The journey away from Clear Water Village proved to be perilous beyond belief, not that Nathaniel, John, or his wife and kid were ever in true danger.

The sheer size of the convoy and the slow speed in which they travelled – as the shortage of cars and transport vehicles left many with no choice other than to travel by foot, slowing the whole convoy down as a whole – made them a perfect and unmissable target to any zombies in their path.

The fight and loud gunshots that followed every interaction with the undead only attracted even more zombies to them, making the whole journey truly stressful and fraught with danger to everyone involved.

However, under Hank’s unwavering leadership, their defense held and, though not without casualties, they had managed to reach their destination.

… the place where Nathaniel and his family were trapped at.

After unloading all the goods from their truck and saying their farewells following their arrival, Nathaniel thought that they would part ways with the rest of the survivors and head to his farm where his daughter was waiting, undoubtedly worried sick.

That was not what happened though.

When the four of them tried to leave for Nathaniel’s farm, they were surprisingly stopped by the newly formed militia that had been defending the convoy along the journey.

When asked why they could not leave, the militiamen simply shrugged and said that they were just following orders before directing Nathaniel’s group to the ones who were actually in charge.

That was the first time that Nathaniel had actually met Hank and the acting leadership of this group of survivors face to face.

When confronted about it, the ‘defacto’ leaders of what would eventually become this crowded encampment fed him and his brother a bunch of excuses as to why they could not leave.

They said it was too dangerous out there at the moment; that their small group of four would be better off waiting a few days to make sure that there were no more large groups of zombies coming their way attracted to all the noise the convoy had made that could block their path or jeopardize their departure; that it was irresponsible to take a child on such a perilous journey and outside the sphere of protection of the camp; that their help was needed here and that the four of them should think it over for a few more days before committing to leaving…

However, no matter the words they spoke or how they spun it, Nathaniel quickly saw through their lies.

The simple and unadulterated truth was that the other party coveted his brother’s pickup truck. He could see the glint of greed in their eyes.

He should have seen it coming, really.

There just weren’t enough vehicles to fulfill the needs of such a large grouping of survivors. In that case, how could the ones calling the shots among the survivors simply allow he and his brother to leave as they please, taking with them one of the best ones available?

That would be a significant blow to the camp and its future plans, so obviously they would do their utmost to keep his family there.

Besides, if the leaders of the camp let one person take their car back, others would also lay their claims on the remaining few soon enough, demanding that their property be returned to them.

How would they get anything done then? How would they be able to justify keeping those precious strategic resources under the control of the camp’s ‘administration’?

Of course, they could not allow it!

Though Nathaniel hated Hank for getting in his way of reuniting with his daughter, if he was being honest, he could understand why the man did what he did and could even empathize with his difficulties, though Nathaniel would never admit it out loud.

Hank had to weight the needs of the many under his protection against John’s rightful ownership and claim over the car. It wasn’t about right or wrong. It also wasn’t personal. It was just business, as an old Italian mobster would put it.

In the end, Hank decided that it was more important to see to the needs of the many than to respect the wishes of this small group of four that had been nothing but kind and helpful until now, even if he knew that Nathaniel had a daughter waiting for him…

Hank’s decision forever cemented the small group’s relationship with the camp as one of being at odds. There was no sugarcoating it: the survivors had repaid their kindness with betrayal.

Above all else, Nathaniel could not forgive all those alleged friends from Clear Water Village that were the reason why him and John chose to help out in the first place.

Those ‘friends’ were full of smiles, praises and nice words when they were receiving his and his brother’s help, but when they themselves got into trouble, not a single person had come forth to aid the four of them.

No one came in their defense.

Everyone they knew was aware of what was happening. They were aware of what was troubling the brothers and even why they needed to leave. Nathaniel made sure of it.

Even so, it made no difference in the end.

All of his former friends and acquaintances chose to back down when asked to lend a hand, worried about the implications that a direct confrontation with the higher-ups of this new budding settlement would have on their own families and loved ones.

They chose to look out after themselves first.

‘No good deed goes unpunished, huh?’ Nathaniel contemplated dejectedly as he thought back on the series of bad decisions that left him stuck here and her daughter all alone at the farm.

Ultimately, the person he could not forgive the most, the person he was most angry at… was himself.

Oh, how foolish he had been. How could he have let this happen?

If his wife was still around, she would give him a trashing for letting their family get split up like this. For leaving his daughter to fend for herself, with no one to watch her back.

He should have made every effort to gather his family as a first priority, no matter what his stupid old brain told him. He shouldn’t have stayed behind to learn more about what was going on and he sure as hell should not have stayed behind to help all those ungrateful people.

His wife would have known that. She always knew to follow her heart. If she had been there, she would have steered him right and he would have reunited with Lara already.

Alas, his wife was forever gone and there was no magic pill to cure regret.

But why stop at bad if things can get worse?

As if to add insult to injury, his brother John had gotten himself arrested, leaving only his old bones to figure out a way out of this mess and to look after his nephew and sister-in-law.

John had always been the more hot-blooded of the two brothers. When they got into trouble, Nathaniel had always been the voice of reason who kept his younger brother’s temper in check and his feet grounded.

This time had not been any different. It was still Nathaniel that had to watch out for the both of them and make sure that his brother did not get carried away by his feelings.

After listening to the excuses of the ones in charge and realizing that they were being robbed of their car in all but name, John was furious. Thereafter, Nathaniel had his hands full containing his brother’s rage and stopping him from outright attacking those men.

Fortunately, he had managed to convince John to back down and to not do anything rash in time. There was simply nothing they could do at that time, surrounded by Hank’s men and being woefully outgunned. They had no chance to come out on top if a fight broke out.

They had no power to contend with their wrong-doers and no chips to bargain with. The only thing that swinging their fists would achieve would be the worsening of their situation.

Make no mistake, Nathaniel was no less pissed than his brother. It was his daughter they were talking about, after all. However, he could not let himself be controlled by his emotions or he would be risking never seeing her again.

The only thing they could do was to bide their time and wait for an opportunity to present itself to deal with this mess.

Hopefully those excuses they were fed with were not complete lies and his family would be allowed to leave the camp eventually with their car… though Nathaniel would not hold his breath for those men to grow a conscience.

Nathaniel thought that he had managed to avoid complete catastrophe as they left defeated from their meeting with Hank and his cronies days ago. Their prospects of getting out were not looking good, but at least they hadn’t completely broken off with the camp. There was still that façade of civility around, which wasn’t much, but it was something. At least they did not have to worry of being outright attacked.

He felt that if he played his cards right, he could still turn this around and fix it, or so he thought…

A few days later, some random guard said something to his brother that had triggered him off and, unfortunately, this time Nathaniel was not there to play peacemaker. John ended up breaking the guard’s nose and bruising a few more before he was finally restrained.

The guard that had been beaten up by his brother was out for blood following that and demanded for him to be executed or exiled – which in this situation was almost the same as an execution – as a deterrent against other troublemakers.

Thankfully, that did not come to pass as help came from a source Nathaniel would never expect. Hank himself interceded in John’s behalf. Other than being imprisoned, nothing else was done to his brother or the rest of them.

Whether Hank felt guilty about what has been done to the four of them, or if this was his way of paying them back, Nathaniel did not know. It didn’t make them remotely even as far as Nathaniel was concerned though.

In any case, what Nathaniel did know for sure however, was that the private stash of food – which the four of them had carried over from Clear Water Village and that they had been using to supplement the meager rations that the settlement distributed to all the gathered survivors to keep them alive – would run out in a couple of days.

If Nathaniel did not come out with alternative ways to keep them well-fed, things would get even harder than they already were.

Taking jobs was the only way he could think of to address the issue other than straight out going outside and foraging for food himself. Though he probably would get himself killed if he ever stepped a single foot out of the improvised walls of the settlement without a vehicle.

On the other hand, landing a job these days was no easier feat. There weren’t many positions suitable for someone like him in the first place, as most jobs available were for things like guarding, patrolling and fighting, which were an ill fit for an old fool like himself with no combat training, experience or even youth.

Truthfully, the competition over anything that did not involve fighting zombies was fierce. There was little hope for things to change anytime soon, so the old farmer felt like he was at the end of his rope.

Nathaniel massaged his temples with his calloused and wrinkled fingers, his rough palm covering his eyelids, as he tried to alleviate the headache that had been his constant partner these days while saying to himself: “Sigh… brother arrested, no food and no way out in sight… things can’t get worse than this…”

“Hey. Are you Nathaniel by any chance?” A male voice called to him.

After hearing his name, Nathaniel rose his gaze towards the direction from which the voice had come from. Once he did so and after registering the imposing visage of the youth near him, covered from head to toe in what seemed to be some kind of black motorbike protective gear, a single thought dominated Nathaniel’s weary mind:

‘Fuck me and my big mouth!’

Whatever business this youth who looked like was geared up to battle had with him, Nathaniel doubted it would be anything good. It seemed that his earlier statement had tempted the heavens to make his life even more miserable.