Animals We've Become/Ghosts of the Past

Ghosts of the Past is the eighth episode in Animals We've Become.

Plot
September 11th, 2002

Winston Hopper woke up early in the morning. His bed was warm, and his room smelt like pancakes, just like his momma used to make before she died of cancer. The sunshine from the sun shined inside of his blinds, shining through the darkness and into his eyes. Winston opened his eyes and was met with the sunshine shining into his retinas. Winston gets up from bed and looks around his room littered with ammo, camo pants and paper plates with half finished food covering them like a blanket on a sleeping child.

“Boy, it’s time to kick it.” Winston said, walking up to his refrigerator. He grabbed the TV remote and turned it on, to catch a glimpse of the news before he headed out, to look for a job. Winston was unemployed for six months now, so his fridge was fairly empty. He grabbed a bag of milk and some old Oops! All Berries!, regular Captain Crunch and Count Chocula and crafted the perfect, most well balanced breakfast for man in search for redemption.

Winston watched the news for a few minutes as he slobbered down on his cereal. The newsperson was pretty hot, her perky face brightened up my morning. Suddenly the breaking news section of the news popped up.

“What’s going on?!” Winston stammered, “Breaking News?!”

Suddenly the image of an Empire State Building in flames covered the screen like sun tanning lotion on the backside of a person.

“The Empire State Building? No! Dad!” Winston shouted at the top of his lungs, as he threw the bowl with the cereal at the wall. He fell to his knees. It exploded into a million pieces. “Daaaaaaaaaad!”

Winston looked back up at the telie, the newsperson was black with an image of a middle eastern man with the name “Muhammad Al-Jafar-Qatar - The World’s Most Wanted” written underneath it. That was the man responsible.

Winston knew then the job was going for, the job he may not have been born for, but he’d be trained for. Winston got up, that man was going to die by his hands. Winston was going to join the military and make some Blood in the Sand.

Present Day

“Wh-h-h-here’s Glenn and E-” AJ says.

I shut him out of my head. I didn’t hate the kid, but he could get annoying. I didn’t serve two towrs in Iraq and catch PTSD for shit like this. Four-Eyes didn’t die for this shit, funny, he didn’t die for anything… Woods made sure of that.

“I don’t know.” Donnie says, “I saw them just an hour ago. Glenn ran after Ethan and they just didn’t come back.”

“Maybe they abandoned us?” Amber asks.

“Absolutely not!” Mark confirms, “They wouldn’t do that to us. Something’s wrong.” He put both of his warm hands on Amber’s shoulders. I thought for a moment what it’d be like to have a woman in his life like Amber Rose.

“I suppose you’re right.” Amber sighs leaning her neck into Mark’s strong hands.

“W-W-W-W-W-We need to find them.” AJ mumbles.

“We can’t spend our resources looking for two people. We need to make shelter, it’ll be night soon and that’s when the biters come out.” Donnie says, lighting up a cigarette.

“They wouldn’t leave you behind.” I point out. “Glenn is a good kid, he reminds me a lot of myself when I had his age.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Donnie says. “He is a good kid, reminds me a bit of myself actually.”

“He’s a good-good friend.” AJ reveals, “He’d always save a seat for me on the bus ride home. I’d d-die for him.”

“Yeah.” Amber says, “He’s a great friend.”

“I guess Ethan is alright as well.” I said, reflecting upon the young jock. I didn’t get to speak with Ethan much, but he seemed like a good friend. Loyal. Smart. Strong. Everything I aspired to be and then some. Someone I’d gladly have watching my back.

“Well let’s find them.” Mark says grabbing a flashlight from the burnt remains from the grocery store. “Let’s split up.”

“Mark, that’s a stupid fucking idea.” Donnie said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We can’t split up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.”

“Yeah, besides I got a bad history with splitting up. It only leads to people getting hurt.” I reveal. I still remember all of them. Raptor, Dark Chocolate, Sandman… Four-Eyes. I will always remember Four-Eyes.

“Alright guys, you’re right!” Mark said with a thumbs up.

“Alright, that settles it then.” Donnie Cruz announced. “Like men.”

“Alright, let’s do it!” I said. “Let’s get them, boys!”

“H-H-H-Hooray!” AJ screamed.

Mark waved at me. “Sonnie! Let’s take a look around the building!” I sighed. To be honest, I wasn’t really in the mood for Mark’s overly positive shenanigans right now, but I came with anyway. We strolled downward the burned remains, smelling the sulphur smells filling our nostrils. Mark walked with his hands in his pockets and looked around in the air.

“Unless the boys decided to go tree climbin’ you won’t find shit up there.” I say

“Oh, just enjoying the scenery, Sonnie. Gotta keep your spirit up these days!”

“Sure… you do you…” I hold my triple barrelled shottie, looking around like a guard dog looking for prey.

We reach the back of the ruins, scouting the treelines but seeing nothing. Mark stretches and looks at me hesitantly.

“Uh… Sonnie?”

“What’s up?”

“Can I… tell you something, kinda personal?”

He walks up to me and puts a hand on my shoulder, I raise an eyebrow.

“I think maybe… I got feelings for Amber… been like that for a little while now…”

“Damn, really?”

Mark smiled and gave a big thumbs up, “Heck yeah, brother!”

“That’s really cool Mark.” I sneered. I was trying to be nice, but I didn’t really feel it. Honestly, I felt kinda shitty. I couldn’t have expected someone like Amber Rose to ever care for me… but the hope was still there… I mean, I’m a fucking hero! I killed the world’s most wanted! But still nobody cared… Even with me out of the picture, I aint gonna pretend not to have noticed the way Glenn looks at her. Poor kid… Friendzoned. Reminds me of me at his age. Reminds me of Four-Eyes… Gonna be honest, Glenn even kinda looks like him. Gotta keep him safe. Four-Eyes will never forgive me otherwise. I see his Ghost every night.

“Have you noticed anything about her? Like if she likes me?”

“Yeah, she’s really into you.” I lied. Couldn’t be bothered with this lovebird nonsense. I knew Amber knew better than to head off into the sheets with this jocker, so why not fool him to think they got something going when it’s gonna crash into the ground and leave him heartbroken.

“Listen this story is great and all Mark, but we should split up.”

“But Donnie said splitting up is a bad idea!”

“Did Donnie kill Muhammad Al-Jafar-Qatar? No he didn’t, I did.”

“That’s a good point.” Mark says, “Alright I’ll look over here while you look over there.”

“See ya later alligator.” I say as he walks off.

“In a while crocodile.” Mark laughs as he walks off.

Finally some peace and quiet. Y’know being in a group is good and all but man you never get much time to think about things that don’t revolve around food or shelter, etc. It’s not that I hate them, but sometimes a man needs to be a man by himself. Learned that in basic training. Suddenly I felt my stomach ache but not in the ache of hunger. Sometimes, nature calls.

Now that I was finally alone, it was time to let the ol’ Johnson out and let it rip. I stand next to a well sized tree, maybe the most well sized tree I’ve seen out here in the woods. You know, humanity doesn’t care enough for trees these days. Every day on the news you hear about the rainforests being chopped down and pollution ruining the air. Don’t nobody realize trees supply our oxygen? That’s why I always used to buy eco-products, they plant a tree for every purchase you make. Just because I’m homeless don’t mean the world has to be homeless too.

I decided to supply this tree with some of my own juice, enjoying the relieving feeling that had built up for a while. Suddenly, I hear a rustling in the trees somewhere in the distance. I zip up, and go to check. Was that Mark? Guy almost saw my willy if that was him.

I looked around. Mark was nowhere to be found, guy had probably wandered off on a berry pickin’ trip knowing him. I decided to go into sneak mode, like I learned in the army from Sandman. I take out my serrated hunting knife and move through the brush like a panther sneaking up on a villager.

I got closer and closer to the rustling, until suddenly a figure hops down and lands on the dirt ground with a thud. I quickly seek cover behind a tree trunk in the very moment he lands. I looked up, a tiny, boney guy with a red beanie and a brown coat jumped down, holding a bag of acorns over his shoulder. He looked overly ecstatic, like he’d won the lottery or somethin’.

“This’ll show Joe I can work in gwoups.” The man said. “I’m sure we can eat these.” He reached into the sack and grab one of the acorns and proceeded to throw it into his mouth crunching it like you would an ice cube on a hot summer day. He shudders, “maybe Joe will know how to make em taste betta.” The little man walks off with the sack.

This guy’s got a screw loose. You can’t eat acorns for god’s sake. These guys might know what happened to Glenn and Ethan since they’re so close to us. I follow the man through the forest, blending in with my surroundings like Raptor and Greensleeves used in Baghdad. Now that I think about it, I’ve learned a lot from my former squadmates, may god have mercy on their souls and may he watch over me.

Finally we arrive at what seems to be a campsite of sort.

“Sowwy I’m late bwos!” The man yelled. “Got dinna!”

“Tom, you’re late!” A rough man yelled.

The man named Tom responded, “Well Joe, betta late then neva!”

The two of them went inside of a big trailer in the middle. The yard was huge, and there were trucks everywhere. In the middle, there was a flag pole, with an American flag raised at the top. God bless America.

I took a look around, scouting the area like I’ve learned from Four-Eyes. There was a trailer pretty close to me, I thought if I’d see what was up with these nimrods, I’d at least check in there. From the woods I emerged like a cockroach crawling through the debris of a once beautiful world. I ended up against the wall of the smaller, white trailer, with my knife in hand. I get my arm ready, ready to kill.

I open the door to it, and see only a boy sitting there, looks like a similar age to Glenn and Ethan. Tied up, with a rag in his mouth. What the fuck? He looked at me like I was gonna kill him, but I wasn’t. I knew a fellow man in peril when I saw one. I decided to cut him loose.

“Thank you! Thank you! You gotta help me! These people…. they are... “ he looked to the trailer floor.

“Alright, kiddo calm yourself. Who exactly are these woofers? And who are YOU?”

“My name’s Trace.” The scared boy said looking me in eyes. “Trace Oxford.”

“Well that answers one of my questions. What about the rest of my questions?”

“They… I… They are crazy. They caught me out scavenging with my group… I got separated and never saw them again. There’s… a guy, all dressed in yellow.. and a huge dude with a beard. Then a guy with tons of chains, always drives his truck for some reason, together with this other guy with glasses and snakeskin boots. And a guy in a beanie, small guy. Then an older man in a leather jacket, probably a biker before all shit broke loose, and lastly this crazy man… big beard and a sweater that says “Grendel” on it.”

That’s when my mind clicked like a jigsaw puzzle. Was that the same knucklehead that attacked us at the grocery store?

“Sounds like a big ol’ group. and they’re dangerous?” I say, utilizing my tactical questions that I learned from Dark Chocolate.

“Very dangerous.” Trace says.

We were silent for a while.

“You have a group too?” Trace asks.

“No,” I say. “I have a family.” I say extending a hand.

We exit the trailer together, both sneaking. I quickly had told Trace how to tactically sneak like in the army.

“Look, sport. I’ll take ya back to the others. We’ll take good care of ya until ya find yer group again. For now, let’s get away from these brainlets.”

“Good call. How do we--”

Suddenly a piercing scream filled our ear canals. It came from the middle of the yard, by the flagpole. And it sounded familiar. Instantly, I looked around the corner, only to see my friend Ethan Walker on the ground, next to Glenn. Both tied up. A menacing man stood next to him with a sword, covered in blood. He had just cut his damn hand off. Holy crap!

“Sweet baby jesus!” I mutter to myself as the boy screams in utter agony.

“You know them?” Trace asked

“That’s…. those are my boys.”

“You’re not thinking about charging them are you?”

“Of course not.” I respond. Last time I rushed into combat we ended up killing Raptor, never did get over that, I mean how could you? “We need to get back to my group asap and come back for them.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“I know.” I smirk, after being under Captain Britain’s leadership for so long I guess I learned a bit of leadership from him.

“Walking back will take too long. The boys will be dead if we don’t haul ass!”

“What about…” Trace pointed at a truck nearby, a shiny one at that.

“Nice one, bud. This will do plenty” I laugh a hardy laugh, inspecting the very polished red, white and blue truck.

“I think this one is his favorite… the guy with the chains.”

“I could give a monkey’s left nut about what is or isn’t their favorite, we’re gettin’ outta here!” I open the doors to it and we get in, and remember I don’t have the keys.

“Shit. I don’t have the keys.”

“What do we do?” Trace asked worried.

“Hmm… actually..” I head below the steering wheel and open the compartment, fiddling with the wires. I had to hotwire the truck, like Red Foxx had showed me in the army. After a few tries, I succeeded. The truck fired up like a flamethrower on a group of civilians in Afghanistan. Horrible sight, burnt into my mind forever.

“BOOYAH!” I screamed, stepping on the gas and speeding out of the compound, back to the loved ones waiting for us at camp.

“Holy shit! Thank you...uh.” He looks around nervously.

“What is it buddy?” Sonnie looks over at him.

“I don’t know your name.” Trace reveals.

“Call me Winston “Sonnie” Hopper. Sonnie for short.”

“Wait! Wait a second! Sonnie? The Winston “Sonnie” Hopper?”

“Excuse me?” I was taken aback. What the hell? Does he know me?

“I remember seeing footage of you shown during my history class. I’m a huge military buff! I know all about American wars, that’s my special interest! You killed Muhammad Al-Jafar-Qatar, the world’s most wanted! You’re a hero.”

I was taken aback, I haven’t ever met anyone who knew about my services, nobody usually recognized me. “Well kid, you’re right. It’s me.” It’s about time someone recognized my importance.

“Y’know uh...I gotta thank you for killing him.”

“It’s no big deal.” I lie.

“No, it is. You see uh...my father died during the attacks on the Empire State Building.” Trace Oxford reveals.

“Oh my god...I’m sorry. My dad died there too. It’s what inspired me to join the military in the first place.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I smile, “We can’t both be sorry. We live for the future and fight for the past.”

“You’re right, Sonnie. We shouldn’t keep our heads down and cry all day. Now it’s our time to shine, the sky’s the limit.” I tuffle up his hair a bit. “I can tell we’re gonna get along, laddie.”

We park up outside the Grocery store remains. Seeing the ashly remains never failed to bring my mood down. We get out, only to be met by Donnie

“Where’d you get this ride, Sonnie?” he asks, his eyes shifts over to Trace standing awkwardly on the side. “And who’s that boy?”

“My name’s Trace Oxford.”

“No time to explain. Glenn, Ethan, they’re captured! By some loons down in a trailer park! They cut off Ethan’s hand!”

Donnie drops his cigarette on the ground. “What?”

“They’re in trouble? We need to save them!” Mark yells. “Not letting my friends die.”

“We need to help our friends.” Amber Rose.

“Y-Y-Yeah!” AJ stammers as he gets to his feet. “It’s time we show them what happens when you fuck with us.”

“Time to show them bandits who’s who and what’s what!” Mark screams, at the top of his lungs.

“Amen brother!” I yell.

I hop in the driver seat in the truck while Trace sits in the middle and AJ sits in the passenger side. Amber, Donnie and Mark all get in the back. Donnie smacks the truck, smoking a cigarette “Start her up Sonnie!”

“You got it!”

And just like that our group storms off towards the bandit’s group. Those bastards are fucked now!

“Th-th-this is gonna be cr-razy!” AJ stuttered as the truck bounced along the forest floor.

“Be careful!” Mark yells as multiple tree branches fly by.

“I think I can see the group!” Donnie yells as a branch smacks into him causing him to fall onto the bed of the truck.

“Are you alright?” Amber asks putting her hands over her mouth.

Donnie sits back up in the back of the truck with a broken nose. Blood flowing out of it.

“Fuck my life.” Donnie responds trying to fix his nose.

“Good, I was worried for a second.” Mark says turning his attention back onto the campsite.

Donnie doesn’t respond.

I finally park us at the truck yard, and we all get out and load our guns. “Everybody, on me. We’re gonna serve these numbnuts a can of whoopass!” I whisper to the others as they nod. We start sneaking along, and we see the evil group all gathered in a circle, most likely discussing what to do.

The bearded man with the hat and the sword is laughing maniacally while on top of a picnic table, brandishing his sword around like a lunatic. The huge muscular man shook his head in embarrassment.

I eye a bottle of whiskey on a table nearby,instantly giving me an idea.

“Trace… you got that rag from before?”

He nods and hands me the rag he was tied up with.

I take the bottle then take a big swig.

“Sonnie, this isn’t the fucking time for drinking your sad life away!” Donnie says.

I just glare at him before putting the rag in the bottleneck, before pulling out my lighter. Boozer had taught me how to make a mean molotov cocktail, and I was gonna put that to good use. Only Boozer would never waste any whiskey. He loved whiskey. Boozer would always use vodka bottles for molotov cocktails, because he disliked vodka. As always, Boozer kept it real.

I stand up and walk slowly towards them, they still hadn’t noticed me. That’s when I signaled the rest of them to lock and load, because shit was gonna go down pretty soon. I threw the molotov at them, but not on them, just enough us to make a grand entrance and prove what kinda people we are.

As the bottle broke and the flames rose to the sky, the crazy men turned and jumped at the sight, as we walked in slowly, until we faced them directly.

“You guys are screwed now!” AJ yells as walk towards them.

“Howdy, boys. I believe you got some of mine!” I say confidently.

The man with the sword approached me, he looked furious.

“Who you people think you are? Coming into OUR truck yard?”

“I’d ask you the same question, fruitcake. You do have some of ours, after all.”

“We’re the Claimers… And you don’t know what the FOOK you just did.”

“I think I know mother fucker,” I respond, “I started a war.” A devilish grin formed on my face. It was time for Winston “Sonnie” Hopper to lead his own army into war.

Trivia

 * This is the first main series episode to have somebody other then Glenn be the pov.
 * For this issue it was Winston "Sonnie" Hopper.
 * This episode was originally meant to come out the 11th for the one year anniversary of the first episode. However it was delayed.
 * This episode is both episode eight and a sequel to the webisode, Blood in the Sand due to all the references to the characters from the story.
 * This episode marks the first appearance of a character auditioned character.
 * Trace Oxford from E2 is also a crossover character but this takes place in the mainline Walking Dead continuity not E2's universe.
 * Therefor the events and family history of Trace from that show aren't canon with this show.
 * This episode title comes from Sonnie remembering all of his former squad mates, his "ghosts" that haunt him.