Stick Together

The Mystery Man

"What if that dream were real?"

"What?" Jesse asked, bewildered and simultaneously conscious after another fainting spell.

"You know, you're dream about Dakota killing Elle," Aaron continued, "I just wonder how that would've ended up going, if it would have at all. I'm pretty sure Dakota would've already done some hardcore regretting by now. Just something to think about."

Jesse, now sitting up on the bar counter, looked around for the people in question. They weren't anywhere to be seen.

"Speaking of which, where'd they go?" he questioned.

Aaron thought for a moment and looked around himself. "I don't know. I thought they were here just a moment ago."

Aaron rose from his barstool to look around, but as he turned the corner into the kitchen, he was snatched from behind with a hand over his mouth, and a gun to his head. Unable to speak, he struggled to get away from the tight grasp of the mystery man holding him hostage. After failing, he finally gave up and let the man take him to the back of the bar, out of earshot of the immobile Jesse.

"Who are you, asshole?" Aaron asked.

"Nah, I'm asking the questions," the big unknown man whispered in a raspy voice. "How long have you two been in this here bar?"

"Like two days," Aaron offered, "why?"

But his question remained unanswered as the man took the butt of his pistol and struck the young boy into unconsciousness. He then went around to the front to seize the cripple on the bar, but Jesse had already left. The man, now confused by his absence, ran out of the front door into the barren street and started his hunt.

A few blocks away, the missing couple of Dakota and Elle, with Cameron, Kenny and Andrea were raiding a local grocery store when they heard the door crash open. Every one of them drew their handguns and aimed at the front of the store, walking through the aisles. They all collectively sighed in relief when they found out the intruder was Jesse, except for Andrea who heckled him about how he should be resting.

"Yeah, that would've gotten me killed," Jesse hypothesized. "There was an intruder at the bar. I don't know what he did to Aaron, but I'm pretty sure Lily's safe in the locked bedroom."

"So you left Aaron alone?" Kenny asked.

"He's crippled, what good would he have done?" Andrea argued. "What did he want?"

"I don't know, I scooted before he could get to me."

"What are we sitting around here for?" Dakota asked, perplexed. "We need to go make sure Aaron's alright!"

So the group scattered out of the store and headed toward the bar. They found a very frantic Lily in the kitchen.

"I don't know what happened, he was just laying here when I got up!" she cried.

"Who the fuck was that guy?" Kenny questioned, rhetorically.

"Look behind you and ask me," the mysterious man mumbled, creepily. He was carrying a body bag with what looked like a body inside. "I'm the owner of this here bar. And your trespassin.'"

"No one owns anything anymore, you lunatic," Andrea yelled. "If you haven't noticed, there's a fucking apocalypse going on right now!"

"Get the fuck outta here before I kill more of you people!" he yelled back.

"What the hell do you mean 'more'?" Dakota interrogated. "What the fuck did you do?"

"What I had to," the man whispered, as he let the item fall out of the bag.

Lily fainted, Elle started crying, Kenny drew his gun, and Aaron woke up all at the same instance. The next instance was full of bullets flying in the air towards the unnamed man. The next was of tears, as were many instances to follow. Aaron jumped up and ran over to the newly uncovered body, and wept and screamed and grieved, for the dead body was that of his own sister, Rebecca, who had gone missing the day before, in all the chaos of the maps and the injuries. Lost to a mad man, the death of Rebecca was a turning point for the whole group. Never again would they leave any one person alone. Never again would they let someone slip through the cracks. Never again.