Letting strangers into our home sounds scary. You expect the worst from these people. You don't know them and don't know what they're thinking.

  But if you look at them begging for your help and a safe place to sleep in, refusing feels so inhumane. So what's the perfect middle between being cautious and human?

  There is none.

  _____________________________________________

  ~The Night

  The group went after the blind man and saw that he lives alone in an old house in the mountains with no real connection to the world outside.

  But no one talked to him since everyone was tired.... Barely walking in hope to finally fall asleep in a comfortable bed or at least a place where they can close their eyes without being attacked by a deadhead.

  As they arrive, most don't even examine the house with their eyes. They all go towards it and throw their stuff in a corner.

  While everyone was asleep on some beds or couches, one person just couldn't sleep. That was Niklas.

  He was staring at the roof and had been trying to close his eyes for an hour already with no luck.

  He couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried, and that's because he was not able to stop thinking....

  But there the blind man is. Sitting on the balcony of his house while breathing the fresh air and listening to the sounds of nature... Of birds singing and flying around, of the water of the Bodensee creating small waves because of the wind, and of some steps coming closer from behind.

  Niklas walks out and sits next to him, doing the same there.

  Blind man: You're still awake? How odd.

  Niklas: Yeah... I can't sleep. I need to think about everything that happened today.

  Blind man: That's how it is... Your group will leave tomorrow.

  Niklas: Of course we will. We've got somewhere to go.

  Blind man: Good. I didn't have to do this. You're their leader. Not me.

  Niklas smirks and puts his face in his hands.

  Niklas: I'm not.

  The blind man turns to him, giving Niklas the feeling like he sees him.

  Blind man: The one giving orders or making decisions is the leader. It doesn't matter if you want to or not. You just are.

  Niklas sighs.

  Niklas: I don't want this responsibility. I'm not able to be a leader.

  Blind man: How many people did you lose today?

  Niklas: None.

  Blind man: Then you are a good leader.

  Niklas: Thanks... It's nice to meet you, by the way.

  Blind man: My name is Frank.

  Niklas: Nice to meet you, Frank. I'm Niklas.

  It gets quiet again, and both just sit and have their heads turned towards the lake. A beautiful one. As large as a sea.

  The wind blows cold air through the hair of Niklas, so he just looks at it, trying to enjoy it and calm down after everything he was forced to endure today.

  Niklas: I... miss the old world.

  Frank: I don't. It wasn't much different for me. Maybe for you it was.

  H...where are you all going tomorrow?

  Niklas: Some fella... He said that he knew a place. Belonged to his father. A safe haven nearby.

  Frank: I knew the father. Died a very brutal death. Some teenagers went to his farm, and let's just say... it didn't end well for him.

  I just don't know his past. So good to know that he's with y'all. I thought he'd go crazy after that, but it seems like he didn't.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Niklas: Jason is quiet, but I didn't expect that backstory. Thanks for telling me.

  Frank: Don't worry. We all got our own backstories. We should just never let those control our life.

  You got one, son?

  Niklas: We all got some... We all did. Not as awful as Jason's, at least.

  Frank: Yes... maybe.

  Niklas: You?

  Frank: It's already late.

  Now you should sleep. There's a long day ahead of you all.

  Niklas smiles and goes to bed with calm breathing and a relaxed state, but with a question mark lingering in his thoughts. But he just met him. He shouldn't dive too deep into the past of Frank.

  The blind man stays there for a few hours till he also joins the group to sleep through this night.

  _____________________________________________

  ~ The next morning

  The group takes their gear and prepares to leave the house. To go to the destination provided by Jason.

  While the others are packing, Niklas walks towards Frank.

  Niklas: So... we're leaving.

  Frank: I know.

  He doesn't add anything to the sentence, as if he wouldn't care. As if he wanted to be left alone... Or at least thought that this would be better.

  Niklas: We will need to go... So thank you for your words yesterday.

  Frank: Don't... Just be the leader they need. Thank you for not demolishing my house.

  He laughs a bit before going to his garden to take care of his plants

  The group takes their stuff and gets on their way to leave and reach the safe haven they are wishing to find.

  Kai walks alone in the back, still remembering his hallucinations in the boats and feeling his doubts about himself lingering in his head. Maybe he's really too dangerous or too angry. He doesn't know... He already attacked someone from the group before.

  Niklas walks forward, feeling better after his conversation with Frank, even though it was a very small one. One that everyone else would forget after a few minutes, but he doesn't.

  Ben breathes in the fresh air and enjoys the beauty of the nature, listening to the birds singing their own songs, which bless his ears and make him feel as if he's in the shire from LOTR where the Hobbits live.

  Jason walks next to Niklas in the front, acting a bit strange and nervous. Probably since he'll return to the place, which reminds him of his dead father.

  Chris stays silent and already feels nervous, since he fears getting attacked by a group of deadheads, which will try to kill him. His left hand reaches into his backpack, trying to touch something, only to realize that he left what he wanted to touch at Frank's house. He's too scared to say anything, so he just stays quiet about this topic.

  And there is Octavia walking in the middle, not even knowing what's going on here. It all happened so fast that it just feels like a little nightmare. A group full of men she doesn't know except Ben and a world full of monsters trying to eat every single person alive. There really couldn't be a worse situation for Octavia. At least she still got a few packages of Ricola with her.

  After a few hours, Niklas feels water dropping on his body, with a time interval that just gets shorter and shorter every second.

  He looks at the drops falling into the lake, and it only reaches a higher amount. The sun disappears, and grey clouds fill the sky, not letting even one shine pass through them.

  The sounds are calming and make everyone feel at ease but activate a fear within anyone, because if deadheads attack during a heavy storm, then it will for sure end badly for everyone here.

  Niklas runs towards Jason with the hope that Jason can give the answer Niklas would like to have.

  Niklas: How long?

  Jason: A... around 3 hours, I guess.

  Niklas sighs, and suddenly his doubts appear again. What will he do now?

  Keep going? Find a shelter? Or even say nothing and refuse to have any leader role in this group. He doesn't know....

  He scratches his scalp through his brown hair and tries to get an idea, while the rain just gets heavier and heavier.

  They're all standing nearby the Bodensee, where a few abandoned houses are further away from the lake.

  They keep walking, and just as Niklas is about to make a decision, a group of deadheads appears from the buildings next to them.

  Chris directly panics, like on command, and falls into the lake, where he's about to drown because of his fear.

  His heartbeat quickened, and his breathing was at a peak, where it had never been before. His arms swing around in the water like frantic oars, thrashing against the waves in panic.

  Ben and Jason rush down to help him, while Kai grabs his bat, ready to let out all of his anger again on those deadheads, just the way he did before. Niklas and Octavia also take their weapons in their hands, whereas Octavia takes her crossbow out again and shoots a few of those deadheads. Keeping distance is the smartest way to act with those bite machines.

  Kai just jumps into the horde and starts slaughtering one after another, as if he's a butcher killing animals in order to create food out of them.

  His black hair gets wet due to the blood of those monsters and almost achieves a red color. His eyes start seeing red, and he fights like a barbarian.

  Niklas: Stay all calm and together! Don't!

  He screams in a hopeless try to fix this situation, knowing damn well that it won't work out.

  Meanwhile, Jason and Ben are already in the water, trying to save Chris, who beats them as a reaction because of the panic, which controls his brain as if he's infected with it. The water splashes around him, and his hands land on the faces of either Jason or Ben... till they land on a deadhead, which grabs his arm in the water.

  Chris: Help! Help!

  Chris's eyes show a fear that can only be seen in horror movies portrayed by actors as he screams for help in agony.

  Jason takes out a knife and kills the deadhead quickly, just before another one appears and grabs the other hand of Chris, who starts crying, even though it's impossible to see this because his head moves around in such drastic movements that both Ben and Jason stop even trying to talk to Chris.

  Kai would've punched him.

  _____________________________________________

  ~ Meanwhile at the house of Frank, the blind man

  He walks through his house and stumbles upon a backpack, which was forgotten by Chris. As Frank touches it, he doesn't feel the usual rough area of a backpack but a material so soft it makes his hand stay there a little bit longer. As his hand moves up, he feels a little hard dot and two more. He feels two ears, two arms, and two legs.

  A teddy bear...

  "Isn't he too old to have one?" He thinks to himself.

  Frank ignores it and walks to his bed, where he touches a fabric, which he keeps with him every day. The only thing he has left.

  Of him...

  He doesn't have a photo, because it's worth nothing when he's not able to see it, but the fabric is worth something, because it was his and he's able to feel it. To imagine, even just for one second, as if he's nearby.

  He loved animals and took care of them more than anyone else in the world. After all, these animals loved him.

  Wasn't there a guy he heard talking in the group who also liked animals? Bet..Bef....Berry? No... It was Ben.

  Seemed like the best guy in this group even if Frank didn't exchange a single word with him...

  But there it is... Frank walks on the balcony again and feels rain droplets falling on his scalp, his arms, and even his beard.

  If a storm starts, the group will most likely die on their way to this "safe haven" they were talking about before.

  But they're not his. They shouldn't matter to him, and he knows it, but there it is. The uncertainty controlling him...

  Not making a decision is a big decision, and it's as clear for him as the sky is when the clouds are gone.

  So what was he supposed to do now? He already gave them a place to sleep in before. That was enough and a kind gesture already.

  But those were mostly just teenagers trying to find a safe place to live in after this world went downhill.

  He knows that the chances to survive for them even a few days more are minimal, and he knows the way to the place... Knows what can be rebuilt there, knows how to take care of it, and knows how to protect it.

  It was time to decide...

  _____________________________________________

  The situation, meanwhile, with the group becomes more and more drastic.

  They came out of nowhere, and trying to help a panicking Chris out of the water just seems impossible. It's like he's asking to be left there, just to drown to death and get eaten by one of those deadheads in the same moment. A combination of two different pains.

  But after minutes of fighting, of dragging, of screaming, and of crying, Jason and Ben manage to get Chris out.

  In that exact moment Niklas tells everyone to run forward and run away from these deadheads.

  The group manages to outrun them but is now so exhausted that another step might break a bone in their body.

  Everyone falls down to the ground, coughing and breathing heavily. Even Kai can't manage to show anger, because he's so tired. "Good for him," some would say.

  Niklas is just in pure shock, knowing very well that he has almost lost everyone and failed in a position he never wished to have.

  Ben and Jason just seem glad that they saved Chris, while Jason has a painful expression from a few punches he has received from Chris before.

  Octavia sits the furthest away from anyone, just to not be near anyone, since even though Chris seems weak and like he's not able to hurt anyone, not even a fly, he still did in a moment of panic. So they all can... All of them.

  After 5 minutes the sounds of the rain get interrupted by the growling of deadheads approaching them again.

  Kai: Oh fuck no! Not again! Not fucking again!!!

  But then they hear something. A sound that feels as if an angel came from heaven, creating a shield to protect them from all evil in this world.

  Niklas manages to take a glance in the direction where the sound of a motor engine comes from, just to see a boat.

  They all gather their last strength to crawl towards the boat, which was driven by Frank.

  A blind man driving a boat. Hard to believe...

  _____________________________________________