Episode 5: The Call

Dex and Mel were on the road for a couple weeks searching for any signs of Gate City and where they really were in general. Dex looked at Mel and said, "We should be crossing state lines any time now." Mel looked around for more clues as to where they were, "That sign over there has a red s1 on it, that means we are nearing Site One which is an outpost of Gate City, when we get there we can use the radio there to contact the main communications center." Dex looked at her and asked, "Do you think your friends are still alive wherever they are?" Mel paused for a bit as if she was unsure if they were even alive, "I don't know honestly... Amir and Christy were former Raiders so they naturally would be shot on sight, if they didn't bend the knee, I don't think they would bend the knee so soon after leaving, Mary, David probably had the best chances of survival due to them knowing what to and not to do in any situation, Ada was ill so they probably killed her, Oliver is only 12 so they probably had him on the working crew."

Dex looked ahead and said, "When me and Sarah were searching for Will, we doubted his survival but in the end he made it, she found him, as long as you never give up, you'll find your friends." Mel kicked some rocks around as they walked some more, she turned to look at a car that looked a bit different from the others, as if it just recently broke down. Mel walked up to it slowly within Dex and they looked in it to see a family dead in there, corpses already looking old. Mel looks at the kid in the back and said, "Looks like they tried to find a new place to call home." Dex looked at the bullet holes in the windows and said, "You think Ryker did this?" Mel looked at the holes too and said, "He's the only person to do this kind of thing for sport." Dex looked down a bit at the old bloody teddy bear on the ground, he knew this whole thing reminded Mel of her parents. Dex turned to her and said, "You remember the last night we were together... You were full of grief, anger, hate, guilt, and I told you that they wouldn't want to be the reason for your death... I told you that they would want you to push forward, well I still mean what I said, they would want you to remember them but not get too lost in your grief that it gets you killed." Mel was fighting the emotion and said, "I can't just keep going like this, everyone I've ever gotten close to has died, my friends are out there somewhere either dead or almost there, my parent both died at the hands of some bad people, you're all that I have left, the difference between you and them is that you were there when they died, you were there and still fought through and didn't seem too phased by any of it... How did you pull through so well?"

Dex picked the bear up and put it next to the kid's corpse and turned to Mel and said, "I never got over any of it, I was deeply impacted from everything I've lost, I've just gotten so used to it that I don't seem as phased by it... When the first group who took me in disappeared I was broken, and lost... Alone, all I had left were the memories, I know they gotta be out there somewhere, I guess I just refuse to let it consume me, I was hurt by your parents deaths, they took me in and protected me, it was you that made me suck all that emotion in, you are my best friend, I wasn't going to let you die if I could do something to stop it... I wanted to be there to help you through that whole thing. I was broken from that too and I still kept it all in, I knew that they wouldn't go down so easy without knowing that we would have the strength to go on... They weren't wrong, I mean look at us, we are still here doing anything to get back to our friends..." Mel looked at Dex and said, "Promise me that when we find our friends we will stick together for as long as we possibly can, I know it's what my mom and dad would have wanted..." Dex looked at her and said softly, "I promise..." Dex looked at the sun and said briefly, "We should keep heading to this outpost to get our call out to Gate City." Mel nodded as they continued down the road. Dex looked down as they walked and was remembering the simple times with Mel.

Past:

Dex slowly pulled the bowstring back and Mike looked at him and said, "Now when you see your target you don't just fire it out of nowhere, you gotta be smart, think, and count things in like gravity and wind..." Mel looked at Mike and jokingly said, "That science stuff is boring." Mike laughed a bit and responded with, "Yeah well it's something you need to know if you are to ever really get good at this, eventually guns will just not work and we will need to adapt to this, as boring as learning it may be, it'll save your life." Katie walked over to them from their little campsite by an old cabin, she walks up to them and hands them some freshly cooked fish from the nearby river and says, "Any progress?" Mel looked at her and said, "Some boring science stuff and some practice shots." Dex fired an arrow and barely missed and said, "Hopefully soon we'll be like Hawkeye and Robin Hood" Mel looked at him and jokingly said, "I'll be Robin Hood" Dex laughed a bit as they continued to practice on the nearby trees.

Present:

Mel looks around as they walk around and she sees someone approaching on horseback. Mel waved and they rode up and before he could ask questions the man said, "Mel? What brings you back into the zone?" Mel looked at Dex and then back at the guy and said, "Dex's friends from this place called Willmington are at Gate City and the others that left with me were captured by Ryker. We are coming here to both help and find our friends." The man looked down at Dex and said, "So you must be Sarah's friend... You two can come in, I'm assuming you would like to speak to the main communication center?" Dex nodded as they began to walk there, while they were walking the man turned to them and said, "The signal has been a bit messy recently after the attack on Gate City yesterday, suffered casualties I've heard, James was almost killed too, but we got Ryker, heard Sarah put a bullet in his brain, Lamar was severely injured and will pull through but Kate was the only one from Willmington that was killed by Ryker and his crew." Dex looked down and said, "Kate was always a fighter... She was a soldier at Willmington, the only way to really take her down is if you have an army hold her down, I'm glad Ryker got what's coming but I assume Jax is the next target at their main hq." The man nodded as they arrived and they entered the building, Mel looked at the radio and tuned it to Gate City, she turned it on and said, "Gate City do you copy? This is Mel, you're old friend, I'm here with Dex, Sarah's friend from Willmington, over." They waited a second and eventually got a small message back, it was hard to understand, "We... it.... Come... City..." Mel looked at it and said, "He wasn't wrong about the signal being bad, I think they got the message but to double check I need to send a special cargo clicking message through so they'll have a better idea." Mel quickly did it all and when she finished they exited the building.

Mel walked up to the man and said, "How long will the truck take to get home?" The man looked at it and said, "Judging off of the walker activity and increased security, maybe a few hours. " Mel nodded and took the keys, she got into the drivers seat and Dex rode shotgun as they began the final stretch to Gate City.

The Setup:

Sarah and James rode in the main trucks on the way to the Raider main HQ, Sarah looked at James and said, "They are going to be expecting us, we'd be better if we park a mile or two out, and walk through the woods to get the jump on them." James looked at her and said, "I got a better idea, we could use the Raider outfits from the corpses in the back and we could send in you, Jack, and Nick in to find Jax and kill him, once it is done, you get the hell out and join up with us as we give the remaining Raider s a choice. Jax isn't the only one though, Carlos and Clara are higher ups that are like the backups backup, take them out and their chain of command is gone, we give the rest a choice." Sarah looks at him and says, "I like it... Less casualties and bloodshed for once, it'll motivate them a bit more to take their second chance at life to leave." Sarah looked behind them at the corpses and said, "Lets do this."

Eventually when Sarah, Jack, and Nick were ready they continued down the road, they kept driving for a long stretch and had at least another 15 miles left. James looked in the rear view mirror and said to Sarah, "You play guitar any?" Sarah looked at the guitar in the back and said, "Used to, the last time I did was the night Ryker and his crew came in and destroyed my entire home and killed all my friends, I haven't played since due to bad memories, sad ones and the fact that I haven't come across any." James looked ahead and said, "If and when this is over you are sure as hell going to play for this crew." Sarah laughed a bit and said, "Alright, I'll do it..."

In a van somewhere in the middle of the convoy, Riley was driving, she was with Jack, Nick, Mitch, Dom, Matt, their weapons specialist. She was digging through her old stuff when she found an old cd. "Shit guys look at what I found." Matt looked at it and said, "Damn an oldie but a goodie." Dom put the disc in and said, "Time for some classic shit before we arrive." Jack chuckled a bit as Mitch was looking at the walkers outside. They all had a fairly quiet ride when the music was playing. Riley turned the music up a lot when it got really good, they were just enjoying the ride at that point, no distractions, just music, good memories.

The convoy kept going for a little while longer, eventually they got to the point where they were a couple miles away. James stopped leading the convoy and he looked at Sarah as they got out and said, "You ready for this?" Sarah looked in the distance and then at all of her friends and said, "One last fight." James smiled and said, "Remember what I said, you are playing guitar if we make it out." Sarah laughed a bit and nodded, Jack and Nick got with her and they got their guns, they looked at James and they others. Jack tuned his radio to their private channel and said, "Remember the private channel when we are all done, you guys stealthily go through the woods, don't get caught, we'll make it as quick as possible." James nodded and they all parted ways as they had their vehicles hidden well.

Gate City:

Mel continued driving for a couple minutes longer, eventually they made it to the front gate, when they saw the truck they let them in because they were notified of their arrival. Mel parked the truck, she hugged Louis who was standing there, Louis said to her, "Mel, hey. I thought I'd never see you." Mel looked at him and said, "You were always my favorite one here, where's James?" Louis looked at Dex and knew who he was right away and said to them, "They headed out to go and finish the Raiders off, I can have your truck refueled and you can head there, maybe you'll catch them there, but I'd hurry." Dex asked Louis before they got to walking, "Where's Lamar?" Louis looked at Dr. Greens place and Dex nodded, Mel said to Dex before splitting up, "I'm going to greet some old friends while you see Lamar." Dex nodded and walked to Dr. Green's place.

He entered and she looked at him and said, "Don't think I've seen you here, you new here or visiting?" Dex looked at her and said, "My friend Lamar is in here I'm guessing, I'm..." Lamar was barely walking on his own but managed and walked to the door way, he was shocked and said, "I knew when I heard your voice I had to get up to investigate." Dex smiled and said, "It's so good to see you man. I searched everywhere for you guys." Doc knew who Dex was based off their interactions, Dex went to hug Lamar. Lamar looked at him and asked, "Did you hear about Kate?" Dex nodded and asked him, "Where is she now?"

The Journey:

Dex stood over Kate's grave and kneeled over it, he put his hand over the gravestone and said, "Kate... I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you. You were there when me and Sarah first arrived, you were the one to stand with Hailey as the gate opened. You were always with us despite not talking much outside of gatherings. You held your own at the police station, you were a fierce fighter and never gave up despite the situation being tough. I'm sorry I wasn't there in the end but know that this group will remain safe. Lamar is fine..." Dex was getting a bit emotional as he stood up. Mel walked over to him and said, "Come on, it's time to head out, we need to catch up to the others."

They quickly got into the truck and left the place, they set out on the road to make the final journey back to their friends. Mel looked ahead at the road and said, "When we find them, where to next?" Dex looked out the window and said, "Sarah had planned on going somewhere nice and peaceful when she found Will, I was thinking that maybe we could all go with her to wherever this new home is to settle down and build something." Mel nodded and said, "Lets hope we can make it in time."