Episode 9: Old Friends, New Friends

Episode 9

"Old Friends, New Friends"

(Ned)

We were almost in Toronto now. Only about twenty more minutes on this highway, and we'd be pulling in to the abandoned town once again. I could already see the buildings, they were dirty looking, and lifeless. The Toronto I remember from the old world was bright and alive. Now it's nothing. I could see the CN Tower in the distance, still standing tall as ever, but it too, was lifeless. It used to light up at night, and I'd be so excited to see it as a kid whenever my parents took me here. It's just sad seeing Toronto again. It's worse off than Kingston. While we were driving, Brad said something to me that scared me.

"You know," he said, eyes fixated on the road ahead, "Charlie is planning on expanding. He wants to become the next big government. Now that the old government is totally wiped out, he sees it as a perfect oppurtunity."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's what I've been told by people from the inside."

I knew Charlie was a piece of shit, but I didn't know he'd go that far in order to keep control over everyone. This guy really is more dangerous than I thought. It only encouraged me to break Jeff out more. I need to free him and the rest of his group from that maniac.

Brad pulled over on the side of the street once we got to Toronto. The place was empty, no stranglers yet. Which was actually kind of weird. Last time I was in Toronto, the place was infested. Brad got out of the car, and everyone followed behind him. The place was so empty that when I closed my car door, the sound echoed through the city.

"Damn." Was all I said.

"So where are your friends?" Brad asked me.

"Well, I don't exactly know. It's been a while since I've been here. They're kind of, all over the place. It's hard to explain."

"So what's the plan then? Just wait for them to show up?" Elise asked, sounding irritated.

"Yeah," I said, "that's exactly the plan."

"Oh I knew this trip was gonna be a waste of time." She stormed back to the truck and sat in there, pouting.

I thought a big argument was gonna break out, until James stopped and raised his hand to his ear.

"You guys hear that?" He said quietly.

"No, what?" Brad asked.

We all paused for a minute, listening to what James had heard. I heard nothing at first, but then I knew exactly what he was talking about. Strangler screams. Not far from here either, they sounded about three or four blocks away.

"Shit." Ryder said.

"Now what're we gonna do? We should really get out of here." James cried, walking back to the truck in a hurry.

"No, we can't run off, we made it this far we need to look for the snipers." I argued.

"Ned, you don't even know where we are. This was a wasted trip, and I don't want to get ripped to shreds by stranglers, waiting for some friends that might not even be here anymore. Let's go!" Brad exclaimed.

I sighed, about to give in when I saw the stranglers all in a group, turn the corner and face us. They were just down the street now. I made eye contact with them, and they howled in their vicious voices. That sound chilled me to the bone.

"Fuck!" Brad screamed, running to the truck, "Everyone get in!"

I hesitated, then turned towards the truck. I got in the passenger seat and Ryder and James hopped in the back. Doug started barking at the stranglers, who were now sprinting towards us. Brad turned the key as the truck revved up. Brad slammed his foot down on the gas, and made a U-turn. Then there were gunshots. I looked behind us to see stranglers all falling down one by one, until there were none left. They'd been hit with a bombardment of bullets, coming down from all angles from the roofs. Brad noticed this too, and took his foot off the gas. The truck stopped and we sat in there for a few seconds, confused.

"The snipers," I said, "that must be them."

I hopped out of the truck and waved my arms in the air.

"Hey!" I shouted, "It's me! Don't shoot!"

I saw various figures on the rooftops, they pointed their rifles at me. A few of them jumped down and scaled the walls of the building. It was actually quite impressive. They made their way to the ground and kept their rifles pointed at me. There was a man who seemed to be in charge of this group. He had a hood on and black hair that almost covered his eyes. He was wearing all black, which made him hard to see up on the rooftops, practically invisible at night.

"State your name and business here in Toronto." He demanded.

"Uh, my name is Ned," I said confidently, "this here behind me is my group. We've come from Kingston. We came here to visit Hilda. She's an old friend of mine."

"Hilda is far too busy to be dealing with you guys right now, leave."

"No, no. I came all this way. I really need to see her, it's very important. Trust me."

"I said no. Now get out of here." He said, turning away from me.

"Don't walk away! This is very important! She knows me!" I shouted.

He turned back to face me.

"If I have to say no one more time, I'm gonna put a bullet in between your eyes. Do you understand me?"

"I'm not leaving until I see Hilda."

The man grunted and walked towards me very fast. He grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me towards him.

"You keep pushing me, and it won't end well for you, and your entire group. Now you listen here, you have so many guns trained on you and your friends right now. All from the rooftops. All I have to do is say the word, and you're all dead. You hear me?"

It took all the nerve I had not to push him any further. I wanted to, but I knew the snipers were a very serious group, not to be meddled with.

The man let go of my shirt, leaving it all wrinkled up. He stormed away from me before a women who was in his group stopped him.

"Wait," she said, "I know that guy."

The man stopped and gave her a confused look.

"Yeah," she said, "he's the guy who was in Jeff's group. He helped us take the mall from Gus a long time ago."

"Really? He's part of Jeff's group?" The man asked, "I've never seen Jeff's group myself, but I've heard lots of stories about them from the old snipers."

"Let him see Hilda," she said, "she'll understand."

The man sighed and turned back towards me, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Alright," he said, "you heard the lady. Come with us, we'll take you to Hilda."

I fist pumped the air in excitement, and motioned towards the truck for everyone to come out and follow.

We walked in a group behind the small group of snipers. I peered up at the rooftops every once in a while, and I'd continually notice the many snipers watching down on us from up there. Last time I was here, Hilda had a much smaller sniper group, but now it looks that she has many members, and that they might've secured most of Toronto by now. A lot has happened while we were gone.

"You may notice the lack of stranglers here," the man said, "that's because we've secured almost the entire city of Toronto. That group of stranglers that you guys saw earlier, was a group we were leading out of the city. We are running low on bullets, and we didn't want to use any more on little groups. But you guys showed up and messed everything up, so we were forced to use them."

"Sorry." James said.

"Don't apologize, it's already happened." He said.

"You guys are low on bullets?" I asked.

"Yeah, there's only so much ammo for our guns to go around. We're a really big group, we get new members every week, we've actually started to have to turn people down because we don't have enough guns to give to anyone anymore. Hilda has talked about kicking out some of the inexperienced snipers, she says they're a waste of resources."

"Hey that's what my parents called me." Ryder said.

We made our way to a big warehouse. It looks like Hilda is still using the same hideout that she did back when I last saw her.

"This is the HQ," the man explained, "we have other smaller bases around the city, but this is where Hilda lives. She's not on any runs right now, so she's probably able to talk."

"I never got your name." I said to the man with the hood.

"Just call me Echo." He responded.

"Echo? That some kind of nickname?"

"Yeah. People started calling me that because I don't like using a silencer or any of that. I like my shots to be heard. People always know when I'm hunting."

"That's badass dude, but stupid. You'll attract stranglers with that attitude." Ryder butt in.

"We've driven almost all of the stranglers out of Toronto. We're not worried about them anymore. This is our city now, we do what we please with it."

"Damn Echo you're an edgy one. Is that what all you snipers are? A bunch of edgy teenagers?"

"Ryder stop," I said, "they've been kind enough to let us in, don't mess it up."

Ryder looked like he wanted to argue, but stood down. He knew I was right. Echo brushed his comments off and knocked on the warehouse door. A sniper who was standing guard on top of the building looked down at us, signalled for the door to be opened, and it did.

The warehouse had changed a whole lot since I'd last been here. I remember it being abandoned, and old. It had been completely redone. There were dozens of people in here, they all had the same look. They wore all black had their faces half hidden. This place was fully functioning, with an armoury where rifles were stored, a food area where people would grab bowls of soup from a stand and sit down, and even a range where people were shooting pellet guns at targets. I wondered why they were shooting pellet guns.

"Hilda is up on the top floor. I've received word that she is cleaning her rifle on the top of the building." Echo said.

He walked up the stairs and we followed, there were a couple more flights of stairs, and then a ladder that led up onto the roof. Echo didn't go onto the roof, he stood by the ladder and motioned for us to go up.

"Good luck with whatever you wanted to talk to her about." He said.

I shook his hand.

"Thank you." I said.

He smiled at me and nodded. I started climbing the ladder with everyone else following behind.

I climbed onto the roof and looked around. There were only a few people up here. One girl was standing by the end of the roof and was watching for people, or stranglers. Another sat by a lever, which I imagined opened the door. There were a few other people just sitting around talking to each other, and then I noticed someone who was sitting all alone, cleaning their rifle. I knew it was her by her red hair that stuck out of her hood.

"That's her," I said, "she still looks the same."

"She's hot." Ryder said.

Elise punched him in the arm, Ryder whimpered and rubbed his arm. I walked towards Hilda as everyone followed closely behind me. It wasn't until I got really close when she looked up at me. She looked uninterested at first, until she took a closer look, and a smile lit up her face.

"Ned?" She asked, standing up and getting a better look of me.

"Yeah! It's me!" I shouted in excitement, excited that she was happy to see me.

"Oh my it's been so long, how is everyone?" She looked behind me, expecting to see Jeff and the other, then frowned when she didn't recognize anyone.

"These are my new friends." I said.

"What about Jeff, and the others?" She stuttered, almost too afraid to ask.

"That's what I've come here about. Do you have time to talk?"

She looked around and nodded.

"Yeah I do. Let's talk somewhere quieter. I have a study in the basement. Follow me."

We followed Hilda back down the ladder and down the mulitple flights of stairs. There was a hatch on the ground, and Hilda opened it up, where another ladder led. She motioned for us to go down it, and she followed down, closing the hatch. She pulled on a thread which turned on the lights for the room. It lit up and revealed a desk, couch and chairs, small box T.V, and a bunch of sniper rifles, all laid out on the wall like trophies. There had to be at least ten of them.

"Wow," Ryder said, "minus the massive amounts of dust I'm taking into my lungs down here, this place is pretty neat."

"You get used to the dust," She said, sitting at her desk and kicking her feet up, "please. Take a seat."

We did as instructed and sat down on the couch and chairs. I took the chair that was closest to her desk, since I would probably be doing most of the talking.

"Well," I said, "let's just get to it. You're probably wondering why we're here. You're also probably wondering where Jeff and the others went. That's what I've come here for. Hilda, have you heard of Lockwood?"

"Lockwood?" She said, thinking for a bit, "no. I don't think so."

"You're lucky." Ryder said.

"Lockwood is a dictatorship," I said, "run by a man by the name of Charlie Lockwood. It's a big hotel in Kingston. Charlie controls Kingston, and he has a big army to back him up. He's in his own world. He thinks he can do whatever he wants, he thinks he's untouchable. He controls all the materials in Kingston, leaving none for any other survivors, and once you join Lockwood, you can't leave. He has captured Jeff and the others, and he is holding them in there. We've come for your help, we want you to back us up in breaking out Jeff and the others."

"Hmm," Hilda said, "this Charlie, sounds really similar to how I used to be. I was in the wrong when I attacked you guys at the mall. I have owned up to that. I thought I could control Toronto and keep everyone else out. For that, I apologize. I've built a bigger army of snipers, but now instead of focusing on driving people out, we encourage people to come in. We protect Toronto, and we believe we have a duty of keeping people safe in it."

"That's great. I'm glad you had a change in mind. What you're doing is really good." I applauded.

"So about helping you in Kingston," she said, "the answer is going to have to be no. I'm sorry, but I can't spare any snipers to aide you. We're already low on ammo as it is, and we need to put our full focus on protecting and securing Toronto. I can't afford to let any people leave. That's why we use pellet guns to practice, we can't spare any more ammo to train with. We are conserving our ammo a great deal."

"Damn, that's a shame. But I understand." I said.

"I'm really sorry I can't help you. But I can't let you leave empty handed. You've come a long way for my help. Here, take this."

Hilda reached into her desk and pulled out a really expensive looking knife. The thing was beautiful.

"My trusty, double edged dagger," she said, "it's ten inches long, and has teeth on both sides. The thing is gonna do a lot of damage. You might need this for your fight against Lockwood. I wish you the best of luck."

I reached out slowly to grab it, and picked it up in my hand, in awe of the beauty of this thing.

"A-are you sure? You want to give this away? Won't you need it?" I asked.

"Listen Ned, things are really slow here in Toronto. I barely need to do any heavy lifting anymore, I have such a big army. I won't be needing it."

"Thank you, so much."

"Don't mention it."

We stood up to leave, but Brad said something else. He looked Hilda in the eyes when he said this.

"You know, Lockwood is expanding. They're planning on a full rule on the area. He wants to be the new government. Only a matter of time until he expands to Toronto, and by then, he might be too powerful to stop."

Hilda looked saddened by this, and I really wish Brad handn't of said that. There was nothing Hilda could do, and all he's done was put more of a burden on her.

"Then we'll be ready." She said.

"Just wanted to warn you is all." He said.

"Thank you."

With that, we left. I climbed the ladder and opened the hatch, holding it open for everyone else. When Ryder got out he took a very exaggerated breath.

"Woo! Nice to breathe fresh air again!" He shouted, a bunch of snipers looked at him weird.

"Outsiders." One of them mumbled.

Echo was waiting for us at the door.

"So," he started, "how'd it go?"

"It went well. She gave us this." I showed him the dagger.

"Wow, hard to believe she'd give that thing up. It used to be her more prized possession. I guess not anymore. For her to give that to you, you must have had some really serious business."

"We're going to war. So she thought this might help." I said.

"War? With who?" Echo asked.

"It's a long story. We came here to ask for her support, but she said she can't spare the men. So we got this instead."

"Well guys, I wish you the best of luck in whoever you're fighting." Echo said, pulling the lever on the wall and opening the warehouse door.

"Thank you Echo, and thank you for not putting a bullet in between my eyes earlier." I joked.

He laughed and we were on our way.

(Brad)

The way back to Kingston was easy going. We only had to stop for gas once. This truck had some decent mileage on it. We made it back in good time too, we were back in Kingston at Ryder's camp just before the sun started to go down. I laid back in the box of the truck with James for the night again, Ned slept in the box with us too because he said it was better than the ground, while Ryder and Elise took the tent again. Ryder wouldn't stop complaining about the trip being a waste of time, he kept repeating over and over again that we went all that way for some shitty knife. I disagree. I think our trip was very worth it. Even though it would have been better if Hilda offered to spare some snipers, we still got to catch up and get a cool gift from her. It wasn't all that bad. Also, at least Hilda is prepared incase Lockwood attacks Toronto. She'll be ready for anything now. I really do hope she gets some bullets, incase she does have to fight Lockwood I'd want her to have a lot of ammunition. I'd much rather have Toronto be protected by Hilda rather than Lockwood. She seems like the proper leader for the city, and hopefully soon she'll be able to protect the city enough so that one day people can seek haven there. Maybe someday Toronto will be protected enough that survivors can start a new life there, and keep their families there. It would be really nice.

I woke up to a clap. I jolted upwards in a panic, and I saw Ryder standing over me, laughing.

"What the hell is your problem?" I asked.

"You wouldn't wake up when James was shaking you, so I decided to just clap in your face. It worked."

I stood up and shoved Ryder off the box of the truck, he fell on his ass.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelped in pain.

"Dickhead." I muttered, climbing off the truck.

"Alright, once you two idiots are done fighting, we've got some important business to attend to." Elise said.

Ryder stood up and stared me down, trying to intimidate me, but it wasn't working. He wasn't a scary guy at all.

"Yeah," he said, "we're done."

With that, we walked over to Elise where everyone else was and sat down on the ground. She stood and announced the plan.

"So Ned and I are going to head over to Lockwood, act like injured survivors and have them take us in. We'll sneak this walkie talkie in, and from there Brad can direct us on what to do from the other end."

"Correct, the plan should work." Ned said.

"If my calculations are correct." Ryder said in a nasally voice, impersonating Ned.

Ned rolled his eyes and ignored him.

Elise walked over and handed me the walkie talkie.

"I trust you with this, don't give it to Ryder, he'll lose it or something." She said.

"Yeah, got it."

"Alright then that's that. Ned, let's get a move on."

Ned followed Elise as they walked through the forest, headed for the city. Now it was just me, James, Ryder, and Doug. I was glad James was here, because I would not want to be alone with Ryder. He'd drive me crazy.

"So guys, what're we gonna do while we wait?" Ryder asked.

Doug growled at him, it was very clear he did not like Ryder. I didn't blame him. Ryder reached out to pet him, and Doug snapped at him, just missing his fingers by a few inches.

"Jesus! Someone put a muzzle on that damn dog!"

"Someone should put a muzzle on you." James replied.

(Ned)

The walk back into Kingston was dreadful. It felt really long. It was probably because I was really uncomfortable being with Elise, since I really didn't like her. I know she didn't like me either because I was a part of Jeff's group. While we were walking through the forest she started threatening me again.

"When we find Jeff, I don't want any of this hero shit." She said.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. I don't want you trying to save him. We're going there so I can put a bullet in that bastard for what he did to my husband and son. He's a monster, and I'm not letting him get away."

"Yeah, yeah." I said.

Elise sighed, she knew I wasn't going to let her kill Jeff. When the time comes, we both know we'll have to turn on each other. Elise is probably planning on killing me too, and I'm planning on killing her as well. I guess whoever is faster. Walking through the woods with somebody you know you're gonna have to kill is rather awkward.

We climbed over the railing on the road and made it into Kingston. There were a few stranglers wandering around on the streets.

"Alright," I began, "there are Lockwood watch towers everywhere. They'll see us and probably take us in before we even get to the gates of Lockwood. So put on the act now, to make it more believeable."

"So are we going for the injured survivor act?" She asked.

"Yeah, low on food, starving, and out of hope. That'll work."

We walked through the streets, avoiding as many stranglers as possible, making it very clear that we were injured and needed help. It didn't take long either. A Lockwood soldier from the tower shouted down at us with his gun pointed at us.

"Who are you guys?" He asked.

"Just survivors trying to get by!" I shouted up, "We've come to Lockwood for help."

The soldier looked behind him for a few seconds, like he was talking to someone, then looked back at us.

"I'll escort you two to Lockwood, follow me."

He climbed out of the window and down a ladder that was placed along the wall. He walked up to us and told us to stay closely behind. So far the plan was working. The hard part will be sneaking this walkie talkie into Lockwood.

(Charlie)

Colin had returned the camera to me and I reviewed the footage. I sat at my swivel chair and kicked my feet up on the desk and hit the play button. It clearly showed a man of Jeff's resemblance tied to a pole in the basement. His body structure was almost exact. The bag on his head preventing the civilians of Lockwood from identifying him. There were no other people visible in the shot, which was good. Colin's hand and a gun showed up on screen.

"Jeff Jones," Colin's voice said over the tape, "you are going to pay for your crimes against Lockwood."

There was a flash and a loud bang, and then it showed the Jeff lookalike slumped over, blood splattered all over the pole behind him and dripping from his forehead. It was a graphic sight, but the people of Lockwood needed to see this, they needed to relax so they could trust me again. Kind of a shame that I can't use the Jeff story anymore, but I guess it had to end eventually. I'll find another distraction, maybe I can assemble some fake bandits, now that Ryder's bandit clan has gone dark.

(Ned)

Lockwood was intimidating. The giant gates opened in front of us, making a big grinding sound. The walls looked even bigger up close, and there were watchtowers along the walls, each with at least two soldiers looking down at us. Thinking back on it, it was so foolish to think we could've taken these guys on back at the mansion. We wouldn't be in this mess if we just left. We should have tested our luck out on the road, it wouldn't be anywhere near as dangerous as sneaking into a giant, armed hotel and trying to break someone out. This whole thing was a big mistake. I looked over at Elise, who looked a little intimidated as well. Even though she tried not to show it, I could tell. The soldier behind us pushed us along as we walked towards the front doors of the hotel. People were watching us from the windows above and from the outside. We were outsiders, and they were probably nervous about them. I wonder how many new people they get every week. A soldier walked up to me and started patting me and Elise down, it must have been for some crazy shimmer of luck that she didn't feel the walkie talkie. Her hand went right over it, which was in my pocket. I thanked God quickly in my head after she passed us through.

I had to snap myself out of my trance of this place's intensity, I reminded myself of the mission. I wasn't going to let this place's size scare me out of it. Two soldiers opened the doors to the hotel and we walked in. Once I stepped in, I felt a brush of cool air. Air conditioning. I haven't felt something like this in a long time. The beauty of the place was almost too much to handle. The mansion was the closest place I've been in to compare this to, but even the mansion couldn't compete. I know why people flock here, it's a beacon of hope in this dreadful apocalypse. If people only knew the true horrors, they'd stay away. Or would they? Would people even care? As long as they had a warm bed and food, would people honestly care what Charlie did? That thought scared me, and made me question if a revolution was even possible. What would it take for people to understand?

As soon as we walked in, I noticed an immediate commotion. There were people all grouped up under the balcony looking up at it. Soldiers were everywhere and keeping a close eye on everyone. Everyone looked confused and was talking about an announcement from Charlie himself. This interested me, maybe I would be able to see Charlie up close. The closest I've ever been to him was when he personally came over to the mansion just to taunt Jeff. Even then I didn't get a good look at him. I've always been on the sidelines of everything. This is the first time I've ever done something so dangerous and significant. I guess I could count finding out the cause of the virus significant, but who am I going to benefit by learning this? I haven't told anyone, and I don't plan to. The lab also stated that there could be no cure, and I'm not about to be the bearer of bad news. Right now, I need to focus on finding Jeff and getting the hell out of here.

Elise and I pushed into the crowd to get a look at what was going down. I noticed a projector and a sheet on the top of the balcony. There was some kind of presentation or movie that was about to be shown. After about ten minutes of waiting around, I saw Charlie appear on the balcony. I could tell it was him. He was wearing a navy blue suit which fit him perfectly, and a white tie. His black hair curled around his ears, waving over his forehead. He looked good, which probably added to his charisma.

"Attention people of Lockwood." He said into a microphone which echoed through the room, everyone went silent, "I understand everyone has been waiting for the fate of Jeff Jones. We finally have confirmation about that. After a civil trial we put him through, we decided we needed to execute him. This is for the safety of all of you, and to ensure everlasting peace in our society."

My heart dropped, were we too late? Did they actually kill Jeff? Dammit! It can't be. There is no way he's dead, Jeff can't just die. After all we've been through, he can't just be killed like that. There is no way!

"We have a video proving his death, let this put your minds at ease. It is graphic, so step out now if you don't want to see it."

Charlie stepped away and the sheet lit up from the projector. The video started up and I watched in horror.

It showed a first person view from someone. I don't know who. They were pointing a camera at Jeff, he had a bag over his head. I wasn't sure why they'd bother doing that. He rose a pistol up to his head.

"Jeff Jones, you are going to pay for your crimes against Lockwood."

There was a bang, and Jeff's brains splattered up the pole he was tied to, he slumped over and blood trickled from the front of his face. It was the scariest thing I've ever witnessed. I held in my tears to avoid alerting suspicion, and I looked over at Elise. She was fuming. She wasn't able to hold it in, her whole mission was for nothing. Failed. She wanted to be the one to kill him, now she can't. I watched as Elise clenched her fists and screamed. Her scream was loud, and it alerted everyone. It was blood curdling, and ear piercing. I've never heard anyone scream like that besides the stranglers. She dropped onto the floor and kept screaming, everyone backing away from her. She got on all fours and started smacking her face off of the ground again and again. She was doing it so hard that blood appeared on the floor and smeared across her face.

"You fools! You killed him!" she screamed over and over again.

Lockwood guards rushed over to her and picked her up, she started kicking and screaming even louder. They took her away. That was that.