chapter 7 : back to the City

The next day, Cal woke up at 11 a.m. and the place had already been cleaned.

He rummaged through the closet for his bathrobe before coming out with a foldable chair, a small tablet and sat by the lake enjoying his coffee while playing word scramble.

If any African American street dealer looked at Calvin now, they were going to get sick. It's the end of the world, for Calvin, there was no longer white, black, age or religion.

He wasn't going to act like a gangster when he could have a good time and this new world was going to be his playground.

 "It's the end of the world, we're trying to survive and this kid thinks he's on vacation. He even has the two most beautiful women in the camp with him," Ted told another camp survivor as they began to criticize Calvin.

 Glenn saw him too and went down to find him.

 Glenn: You seem to be living your best life.

 Calvin: Hey buddy. You want a coffee ?!

 Glenn: No thanks, I never really liked that stuff.

 Calvin: I understand. Of course I benefit, all the resources on this bus were brought together by me alone, it's normal that I benefit from it. By the way, do you know how to drive heavy goods vehicles?

 Glenn: No.

 Cal: Too bad, you would have had your place on board.

 "Did you look for us?" Lise asked smiling with Dawn.

 Cal: No, why ?!

 Glenn: (laughs)

 Dawn: So? What is the program for the day?

 Cal: Relax by watching movies maybe. I brought back a lot of films on DVD.

 "KYAAAAAA!" 

 « AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH ! MOM ! »

 They were interrupted by screaming and Cal asked the girls to watch the truck before running in the direction of the sound because he heard a child's voice.

He quickly arrived there at the same time as Rick, Shane and the others while Lori took her frightened son in her arms and the guys found not far from there a walker trying to devour a doe which had two crossbow bolts planted in the side.

 The walker got up to growl at them and they started hitting him with the tools they had, the dead man was already on the ground and they continued to hit him as if none of them knew what to do to kill him.

Cal drank his coffee while watching them and from the pocket of his bathrobe, he took out a nail which he threw towards the forehead of the prowler who was deeply pierced and he fell stiff once and for all.

 They all looked at Calvin who was amusedly sipping his coffee.

 Calvin: It's the head you need to aim for, what you're doing is wasting time and energy.

 Shane: We understood. This is the first time either of them has ventured out.

 Jim: There's nothing left to eat in town so they're going out.

 They heard more footsteps in the forest and Cal grabbed another of his nails. They were ready to welcome more walkers when the owner of the footsteps came out of the woods and it was Daryl.

 Daryl: Ah fucking bastard…that deer was mine. Great, it's already started to eat it away.

 Annoyed, he walked past Calvin, whom he saw in a bathrobe with a cup of coffee.

"Who the fuck are you…?!! " he asked himself before starting to kick and insult the downed walker out of frustration as the others calmed him down.

 Daryl: (points to the eaten part) Do you think we can cut this part out and recover the rest?

 Shane: No, it's too risky.

 Daryl swore in frustration again and told them that he has at least a dozen squirrels and they will have to make do with that.

He started walking towards the camp calling his brother several times when Shane stopped him to start explaining what happened with Merle.

Rick explained that he handcuffed Merle to the top of a building when Daryl angrily attacked him and a fight started until Daryl pulled out a knife but Rick and Shane overpowered him.

 Cal didn't even try to watch the rest of the show and went back to his truck where he changed and ate what Lise had cooked with the two women while watching a movie when there was a knock at the door.

They opened and it was Rick and Glenn so Cal came out with a beer.

 Calvin: I can do something for you guys.

 Rick: We need you. We return to town to get Daryl's brother and some weapons.

 Calvin: Why should I come and help you? This guy was a fascist asshole.

 Rick: I've seen you in action and you are strong. We need your help if we all want to return alive from this mission.

 Glenn: Please buddy...

 Cal: You, you're lucky that I like you, Wait for me at your vehicle. I'll take what I need and come.

 Glenn: Cool.

 Lise: Can we come?

 Cal: Do you have your machine guns?

 Dawn: Obviously. We hardly used it so we have our ammunition.

 Calvin: Excellent! You must stay here.

 Dawn: Lincoln-(interrupted)

 Cal: We killed a walker near the camp today and according to one of their leaders, it's the first time since they created this camp. Do you know what it means ?

 Dawn: They're going out of town.

 Cal: Exactly, you might be more useful here than with me. I have no need for reinforcements but these people may need you so stay here and watch our little palace too.

 Lise: Very good.

 He went to carry his gear and lowered himself to the bottom of the bed where there was a lock with a code to enter, he opened the lock and the bed rose to reveal a large stash of weapons and equipment.

He just took a loaded Glock 17 pistol already hanging on his hip holster and with a silencer and three full magazines of the weapon in the pouch.

He also took a Japanese sword from his sheath which he kept in his hand before closing his weapons chest.

 He turned around and Dawn was in front of him.

 Dawn: Be careful...

 Cal: Are you worried about me?

 "Just come back, an old lady will be worried..." she said before turning around but Cal pulled her by the hand and pressed her against him and he started kissing her by taking her by the hip and he brought him back to the bed where he kissed him even harder.

 Cal: You're not old and I swear if I didn't go on an expedition with these guys then I'd already be making love to you.

 Dawn: Then come back soon.

 "Careful ma'am, you're getting attached..." he got up to leave while Dawn stayed to think about what he had just said and he was right, she was really starting to get attached but who could to blame? She shares the bed of a handsome, well-built and strong young man, capable of monstrous sexual prowess and who allows her to live comfortably in these difficult times. He had everything for a woman to get attached to.

 When the others saw Cal coming with the saber they looked at him intently but he ignored them to go sit in the van in front of Daryl who looked at him intently but Cal didn't say anything before took out an already rolled joint and lit it with a beautiful silver storm lighter.

He took a few drags before sharing the joint with Daryl who looked at him before taking it a little hesitantly before nodding slightly to take and smoke too.

They played a few rounds and Daryl at the end was less angry than at the start.

 Glenn later stopped the van at a railroad track and told the others that they were going to walk from there and got out to move around and enter the city.

Silently, they sneaked out and decided to go look for Merle first and finally arrived at the relevant building.

They found a zombie inside and Cal decapitated it with the saber.

 They quickly went up to the roof with Daryl in front calling for his brother several times and when they got to where he was supposed to be, all they found was a severed arm and a hacksaw.

 Cal: Holy shit!

 Daryl started to cry thinking about his dead brother as he started to look at T-dog with hatred but Cal reassured him that his brother was still alive as there was a trail of blood and they examined him after Daryl wrapped his brother's hand to put it in Glenn's bag.

They followed the trails left by Merle only to discover that he had attempted to cauterize his wound and exit through one of the windows where his trail completely disappeared.

Daryl was relieved that his brother was alive because they found walkers killed by him.

 They decided to go get the weapons before continuing to search the area, there were a number of walkers where Rick had left the bag and Cal let Glenn take the credit for coming up with a plan for him to go there. 

Daryl and Cal were going to cover him from the lower street and Rick was going to do the same with T-dog from the upper street if Glenn could no longer retrace his steps.

 Cal could have simply offered to go get the bag without any problem but he preferred to let Glenn do it, this guy had courage and he was smart, Calvin appreciated his altruism.

They put the plan into action and Glenn went to get the gun bag. Daryl and Cal waited crouched behind a dumpster smoking another joint when they heard footsteps behind them.

 Daryl stood up and aimed his crossbow at a Latino teenager.

 Teenager: HEY HEY! Don't shoot, don't shoot! What do you want ?

 Daryl: I'm looking for my brother, a guy in bad shape with one hand missing.

 "AYUDA ME!" the boy shouted and Cal stood up angrily.

 Cal: Shut that little Bastard up! He's calling his friends and his cries will bring walkers back here.

 "AYUDA ME!" The kid screamed again and Daryl hit the crossbow in his face. He tried to shut the kid up when two guys came up from Cal's side.

The bald guy in the checkered shirt wanted to punch him but he dodged it and countered it with an elbow that knocked out a few of his teeth as he fell to his knees.

The second hadn't even attacked with his bat yet when Cal hit the end of the sheath of his saber at his throat and he fell to choke.

Glenn arrived and asked the others to run because of the walkers when a car arrived, the passengers saw the state of their friends but because of the zombies they left.

 They locked the gate to keep the walkers out when Rick and T-dog arrived.

 Rick: Who are they?

 Daryl: Goons who tried to attack us but we took care of them, my smoking buddy and I.

 Cal: Yep. They may know where your brother is, they may have tried to attack him like they did with us so we're going to question them.

 Rick: Good idea, let's bring them back inside. Quickly !

 They took them to the laboratory where they began to question them, starting with the youngest separately. Rick questioned the teenager in a room, Cal questioned the bald guy and Daryl questioned the guy with the bat and their answers were the same, they were there for the weapons.

Cal went even further and the bald man admitted to him that they were in a retirement home to protect old people and that they needed these weapons. He reported to the others in the great hall.

 Rick, listening to this, asked to check it at once to see if it was true or if it was a tactical lie prepared collectively in advance. For Daryl, maybe these guys had his brother.

 Cal: Where is this retreat center?

 Teenager: WE'RE NOT GOING TO TELL YOU ANYTHING, YOU FUCKING-(INTERRUPTED)

 Cal shot him in the foot and covered his mouth to muffle his scream. The bald man wanted to intervene but Daryl already had his crossbow aimed at him.

 Glenn: FUCK!

 Rick: Calvin, he's a kid!

 Cal: A kid who wants to play dumb in front of armed people he doesn't know. (points to Daryl) His brother has lost a lot of blood and may be in serious danger at home, we don't have time for that. (to the teenager) The next bullet will go into your head, you will give us all the information concerning your camp and your leader. We don't want any trouble and are just looking for one of our own.

 Rick: If you tell the truth then I'll even give you some guns and ammo.