Battle Across The Omniverse

Jayr POV - Earth, Georgia, Atlanta's Survivor Camp - 2010 

After Rick's shout, the other survivor in the camp lower their weapons and their guard a little, and shortly after they have calmed down, Rick invites us into the camp where he starts to introduce us to the rest of the group, "Guys, these are the people I was talking about a few moments ago, the ones that saved my life. Morgan Jones and his son Duane, who are the first people I met after waking up from my coma, and Jayr Pucci, the young doctor that took care of me."

Then after introducing us, Rick quickly and briefly introduces the group to us. 

At the same time, I take advantage of this moment to take a closer look at the people present here and notice that there are around 30 people here, but while I don't recognize most of them, some are just like Morgan, Rick, and Duane, as they too look very similar to the actors that portrayed them in the TV show making it easier to notice and identify them.

One of those people is obviously Shane Walsh, a tall and buff Caucasian man with black hair and brown eyes who is looking at me with a gaze that tells me that he is evalutating if we are a threat to the group or not. 

(Image Here - Shane Walsh)

He is Rick's best friend and the current leader of this group of survivors, a brother from another mother, the one that kept his family safe while Rick was in a coma, and that unfortunately is at the moment in a quite awkward situation. 

The reason for that is that while keeping Lori and Carl alive he developed feelings for Lori and as they both thought Rick died they started a relationship and as a result of that, he ended up getting her pregnant.

Thinking of that, I immediately focus on Lori Grimes, a Caucasian woman in her 30s with long brown hair and hazel eyes.

(Image Here - Lori Grimes)

She is Rick's obnoxious and hated wife, considered a dumb drama queen by most of the people who have watched the TV show.

I admit that she is a bit difficult and demanding and the decisions she made throughout the series weren't exactily stellar, in fact, she made quite a few dumb ones, especially in how to handle the Rick/Shane situation, but what people often forget is that she was a pregnant woman and the hormones produced by the pregnancy strongly affected her mental state, if in addition to that, one also considers all the pressure and distress that the outbreak of the virus that caused the end of the world can cause to a person then it becomes a true recipe for disaster.

While looking at both Lori and Shane, I can barely hold myself back from frowning while thinking, 'To tell the truth, I can't find any big fault in their actions. I mean from their point of view Rick died, in fact, seeing the situation he was in, he should have died, the only reason he is alive is the miracle called plot armor. On one hand, Shane kept Lori and Carl alive throughout everything that happened and it is somewhat expected that Lori, who relied on Shane, the best friend of her "late" husband, a man she knew quite well and trusted, a man that kept her and her son safe and became a second father figure for him, developed feeling for him. On the other, I clearly remember Shane admitting that Lori and Carl became the reason to keep living despite how crazy the world became, that when he was about to give up they were the ones that kept him sane and saved him. With all those factors behind their actions, their "affair" is understandable despite how quickly it developed, it is just that after Rick returned, Lori dealt with the situation in the worst way possible and turned Shane and Rick against one other... Should try to do something about this before it is too late, especially since both Rick and Shane are still good men.'

While thinking that, I focus on Lori Grimes some more and sense her breath, shortly after, I notice that there are already a few signs of her prengnacy as she is starting to breathe more deeply than any of the other people present here, inhaling and exhaling a greater amount of hair as the hormone progesterone increases the lung capacity enabling her to carry more oxygen to the baby and get rid of waste products such as the carbon dioxide that both the mom and the child produce.

At this point, I stopped focusing on her while thinking, 'There is no point worrying over this for now. I'll try to help them overcome this problem with as little loss of life as possible.'

Shortly after thinking that, I quickly move on to the kid talking with Duane, he is a young boy with short brown hair like her mother and blue eyes like his father, he is Carl Grimes, Rick and Lori's son.

(Image Here - Carl Grimes)

After a brief look at the young Carl, my gaze lands on the Korean-American young man with black hair and eyes, he is Glenn Rhee, the man that made me yell, "Oh fuck! No! Not Glenn! You fuckers!" when he died in the series.

(Image Here - Glenn Rhee)

He is one of the most competent survivors and loved characters of this group thanks to his quick thinking and danger awareness, moreover, he is bright, loyal, and resourceful.

For sure, I will try to make sure that he will survive until he will simply die of old age instead of being brutally killed by a zombie or some other psychopath.

After Glenn, I look at the impatient and upset redneck Caucasian man with very short brown hair, blue eyes, facial hair on his lip and chin armed with a crossbow. 

He is the man, the myth, the legend, the only one, Daryl Dixon.

(Image Here - Daryl Dixon)

If I can bet on only one person surviving until the end among these people, I will without any hesitation bet on him.

Daryl is both physically and mentally strong, he is often surly and very resourceful, but his compassion and loyalty towards the people he cares about and earned his respect are second to none as he will literally go through hell to rescue and help those he cares about.

After Daryl, I focus my attention on another important person in this universe, the meek, abused, wife turned badass, ruthless, cookie cooking commando, who offers you homemade cookies the minute before she puts on her war paint and wipes out an enemy settlement on her own Rambo-style.

I'm, of course, talking about Carol Peletier, she is a timid and quiet Caucasian woman in her 40s with short gray hair and blue eyes.

(Image Here - Carol Peletier)

She is holding her daughter Sophia close to her as if trying to hide and shield her from our sight with her body, a behavior that makes me quickly deduce that this isn't the first time she has done something like this and knowing what piece of shit her husband is, I can deduce that he was likely already very violent before all this happened.

Sophia is a young girl around Carl's age with strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes and she is for sure one of the people I'll be more careful with as I wish to prevent the fate that the character in the TV show went through to also happen to her.

(Image Here - Sophia Peletier)

Regarding that waste of genetic material that is Carol's husband and Sophia's father, I only needed to give him a quick glance to know everything I need to know about him, and let's just say that if someone has to actually die in tonight's walker attack, that someone is going to be him. 

I clearly notice the sick way he is looking not only at the other women in the group but also at his own daughter Sophia and that Latino American little girl and that is more than enough for me to make sure that he won't live past tonight and that his remaining time will be full of suffering.

While quickly planning the death of the abusive piece of shit, I move my gaze to the Latin American family composed of four people, the Morales family, composed of the parents Juan and Miranda Morales, and the two children, one is a young girl around Carl and Sophia's age whose name is Eliza, while the other is a young boy named Louis who is one or two years younger than his sister.

(Image Here - Morales Family)

If nothing changes the Morales family is going to leave the group after tonight's walker attack but I remember seeing somewhere that the outcome of this decision isn't any good as Miranda, Eliza, and Louis will end up dead, so to avoid that I'll try to make them change their mind and remain with the group.

After the Morales family, my gaze quickly moves on to a buff African American bald man in his mid 30s with hazel eyes and a serious expression on his face, he is T-Dog.

(Image Here - T-Dog)

From what I have seen in the TV show, he is a kind, selfless, and quiet man willing to fight for his allies, he rarely speaks, but will add his input when serious matters arise, he is also somewhat clumsy, but is ready to protect his group from threats or dangers whenever possible even at the cost of his life, overall, he is a good man and one that can be trusted will do the right thing when needed.

Shortly after looking at T-Dog, my gaze moves toward a pair of sisters, both have blonde hair and blue eyes but they have a distinct difference in both age and attitude. 

The older one is Andrea Harrison, she is in her mid 30s and is clearly a strong, cautious, and brave woman, and from her body language, it is clear that she also is extremely protective of her younger sister. 

(Image Here - Andrea Harrison)

Meanwhile, the younger one is Amy Harrison, she is in her 20s and is a kind, impetuous, and cheerful woman, she is also objectively very beautiful, but other than that, I don't have any other knowledge about her as in the TV show she died pretty quickly as she was bit and killed by a zombie and the corpse was then shoot by her grieving sister Andrea shortly after she turned.

(Image Here - Amy Harrison)

Then my gaze moves to one of the less known members of this group, I only know him as Jim and he is a tall Caucasican man with short dark brown hair and eyes and a full beard.

(Image Here - Jim)

Despite being one of the less known and revelant people in this group of survivors, he is probably one of the most useful people present as he, just like Morgan, was a mechanic before the zombie apocalypse started and thanks to that experience he is able to jury-rig all vehicles and electrict appliance that we may need in future, a skill that shouldn't be underestimated in such harsh setting as the post-apocalytic one in this universe.

After Jim, my gaze moved to the African American woman in her 40s with curly short black hair and dark brown eyes, she is Jacqui, a cautious woman who looks at the best of every situation, regardless of its flaws.

(Image Here - Jacqui)

From what I have seen in the TV show, she is very resourceful, smart, and helpful but unfortunately, she decided to suicide when she thought that all hope was lost as she didn't want to die bit by a zombie like Jim or Amy nor she wanted to continue struggling.

In the end, my gaze lands on the last of the important person in this group of survivors, Dale Horvath, an old Caucasian man in his mid-60s with short white-grey hair, light brown eyes, and a full beard.

(Image Here - Dale Horvath)

Dale's age, calm experience, and RV provide the nucleus around which this small community of survivors formed. 

In the TV show, he is shown to be honest, reasonable, and protective, sometimes profound, and is the elder of the group, though is also rather feisty, not afraid to speak his mind and call others out for mistakes in judgment. 

Without any doubt he serves as "the moral compass" of the group in fact, it isn't a coincidence that after his death Rick and the others' methods became more cold and ruthless. 

Shortly after Rick introduces us to the rest of the survivors in the camp, Lori quickly restarted the discussion about Rick's journey in the city to recover the bag of weapons and rescue Daryl's brother trying to use the fact that I and Morgan are present in the camp to make him desist, but Rick is steadfast on his previous decision saying that he still can't let a man die and that the group still needs the weapon in the bag to defend themselves and at this point, Lori can only reluctantly accept.

After they have reached a consensus, Rick takes care of the last preparations for their journey into the walker-infested city.

He and T-Dog cut a deal with Dale for a set of bolt-cutters to cut the chains on the door to which Dale agrees but in exchange, he wants one of the guns Rick intends to collect, while Jim wants to be able to strip the cube van for parts that they can use for the old RV when they get back and Rick doesn't hesitate to agree to both of their requests. 

Shortly after that, Daryl beeps the cube van's horn and calls Rick out inciting him to hurry up and as he moves toward the vehicle, Shane stops him and asks if he has any bullets left for his gun. 

Hearing Rick's negative response, Shane then gives Rick the last of his bullets for his revolver noticing the fact that there are 4 bullets left just enough for four people in case the situation turns very dire which makes Shane and Rick pause a little before Rick takes the bullets, thanks his friend, and gets in the passenger seat before he loads his gun.

At this point, before the group departs, I decide to give them some quick but crucial tips to help them survive since without my Cosmic Awareness, I don't actually know where Merle currently is and the only things I know for sure is that he has likely already escaped by cutting off his hand and that he is likely going to be saved by the people of Woodbury.

I walk toward the cube van and tap on the passeger seat's window making Rick lower the window and ask, "What do you need, doc?" followed by Daryl's upset voice as he complains, "Come on! We don't have any more time to waste!"

I smile and say loud enough so that everyone in the van can listen, "I just want to give you guys a few tips that may help you survive. First thing, if it is absolutely impossible for you guys to avoid close contact with the walkers and are about to be bit, no matter what do everything possible to at least use one of your arms as a last protection because if you bit in a limb and cut it off quickly enough, and take care of the bleeding, you'll be able to avoid being "turned" into a walker and can still survive."

After saying that, I don't give them any time to digest that and add, "Another thing, I'm not sure you have noticed, but walkers don't attack other walkers and they find their prey through mostly smell and sounds. This means that if you can mask your scent and are quiet you can walk among them unnoticed."

Hearing that, Rick nods and says, "Yeah, we noticed that. We made use of a walker's guts to mask our scent and escape a difficult situation... but it didn't work so well because it started to rain washing away the scent."

In response to Rick's words, I nod and explain, "Yes, that is one way to do it, but as you said, it isn't very reliable. Moreover, it can also be very dangerous as if the fluids of the walker touch a sensible part like the eye it can become damaged, and if it enters your body you can even become infected and turn you into a walker. There is a less grisly way to mask your scent and that is by bringing some inoffensive walkers with you to use their scent to mask yours. To make a walker inoffensive you have to simply cut off its arms and jaws which will make them a lot tamer since they have no offensive means which in turn will restrain their agreesive instincts. After that, you just have to tie a couple of those "tame" walkers so that they don't get too far away from you and be quiet."

Hearing that, Daryl can't help but loudly ask, "Wait! You mean zombie pet!? Something as ridiculous as that works!?" 

In response, I nod and say, "Yes, it works, I have already used it before. Of course, such a method is only effective if it is used by a small group of people. And more importantly, if you have the time and patience to move at a walker pace."

Shortly after receiving my tips, Daryl drives the van out of camp and the group watches as they exit the campsite, at the same time, I notice Lori dragging Carl into their tent very likely to reassure him that nothing is going to happen to Rick. 

Once Rick's group is gone, the survivors in the camp resume their normal activities while Shane takes us to a quiet area and says, "Once again, welcome to the camp. Since Rick has guaranteed for you personally, you are free to move however you like around the camp, but before I let you go, I'd like to know what are your intentions. Are you going to leave the camp? Are you going to stay?"

In response to Shane's question, Morgan shrugs his shoulders and says, "While I want to search for a safe place where my son can grow up. I think that for the moment I'll follow whatever doc decides to do. Even if I have known him only for a couple of days, that time I spent with him was more than enough to earn my trust and respect."

Shortly after Morgan said that Shane focused all his attention on me and I simply explained, "Well, for the moment we'll remain at the camp, but I plan to head to the C.D.C. in the near future and make use of its facilities to see if I can help find and create a cure for the thing that is causing all this."

Hearing that, Shane's eyes open wide as he asks, "You think you can find a cure for whatever is causing all this!?" which makes me answer, "Well, I can't be sure until I actually try but at the very least I'll put my best effort in trying to fix this."

Shane looks in deep thought as he is digesting my words and mutters, "I see..." before he snaps out of it and says, "Well, as I have said before for what you have done for Rick you are welcome to stay in the camp for as long as you wish. Now, if you excuse me, I have to teach Carl how to catch some frogs."

Shortly after excusing himself, Shane leaves us alone and Morgan looks at his back and mutters, "He seems like a good guy... only he is a little bit too intense."

Hearing that, I sigh and say, "Well, he feels responsible for what happens to everyone in the camp and he has been likely protecting them since this whole world-ending crisis started..." 

Morgan nods and mutters, "You may be right..." while I'm thinking, 'In addition to that there is also the fact that he has to deal with the joy of having his best friend return from the dead and the distress that your lover is leaving you for another even if that other person is your best friend... overall, he is in a shitty situation, and what is worse is that it isn't like he is without faults. Because of all that, there is a dangerous mix of emotions running all over his being.'

After that, Morgan and I return to the camp where Morgan decides to help Dale and Jim with fixing the RV while I head to the quarry to wash my dirty underwear after all, the rule #14 of Zombieland, "Always Carry a Change of Underwear," is also very important, especially when I can't use my Spiral Cosmo to clean myself and my clothes in an instant or materialize clean ones out of nowhere. 

In the quarry, as I inmerge my spare underwear in the water, I see that Shane and Carl are trying to catch frogs with a bucket and net. 

Suddenly I hear Carl complain, "I'm not getting anything." which makes Shane sigh and comment, "Yeah. Being all wily, staying submerged. Little suckers, they know something's up. That's what's going on. Just going to have to do this the old-fashioned way." before he starts to walk into the water and explain with a smile on his face, "All right, little man, look. You are the… you are the key to all this, okay? All I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go after one of them, all right, scare the rest of them off. They're all gonna scatter. I'm gonna drive 'em your way, okay?" 

In response, Carl raises his net, nods, and says with a big smile on his face, "All right." before Shane asks, "What you need to do is you need to round up every bad boy you see, all right?" to which Carl replies with "Yeah" then Shane asks again, "Are you with me?" making Carl nod and shout, "Yeah." 

At this point, Shane exclaims and makes a funny angry face while, "Hells yeah. Give me your mean face." 

Carl immediately imitates Shane's funny face as the man asks, "Are you ready?" making the boy reply, "Yes sir." 

Hearing that, Shane seriously gazes at the water in silence with a bucket in his hands, before he makes it look like he slipped and fell into the water before he starts splashing the water around making Carl laugh as he shouts, "All right, they're coming your way. They're coming your way. Go on, get 'em, get 'em. They're coming your way, come on. Catch them frogs. Catch them frogs. They're coming, little man! Get 'em! Get that net in there and get 'em!"

Seeing that scene I can't help but smile a little while thinking, 'I have to give it to him... Shane is very good with the kids. Through this interaction alone I can clearly see just how important is Carl for him.'

At the same time, I see that on the nearby shore Carol, Jacqui, Andrea, and Amy are doing the laundry and Jacqui that is carrying a basket full of dirty clothes complains, "I'm beginning to question the division of labor here." making Andrea agrees whole heatredly.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Shane continues to splash water around while Carl is immerging the net in the water as he continues to yell, "They're coming, little man! Get 'em! Get that net in there and get 'em! What have you got, bad boy? What do you got? What do you got?" 

Hearing Shane's question, Carl pulls up the net from the water and looks at the content before he comment disappointed, "Dirt." which makes Shane sigh, "Oh boy." before he gets up and cheerfully says, "All right, we've got to start over. Come on, let's find this bucket." making Carl laugh cheerfully at his silly acts.