Keeping the Faith (Paige then open)

After Paige had been reunited with her brother, the group stuck around town for a while, searching for a vehicle that was in good enough shape to take on a potentially long trip and siphoning plenty of gas. It has been a week since the walkers came and the city was already completely transformed. Dust was everywhere. Lawns were growing long. Silence filled the streets when the walkers' moans and grunts weren't filling them. Nature seemed to be overtaking what man had made and the world seemed to be embracing the change with greener grass, more birds and far more beautiful, untamed landscapes. When Grant had a moment to just take it in, it really was inspiring...those moments usually didn't last long though as they had to be on the run most of the time while in the town. Finally it was time to leave and find Grant's family.

They loaded the truck quickly and early. Saying their goodbyes to the bomb shelter wasn't too hard for Grant, with it being cold and dank most of the time. Terrible conditions if they wanted to avoid mold, which was what happened to the rest of their food. They had to leave out of necessity along with their promise to Grant. Paige called shotgun as they headed off to the old dirt road, through the plains and along the woods, Steven hanging on in the back.

A tree. A bush. A cloud. A squirrel.

It seemed odd that the ride was almost exactly the same as a week ago. Nice...and boring. He was really wishing the radio stations were still working but they had checked the frequencies and everything was currently off line. The ride was supposed to be just a couple hours away from Riley, but something seemed to just make it drag on. As they drove, however, a scream emerged from the forest on the side of the road. Grant's head jerked towards the forest ahead of them as a man emerged, an arm bloody and limp as he waved and yelled with his opposite hand. Behind him emerged dozens of walkers, hungry and surrounding him as he stumbled, distracted from the pain in his arm, most likely.

"Help! HELP! AYUDAME! HELP!"

Grant thought quickly. He was in trouble. It probably wasn't a trick and he could tell that the wound was genuine. They had to help him. He turned quickly to yell out the back window to Steven as he drove off road, closer to the man. He drove by to try and grab him quickly.

"Steven! Help him up!"

Knowing that Paige would probably try to leave the man behind, Grant let out a sigh of relief as she helped her brother bring him into the truck. He slammed on the gas and made it away, the walkers wailing in anger as they were unable to keep up.

"Muchas gracias senores...muchas gracias..." The man spoke, out of breath before Steven and Paige began examining his wound.

"Don't worry..." The man spoke, leaning his head back, closing his eyes calmly. "None of the sinners got me...It was from an axe...it fell on me as I was escaping them..." As he spoke, a heavy Spanish accent bled through his words.

"I owe you all a debt of gratitude senores..." He let his head fall to the side, sleep seeming to almost take him over. "My name is Ray..."

"Don't let him fall asleep!" Grant yelled to the back as he listened in on the conversation. "I need to look over him; try to treat his wounds; we don't know exactly what's wrong yet. It could be a number of things!"

Grant drove for a few more miles, far enough to be sure they were away from the droves of walkers and pulled off into an alfalfa field. He jumped out and got Ray to sit up on the edge of the truck. He was wearing a black tank top, so the wound was open to view.

"Well...it's not too deep, but we've gotta make sure it doesn't get infected..."

He ran into the driver's seat and emerged with a cigarette lighter. "This is going to hurt...a lot." He said frankly.

Ray nodded and looked away as Grant began cauterizing the wound. After he spanned the whole area, he grabbed the cooler which had been emptied of all of the moldy food and grabbed some ice and a bottled water from the cooler. He snapped open the bottle and poured it over the wound, creating a sizzling noise and a stream of steam.

"Alright, holding this ice on the wound until the pain dulls down..."

"Gracias...gracias hombre de Dios..." He spoke quickly, not that speaking any slower would have helped Grant understand the language he'd almost had no experience with.

"Lo sientos...ahem...I mean, uh, sorry. It's...the way I speak..."

The man was large and had an intimidating figure, but smiled large and sincerely, making him look like he wouldn't harm a fly. "I thought I was a goner for sure back there, but I was delivered by his messengers...thank you! Gracias! Thank you!" He wore the same large smile as he rested his hand on Paige's shoulder, then Steven's, then Grant's.

"Well, I'm thinking your arm should heal up okay as long as you wrap it up and change it every few hours..." Grant spoke, crossing his arms.

As they sat in the clearing, the sun hung lazily in the sky. "It's getting late." Ray spoke up, looking at the sky. "You all can stay at our camp for tonight. It's close by and you all really should find a safe spot to rest before it gets too dark. The sinners seem to want to roam freely once the lights go out."

Grant looked to Paige and Steven for a moment, unsure what they'd think before a thought occurred to him. "You keep saying 'sinners'...is that what you call the walkers?" He wondered aloud.

Ray looked surprised at the question. "Oh! ...I thought it was obvious...The zombie-like beings roaming the earth today are the damned...the lost...sinners. I'm sorry, but, I assumed everyone knew. It foretells it in the good book, you know." He looked at the three and leaned in, as if telling a secret. "We are living in the end of days..."

Grant just stood, smiling at the siblings' conversation until the mood turned more somber. "Right. All we have to do is out live the dead. I can't think of an easier thing..." He spoke sardonically as he nodded to the group, popped up the tailgate and jumped back into the driver's seat.

He slid open the window so that he could speak to Ray in the back and waited for Steven and Paige to find their spots before starting the engine again. Ray calmly directed them through the dirt roads and leading them deeper into the forested area, laughing and telling jokes every once in a while, just thankful to be alive.

As the group headed deeper into the forest, the sun seemed to struggle to peek through the trees above them. The birds were loud and the wildlife seemed unafraid to make noises, as if they'd found a little haven that the walkers hadn't quite noticed, although there didn't seem to be a real reason why walkers would ignore the area.

"Alla, por favor," Ray spoke with a small smile, pointing through the window, speaking to Grant. "That bridge will lead you the rest of the way. We've been staying at the church. A beautiful little white chapel. There are about twenty others. We've got a healthy community running and we'd be happy to help you all out!"

The truck wheeled around the curved dirt road and Grant slowed down as he looked closer at the bridge. It was rather long and seemed old but appeared perfectly sturdy as it supported the truck without any creaks. The bridge branched over a large ravine, over which there was a strong gushing stream.

"This place is...perfect..." Grant thought out loud, smiling softly. The church still wasn't in sight, but he sensed that it was just as peaceful as the rest of the forest. He had helped Paige find her brother, and now maybe he found a place for them to live happily until everything got sorted out.