It has been nearly a year since Sparrow passed away and had their interaction with the elderly man. Riot's infection was healed gradually, but Jackal has not returned from their journey. Since Jackal's disappearance, Riot and Dozer have not communicated much.
Riot sat in a bedroom looking at his hands and grinding his teeth. "This is my fault, I lost my only family and now one of my friends is gone all because I refused to listen... damn it all," Riot said trying his best not to sob. Suddenly Dozer barged into the room. "Get up, we need to move. there's probably hundreds of walkers outside the house!"
Riot stood up gradually, sluggishly taking hold of his gun. Dozer observed him and clenched his fist in response. Suddenly, Riot dropped his weapon as Dozer slapped him across the face. Riot looked up at Dozer with an unfazed expression, which only made Dozer even more furious. He grabbed Riot by the collar and shouted, "Are you a coward or a soldier? Pull yourself together!" Dozer tightened his grip on Riot's collar.
"Tch." He let go of his collar and pushed him to the side. "You can either stand here and die or move your sorry ass and live." Riot watched as Dozer left the room with his gun raised. Walkers began crashing in through the windows. He watched as bullets flew past the doorway at the walkers.
Riot stood frozen, time seeming to slow down. A voice repeatedly called him a coward and urged him to stop hesitating. Despite Dozer's attempts to get his attention by screaming, Riot remained unresponsive. The pressure mounted, and Riot clutched his head as he started to buckle.
"I'M OUT OF AMMO!" Dozer shouted. Riot looked up to see the walkers cornering Dozer. "God damn it..." Riot muttered. He picked up his rifle and proceeded to kill the walkers surrounding Dozer. "Let's get out of here" Riot mumbled.
Dozer appeared concerned and nodded as Riot surveyed the situation from the back door. "They're all over the house," Riot observed before forcefully kicking open the door, sending a few walkers tumbling. With a few more walkers taken care of, Riot dashed out into the backyard, followed closely by Dozer.
As the two sprinted through the field, a pack of walkers followed. As they neared the nearby woods, Riot and Dozer hastily sought refuge in a ditch beside a tree. Riot gestured for silence by placing his finger on his lips, as they observed the slow movement of the walkers. Once the walkers had passed, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
"Did you see that?" Riot's voice trembled as he asked urgently. "See what?" Dozer responded. "Something moving out there," Riot replied, still on edge. "No, there's nothing there. You're just imagining things," Dozer tried to calm his friend down. Riot held onto his rifle, his hands shaking. He took a deep breath and put his hand on Dozer's shoulder. "Thanks, man," he sighed. "Let's keep mov-" Dozer suddenly fell to the ground followed by a loud bang.
Riot swiftly dropped to the ground, taking cover in the ditch. "Dozer!" he called out, scanning his surroundings for any signs of danger. Failing to locate the source of the shot, he realized he needed to retrieve Dozer and leave immediately. Riot proceeded to crawl towards Dozer, keeping himself as low and inconspicuous as possible.
Riot reached Dozer and firmly grabbed his vest, pulling him deeper into the ditch. "Don't worry, you'll be okay," Riot reassured him. Dozer held his chest and groaned in pain. He urged Riot to leave, his voice trembling. "Save yourself..." Riot refused to abandon him. He kept pulling Dozer, who coughed and grabbed Riot's wrist. "GET OUT OF HERE, I'M ONLY SLOWING YOU DOWN," Dozer insisted, releasing his grip.
Riot looked away, ashamed of what he was about to do. He looked around one last time before darting farther into the woods. A bullet zipped past his head, nearly taking his ear off. "why the hell is this person trying to kill us god damn it!" Riot cursed to himself. He soon reached a lakeside. "Damn it, dead end." Riot looked around before spotting an old shack by the lakeside. With no other choice, he quickly entered the shack and readied his rifle. leaves crunched as someone approached the shack. Hearing this, Riot raised his gun towards the door.
twenty minutes rolled by in silence. "I think it's safe.." Riot slowly peeked his head outside. "Looks clear.." he said to himself. He slowly walked outside, his rifle raised. As he turned to walk around the shack, he was grabbed from behind and put into a chokehold. He struggled for a moment before he elbowed the attacker in the gut causing them to let go.
Riot swiftly turned around, swinging with all his strength. The attacker dodged out of the way and uppercutted him. Riot stumbled back and held his jaw. He raised his fist, getting into a fighting stance. The attacker rushed towards him with the intent to kill. he stepped to the side and kneed them in the stomach. He then kicked the back of their leg and grabbed their mask, pulling it off. Riot's eyes widened as he looked at his attacker's face. "No... it can't be.."