"You there! Who are you, show yourself!" The electric man slowly walked towards Atkinson's direction while pointing his handgun at Atkinson.
"Hi, my name is Atkinson. I was just watching you guys, I don't mean anything else," Atkinson replied in a steady manner despite the gun pointing at him.
"I'm going to the safe haven, can you guys send me there? I'll compensate" he added shortly
"Put your hands up and get off the bike" His tone wasn't overbearing but definitely strong.
Atkinson shrugged and slowly raised his hands. He wasn't scared, the group must be made of some good people since he saw a little girl in good condition earlier.
"Ok don't move, let me search you… Any open wounds?"
Atkinson shook his head.
"I will trust your words, however if you show any signs of turning… I'll warn you beforehand I won't hesitate to shoot you dead" He said it very clearly and carefully.
Atkinson couldn't show any fear so he just nodded like a chicken. He was not strong, so he shouldn't put up any airs.
"You can come with us to the safe haven, as for compensation… " The electric man wanted to say more but he didn't think Atkinson could contribute to anything, so it wasn't necessary.
Atkinson didn't reply but simply nodded like he knew what the silence meant.
While they drove to the safe haven, Atkinson got to know their name from simple introductions.
The leader of the group was Negan, the tall man who was cloaked in grey. Ellie was the name of the little girl, though he didn't get her age. Carl was the electric man. There was a woman whose name was Jenny who was the same age as him, 18. Another man was Sarge, a police officer. The final person was another man who was Rick, a mechanic.
They were a young group of survivors all under their 30s, except for Negan who covers his entire body and face so his age is unknown.
Atkinson felt something was off about the group from the cloaked man, but maybe it was because he seemed a little shady and unwelcoming.
They stopped a few times whenever they passed a restaurant, bank, shop, or any place with valuables and food.
In about an hour or so, they reached a gas station. Perfect place to hole up for a while. It was weird that they didn't see a lot of people, it was only the second day of the zombie apocalypse after all.
Atkinson also found out that the internet and wifi stopped working. Good thing he downloaded those videos and books… actually he should've called his parents, wait no he doesn't have any.
As the truck came to a stop at the gas station, two burly looking men walked out of the doors of the shop part of the gas station.
In the next second, a short man came out with an eyepatch while rubbing a cat in his arms.
"Hey guys, need gas?" The short man broke out in a grin, "What'd you guys have to trade for?"
The two burly guys flexed their muscles and stood menacingly with shotguns.
Atkinson traded a hard drive that contained some very interesting videos and pictures that are only for grown-ups.
Naturally, the three stooges were extremely giddy. He got some quadruple A batteries and a good working construction flashlight.
His temporary group didn't ask any questions. It was strange that there were already some bases, if you will, established only the day after the zombie apocalypse began.
After a short while, the group hopped back the truck and drove their merry way to safe haven.
When they encountered zombie crowds, they simply reversed and went another route. Zombies at this stage weren't powerful at all individually.
An healthy adult can kill one at a time easily but fighting against multiple zombies without a weapon was basically suicide.
When Atkinson greeted the short feline man, he felt the same ominous energy from Carl the electric welder and the tall cloaked man.
He decided to call them "enabled". It was the opposite of disabled because they were extraordinary and had something extra that increased their chance at survival.
Basically, they were superheroes but minus heroes. You can never trust anyone in the apocalypse, it was written in some book he read.
Thinking back It was truly unexpected, he fully expected the short man to try to kill the men and take the females.
Maybe humanity hasn't regressed that far yet. After all it was only day two of the zombie apocalypse.
There were a couple of zombies in farm attire that tried to block them when they reached the countryside of town. Needless to say, they were used as practice dummies by Atkinson and the others.
They did go past the mall and police station, however there were some rather large and dangerous looking zombies in the mall while the latter location was emptied of anything useful.
As they drove in a more urban environment on the highway again, there were several military trucks and a few tanks along the way.
"Damn… what happened here? Aren't these zombies really weak?" Sarge the police officer's face was filled with incredulity.
There were dead bodies everywhere making it hard to distinguish between the human and zombies.
"Don't look at it Ellie!" Jenny who is the same age as Atkinson shielded Ellie's, the little girl, eyes from the rotting carcasses.
Ellie doesn't know better, so she kept trying to look. The rest of the group also felt the same as Sarge.
"Guys look over there," Rick, a regular man, says with uncertainty as he points up ahead, "There's a large hole in that tank… it's got deep scratch marks on it?"
"Atkinson, you go check it out," Negan ordered Atkinson as if he was his underling. His tone also seemed to suggest that he knew something about this.
Before Atkinson could even argue back, Carl tried to speak up for him.
"Negan, he's the weakest person in our group, besides is it that necessary? I could just dig up car batteries in these cars lying around and kill whatever is inside."
"No, using too much of your power will not be good if you don't get anymore of those orb," Negan the cloaked man spoke in a low voice, "besides, he needs experience or he won't last one more day in this world."
Atkinson believed that if he wasn't covered, there would definitely be a sneer plastered on his face.
Atkinson had no idea why Negan is going out of his way to make things difficult for him.
Negan stares intensely at Carl before Carl turned around and stopped talking. The others simply watched the scene.
Atkinson resigned to his fate, he could run away but that would defeat the purpose of his mission.
He didn't forget to keep his stuff with him. He jumped off the truck and walked towards the tank.
The group watched him with great anticipation and a little bit of fear. They were parked about 50 yards away to be safe.
As the distance grew shorter, Atkinson's fear grew… there was no fear.
Should I scream and run towards them, at least I'll be able to bring them to the grave with me. Actually I don't think that's fair.
Although he couldn't feel empathy nor sympathy, he can tell the difference between right from wrong.
To the group, Atkinson looked like he was mustering up intense courage to keep walking. But in reality, he wasn't afraid at all.
He quietly climbed onto the tank and into the giant hole in the back. Then he was instantly grabbed by something and pulled into the tank.