"Let's get out of this room, eh?" Arthur said, walking toward the door. Jenner hesitated but followed his lead. Arthur guided him back to the group, where Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Hermione perked up immediately, seeing the two together.
"How was it? Is it confirmed?" Rick asked, his voice strained with desperate hope. Arthur sighed and slowly shook his head, a movement that caused them all to slump in their chairs as reality crashed down. Arthur then commanded, "I want you guys to fill in the group and better prepare our things."
Shane, however, lunged at Jenner, grabbing his shirt. "You motherfucker! How could you hide this from us, trying to take us with your suicide plan, huh?" Jenner, fueled by his own deep anguish, exploded. "I'm tired, man! So fucking tired! You think I wanted this? My wife offered herself as the test subject because she got bitten! I have to work all alone looking for a cure! It should've been me who got bitten, not her! I'm just a worker here; my wife is the one who heads the research, not me!"
Arthur placed a calming hand on Shane's shoulder. "Stop, man. It's better to focus on our route than fight with each other." He turned to Hermione and Rick. "Fill them in." Then, he sat down, grabbed his duffel bag, and placed it on the table, immediately pulling out rifle bullets and a speed loader for his revolver. After preparing the ammunition, he fastened a sling bag to himself, ensuring it was quick-access and wouldn't impede his movements.
Soon, the general idea was communicated to the group: the imminent explosion and the dire risk of the evolving outside world. They immediately started stripping the cafeteria of all food. Glenn and T-Dog helped prepare the bullets, efficiently filling magazines.
With only 30 minutes left until the explosion, they were all back at the entrance. They tried to break the reinforced glass. "That won't break easily; we need something that packs a punch," Arthur said, surveying the exit. The group knew they would need to make at least two runs to get all the gathered resources to the vehicles.
Carol immediately handed Rick a grenade. "I found this in your pocket," she said. Rick nodded, pulled the pin, and shouted, "Find something for cover!" Everyone scrambled. Rick released the grenade and dove for cover. Boom!
The glass shattered. Rick shouted, and they ran out, supplies in hand. "I won't go, I'm tired of running," Jacqui declared, staring at them. "Me too. I have no purpose left here," Jenner added. Arthur looked at them, then nodded at T-Dog and Shane. T-Dog lifted Jacqui, while Shane dragged Jenner. "No one gets left behind," Arthur said as he stepped outside.
Just as he was about to whistle for Ravenna, he heard three simultaneous roars. "Better move faster, guys," he shouted, immediately whistling. In a moment, Ravenna appeared from the tree line, galloping toward him. As she arrived, he quickly patted her mane. "Ravenna, girl, I know you miss me, but I want you to carry someone." He could hear many walkers approaching, some running, and the three volatile variants rapidly closing in.
As soon as all the resources were loaded into the cars and RV, Arthur rushed to Hermione, who hadn't boarded the RV yet. He handed her his duffel bag. "Ride Ravenna, they're close—about any second now." He kissed her forehead, then lifted her onto Ravenna's saddle. "You learn fast, didn't you? Adapt with Ravenna's rhythm."
"What about you?" Rick demanded, looking at Arthur. Before he could answer, a loud bang sounded as a bulky figure—one of the volatiles—appeared on an abandoned car, letting out a loud roaaaar. Arthur smoothly pulled out his S&W Model 500 and shot the volatile's head with precision, then dashed away from the group.
Rick, Daryl, and Dale, the drivers, immediately turned their vehicles. Amy shouted, "Why is Hermione riding his horse? Are we leaving him here?" As the cars sped away, Hermione's voice came from an open window. "To distract the variants! If he didn't, this RV would be ripped to pieces!" The group looked out the window and saw Hermione riding Ravenna—clumsy but rapidly improving and adjusting to her gallop, a worried look plastered on her face. The group went silent as they heard another series of loud gunshots—bang bang bang!
Arthur ran at full speed as the walkers slowly accumulated, being chased by the volatiles. 'Volatiles in the morning, how scary. Maybe because they haven't evolved...' He didn't even finish the thought when he was suddenly tackled by a Hunter variant. He aimed his revolver at its face, but the impact of the fall made his shot hit only the shoulder, momentarily freeing him. He scrambled to his feet but immediately bent back as a claw flashed past his face. 'What the heck? First volatiles, now a Hunter? What in Dying Light and Left 4 Dead is happening here?' He aimed his revolver at the volatile who nearly slashed his head off and emptied the last bullet in its cylinder into its head, blowing it apart like a watermelon.
Arthur holstered the empty revolver and grabbed the rifle on his back, but it was too late—the Hunter slipped away. He immediately turned to the nearing running walkers and shot each one in the head with his rifle before strapping it back on and running again.
Meanwhile, back with the group, a volatile managed to latch onto the back of the RV. Daryl shot at it with his Glock—bang—but only hit its shoulder due to controlling the car. "A variant managed to hitch a ride!" he shouted as the volatile turned its face toward Daryl's truck and let out a loud roaaar before jumping onto the hood of his truck. "Fuck, this shit can jump!" Daryl shouted. Andrea, Amy, T-Dog, Glenn, and the others in the RV flinched at the roar. They peeked out the window and saw the variant on the hood of Daryl's truck.
The volatile slammed its arm into the truck's front glass, shattering it, then attempted to grab Daryl, who leaned back, shooting his gun up at the hood—bang bang. Rick immediately skidded to the side and aligned his car with Daryl's truck. Shane leaned out the window with a shotgun and fired at the volatile—bang. The variant shielded its head with its arm, but the impact threw it to the other side of the hood, nearly causing it to fall off. Daryl saw the volatile's head framed in the broken window, aimed his Glock, and fired—bang. The bullet went through its mouth, but seeing it still alive, he yelled, "How durable is this shit?!"
Just then, a steel rod with a sharpened end pierced through the volatile's skull. Hermione, on Ravenna's back, shook the rod free, and the variant's dead body dropped to the ground, rolling away as they left it behind. Hermione shouted, "Fuck yeah, let's go Ravenna!" The adrenaline and the thrill of riding Ravenna at full speed momentarily overcame her fear. Daryl, Rick, Lori, and Shane were left dumbfounded by her sudden, decisive action.
Meanwhile, Arthur was in rough shape. "Huff... huff... All this running and losing the other volatiles and walkers, along with running zombies, is starting to take a toll on my stamina," he gasped as he jumped onto a railing and then scaled a two-story building. Suddenly, the Hunter who had escaped reappeared. Unable to dodge, its claws scratched his arm, and its other claw stabbed his back deeply. "Arghh, fuck, motherfucker!" he swore, dangling from the fire escape ladder. He flicked his right wrist—a blade appeared—and stabbed it into the Hunter's head just as it was about to bite his neck.
As the Hunter dropped, Arthur lifted himself and slowly climbed through a window. Seeing the room was clear, he immediately took off his bow, quiver, and rifle, then slowly shed his hooded robe. "Argh, shit, that hurts like hell," he muttered, lifting his bloodied beige shirt. He saw four holes near his left armpit oozing blood. Luckily, the claws hadn't pierced deep enough to affect his internal organs.
"Whew, that is the most tiring thing I've ever done since I transmigrated here," he sighed. He looked around and saw rows of alcohol on the shelves. He whistled, walked over, grabbed a vodka bottle, and poured it directly onto his shoulder and back wounds. "This might leave a scar... my first ever battle scars, I guess," he mused. After temporarily dressing the wounds with clothes shredded from his sling bag, he grabbed a whiskey bottle, opened the cap, and drank straight from it. "Ahh, that hit the spot," he said, gulping down the whiskey.
"Now then, how will I go to the group? With Ravenna with Hermione, I might have to look for a functional car or bike," he thought, going to his sling bag and beginning to reload his revolver and rifle. 'Five bullets for my revolver, eight for the rifle. I guess I'll have to use the bow to save the bullets in case I'm in deep shit.'
After resting and drinking, he put on his robe and strapped his bow and rifle back on. He also packed five bottles of whiskey into a backpack he found, making sure to pad them softly to prevent clinking. He slowly trekked back toward the highway they had driven on.
Checking every car, he finally found one that was functional and still had gas. He placed the backpack, rifle, bow, and quiver on the passenger seat, sat in the driver's seat, and started driving. As soon as he arrived on the open highway, he reached into the backpack, opened a whiskey bottle, and drank straight from it *boom* a loud explosion from the back echoed 'looks like CDC exploded' then continued drinking as he sped up casually, as if he hadn't just survived the most intense fight and chase of his life.