I walked outside my room, leaving Lilly and Carley to rest a bit more. It's going to be a long day.
I saw Kenny sitting by the low flame below while Nick kept watch. I walked over to Kenny and took a seat next to him. "So, what are you going to do?" I asked, my eyes looking up at the absent-minded Nick, Is he even awake?
Kenny heaved a long sigh. "We'll help you move, and if the place is better, we'll stay. I owe it to you at least that much," Kenny glanced toward his room, "But—" before he could begin his sentence, I cut him off
"You'll leave if it isn't good," I said, and he nodded in agreement.
Then it was settled.
***
The afternoon came, and the group worked around the Inn, gathering everything useful. Carley and Lilly took the lead while Wesker went into town to gather supplies, mostly car parts.
Clementine was loading boxes with Madison and Alicia. Carley and Lilly directed them, and worked alongside, a rare sight for these two to be finally working together.
Kenny huffed in exhaustion as he was moving larger things alone, since Nick decided to vanish from the Inn.
Katjaa smiled at something Duck said as they helped Madison and Alicia.
"Hey!" Kenny shouted toward the group, getting their attention, "Where's Nick?" Madison and Alicia looked around the parking lot, not finding him anywhere.
Alicia stood up on her feet, tension visible on her face. "Maybe he's resting in his room," Madison said from the side. "Alicia," she called her daughter. Alicia nodded and went to his room to check, but he wasn't there either.
"He's not there," Alicia returned to the group with a worried face.
***
The rumble of the engine cut through the morning silence.
Everyone turned to me as I pulled up in Kenny's truck, the bed of the truck filled with salvaged car parts, tools, and a few plastic bins stacked with scavenged goods. Dirt clung to my coat as I dusted it with my hand while stepping out of the truck.
I slammed the door shut behind me, my eyes scanning the group. "What?" I asked, noticing the tension in Madison's stance and the look on Alicia's face.
Alicia stepped forward. "Nick's gone. We thought he was in his room, but—"
"He's gone," Kenny finished for her, walking up. "No one's seen him slip out."
I remained relaxed, my eye narrowing as I looked around the motel, "He's a grown man, he'll be back before you know it, let's get this restarted." I said, looking at the stuff still sitting on the ground.
Madison frowned. "No, we have to find him," she said.
Kenny and I shared a look; we both wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.
Kenny sighed, "We should probably look for him first," he gave in, quicker than I thought.
"Yes, we have to be quick," Madison pleaded.
Lilly crossed her arms, standing on my right, "We're wasting time here, we could very well use to get moving."
"We're not wasting time, he's my brother," Alicia snapped, stepping forward.
I raised my hand calmly, "Enough. Focus." I closed my eyes, deep in thought, as I tried to figure out how to do this efficiently.
No one knows the Farm's location other than me. I don't have a map to mark it on, and I don't want Carley, Lilly, and Clementine to go there without me.
"We need to move, as quickly as possible, before the farm is taken over by someone else, while we are here trying to find a man-child who lost his way home in a dead town." Lilly worded, her tone unconcerned.
Alicia stepped forward, her hand raised in motion for a slap, but I stopped her, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I said, grabbing her arm.
Alicia pulled against my grip, fury in her eyes, but I didn't let go until Madison stepped between us.
"Enough," Madison snapped, her voice low but full of warning. "Let go of her, Wesker."
I stared at Alicia for another second, then released her. She rubbed her arm, glaring at Lilly. Madison gently pulled her back, shielding her from further escalation.
Lilly didn't flinch. She met Alicia's rage with cold indifference. "I'm not apologizing," she said flatly.
"Split into two groups. Kenny, Madison, Alicia—you sweep the west side. Carley, you're with me. We'll check the east. Radio in anything. We regroup in thirty minutes. If there's nothing—" I looked around the group "—we leave."
"What about me?" Lilly asked.
"You stay here," I said. "Pack everything else left with Katjaa, and Clem."
She didn't argue. She just nodded once, she didn't want to leave the safey of the Inn for an asshole.
***
The forest west of the Inn was dense, its edges creeping up close to the town's cracked pavement like nature slowly reclaiming what civilization had abandoned. Trees towered overhead, their bare branches scratching the overcast sky. The ground was dried, soil sucking up all the water from the rain a couple days ago.
"Nick!" Madison called out for the third time. "Nick, goddamn it—if you can hear me answer!"
The only reply was the wind pushing through the trees and the caw of a distant crow.
"He wouldn't just wander off," Alicia muttered. "Not after everything we've seen. Not now."
"You sure about that?" Kenny said, trudging behind them. "Kid always struck me as the spoiled-brat type, and I can see why."
Alicia turned and gave him a look, but he shrugged.
"I ain't trying to be a jackass," Kenny added, softening his voice slightly. "Just being real. I wouldn't be surprised to find him lying in shit, with his mind into oblivion."
"What?" Alicia asked, confused. Kenny turned to her, surprised that she hadn't noticed, "Didn't you see his sunken eye?" Suddenly, Madison cut in, "Can we get moving? We have to find him first." Madison said there was something hidden in her worry.
'So Nick's sleeping somewhere, is that what he means?' Alicia wondered, Kenny's words repeating themselves in her head, trying to make sense.
Kenny stopped walking and held up his hand. "Shh."
They froze.
There it was—movement. A rustle. Just ahead, something ducked through the trees.
Alicia tensed. "Nick?"
She ran forward before anyone could stop her, crashing through the underbrush. Madison swore under her breath and followed.
They burst through a thicket and into a small clearing—but it wasn't Nick.
It was a walker, tangled in a barbed wire fence at the far edge of the woods, arms stretched out, teeth gnashing blindly at nothing.
Alicia's heart dropped. Kenny raised his rifle.
"It's not him."
"God," Alicia whispered, shaking. "I thought—I really thought—"
Suddenly, they heard a beeping sound. Kenny grabbed the walkie attached to his waist. "Ksss! Find anything? Kss!" And there came a familiar voice.
I asked them over the walkie while Carley and I were exploring the east side, "Ksss! No, just a walker! Ksss!" Kenny replied.
Static hummed for a beat before my voice cut through again. "Ksss! Keep looking. Ten more minutes. If nothing, we pull back. Ksss!"
"Kss! Copy that. Ksss." Kenny replied.
I lowered the walkie turning it off, as I looked at Carley, "Will we even find him?" she asked, her face full of worry.
"I don't know," I replied, wrapping my arm around her waist, 'Probably will, but in what state.'
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