RE: The Walking Dead [Zombie LitRPG]

The group soon arrived at the industrial warehouse.

It wasn't big compared to other big companies, but the size was enough to supply their group with the necessary materials they needed for building the wall.

With Daryl taking the lead, these group of survivors cautiously made their way inside the warehouse through an opening on the side of the wall and if observed closely, it was clear that it was destroyed by a large machine. Thanks to the obvious evidence of a bloodied forklift that crashed onto the back wall of the property and had a couple of walkers pierced through its forks.

Daryl turned on the flashlight attached to his crossbow and scoured the surroundings inside. He was quickly followed by Andrea, Oscar, Glen and Cole, while Otis and Axel remained outside the warehouse as lookouts.

Daryl looked behind him and signaled for the rest to follow him closely.

Andrea gripped her pistol tight, the same goes for the others. Though they wielded different kinds of weapons.

Outside.

"Say, why are they so adamant on wanting to build that wall? Hershel does not even want them on the property." Otis scratched the back of his head in confusion. Despite his simple personality, he still knows how stubborn that old fool is and wouldn't agree on that wall over his dead body.

"Don't ask me. I also don't know. I'm just here doing what I'm told. I don't want to be in any way involved in group politics." Axel shrugged his shoulders while keeping a close eye on their surroundings.

"Hmm–"

Dadadang!

The familiar sound of metallic shutters suddenly rang out, snapping Otis out from his thoughts.

Otis and Axel looked at each other before they hastily made their way to the front of the warehouse.

"Gahh! Damn it, it's just you guys!"

Andrea was just turning at the corner when she happened to suddenly bump into them. Thinking it was a walker about to attack her, she quickly raised her gun and was about to open fire, but quickly stopped her actions when she finally got a clear look of who they were.

"Woo~ that scared me. I thought you were about to shoot him dead." Axel laughed with nervousness.

Otis on the other hand, hastily wiped the sweat on his forehead as he watched Andrea lower her gun away from his face with a nervous chuckle.

"Sorry about that." Andrea immediately apologized.

Daryl came out of the warehouse and looked towards the trio. "What are you three still standing there? Come on, let's start moving out the things we need."

Behind him, Oscar, Cole and followed by Glenn, came out carrying small stacks of timbers on their shoulders and placed them on the back of the truck.

"Right, Cole. Can you go and see if that truck over there can still be used?" Cole was about to go back inside the warehouse when Daryl stopped him and pointed towards a parked truck with a crane attached to it.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Cole nodded his head and immediately walked over towards the truck.

"You go with him and watch his back." Daryl ordered Axel who was just coming out of the warehouse with single timber on his shoulder.

"Okay." Axel nodded in response as he immediately went after Cole after dropping the wood on the back of the pick-up truck.

*****

While Cole is busy checking the engine under its hood, Axel couldn't help but become curious at the machine before him. "It's my first time seeing this kind of truck."

Cole was inspecting something under the hood when he overheard Axel talking to himself. "It's a boom truck. It's used to move heavy pieces of equipment and raw materials that could take a long time if done with manual labor, and let's hope that the crane still works or we're gonna be here for a while."

Bang!

Closing the hood, Cole immediately went inside the vehicle and started rummaging through the things.

"Aha, found it!"

After a moment, he finally found what he was looking for. A key hidden between the gaps of the car seat.

"Damn, there's actually people who hide keys in there?" Axel was amazed since he hadn't thought of that before.

Cole looked at him and teased him. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't know that since you've been in prison the whole time."

Axel just snorted. "Please, I was just in there for almost three months before the world went nuts."

Vrooom!

Cole kept trying to make the truck start with Alex and kept adjusting something under the hood. 

Finally, after a few minutes of hard work, he finally managed to get the truck running as it brimmed to life.

"Finally, I was almost losing hope that this one was a bust." Cole laughed heartily as he got down from the truck and went at the back of the chassis to see if the crane still works.

"Wow, you gotta teach me how to be a mechanic one of these days, yeah?" Axel quickly suggested when he suddenly realized the importance of someone who can fix a car. Since the things he had only been able to contribute to the group is being part of security, helping with cooking and other laborious jobs. He doesn't even know how to properly fire a gun and has been anxious about how to properly contribute to the group.

"Sure, why not." Cole didn't bother turning around as he was busy checking the crane controls. "Damn, I think this thing is busted already. Unfortunately, I don't have any clue on how to fix this thing."

"I think it's fine. Daryl probably just wanted to get this truck running so we can carry more things." Axel comforted him by patting his back.

Soon, Cole drove the truck near the entrance of the warehouse while Axel walked back and continued helping the group load things up onto the trucks.

It took them over two hours before they finally filled both trucks and finally started their return journey back to camp.

Arriving at the camp, they noticed the two unidentified vehicles near their campground and their people gathered together confronting another group of people.

Andrea and Daryl quickly alighted down from the boom truck and went over.

"What's happening? Who are these people?" Andrea inquired while looking at the middle-aged woman, flanked by two men.

On the other hand, Daryl slowly loaded his crossbow while a little further from them, Rick and Hershel are seen discussing something and by the looks of it, it does seem to be going well.

"They said they're from a place called Terminus and apparently, Michael sent them here to join us. Now, Hershel over there is going nuts because he thought Michael is not respecting him by sending this group of people here without his consent." Amy went over to her sister and explained what had been happening so far.

"Damn, seems like Rick is getting an earful again." Andrea clicked her tongue and noticed Rick was just quietly listening to Hershel's tirades.

Meanwhile, the two groups continued their silent confrontation.

The Terminus group all looked nervous and uncomfortable while Michael's group on the other hand does not know what to do except stand there and whisper among themselves.

"Hello there. I'm Andrea. Did Michael really send you here?" Getting the gist of what happened while they were away from her sister, Andrea soon approached them.

"I'm Mary, these two are my sons, Alex and Gareth. I've heard about you from Michael. He instructed me that if the opportunity to join your group looks bleak. Then I should look for you and relay his words to you.." Mary slightly moved towards her and shook her hand while introducing themselves.

Hearing her words, her attention quickly perked up, the same goes for the others since Mary had not once bothered talking to them after Rick was brought away by Hershel.

Andrea looked at her, then to her people before turning her attention back to Mary. "What did he say?"

Mary turned to look at the group opposite from them and with some hesitation in her voice. "He said, leave for the prison. That's what he said before we left."

She hesitated once again, but then continued. "He..he also said that if you still don't know about the walkers in the barn then I should tell you and how to take care of it."

Surprised, Glenn and Dale looked at each other. He turned towards Maggie standing beside him, who also looked surprised. "Michael actually knew it before me? Did anyone from your family tell him?"

"I..I don't know." Maggie was also not sure, but then she saw Otis and thought of something.

"He's always a step ahead of us." Jill muttered under breath. She was amazed at how Micheal seems to always be on time to solve their problems.

Andrea stared at Mary with confusion on her face. "We just found out about that yesterday. It seems like he already knew it for a long time, but kept it a secret. So, how do we take care of it?"

Mary looked at Gareth, she seems unsure if this was the right time to tell them since it looks clear to them that Michael's group does not have full control of this place.

Gareth looked resolutely at his mother and gave her an encouraging nod.

"Alright. He said; just open it up and kill those walkers inside. It's time for that old fool to wake up from his delusions that they are sick. He needs to accept things before he eventually ends up killing his family because he could not accept the way things are now."

"What?! How dare he?! How dare that bastard?!"

Mary had just finished quoting Michael's words when Maggie blew her top off. Mary flinched at the sudden yell and turned towards an incensed Maggie. "Well, that's what he told me. I'm just quoting his words."

Maggie's yell also attracted the attention of Rick and Hershel, who immediately came over.

"What happened?" Hershel asked in a husky tone.

Rick did not say anything and just looked at Andrea. The latter shrugged her shoulders and gestured towards Mary with her eyes.

"We just told them what Michael had instructed my mother to tell you people. Guess she couldn't accept his..choice of words." This time, it was Gareth who stepped up and slowly shielded Mary behind him.

"About wh–"

"Michael wants the people inside the barn dead!"

Rick was about to say something when Maggie one again yelled in anger, cutting him off.

Who immediately took off in a huff with Glenn following after.

"What?" Hershel was offended. Not only was Michael bypassing his rights over his property, but now he's also telling the others to kill his loved ones.

Though despite his anger, he still maintained his composure and calmly addressed Rick. "Rick, I want you and your people out of my property before sun down."

"Hang on, Hershel. Calm down, those are just Michael's words, and he's not here." Rick tried to placate the old man, but Hershel was not having it.

"Yes, he's not here. But what about those people? Will they listen to your words or to Michael's? I think both of us already know the answer to that." Hershel stared straight into his eyes before walking away, leaving Rick to stand there, speechless.

Hershel knew he wouldn't be able to convince Rick from not allowing those people to join them since it was Michael who sent them, and could only chase them out of his property.

Rick gritted his teeth in indignation. He quickly turned around and walked over before Mary and her people.

"Did Michael..really say those words? You're not just making things up right? We'll have a problem if it is." Rick's voice was shaky, his fingers trembling. It's clear that he's angered with how things had gone straight downhill from just a few words from Michael.

Mary didn't immediately answer him and instead, she was thinking about something inside.

'What is happening? How come things are almost going the exact way Michael had predicted? Except for that angry woman, he was exactly right that things would quickly go downhill between Rick and that old man. And once again, he's right. Now, this man is exactly looking to blame us because of it. Is he a fortune teller or something? What a bizarre man.'

"Here, he told my mom to show this thing just in case things went south, and it did." Gareth took the sword that his mother entrusted him and handed it over to Rick.

"That's Michael's sword." Axel mumbled, who then received a jab to his arm from Oscar.

"Less talking."

"Geez man, I was just thinking out loud."

Rick took the sword from them and handed it to Daryl since he was the most familiar with it after Michael.

"This is indeed the sword I traded with Michael's promise." Daryl managed to confirm that it was indeed the same sword. The thought that these people might have killed Michael didn't even once cross his mind.

"Damn it." Rick cursed. He really wanted to drive these people away after what they had done, but thinking about what Michael will do when he returns made him frustrated and angered. This time, he finally realizes what Hershel feels when their group continues to settle here against the old man's wishes.