Knox Event - The Collapse - Chapters 4 & 5

[TheMitcher]

Chapter 4

 

        Ross poked his head into the classroom Cornflower mentioned earlier, noticing a single corpse on the ground. He scanned the rest of the room before approaching it, ready to strike. Once he drew near however, he noticed that it had already had its head split open, the hand axe still protruding from the wound. He took it and wiped the blood off of the beard, inspecting it for any damage.

        The rest of the room was clear, and Ross made his way to the front door. He noticed nothing out of the ordinary and carefully unlocking and opening the door. After heading out, Ross crept along the sidewalk to the edge of the school, poking his head around the corner.

        "Six, seven, eight..." He counted, his brow furrowed as he began to think. With that many, he was sure to lose if he just went in blind. He turned around and quickly made his way back in to rendezvous with Cornflower.

        "Eight in the parking lot." He said, "Sixteen total."

        "S-so what's your plan?" Cornflower stammered, realizing the mess her and her sister was actually in.

        "You comfortable fighting them?"

        "I-I mean if I have to, but I'd rather not risk it." Cornflower answered.

        "Understandable, though I don't think we've got a choice if we wanna have the school as a camp." Ross replied, "They're broken down into three groups. We can take the first one out, little issue. My concern is when we go outside, we start causing a ruckus, the others'll hear and we'll be overrun before we started." He said, racking his brain.

        "They seem to only give chase if they hear or see something. Maybe we can use that..." He said. Cornflower looked up to Ross with a surprised look.

        "How do you mean?" She asked.

        "Well, the idea's gonna be to be seen, not heard. I think if I open the door and wait for one to see me, we can fall back and deal with it from the safety and cover of the school."

        "I think I can do that." Cornflower said after some consideration.

        "First, we should hit up the supply closet, see if there's anything we can use to hedge the bets in our favor." Ross said. The two made their way out and Ross opened the door, heading in to search the shelves to his left and a sink cabinet to his right.

        A few bottles of bleach, a mop, buckets, rope, and a variety of tools. Hammers, a saw, and a set of screwdrivers. They also found a variety of nails and screws.

        "You good with a hammer?" Ross asked, handing Cornflower one.

        "Never used one as a weapon, but I think I can figure it out." She replied.

        "Alright, lets start by clearing the three in the classroom." Ross said, making his way out and down the hall. By this time, whatever the walkers had seen, they had lost interest in. One came back to the door, noticing Ross and Cornflower. It began to shuffle toward the door banging on it and catching the attention of the other two.

          "Okay, I'm gonna open the door. I want you to book it down the hall and let them come. If any of em are sprinters, I'll take care of em. Try to knock em prone if you can, but go directly for that head if it doesn't look possible. I'll flank em and cover you."

        Cornflower nodded and began backpedaling down the hall, turning to head into a brisk jog. Ross opened the door and readied himself. Two walkers came out, going down the hall for Cornflower, however the third turned to Ross, reaching out to grab him only to be grabbed by the wrist and thrown into the library window. It snarled, struggling to free itself of the broken window that held its abdomen, and Ross immediately went down to help Cornflower. Ross took the walker in the rear, throwing it aside and tackling the last one who started getting dangerously close to his new friend, finishing it off with a headshot.

        "You good?" Ross asked.

        "I-I froze. I'm sorry..." She said.

        "It happens. But I need you to keep your head in the game. They're not gonna wait for you to come to your senses." Ross explained.

        "Right, s-sorry." Cornflower replied. Ross went into the library and finished the last walker off before leading Cornflower down the hall to the recess yard.

        Ross held his hand back toward Cornflower as if to signal her to stop moving. She stopped in her tracks and looked up to Ross as he began counting out the walkers to ensure they didn't move. Two of them tumbled the fence off in the direction of the sitting corpse from earlier. Not like something caught their attention, more like they were trying to wander, leaving three still in the recess yard. One standing over one of the four square games, and two far in the field.

        Ross slowly opened and propped the door open, scanning the area before creeping out onto the pavement. The walker had its back turned to Ross and Cornflower. However approaching it ran the risk of other walkers seeing them, so Ross had to think of something to catch it's attention. He picked up a stone nearby and threw it at the walker. It hurled through the air and struck the corpse in the shoulder. It turned around and began shuffling to Ross as he and Cornflower fell back into the school, letting the walker advance.

        As soon as it cleared the shade of the school, Ross stepped forward and struck a blow downward on its head killing it instantly. Cornflower watched as Ross fought the walkers, finding his technique and stark courage rather inspiring. Just as Ross stood back up from the kill, he was tackled by a sprinter that saw him luring the other walker. It pushed itself onto Ross with all of its weight, drooling and biting at him as it ravenously tried to take a bite. Ross let out a loud growl as he pushed back with all his might, trying to overpower the creature before a hammer went into the back of its head. Cornflower dealt the killing blow and saved Ross' life. After Ross pushed the slumped corpse off of him, he looked up to Cornflower who was now extending a hand.

        Ross took it, letting Cornflower help him to his feet and he nodded, thanking her for the save. He made his way back toward the door, using the shadows for cover as he scanned for the last remaining walker who was out in the field. He crept closer, letting the sunlight warm his skin as he poked his head around the corner to check the parking lot. He didn't see the point in risking them seeing him, so he waited where he was for the time being.

        "And now we wait..." He said. After a few minutes, the walker turned, finally seeing Ross and Cornflower before slowly shambling its way over. Ross slowly backed up, letting it approach within range before holding it back. It was surprisingly strong, and it took all of Ross's strength to hold it back.

        "FINISH IT! I CAN'T HOLD!" Ross cried out in a sharp whisper, trying not to alert the group outside. Cornflower grabbed the walker by the collar of the neck and gave a sharp tug, giving Ross some extra leverage to push the walker away and give her a better angle to strike without hurting Ross. One strike, and the corpse fell to the ground.

        "Holy fuck..." Ross panted, "I'm *DAMN* glad I met you when I did..." He closed the door for more security, taking a quick sip of water while he waited to catch his wind.

        "The feeling's mutual. Call it even?" Cornflower said as she sat next to Ross.

        "Sure." Ross said with a nod, reaching a hand out to shake Cornflowers. She reached out and grabbed his hand, not expecting the hearty shake, "Alright, all that's left is the parking lot."

        "Do you have a plan?" Cornflower asked.

        "Eight of 'em there. The fences to the recess yard are lower by the school. We could use that to split em into two smaller groups, stagger their advance a bit." Ross said, "We could use the tools in the supply closet to fashion us something to split them apart further. Build 'em in the safety of the school and deploy 'em just as we start. If we find any electronics we can scrap up, we could probably tinker something with the guts and--" he explained before being cut off by Cornflower.

        "PLEASE don't say guts..." She said, planting her hand to her mouth before gagging.

        "Sorry..." Ross said, wincing a little.

        "Anyway... Do you know how to work with electronics?" Cornflower asked.

        "No..." Ross said after a pause, then he had a moment of realization, "But I know someone who is. Let's fall back and regroup at my brother's house for now. We can go over the plan with everyone there, see if we can get them on board."

        "Alright, lead the way." Cornflower said. They made their way back to Russel's home, making their way into the front door after a sign countersign knock.

        Ross knocked three times and waited, listening with his right ear and getting his weapon ready in the left hand before two knocks were heard from the other side. Ross let out a sigh of relief before the lock clicked and the door opened, letting them in, "I met someone in the school. Saved my life twice already. I'm bringing her in." He said, letting his friends and family know that there was another person; and they were no threat.

        Ross went into the house after the announcement, followed by Cornflower. She smiled at the sight of some faces that weren't trying to eat hers.

        "H-hi, I'm Cornflower..." She said timidly.

        "Well hello there, I must say that you are a very beautiful young lady." John said, deciding to attempt to break the ice before introducing himself, "I'm John Benjamin Franklin." He said.

        "Well, that's ironic since you look so much like him. John let out a laugh as he nodded, "Yeah, I get that a lot." He said before Russel came into the front room from the kitchen.

        "I just got back from the store not long ago." He said before going over what transpired, "I got in line and was waiting to check out and some guy in the store pulled out a gun and started firing. Everyone panicked and stampeded... I barely got out!"

        "I'm glad you're okay." Ross said, making his way over to his brother, ready to hug Russel before realizing that he was covered in blood from the walker encounters and backed away, "Sorry..."

        "It's alright, but what happened at the school?" Russel asked.

        "Quite a lot, actually..." Ross said, taking his backpack off taking his notepad out, "Make sure John and Link read it. It's got all I learned so far." He added before Russel began reading through. His eyes widened and his lip began to quiver when he read the details cornflower wrote down.

        "Also, slight hitch in the plan with the school, but we've gotta act fast before more show up." Ross said, "Outnumbered eight to one, four was trouble for me. Haven't gotten to write it down yet, but some of them are *strong*" he added, before announcing his idea.

        "Link's good with electronics. If we find the right parts in the school, we could make something to throw some of them off our trail." He explained, "Cornflower and I can handle the rest. But I might need to bring you guys along so we can make fortifications as well."

        "We just finished boarding up the house last night." Russel retorted.

        "I know, but we need to slow their advance to break em up. We need to clear them out if we're gonna call that school a home, "We'll need some deployable obstacles too, so we can spread them further and make em easier to manage."

        "How many are there?" Russel asked.

        "Eight." Ross said, "At least just in the parking lot. I'm not sure how many are outside the AO."

        "Well, you've got us this far, the least I can do is offer to help with the fight too." Russel said, feeling confident in his and his Brothers abilities.

        "I wanna fight too." Lincoln said from his bedroom.

        "Not right now, it's too risky." Ross said as he shook his head, "I need your help in a different way. You still tinker with electronics?"

        "A bit, yeah. Why?" Lincoln asked, tilting his head.

        "I'll need something to make some noise. Should be plenty of materials at the school." Ross answered.

        "I think I can do that." Lincoln said with a nod.

        "After we get everything set up, I'll need you and Cornflower in the back of the schoolyard. Make a little noise and make em scatter through the obstacles. Fall back into the school if you need. Russ and John, I'll need you waiting in the nurses office while we do this. No windows, so they won't see or get the drop on you." Ross explained, "If any get past us, you're John's last line of defense." He finished, looking back to Lincoln.

        "Right." Lincoln said with another nod.

        "What about Franklin?" Russel asked.

        "That's my next problem..." Ross said, sighing before looking to Franklin, "There's no coming back from a bite. Once you're bitten, you turn in a matter of days."

        "But Millie wasn't bit and she turned." Russel said.

        "Didn't seem like the guy that attacked me was either... I don't think it *started* with bites, so much as continues." Ross replied.

        "Because that's not a terrifying thought." Russel said sarcastically.

        "In any case, we should pack anything we can use, move in smaller groups to reduce our footprint." Ross said, "Frankie, how well can you move?"

        "Well enough. Might as well try to help out while I can." Franklin said, standing up with a bit of a stagger as his limbs felt like they had caught fire.

        "Alright, if it becomes too much, let us know." Ross said, "Doc, you'll be with Frankie to help manage his symptoms. Cornflower and I will take point, I want Russ and Link on rear guard."

        "Got it." Russel said, getting a bag and getting his things ready.

        "Alright, I'll pack the bags." John said as he made his way to collect the medicines, bandages and other medical equipment.

        "Alright, mind if I take Millie's bag?" Lincoln asked.

        "I got ya a better one in the room. C'mon." Russel said, leading his son off to find a better bag.

        Once everyone had gotten their bags and some kind of means to protect themselves, Ross opened the door and made his way out first; scanning his eyes along the road for any walkers that may have come in.

 

Chapter 5

 

        "Clear. Move up." He said, seeing no threats in the area. He continued along the road he came earlier, knowing that to be the safest route and the easiest on John's heart. Just as they made their way around the turn to the street adjacent to the school's entrance, the walker Ross saw banging on the door earlier was wandering the street in search of a meal. She locked eyes with the group and began to snarl, slowly making her way over before shifting to a more rapid pace.

        "OH JESUS!" Russel cried out in surprise, everyone except Ross and Cornflower fell back. Ross stepped out of the way and kicked its shin, causing it to hurdle forward and land face first into the pavement. Cornflower finished it off.

        "I know you wrote something about those but that's TERRIFYING!" Lincoln said, staring at the corpse and then back to Ross.

        "Yeah. Which is why you never wanna just be rushing around. We were prepared that time, but don't let your guard down. Those shits could be anywhere." Ross said, "C'mon, we're just about there."

        They cleared the street and began passing through the schoolyard. The front doors were clear of walkers, and Ross advanced to stack up against the door.

        "Remember, some have their faculties and can open unlocked doors. I have no idea how common it is, but don't assume it's safe in there just yet."  Ross warned, "Link, Russ, you mind getting the door and fall in behind us?"

        "You got it." Russel said as he and Lincoln went to the door handles, pulling it open once Ross nodded to signal he was ready. He and cornflower moved in and they kept the formation as they passed the offices.

        "Doc, Frankie, Link. You're up. Nurse's offices are the door to the right. It's clear." Ross said. The three broke off from the formation and went into the room at the end of the hall, shutting and locking the door behind them. Russel, Ross and Cornflower made their way down the hall. Ross and Cornflower checked the rooms on the side, announcing that they were clear after giving a quick pass. After determining the school was safe, they broke formation and locked all the entrances before falling back to the door with their sign countersign.

        "School's cleared, and the doors are all locked. We're free to start ransacking, but do it *quietly*. We *don't* want a party we aren't prepared for." Ross explained once he got into the room.

         They left the nurses office except for John and Franklin. John helped Franklin on the nearby bed and started to search around for leftover medical supplies, sorting them and putting his own away.

        Ross and the others went to the supply closet, arming themselves with the number of hammers, and a crowbar which Ross took for helping him get into potential loot stashes while he was on patrol, and a pair of bolt cutters with a more thorough search. Afterward, they made their way through the lockers in the hallway first. Any that had no locks, they opened to find either empty or scarcely supplied. All the locked ones supplied paper, writing utensils, reading material, and plenty of electronics including a few CD players, some portable videogame consoles, and some lunch bags packed the day prior.

        Russel and Cornflower took the food and put it away. Snacks and prepared meals went into the Teachers lounge, and ingredients; like meats and vegetables were put in the kitchen.

        After searching all the lockers, Russel took a look through the classrooms, with Ross joining him after he had finished putting away the food. They put any writing utensils and paper in the offices, any books on the shelves in the library where they could fit, and then they took all the electronics to Lincoln for scrapping.

        Lincoln got to work breaking down the electronics, taking his soldering equipment to weld the components together. Afterward, he made sure the volume was low and powered on the device. It hummed to life with the sound of static emanating from the speaker. Satisfied with his work, he powered it off, cranked the volume back up and went to work on two more.

        While Link built the noisemakers, Ross, Cornflower and Russel began carefully stacking desks around the windows to slow and hopefully pin any walkers that may come in, breaking the rest apart to take the wood and metal scraps to build fortifications. They fell back to the nurse's office to do so, making use of the lack of escaping noise.

        "Alright Link. Come into the intersection of the hallway and wait for all of us to give the signal. Take my watch, once we all have given a thumbs up, wait about five seconds and count to three. That'll give us time to get back into position." Ross instructed before turning to Russel and Cornflower.

    "As for you guys, set the devices as close to the wall as you can and give a thumbs up. Get back to your spot and wait for the countdown. Afterward, I'll rush the parking lot, I'll need Cornflower in the recess yard, and Russ; You're interference. Any of em manage to break in, you know what to do."

        They took the noisemakers into three separate rooms. One in the library, one in the offices, and one in the classroom closest to the parking lot. Once they placed their devices and gave the signal, Link began to count.

        "One... Two... Three." He said, the three then flipped the small switches on their devices and their ears rang from the loud static. They jumped from the sound and made their way to their positions for the impending fight.

        The walkers outside heard the noise coming from inside and began to close in on the walls. The eight walkers broke off into groups of three, in various sizes, approaching the walls to bang on the windows. By the time Ross and Cornflower made it outside, a walker had tripped over the back fence and was in the recess yard. Cornflower rushed up to dispatch it before it could get back up. She got a few of the barricades set up by the time two more walkers cleared the corner.

        Ross swung around the front, calling out to some of the walkers he saw approaching the office wall. Two of them started approaching, and Ross readied his hammer. He swung at the closer one, the hammer sinking into its cranium as he raised his leg to kick the other back. By the time it hit the floor, the third walker in the group heard the commotion and came around the corner.

        Ross backed up a little, letting it advance before taking it out by the time the one he knocked over got back to its feet.

        He turned to finish it off and moved around the corner. He noticed the walkers in Cornflower's cluster hopping the fence and decided to make a push. He killed one of the two walkers banging on the windows and turned to grab the other just as it tried to pin him against the wall. Ross struggled to keep it back, but managed to get just enough leeway to deal the killing blow and advance to hop the fence to support Cornflower.

        He landed on top the back most walker, knocking it back down and dealing four strikes which finally killed it. The two remaining walkers split apart. One grabbing Cornflower as the other closed in on Ross.

        Ross shoved the walker approaching him, knocking it over and rushed over to pull the walker off of Cornflower who had now pinned her to the ground in an attempt to bite her.

        He killed the walker and turned around quickly to find the last one had gotten back to its feet. Ross and Cornflower then went opposite sides of the advancing walker, who was trying to beeline to Ross only to take a hammer in the back of the head from Cornflower.

        "Alright, let's go shut em off!" Ross said with a nod to Cornflower. The two made their way in, seeing Russel patrolling the halls. They told him to shut off his noisemaker and regroup at the nurse's office.

        Once silence returned to the school, everyone went to their rally point to figure out their next move.

        "WHOOO! We won!" Russel said in celebration, coming in after Ross and Cornflower.

        "Our next move should be to board everything up. I saw a maintenance shed out back, let's see if there's anything we can use there." Ross said, "Those low points in the fences are gonna be a huge weak point, so we should start there." He elaborated, "Cornflower and Russ, you guys'll be doing that. Link, I'll need you helping them."

        "Got it." Lincoln said.

        "I'm gonna patrol around the school, make sure we don't have any unwanted visitors while you're doing that. If I need any help, I'll holler." Ross said before making his way out of the school.

        Cornflower, Lincoln and Russel all made their way out to the maintenance shed and tried the doorknob to find that it was locked.

        "Well, shit." Russel said, scratching his chin as he tried to think of how to fix this problem, "The hinges are outside, gimme a sec. I'm gonna see if I can get the pins out." He said, "Someone got a screwdriver?"

        "I got one, here." Lincoln said, reaching into his bag and handing his father the tool. Russel put the screwdriver at the head of the hinge pin, giving a few taps with his hammer before it slid free. He grabbed the top and pulled it free, setting it aside before working on the upper one.

        "Mind holding the door for me?" Russel asked.

        "Sure, here." Cornflower replied as she reached out to support the heavy door. Russel worked on the pin, finding it a little tougher as it was supporting the door's entire weight, but he eventually managed to wriggle it free and the door sank into Cornflowers arms, causing her to strain a little. Russel caught the door and helped her set it aside before walking into the shed.

        Inside they found a shovel, a couple of rakes, metal sheets, piping and bars, a bag of welding rods, a propane torch, some flashlights, a generator and some empty gas cans, and a pair of propane tanks.

        "Hell yeah!" Russel said with excitement, reaching for the torch and testing to see if it worked. He turned the nozzle down to a minimum and pointed it in a safe direction, clicking the trigger and the flame caught light with a blue blaze.

        "We're set now!" Russel laughed, taking some of the sheets, the welding rods and the torch and making his way back to the school.

        Link and Cornflower helped collect the welding materials and followed Russel in. After putting them in the classroom to the right of them coming in the recess yard entrance. Afterward, Russel made his way out to see his brother coming back up from his first patrol around the block.

        "Hey, got some welding stuff! I'ma start getting some of these windows barred up. Where you want em?" Russel asked.

        "Uh, the front of the school's the most vulnerable. I'd start over by the cafeteria. The most windows there, we don't want em breaking through that many." Ross replied, making his way to the door, "if you've got anything after that, try to hit the offices and library up. That should keep our front protected. Gate should keep our rear safe for now, but we'll need to put something up to block those low points."

        "Got it. I'll put some sheets up on those spots now, then bar up the cafe." Russel said, giving a thumbs up in affirmation.

        "Alright, I'll come along and stand watch while you're out back." Ross said, making his way in with his brother. They walked out to the recess yard and Ross hopped the fence to watch out for walkers. Once Ross was over, Russel began lining up the metal sheet and began welding it to the fence, using a few bars for added support. The course was uneventful, and Russel gave a couple pats on the sheet to both test its integrity and let his brother know he was done nonverbally.

        "Alright, watch your head, I can hop this." Ross said, positioning himself next to the chain link fence and leapt up, grabbing the fence near the top and catching his shoes in the holes betwixt the wiring. Before he was able to lose any momentum, he hoisted himself up and hung his leg over, carefully rolling along the top of the fence before letting his feet dangle to catch his drop. The two brothers walked to the next area and Ross hopped the fence once again.

       This time however, there was a pair of walkers approaching, having heard the noise of the weld from earlier.

        "Two tangos, twelve o'clock." Ross said, waving his crowbar in a couple of slow practice swings. After the second swing, he looked at the straighter edge then back to the walkers. As his eyes met with the lead, he grinned, waiting for it to get within range and gave a mighty swing on the first walker catching the remaining momentum with his free hand before thrusting the straighter edge into the skull of the follower. With a fine tuned jerk, he pulled the crowbar out and turned over to see his brother got distracted with the spectacle.

        "Holy shit, I'm glad you're on our side!" Russel said with an applause.

        "Get back to work on the fence, numbnuts." Ross said after a cheeky grin.

        "You got it cockwaffle!" Russel replied with a thumbs up in affirmation before promptly working on the barricades. After receiving the signal of his work being completed, Ross made his way back into the front of the school using his sign countersign with Cornflower.

         "Here's my bag, found out Frankie's wife and daughter made it. Gonna go escort her here and help her pack supplies to help us." Ross said, handing his backpack over to Cornflower, taking the bottle of water from the pouch on the side and taking a sip before going to the stash of backpacks he left in one of the classroom supply cabinets to get an empty one. Once he had his new bag, he slid the water bottle back into the pouch and put his crowbar over a handmade leather loop he made from some pieces of a wallet he found. They were tied together for the time being; and gave him enough support to carry his weapon on his left side.

        Ross then headed out to Beth's, and Cornflower opened the bag to see what was inside. There were bandage plasters, cotton balls, a few lighters and several boxes of matches, a few packs of chewing gum for a rainy day, several cans of food, plastic bags full of produce and meats, and a few single serving size bags of chips. John helped get everything sorted, even asking Cornflower to leave the canned foods with him so he could put them in the break room pantry after he finished with the small supply of medical supplies.

        Meanwhile, Ross was sneaking through the neighborhood keeping as much pace as he could, taking a moment to catch his breath by a fence. He heard a walker on the other side that seemed to be walking his way. He let out a deep breath, trying to get as much air as he could as quickly as he can. He looked at the fence, noting it was too high for it to simply stumble over, and waited for it to pass. When suddenly he heard a thump from behind and something grabbed his ankle.

        Ross snapped, instinctively kicking his heel back onto the face of the assaulter with as much force as he could muster which managed to break his leg free from their grasp and sprang back, turning quickly and trying not to stumble over. He clutched his chest, eyes wide as a result and trembled when he noticed the walker had climbed the fence.

        He took a few breaths to settle his nerves as he readied a combat stance, grabbing the top of his crowbar and pulling out quickly, minding the angle so it wouldn't catch before readying a stance.

        The walker got up slowly, and snarled as it realized Ross was just out of lunging range before standing to its feet. Once Ross snapped back to his senses, he gave a mighty lateral swing with both hands, bringing the crowbar down on the walkers head.

        He looked at his blood-stained, trembling hands and changed hands he used to hold his crowbar and began flexing his left hand a bit, bending to rest his elbows on his knees to breathe and take a moment to process what happened. Once Ross' nerves settled, he snapped off of any distractions of checking houses along the way and went straight to Beth's.

        He knocked with the sign countersign he explained to her when he first ran into her and made his way in once the door opened.

        "One just climbed a fence at me." Ross said, taking a drink of his water as he took a moment to catch his breath, winded from the brisk pace he took on the way there. He made sure his tone was hushed so he didn't scare Cindy.

        "Jesus Christ, what?" Beth asked in disbelief.

        "Yeah, let my guard down, thought he was gonna come round the gate and he grabbed my ankle."

        "Were you bit?" Beth asked in worry.

        "Not that I felt, didn't think to look." Ross said before kneeling down to take a look at his ankle to see that there were no bites, scratches or cuts. He let out a sigh in relief before fixing his sock and leg and standing back up, "I'm good, you got everything packed?" He asked.

        "What we could carry, yeah." Beth said.

        "Got any extra bags?" Ross asked.

        "I have a few suitcases and some duffel bags in the wardrobe." Beth replied, nodding in the direction of her bedroom.

        "I'll need some help packing my bag, but if you could help me pack some more of your things, I'll help ya move as much as I can." Ross said.

        "Alright, there's still plenty of food, I think my sewing kit's still in my dresser though, could ya get that for me?" Beth asked.

        "Yeah, you wanna get started on this for me?" Ross asked as he took his bag off of his shoulder and gave it to Beth. She took it with a nod and set her other bags on the floor before making her way to the kitchen.

        Ross went into the bedroom, looking around the room and began to make his way to the dresser. He opened the drawer and began fishing through some of the left behind stationary. He found the sewing kit and opened it to look inside, seeing a number of different needles in varied gauges, spools of thread in a number of colors, and a few pieces of denim and cloth tucked away beneath the display. After seeing everything was inside, he closed the top and brought it out to Beth, who tucked them in a pocket separate of the food.

        Ross helped Beth pack the remainder of the food in his backpack, a pair of duffel bags he would wear on his sides, and the remainder of the clothes and cooking utensils, silverware and cutlery in brief cases he would carry in his hands. Afterward, he took a moment to record the climber encounter in the journal.

        "Can't let your guard down behind fences, apparently. I got grabbed by a walker that climbed the fence. Not sure if they all can, or if that was just a fluke, but it's not gonna make my day any easier either way."

        Loaded up like a pack mule, Ross accompanied Beth outside and took point, watching for any threats on their way back to the school.