Ep 2

 The Walking Dead: New York – Episode 2 – Between a Rock and a Hard Place  

"So about how many people do you have up here?" Angelina asks, as her, Audrey, Jeremy, and Virgil drive to the safe haven. "Not many, I'd say maybe 20? 25?" Jeremy responds. Angelina gasps. "That's amazing how you were able to save so many people and give them a real chance at survival."

"Yeah, it's what mom and dad would've wanted." Jeremy responds. "They took in Karen after she got pregnant while we were in high school. They had good hearts, always helping people." Angelina and Jeremy exchange a glance and smile, as the pick-up truck reaches a two-story farmhouse.

"Well this is it," Jeremy states, exiting the truck. Audrey, Angelina, and Virgil follow. "This is such a nice house." Angelina says, clearly sucking up to Jeremy, as they walk up the driveway and onto the porch. "Yeah, I know," he responds. "My grandfather built the thing. Raised my father in it, died in it, my father raised me in it." He pauses. "And then he died in it too."

Angelina puts her hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "The most efficient way of getting through tragedy is not letting it hold you down." Audrey rolls her eyes. The front door swings open, and a woman with curly brown hair walks out. She's pretty, but simple. Short and in her mid-twenties. She smiles. "You found some new recruits?" she asks Jeremy.

Jeremy steps away from Angelina abruptly and kisses the woman on the cheek. "Yeah. Karen, this is Angelina and Audrey. Virgil and I found them at Hoby's, they had nowhere to go." He says. Karen manages a small smile. "Well we're always eager to help those in need here."

Angelina shook her hand. "We can't explain how grateful we are for this. If it wasn't for Jeremy and Virgil, we probably would've been dead by now. I just-" Karen cuts her off. "Hold that thought sweetheart." She says, taking out a pistol from her pocket and shooting a zombie in the distance. Straight in the brain. She puts the pistol back in her pocket and smiles that innocent smile she has. Karen should not be crossed.

"Continue." She says. "Well I was just saying thanks, I guess for everything." Angelina stumbles on her words. Audrey nods. "We truly are grateful." Virgil rolls his eyes. "Call me when these girls develop interesting personalities." He says sarcastically, walking inside of the house. Jeremy laughs to himself.

"Well why don't you guys come in and meet the crew." Jeremy says ushering the other three inside with him.

As the enter through the front door, they step into a living room equipped with a television that probably no longer works, a sofa, a loveseat, and a piano. Four people sat here, probably a family. The older woman stood up. "Hi are you guys new here? Well, on behalf of everyone welcome to our gorgeous estate!" she says, cracking herself up. Audrey and Angelina manage nervous laughs.

"I'm Debbie Stachowski, this is my husband Mike, my daughter Marina, and my son Eric." She says, pointing to the other three people sitting down. Mike is tall and stocky. He looks like a typical dad. In his early-40s, wore a flannel, dad jeans, and was slightly losing his hair. Next to him is Marina. She was pretty. Very pretty. Probably around 17-years-old. She has blonde hair, like her mother, about down to her shoulders. She seems very uninterested in what was happening, just sitting there curling her hair on her fingers.

Then there's Eric. Eric sits on the floor, facing the wall. He has dark brown hair, reminiscent of his father. He seems distant, but in a different way from his sister. "I hope you have a great time here girls." Debbie says, as Audrey and Angelina walk into the next room, a kitchen.

A middle-aged Hispanic woman mixed something on the stove, while a younger girl stood by her side. "Claudia, this is Angelina and Audrey, they're new here." Jeremy said introducing them. Claudia turned and smiled. "Welcome, I'm Claudia Esperanza." She said before turning back around to the stove. Angelina noticed the little girl by her side. "Is this your daughter?" Claudia turned around again, getting annoyed. "No, Christina's my niece. Her mother isn't with us anymore. Now I need to get back to my cooking, it was nice meeting you girls." The little girl hid behind Claudia, almost as if she was scared of her shadow.

As they walked into the dining room they met up with four more people, a mother and daughter, and a father and son. "Danielle, Myra, Eddie, and Shane, this is Audrey and Angelina, Virgil and I found them this morning." Jeremy said to them. Danielle gave the girls a stink eye. "As if more mouths to feed is what we need." She said under her breath. Jeremy seemed to hear her but said nothing, as if he was used to this.

"I'm Myra," the older woman said, smiling. She tried getting out of her seat to give the girls a hug, but Danielle pulled her back down. "Mom, don't get up." Myra frowned, but listened to her daughter. An overweight man in his early-40s stood up from the table and shook the girls' hands. "I'm Eddie. This is my son Shane." Shane said nothing, instead he played with his fingers underneath the table.

"Shane, say hello to these nice young ladies!" Eddie yelled to him. "Oh it's alright, he doesn't have to." Audrey began to tell him. Shane looked up. "We-we-welcome." He said, stuttering, before turning his head back. Danielle stood up from the table and walked out into the backyard. As she walked away, Audrey noticed the butcher's knife in her back pocket.

<font face="Georgia">"Wait, I know you!" Audrey exclaimed, as Danielle turned around. "Oh, do you?" she asked sarcastically. "Yeah, you guys ran past our apartment in Greenwich Village this morning." Danielle ignored her and walked out the door. "Mom!" she screamed, as her mom followed her out.

<font face="Georgia">"We found them shortly before we met you guys. Danielle's a piece of work but Myra's the sweetest thing. She's suffering from Dementia so Danielle's super protective over her." Karen told Angelina and Audrey as they continued walking through the house and into the basement. There were a few people in the basement, probably around nine. Karen led the girls into the corner farthest away from the stairs.

<font face="Georgia">"Well, this is where you guys will be sleeping. If you need anything don't hesitate to contact me or Jeremy." She said, before leaving up the stairs. Next to them was a couple. The woman was angrily arguing in what seemed to be German, while the man seemed to be ignoring her. When she noticed Angelina and Audrey she stopped arguing and switched to English. "Are you guys new here? I'm Lena." She said smiling, in a thick German accent.

<font face="Georgia">The man next to her managed a smile also. "I'm Otto." He said, clearly being the better at speaking English of the two. "I'm Angelina, and this is Audrey." Angelina said, smiling as fake as can be. Lena seemed to catch on to her fakeness. "If you give me or my brother any shit, you're head's gonna roll." She says, standing up and then leaving the basement. "I'm sorry about my sister, she's kinda….crazy." Otto said, nervously laughing.

<font face="Georgia">"You guys are siblings?" Audrey asks. "We thought you were married or something." Otto laughs. "Nah, I've got my standards a little higher than that." He says, giggling. The girls laugh as well.

<font face="Georgia">Shane sat alone on the front porch, looking out into the distance. There was nothing. An empty road with one zombie roaming through it. He played with his fingers as he enjoyed the solitude. Suddenly, his train of thought was ruined. "Hey Shane." Marina said, sitting next to him. Shane looked at her. "Oh, um, hi, Marina."

<font face="Georgia">Marina smiled as she rested her head against Shane's shoulder. "So when do you think the government's gonna come rescue us?" she asks. "Um, I don't know." Shane says, clearly uncomfortable. Marina gets up. "Shane, why do you keep pushing me away? You're a teenage boy and a hot girl wants to sleep with you, what is your problem?!"

<font face="Georgia">Shane turns his head to look at her. "I don't know, alright. Just please leave me alone right now." Marina rolls her eyes and goes back inside, leaving Shane.

<font face="Georgia">Angelina and Jeremy sat together on a porch swing in the backyard, overlooking the small swimming pool. "I still can't thank you enough for taking me and Audrey in." she said to him. Jeremy smiled. "Well I mean what was I supposed to do?" He laughs. "Feed you to the zombies?" Angelina laughs as well. "You never know. This is New York, you gotta look out for yourself."

<font face="Georgia">"But here's the difference," Jeremy said. "You are from Manhattan. A cruel world where the only person people care about are themselves. I'm from Upstate New York, a land of forests where we still don't lock our doors because we have nothing to fear." Angelina smiled. "You do realize Westchester is barely Upstate. Try going to Rochester." Jeremy rolled his eyes. "And anyways. I'm not even from Manhattan. I'm from South Carolina."

<font face="Georgia">"Wow, so you definitely know what I'm talking about then, Little Miss Southern Belle." Angelina giggled. "I am definitely not a Southern Belle."

<font face="Georgia">"Then what are you?" Jeremy asked sarcastically. "Just your everyday slutty temptress." Angelina said, laughing. Jeremy laughed as well, before taking his shirt off. "What are you doing?" Angelina asked. Jeremy picked up Angelina in his arms. "You'll see."

<font face="Georgia">"Holy shit, Jeremy put me down!" Angelina screamed. Jeremy laughed. "Nah." Before Angelina could break free, Jeremy jumped into the pool with Angelina in his arms. "You prick!" Angelina yelled laughing, after coming up from air. She splashed him. Jeremy laughed also.

<font face="Georgia">Karen watched Angelina splash around in the pool with Jeremy from the kitchen window. "This boy's gonna end up killing me, Claudia." Claudia looked out the window as well. "You know he loves you Karen, he ain't gonna do anything with that skinny little redhead." Karen rolled her eyes. "I sure hope so. But who knows, I might have to do something I'll end up regretting later." She said as she took her pistol out.

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The End