Author note at the end. Enjoy.
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With some help, Alex managed to secure the walker to a sturdy oak tree. The rope enveloped the creature entirely, binding it tightly to the trunk. Not wanting to take any chances, Alex swung his machete with grim determination, severing its arms in two clean strokes.
"Interesting." He muttered as Kenny and Shawn were right next to him. Both men glanced to each other and then to Alex then back to each other. As if communication telepathically. "What?" Kenny asked, taking a step back while Shawn did the same.
"It's not bleeding," Alex answered, his focus unwavering. "I just removed two limbs, and there's not a drop of blood. Except for whatever it is in its mouth."
"Because their dead? Like you said?" Shawn added but Alex shook his head slowly. "No… Maybe. I don't know." Alex muttered, circling it like a predator. When he walked back to his position, Kenny couldn't help but notice the 19 years old obsessive eyes.
Unconsciously, Kenny took another step back, his movement slow and deliberate.
Alex, seemingly oblivious to their discomfort, turned to Shawn. The older man flinched involuntarily at his gaze. "Shawn –" He paused… "Why did you flinch?"
Instead, the older man dodged the look and cleared his throat. "No reason." The man said, turning to Kenny for help, but the middle-aged man just looked away. "You guys are acting weird," Alex observed, before refocusing on the task at hand. "Anyway, do you have any magazines or 2-liter plastic bottles? Like Coke or Pepsi?"
Shawn frowned in thought before nodding. "Yeah, I think we do."
"Great, could you bring a couple? Four or five, maybe?" Alex requested, moving closer to the walker. The creature strained against its bonds, jaws snapping in a futile attempt to reach him. Alex waved his hand in front of its face, testing its reactions. The walker's milky eyes remained fixed, its sole focus seemingly on trying to bite his face.
"Also, a piece of clothing you don't use anymore. And some plastic bags," Alex added to his list of requests.
Shawn sighed, a hint of exasperation in his voice. "You want a pizza with that?"
"Hm, you have pizza?" Alex replied, the sarcasm completely lost on him. Shawn couldn't help but chuckle at the young man's earnestness before walking away to gather the supplies.
As Shawn walked away to gather the requested items, Kenny watched Alex with a mixture of curiosity and concern. The young man's intense focus on the walker was both impressive and unsettling.
"So, what's your plan here, kid?" Kenny asked, keeping a safe distance from both Alex and the restrained walker.
Alex turned to Kenny, his eyes bright with a disconcerting mix of excitement and determination. "I'm planning to test its senses. First sight and smell."
Kenny nodded slowly, still uncertain. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
"Well," Alex began, pacing as he spoke, "first, I'm gonna test its smell. I'll wrap his eyes and see how it reacts. Sight is a bit more complicated and I'm not sure as to how to test it yet. Oh!" He paused, as if a light bulb went up in his head.
Kenny felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of a 19-year-old being so excited about something so horrifying and potentially dangerous.
"I didn't mention hearing because I wasn't sure how to approach it. But I just had an idea," Alex continued, his thoughts spilling out rapidly. "We still have that rooster, right? We can use it to test if the walker can differentiate between ambient or animal sounds and human-made ones."
"You don't have a lot of friends, do you?" Kenny asked, the words escaping before he could stop them. The question seemed to break Alex's concentration, eliciting an embarrassed chuckle that only served to make Kenny more uncomfortable.
"Not really," Alex admitted, his smile fading slightly.
"Anyway," Kenny pressed on, gesturing towards the now armless walker behind Alex, "how are you not scared of it?" The question hung in the air, heavy with implications. Kenny couldn't fathom how the young man could stand there, his back to the creature, seemingly unfazed by its presence.
"But I'm scared." Alex admitted, raising his hand in front of Kenny. "I'm terrified." He repeated, his hand trembling with no sign of stopping. "I don't even know how the infection spreads."
"Is it just bite? What about a scratch from its nail," Alex continued, his voice growing more intense with each question. "Or a drop of its blood or whatever it is in its mouth, fell down your mouth while it had you pinned under it?" Alex continued, all the pretence of craziness leaving him as he almost stumbled under his own weight before getting himself back together. Kenny's jaw slowly dropped as he listened.
"Would any of those incidents turn you?" he asked, his eyes unfocused, lost in the horrifying scenarios playing out in his mind. "I can't test any of that. For that, we need…" He stopped himself, but Kenny could understand the meaning behind the absent words.
"I'm scared shitless and on the verge of peeing myself. Literally." Alex spoke, taking hold of his instrument to hold back, voice slowly turned firmer than ever. "But I'm the only one here with any proper medical training right now."
Kenny watched as the young man's nearly crumbling posture straightened, his eyes focusing with renewed determination. "Your live, your son's, your wife's, Clem's, Lee's, everyone who is in this place and will come seeking shelter here."
Alex breathed, the fetid odor of the walker filling his nostrils. But instead of repulsing him, it seemed to ground him, anchoring him to the reality of their situation. "They're all in my hands," he continued, his voice steady despite the tremor that still ran through his body. "If any of you ever gets scratched or bitten, I NEED to know what to do instead of panicking. I need to be strong. Stronger than anyone else."
Kenny stood there, stunned into silence by Alex's raw honesty and the burden he had taken upon himself. The young man seemed so tall right now that Kenny felt like he was looking up.
'He wasn't a kid playing scientist' he thought, watching as Alex clenched his reached hand tightly, the knuckles turning white. 'He's simply trying his best to not crumble.' When Alex opened his hand in front of him, it was steady. No sign of any shaking that was happening before hand.
"Alright, kid," Kenny said finally, his voice gruff but tinged with newfound respect. "What do you need me to do?"
Alex's eyes met Kenny's, gratitude and determination shining in equal measure. "Don't stop me in the following half an hour. No matter how crazy it is. Don't interrupt." Alex ordered and Kenny gulped, the question bouncing off inside his head. He couldn't stop it.
"If I do?"
"I'll pee myself and never have the courage to do what I'm about to do again." Alex told him. So, seriously and with a firm tone that Kenny nodded gravely as well.
Until his brain caught up to the words he used. Immediately, all the tension left his body and he dumbfoundedly stared at Alex as if he had grown a second head.
"What?!"
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After about another five minutes, Shawn came back with his hands filled. Two 2 letters plastic bottle, a couple of magazines, a bunch of black plastic bags, with one black shirt inside. "I got them."
Alex's eyes lit up as Shawn returned with the requested items. "Perfect, thanks Shawn," he said, quickly gathering the supplies.
Kenny, still reeling from Alex's earlier statement, watched with a mix of curiosity and apprehension as the young man began to sort through the items.
"Alright," Alex began, his voice steady despite the tremor in his hands, "let's start with the smell test." He took the black shirt and carefully approached the walker, which renewed its struggles against the rope helplessly. Seeing his actions, others, such as Lee, and Hershel were walking up to the trio. While inside the house, figures watched from the window.
"Be careful," Kenny warned, instinctively taking a step forward.
Alex nodded, acknowledging Kenny's concern without breaking his focus. He walked behind the tree and held the shirt near the walker's face, observing its reaction. The creature's snarls intensified, its jaw snapping furiously at the garment.
"Interesting," Alex muttered, "It definitely responds to human scent." But he didn't stop. He rolled the shirt and put it on the walker's eyes covering them entirely. Though it struggled, Alex tied it tightly behind its head. Right after, he let out a sigh of relief, before looking at his spectators, with a grin.
"Now what." Shawn asked and Alex nodded. "Bring the rooster."
His order was met with blank faces in confusion. "Right, I need to check if it reacts to animal sounds." Once he explained, everyone turned to Hershel who stared at the kid. "Fine, if it gets bitten though, I'll kick your ass, you hear me?" The old man relented. A stare was enough for his eldest son to go to the chicken coop and come back a minute later.
"Okay, I'll need everyone to be silent for a minute or two. Don't make a sound." Alex told them, before tiptoeing to Shawn and taking the struggling flightless bird. A hand on its neck stopped all struggles.
Two minutes later, when no one had made a sound, Alex nodded and slowly brought the rooster near the calm walkers face, as if it had fallen asleep while standing, something Alex made note of. While the rooster did its thing, co-coing, the walker gave no reaction.
Alex frowned, yet he still nodded in understanding. Getting another idea, he blew cold air at the walker's face, which made it turn its face towards Alex's direction, but it didn't snap his jaw.
Letting go of the rooster, who ran away from the place, still no reaction, Alex hmmed lowly. Hearing the almost audible voice, it "woke" up, groaning and growling, but no struggle against the rope.
Slowly but carefully, he took out his slingshot and aimed at the distance barn. As soon as the steel ball hit the wood, it made a loud sound that attracted the walker, which it began struggle against the rope.
He noticed Lee about to say something before Alex shook his head, a finger in front of his lips. Lee nodded.
With a gulp of air, he covered his forearm in the magazine as quietly as possible, before it brought it in front of the walker's mouth. Before knowing could stop him or say anything, the thing bite on the magazine, hard enough to pierce through skin but not the magazine.
The tension in the air was palpable as Alex's arm, protected only by thin magazine, was clenched between the walker's jaws. Everyone watched in horror, their bodies frozen in shock and fear.
Alex's face contorted in a mix of pain and determination. He gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to pull away as the walker made the motion as if it was chewing food. After what felt like an eternity, but was likely only a few seconds, he yanked his arm free, stumbling backward.
"What the fuck kid!" Kenny exclaimed, rushing forward to catch Alex before he fell.
Lee and Shawn also moved in, concern etched on their faces. "Are you out of your mind?" Lee demanded, his voice a mixture of anger and worry.
Alex, breathing heavily, shook his head. "I had to know," he gasped, clutching his arm.
Hershel pushed through the group, his face grim. "Let me see that arm, boy," he ordered, his tone brooking no argument.
As Hershel examined the arm, the others gathered around, their faces a mix of concern, fear, and disbelief. "There's no wound." He announced to the relief of everyone else.
"What were you thinking?" Shawn hissed.
Alex took a deep breath, steadying himself before addressing the group. "I needed to understand the walker's bite force and behavior," he explained, his voice shaky but determined. "The magazine protected me, but I could feel the pressure. It's... it's strong, stronger than a normal human bite."
Kenny shook his head, a mix of admiration and exasperation on his face. "That was damn reckless, kid. But I gotta admit, you've got guts."
Lee stepped forward, his expression stern. "Alex, I understand what you're trying to do, but you can't take risks like that. We need you alive and uninfected."
Alex nodded, the adrenaline starting to wear off. "I know, I know. But every bit of information we gather right now helps us out in the future."
Hershel, having confirmed that Alex's arm was indeed uninjured, spoke up. "What have you learned from all this?"
Alex's eyes lit up, despite his obvious exhaustion. "A lot, actually. The walker responds primarily to sound and smell. It doesn't seem to rely much on sight. I don't know how to test its eyesight yet so don't count on my words regarding that. The lack of reaction to the rooster suggests it might not be interested in animals, only humans. And the bite force... it's significant. We'll need to be careful about protective gear."
The group listened intently, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Alex's reckless experiment had yielded valuable information that they would struggle after months to survive. Yet here they were, days in and already had information that most others didn't even think about yet.
"What's next?" Shawn asked, his tone cautious but curious.
Alex looked at the walker, then back at the group. "I need one more experiment."
Shawn did not like the look that Alex was giving them. "I don't like that look of your, Alex."
Instead, Alex grinned back. "Me neither."
"No, no way. Now, I hundred percent know its reckless." Kenny interjected, stepping up with most others nodding as well in agreement. But Alex lost his smile, eyes dead serious. "It'll be worth it."
"No, nu-uh. We already have enough information as it is. If it's as reckless as you putting your arm in front of it is to chump on you. You can forget about it!" Shawn stepped up as well. The only answer Alex could give was to look away into the distance, glancing at the dead bodies of the other walkers outside the fence.
"Oh shit, you're gonna let it bite you again!" Shawn exclaimed.
The tension in the air ratcheted up several notches at Shawn's exclamation. Everyone's eyes widened in shock and disbelief, turning to Alex for confirmation or denial.
Alex took a deep breath, his gaze steady as he faced the group. "Not exactly," he said, his voice calm but firm. "I need to test something, but I won't let it bite me directly."
Kenny stepped forward, his face a mask of concern and frustration. "Kid, whatever you're thinking, it's not worth the risk. We can't lose you to some half-baked experiment."
Alex shook his head, his determination evident. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out." He spoke, standing up on his shaking legs. Everyone could see a little of wet patch in front of his pants, but no one commented on it.
"The last test showed that it will bite if it smells human. But what if I'm coated in walker guts and smell." Alex hypothetically asked them, silencing everyone in the group. Though it wasn't enough to convince them it looked like.
Hershel's eyes narrowed. "And how do you propose to test that without putting yourself at risk of infection?"
"Easy," Alex gave him a shaky grin, pulling all stops on the confident pretence. He took one of the plastic bags, then another, and another, putting them inside one another. Then his own arm. Then cutting one of the plastic bottles and used it as armor.
"Oh, order is wrong." He murmured, as everyone looked at him dumbfounded. He put the plastic bottle on his uncovered arm, then the plastic bags one after another. "Tada!" He exclaimed.
"Cover this in walker guts and we'll see if it'll bite me again or not." Alex proudly showed his arm to everyone, while uncomfortably jumping on one foot then another, his free hand grabbing his crotch almost like in pain.
"You gotta leak?" Hershel stared back deadpanned. Somehow and someway, Alex had defused the heavy tension while being silly. All while risking his life.
"Yeah!" Alex replied almost doubling over. "But first this." He murmured, running towards the dead bodies before anyone could stop him. Half a minute later, he came back. With no warning or whatsoever, he presented his covered arm in front of the walker's jaw.
"Come on!" Alex encouraged, tip toying in front of it, even tapping the walkers chin to bite but it wouldn't. "Okay! That's it!" Alex shouted; the walker growled at the noise but Alex didn't care.
Instead, he turned away from everyone and ran to the corner of a fence. "NOT ON MY PROPERTY." Hershel yelled, but Alex didn't care. He flapped his plastic covered arm a few times, freeing it, then relieving himself in pure bliss, in front of all the adults watching.
Back at the house, "Don't watch that!" A young boy pushed away his laughing sisters away from the window, while their mother chuckled and got away from the window as well.
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Author Note:
Welcome back, welcome back.
How was the third chapter of the day?
I hope you enjoyed it, since I enjoyed writing them. Made myself chuckle a little on some parts.
So, I know most of you know the walkers weakness and strategy to bypass them and stuff. But MY MC DOESNT KNOW. Because he doesnt know the plot of the game or series before being simulated in this story. The only thing he knows is that Lee will die at the end of season 1 telltale game. That's it. Nothing else.
This gives me the advantage to explore it creatively on my own and with the other cast members being present. So, I won't be pulled into trying to make up a lie that fit the plot and stuff. That's why I made him a medical student! So, him wanting wanting to experiment on walkers is made sense!
How smart am i?! Insert absolute cinema meme here plz.
On the topic of the second half of the chapter. There are two reasons as to why I made the vibe turn lighter while serious. From the character's point of view, Alex, he is an average 19 years old, medical student in america. I havent said it yet because I'm bad at descripting characters, but he is around 5 feet 8 or something. Dont know how to put that in, so there.
He's not a chick magnet, not handsome or anything similar that webnovel site is crawling with. The only thing he has going for him is his desire to survive (he is fully immersed which explains the reason for his lack of question regarding the system).The only chance he has to have a partner is his personality, mentality, and what he can provide. That's it. And he has to work hard on those things. This makes it so that he will fumble the important things due to lack of experience in life. This experiment phase, I wanted to show exactly that. He's just a kid.
From my side, I did say I wanted to make it on the lighter side instead of going full dark and emo because it WILL affect me mentally, since I have to put myself in the shoes of the characters to know how people usually act in these situation. So, yeah. That's my reason.
Anyway, this is turning into a runt. So, I'll cut myself off here.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Stay safe.
Author out.