The Regulator (Complete First Draft)

Chapter 43: Andrew and Nick - A Sealing of Fates

“You seem wiped out.” Andrew heard from the door way. He groggily sat up in his bed, barely able to make out the shadowy figure of Nick standing in the front of the door.

“What are you doing here?” Andrew asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Annaliese asked me to come find you. It’s been an hour and a half since she left with your group.” Nick laughed slightly. Andrew looked out the window and was shocked to see that night had fallen.
“Holy crap! Did not mean to do that.” Andrew exclaimed. Both he and Nick laughed. Andrew pushed himself up off the bed and walked to the bathroom to make himself more presentable. “How’s the party going?”

“Actually, well. Really well. Everyone’s having a good time and the guards are saying the walkers outside the gate don’t even seem to notice.” Nick said, almost happily.

“Probably helps that you got those walls up.”

“It definitely helps, but we still need to finish the eastern wall before the whole property is gated in. We’ve done well for three weeks though.”

“Really well, couldn’t have done it without you man.” Andrew said, walking out of the bathroom and clasping his hand on Nick’s shoulder. Nick shrugged away from the gesture.

“Look, I also came here to apologize for my behavior all those weeks ago. I never properly did, and it was ridiculous. I should have come and helped my best friend through a tough spot in his life, instead I basically... I basically became like a slave driver.” Nick confessed. He had felt awful about it for the past weeks, but hadn’t gotten a proper chance to apologize. Andrew jsut smiled, happy to truly have his friend back.

“No worries man, like everyone’s been saying, it was an incredibly stressful couple of days for everyone. I don’t think many people blame you.” Andrew said, he walked out to the front porch and Nick followed him. Andrew stopped and leaned on the railing while Nick began to walk down the stairs. “Hey, hold-up.” Andrew said. Nick stopped and looked at him. Andrew tossed Nick a cheap and tiny Cigar. It had been part of Gavin’s scavenge that Andrew had taken for himself. He deserved a luxury now and again, right? “They’re cheap.” He said, “But let’s just take a chill smoke real quick.”

Nick walked back up the stairs while Andrew lit a match and lit his cigar, then lit Nicks. The two leaned against the railing and looked out over the dark big field.

“So I heard about Jaxon today.” Nick said, taking a puff of his cigar.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.... why even bother training the kid, dude? He’s obviously too weak. A waste of your time.”

“I don’t know. I just feel responsible for him. He was a good kid, this is just a challenge for him.” Andrew said, taking a puff of his cigar. He then leaned over to Nick and joked “Sorry for taking Ivan, by the way, I know he was your favorite.”

Nick laughed, “Don’t worry about it man. Not having to watch as many kids just leaves time to work on the wall, get our defenses up and stuff. Besides, I still see him around. He still stays in my cabin.” The two smiled as they joked. Enjoying an actually peaceful moment.

“Why’d you stay?” Nick asked, quietly.

“Wha?” Andrew asked, between puffs.

“When this all started happening, why’d you stay? There were plenty of opportunities to just run and ditch the camp, why’d you stay? cause you felt responsible?”

Andrew smiled, “When I was thirteen, in eighth grade, I was bullied tremendously. I mean ridiculous amounts of bullying. I was just that kid who got picked on. I was convinced that’s who I was destined to be for the rest of my life. The loser who got picked on 24/7. All I saw was a depressing and long life ahead of me with no way out.” Andrew paused for a moment, reflecting on his brutal middle school memories. “This one kid, John, was particularly brutal. He’d knock my lunch over on purpose, run by me and punch me in the face in the hall, he’d try to gain my trust for the sheer fun of breaking it. He even cut my arm at one point, it bled like crazy and I still have a scar.” Andrew said, rolling up his sleeve. Nick saw a long but thin white line on Andrew’s arm. “Of course it wasn’t that ridiculous, but I was basically destroyed emotionally when I got out of eighth grade. Then I came here as a CIT for the summer. I met you, and Brad, and Monica, all these kids... It was amazing. I felt so rejuvenated, so accepted, it was crazy. Camp gave me a huge boost of confidence that I desperately needed at the time, and that feeling lasted throughout my four years of high school I made a ton of friends and did some pretty awesome s***. I was even part of the “popular” crowd in my senior year. I made it man, I turned my life around, and I thank the camp for that. For the past four years, I’ve felt like I owe them a huge debt. I guess by staying here during a crisis, when so many other staff members were ditching and so many kids were getting picked up, was my way of finally repaying my debt.” Andrew said, taking another puff. “Then again, I’m not really sure I knew what I was getting myself into.” Andrew looked at Nick who nodded at him. Andrew knew he agreed with his reason to stay. “Why’d you stay? You had a car?”

“Fear.” Nick responded, near instantly. “I feared what was going on outside of camp, and to be honest, everything at camp seemed so structured and organized I thought it was a better call to stay here then to leave. Plus I couldn’t just leave Ivan and Zach and the lot. Not like that.” Nick said.

“I could have left my group.” Andrew said, nearly instantly as Nick finished. Nick looked at him, shocked.

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“I knew James last summer, so I would have felt bad for him. And I guess I liked Jaxon too. But the rest were incredibly bratty and difficult to deal with it, especially Anthony. I could have left them. I would have regretted it and had second thoughts, but I easily could have left them. In the moment.”

“Anthony really that bad?”

“Oh he was the worst, constantly bullying other campers, saying curse words, making inappropriate references. He was the stereotypical s*** camper.” Andrew stated. Nick laughed, he could still remember those days when Andrew would come over to him on break and rant for hours on end about how Anthony did this or Anthony did that.

“I don’t know, my group was pretty awesome this summer. Ivan was a perfect camper, def my favorite.” Nick said, taking a puff of his cigar.

“I dunno, seems a bit like a bully.” Andrew said.

“A funny bully though.” Nick pointed out, he and Andrew giggled again. The two both went to take another puff when they looked out over the field. Nick considered telling Andrew about what Gavin said, but decided against it. It wasn’t important and wasn’t something Andrew desperately needed to know. The two continued to just gave out over the big field.  As the two’s vision adjusted to the darkness, they were shocked by what they saw standing in front of them. Standing just a few inches from the fire pit was a man who was wearing what appeared to be an old, worn out suit jacket but with no shirt underneath. He had some kind of garment on so he could pull a hood over his clearly greasy hair. The garment seemed to flow over most of the suit jacket itself. Nick started reaching for his gun, but Andrew stopped him.

“So, you’re him?” Andrew asked, incredibly calmly given the circumstances. The Shape moved it’s head slightly to look at him.

“In a sense.” He said.

“Where have you been hiding these past couple weeks?”

“I was not hidden.”

“I have a lot of people who would beg to differ.” Andrew said. He dashed out his cigar and threw the butt onto the ground. “Who are you?”

“Who am I, Regulator? What use would that knowledge be?” The shape asked, stepping closer to the cabin. Nick switched on the cabins light, illuminating the grass in front of it and showing the man in full, grease, dirt, blood, and all.

“I just want a name to call you by, and who’s Regulator?” Andrew asked, confused.

“Names? Ha, old world concepts. No longer relevant or needed by daily standards. Titles... Roles... those are more suited for this world....” The man said, seemingly trailing and distracted by the end of it.

“What do we call you?” Nick demanded, finally mustering up the ability to say something.

“I? I can be known as The Bedlam. I come here to seek audience with The Regulator.” The Bedlam said in a sadistically calm tone. His raspy voice was worrying to Nick, he didn’t sound like he had good intentions.

“We don’t know anyone by the name of “The Regulator” or anything.” Andrew said, crossing his arms. He nodded to Nick, who placed his hand on his holster.

“Why of course you do. For you are him.” The Bedlam stated calmly and matter of factly.

“What? That’s not me, I don’t have a title or anything.” Andrew said, taken a back. Nick looked at Andrew, confused as well.

“I’m not surprised you don’t know of your own role in this new world. Sheep herder is an incredibly... underwhelming responsibility.” The Bedlam said, stepping forwards once again. Sheep...Sheep... where had they heard that term before. The Bedlam had called Seth a sheep, and once Andrew realized this, his tone became much more defensive.

“They are not sheep.” Andrew said, placing his hand on his gun, “And I suggest you begin to tread more lightly.”

The Bedlam just laughed, “Yes, Regulator, calm your temper. You wouldn’t want to do anything rash before I deliver my message.”

“What message?” Nick demanded. He was getting tired of this mans overwhelming bulls*** and just wanted answers. The Bedlam looked at Nick with an almost annoyed expression before turning back to Andrew.

“A few miles from here lies a house. A damned and hellish house where a man, a survivor of this societal collapse, works in the basement. His work is of a rather... disturbing nature. He’s brought about the end of many survivors attempts to live through this world.” The Bedlam said, his tone was mysterious and cold.

“How do you know?” Andrew said, gulping. He believed him.

“I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. He’s recently obtained a couple, two survivors who were trying to make it in this world alone... They need your help, Regulator.” The Bedlam said, Andrew and Nick both suddenly began to understand.

“How am I supposed to kill someone that has killed so many others?” Andrew asked.

“He’s never been attacked in the house, he doesn’t fear it. He goes out and catches his prey, they never come to him. You just enter his domain, and you remove him from this world.” The Bedlam said, calmly. Andrew looked at Nick, and the two exchanged concerned glances before Nick gave him a nod as if to say “Do it”.

“Where does this man live?”

“Perhaps you should question the boy. The James boy.” The Bedlam said. Andrew’s heart momentarily skipped a beat, but he maintained his composure. How did he know James’ name. The Bedlam looked at Andrew one last time, then turned and began walking back into the woods.

“So what are you too us!” Andrew called out too him.

“Only to you, and not your friend.” The Bedlam declared, in a gruff voice, as he shouted back.