Episode 8: The Calm Before the Storm
With Rick and his team gone, an odd silence fell over the camp. The daytime routines continued: women doing laundry, children trying to play, Dale watching from the roof of his trailer. But the tension in the air was palpable. Everyone was anxious about those heading to Atlanta and the news to come.
For Jayden, this silence was the eerie calm before the storm. He knew his time was running out. The camp attack occurred the night after Rick's return in the series. So, tonight.
He didn't sit idle. First, he circled the campsite again, this time much more carefully. He used his mental minimap and his Perception (PER) stat to its full potential. He knew which direction the walkers were most likely to come from: from a blind spot where the woods were thickest and darkest, away from the main entrance to the forge. Right where the people were most vulnerable.
"Dale," he said, walking over to the trailer. Dale was scanning the area as usual with his binoculars.
"Is there something wrong, son?"
"We'd better set up the campfire further inland, closer to the rock wall tonight," Jayden said as calmly as he could. "The wind seems to be blowing that way tonight, so the smoke won't drift into the woods and attract any unwanted guests."
It was a reasonable excuse. Dale nodded. "Good idea. I'll tell Shane."
Jayden's real goal was to get people away from the main entrance and the tents, where the attack would come from, and back against the more protected rock wall.
He spent the afternoon with Amy. They cleaned the fish he'd caught together. This mundane task gave Jayden the opportunity he needed.
"Archery lessons are paying off," he said, watching Amy expertly clean the fish. "You're a good hand."
Amy smiled. "You're a good teacher."
"Amy," Jayden said, lowering his voice and looking at her seriously. "I'm going to tell you something, and I don't want you to question it. Just trust me."
Amy's smile faded; she could tell by the look on his face that the situation was serious. She nodded.
"Tonight... no matter what... the slightest thing strange, a scream, anything, run straight to the trailer. Not to the tents or anywhere else. Straight to Dale's trailer. Understand?"
"Why? Is something going to happen?" Amy asked, her voice filled with concern.
"I hope not," Jayden said. "But if it does, it'll be the safest place. Promise me."
Amy hesitated for a moment, but when she saw the unwavering determination in Jayden's eyes, she whispered, "I promise."
As evening fell, the campfire was lit in the hearth, just as Jayden had requested. People gathered around it, trying to unwind from the day's weariness. But there was something strange in the atmosphere. A tension everyone knew but no one spoke of.
At that moment, voices rose from Ed Peletier's tent. Ed was yelling at his wife Carol again. Shane couldn't stand it anymore. He quickly stood up and charged at Ed. What followed was a reprise of that brutal scene from the series. Shane brutally beat Ed in front of the entire camp.
Jayden watched the events unfold calmly. Everything unfolded as he remembered it. Every scene, every dialogue was a step toward the inevitable. When Shane's anger subsided, Ed lay on the ground, covered in blood. This incident further demoralized the camp.
As the night wore on, Jayden's senses sharpened. He never once took his eyes off the dark edge of the forest. His machete was within reach, his bow and arrows strapped to his back, ready for use. He constantly checked the minimap on the system interface. For now, everything was calm. There were no red dots.
People slowly began to retreat to their tents. Only a few people remained by the fire. Andrea and Amy were there too. Amy, chatting with her sister, occasionally glanced worriedly at Jayden. Jayden, surreptitiously, nodded, signaling that everything was fine.
Then the moment arrived. Amy stood up, saying, "I'll be right back." She had headed toward the trailer to relieve herself. This was the scene from the show: the moment she left the trailer and was left defenseless.
At that very moment, Jayden's Perception (PER) stat skyrocketed. He heard that sound coming from deep in the forest: the snap of a twig. It was abnormal. He was very close. His minimap instantly updated. A single red dot appeared at the edge of the forest. Then another. And another.
The silence was broken by Morales's scream at the edge of the camp. "Walkers!"
A storm had begun.