Stage One: Hope in Darkness

Meeting Belle's Nightmare (Lara)

After my run in with the.......walkers there was not much of a reason to go on. My will power all but sapped from me. He had done this. The Master had turned them. My world, the life I had built out of the rubble of our fallen world was gone. Nothing could ever be the same again. My sanctuary, our camp, was gone.

Our chief's lifeless eyes haunt me in my cell. If he was turned and his lifeless corpse was upstairs in the hall then there was no hope for the rest of them. The chief and the rest of the camp must be gone.

The master must have had the rippers chase them down. And without the others, Ryan, Sam and Rose.... they had stood no chance. If only I hadn't taken them with me. Maybe...just maybe they could have all lived. The camp would be fine and the others would have not been taken. This was my fault. My selfishness had done this. I should have insisted on coming alone.

You did, this was their choice. A voice that sounds suspiciously like Ryan's says in my head. My voice of reason. The reality of the whole camp being dead frightened me. What if Ryan and the other were just the same. Turned and held here, in some other part of the building. Lifeless inside but bodies tearing through the living.

After my break out the men seem to take no more risks. They took me to a higher security room, tying my ankles together along with my hands. They left me in a chair, going so far as to hand feed me. Like untying me for even a moment was dangerous. Normally I would feel kinda flattered that they saw me as that big of a threat. But with the knowledge they had kill my whole camp... nothing could ease this pain and guilt.

A day passes in this way. Soon I am shouldered and loaded back into the convoy of trucks. Every mile brought me closer to the master, and farther from Belle. I could only hope that she was safe. Surely the master would experiment on me, that was his way according to Belle.

I watch out of the windows, trying to keep track of the miles, the twists and turns we make. Slowly a looming shape takes form in the distance. Walls. They reach high into the sky, solid metal and stone. Not the haphazard slapdash of the wall from the ripper camp. This wall looks as if I was constructed before the virus destroyed the world. How had they managed to build it? It would have taken so many people, so many materials to construct something of this size.

No wonder these men followed him. They got security and safety behind those walls. To them anything would be worth that. As we approach the men say a series of words and phrases into a radio. A code of some sort. When we get close the gates open,

"Welcome to hell," a guard smirks at me. Seemingly satisfied with his joke. My mouth which had been open slightly in awe of this impressive structure snaps shut. As we enter I know that this is a different world. Rippers crowd the sides of the streets, they held whips and baseball bats and guns. They ushered ragged men and women. Shouting commands and delivering blows. Slaves. So this was how he had built the wall. The Master had used these captured people to his best advantage.

What a fucking asshole. Further inside the city. There were people who were not chained. They looked well dressed, upper class. I wonder what someone had to do to get welcomed into this part of the city. Perhaps they were just normal people doing whatever it took to survive.

There is a constant noise of life. Chattering of voices and the occasional scream of communication. Heavily armed guards patrol everywhere, shoving rippers who got in their way.

The main building was easy to spot. It was the tallest building here and not just the tallest but it was also in pristine condition. Figures. The king needs his castle. I know that is where we are headed. I ready myself as best I can for who I am about to meet.