p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Jo woke with a start. Dean slept with his head on her stomach, and his body between her legs. They both still wore their boots. She reached down and rubbed a smudge of dirt off of his nose. She blinked a few times, and searched her surroundings, forgetting, just for a second, where they were./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"The inside of the RV smelled musty, like it'd be closed up for years. It probably had. The air was thick, but she didn't dare open a window. She couldn't let in what was outside, not while he was at peace./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Dean never slept anymore. It was all too hard. He was too strong. It was all on his shoulders, even more than it used to be. He still wasn't hers, not really. He never would be. Sams words to her still rang in her ears./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s2" style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;""He thinks of you like a little sister. He wants to protect you, sure, but he will never want you like that."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He didn't mean to be cruel, but he was. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She wanted to move, to shift her weight. The gun on her hip was digging into her skin. She knew she'd have a bruise. What's another bruise against her tattered skin? /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Growing up, her mother always told her that monsters were people. The bullies in her school, the men who expected too much, the butt of a gun. /spanspan class="s2" style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;""There's nothin in your closet, Jo. There's nothin to be afraid of here, go back to bed." /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She was wrong. It took almost two decades to prove to her that the monsters Jo was afraid of were real. She just couldn't have imagined that they would be this way. She couldn't have imagined that there were monsters that you could shoot that would just keep coming. She couldn't imagine that nightmares would continue even when she was awake./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"The only thing that made it a little better was him. The freckles on his cheeks. The way he slept with his mouth slightly open. The scruff on his chin, even though he had no good excuse to shave, he always did. He had aged a decade since it had all started. Wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes. He wasn't a young man anymore, but he looked even older than he was. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"His muscles were tense, and his fingers were still wrapped around his firearm, like always. He was ready to strike at all times. Jo was convinced he was the reason they were alive. She couldn't thank him enough for it, but no matter what she said he seemed so distant. He wasn't really there, especially now./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He grunted and opened an eye. "Why'd you let me sleep?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Because if you don't sleep you'll die." Jo said, looking down at him. He had bags under his eyes, she could tell even in the morning twilight. "You're no good to me dead."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Dean grunted and sat up. "Just don't like letting my guard down."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""I've been with you for five years, Winchester. I think I know what you're like. You don't have to explain"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He smiled a bit. "Maybe you can hold up the fort after all."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Nice if you to notice." She smiled back at him./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""You heard from Sammy?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""No." Jo said slowly, with caution. He wasn't looking at her face. He was checking the rounds in his gun. "He's probably still on the supply run."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Yeah, of course."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He was worried. He was always worried. Especially when it came to Sam./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Jo could hear the sound of the dead. They were more restless during the day. She wondered if it was the sun. The heat on their rotting flesh. Or if they remembered, in the daylight, all that they've lost. Perhaps that's why they moved faster. Yowled louder. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Eventually they would all be like the dead. Aimless. Eventually they'd all die, and even then they would never stop. They'd never stop moving, but they would never have anywhere to go./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Jo knew that the moment Dean found out that she would lose him forever. She wasn't ready for that. How could she ever be?/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Dean?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Huh?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""What if the world was different?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He frowned. "What do you mean?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Like... not this way. Sometimes I think about if it never happened. The disease. The death. I think about if the Roadhouse hadn't burned down. I think about if my mom was still here. It's just us, you know? Even then, most of the time I feel alone."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Dean turned toward her. "You're not alone, Jo. Yeah, this world sucks. It fucking sucks. All we do is fight. We fight to live. We fight for everything. We never stop." /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""It's all never going to end."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""It's gonna end. It's gonna end bloody. I always knew that. All we can do is fight for every breath. Me, you, and Sammy." He reaches for Jos hand, squeezing it. "We're family, and that's what family does. We don't give up. No matter what."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Jo forced a smile. /spanspan class="s2" style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;"That's what I'm worried about. /spanspan class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""You're right." She stood up. "I'm gonna go get some fresh air." She reached out and touched his cheek. "I'll be back soon."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Be careful." Dean said, watching her walk out of the RV. She latched the door behind her, her gun slung over her shoulder. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"The door shut behind her and she walked. The leaves, and sticks crunches under her feet as she forced herself forward. She couldn't hide it anymore. She went to the river and crouched. She dipped her hands in, splashing her face. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"The sight of herself in the water was too much. She didn't recognize the dirty blonde in front of her. Her own face had aged. She had a scar across her cheek. She wore no makeup. Her hair was dirty. She was crying. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Jo stood up and crossed the river, her boots and pants got soaked. She had to make it. It was time. There was no more delaying it./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She looked up at the sound of a twig cracking across from her. "Hi Sam. I can't let you stay out here anymore. As much as I want you around... it can't be like this." Jo said, gripping the strap from her rifle. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Sam tilted his head to the side knowingly. He didn't have to say anything. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""You can't be here anymore. I don't know what I'll tell Dean. It's just too fucking wrong. He will never be the same. This will break him, but I can't keep putting off the inevitable. The truth is, you've been gone for awhile. No amount of stalling will change that."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Sam moved toward her, tugging on the chains around his wrists. They were raw from tugging and pulling. Bloody drool rolled down his chin. He snapped at her, biting a bit. The open wound on his neck from his bite was oozing and covered in blood. He smelled like death. Flies danced around his open wound, but in his dead, empty gaze he didn't seem to mind. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"His hair was grimy from lack of washes, and blood. He still towered over her by a lot. If it were in any other circumstance Jo would've been proud that she could subdue Sam, but there was no pride in this. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She moved her gun to her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sam." /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He tugged a little harder. Maybe he knew it was the end. She glanced down to take off the safety. In the second it took to release it, Sam broke through. His gray skin hung over, limply, his pearl white bones showing through his rotting flesh. He stumbled forward, unbelievably fast. She pulled up the gun to see him a foot away from her. She screamed out, and pulled the trigger sending a buck shot through his chest./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Sam stumbled back groaning loudly before lunging forward again, going straight for her throat. She was caught off guard, and his clammy, rotting hands connecting with her chest sending her falling backwards. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He was on top of Jo. She could feel the bloody drool drip down his chin onto her cheek, her neck, as he snapped at her like a turtle. Her gun was just out of her reach, and she kept Sam at an uncomfortably close distance with her arms, her palms against his chest. "Sam stop!" She cried, knowing it wasn't him. She shouted even though she knew he wouldn't understand, even though she knew it was over./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She kicked him away, and turned to crawl for the gun, but his bony, rotten hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her toward him. Her fingers dig into the mud, the grass, her nails scraping at anything, anything that could save her. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She felt the wetness of blood, and drool through her jeans. She felt the wetness before the pain. Before the sting, the ripping of her flesh, his teeth tanking through the fabric and meat of her leg. She cried out, as the poison, the disease, coursed through her veins. It was over. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"A shot rang out through the air, and she felt a heavy weight against her lower half. She opened her eyes, the world spinning in front of her. When it stopped twirling, her eyes landed on a familiar pair of brown boots. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Dean squatted down in front of her, his head tilted to the side. "He's been dead this whole time."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"It wasn't a question./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He reached down and held her chin, making her look at him. "You should've told me."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""I know." She whispered, as he pressed the barrel of his gun between her eyes. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She could see the light disappear from his smokey green eyes. The man she'd known was gone. He died there with Sam. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He pressed his lips together. "Shouldn't have lied, Jo. It could've all been different." He whispered, as he pressed on the trigger. With an echoing, deafening shot her head fell face first into the mud, her eyes still open, watching, and waiting for the words he would never say to her. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"The inside of the RV smelled musty, like it'd be closed up for years. It probably had. The air was thick, but she didn't dare open a window. She couldn't let in what was outside, not while he was at peace./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Dean never slept anymore. It was all too hard. He was too strong. It was all on his shoulders, even more than it used to be. He still wasn't hers, not really. He never would be. Sams words to her still rang in her ears./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s2" style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;""He thinks of you like a little sister. He wants to protect you, sure, but he will never want you like that."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He didn't mean to be cruel, but he was. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She wanted to move, to shift her weight. The gun on her hip was digging into her skin. She knew she'd have a bruise. What's another bruise against her tattered skin? /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Growing up, her mother always told her that monsters were people. The bullies in her school, the men who expected too much, the butt of a gun. /spanspan class="s2" style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;""There's nothin in your closet, Jo. There's nothin to be afraid of here, go back to bed." /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She was wrong. It took almost two decades to prove to her that the monsters Jo was afraid of were real. She just couldn't have imagined that they would be this way. She couldn't have imagined that there were monsters that you could shoot that would just keep coming. She couldn't imagine that nightmares would continue even when she was awake./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"The only thing that made it a little better was him. The freckles on his cheeks. The way he slept with his mouth slightly open. The scruff on his chin, even though he had no good excuse to shave, he always did. He had aged a decade since it had all started. Wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes. He wasn't a young man anymore, but he looked even older than he was. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"His muscles were tense, and his fingers were still wrapped around his firearm, like always. He was ready to strike at all times. Jo was convinced he was the reason they were alive. She couldn't thank him enough for it, but no matter what she said he seemed so distant. He wasn't really there, especially now./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He grunted and opened an eye. "Why'd you let me sleep?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Because if you don't sleep you'll die." Jo said, looking down at him. He had bags under his eyes, she could tell even in the morning twilight. "You're no good to me dead."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Dean grunted and sat up. "Just don't like letting my guard down."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""I've been with you for five years, Winchester. I think I know what you're like. You don't have to explain"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He smiled a bit. "Maybe you can hold up the fort after all."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Nice if you to notice." She smiled back at him./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""You heard from Sammy?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""No." Jo said slowly, with caution. He wasn't looking at her face. He was checking the rounds in his gun. "He's probably still on the supply run."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Yeah, of course."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He was worried. He was always worried. Especially when it came to Sam./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Jo could hear the sound of the dead. They were more restless during the day. She wondered if it was the sun. The heat on their rotting flesh. Or if they remembered, in the daylight, all that they've lost. Perhaps that's why they moved faster. Yowled louder. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Eventually they would all be like the dead. Aimless. Eventually they'd all die, and even then they would never stop. They'd never stop moving, but they would never have anywhere to go./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Jo knew that the moment Dean found out that she would lose him forever. She wasn't ready for that. How could she ever be?/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Dean?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Huh?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""What if the world was different?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He frowned. "What do you mean?"/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Like... not this way. Sometimes I think about if it never happened. The disease. The death. I think about if the Roadhouse hadn't burned down. I think about if my mom was still here. It's just us, you know? Even then, most of the time I feel alone."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Dean turned toward her. "You're not alone, Jo. Yeah, this world sucks. It fucking sucks. All we do is fight. We fight to live. We fight for everything. We never stop." /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""It's all never going to end."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""It's gonna end. It's gonna end bloody. I always knew that. All we can do is fight for every breath. Me, you, and Sammy." He reaches for Jos hand, squeezing it. "We're family, and that's what family does. We don't give up. No matter what."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Jo forced a smile. /spanspan class="s2" style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;"That's what I'm worried about. /spanspan class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""You're right." She stood up. "I'm gonna go get some fresh air." She reached out and touched his cheek. "I'll be back soon."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""Be careful." Dean said, watching her walk out of the RV. She latched the door behind her, her gun slung over her shoulder. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"The door shut behind her and she walked. The leaves, and sticks crunches under her feet as she forced herself forward. She couldn't hide it anymore. She went to the river and crouched. She dipped her hands in, splashing her face. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"The sight of herself in the water was too much. She didn't recognize the dirty blonde in front of her. Her own face had aged. She had a scar across her cheek. She wore no makeup. Her hair was dirty. She was crying. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Jo stood up and crossed the river, her boots and pants got soaked. She had to make it. It was time. There was no more delaying it./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She looked up at the sound of a twig cracking across from her. "Hi Sam. I can't let you stay out here anymore. As much as I want you around... it can't be like this." Jo said, gripping the strap from her rifle. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Sam tilted his head to the side knowingly. He didn't have to say anything. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""You can't be here anymore. I don't know what I'll tell Dean. It's just too fucking wrong. He will never be the same. This will break him, but I can't keep putting off the inevitable. The truth is, you've been gone for awhile. No amount of stalling will change that."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Sam moved toward her, tugging on the chains around his wrists. They were raw from tugging and pulling. Bloody drool rolled down his chin. He snapped at her, biting a bit. The open wound on his neck from his bite was oozing and covered in blood. He smelled like death. Flies danced around his open wound, but in his dead, empty gaze he didn't seem to mind. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"His hair was grimy from lack of washes, and blood. He still towered over her by a lot. If it were in any other circumstance Jo would've been proud that she could subdue Sam, but there was no pride in this. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She moved her gun to her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sam." /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He tugged a little harder. Maybe he knew it was the end. She glanced down to take off the safety. In the second it took to release it, Sam broke through. His gray skin hung over, limply, his pearl white bones showing through his rotting flesh. He stumbled forward, unbelievably fast. She pulled up the gun to see him a foot away from her. She screamed out, and pulled the trigger sending a buck shot through his chest./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Sam stumbled back groaning loudly before lunging forward again, going straight for her throat. She was caught off guard, and his clammy, rotting hands connecting with her chest sending her falling backwards. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He was on top of Jo. She could feel the bloody drool drip down his chin onto her cheek, her neck, as he snapped at her like a turtle. Her gun was just out of her reach, and she kept Sam at an uncomfortably close distance with her arms, her palms against his chest. "Sam stop!" She cried, knowing it wasn't him. She shouted even though she knew he wouldn't understand, even though she knew it was over./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She kicked him away, and turned to crawl for the gun, but his bony, rotten hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her toward him. Her fingers dig into the mud, the grass, her nails scraping at anything, anything that could save her. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She felt the wetness of blood, and drool through her jeans. She felt the wetness before the pain. Before the sting, the ripping of her flesh, his teeth tanking through the fabric and meat of her leg. She cried out, as the poison, the disease, coursed through her veins. It was over. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"A shot rang out through the air, and she felt a heavy weight against her lower half. She opened her eyes, the world spinning in front of her. When it stopped twirling, her eyes landed on a familiar pair of brown boots. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"Dean squatted down in front of her, his head tilted to the side. "He's been dead this whole time."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"It wasn't a question./span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He reached down and held her chin, making her look at him. "You should've told me."/span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;""I know." She whispered, as he pressed the barrel of his gun between her eyes. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"She could see the light disappear from his smokey green eyes. The man she'd known was gone. He died there with Sam. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p1" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"span class="s1" style="font-family: '.SFUIText'; font-size: 17pt;"He pressed his lips together. "Shouldn't have lied, Jo. It could've all been different." He whispered, as he pressed on the trigger. With an echoing, deafening shot her head fell face first into the mud, her eyes still open, watching, and waiting for the words he would never say to her. /span/p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p
p class="p2" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: '.SF UI Text'; color: #454545; min-height: 20.3px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /p