New chapter is live.
Settle in, take your time, and let’s see what waits in the dark 🖤
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“If anything goes wrong at the farm, come find us at the CDC,” Rick said.
He shook Evan’s hand and held his gaze.
“Same to you,” Evan said, half smiling.
If things went the way he expected, Rick’s group would need Evan to clean up their mess later anyway.
Rick still needed hard lessons.
So did everyone following him.
Evan did not intend to interfere with that.
After a few short words, the vehicles pulled away one by one, leaving dust hanging in the air.
Evan returned to Andrea’s car and settled into the passenger seat.
He gave the Dixon brothers a thumbs-up, and their five-person, three-vehicle group began the trip south.
The light faded slowly.
The two motorcycles leading the way were the first to cut their engines.
“Too dark,” Daryl said, walking to the car window.
“Can’t see shit past the headlight.
We keep going like this, we’ll wreck before walkers get us.”
Evan looked around.
“You and Merle get in the car and rest.
Everybody keep the windows shut tonight.
No one gets out until daylight.”
Engines died.
The sliding door shut with a heavy thud, sealing in warmth and the illusion of safety.
Evan pretended to dig through his bag while taking food from his system inventory.
Canned food, crackers, bottled water.
He had grabbed the supplies from the mall before rescuing Merle, then kept them tucked away in the system ever since.
It was not exactly a feast, but in the apocalypse, being able to eat their fill was already a luxury.
Everyone was satisfied.
Merle and Daryl ate like the food owed them money.
Andrea and Amy were much more careful.
Each bite dealt about twenty percent damage to a single cracker.
“So,” Andrea asked, unable to hold it in any longer, “what happens after we get there?”
Everyone looked up.
Merle only snorted at her worry and said nothing.
Evan shrugged.
“Like I said, the farmer is a good man.
He’ll let us stay near the farm.”
“They have food, water, medical supplies, maybe even guns.
We can help each other there.”
He finished the last bite of canned food.
The dense calories put some warmth back into him.
Of course, Evan did not plan to settle down forever.
The farm would fall sooner or later.
Even without other survivors, it was not built to hold off the dead.
It was temporary.
Safer than the Quarry Camp, but still temporary.
Evan would use the time to search the area for food and weapons while clearing walkers for experience.
The fight at the Quarry had made one thing clear.
Swinging the sledgehammer burned stamina fast.
That meant he needed more food.
And higher levels.
More levels meant more room to make mistakes and live through them.
Atlanta had been luck.
He could not count on luck every time.
If a horde pinned him down on open ground, it would not matter whether he avoided infection.
They would tear him apart one mouthful at a time.
There were other dangers too.
Survivor groups with more people.
Better firepower.
Numbers Evan could not fight yet.
That was why he had to build slowly.
There was a long road ahead.
The impatient usually died first.
“Sleep,” Evan said quietly.
“Tomorrow we reach the farm.
It’ll be our home for a while.
Things will get better.”
He was comforting Andrea and Amy, but the words were meant for Daryl and Merle too.
They were real people, not game pieces or characters on a screen.
They had thoughts of their own.
Rick had given his group a dream to walk toward.
Evan had to give his group a future they could see.
The will to keep living.
In some ways, that mattered more than food.
Rather than relying on sudden gratitude for saving their lives, Evan wanted to build trust a little at a time.
Inside the car, breathing gradually evened out.
Evan opened the Seven Days to Die skill panel.
One skill point sat alone at the top.
“Strength is already at Rank 3,” he murmured.
“Skull Crusher’s second stage is unlocked.”
He spent the point on Skull Crusher Lv.
2.
[Status]
[Skull Crusher Lv.
2/5]
[Rank: Mauler]
[You’re now a mauler, but don’t get too cocky yet.]
[Sledgehammers deal +20% melee damage and +40% block damage.]
[Power attacks have a 30% chance to knock targets down.]
[Normal attacks cost 15% less stamina.
Power attacks cost 30% less stamina.]
[Get Hammered magazines are 4x more likely to appear until the set is complete.]
[Sledgehammers and sledgehammer parts are 4x more likely to appear.]
The new sense of control in his grip steadied him.
Evan swept one last look around them, then closed his eyes and sank into sleep.
The next morning, dawn was barely gray.
“Fuck!
Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
The furious roar dragged Evan awake.
He opened his eyes and looked through the windshield.
Merle stood beneath a tree not far away, kicking the trunk over and over with the toe of his boot.
The poor little tree shook.
A few leaves drifted down and landed on Merle’s thinning hair, making him even angrier.
“What happened?” Evan asked as he stepped out.
Amy came closer and lowered her voice.
“Merle got up to pee.
The motorcycles were parked under that tree last night, but now they’re gone.”
Evan’s chest tightened.
He looked over and saw Daryl loading his crossbow without a word, already preparing to go find whoever was responsible.
Evan slapped a hand against his own forehead.
Those bikes were the Dixon brothers’ lifelines.
And honestly, someone stealing them right out from under Evan’s nose pissed him off too.
He moved in front of Daryl and stopped him.
“I know you’re angry,” Evan said, looking from Daryl to Merle.
“But the plan doesn’t change.”
“Don’t need your help.” Daryl’s expression had gone hard, his long hair almost covering his eyes.
It did nothing to hide the heat in them.
“You take Andrea and Amy to the farm.
Me and my brother’ll find our bikes.”
This was bullshit.
Whoever had done it had gone too far.
“You know that’s not what I meant,” Evan said, unmoved.
“We can already see farmland from here.
That means we’re close.
We go to the farm first.
Maybe the people there know what happened.”
“Worst case, we settle in, then search properly.”
“If we have to, I’ll help you find two more bikes.
And if the thieves are operating around here, we’ll run into them eventually.”
Daryl and Merle were hard men, but Evan was not about to let them wander the woods day and night like a pair of walkers.
That was how people got killed.
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Want to keep going?
I hope this chapter gave you another reason to stay with the story.
There’s still plenty ahead, and things are only starting to unfold.