Chapter 2
An hour or so into the drive was when they passed the school bus. It wasn't a pretty sight to behold as they skirted around it, keeping to the roads edges. Tara watched as they passed it, her dark eyes scanned the remains of walkers slaughtered all over the road. Glenn had told her about Maggie, and if she had been in the school bus; she wasn't anymore. The young woman flicked her eyes to her unconscious companion, and decided against waking him.
Kay was still snoring quietly in the corner, having curled up on herself now; her pack pulled under her head as a make shift pillow. Shifting and grumbling slightly with every bump and hitch in the road. Those in the cabin were still relatively quiet, and Tara felt herself relax ever so slightly; before she knew it she'd fallen into a light slumber.
Two hours passed since they'd seen the bus, and that's when Glenn chose to wake. His eyes wide and confused as they took in his surroundings, questions springing to his mind two at a time as he met Tara's eyes. "Where are we?" He asked urgently, sitting straight up as if he'd never passed out.
"You passed out, and there were walkers. We couldn't stay on the road and these guys offered us a ride" Tara explained, her eyes flicking to a still sleeping Kay; waiting for Glenn to notice her too.
"Did we pass the bus?! Did we pass the bus?!" He spoke, his mind clearly only on one thing.
"About two hours ago" She spoke, unable to really think about what else she should have said.
"What did you see?" He asked and she didn't reply, just looked at him for a moment searching for something to say. "Tara! What did you see?!" He urged, the panic clear in his eyes.
"They're, They're all dead" She stated finally, shaking her head slightly. Though a sneaking suspicion bubbled up in the pit of her stomach. She knew that wouldn't matter, she was stupid to think it wasn't wise to wake the man at the time.
The guilt once again threatened to overwhelm her, and she watched for a moment as Glenn stood and started to beat the back window. Yelling for them to stop the truck at the top of his lungs, though his voice had been lost in the wind.
"What the fuck?!" Kay almost shouted being woken finally by the noise, she jumped from her spot, the material of her pack having imprinted into her cheek. If it weren't for the situation, Tara might have laughed. Instead, she twisted around and screeched "Stop the truck Numbnuts!" As she pounded her fist against the metal. Just as Glenn tried to put the butt of his rifle through the glass for a third time. With a sudden jerk that threatened to spill her over the edge and onto the road; the truck came to a stop. Glenn wasted no time, grabbing his things and jumping out of the vehicle.
Just like things these days, it went from being quiet and calm one moment, to shit utterly hitting the fan the next. Tara had jumped after Glenn, but they were quickly followed by the man that briefly introduced himself as Abraham Ford yelling something.
Kay was scrambling to follow them, pulling her pack up and over her slim shoulders. Her blonde hair stuck straight up from where she'd been sleeping on it. Tara wasn't sure she even knew what was really going on, but was glad to see she followed both her and Glenn anyway.
Glen and the redhead had started shouting at each other now, and Eugene was shouting from somewhere over to the side.
As soon as Tara had turned ever so slightly, fists were thrown and before she knew it Glenn and Abraham were rolling around on the tarmac. The sickening thuds of fists colliding with solid objects echoed over the sound of more shouting from somewhere behind her. The woman that had been travelling with the military man and the brains of the operation tried to help her pull Abraham off Glenn, yelling something of her own.
They could have been doing anything, and they still would have stopped to look up when a machine gun went off, and all the shouting from behind them stopped. Tara whipped around, her eyes growing wide as she watched a whole group of walkers start advancing out of the cornfield they'd been parked next to. Eugene was blindly firing one of the assault riffles, and soon the pinging of bullets slamming into metal jump started all four of them.
Each running to help Kay who had just grabbed a gun from the back of the truck and was already popping off short bursts into the on coming group. She seemed to have much more experience, the gun pressed tightly to her shoulder as she stared down the barrel of the gun.
Tara had pulled her pistol from it's holster, and joined the fray. Rosita, Glenn, and Abraham saddling up next to her to help wipe out the animated corpses that kept coming. Kay seemed to wince with every recoil of her assault rifle, something Tara was sure she was the only one to notice as she'd come up right beside the blonde.
It wasn't long until the walkers stopped, the small group no match for their guns. Though, she wished she could say differently for the truck. Abraham was the first to it, saying something about a tour he'd done in some other hell hole.
Eugene wasn't really paying attention to him, but the slow hiss of air leaking from one of the tires and the trickled leak of the fuel tank didn't sound too good. Glenn seemed exhausted, his face was pale and sweaty; from what she could tell through the grime anyway. He seemed antsy, and she knew why. It was the whole reason why she'd gotten away from the prison, because he needed her, he needed help to get to his wife.
He'd already started to walk away, turning his head ever so slightly to look over his shoulder. She was torn, Kay was pulling her bag apart in search of something, not even paying attention to what they were doing.
"Glenn wait!" Tara called, and the man stopped though clearly reluctantly. If the truck was a gonner, these people would have to come with them. After all, there was protection in numbers.
"Just wait and see if they can fix their truck, if they can we'll part ways. If not we'll have no other choice. We need more people with us, and they have guns."
That seemed to ease him off a little, and what surprised her entirely was when he sat down, in the middle of the road and waited. Eugene and Rosita had both done the same while Abraham had disappeared under the massive truck. His grumbles and grunts the only thing giving away his position.
Kay was still hunched over her pack, and Tara moved closer to try and get a good look at what she was doing; curiosity taking over once again. The blonde had shrugged off her large jacket, she wore a button up shirt underneath and it was way too big for her. The collar was unbuttoned a ways, and a silver pendant shone in the sun; hanging from around her neck. "What are you doing?" Tara asked as she hovered just above the girl who was kneeling on the tarmac.
"Trying to find a bandage" She stated simply, before huffing and sitting back on her heels. That's when Tara saw the blood leaking out of a rip in her shirt; staining it a rusty red colour.
"What the fuck?! How did that even happen?!" She asked as she knelt to help the blonde, her eyes wide.
"Numbnuts can't aim, and I think it was just a ricochet off the truck. I'd gone to grab one of the riffles, and ping!" She spoke, her own dark eyes flicking to glare at Eugene for a moment before they returned to meet Tara's own, her lips pulled up into a smile. "It's alright. Could be worse" She spoke simply, and Tara got the feeling this girl would forgive anyone as long as it was an accident.
"How old are you?" The dark haired girl asked as she watched Kay unbutton the long sleeved shirt she'd been wearing, revealing a rather grimy looking t-shirt underneath it. She winced slightly as the material brushed the gash in her arm, but quickly composed herself.
"Ah, I'm twenty two. Older than I look" She laughed, making the corners of her eyes crinkle up. Tara couldn't help but smile for the first time in what felt like weeks, though in reality it wasn't that long ago. "What about you?" The blonde asked, still smiling warmly as she shrugged her shirt off completely. She was slim, but then again everyone was these days; but her muscles were visible under the dirt that stuck to her otherwise pale skin.
"About the same" Tara spoke, taking the shirt that was held out to her and the knife that followed. "What did you do then? Before this all started?" The blonde spoke, over the tinkering of metal nearby.
"Rookie in the police academy, You?" Tara did honestly wonder; it must have been something physical at least.
"I was part of the Fire Service" Kay smirked, an eyebrow raised in amusement; watching as the dark haired woman fashioned some form of a bandage out of one of her sleeves. Her dark eyes flicking down to see just how bad the damage was. It wasn't too deep, just a knick if anything; it'd be gone in a few weeks. Though she wasn't pleased about loosing one of her sleeves either way.
"I don't think these guys are going to fix that truck" Kay stated after a moment of quiet, wincing slightly when the smaller girl tied the bandage a little tighter than needed. "He hit the fuel tank, that'll be a liability. They won't be able to fix that, they could try but any fuel they could get into it just wouldn't last half as long." She explained, though a little unnecessarily.
As if on que Abraham announced the fate of the truck, using the highly descriptive term "It's fucked" before starting on a whole other rant about how hard it actually was to break a truck of that sort.
It wasn't long until they had agreed to join Tara and Glenn, Kay trailing behind them as well. They all carried extra assault riffles and their own packs. They'd started off back the way they came, Glenn once again insisting he needed to find the school bus. The sun beat down on them all, and there was hardly any breeze. To say the heat was stifling was an understatement. They were all baking, but kept to the roads. Bugs swarmed and buzzed by, and crickets creaked and chirped in the distance. But otherwise, the only noise was the sounds of their footsteps and small conversations going.
Glenn was in the lead, walking alone just ahead of the group. Abraham was saying something about their mission to get Eugene to Washington and Rosita and Kay were chatting away behind them. They'd be walking for hours before they got to the bus, and it was getting dark. The day was very nearly through, and it had been a long one, more than a little eventful.
"Right, we should set up camp" Abraham stated loud enough to be heard by everyone. Once again Glenn surprised her by keeping quiet. She half expected him to try and walk through the night just to get to the bus. She had nothing too compare it to, she'd found her sister and girlfriend and niece. She had closure where that was concerned. All she had left was this mission to get Glenn to Maggie, and that was that.
Kay saddled up next to her when Abraham departed to lead the group into the tree's away from the road. They'd be sitting ducks if they stayed close to the open tarmac. The trees were at least cooler, and a good break from the heat that had been beating down on them from the start of their walk.
There was nothing to say that they'd not be attacked still, but their chances were better. Tara scanned the area around them, watching for any signs of re-animated corpses stumbling through the trees. So far so good, and they pressed on further. Twigs snapping under foot as they walked, treading over fallen trees, and around bushes.
Kay had grabbed her just before she'd hit the deck; having tripped over a tree stump she'd not seen. The blonde grabbing her arm to drag her back up almost roughly. "You're very clumsy aren't you?" She asked as she cracked a grin, pulling her water bottle from around her neck to take a rather large draw before handing it across. "Maybe you're dehydrated" She figured with a shrug, going back to scanning the woods.
Tara said nothing, merely took the bottle offered to her. It was warm, and almost gone. But she was incredibly thirsty, it seemed they always were these days. Thirsty or starving, but you learned to deal with it. There was nothing you could really do apart from learn how to ration.
Kay stayed close, as if she was waiting for the dark haired woman to fall over again. But soon they came to a stop in the middle of a clearing big enough for six people to sleep in for the night.
Abraham produced a few cans of soup, and Kay did the same. Her pack full of different things she'd collected. She seemed clever, at least. To have survived all this time and on her own for part of it. Most people are in groups or if they weren't already they joined groups no matter how large or small.
Abraham got to work securing the area around them, draping wire through the trees and bushes in a wide perimeter around their camp. Cans and bottles were hung from the length, so they'd have a good warning if anything was trying to get to them.
The thing with Zombies was, they didn't really make noises. Sure, while you were awake you could hear them before you could see them. They kind of rasped, as if they were being suffocated slowly, they rattled and groaned. They stumbled along through the trees, going nowhere in particular just hoping they'd come across something they could rip apart. Some days you'd walk and walk and walk, and never come across one. Other days you'd find yourself almost overwhelmed, with no other option but to run and keep going.
Kay had been in that situation before she'd found Tara and Glenn, she'd been running from a group of at least thirty, and just kept going. There was never a particular destination, never a particular way. You just walked to stay alive because sitting still for too long was more dangerous that travelling.
Rosita had set to work with a fire, clearly this was a practised routine. Eugene had just sat there, watching in the middle of everything. Glenn joined him, and Tara felt a bit useless. She watched as Kay helped to open the cans, cutting through the tops with her knife as gently as she could. Handing them to the girl in the cap once they were opened.
"Hey, hot stuff. You could give us a hand" She called over once she'd noticed Tara had been watching her, a smug grin pulling at her lips. They'd been together for almost a day, and in the new world that was the equivalent of more than a few months. Fast friendships were forged out of life and death situations, and that's exactly what living was, a continuous life and death situation.
"Well?" Kay piped up again when Tara didn't move, her eyebrow raised almost playfully.
"It looks like you've got that under control. I don't see why you need my help?" The dark haired girl spoke, unable to stop herself.
"Because you're sat there looking like you've just sucked a lemon. You might as well do something useful instead of sulking." The blonde added, unphased by the response she'd gotten.
Rosita watched the exchange between the two woman, as if she was trying to gauge them both. Her smirk was shadowed by her cap, and she was sure neither of them had noticed yet. Kay had finally convinced the shorter woman to join them, but Tara didn't seem too happy about it. Or at least, she didn't want to seem to happy about it.
"Aha! I think we'll class that as a win to me" the blonde grinned, running a hand through her dirty hair. Her eyes flashing mischievously as they took in Tara's scowl.
"I wouldn't count on it" The more stubborn of the two stated indignantly, her brows furrowed.
"Oh I would" Rosita joined in, and soon three became six as they all sat around with their tepid soup. Night falling finally, shadowing them all in darkness with their only protection being some barbed wire with cans stuck to it.
Tara hadn't spent a night out in the open like this. She was always with their camp, or in their apartment they'd holed up in. So she didn't have much in the ways of sleeping gear. Actually, the only thing she did have was the clothes on her back. Kay had noticed, and handed her a sleeping bag and a folded up piece of blue tarp. "I'll take first watch" was the only thing the blonde said when Tara had furrowed her brows, "You need to sleep, you look like you haven't done for a while. I slept in the truck, it's only fair. Besides;" she paused, shaking her head ever so slightly. "We can't both fit in that" she spoke as she nodded towards what she'd just handed the rookie.
With that, she walked off and settled herself against a rather large tree. Pulling her jacket up close around her as she relaxed against it's trunk. Abraham was on the other side of the little area, and Rosita, Glenn and Eugene were all settling themselves down for the night. She just stared at the blonde for a moment, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Nobody had been this nice to her in a lot time, not even the three from the truck. Even Alisha had a tough and uncaring demeanour.
With one final nod, as if confirming she was doing the right thing she'd grabbed the tarp and sleeping bag and dragged them both towards the blonde. "What are you doing now?" Kay asked, amusement laced in the tone of her voice.
"Sharing, they're yours aren't they?" Tara stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Get up so I can put this down" She ordered, whacking the blonde on the arm a little too hard.
"Hey! Watch it!" Kay grumbled as she rolled away from the dip in the trunk of the tree. Grabbing her arm ever so slightly, as if she didn't want to make a big deal out of it. "I am the walking wounded don't you know?" She tried to joke, but shrugged the jacket off to check she'd not started to bleed again.
Tara seemed to shrug, but watched for a moment. "You should try putting some tree sap on that." She muttered as she laid the tarp out in-between the trees roots. There was enough space for them to sit together quite comfortably.
"Any tree sap?" Kay asked, having untied the bandage to examine the dried wound.
"Here" Tara spoke, pulling her own knife from it's holster to stab it into the trunk. She watched as a golden goo seeped from it's bark. "Well come here then!" She spoke, once again commanding. Her eyebrows knitting together once again as she focussed on collecting the sap on the blade.
Kay was there in a second, stood watching over her shoulder as the dark haired woman collected enough of the goo. "Let me see" She spoke quieter now, turning to address the blonde who stood really rather close.
The taller girl just turned slightly, the dried wound still open and angry as Tara ran the blunt of her blade over it's surface. "Ouch!" Kay hissed, her open skin burning as the sap filled the void. "That hurts more than getting shot actually did!" She grumbled, shutting her eyes as if that would stop the burn.
"Oh shut up you big baby!" Tara sniped back, though her touch was as tender as she could possibly make it. "I saw this on one of those boring documentaries that come on at like three in the morning once." She explained, trying to keep the other girl distracted. Her voice becoming a little softer now.
"Why were you watching one of those at three in the morning?" Kay asked, as if that was the most important thing.
"There wasn't anything else on" Tara spoke, her lips twitching, almost into a smile.
"Oh right, that's because normal people are asleep by then" The blonde smirked, flexing her fingers uncomfortably as they hung by her side.
"State the obvious why don't you?" The smaller woman quipped, and didn't feel so guilty all of a sudden. The blonde seemed to take that away, make her feel less like a piece of shit. Less like she had to be someone else to fit into the world.
"That's my job" Kay grinned, though it quickly turned into a grimace as Tara touched her fingers to the filled wound.
"You're all done." The dark haired girl stated before pulling away to sit in the dip between the roots.
"Thanks doc" The blonde responded before sitting next to her as she unzipped the sleeping bag as far as it would go to cover them both up.
Tara didn't respond, just draped the now blanket sized sleeping bag over them both. Keeping quiet as she settled beside the near stranger she already found herself begrudgingly trusting. The warmth from Kay's side pressed up against her own already calming her. She didn't want to sleep, she wanted to watch and make sure Glenn stayed safe through the night.
"I'll watch him, you sleep" The blonde spoke, "You really look like you need it"
"Gee, thanks" Tara quipped, though her eyelids felt heavy. She'd hate herself for it in the morning, but finally she closed her eyes and let herself trust the girl sat pressed up against her.