A/N: Thanks for waiting everyone, been busy this week getting my claws into other episodic games by Telltale, as I'm now loving Telltale's Game of Thrones (go Forresters!) and although this game isn't by Telltale it's become one of new favourites and it's up there with the walking dead season 1 for me, which is the game Life Is Strange if you guys have heard of it (episode 3 just came out and I'm addicted after playing through 3 episodes) in short if anyone now wants to chat to me about these games then feel free (I feel like go on for hours) but yeah I might even write a fanfic for them for them in the future (if I don't lose motivation) but all in all back to walking dead business and answering your reviews!

Chameishida- I understand, I just finished my final exams here at Uni, I'm not sure if they're the same as finals but I know that work can be a pain and keep you busy at times, anyone thanks for reviewing once again! I appericate all of your reviews and I hope this next chapter entertains.

Catwoman286- A new reviewer! Hello there and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far and your theories on the Wellington Wolf, also do I smell a fellow Attack on Titan fan in my midst? But yeah, the wall in Wellington is quite similar to the one AoT, just without you know what inside of it.

Kristal Dynamite- Yep, fellow brit it will be then, (I love the title of fanfiction king, it boosts my ego, in a good way) and I'm glad you're sort of neutral about Scott now. Originally that scene wasn't planned at all, as the gym thing was written in Clem's perspective with a few descriptions of Scott glaring at her at the benches, when I suddenly thought it would be interesting to see what he was actually thinking and I just started typing and well, I was surprised on how it turned out but I know I like it! and as for the Wellington Wolf, yep the infamous name is well known in Wellington and I imagine the Wellington Wolf is demonized by many and that's why there's so much fear surrounding his name. As for Oscar, yep that was Stacy who attacked him and his plot shall go somewhere... and I'm glad you're liking Stef more and more. She's a challenge to write at times as I wasn't given that much source material on the game with her, so in a way I was writing an OC character with her. A pretty face but she is very flawed which makes her all the more interesting and complex to write. That was a long response but thanks for reviewing!

ffapathy- Glad you pointed out both Lizzie and Scott's development, they may seem like stereotypes, but they aren't which makes them fun to write about. Luis and Clem's relationship... I know a lot of things are fun to write about but their exchanges are simply a blast to type down. As their bickering can turn from sort of playful to serious very suddenly and their relationship will be explored further as the story goes on. In terms of being a slow burning relationship... maybe, maybe not. Although bear in mind Clem is 14 and Luis is 18 and Clementine probably has too much sass for Luis to deal with and I can't see Clem in a relationship (half the reviewers would probably bite my head off too If I went down that road, I already tortured Sarah enough) however speaking of characters, Father Jordan... I'm glad you find him intriguing as that's what I was going for. His not a good man, but his not the spawn of satan, and as for that final question, you'll learn more this chapter.

Maximo- Glad to see you back, my new trio, or shall I now say Loyal trio has been returned to me! Nice to see you're enjoying the story.

AquaDestiny's Embrace- I also hated the bleep test (but I was one of the last people still running for it, that made me proud of myself) in terms of last chapter I'm glad you liked it and Scott and Lizzie were great OC's to develop.

and thanks to everyone else for stopping by to leave a review!

"And that's what happened?"

Stephanie and Wilbert faced each other, the forensic's question was laced with doubt and distrust and judging by the way his azure eyes would narrow when he gazed at the pair of them. Clearly he did not believe what Stephanie was stressing was a true story.

"Yes boy" Wilbert snapped "How many times do with have to repeat it?"

Clearly offended with the term "Boy" from behind his satin white face mask, the forensic opened his mouth to reply.

"Mr. Jefferson" he began in a crisp business like tone "you were involved in an incident in your home yesterday..."

"Wait!" Stephanie interjected suddenly "That was your house?" she inquired, turning to face Wilbert who only seemed to glare back at the younger woman. An ominous breeze blew by in the silence that followed Stephanie's question, ruffling the hairs of Wilbert and Stephanie and the many forensics and police officers surrounding the observation deck. Looking over the forensics white draped shoulder, the young woman could see the dreaded stretcher that was carried out of the deck by some sombre looking officers.

Edith's outline was clearly visible from under the thin white blankets that were made to cover her form. Amongst the many police officers at the scene Stephanie's eyes connected with Nick's strong cobalt coloured one's. He was leant against the wall of the observation deck chewing away on his thumb (a common nervous tick he had) a small frown was etched on his face as he eyes swept over the outline of Edith's body. He looked back at his girlfriend with a look of grief and anxiety, which Stephanie was sure reflected on her own face.

"Yes" the forensic replied, tearing her gaze away from Nick, the one word uttered by the coldly spoken forensic made Stephanie hone back in on the current conversation she was having.

"Yes that was his house Miss Clarke" the forensic explained coolly "and seeing how their have now been two attacks in a short space of time, both of which revolve around Mr. Jefferson you see why this comes off as suspicious..."

"Trouble always fucking finds me!" Wilbert shouted rudely over the forensic "Ain't my fault the dead seem pissing drawn to me...!"

"and yet" the forensic coolly cut in "you stood for 15 minutes outside of an open door with a walker behind it?"

Wilbert merely shrugged at the question "It's always closed" he snapped in his defence "I didn't know the bitch had turned, I mean she wasn't bitten and them dead things can't fly"

The forensic seemed to assess his words, before he sighed.

"You said Missus Clarke" he muttered turning to face Stephanie "That Miss Edith Brown suffered from blood loss from the nose and mouth when you last her?"

"Yes" Stephanie confirmed.

"and this was fifteen minutes before you found her?"

"Yes" Stephanie echoed.

"and you also said, she was planning on going back home because she didn't feel well"

"Yes" Stephanie felt like an automated machine with her repetitive response.

"You went to check on her out of concern and then you found her in the state?"

"Yes" was all Stephanie needed to say.

"Well then..." the forensic began, before he found a meaty hand slapped between his shoulder blades. Wincing ever so slightly, the forensic turned to face where the chief of police, the red-headed wonder Trevor Moore himself stepped onto the scene with Nick tailing in his shorter shadow.

"This is my job son" Trevor boomed to the forensic, who merely bowed his head.

"Sorry sir" he squeaked "Just a bit curious that's all"

Trevor sighed, his green eyes scanning the area around them. The wooden walkway slowly decaying because of the lashing of rain it had received over the past year, the setting sun in the sky that gave the whole of Wellington a bright orange aura and the few wispy clouds that dared venture in the pale orange sky. The tallest buildings of Wellington below them cast stark and long shadows of the rest of the town. Their breath came out in fog as it had gotten colder and the winds started to pick up as it had become later into the evening. Rubbing his pale fingers together to try and generate some warmth Trevor finished inspecting the surrounding area and came up with a conclusion to his analysis.

"Walkers can't get up here" was all he uttered, causing the surrounding 4 people around him to raise their heads in mild interest.

"We inspected the body" the forensic said "and we didn't find any trace of a bite mark, the most likely outcome is that Miss Brown suffered a brain aneurysm and turned while in the observation deck. However until an autopsy is carried out we cannot come to any instant conclusions".

"Well get to work on that lad" Trevor told him, patting the curious forensic between the shoulder blades once again. The forensic departed without another word. Trevor sighed and gazed over Wellington town once again. It was so peaceful seeing it all from up here but seeing it all... it hit him. The enormity of all the people he was trying to protect. They weren't safe in that frying pan of a town and they weren't even safe up here on the wall, what could he do? He sighed once again and rubbed an aching spot on his forehead.

"You alright sir?" Nick felt inclined to ask, seeing the stressed out look on his boss' face.

"Fine" Trevor replied in what Nick liked to call Luke style (which meant he wasn't fine), "It's just" Trevor began once again, his voice quivering as he spoke "Edith, she... she was the first person me, Violet and Stacy saw when we arrived here nearly three years ago" he exhaled for a long time as Wilbert, Stephanie and Nick gazed curiously at him, awaiting for the powerful man to speak once again.

"A lotta people knew Edith, a lotta people liked her" Trevor mumbled, his voice diminished, however his eyes hardened before he spoke up once again "Rest assured whoever was responsible for this, whoever is responsible for all of this... this shit! Going down here, we are going to bring them to justice" his words had a more powerful impact as he openly glared at the town below him. Knowing in that haystack, the needle that was the wolf needed to be found and in a way he was becoming more like his sister, whoever this wolf was they needed stopping.

No matter what he had to do to get information, he would do it.

"Duran take your girl home" Trevor instructed of Nick, Nick couldn't find a single word to say to his boss. So Stephanie shyly walked over to Nick's lanky form and the two departed from the scene of the crime.

"You too Jefferson" Trevor told Wilbert.

The grumpy old man merely huffed at Trevor, clearly not feeling sentimental at all about Edith's death or the chief of police giving a powerful and emotional speech in front of him. All Wilbert could do was grumble about how he "Had been held up" before he departed. Trevor shot burning daggers into the back of Wilbert's head.

Knowing full well, that old bastard and his group knew something that he didn't.

"CLASS BE QUIET!"

It was a helpless request of course, Miss King could puff out her chest and roar these words at her out of control class, yet no one halted in their activities. Half of the class (Scott's cronies) had snapped out of the stupor that they had suffered on the first day and were now busy pranking each other. Telling crude jokes far too loud, throwing paper balls at quieter members of the class who looked like they wanted to evaporate on the spot and in general, not doing work.

Scott was leant back in his chair, grinning like a Cheshire cat and holding his arm brace like some sort of trophy, as Lizzie and a cluster of other girls that crowded around his desk, giggled at his stories or whatever the hell he was saying. Some of the more dizty minded girls already tugging on his blue t-shirt, trying to close the gap between them and the "cool kid" or "the hot guy" Scott's white toothed smile was directed towards the puny form of Clementine, she looked up once and gave him the middle finger before returning to her work, she had ignored him since.

However, Scott soon discovered that taunting Luis was a lot easier.

He flashed his injures, the girls by his side, the goading smile was like a bullet to the head to an already fuming Luis, who sat smouldering in seat.

"Two weeks!?" Luis remembered gawking at Miss King in mild disbelief, just after they returned to class after lunch.

"Yes Luis, two weeks. The Headmaster just informed me of John's punishment" she told him in a rather patronizing manner, pretending to look busy flicking through empty papers on her desk, in other words she wanted this conversation over and didn't want much trouble from Luis.

"But..." Luis gasped like a wounded fish.

"If you want to challenge his punishment" Miss King said "Then you'll need to talk to the headmaster as he was the one who issued the suspension" feeling proud of herself from managing to cut through one student and speaking formally, Miss King puffed her chest up pompously and prided herself on doing a good job (even if the sensation only did last a few seconds) however her ego was bolstered as a sunken Luis trudged off back towards his desk, he was too angry to muster another complaint to Miss King and he knew it would get him nowhere.

"Two fucking weeks" Brandon hissed, the second Luis slumped back on his chair. No doubt the black haired boy had already overheard what Miss King had said.

"After everything" Terri interjected "After he tells us all to keep our heads low and he goes and does this..." she stressed her point, shaking her curly blonde locks as she did so.

"When we get back" Brandon began, leaning his head in, closer to Luis and Terri's as he began to whisper something "We ignore all this JJ stuff, he doesn't need it, he probably just got angry. What's important is that we find out about Oscar..."

He was stopped there mid-sentence as he felt something bounce of his black hairs, with an irritated sigh he reached down on the floor to pick up (what he knew) was a small paper ball thrown in his direction. He uncurled the dirtied lined paper as he gazed upon the crudely drawn illustration there. It was a picture of him (he was noticeable because of his spiky black hairs) and Terri (noticeable with her curls) Terri's and his genitals had been crudely sketched and enlarged in detail, although these stick figure people weren't that detailed, Brandon knew what they were getting at.

The words "SiStErFuCkEr!" were scribbled above the crude drawing.

Brandon's heart missed a beat, how did they know? How did they know about...? He paused for a minute and allowed himself to calm down, they can't have known it was just a crude joke, a malicious crude joke by a bunch of assholes, but still their guesswork was not something he was in the mood in for now.

"Assholes" he snarled, flinging the paper ball back towards the huddle of laughing boys a few desks away.

"What did they write?" Luis inquired, shooting the group a very dirty look indeed.

"Nothing, just ignore those assholes" Brandon snapped "We get to go home in an hour, let's focus on Oscar. Fucking thing has been bothering me all day, don't need this shit on top of that..." Brandon trailed to angry halt as he pretended to bend over his work and write the answers down for more basic equations. The group of boys threw the ball back at Brandon but he didn't dare pick it up.

Now the class was fully out of control, Brandon and Terri soon had no problem blocking out all of the abuse thrown their way, but Luis... Luis was already troubled by the whole Oscar fiasco and having Immune survivor amongst them. Added to the incident with JJ this morning and now he had this crap on to of that... his single hand was shaking on the desk. If that fucking ass hat Scott flashed him another cocky smile, he'd go over there and pummel that bastard until he barely had any teeth left to smile with...

SNAP!

Clementine whipped around in her seat at the snapping sound.

"You've snapped your pencil in half" she observed, from where Luis was red in rage he had been clutching his pencil so tightly he had broken it.

"Do I look like I give a fuck?" Luis snarled back at her, not in the mood for smart-ass comments from the younger girl right now, Clementine merely rolled her yellow eyes at the enraged boy "You have to stop reacting to everything" she told him calmly, his stubbornness and habit to get kick-started about the tiniest little things certainly rubbed off on her the wrong way.

"What?" he taunted "You want me to stop reacting to oxygen, so I can't breathe and I'll die?" he seemed to be challenging her, as Clementine felt her own face flush red at his smart-ass comment. and he was usually the one calling her the smart-ass.

"You know that's not what I mean" she snapped.

"Then what do you mean?" he questioned, narrowing his singular black eye in a familiar annoyance at Clementine "Surely a stupid cripple like me, doesn't understand such complex things..." he raged, frustrated at himself almost as much as he was with everyone else.

"You're such a drama queen" Clementine huffed "This is high-school of course their are going to bullies like Scott and Lizzie, but it isn't a warzone, you put everyone on edge Luis" she told him matter of factly.

"Since when?" he found himself challenging her once again.

"Since we started" she replied as if it were obvious, straightening her back and lifting her head in pride because she had belief behind the words she was saying, "Can't you just calm down for once?" she stressed "Not everyone here is out to kill you"

"If you knew what I've been through..." Luis began, his tone rising with each syllable he uttered in growing rage.

"So?" Clementine shot him down with "Me and Sarah have been through loads as well, don't act like an asshole, you're not the only one whose lost people...or limbs" she finished, distantly recalling the heated exchange she had with Kenny in a distant pre-life soon after Sarita died. Adding her extra detail of limbs, because Luis was missing an arm and an eye, Sarah was also missing an arm and at least two or three others in this class were missing limbs as well as Luis.

"After yesterday" he began in a serious tone "I'm not paying attention to your lower-your-guard lectures, not with all the shit that's going down in Wellington..."

RING!

The bell rang signalling the end of the day, with a sigh of relief both Clementine and Luis rising up in their seats as fast as they possibly could, neither of them offering another word to each other. Luis had stressed his point and she had stressed her point. Clementine didn't want him to lower his guard completely but... she knew she was right and in a strange way she was intrigued to know what on earth had made Luis into such a wired up asshole. Was it the arm or the eye? Or maybe... maybe it wasn't the loss of limb. Being bitten by a walker and having a limb amputated didn't make you into some sort of militant type of guy who always seemed on edge because of other people.

Whereas Luis was trying to erase yet another Clementine lecture out of his head, he didn't need her bullshit advice. Yet for some reason he was still intrigued by her, he could see it the first time he looked at her at that public execution, he could see that she was a fighter. That she understood fully the gravity of the situation they were in, unlike so many other kids in the class or across the school. So if she was actually this smart and level headed,so why on earth was she preaching the anti-survivalism bible to him.

Luis swept out of the classroom first, speeding ahead of Terri and Brandon who went to follow his burly form, before Scott stepped in front of Brandon.

"Hey, did you like the drawing?" he asked in feigned innocence, as his gang laughed rowdily at his question and for some reason Brandon's glare of death seemed to amuse them ever further.

"Move" he ordered of the grinning bully in front of him.

"Or what?" Scott challenged, after his earlier achievement of climbing in the gym today, his ego had bolstered now he knew he had his gang behind him and with Luis currently gone from the classroom. He felt like he had to target the next threat to his alpha male position that being the winner of the bleep test, Brandon. Deep down, Scott guessed he would respect Brandon much more than any of his so called "friends" laughing around him. But right now it was almost as if Scott was testing Brandon to see if he was just as capable as the rest of his group and to see if his capability went beyond that of a fitness test.

"You know" Terri told him, sharply cutting into the conversation as Scott turned to her, rather surprised that she had spoken up "You are going to do a lot of things you regret if you carry on like this" she told him clearly.

"You can speak?" Lizzie screeched like a harpy, after she sensed Scott had taken too long to reply to her words. Lizzie could have counted down in her head when the gang around her would start laughing at her comment and sure enough, on cue the sound of malicious laughter crashed into her eardrums. Lizzie liked almost being in control of them, it made her feel powerful.

Terri didn't reply to Lizzie, but merely shot the other blonde girl a look of distaste so strong... it actually sent shivers up Lizzie's spine. The cocky girl didn't admit this of course, something about those siblings freaked her out, Terri in particular. Not only were they fitter than everyone else in the class but they seemed mentally stronger, to a point where Lizzie didn't want encounter any member of the Roger's family in a dark alleyway at night. But gulping down her fear she continued to glare back at Terri, as Brandon faced Scott once again.

"You better move" he began in a threatening tone "Or else I'll give you another cast to match your current one"

"You'll get suspended" Scott shouted for all to hear, as he swung his cast with confidence "Just like your freak of a friend..."

"You really like getting your ass kicked, don't you?" Brandon seemed to say, his anger seemingly diminishing as he smiled back at Scott. The sort of smile that concealed a rapidly developing rage and Lizzie knew this was probably the final stage before Brandon was likely to beat the living crap out of you. She mentally begged Scott to move out of the burly boy's way, despite his gang goading Scott on from behind him.

"You're in the wrong crowd" Scott finally snapped, as he finally cleared the way for Terri and Brandon (and half the class queueing behind them) so they could pass through the doorway and after Luis. Brandon and Terri didn't say another word as Scott went to return talking to his gang, who seemed disappointed that he had backed down from a fight with Brandon.

"Well then you guys beat the shit out of him" he told them, trying to keep his voice causal "You haven't all got broken arms"

This seemed to shut them up, for now at least.

Sarah and Clementine who had been held up by the commotion, finally squeezed out of the main doorway, Clementine shooting a glance at a hapless Miss King, who had simply stood there during the altercation between Scott and Brandon, the 14 year old wondered when her British teacher would grow a backbone already and learn to deal with the class she could see was going to be annoyance. It was only Day 2, she didn't want this going on until Day 200.

Sarah silently walked beside Clementine, the Hispanic girl had muttered even less than Terri since news that JJ had been suspended, spread through the school like wildfire. Sarah heard her name being whispered in hallways and saw people pointing at her, knowing full well JJ had stood up for her during the confrontation. She liked making friends, but... she didn't like this attention. She didn't like listening to Clementine and Luis argue, or the taunts from Scott and his gang...

She was glad to breathe fresh air as she exited the front entrance of Wellington High, and there was another surprise awaiting her.

"Hey Clem, look!" she jabbed her finger towards the road in front of the school.

Clementine looked up and during this somewhat frustrating day she couldn't have been more glad to see Luke's car parked on the side-walk. Beaming from ear to ear the two girls ran towards the car, "I thought he said he was busy on the fields tonight?" Clementine asked of Sarah, as they sprinted towards the car.

"So did I" Sarah responded, just as clueless as her best friend.

They reached the car, where Luke was awaiting in the front seat, he opened the door as Clementine reached the car first she managed to get to the front seat. Whereas Sarah got the back seat, entering the car, Clementine muttered a quick "Hi" to Luke and also noticed the bony old form of Gertrude on the back seat as she said "Oh hey, Gertrude" the old woman and their friendly neighbour waved back at Clementine and Sarah as they pushed themselves into Luke's small car. Luke himself didn't ask instantly how their day was, which reminded Clementine of the mood Rebecca was in the other day.

"I thought you were working late tonight?" Clementine asked of Luke, already the 14 year old could sense something was off.

He gulped, as if he was swallowing a stone in his throat and clutched the black steering wheel in front of him harder than he would do usually. The skin on his knuckles was turning white, as his brown eyes finally rolled towards Clementine.

"We were meant too... but we got to leave early" Luke muttered after a few seconds of silence, he finally seemed to inhale as Gertrude gazed at him with sympathetic eyes, knowing he had to be the one to break this news to the girls.

"Girls, Edith... Edith's dead".

This blunt statement made Clementine's stomach turn to lead, as sudden images of the brunette woman flashed through her mind. The first friendly face she had seen at Wellington nearly 2 years ago, a face that almost everyone was familiar with as she would offer Clementine the occasional "Hi" or "How are you doing?" in which Clementine was more than happy to speak to her. Edith was a people's person after all, probably the best on the wall, the best possible person who made newcomers feel welcome. (No offence to Stephanie, but the raven haired woman wasn't a people's person like Edith and her social skills paled in comparison to Edith's when it came to Wellington introductions).

"N-no..." Sarah mumbled in denial, she had already had a bad enough day as it was, she didn't need this news, not now.

"I thought you girls had to know" Luke mumbled mournfully "It was gettin' around Wellington real fast" this information was processed by the two girls, but Clementine still had to croak "How?"

"It happened on the wall" Luke began "Stef said she looked sick, she went to check on Edith. Found her in the deck already turned into a lurker, she attacked Stef. But some old guy saved Stef's life" he paused there before continuing "No murder weapon was found, she wasn't killed by that damn wolf. No one knows how she turned, she just did. She wasn't bitten, she wasn't murdered..." he ran his hands through his hair at this point, a signal that he was stressed. As he too, got on well with Edith.

"A-are you sure, she wasn't murdered?" Clementine asked.

"P-pretty damn sure Clem" Luke responded "N-nick was telling me earlier. The police force have been trying to spread the news, she died by unknown causes. It stops people from panicking if they know the truth..." he paused there and wiped his brow.

"Terrible business" Gertrude muttered from behind him, she sometimes hitched a ride in Luke's car when she wanted to get back to her house, which was directly opposite of there's.

"How is Stef?" Sarah asked in genuine concern for her friend.

"She's erm..." Luke seemed to fumble for words, before a small smile played on his face "She's doing alright, shook up an all, but she's doing real well considering what's she been through" this was met by several silent nods of acceptance from the other three residing in the car.

"First Eddie and now Stephanie..." Clementine mumbled as the car geared to life.

"That wall is getting damn dangerous" was Gertrude's verdict, one everyone in Wellington right now could probably agree with.

"...did you hear about Edith?"

"Yeah" Miss King mumbled sadly, clutching the cup of coffee in front of her and trying to warm her hands, she looked down at her own reflection in the light brown liquid, as sitting next to her on smooth wooden kitchen table, her friend Violet seemed in a sombre mood.

"She was so young" Violet went onto say, as she took a sip of her own cup of strong coffee before gulping the warm liquid down her throat and continuing to speak "So full of life as well, she could kill a cow with her charisma, and what a way a horrible way to go, on top of that wall..." she shuddered to herself, having strong vertigo she couldn't imagine being on top of the wall, let alone dying on top of it.

"and she was all alone" Miss King mumbled, taking a sip of her own coffee, as the rays of the sunset through the window, caused piles of swirling dust to build up on the wooden surface of the table. The empty house creaked around the two women as Miss King gazed out of the window. With a pronounced sigh she tried venturing back onto lighter topics as she asked her friend, "So... how was work?"

"Oooh" Violet muttered, her legs bobbing up and down on the spot, as a smile spread across her face "The kids were lovely as per always" she mused, before she rolled her bright green eyes and continued speaking "and I think I got chatted up by a guy today"

Now Miss King could smile, as she felt like a giddy schoolgirl once again on the topic of boys, "You think?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow as Violet's eyes went large, and Miss King could tell she was starting to daydream "Well, regardless of whether he was or wasn't" she mused "I thought he was sweet, he was different from the other stuffy parents, he seemed really laid back".

"and does the laid back guy have a name?" Miss King asked.

"Eddie I think" Violet uttered, before she took sip of her coffee, "ever heard of an Eddie before?" she asked of her British friend.

"No, sorry love" Miss King replied, taking another sip of coffee herself.

"So..." Violet paused, before the young redhead decided to ask her friend "Any gym teacher at Wellington High meet your fancy?"

"Violet!" Miss King laughed, when she managed to calm herself down, the British woman managed to respond "No, I'm honestly just focusing on surviving the year, without my class ripping me apart, they are a nightmare Violet..." she stressed, as she locked her brown eyes on Violet's leaf green one's.

"I, I really don't think I'm cut out for teaching" she uttered sadly.

"Don't say that Cristina!" Violet shouted, hating to see her friend give up so easily "It's only been two days, it can't be that bad" she tried to inform her friend, who merely shook her head.

"Yes, but you have it easy with the little one's" she mumbled, before she sighed and ploughed on "Dealing with teenagers is hell, If only I had more training..." she sighed and gazed into the orange sky above Wellington. Remembering how she had come to the US, as she had relatives here and she would be attending University of Michigan on a teaching course, she was in her third year of studies when everything went to hell, and hence her dreams of a teaching career were dashed. Luckily she was one of the first to find Wellington and as such hadn't barely experienced any of the horrors the apocalypse had to offer.

"You've been waiting years to start teaching again" Violet's voice brought Cristina King back down to earth, as she gazed at the friend she had made in Wellington. Both had a love for teaching, both were somewhat shielded from the horrors of the apocalypse. Mainly because Violet was cared for greatly by her two tougher siblings who guided their triplet sister through the apocalypse without experiencing too much trauma.

"I know" Miss King replied to Violet, "But..."

Just as she said that, the front door opened and the front doors to the house opened and Trevor and Stacy came striding into the kitchen.

"Violet, Cristina" Trevor greeted them formally, as Violet muttered a cheery "Hi" back at both her siblings. Suddenly feeling like an outsider, Miss King took once last gulp of her cup of coffee "Well, I'll get going now" she announced "Thanks for the coffee Violet"

"Oh any time" Violet responded politely, as she waved at Miss King who picked up her belongings and proceeded out of the front door. When it slammed shut, Violet turned to face her siblings, both of which had collapsed into wooden seats around the table, looking exhausted.

"Busy day?" Violet asked of them, Trevor's nod confirmed the obvious answer.

"With Edith and all..." Stacy panted "and that attack on the house that still needs covering..." she wiped her hairs as she pushed her black face mask further into her pocket. The vials of blood she had retrieved from Oscar also lay safely in her zipped up trouser pockets, it had been an exhausting day after all.

"First Ryan, then Edith..." Violet counted off on her hands, seeing the anxious look on her face, Trevor placed a comforting big brother by 2 minutes hand on Violet's shoulder.

"It's not going to happen to anyone else" he told her comfortingly, as she smiled back at him. Stacy meanwhile shot a jealous glare at Trevor across the table. She always felt like the outsider even when they were growing up. Trevor and Violet would have much a closer bond than she had with any of them and it made her feel left out and worthless. Gritting her teeth together she let her childish jealous die in her throat as she stood up and proceeded to turn on the oven.

"Well" she announced "I'm going to cook myself something, before heading out again"

This caught Violet's attention as she turned towards her Journalistic minded sister and openly asked "You're heading out tonight?" in which Stacy nodded.

"Where too?" Trevor asked, just as innocently but looking into her brother's eyes, a mental note passed between the pair of them that Violet didn't pick up on. Trevor knew Violet was off doing something possibly dangerous to find out the identity of the wolf and he wanted answers from her as soon as possible.

"Out to talk with an eyewitness" Stacy quickly improvised "One of the officers at the scene of Edith's death" she gulped there before continuing, how had that bastard wolf done it again? Despite what the police were saying Stacy was adamant this was a cover up of some sorts. Her brother knew information she didn't and she knew things that he didn't.

"I'll be back late" she informed her siblings "But I'll discuss whatever the officer says Trevor, just in case there was something you missed out" she was staring directly at her brother now.

"Yeah sure" he grumbled disinterested, well that's how it sounded to Violet.

Between them, they were finally going to exchange information and try to piece together who this wolf really was and what he really wanted.

JJ had enough of it.

He had sulked and fled to the kitchen after being practically screamed at by all of the group for his rash actions today. The only one ever to come to his defence was his grandfather, after hearing about his grandson breaking Scott's arm, his reaction was simply "Well good on ya lad" he grumbled "It will teach the little shit not to mess with you again"

"That's not the point!" Tom tried to yell over to the elderly man. But Wilbert may as well have been deaf, because Wilbert didn't even glance in his direction.

"Wilbert" Maria muttered in a softer voice, to try and soothe the elderly man before he would fly off the handle again "After what happened to you today, shouldn't you take it easy?"

"Easy?" Wilbert questioned, almost guffawing at the suggestion, as glanced around at his enraged group "I fucking saved that bitch's life? The one up at the wall... one who led us here... what's her face...?"

"Stephanie" Luis responded, to him this was certainly news. It always seemed as if his group and Clementine's were caught up in these walker attacks.

"Yeah her" Wilbert grunted "I saved her from Edith, I was the one who had to impale her head and all..."

"Regardless" Ana cut through darkly, shooting daggers at Wilbert and JJ "It seems as if the Jefferson family, want us to be more infamous than we already are"

"THAT ISN'T OUR FAULT...!" Wilbert roared, as Maria sighed in defeat and shot Ana a glare, as if to say "Well done, now you've set him off" in which Ana looked as if she couldn't give two shits about as she continued to inspect the rings on her fingers. Something about hearing Wilbert get angry soothed her soul.

In the commotion, this is when JJ fled to the kitchen. His head fit to burst because of all the telling off he had received. and if the group didn't have enough to deal with beforehand, it got worse. Because JJ, Luis, Brandon and Terri learnt that (because he had been suspended) Oscar and the others had come to pick him up. Leading to Oscar being attacked by a mystery assailant who had stolen some of his blood. Currently his arm was in a bandage, as he looked at the floor due to the commotion. Scribbling a long note of explanation to the group, as when the argument would die down. (When it eventually would) they would ask for this note and it was his only way to explain everything he knew about his condition so far.

But for now JJ had simply had enough, he had simply tried to protect a friend... and now he had this much shit placed on his shoulders?

"I can deal with this" TT muttered under his breath, his fingers inching towards a large kitchen knife, that lay on the counter.

"No, no, no..." JJ mumbled, but his fingers grabbed the hilt of the knife regardless yet he didn't move the knife an inch. TT smiled to himself and store (with large eyes) at the blank wall ahead of him.

"It feels good doesn't it?" he asked of the wall, as he gripped the knife tighter in his hands.

"Imagine what you could do" he babbled at nothing "Imagine what you could change"

The voices of the argument were now dim, his head felt light as he used TT as a way to escape all of the stress. But TT seemed to alert of him of a presence in the kitchen, as TT heard two faint footsteps step onto the tiled floor, he whipped around and when he saw Terri staring neutrally at him he reverted back to the stressed out JJ.

"Hey Terri" He mumbled at the blonde girl.

Terri didn't reply for a while, he hated that she just stood there analysing him, before he was about to blurt out what the hell she wanted, she seemed to answer for him.

"JJ, you need to behave" she uttered quietly.

"I don't need another lecture" he snapped harshly at her, she didn't even flinch at his response. The teenage girl looked as if she was fully expecting this insult to come rolling her way.

"No, you don't" she agreed to JJ's surprise, she took a step forward however. Her brown eyes reflecting no warmth, JJ felt himself gulping in some sort of fear.

"You need a threat" Terri announced clearly, she quickly looked back towards the living room to ensure no one was listening in, when she was adamant they weren't, she took another step closer to JJ, as the blonde boy glared back at her, he didn't say a word. He towered over her small form, yet in those moments she seemed to tower of him.

"If you act out of line again" she began "Then I'll have to let Wilbert and the group know that you poisoned him".

JJ went as cold as ice, he was certain Terri had forgotten about that incident, he mentally cursed himself and tried to babble out anything in his defence.

"The group don't care no more" JJ spat at the unflinching curly haired girl "Granddaddy don't care..."

"Oh, I'm sure he does" Terri informed him, cutting through his words of defence, as if they melting butter "You know it, I know it. If I were to bring up that topic of conversation once again he would be interested to know who it was..." she smiled to herself then before continuing "Your granddad is the only one backing you up, here. You don't want to lose the support of the last member of your family"

JJ pondered on these words for a short while, before he tried a new angle,

"No one would believe it anyway"

Terri rolled her eyes at JJ, when would this kid learn?

"Maybe they won't" she responded "But that's not a risk you're willing to take, is it?" she inquired of him, before she looked down at JJ's hand "So, you want to drop the knife now and promise to keep in line? With have enough trouble as it is" JJ wasn't aware of himself responding but he was dimly aware of his fingers uncurling around the hilt of the knife. He took a simple step forwards and back towards the frying pan of the living room, neither he or Terri exchanged another word but Terri could tell the blonde teenager was annoyed with her.

She waited until JJ was gone, before she swept up the large kitchen knife and placed it in her trouser pocket.

She was doing it for both her and JJ's safety.

The group gathered around, the argument had finally drawn to a close and now, all eyes were on Oscar. All he had to do was hand out the note, as every set of eyes digested the information scribbled onto the piece of paper.

I was surviving, just like everyone else when this shit started, but my group got caught by some mad doctors.

They took us all back to some asylum, locked us up and treated us like prisoners, believe when I say (or write) that we tried several times to escape but every time we were unsuccessful and every time some doctor would come up the hallway and start experimenting on us, some would come back with no legs, no arms, or missing internal organs.

Eventually these people would simply die and their bodies were burned. We were trapped in straight jackets and trapped in the same rooms all day and night... however some people who went into the main operational room never came back. We all assumed these people died and the doctors refused to tell us anything about them, every month about three more of us would be lead into the dark side of the asylum where they experimented on us, either until we were dead or we simply vanished.

My time eventually came, first they took blood from my body. But rather than chop me up like they did with most of the others, they started going nuts. Saying they'd "found another one" I was led off to another room, where I was kept with all the people who we all thought were previously dead. Turned out we were the Immune one's they were 7 at us at maximum.

From what I overheard, these doctors were actually Government workers, trying desperately to find a cure. Even if it meant slaughtering people to try and find people who were immune like me. Those that weren't Immune, they simply chopped them up to experiment on the walker virus' effects on different organs of the body. Those Immune to the virus have special blood cells that can fight the virus and overcome it. I didn't pick up all the scientific details, but it's a bit hard trying to listen in, while also trying not to go crazy when being treated and caged like a human guinea pig.

They tried making cure's by tampering with our blood and putting them into syringes and injecting themselves with it. Turns out simply injecting immune blood into your system doesn't make you Immune. Many doctors learnt that the hard way, they either died, or had limbs amputated when they realised the blood itself wasn't enough to keep them immune. Eventually they came to the realisation that the virus targets the brain. Our blood cells make us identifiable as Immune survivors, but it's our brains themselves that are needed. I forgot the specific part of the brain, but I watched an operation where they pulled a whole brain out of a woman's head (one of us Immune survivors) so I'm assuming there's some sort of cell or tissue in the brain that works against the virus and can make other's immune.

They didn't specify to us (prisoners) what they put into the syringe, but something in the brain, it made the cure actually work. They rejoiced and soon the remaining 6 of us would be killed and sliced up to make into syringes offering the cure for all. However I gave them a bit of a shouting match that I didn't want to die to give a cure to people who treated us like animals, so they cut out my tongue, as a way to shut me up. But Karma caught up with the bastards of course, turning out setting up a base in an asylum can actually make you go crazy.

Half of the doctors had gone borderline insane at this point, they starting killing and turning on each other when they realised even if they killed all of us their wouldn't be enough syringes for all of them. Apparently some of them even protested that the other prisoners deserved the cure, but that all led to conflict. Eventually the prisoners managed to rebel and set the place alight, killing them all. I was one of the last immune guinea pigs left, maybe because I was now mute they didn't pay attention to me, me and two other guys managed to break out of our little room. I saw the two of them get killed by an insane doctor. I got bruised and battered and burnt to hell, but eventually I jumped out a window and escaped that death-trap.

I was exhausted, but knowing I was immune I knew walkers weren't a threat. But I was weak and still in my straight jacket, I collapsed in the mud I must have been waiting for 2 days. Simply waiting to die before Ana found me, I couldn't tell her I was immune, I couldn't tell anyone. I saw what it had done back at the asylum and what it's doing here in Wellington.

Anyone that's all I know.

Your ever dearest mute man.

Oscar.

The group all looked at one another and then back at a mute Oscar.

"Holy shit" was all Ana could utter.

"Daddy, is Mummy going to be alright?"

Nick looked over at Stephanie's plate, before facing Lilly once again who had asked that, the rest of the group were silently chewing down their meals. Well as silent as could be. After they had comforted Stephanie and discussed Edith's death until the topic was exhausted, she had excused herself to her room to sleep. Yet Nick couldn't help but feel anxious for her, as he gazed at the empty chair in front of her dinner, she hadn't responded to Rebecca's call about dinner being ready.

Lilly could tell something was off too, even at her young age.

"Mummy is going to be fine" Nick said, placing another scooping of mashed potato onto Lilly's plate "She's just a little shook up about today, that's all"

"Is that because she saw someone DIE!" Lilly proclaimed dramatically, causing many people to look up in worry. Nick had to wonder if he'd ever make a good father at all, as his face went red and he uttered "Well... kind of..."

"I heard she got squashed!" AJ added dramatically.

"Woah, you are so going goth little guy" was all Eddie could say to AJ on the matter.

"That's gross, I wouldn't want to be squashed to death" Lilly shouted, the morbid details coming from the mouths of the 2 and 3 year old's around the dinner table were more than enough to make some people a little uncomfortable.

"That's enough horrid talk" Rebecca snapped at her son and Lilly, as AJ dipped his head in shame and Lilly suddenly seemed interested in squashing her mashed potato into the shape of a flat plateau. "It's been hard enough on your mother" Rebecca scalded beginning to tell off Lilly, who didn't look at her "We don't need it discussed at dinner table".

"Okay, sorry Rebecca" Lilly mumbled under her breath, now staring at her food rather than eating it.

"You know, maybe I should go take Stef her dinner" Nick mumbled, as he rose from his seat and scooped up Stephanie's plate, he turned back towards Lilly and muttered "Okay behave now" he waited until she looked at him, when she did he carried on speaking "I don't want to come down to hear you've been misbehaving, I'm sure your mother is fine. But I'm going to check on her to make sure she eats her dinner. Understand?"

Lilly nodded vigorously.

"Good girl" Nick praised before he departed from the table, leaving the mostly silent group chewing on their supper, as he ascended the narrow staircase towards his and Stephanie's room.

"Hey" Nick muttered creaking the door open, he saw Stephanie lying on the bed, she was lying far too still to be sleeping. Sighing, Nick closed the door and sat on the corner of the bed, he peeled off his heavy police uniform. Placing on some simple black trousers and t-shirt. Lying in lighter clothes he lay next to his girlfriend to see her eyes were wide open, but she wasn't crying.

"You should really eat" Nick advised her.

"It smells nice" was all Stephanie said, before she sighed and sat up slightly, "Nick I..." she began before she managed to say it "Nick I'm... I'm not working at the wall anymore".

"Because of today?" was his instant response.

"I've been thinking about it for a while" she uttered, her distant blue eyes finding the outside window, and resting upon the night sky outside, "I don't feel like I'm doing anything at the wall" she explained "I just... I want to be closer to the action, I want too feel like I'm actually helping". She collapsed on the bed again, allowing herself to rest her head on Nick's chest as he simply store up at the celling. A bubble of anxiety rising in his stomach "You know I'd worry a lot more about" he muttered.

"I know, nearly died today though" she mumbled into his black t-shirt in response "No where is safe"

Nick couldn't find anyway to disagree with this, in fact he suddenly felt tired, he laid back at Stephanie murmured "Nick... can... can we just stay like this" in which he nodded and muttered "Yeah, you think I'd forget about you?"

Stephanie's face lit up, "I know" she began "It's been a busy job for you lately and it's selfish to moan about it, but..." she trailed to a halt as she simply let herself relax on Nick's chest after everything that had happened today. She needed his comfort now more than ever and simply having him lie here next to her, was all she could ask for.

"Hey, come on" he could feel himself becoming as Stephanie herself called it, a corn dog. Someone who said things overly cheesy and corny, yet he spoke on regardless "I'm not going anywhere, you're not going anywhere I promise you that" he smiled coyly to himself as they simply lay there for a while bathing in each other's silence and comfort for what must have been a while. Before Stephanie quite suddenly mumbled "Lilly... I know you're behind that door"

Sure enough the door creaked open a few more inches and Lilly herself ran up to the bed and yawned "I'm tired, Mum and Dad, can I...?"

Nick already made some room for his adopted infant daughter to crawl onto his chest, the trio of them feel asleep on that bed. Nick clinging onto his family tighter than he had ever done before and as he glanced at Stephanie and Lilly, he knew that now was the time. It was the time to make it official, he drifted off to sleep thinking of the money he had saved up,

and whether it would be enough to buy a beautiful ring.