This is the eleventh chapter of Wake of the Undead.
Theo and his group had spent about a month in the town, which they found out to be a small town in Ontario called Puslinch, peacefully. Until, a snowy late November day, a problem arose.
"Has anyone seen James?" Megan asked the group in one of they houses they were all staying in. They all shook their heads. "Oh god, oh god, oh god." Megan ran outside and started searching. A while later, the rest of the group joined. After several hours of searching, they found nothing. None of the citizens saw him.
"Maybe he ran off into the other part of town?" Ron suggested.
"If so, we need to find him." Megan added.
"I'll go looking then."
"Me too." Theo announced.
"And me." Tyreese said. The three prepared, and a while later, were ready to go. They packed into the truck, and drove out of the gate, and into the unsecured part of Puslinch. They pulled up in front of a corner store that had been ransacked, presumably by Victor and his group. They got out, and grabbed their weapons. Theo grabbed his pistol, Ron grabbed his sniper, and Tyreese grabbed his trusty crowbar.
They scouted around town, until they saw foot prints in the snow leading to a coffee shop. They exchanged glances, and slowly approached, preparing for either a zombie, or James...or both. They opened the door, ringing the bell in the process. They were not greeted by James nor a zombie, but a stranger sitting down with a coffee in his hand. His back was facing them, so they couldn't tell who he was.
"Come on over," the man said. "Let me treat you to some stale coffee." He turned around and smiled at them. He was very rough looking, like he had just gotten into a fight with a motorcycle gang, and won. He had a long, grayish brown mustache, long, dirty brown hair, and western-like clothing. He looked like he belonged in a 1600's cowboy movie. Theo looked at Ron and Tyreese, and then sat down beside the man, as the other two dd the same.
"The name's Devon," the man told them. The others introduced themselves.
"We're looking for a boy," Theo said. "About 10 years old, short hair. You seen him?"
"I'm afraid not. I came down here not to long ago. See, my group lives up north a bit, and we recently got attacked. We lost people. I came down to see if there was a better place to stay. I found this town, but when I noticed the, uh, walls you people built, I figured you were already settled here, and that interfering would just cause bloodshed."
"Well, I'm not sure if our leader would let your group stay here, but I can ask."
"Ah, no, it's fine. We might just cause more chaos. I best be going, maybe I'll see you guys in the future. Feel free to pop by sometime. We are a few miles north, you can't miss us." Devon walked out of the shop, leaving Theo, Ron, and Tyreese alone.
They returned about an hour later, sadly, empty-handed. The rest of the group was worried and saddened by the news, but Theo reassured they would continue searching in the morning, and that he had to be somewhere.
"Me and Cole will help you tomorrow," Zach informed Theo. "He's going to be okay."
"I hope so," Theo muttered to himself as Zach walked off.