This is the second part of my Second Chance series I'm writing. It's possible to read this part separate from the first part, but some references will be directly from the first part.
Please review if you want to get anything about this story off your mind, because it really helps me improve.
Enjoy part 2!
Chapter 1
'How do you think Mason is doing these days?' Clarke Griffin asked Addison Carver, who was preparing a skinned rabbit for tonight's dinner. Daryl Dixon was the one who caught the rabbit. He was worried about the lack of game in the woods these days.
It was a year since Mason Cooper, one of the members of a community of survivors named Arkadia, left to figure out the fate of his parents in this cruel world. Just before he left, his girlfriend Laura was murdered and many still believed it was the reason to pull him over the edge. He explained in a letter to Addison that he had been thinking of finding his parents for a long time, but they didn't believe him.
'Probably kicking ass out there while we are starving to death…' Addison sighed, flipping the rabbit over.
Arkadia was no longer the community it once was. They hoped that after the big fight with the cultists, they would finally be able to grow as a community and be a haven for stranded survivors. But the ginormous herd that followed was too much too deal with. The community got overrun and they had to leave everything they worked so hard for behind.
'Will he be able to find us out here?' Clarke asked.
'Don't get me wrong, I'm wishing for him to return every single day, but he made it clear in his letter. He doesn't plan on returning. If he ever goes back to Arkadia, he will find the remainders of a massacre and think we are dead.'
Clarke did not like the answer because she missed him a lot and missed talking to him about her mother. But she also knew that if he ever returned, he would not be able to find them. They were miles away from Arkadia and did not know about his direction. He never told anyone where he lived before the world went to hell.
It was four months ago since he took off into the darkness and left his friends behind. Four months were a long time in the apocalypse. The group got split up after the herd ruined the community and they never managed to find everyone back.
Clarke and Addison were currently surviving in the woods with Lincoln, Bellamy Blake, the Woods sisters and the Dixon brothers.
Marcus Kane, one of the two founders of Arkadia, died along the way. He cut himself to a sharp, rusty part of metal while escaping over the walls and died from the infection. Clarke was a good doctor and learned a lot from her mother but did not have the tools and antibiotics to save his life.
'I doubt the kid will even make it to his destination.' Merle said.
'Don't respond.' Addison whispered to Clarke who wanted to spit back at him, 'He's not worth it.'
She took the rabbit off the fire and cut it into small pieces with her knife. It was not enough to fill their stomachs, but there was nothing more to eat. They were also running out of water and had to find supplies soon or they would die of starvation.
'Is there one place left we could go without having to fight dozens of walkers?' Addison asked after swallowing her piece of rabbit. She licked her fingers clean to take in as much of the rabbit as possible.
'Been lookin' around for days. There's nothin' left of the world. Everywhere I go, walkers have taken the place.' Daryl shook his head. They had to rely on mother nature to bring wild animals towards them or they would starve.
The group took off in the wrong direction after escaping from Arkadia and found themselves in an area filled with walkers. And there was no time to go back. Returning took too long to survive without food. Going on was nothing but blind hope to find something that wasn't there.
'We should take off together, Lex. If we stay with them, we're dead.' Anya whispered to her sister.
Anya and Lexa were sitting apart from their fellow survivors. They were allowed into Arkadia because Mason convinced the youngest one. A few days later he was gone, and everything took a drastic turn for the worse.
'You really want to do that to them?' Lexa asked surprised.
'Not so loud.' Anya warned her, 'These people don't mean shit to us. We're better off on our own.'
'I'm not sure, Anya.' Lexa worried. She didn't want to leave them behind. Especially not Clarke. She didn't tell her sister yet, but she felt funny around her. Clarke was cute, smart and kind to her.
'Something wrong, Lex?' Anya asked, 'You would've followed me blindly if this happened before Arkadia.'
'There's nothing wrong. I just don't like the idea of leaving them out here to die.'
'That's what life looks like now. Survival of the fittest. Doing whatever needs to be done just to stay alive.' Anya reminded her.
Lexa did not answer her anymore. She was staring at Clarke and the feeling of leaving her behind hurt her stomach. But she couldn't leave Anya's side either.
The sounds of the night were scary, especially with the threat of walkers lurking around all the time. Daryl kept watch his loaded crossbow. Anya did not close her eyes either. She didn't trust them, even after the time they spent together recently.
Anya got up and left into the woods. Daryl noticed it and woke his brother up, telling him to take watch for a few minutes. He followed her and found her sitting next to a dried-up stream of water.
'You okay?' he asked her as he sat down next to her. He put his crossbow on the ground and stared into the darkness.
'That girl of yours has control over my sister.' Anya blamed Clarke.
'Our girl? The only reason any of us, save Clarke, lived in Arkadia is because Mason believed in that place. His belief doesn't stand strong when he leaves, does it?' Daryl said. It sounded like he blamed Mason, but he didn't. He blamed no one for what happened except the ones that caused it. The cultists were responsible for the end of Arkadia. 'She was never a part of us before we became part of that community.' he added.
'My sister doesn't see that and doesn't want to leave her side. She didn't explicitly tell me, but I know her too well. She's in love with the blonde.'
'She's doin' what I failed to do when I was younger.' Daryl said, 'I followed my brother blind and got into some nasty situations doin' so. We are very close, but I did stupid shit followin' him. Don't let her make the same mistake by having her follow you everywhere and in everything. Let her figure out how to live her own life.'
Anya looked at him. She wondered what he did because he followed his brother. She had a couple of ideas but was afraid of his reaction if she asked about it.
'She doesn't understand the consequences of her own actions. I can't risk that happening in the apocalypse.' Anya said.
'How can she ever learn the consequences if you don't let her find out? I could understand if it was just to save her from dyin' but stickin' around to be with Clarke doesn't kill her.' Daryl said.
He never thought he had it in him to give advice to others, but his personal life taught him the hard way that following your older brother or sister was not always the right thing to do. Especially if that sibling used crystal meth and had a long criminal record after returning from the army.
'Maybe you're right.' Anya said, 'I just don't –'
'- want her to end up getting' hurt?' Daryl finished her sentence. Anya nodded.
Daryl did not say anything more. He offered her a hand to get up, but she said she needed some time to think about what he said. He left her alone in the shadows and returned to camp where his brother was singing a song to prevent everyone from sleeping.
'Shut up, Merle.' Addison yelled at him, 'You're keeping us awake and you're drawing walkers to us.'
'Don't see the problem.' Merle sang.
'Knock it off.' Daryl planted his elbow between his ribs when he sat down next to him again.
'That was uncalled for.' Merle cried out. He rubbed his bruised ribs and spat on the ground.
'Keep it down, you idiot.' Addison said.
'What did you say to me, girl?' Merle got up and walked up to her. Addison was not afraid of the confrontation with the older Dixon and got up herself.
'I said, keep it down, you idiot.' Addison repeated.
'You better stay nice when you speak to me.' Merle said, pushing her backwards.
'Assholes like you don't deserve to be treated nicely.' she replied, pushing him back herself.
Merle lashed out with the back of his hand and hit her in the face. Addison dropped to the floor, blood coming from her mouth and a red spot forming on her cheek. Daryl pulled him away before he could harm her anymore.
'What the fuck are you doing?' Daryl yelled at his brother.
'Teaching her a lesson.' Merle smiled. Daryl pulled him further away. Something dropped from Merle's pocket onto the ground.
It was a small bag of white powder. Daryl immediately knew what was going on here and burst out at his brother.
'Cocaine? Are you out of your fucking mind?' Daryl was pissed off by finding out his brother was using drugs again. He didn't know how he obtained it, but he did.
'Just relieving the pressure of leading you bunch of idiots.' Merle grinned.
'Leading us? All you do is trying to get us killed.' Addison said. Clarke was looking at the bruise on her face.
'Want another slap, darling?' Merle threatened her, but Daryl kept him from hitting anyone.
'It's time for you to leave.' he said, taking a very hard decision that hurt him in the deepest of his heart. It was the first time he stepped up against his brother and if it worked, it would most likely be the last. Merle would not survive on his own because he didn't care enough about surviving. He was still alive because he cared about keeping his brother alive. If he focussed on himself, he would be able to stay alive. But his issues prevented him from doing that.
'You can't just kick me out! I've got rights.' Merle argued.
'You don't have the right to hit her because you can't take some criticism.' Daryl said.
'So, that's it? Instead of having me apologize you just push me away to die?'
Daryl was having a tough time talking to Merle like this. Addison took over before the situation erupted even more.
'He can stay.' she said, 'But if he ever lays a hand on someone again, threatens to hurt someone or doesn't follow orders… he's gone.'
'Why would you let him stay after that?' Lincoln was not a man to use many words, but he couldn't help this time.
'Because he's a good asset if we have to fight.' Addison explained.
She was not wrong. Merle was a dickhead and wanted everything to go his way. He would call everyone names for his own pleasure. But the man was strong and could throw a good punch. He knew about tactics in tight situations and that could make the difference between life and death. He was a good shot and didn't mind taking the lives of those who threatened his own.
'Smart girl.' Merle said, followed by an angry look of Addison. He was smart enough to keep his mouth shut after that. He went to sleep and did not say anything to anyone. He crossed the line and he was surprised his brother was going to be the one to kick him out of their group.
Anya finally returned half an hour later. Daryl's words changed her mind and she was going to give Lexa the chance to figure out what she wanted. They would stay with the others until she realized what she had to do. Lexa was a big girl that could take her own decisions.
The group was shattered since the events of Arkadia, but all of them knew they had to stick together to survive. So, they all planned on doing that. No matter the cost. No matter the struggle.
Everyone was woken up by drops of rain hitting their skin through the leaves of the trees. In a few minutes, the rain was heavily pouring through the leaves.
'Fresh water.' Clarke smiled, put up her hands to catch some of the water and drank it. It was a hopeful sign and cleared some of their frustrations. The empty, plastic bottles they had left were used to collect the water.
'Still, this doesn't fix our problem. We must find shelter. The rain could kill us too, don't forget that.' Addison said. She was not amused at all.
They walked to the edge of the forest, looking for a working vehicle between all the walkers.
'Split up.' Daryl said, 'We'll find one faster.'
Daryl and Merle took one side. Bellamy joined up with Lincoln. The Woods sister stuck together. Addison and Clarke tried to figure their way through the walkers. But there were too many to deal with.
Addison and Clarke were the first to get trapped in a rapidly shrinking circle of walkers.
'Stay calm.' Addison tried, but how could one stay calm when death was staring at them?
It didn't take long before everyone was trapped. And they couldn't help each other out. They couldn't even save themselves without help. Just before a walker could bite Bellamy in the arm, a storm of gunfire went over their heads. The survivors dropped to the ground, but the walkers became cannon fodder.
A couple of survivors in a yellow Hummer H2 Adventure stopped close to the walkers with squealing brakes and unleashed a fury of bullets on the undead. It took no more than a few seconds for them to get rid of the nasty situation and clear the area.
'Bitten?' Addison asked Clarke. She shook her head with panic in her eyes. She did not feel the pain of a bite but wasn't sure. Addison quickly looked at her body but couldn't find any scratches. The others were unharmed too.
'Thanks a lot, strangers.' Merle laughed at the four survivors that saved their asses.
Addison pushed him away before he could say anything stupid that would get them killed.
'Thank you for saving us.' she said diplomatically, 'We owe you for that.'
'Don't forget that.' a man with dark, aviator sunglasses, a cowboy hat, jeans and brown, leather boots, nodded to her. He took of his glasses and put them inside the right pocket of his leather jacket.
'How did you get into trouble?' a younger, anxious youngster asked. He couldn't be older than twenty-five.
'Desperateness…' Daryl grunted in himself, but the dark clothed, black haired, young woman caught his word and smiled.
'Desperate, eh? Gets you killed in this world.'
'Not if you come around to save us every time we're desperate.' Merle flirted. He was immediately knocked off by Addison again, who planted her elbow onto his shoulder.
'We were looking for a working vehicle to get out of here. This part of the world is growing fuller of walkers with the day.' Addison said.
'Come with us, then. We're heading west. Word goes California is untouched.' the young man said. He received an angry look from the older man for telling them that important information without knowing if they could be trusted.
'Doubt any square inch of the world is untouched. Except for the seas, maybe.' Anya said.
'Like my idiotic friend here said. Join us. Find out for yourselves.'
'Why not give it a try? We're looking for a good place ever since this crap started. What could go wrong?' Lincoln suggested.
Daryl and Merle didn't mind. Everywhere they went, walkers and evil people interrupted their attempt to rebuild life. It wouldn't be any different this time, but at least they had a goal again. If they accepted to join them on the way to California.
'Maybe the others got hold of the same news?' Clarke said, 'It's worth the risk, I think.'
'You think? This could be our end if they're lying to us.' Addison hissed.
'What if Mason hears of this news?' Clarke asked.
'Mason is dead! Gone! Get over it, he won't return!' Addison burst out to her.
She immediately realized she spoke before thinking. She didn't know if Mason was dead. She hoped not. But she doubted he would ever return. But crushing the hopes of the others by saying what she just said, was not fair to them. Mason was a symbol to them. The symbol of surviving, always pushing on and never giving up.
'How can you say that?' Daryl grunted.
'If it wasn't for me in the beginning, that kid would've never made it here.' she said, acting as if she was the reason Mason got this far. Something snapped in her every time he was mentioned. He gave up on them and wanted to survive on his own. She didn't have any reason to pretend he would get far without their help.
'You wouldn't have gotten this far without each other. Both of you kept each other alive.' Lincoln said.
'That's not –' Addison started, but she was interrupted by the leader of the four strangers.
'Don't want to interrupt your argument, but we got to go.' he said, 'Puppies and kittens on the horizon.'
He pointed behind in front of him. He noticed the dark cloud in the distance growing and was now able to see it was a herd of walkers coming their way. It seemed like they had no choice than going with them if they didn't want to be swallowed by the herd.
They agreed to travel along with them for the following days, see if they could be trusted and if they wanted to risk going to California for a possible safe haven. A place to secure their future and live the remained of their lives in happiness and peace. It sounded too good to be true.