Chapter Three

Natalie stumbled back as she blinked in shock at the crossbow in her face but just as quickly it was down as John looked at her..

"creeping around in the middle of the night will get you killed" he said as he shook his head and walked past her and into the large room..

"I wasnt creeping" she said nervously as he made his way across the room..

"trying to make a run for it then" he said dryly as he took a seat on one of the chairs..

"No, I um...i couldnt sleep" she fidgeted some as he looked up at her..

"well you should try cause tomorrow is gonna be a big day, we all earn our keep around here" he said as he leaned his head back some but still kept the crossbow in his lap..

"Of course, me and rex will do whatever" she began as he kept his eyes closed..."i never got to properly thank you" she swallowed hard as he glanced at her now..

"its late, im tired" he said seriously as she gulped..

"is your arm ok" she couldnt help herself, he definitely was a man of few words but she owed her life to him, like literally..

"You have horrible aim, you shouldnt be carrying a gun if you dont know how to use it" he kept his eyes closed..She didnt know what to say as she stood there, apparently he was in a mood, she wondered if he was like this all the time.."Just try not to get yourself killed"he said dryly as she gulped..

"Im not, I mean, I wont" she said nervously as she stood there..He didnt say anything else as she stood there and she got the idea as she turned from him.."Goodnight...John" she said as she left the room and headed back down the hall, he definitely was a strange man and part of her couldnt help but feel a connection to him even though she didnt know why that was..

Natalie awoke to a ray of sun peering through the boarded up window and she groaned as she laid there but then within seconds she was sitting straight up as she looked around, the room was empty, she had no idea what time it was but she could hear voices down the hall, she rubbed her face as she got out of bed, heading to find the nearest bathroom..

It seemed the plumbing was still working at the building, which was a good thing cause she couldnt remember the last time she had a nice shower, she honestly could of stayed in there for hours if not for the fact that she knew that everyone was probably up already and she was right cause as she made her way down the hall she found everyone back in the large room, talking and joking over some instant coffee..

"hey sleepy head, your awake" Gigi smiled big as she came over to Natalie.."its not the best but its coffee" she said as she handed Natalie a cup.. rex was standing off to the side, seemingly in deep conversation with some of the guys, but John was no where in sight..

Natalie took a sip of the hot liquid, she was surprised at how nice it tasted.."what are they talking about" she asked Gigi..

"their going for a run" Gigi said nonchalantly..

"a what?" Natalie nearly spit out her coffee..

"we need more supplies" Gigi continued..

Natalie didnt wait for her to finish as she walked over to Rex.."Your not going Rex" she said quickly as he looked at her, embarassment washing over him..

"uh yeah I am Nat" he said quickly as everyone looked at her..

"You are not going back out there" she said again as a few laughs could be heard and rex straightened up some..

"Nat were not doing this right now, im going" he said quickly..

"The kid is going" the sound of Johns voice came into the room as he entered and they all looked at him..

"its dangerous out there" natalie began as she looked at John, she wasnt about to let her brother head back out into that crazy world, she just wouldnt..

"and everyone has a part to do" John said dryly..."were leaving in five minutes" he said as he went to turn around..

"Excuse me" Natalie snapped as gasps could be heard and John stopped only to slowly turn and face her..

"You got a problem?" he said with anger rising in his voice..

"i wouldnt do that" Gigi whispered to her..

"yeah actually I do" Natalie said quickly as she stood there, she may be quite and shy but when it came to the safety of her brother she would fight an army for him..

"Nat seriously" Rex said with a red face..

"looks like your mommy is putting you in time out" one of the guys laughed and then John looked at him hard and he quickly shut up..

"come with me...now" John said to her in a serious tone as he quickly left the room..

"why are you doing this Nat, your the one who pushed for us to come here" rex began..

"and im not about to watch you go back out there" she said quickly..

"Im not gonna ask again" John said as he stood in the hall..

"You should um...go" Gigi nudged her and Natalie huffed, she wasnt in the mood, her brother wasnt leaving and that was that..She quickly headed out of the room..

John was staring at her as she got into the hallway.."dont every try and over throw what I say, ever again" he was pissed and well, so was she..

"we just got here, you cant just send him out right away" Natalie began..

"I can and I will, I told you everyone has a part here" he said firmly..

"and so your just gonna run back out there with those things all over the streets" she snapped..

"would you rather we just stay put and wait til we all starve to death, or better yet lets just sit around singing Kumbaya while holding hands" he said sarcastically as she blinked in shock.."It is a do or die world and unless you want to die" he said as he walked closer to her.."do you?"

"No I dont but" she began as he shook his head..

"then you let your brother do what he has to do" he said sternly..

"what if something happens" she said quickly, her voice laced with grief..

"shit happens all the time, thats life" he said coldly..

"he is all I have" her voice squeaked with emotion as she stood there..He seemed to contemplate for a moment as he stood there.."if something happens to him" she couldnt hold back the fear she felt.

"give him some credit, he did keep you alive for months" John said quickly..

"promise me you wont let anything happen to him" she said with tears in her eyes..

"You cant ask me that" John turned from her..

"so you get to force people to go and yet you dont need to take responsibility" she said in tears..

"everyone makes their own choice, he wants to go" he snapped at her, getting more angry by the second..

"How many have you lost already out there" she said with tears streaming down her face.."How many" she yelled now..

"Fine... god damn it, FINE" he yelled back at her as she blinked in shock.."You got my word, happy now" he snapped and then turned from her and stormed down the hallway as she stood there..

"You really shouldnt piss him off" Gigi said as she came up to natalie..

Natalie really didnt want to hear that now and so she walked past Gigi and over to her brother who was staring at her with embarassment as he shook his head.."i want to go Nat, need to go" he began but all she did was put her arms around him and hug him tight as the others began to gather their things..

"I swear to god rex you better not get yourself killed" she said as she hugged him, she couldnt ever remember being this scared for him, not ever..

Natalie was a nervous wreck as some of the guys took off, her brother included, she couldnt help but think about if they came back without him, could she even trust any of them..

"He'll be fine you know" Gigi said as though she could sense Natalie's uneasiness.."John gave his word, he never does that"

"why is he like that, I mean I get that this world has gone to shit" natalie said honestly..

"he's been through a lot, we all have" Gigi shook her head as if reliving a horrible memory..

"do you think it is ever going to get better" natalie said honestly..

"who knows as far as we can tell the government is gone" Gigi shook her head..

"i am glad were here" natalie said softly..

"Im glad your here too" Gigi smiled.."come on lets cook some food, they should be back soon" she finished as she took natalie's hand and off they went..

Meanwhile across town the guys were inside a local pharmacy grabbing medication and whatever canned food they could get.."Lets hurry up, I wanna get out of here before" John began to say as a loud crash was heard and then chaosis was heard as he went off running towards it and at the back of the store two of the dead walkers were grabbing onto Jeffrey was trying to fight them off..

"get em off of me!" he yelled as he tried to grab at his knife..

Rex was running over too with a large axe in his hand.."I got you man" he yelled but out of no where another one of the dead grabbed his ankle as he tumbled to the ground and he yelled out as he kicked at it..

John turned his head for a split second to see Rex on the ground and fighting off one of the things and within seconds jeffrey was yelling out as a chunk was bitten from his arm as Steele stabbed the thing in the head and Jeffrey cried out in pain as John ran over to Rex and right before the thing on the ground could make a meal of him he put an arrow in his head as Rex scrambled to his feet..

"what the hell were you thinking, I said eyes open at all times" John yelled at him..

"I was, I did" Rex began to say frantically..

"Oh fuck man, jeff is bad, real bad" Cris said as John brought his attention back to them and quickly went over as jeff laid on the ground in the pool of his own blood..

"Just leave me" Jeff yelled out as rex watched in horror..

The sound of he place becoming overrun by the dead echoed through the small store.."FUCK!" John yelled as he stood there.."Lets go...lets go" he yelled as the guys began to pile out of the store but rex stood there just staring at the kid on the ground.."do I fucking stutter, GO!" John yelled at Rex as he grabbed out his knife and then Rex was running to the door, he could vaguely hear Jeff gasping for air and he was half sure that he heard him tell John to just do it, to end it and as Rex turned and looked as he got outside he watched as John drove a knife right through his head..

The food supply was definitely running thin in the large motel but it was more then natalie had seen in awhile, even though most of it was in cans it looked better then anything she had seen in quite sometime..

"is marcie worried about the baby" Natalie said as her and Gigi prepared food, she couldnt help but wonder how frightening it seemed to bring a child into this world..

"would you be?" Gigi shook her head.."but it is what it is" she began..

"i know its just... I mean to bring a child into this world" natalie began as Marcie entered the kitchen..

"its a blessing not a curse" she said defensively as Natalie and Gigi looked at her..

"Oh I wasnt saying" natalie began apologetically..

"atleast something wonderful can come out of all of this" Marcie continued as she rubbed her belly..

"can I?" Natalie asked as she put her hand out..

"sure" Marcie lightened up some as Natalie touched her belly and she felt the baby move, it was an amazing feeling and she smiled some, maybe it wasnt so bad after all.."It will take John some getting use to but he will come around, its not everyday you become an uncle" she smiled and Natalie blinked in shock..

"Uncle?" she with confusion..

"John and Michael are brothers, totally different then one another but still" Marcie grinned..

"Oh...i didnt know" natalie began..

"Yeah well its not like he is shouting it from the rooftops or anything" Marcie shook her head..

"well Michael is thrilled and that is all that matters Marce" Gigi interjected with a smile..

"are the guys back yet" Vange interupted as she came into the kitchen, already with attitude on her voice..

"dont you mean John" Gigi said with a sarcastic laugh but Vange didnt laugh back, she just glared at her, then at Natalie and finally at Marcie..

"Oh laugh it up Gigi but while you are doing that maybe you should be a bit more concerned about yourself" she said in a wicked tone.."atleast I am here cause Im a benefit to this place" she rolled her eyes at them all...

"You got something to say Vange, then say it" Gigi snapped at her..

"I wouldnt even waste my breathe" Vange said as she turned from them and stormed out..

"what is her deal" Natalie said with a shake of her head..

"Oh she is just so far up Johns ass it isnt even funny" marcie said with a huff.."But she is barking up the wrong tree" she said a bit loud as Gigi began to laugh..

"You are so bad Marce" Gigi laughed..

"Hey I may be pregnant but I can still kick some ass" marcie grinned..

Natalie couldnt help but smile, she liked these girls, she liked them a lot..

Dinner was just about done by the time the guys got back, as soon as natalie heard them she ran down the hall to make sure rex was ok, she had been so worried about him since he left and when she saw him she couldnt help but grab him into a huge bear hug but the mood with the guys was definitely a somber one, she could sense it right away..

"Im gonna go talk to Vince" John said as he quickly walked away and the rest of the guys just sort of hung their heads down as they left the room..

"whats wrong" Natalie asked with concern as she looked at her brother..

"its not good nat" Rex said as he ran a hand through his scraggily hair and she could immediately sense something was wrong..

"rex what is it" she said with increasing concern..

"we lost someone today" he said with a shake of his head, his voice just above a whisper..

She gasped loud as she covered her mouth.."Oh my god, who" she said as she tried to remember who had gone and who wasnt accounted for, this just made everything seem so real..

"its my fault Nat, I shouldnt of been so reckless" he said as he hung his head down..She didnt even know what to say, she was in shock but also happy to see Rex was unharmed.."You remember that guy Jeff" he began quietly as natalie's eyes got wide, he had been the one messing with the two way radio all day yesterday..

"Oh god" she said in shock..

"it happened so fast, there was no time and if I had been paying attention" Rex shook his head, he was clearly overcome with grief..

"Listen rex, it was dangerous going out there to start with" she began as she looked at him, she wanted to somehow make him feel better..

"he's dead because of me" Rex finally snapped as he walked away from her and she stood there completely in shock..

The news of Jeff's passing hit the group pretty hard and at dinner no one seemed to want to eat at all. Poor Dani had been a crying mess ever since she heard the news and rex had stayed in his bed. No one was coming out and blaming him but natalie knew her brother, of course he would take something like this hard..

John and Vince as well as Steele had been in a meeting since they got back, as more details began to come out natalie couldnt help but feel gratitude for John, he had saved Rex and he barely knew him and in doing so one of their own was killed, she felt horrible yet glad that her brother was still alive. She wanted to say something to John, anything but she didnt know what..He had kept his word, he had looked out for Rex and that meant more to her then anything..

"we should of never taken more people in" Vange began to say angrily as they all sat in silence in the large sitting room but her words made everyone look up, including Natalie.."You all might not have the balls to say it but I will, Jeff was a damn good guy" she snapped as she stared straight at natalie who wanted nothing more then to hide her head in the sand.."what a fucking waste" she said as she stood now..

"thats enough Vange" John said as he entered the room..

"Like hell it is, you brought them here and now one of our own is dead" she snapped at John with tears in her eyes, Natalie was fighting back her tears as well..

"No one forced him to come, it was a routine run!" John snapped angrily..

"yeah with an amatuer tagging along" she yelled.."How could you turn your back on him, it should have been that kid laying dead somewhere" she yelled and natalie couldnt take anymore as she jumped up, tears streaming down her face as she rushed out of the room, gigi tried to stop her but she pushed past her..

"Your just an evil person, how could you say something like that" Gigi snapped at Vange..

"because its true!" Vange yelled at her..

"I said ENOUGH" John barked loudly as they all looked at him.."you need to calm the hell down" he pointed at Vange..

"Unbelievable" she huffed at him and stormed out of the room quickly, Vince following after her down the hall..

"she shouldnt be able to just say stuff like that, were all human beings here" Gigi said angrily..

"Listen were all upset ok and yelling at each other isnt going to bring him back" Steele said as he tried to be the voice of reason..John quickly backed out of the room and stormed down the hallway, he was about to give Vange a piece of his mind when he heard crying coming from another room and he couldnt help himself as he walked over to it. Natalie sat on her bed with her hands in her head, she felt horrible for the poor kid who lost his life..

John must of made a sound by the door cause natalie looked up as he stood there.."i am so sorry, I never wanted anything like this to happen" she said with tears..

"he knew what he was getting himself into" John said a bit coldly..

"But im sure he didnt think, I mean, my god" she cried as she sat there and covered her face again, John didnt deal well with crying, especially when it came from women..

"its the world we live in now, we all just need to move on" he said quickly as he spun from the door..

"you kept your word" she finally called out as she began to walk away and he stopped but he didnt turn and face her..

"I always keep my word" he said and then he was gone and Natalie broke down in tears once more..

Later on that night, Natalie had spoken to Rex, his guilt was incredible like hers and both of them were wondering if this was going to change things for them, would they be unwanted there now, would they be forced to leave..

"im gonna talk to the guys" rex had finally said after wallowing in his own self pity, he knew that going back out there with natalie would surely be a death sentence for them both and he had to somehow make things right again..

"Rex if they make us leave" natalie said with worry and fear in her voice..

"then we do what we have to do but I promise you that we will be ok" he said softly as he looked at her..

"i dont want to go back out there Rex, I just cant" she said with fear..

"No one is going anywhere" the sound of Johns voice entering the room made them both look as he walked in.."I need to speak to Rex...alone" he finished as Natalie swallowed hard..

"its ok, everything is gonna be fine" Rex said to her reassuringly even though deep down he didnt know how any of this would turn out..

"Ok" Natalie said quietly as she stood now and John moved off to the side, she contemplated saying something to him but she decided that now was not the time and so she left, hoping that whatever the two of them talked about didnt end with her and Rex being tossed on their butts..

It felt like hours as she paced In the hallway outside of the door but in reality it was only minutes, she was a nervous wreck wondering how this outcome would be..

"Hey you ok?" Steele asked as he came down the hallway and walked over to natalie..

"not really" she said honestly as she stood there..

"Listen dont be too hard on yourself, vange has a way with words" he began as natalie shook her head..

"we didnt mean to come here and start trouble" she looked at the ground, she felt like shit..

"Listen the fact that John even brought you both back here means something ok, trust me it isnt like him" he said as she kept staring down.."Jeff was a good guy but everyone knows there is no guarentee in this world, especially now"

"But I feel so bad" she said as tears began to well up again..

"ah come on, dont cry" he said with a shake of his head..

"Im sorry im just" she quickly wiped her eyes..

"come here" he said as she looked up at him and then surprisingly he hugged her, like really hugged her and at that moment it all was just too much, she began to break down as he tried to soothe her but within seconds the door opened and John stepped out, stopping as he watched them embrace..Natalie looked up at John as she moved her head from Steele's chest..

"why arent you on watch" he said quickly as he stood there..

"I was... Matt took over so I could" Steele said and natalie immediately felt tension as she slowly moved away from Steele, John looked pissed and she just didnt get it..

"yeah, apparently so" John said sarcastically as he walked past them..

"John...hey...wait up" Steele said as natalie took the opportunity to quickly go back into Rex's room..He was sitting on the bed and he looked up as she came over..

"its all good" was all he said as she stood there and even though she knew all wasnt really good for now it was good enough...

"John...do you hear me" Steele called out as he walked quickly up to John who stopped dead in his tracks, making Steele nearly bumped into him..

"what the hell are you doing man" John snapped at him..

"what? I came by to see if everything was ok" Steele said quickly..

"You know what, forget it" John said angrily as he spun around..

"Hey, what the hell man" Steele grabbed his arm and John spun around..

"you know we all have to live in this fucking place and I would appreciate it if you didnt try to get into every womans pants that lives here" he snapped at Steele..

"what? Your not seriously throwing out accusations, are you" steele said sarcastically..

"tensions are fucking high right now and the last thing this place needs is more drama" John snapped..

'the only one I see making drama is you, what the hell has gotten into you" Steele said quickly...

"am I the only one here who doesnt feel the impending danger all around us, I mean for fucks sake Steele were fucking dying out here" John snapped..

"woo ok, hold up, im not some child, I know what were up against" he snapped back at him..

"yeah well maybe you should worry a bit more about that then trying to fuck anything that walks" John spun from him..

"what the fuck man" Steele yelled..

"im not in the mood" John said as he continued walking..

"we all lost someone here John" Steele snapped and John spun around..

"You dont need to fucking remind me of that, im reminded every day now get your shit together and do your job instead of trying to make a pass" John snapped..

"Oh now this is fucking priceless, what are you fucking jealous, do you think that since you brought her here that you have some kind of claim on her" Steele snapped and within seconds John was in his face..

"Your job is to be out there, watching not in here trying some bullshit" John yelled..

"what the fuck is going on in here" Vincent said as he came over to the both of them..

"You know what, nothing, absolutely fucking nothing" John snapped as he stormed away..

"whatever man" Steele snapped as he spun and stormed down the hall as Vincent stood there, not knowing what the hell he had just walked up on..