about 5'6, dark hair, have you seen him?" the woman looks down, thinking, she eventually responds saying, "There was someone about a few days ago, the Raiders had 'em, I don't think he is alive right now, they don't keep kids very long, either that or he is working hard as a slave." Sarah asks where the place is, the woman invites them in to discuss, they all enter, Sarah and Dex are met by a colony, people farming, trading, blacksmithing, horses, barns, windmills, the place is well developed and full of people and joy, the woman leads them through the streets, they go through a small garden, through an intersection and into the main hall, it is a small cabin and serves as the place for meetings, they all sit to discuss.

Willmington:

"Lets's start with introductions shall we?, my name is Hailey, and who are you two?" Sarah holds the cloth, "I'm Sarah, this is Dex" she says softly. Hailey sees the look in Sarah and knows right away that the person they are looking for is someone close to her. "These Raiders that have this boy you speak of, you can't get in without dying, they have tight security and getting in isn't in any way a simple task, we have been dealing with these raiders for a long time and they recently were hit hard during a big war they had with some small local communities and the PK's, if you help us take the fight to their impacted forces and liberate the people inside then you'll get your brother back." Dex looks at Sarah and then at her and understands, Sarah knows first hand what the Raiders can do and also understands, Hailey sees this in them, she escorts them out and they enter the streets, they are led to an old house by the back wall, Hailey lets them in and then looks at them, "It'll be okay, they will pay, they took people who are close to us as well, you just have to keep your head up until justice is given... We start tomorrow morning... get some rest, you need it." She leaves the two in the house alone, they take in the setup there.

They discover the food in there, it isn't much but it's fresh from the garden there, they eat most of it quickly and drink their water from Dex's canteen. A couple hours later, they decide to go to bed, Dex takes one room, Sarah takes the one across from it. Sarah places her belongings down and organizes it all, she gets into the bed and looks at the ceiling, she thinks about how scared he must be, she thinks of how they could have killed him already, she is in pain, she cries herself to sleep. In the other room Dex had just finished shaving, he looks at his reflection and sees the person he has become. He walks to his bed and flops down in it, he looks at the window and quickly falls asleep.

The Long Night:

The big explosion is felt by the young Dex as he slowly gets up, he has a big puncture wound on his side, he falls back down as fire is everywhere. He hears radio chatter, the military was doing a sweep of the streets around the outskirts of the city to contain it while they await the air force. Dex sees them shooting people around them, he gets up and tries to run, he falls again. He uses a broken car door to pull himself up, he struggles, but gets moving. He pulls himself across the car slowly, he eventually makes it to the bridge he was by, it leads into the river nearby, he hears jets off in the distance, walkers are following him, gunshots and screams fill the air, eventually bombs hit the bridge and it sets him flying into the river.

All Dex could hear was the muffled sound of death and destruction as he floated away, he hears echos of walkers and gunfire as he bursts awake from sleeping. He sees that it is still dark out, his heart is racing, he is still haunted by his tragic past. He gets up, puts on some fresh clothes and walks down the stairs, he is startled when he hears a knock on the door, it is a man. Dex opens the door and tiredly greets him, "Hey I'm Jack, I'm the man who deals with supply runs and other things like that... Dex i it? It's time we do some recon on the Raider compound to find weaknesses, now's the best time to do it and I figured I'd take you since you guys are on a very special mission against them and I didn't wanna leave you out." Dex rubs his eyes and agrees to go, he writes a letter to Sarah explaining where he went and he grabs his machete and gun, they head out. They begin to walk down the dark and lonely road that seems dark and hopeless as if the people that lived along the road accepted their fate and went out peacefully.

They begin to get into town and there is a dead silence, a few pieces of paper fly by, but other than that there is nothing. "How long is this going to take?" Jack looks around, "Judging by the dead silence here we won't have trouble so maybe a couple hours." They walk some more, they pass by a small schoolhouse with blood painted on the windows, they go by an old shopping cart full of old trash and blood, there is a head on the curb,it seems like the town had no walkers or people, it was a ghost town. They eventually got to a small lantern and a not on the side of the road, Jack stops him and checks it out, "Hey Jack, what's up with all of this?" Jack finishes reading the note, "Its a system we set up to communicate with runners to see how safe it is to proceed into Raider territory, and according to this it is, but not for long, so let's make this quick shall we." They continued their journey and left the town, they made a sudden turn for the woods, a Raider patrol passed by on horse back and had lanterns, the pair got low behind some trees, they are in dangerous territory now.

Jack signals to Dex to proceed but slowly, they slowly go through the woods for a bit and end up on top of a hill. They overlook the big compound, it is an old college campus, old corpses are strapped to the wall, eaten by walkers, there are guards going in and out. "See anything odd about this place?" Dex looks but can't seem to find out what, Jack looks at the big science building, "That's where they store some big guns, you try to get near here, and your body will begin to whistle in the wind. The weakness is that there is a lot of firepower, that can go boom and these Raiders have many weak spots on the walls so a well put together group, and good planning will allow up to sneak in and blow them to shit and allow us to save those who are held prisoner inside." Dex follows along and nods, "Sounds good, I think it's a goo..." Guns are held to the back of their heads as they are ordered to stand slowly, Dex has a knife in his sleeve, as the men go to take their weapons, Dex stabs one in the eye, and grabs his gun, Jack knocks the other down before he could shoot and stomps on his head twice "Lets get the hell out of here." They begin to stealthily travel back home.

They go through the ghost town, the sun slowly rises as they go through and begin to head down the long and lonely road. "Ya know we don't normally let people in, especially in our current situation, Hailey must have saw something in you two... What's your story?" Dex looks at him and responds, "I originally came from LA, I was split from my family when operation Cobalt was in early stages, I ran like hell, I searched for them for the longest time and lost hope after a while. I became a drifter, travelling alone in search for survival. Sarah... She gave me hope again in people, as I did the same for her, we have similar stories, she came from a community that fell to the Raiders, we have been on the search for her brother... We stuck together because we both were Raider targets and figured strength in numbers was best... I don't know what we'll do after all of this is over but I don't regret sticking with her..." Jack then responds with, "You two seem like good friends, willing to do anything to protect each other, you two seem to have a lot in common and you guys admire that about each other, it's good to have someone in times like these. Dex smiles as they make it home eventually.

Back Home:

They enter Willmington and Dex is met by Sarah who was helping with the farming, "Hey, I saw your not, find anything out?" Dex seems hopeful and happy, "We figured out a decent plan to get in, blow them to hell and get your brother back." Sarah seems happier and she looks at the garden and says, "Well let me know when you find more out, I gotta go and help out some more, Mrs. Smith will kill me if I'm slacking off" Jacks says his goodbye and walks through the streets and sees a woman being helped into the back gate, she was shot and was bleeding out, Dex runs up to them and asks what happened. "The Raiders are mobilizing, they saw you two and that was the last straw, they are ready for war." Dex looks off into the woods as they close the back gate. The Raiders are ready for war and Dex doesn't want to lose these people since he has grown to like a few of them and he worries for them.

END