The Motel

New chapter is live.

Settle in, take your time, and let's see what waits in the dark 🖤

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The convoy stopped by the road outside the motel.

Before the vehicles had fully settled, seven or eight walkers began shuffling toward them from different directions, their bodies twisting awkwardly as they moved.

Evan took the radio from Rick and opened the convoy channel.

"Clear the walkers first. Women, the elderly, and the kids stay in the vehicles until they're down."

"No firearms. Repeat, no firearms."

Guns were for emergencies.

Even out here in the suburbs, one shot could still draw a large number of walkers.

Evan jumped down from the fire truck with the Stone Sledgehammer dragging in one hand. He gripped the handle with both hands and swung upward.

The hammer slammed into a walker's jaw. The force lifted the thing half a yard off the ground.

It hit the pavement on its back, limbs jerking twice. Then the whole body went slack and collapsed again.

That one swing had broken the upper spine at the base of its neck.

The brain was still intact, so the walker was not dead, but it was paralyzed and unable to move.

"Holy shit!"

"Did Evan get stronger again?" T-Dog blurted.

He looked at Evan's Stone Sledgehammer, then down at the crowbar in his own hand, barely more than half a yard long and a whole lot less impressive.

For a second, he did not know whether helping would be useful or embarrassing.

An arrow cut through the air.

It sank straight into the disabled walker's skull.

Evan raised an eyebrow and looked back.

Daryl lifted his chin at him with an expression that said, you're welcome.

"Daryl, you absolute bastard."

Evan bit back a curse. Sometimes, having competent teammates was a pain all by itself.

Brains leaked down the arrow shaft. Evan shook his head and dragged the sledgehammer toward the remaining walkers.

Inside the red brute, Carl saw Evan and Rick both get out and immediately grabbed his Primitive Bow to follow.

Lori caught him by the back of the collar like she was handling a misbehaving kitten.

"Mom."

"I need to help them kill walkers!"

Carl struggled.

"Evan promised me he wouldn't let you get involved in that again," Lori said.

"If you want, you can ask him later whether he's going to side with you or with me."

She pulled Carl into her arms, flicked a finger lightly against his cheek, and looked very pleased with herself.

Some wounds needed the right medicine.

Once Lori learned that Evan had brought Carl back safely, her condition improved overnight, like the weather after days of rain. Today, not a single cloud broke the endless blue of the sky.

Evan's direct apology had helped too. His relationship with Lori had eased, though the anger from the week before had not vanished completely.

At the very least, after seeing the changes in Carl, Lori had accepted Evan as the boy's teacher.

When Lori looked up again, Rick was already standing outside the rear door and motioning to her.

"That fast?"

She was surprised. Had they finished in the time it took her to say a few words to Carl?

"You know who my teacher is, right?" Carl laughed at her expression, slipped out of her arms, and climbed down with the Primitive Bow on his back.

Rick helped Lori down after him.

Only when she saw the walkers sprawled across the ground did she really believe it.

Evan had spent his days moving through the apocalypse. Lori had spent most of hers circling camp. The difference hit her harder than she expected.

Especially when she saw how many of the walkers had crushed skulls.

It looked as if Evan had ground their heads into pulp.

Without realizing it, Lori felt a new kind of awe toward him.

It was not the fear she had felt when Evan threatened her directly. This was different.

She was relieved that someone as strong as Evan was on their side.

More than that, she was relieved he was not just a powerful idiot with muscles and no brain.

Purpose. Planning. Patience. Steady progress.

Evan made the camp better.

Lori's opinion of him rose again.

Watching him walk back with the hammer over his shoulder, she felt a level of safety she had never felt before.

With Evan around, maybe Rick and Carl really could be protected as much as this world allowed.

For now, Lori pushed the memory of Evan taking Carl away to the back of her mind, even though it had only ended yesterday.

Evan finished the last walker, shook blood from the hammer, and rested it on his shoulder.

As he approached, everyone gathered again beside the convoy.

Those who had stayed inside the vehicles let out their held breaths and helped one another down.

Evan met Rick's eyes and nodded. After checking that no one in the group had been hurt, he raised his voice.

"Thirty-minute break. Try not to go more than thirty feet from the convoy."

"You can rest inside the vehicles with the doors and windows closed, but do not lean against the outside."

"You can go fuel up, but at least three people go together."

"If there are no questions, eat something."

"We move again in thirty minutes. Rotate drivers this afternoon and keep your energy up."

Leaning against a vehicle was dangerous because vehicles looked safe while hiding too much. Undercarriages, windows, wheel wells, blind spots. A walker could come from any of them.

The odds were not high, but lives only came once. Carelessness only needed one chance.

Evan believed the people in front of him were smart enough not to feed themselves to walkers.

When he finished, he glanced at Daryl.

Daryl nodded without a word.

Together, they turned toward the motel.

"There are enough walkers wandering around here to suggest no one has looted this place yet," Evan said quietly. "Let's see what we can find."

"I know. You be careful too." Daryl's voice was rough and low.

Someone who did not know him might have mistaken the tone for irritation.

Evan knew better. Daryl kept the warmth buried deep, but it was there. He had always been tough.

Even among survivors, he was something rare.

The motel had two floors and at least forty or fifty rooms between them.

Evan stopped at Room 101. Daryl took Room 102.

They exchanged a look. At that distance, if anything went wrong, they could still cover each other.

They opened the doors at the same time.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Evan knocked hard several times, then kicked the door open.

He did not rush inside. He raised the Stone Sledgehammer and stood beside the frame.

A low growl came from within. A walker in ragged clothes lurched out almost at a jog.

The moment it saw sunlight, the hammer filled its vision.

One swing. Crushed skull.

[Experience +300]

The walker dropped.

At the same time, Daryl finished his side.

The crossbow made less noise than the hammer, and with Daryl's aim, one bolt through the forehead was enough.

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