Title: Let Go, Lay To Rest
Rating: T for language, violence and gore.
Summary: "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." Elena's gotten good at surviving through the impossible, and the end of the world is no different. A little helping hand wouldn't be a bad thing, though.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with AMC, The Walking Dead or its cast. I only own Elena.
Author's Notes: Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter! Here's chapter 2; I hope you enjoy it!

Previously on Let Go, Lay To Rest...

"We should stay together when we go in," Rick muttered as we prepared ourselves to enter the farm house.

I frowned over at him. Splitting up would get the sweep done much quicker, but it had taken long enough to get him to agree to let me give him my knife for the time being. He was a stubborn man, I could tell, and we didn't have time to argue again. The last light of the day was quickly slipping away so we needed to get inside, quickly.

"Alright," I agreed reluctantly. "Ready?"

"Ready," he replied softly.

Well, here we go then.

2. Watches & Walkers

I took a fortifying breath and nudged the door open slowly, stepping inside after Rick. I had an arrow nocked and my bow was raised, ready to let an arrow fly at a moment's notice. We swept through the bottom floor quickly – it was made up of only two rooms; a kitchen and a living room. There were no Walkers downstairs so after some silent gestures, we headed up the stairs. There were no Walkers upstairs, either, and I was unsure how to feel about it.

I was glad, of course, that there were no Walkers to deal with, but it was rare to come across anywhere without a Walker lingering somewhere and the lack of the undead made me uneasy. I pushed those feelings resolutely away, however, and led Rick back down to the living room. The windows were already boarded up so we quickly settled down on the dusty sofas in the room.

I pulled out my half empty tin of pears and offered some to the Sheriff. He took them with a murmured thanks and I set about finding something a little more substantial to eat before we settled in for the night. I eventually settled on two tins of ravioli. I slid one over to Rick silently, followed by a plastic fork, before opening my own and digging in. We spoke a little as we ate, mostly of trivial things to keep ourselves distracted from the harsh reality outside.

"I'll keep watch," I offered, shifting slightly on the sofa when we had both finished eating. "I slept pretty well last night so I'll be okay to keep a lookout for the night."

"Are you sure?" he asked uncertainly, pulling off his hat to run a hand over his hair.

I nodded wordlessly. Truthfully, I wasn't comfortable enough with Rick to sleep with him there, and I was too awake to try and get sleep regardless. After some persuasion, I managed to convince the older man to get some rest while I kept watch. I waited for him to drift off to sleep, sprawled out on one of the sofas, before heading out of the farm house, sitting down on the porch with my knife by my side and my bow in my hands.

I stared out at the road silently, letting my thoughts drift. I was still a little surprised by my own offer to help Rick get in and out of Atlanta. I couldn't really identify my motives for doing so, either. I had nothing to gain by returning to the city; in fact, I had more to lose than anything.

If I was being honest, a lot of it was because I could relate to Rick's situation. When the outbreak had first hit, my entire being had been focused on finding my family and keeping them safe. I hadn't arrived in time to save my parents, but I had found my brother and we had stuck together for the weeks following the outbreak, until he got bit.

I squeezed my eyes shut briefly, fighting away the onslaught of memories that threatened to overwhelm me. It was bad enough they haunted my sleep; they had no business interrupting my waking thoughts, too. I sighed and opened my eyes again, staring out into the darkness. I resolved to do anything I could to help Rick find his family. I knew how much it meant just to know their fate, regardless of whether or not they were alive anymore. The Sheriff seemed like he was a decent person, despite the new world we were living in, and something about him made me want to help him.

I lifted my eyes to gaze up at the clear sky, smiling slightly at the stars that twinkled down at me. Perhaps it was silly, but I had formed a deep attachment to the stars after the world had gone to shit. They were the only constant; even if you couldn't always see them, they were always there and always would be. They were something I could depend on, in a way. No matter what happened, the stars would always, always be there in a way people couldn't be.

I traced my fingers over the smooth material of my bow, almost caressing it as I returned to scouring the surrounding area. I shifted constantly in place before eventually standing. I circled the house quietly, hyper aware of every little sound I could pick up. No Walkers appeared out of the darkness but I managed to shoot down two squirrels from the trees. I took them back around to the front of the house and settled down on the porch once more.

I quickly skinned and gutted the squirrels, preparing them. We could cook them for breakfast when Rick woke up. We would need something more substantial than tinned ravioli if we were heading into Atlanta and while the squirrels weren't exactly ideal, they'd offer some protein and something a little more filling.

I spent the rest of the night alternating between sitting on the porch and circling the farm house. My eyes started to feel heavy as the sun was breaching the horizon, but I firmly pushed any tiredness away. I was used to the exhaustion I constantly felt. I either couldn't sleep, too afraid of what nightmares would greet me if I allowed myself to drift off, or the nightmares would interrupt whatever sleep I had.

I was coming back from one final circle of the farm house when Rick came out onto the porch. I smiled, giving a slight wave as he spotted me. He waved back and I noticed the relief on his face when he saw I was still there. I came to a stop in front of the porch, tilting my head back to meet his gaze.

"You stayed on watch all night?" he questioned, sounding surprised.

I gave a small shrug but nodded. "Yeah. I wasn't tired so I didn't see the point in waking you up."

Rick frowned but nodded in acceptance after a moment. He pulled off his hat to run his hand over his hair before replacing it again. A small smile quirked on my lips as I noted the action, but I didn't comment. We all had our nervous ticks, after all.

"C'mon," I instructed gently, nodding at the house. "I killed some squirrels we can eat for breakfast and then we can head off to the city."

Rick agreed with a murmur and turned, heading back into the farm house. I followed after him, scooping up the squirrels as I went. I quickly set up a small fire inside the house, ignoring the potential dangers of a house fire. I cooked the squirrels with an ease that came with doing this sort of thing a hundred times before putting the fire out and handing Rick his own breakfast.

"Bon appetite," I declared quietly, digging into my squirrel as Rick did the same.

We struck up another trivial conversation while we ate, both of us content to ignore the impending trip to Atlanta. I could feel dread settle in my stomach, heavy and thick, but I pushed that away in favour of keeping the conversation light. Rick was clearly eager to get on the road but I was reluctant to leave the temporary safety of the farm house.

Eventually, though, it was time to go. I double checked everything I needed was in my pack before shouldering it and my quiver of arrows. I was clutching my bow in my hand, having given Rick my knife once again. We left the house in a companionable silence, starting down the road that led to Atlanta.

We got about twenty minutes in when Rick started talking again and I indulged him, remaining constantly aware of my surroundings in case our voices attracted any attention. We got to know each other on the way to Atlanta; Rick told me about his wife and son, showing me a photograph of the three of them together. He spoke a little about his life as a Deputy Sheriff before the outbreak. He told me about how he had woken up in the hospital to find dead people walking the streets and his house abandoned, leaving him completely confused and disorientated. When he finished speaking, I felt it only right I share a little information about myself with him.

I told him about growing up in Wales, spending time learning how to live off the land as well as doing work on the farm where I lived with my little brother. I talked about moving to Georgia and getting the chance to start again. I spoke about my jobs, one as an archery instructor on weekends and the other as a mechanic in my father's shop. I talked a little about my parents and some of the close friends I had made, but I didn't mention my brother much at all; Danny's loss was still too fresh, too painful to discuss.

By the time we had finished trading our stories, Atlanta was within view. The sight of the city gave me shivers but Rick seemed to be unaware of the dire state of the city. I couldn't keep my eyes off of the rows and rows of cars trying to leave the city but Rick just kept his eyes fixed on Atlanta, walking confidently into the city.

"Rick, we should stick to the alleys," I hissed at him as he headed down a seemingly deserted street. "Streets like this aren't safe."

It seemed almost as if he couldn't hear me, silently continuing down the street. I swore under my breath but followed after him, keeping an eye out for any Walkers. The few that filtered into the street were taken down quickly and quietly and I hurried to retrieve my arrows before running down the street to fall into step with the Sheriff.

"This isn't safe," I whispered harshly to him again, grabbing his arm.

He stopped in place, looking at me with such a broken look I couldn't help but let my hand fall back to my side. Nodding to me, he set off down the street again and I followed after once more, taking down whatever Walkers got too close. We turned a corner only to come to an abrupt stop. I swallowed back the urge to gag as we stared down at a street packed with Walkers. The smell wasn't something I was used to yet and with so many of the dead crowding the street it was almost overwhelming.

"Come on!" I snarled at my companion, grabbing his arm and tugging him with me as we sprinted down the street.

I didn't know where to go. Every corner we turned seemed to turn up only more Walkers and no escape. Rick pointed out a tank to me, stranded in the middle of the road and I nodded as we headed over to it. There were so many Walkers that my bow would be no use; I couldn't make a dent in the numbers and most of them were too close for me to use the bow effectively anyway. I was struck by a sudden idea as we stumbled towards the tank.

"Cover me!" I called to Rick as I shrugged off my pack, rummaging around in it briefly.

I pulled out a firecracker, ignoring Rick's surprised look, quickly followed by retrieving the box of matches I kept to start fires. I started violently when I heard a gunshot let off and swore loudly, knowing Rick had reverted to the gun despite my warnings. I fumbled with the matches, pulling one out and setting it alight. I lit the end of the firecracker and threw it, watching as it soared through the air to land on the ground a little way away from the tank.

Rick and I pressed up against the tank before he instructed me to get under it. Shooting him an incredulous look, I nonetheless did what he said and crawled underneath, aware of him doing the same beside me. He shot another few Walkers just as the firecracker went off, the noise echoing loudly and drawing the attention of a lot of the Walkers nearby. It was useless with the ones pursuing us under the tank, however; they could see and smell us, and were less inclined to get distracted from their meal.

It quickly seemed hopeless as we crawled forward and I inwardly apologised to my brother, swallowing heavily as I withdrew my own pistol. I flicked off the safety and let off a few shots myself; they were already going to follow us and I was going to take down as many of the dead with me as I could. Just when everything seemed hopeless, Rick nudged me and jerked his head up. I followed his gaze and saw the opening leading into the tank.

Feeling oddly boneless, I clambered up inside the tank, Rick close behind me. I heaved a few breaths, trying to regain control of myself, before noticing the corpse beside me. I took my knife from Rick wordlessly and stabbed the thing in the head; it was better to be safe than sorry, after all.

I slumped against the side of the tank, half leaning on Rick as he rested some of his weight on me. Both of our breaths were coming in harsh pants, almost in sync as we tried to get our breath back again.

"If I die in this tank, I'm gonna kill you, Sheriff," I gasped out, a weak smile on my face.

Rick looked to me, despair clear in his expression. "I'm so sorry, Elena," he choked out, tears shimmering in his eyes. "I should never have let you come with me. I should have believed you when you said Atlanta was overrun. This is-"

I cut him off with a sharp jab to his ribs. "Shut up," I said bluntly. "It was my decision to come along with you. This isn't your fault." I slumped over a little, letting my gaze drift to the ceiling. "I knew this was a suicide mission when I said I'd help you out."

"Then why'd you come?" he demanded, guilt and confusion plain in his expression.

"I'm tired, Rick," I admitted softly to the roof of the tank. "Tired of this. I don't have any reason to keep going other than pure stubbornness, and, well, my stubbornness has pretty much run out now. I don't have anything or anyone. It's just me left, and I'm so fucking tired. I figured – I figured if I came with you I could help someone out and, I don't know. Sacrifice myself, I guess, so you could find your family and my death would mean something."

And there it was. The real reason I had offered to come with Rick to Atlanta. I didn't want to die, far from it, but there was nothing left for me anymore. My family, my friends. They were all gone. I wanted to live, but I had nothing left to live for and that kind of thing – that ate away at people. It had eaten away at me. I didn't want to die but I figured if it was going to happen, I wanted it to happen like this. I wanted my death to help save someone else.

Rick twisted, grabbing me by the shoulders as he lowered his head so our eyes were level. "Listen to me," he snapped, suddenly furious. "You are not going to die here. Neither of us is. We'll figure something out. I'm not going to let you die for me."

I blinked at him, eyes wide and confused. "Why do you care?" I wasn't being mean, or harsh. It was a genuine question. I didn't understand why a man I'd known all of two days cared if I lived or died. We were nothing to each other, not really. I was just some woman he'd bumped into on the road.

"You remind me of someone," he confessed after a moment of heavy silence. "And you're a good person, Elena. You don't deserve to die, and definitely not like this."

I gazed up at him, lips parting slightly in surprise as I tried to process what he had said. I swallowed audibly, licking my lips before muttering, "You don't know me well enough to say whether I'm a good person. I've done things a good person would never do."

"You helped out a stranger," Rick rebuked gently. "You helped me out, gave me food, taught me a little about the Walkers. You stayed when we came into the city and you didn't try to shoot me, or leave me for Walker food so you could get out."

My eyes widened as I protested, "I'd never do anything like that!"

Rick's smile was soft but a little smug. "Exactly," he murmured. "It never even crossed your mind to do something like that. You're a good person, no matter what you want to think about yourself."

I swallowed loudly again, feeling like I should say something but unsure of what I could possibly say. I bit my lip, brown eyes fixed on Rick's blue ones as I tried to think of something, anything, to break the heavy silence that settled around us. I cleared my throat quietly, wetting my lips once more.

"I-"

I was cut off as the radio inside the tank crackled to life suddenly. I jerked away from Rick, the silence shattering as someone spoke down the radio.

"Hey, you!" the voice hissed. "Dumbasses? Hey, you guys in the tank! Cosy in there?"

Reviews are love!

~Chloe