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next-autopsy · 2 days ago

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ahhhhhh its happening! can't wait for the girls to meet more of easy!!

Hello everyone! Lovely to see you all, hope the first month of the year is treating you well. I already exhausted lmao, so excited for the rest of the year. Also I'm back on track posting on a Saturday, no need for applause, I know I'm pretty great! Hope you all enjoy the next instalment of Momento Mori!!

Esra✨

Taglist: @malarkgirlypop , @mellow-human , @next-autopsy if anyone else wants to be added, please let us know!!

Chapter Twelve: The More the Merrier

Sam’s POV:

Somehow the lone party of one was now eight. Sam was fine travelling all by herself but the trouble seemed to have started once the friendly, all loving, all inclusive Mars arrived.

The group Mars first introduced her to seemed to be fine, she was more than capable of handling them. The men were mild mannered country boys who were respectful of Sam’s space and lack of communication skills.

She would’ve gone as far to say she had befriended the younger man, Shifty. Sam never felt uncomfortable around him and his knowledge of hunting and wildlife fascinated her.

However the newest group of Perco, Luz and Martin were a completely different story.

Luz and Mars were scarily alike. They had the same sense of humour, the same loud demeanour and the same endless energy.

And when Perco, Mars, and Luz were together, it was nightmare fuel, they were loud, rambunctious, idiots together. Seemingly forgetting the world they now resided in.

Martin seemed to be more reserved but when Perco and Luz wound him up enough he would also join in on the fun.

It wasn’t all bad though, seeing them get along so well while the world was falling apart seemed to lift the group's spirits. And having eight people in the group was actually pretty beneficial, although Sam would never admit that.

Eight pairs of eyes and eight pairs of hands went a long way when scouting, looting and looking for danger.

“Luz!” The younger girl squealed when George ran up behind her and poked her in her sides. The man laughed loudly at the blonde girl’s reaction.

“They seemed to be enjoying themselves.” Shifty commented from beside Sam, who rolled her eyes. They had been going on like this ever since they had met two days ago.

“Guys!” The older woman scolded the pair as they gave sheepish ‘sorry’s’ before elbowing each other in blame.

“Ah, go easy on them. They’re just having fun.” Bull clapped his large hand over Sam’s shoulder. But still she wasn’t impressed.

“Yeah, so much fun. And then someone falls over and we’re all doomed.” Bull chuckled at the blonde woman’s stubborn tone. Denver liked the girl, she was strong and dependable, she also looked after the younger girl with great care, even though she pretended she didn’t.

That seemed to be her MO, harsh and cold on the outside but with enough of a push she was kind and generous.

“How did we end up with two Marleen’s?” Sam massaged the lines from her forehead.

“You mean two George’s?” Martin joined the small group that hung back from the mischievous trio.

“Either way, they’re an accident waiting to happen.” Lip confirmed with a sharp nod of his head. The older group laughed amongst themselves.

—----------------------------------------

The group of eight had been walking for a day or two. They had enough supplies to last them a few more days in the forest and then they would need to venture out to another town to restock. But it was becoming harder to do with more mouths to feed, and hungry ones at that.

“Lights fading, I think we got an hour left of sun before it sets.” Shifty glanced up to the sky as he measured the time with his hand. “We should make camp.”

The rest of the group came to a halt dropping their heavy bags to the ground in relief.

“My shoulders.” Perco whined as he massaged his sore limbs with his palm.

“Get my back, I’ll get yours.” Luz jumped in front of the man. They both held each other’s shoulders whilst maintaining odd eye contact. They grunted, it was hard to tell if it was in pleasure or pain. But the sight made Sam uncomfortable.

Turning away she set up the tent as Mars hunted for wood. The shorter blonde cutely tagged along behind Bull, chatting excitedly as she went, seemingly forgetting her task and then every now and then she would remember and bend down to pick up a random stick.

Soon the fire was roaring and everyone sat around it with mildly full bellies, food was getting more scarce by the day.

Everyone was sharing stories over the campfire. It had become an odd ritual they all fell into.

Each member would share an account from their past, or a ghost tale, something to pass the time. Sam had always shared made up or scary stories, she had heard from others but never divulged into her own past. The rest of the group loved sharing history about their families and their lives beforehand. It was an odd way to get to know each other.

“Rumour has it the disease came from water.” Perco reported from across the fire.

Mars at that exact moment was halfway through her sip. Her eyes widened in panic, the young girl trapped the water in her mouth, stopping it from going any further down her throat.

She was just about to chuck her full water bottle across the space and project the water she had stored in her mouth out, when Sam’s hand landed on her knee before she could do anything.

Mouth ballooned with water Marleen turned to look at Sam who shook her head.

“Bambi, we’ve been drinking this water for days. I’m sure if it was tainted we would be mindless rabids by now.” The tall girl reassured her petite counterpart.

The young girl swallowed the liquid that she still had in her mouth, wiping the sides of her lips from any of the water that had escaped during that time.

“Right.” Mars agreed with Sam as she nodded her head.

“Yeah, no it’s not from bottled water. Word has it they did an experiment on a small rural town and put whatever chemicals they were using into the town's water source. And then they shut down their mains pretty quickly after it… got out of hand.” Perco shivered at the thought.

“It would only be their water supply that would have been contaminated.” Sam reassured the still tense looking Mars.

“Do you know where the town was?” Sam enquired further, but Perco shook his head.

“Nah, it’s only rumours I’ve heard in passing, so I have no idea if it’s true or not.” The group collectively sighed. They were completely isolated from the current events, but it appeared everyone was. With no means of communication there was no way for anyone to truly know what was happening in the world. They could only go from word of mouth.

“Wish my phone still worked.” The young blonde sighed. She was desperate to know how her family was fearing in this hard time. Mars wanted to let them know she was safe for the moment and to hold on for her return.

“You know my Dad called me every day.” The young blonde flashed her bright smile. Before it fell from her face and a heavy sigh left her lips, Sam quickly wrapped her arm around the young girl pulling her closer. The older girl gave a reassuring squeeze before someone else picked up the conversation that Mars had started.

“You alright, Bam?” Sam whispered down as the rest of the men talked amongst themselves. The younger girl already had tears forming in her eyes but that didn't stop her from nodding and giving Sam a tight lipped smile.

“What did he do?” The older woman prompted, seeing a hint of confusion on Marleen’s face, she explained, “Your dad, what did he do?”

“Oh!” The tears were forgotten and Mars’ eyes lit up with a sparkle of purpose, “He owned a hardware store- two actually. He was trying to turn it into a franchise. He looked after the first one in Adair- that’s where we grew up. And Rowan went to business school so he could run the other one, it was one town over in Bushnell but still close enough to come over every Sunday for dinner.”

Samantha let a small smile creep onto her face as she watched the girl's demeanour change. Mars went on about her weekly family gatherings and how she would get to spend time with her niece and nephew.

She explained how her mother moved to America from Spain when she fell in love with Desmond; her father. And how her Mum used to be a school teacher but retired and helped her dad with the garden section of their shop.

“He’s alive. They all are, I just know it!”

“Bam…” Sam’s smile had dropped, she didn’t want her friend to be filled with false hope. The likelihood that all of her family were alive was low.

“Yeah?” Marleen’s big wide eyes looked up at Sam. She faltered, pausing slightly, she looked to her side and made eye contact with the nearest male member of the group; Lipton.

The men had gone quiet while Marleen spoke of her kin and he had obviously been listening in, so when he heard Mars’ declaration and Sam’s hesitance, he looked up.

The look on Sam’s face must have been a questioning one as Lipton answered with a small shake of his head.

The older blonde was torn between being honest and probably hurting Marleen’s feelings or letting her have a moment of good.

“I’m-“ She started, but the childlike look in the shorter girls eyes had softened her, “I’m sure you’re right.”

———————

Leaving the forest had many pros and cons.

The biggest pro: Going into towns or houses and finding supplies. The biggest con: Being out in the open where there is more chance of running into humans or rabids.

But it was necessary, venturing into the nearby town of West Hickory was the group of eight’s big plan for the next few days. What could go wrong in only a day or two?

Sam was walking near the front next to Shifty, the pair navigating the group out of the forest and towards the township. Lip, Bull and Martin followed the leading duo side by side by side.

As usual, the troublesome trio were lagging behind and goofing off. Luz was teaching the other two some aimless game and once they got the hang of it, there was no stopping them. Giggles and laughs echoed through the otherwise silent team.

A scream rippled from the back of the group, causing everyone to pause their movements in shock. All heads whipped around to find the reason for the unexpected disruption.

It wasn’t a noise you wanted to hear in the middle of the apocalypse. The group rushed back to find the owner of the scream.

George and Mars stood, seemingly crowding around the other person who was on the floor. Perco lay on the ground groaning in pain.

“What happened?” Sam pushed her way in between Luz and Marleen. The young girl stood with her hands clasped over her mouth and a worried look on her face, Luz wore the same expression.

“We were just goofing around and Frank slipped.” Mars finally released her mouth from her grasp so that she could talk.

“Oh shit, I hope it isn’t bad.” George cringed looking down at his friend writhing in pain on the floor.

“Where are you hurt?” Lip asked as he knelt down by the man.

“My-” Perco started and then stopped again. The group that surrounded the man collectively lent in so that they could hear him.

“Your what?” Martin prompted the man.

“Uh-my…” But Frank refused to finish the sentence.

“My god man, spit it out!” Sam urged, she needed to know now whether or not she needed to put him out of his misery.

“MY ASS!” Perco yelped.

Everyone fell silent processing what the man had just said. There was a beat before the whole group was in hysterics. The short man seemed less than impressed.

“Oh yeah, laugh it up guys, real funny, ha ha. I fell over and hurt my ass, ok! It’s an actual problem!” Frank replied grumpily, but the group couldn’t hear him over their shared laughter.

“Oh damn, man that’s terrible.” Luz tried to comfort the man but he couldn’t get his shit together enough to string a coherent sentence.

“You’re all fucking children, you know!” Perco reprimanded his friends who laughed right in his face.

“That was your greatest asset.” Luz elbowed Martin who about doubled over at his stupid pun.

“To ease the pain in your butt I’ll grab you some ass-prin.” The man couldn’t help himself.

“I mean I’d make a joke about your rear, butt it’s too cheeky.” George doubled over in hysterics but the rest of the group's own laughter had died down, they all watched the man laugh far too hard at his own joke.

“Get it, rear!” But no one seemed to be in on his hilarious banter. “Oh come on, that was the best one!” Luz pouted, but his peers focussed their attention back onto the man who still lay on the ground.

“You’re gonna have to show us the damage.” Bull told Frank, who clutched his ass with both of his hands.

“No.” Perco shook his head. “That’s not necessary, see.” The man struggled to get to his feet only making it halfway up before cursing in pain and crumpling back to the floor.

“Fine.” Perco admitted defeat. “But the girl’s can’t see.”

All eyes fell on the two women who watched the man in concern. An aww fell from the younger’s lips, while the older shrugged.

“I didn’t particularly want to see your ass, Frank.” Sam grabbed the shorter girl by her shoulders and manoeuvred her away from the men.

The pair sat far enough away that they couldn't see what was happening but they could still hear it. Frank cursed wildly as the rest of the guys discussed their game plan.

It took an hour for the group to sort out his wound, they had little in the way of medical supplies. Bandages and a few steri-strips, they had nothing but water to clean the wound. From the sound of things it was a big injury.

“God, now there’s blood all over my pants. Thanks Lip!” Frank called in disgust.

“Well it’s your ass that won’t stop gushing, Perco!” The men continued to bicker between themselves.

Finally they had the wound semi-covered and had stopped the bleeding for the time being. Frank clutched onto the neck of Bull as he piggy backed him.

“Ladies, we're gonna need to find somewhere with medical supplies. I’m worried that it will get infected if we don’t stitch it up.” Martin informed the girls who were sitting on a nearby log waiting for everyone to be done.

“Next town is only a few miles away. We can get there by nightfall and stake it out from there.” Sam stood from her position with Mars jumping up by her side not long after. “Shifty and I can go ahead and make sure the path is clear, so we don’t have to worry about any more accidents.” Martin gave a curt nod before he called over his shoulder for the men to get ready to move out.

The group moved slowly, Bull carrying Frank on his back and the rest of the men carrying his belongings since he couldn’t do it himself.

“Shifty!” Sam called, turning around as she walked, he had dipped out of sight just before she turned to look for him. The girl went against her own rules and continued searching for the man as she travelled not facing the way she was going.

The woman met a solid wall. This is why she always followed her own rules. Sam turned examining the hard object she had collided with.

Her eyes widened as her gaze trailed up the structure. Though it wasn’t a structure, it was a man. Sam whipped her gun from her hip and pointed it directly between the eyes of the person who cockily glanced down at her.

“Who the fuck are you?” The words growled from her throat. She was good at menacing.

“I like a woman who can use her words.” Somehow the man’s smile grew even more smug. His hand came up to Sam’s face, his fingers so close to her cheek. She resisted the urge to shoot him right at the moment.

“Don’t touch me.” The blonde woman warned the stranger.

“You walked into me, Dollface.” Something about the way the pet name rolled off his tongue made her shiver. She didn’t like the unknown feeling that washed over her skin.

“Don’t call me Dollface, you creep. I will use this.” She gestured to the weapon she clutched tightly. Yet he didn’t flinch, his smile grew wider as his eyebrows raised.

“Feisty.” The tall man leaned forward ever so slightly, as if he was testing whether or not she was bluffing.

“Lieb.” A stern voice came from behind the man. At the same time the rest of the group finally found their way to Sam. They stopped short behind her assessing the show down she had found herself in.

Shifty fell into stance beside her, his own weapon raised.

A man came into view, tall with jet black hair and stubble across his chin.

“Ah, the boss is calling. Nice talk, sweetheart.” The man reached forward to tap his fingers under Sam’s chin, but stopped when Shifty’s gun turned to him.

The stranger threw his arms up in mock surrender before he sent a wink to Sam, then turned and walked away.

“Sorry about him, he doesn’t listen to simple commands.” The end of the statement seemed to be aimed towards the man as he walked back to the older looking gentlemen.

“You can lower your weapons, we aren’t here to fight you.” But Sam didn’t budge. “You’re right. I‘ve given you no reason to trust me.” The man spoke to the tall blonde, a smile grew on hip lips.

“Speirs.” The man gestured at himself. “You met Liebgott, I have two other men with me.”

And just like that two guys appeared from the bushes. It made Sam’s stomach turn, if something was to go wrong with the first interaction those men were lying in wait. She narrowed her eyes at the group of four.

“Tipper and Grant.” Speirs introduced his men.

“You can be on your way then.” Sam spoke harshly. They had picked up enough strays, she also wasn’t going to look behind her for the group vote, this was her decision.

“I think we found you just in time.” Lieb said arrogantly, “Looks like you have a casualty.” He gestured his head back at Perco who still clung onto Bull’s back.

“Why would you offer us help, we haven’t given you anything.” Shifty now spoke from her side. Sam was glad she wasn’t the only one who found this situation fishy.

“You can offer us something.” Speirs replied. Sam’s eyes narrowed even further.

“Sam.” Martin called from behind her. “Perco isn’t looking too good. We need their help.”

The tall blonde ground her teeth together. There was no way she was asking for help from these men.

“Samantha.” Bull’s voice was stern, the girl still hadn’t lowered her gun.

“Fine.” The older girl huffed and finally relented, flicking the safety back on and statshing her weapon on her hip.

“How can we help?”

HEHEHEHEHE ok so let me know all your thoughts, do we like the introduction? More BOB men you're welcome! Poor Perco and his pesky ass wound, classic BOB men if I do say so myself! AHHHHHH I'm so excited for the next chapter! Love you guys!

Esra✨