Katherine stood in her bedroom, staring into the mirror at her own reflection. Her brown eyes were bloodshot and the bags under her eyes were a clear sign that she'd not been sleeping. Putting her hair up into a ponytail, her hands dropped down and she let out a sigh. She didn't want to go to work, but she knew she needed to, she had to. "Don't go, Mom." Pulling her eyes from her own reflection, she focused on the little brown haired girl who stood in the doorway. "I have to sweetheart, Grandma is going to look after you and I'll be back real soon." Turning around, she crossed the room and bent down in front of her little angel. Cupping her cheek, she wiped away the tears that were threatening to trickle down her cheeks with her thumbs, and smiled before standing up and kissing her on the forehead. "Be good, I'll be back, I promise." Taking one last lingering look at her little girl, she then turned and rushed downstairs, unable to look back a second time.
Reaching her mother, who was waiting by the front door Katherine, looked at her for a moment. She found her forehead wrinkling as she reached out, her fingers brushing over her mother's forehead, before hugging her tightly. "Katherine… you better come back, you're that girl's world." Katherine looked at her for a moment and sighed. "I know, but this is important, I'm going for her. If I don't, she'll die!" She felt her mother grab her arm, causing her to turn around. "Can't we go to a pharmacy or something? Wouldn't it be better than going there, what if it's got a lot of infected?" Kat bit her lip and let out a sigh. "Just pack the bags, make sure there is a lot of food for her, we don't know how long we'll be on the road for her. I'm not going to lose her, not now, not ever. I'll be back. Lock the door, bolt it, I'll be back."
Nothing was more important to Kat than looking after her daughter; her little girl had been diagnosed with diabetes when she was only five years old. Before they left, before they ran away from the infected, she needed to raid the hospital, needed all the meds she could possibly get to keep her beautiful little girl going. Climbing out of the car, around the corner from the hospital, she hoped to get a clear run home once she was out of the hospital. Looking around for any signs of infected, she took a deep breath, before heading toward the hospital. It was chaos inside, everyone was running for their lives, screaming, trying to hide, and trying to escape. "Kat, what are you doing here?" She turned around quickly and looked at the nurse, one of her closest friends. "You need to get out, they were meant to be evacuating, but there is an outbreak on the top floor. The Military are coming to take them and anyone else who might be infected out." Katherine looked at Nicky and took a deep breath. "It will be alright. Go; get back to your family. Leave now." Kat ordered, as she hugged the woman tightly. "Stay safe, get out, just go be with your family."
Katherine watched as Nicky ran, heading to the stairs and rushing away. She hoped she got out. Turning back to her mission at hand, she rushed to the staff changing room and down to her locker; she could hear the sound of gunfire on the upper floors they were here already. Her heartbeat quickened as she ripped open her locker, grabbing out a bag, a few pictures and a small box with a bow on it and placed it into her jacket pocket. "Just to the medical cabinet, then go." She muttered to herself. The gunfire overhead was getting closer, she started to feel as if she was unable to breath, unsure if this was a good idea or not. She turned as the door flew open and instantly, she moved to hide behind a set of lockers. She listened as; footsteps moved around the room, she didn't dare move a muscle until the footsteps disappeared very quickly and the sound of running and gunshots carried on down the halls. Rushing back to her locker, she checked to make sure there was nothing else left in there, that she needed before slipping into the hallway.
It was a whole new place now, it wasn't like it was a few minutes ago. There was smoke everywhere, gun fire echoing through the halls. She had to get to the medical cabinet. Covering her mouth, she ran, rushing toward the end of the hall and into a small cabinet. It had already been pried open. Kat could feel her heart sinking as she made her way closer and pulled the door open. "Thank God." She muttered, pulling all the syringes she possibly could from the shelves and into her bag, she then grabbed anything else she thought she might need. The ground shook around her, and the lights began to flicker. Looking up at the light above her as it jumped around, she bit her lip, she had to go, now!
Back into the hallway she ran, her eyes looking around as she made her way toward the stairs, freezing, she stopped as she heard shuffling and groaning coming toward her. "Oh no…" Turning on her heel, she went to run the other way; gunfire on the other side of her caused her to stop. She was trapped between the two. "Shit!" Looking around for a way out, she pushed a door open and ran inside not caring what was inside. Pushing her ear against the door to listen, she could only hear the sound of her own heart thumping, and her breath leaving her quickly. She could hear them coming, hear them shooting and taking out the infected. Her body was shaking as she waited, as she strained to listen for the sound of anyone, or anything outside the door.
"I bet you ten bucks he won't make it back." The dark haired, deep blue eyed teen said placing down the cash on the table in the cafeteria. "What Mr. Grimes, you're betting against your best friend?" Kat questioned the man as he took a seat beside her. "Make it twenty and you got a deal." Rick chuckled and placed down an extra ten bucks and smiled. "You're on Kat." A grin pulled at her lips for a moment, before she looked down. "He'd be disappointed if he knew you were betting against him." While Kat was in the rather popular group, she still found herself getting shy around certain people, Rick was one of them. Rick, like Shane were those two untouchable guys in her eyes, both on the football team, both popular, Shane was a prankster, while Rick was the more down to earth one, but out of the two Rick was the person who Katherine Chase became nervous around. Several other people on the table placed down cash, wanting to get in on the bet, a fair few of them agreeing that he'd not be back. "I do look forward to taking all of your cash." Kat responded after placing her cash down on the table.
Ten minutes before the end of lunch, the seat beside her was pulled out and a rather breathless Shane plopped down. Smirking softly, Kat looked over at him and smiled. "Nice work Shane." She picked up the cash off the table, paid the respective people and handed half of her share over to Shane. "Why thank you Kitty Kat." Taking the cash from her, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. She couldn't help but glance at Rick as he did. "Hey Grimes, told you he'd be back." Shane let out a little laugh as he finished his sandwich. "You bet against me Rick? What type of friend does that?" He questioned with a chuckle between long gulps of his water.
Getting up, as the bell rang, the group headed out. Looking out the window as Shane called the head teacher, he smiled. "Your coupe's gone!" The group let out a laugh as the head looked out the window then back at the group, especially the ring leader, Shane. "Miss. Chase, Mr. Grimes, I thought better of you than this. Mr. Walsh, my office, now!" Kat and Rick glanced at each other, trying hard to not laugh. Shane took a bow and excused himself from the duo, and headed off to the principal's office, only stopping to glance over at Kat and Rick for a moment. Standing alone with Rick in the hallway, her eyes flicked up to look at him for a moment, his eyes looked back at hers. "Next time, I will win." Letting out a breathless laugh, she shook her head. "Not a chance Grimes." It was only then that she realised how close they were stood to each other. "I will, I can't have Shane winning every bet Kat." Katherine let out another laugh and shook her head. "Maybe you should stop betting against him then Rick." Patting him on the shoulder, Katherine moved away from Rick and headed to class, leaving him alone in the hallway.
The footsteps passed, and Katherine let out a sigh, finally letting herself feel as if she could breathe once again. The gunfire moved further away and after a few moments, she slowly opened the door and looked around. It was now or never, she needed to go, needed to try and escape before anything else came. Instantly, she rushed out and into the hall, she ran straight for the stairs and got into the stairwell without stopping to look for the sign of anyone. Closing the door, she let out a breath and listened for any sound coming from behind her, before taking off. Racing down the steps, she jumped steps, flung herself around corners and pushed herself to move as quickly as possible, the sound of gunfire coming from each floor. Reaching the ground floor, she pushed open the fire exit and ran for her car, leaving the hospital behind her. Getting into her car, she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, before turning on the car and driving for home.
Banging hard on the front door, Kat glanced around, her heart pounding as she waited for the door to open. What if something had happened to Julie? What if they were no longer there? What ifs ran through her head as she continued to bang. "Mom!" The door flew open and a pair of small arms wrapped tightly around her. "Julie, it's alright I'm back. I told you I would be back." Kissing her head softly, she stepped inside and shut the door for a moment. "Is everything ready to go?" Julie nodded softly and then motioned to the bags and the box of food sat waiting for them. "Yeah, but Grandma is still in the bathroom, she's been in there for nearly an hour." A feeling of dread ran over the mother as she registered what Julie had said. Picking up the bags, Katherine moved them to the door, clothes, food and her father's gun; it was all ready to go.
"Julie, sit there, do not move. I'm going to get Grandma." Kissing her on the head, Katherine rushed past and up the stairs. "Mom?" Unlocking the door from the outside, she opened it slowly. "Mom?" Slowly stepping forward, she placed a hand on her neck. A sad look appeared on her face. "Mommy…" Gasping, Katherine covered her mouth as tears started to fill her eyes. "I'm sorry Mom." She uttered, her fingers pulling away and stepping back out of the room. Pulling the door shut, she spun around wiping her eyes and shaking the sadness off as she walked back downstairs. "Let's go sweetie." The little brunette girl glanced to her mother, then back up the stairs. "Where is Grandma?" She frowned softly, a hand touching her cheek. "She's gone… We have to be brave okay? So no tears right now."
There was a strong pain in her chest, Katherine lost her father when she was only nineteen years old. But now her mother was gone too, succumbed to the illness that had taken so many people all over the world. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she tried to avoid Julie's gaze, taking things to the car. How could this happen? Sucking in a breath, Kat threw in a box and a bag and sighed. She hated this, hated that she would have to fight alone to look after her little girl. How far could a woman and a girl go when they were in a world that would soon become a land with no rules. Standing alone outside for a moment, Katherine closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, before opening her eyes. She had to do this, her little girl needed her to.
Finishing packing up the car, Katherine then rushed back inside and picked Julie up. "Let's go baby girl." Glancing up toward the bathroom, Kat then looked at her daughter with a soft smile. Carrying her out to the car, she put her inside and strapped her in, then got into the driver's seat and locked the doors. "Oh by the way Princess," Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled the small box with the bow on it. Turning around in her chair she handed it to her. "Happy birthday beautiful." A small smile appeared on the little girl's face as she opened the box, glancing in the rear-view mirror, she couldn't help but smile as her little girl opened the box and found a beautiful star shaped locket. "It's the one I wanted. Thank you Mommy." Nodding softly, Katherine glanced over at her and nodded. "I know, I had to hide it in work so you didn't find it. Look inside it." Katherine instructed her little girl, who squealed as she opened it and found a picture of the pair of them. "Thank you." Katherine nodded softly, a small smile on her lips as her little girl slipped on the necklace. She could feel tears filling her eyes as she left Linden County.
Gridlock, it was God's way of damning all those who drove and ruined his beautiful green earth. Frustration and annoyance was clear on Katherine's face as they sat on the hood of the car. Her arms wrapped around her daughter trying to keep her warm. Katherine let out a long sigh, and then looked down to see that Julie was drifting off. Kissing her softly on the head she slipped off the hood and scooped her up in her arms. "Dale?" She walked over to the old man, with the white beard in a dirty white beater and a Hawaiian shirt, who had two girls with him, who he'd apparently saved after their car broke down. "Are you alright Kat?" Nodding softly, she adjusted Julie in her arms. "Would you mind looking after her, she's exhausted and I just want to go on ahead a little and see if I can find out anything." He nodded softly. "Of course, Julie, why don't we take you inside and find you somewhere to sleep." Amy, the younger of the two blonde girls said taking Julie from Kat. Julie nodded and followed Amy inside, while Kit turned to look at Dale. "Thank you." With that she turned around and started making her way down the road.
There was a loud bang as she made her way through the gridlock of cars, turning she dashed through the woods, out to the clearing where she could see Atlanta. "Oh my god." Kat's hand moved to cover her mouth, a gasp leaving her lips as she took a step back. Feeling a pair of arms catch her as she slipped on the dewy grass, she slowly stood up and stared in sadness as Atlanta burned. Turning her head, slowly she looked to see who she was beside. Her eyes landed on a man with a mess of brown hair, his eyes looked away from Atlanta to her. "Sorry, thank you for catching me." She whispered, her eyes moving back to Atlanta for just a moment. "It's alright, not like you jumped on me and kissed me." She let out a small laugh as she listened to his gravelly voice. "That is true, not like there is any reason to be kissing anyone right now though." He nodded softly. Looking at him as the light from another bomb lit his face; the pair of them stared surprised at each other. "Kitty Kat?" He said softly. "Shane?" Moving over, the pair hugged each other tightly. An embrace of two people in a crazy world, who had been dragged back together, was it fate, or just dumb luck?
The pair stepped away from the sight of Atlanta and began making their way back to their cars. "Is it just you?" Glancing over at her as they moved through the gridlock, Shane questioned as they made their way toward their own vehicles. "No, me and my daughter. I left her with a couple of people a little way back; I should get back to her." Shane smiled and nodded softly. "Yeah I get that; I should get back to Carl." Looking at him, she was clearly curious. "You have a son?" Shane laughed, it was a loud laugh and it was rather soothing to hear something old and familiar. "No, he's Rick's. You remember Rick right?" Shane said looking down at her face with a small smug smirk. "Yeah… wait where's Rick?" Shane looked down. "He's dead… poor kid lost his mother then a few months ago, and Rick got shot and died in the hospital." Blinking, she looked up at Shane. "I'm sorry." He nodded softly. "Listen, why don't I go and get Carl and meet you and we can talk about what we do next?" Katherine bit her lip a little, looking up at him and then nodded softly. "Sure."
Walking away from Shane, she blinked softly trying to get the tears to clear her eyes as she made her way to her little girl. What would they do next? Was there another option, she couldn't seen one right now.
