NL March: Thank you so much for your continued support. Read on to find out where the twist heads :)
"Argh, Sophia, watch it!" Natalie growled fiercely, while the girl lay on top of her and hugged her tightly around her middle, right over her wound.
"Natalie, oh my God!" Sophia's eyes welled up with tears and she started sobbing, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably as she buried her face in Natalie's neck.
"Sophia, what the hell? What are you doing here? Are you hurt?" Natalie put her hands on both sides of Sophia's face and pulled her head back gently so she could look in the young girl's face. It was streaked with dirt and she had a couple scratches across her cheeks. The little girl could barely talk she was crying so hard.
Feeling guilty for her gruff tone earlier, Natalie tried to soften her tone. "Sophia, can you get up? I've got stitches here and you're lying right on top of them."
Sophia quickly moved off of her and Natalie winced as the pressure moved off her side. She pushed herself into a sitting position, the pain in her side agonizing due to the infection and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. When she managed to struggle into a sitting position, she propped herself against the kitchen cabinets. She looked over at Sophia, who was sitting hugging her knees to her chest, her short brown hair hanging in strands around her young face.
"So, maybe you can tell me what's going on Sophia. Where's your group? I thought you all would be long gone by now." Natalie said, watching the young girl carefully.
Sophia's eyes started watering and Natalie feared she would start crying again. Instead, Sophia shook her head. "They're not here. I…I don't know where they are."
Sophia buried her face in her knees and Natalie studied her for a moment. "What do you mean you don't know where they are? You all were together less than a week ago. What happened?"
Sophia proceeded to tell Natalie about how the group had gotten stopped on the highway when the RV broke down, and how a large group of walkers had made everyone hide under their cars. Sophia told her of how she had been chased by walkers into the woods and Mr. Grimes had told her to hide in the brush and then run back to the highway after he led the walkers off.
"And then when I started running back there was another walker sitting there eating some kind of animal, but he saw me and started coming after me. I ran forever and I tried to find the highway, but it started getting dark and I had to hide. I've been here ever since." Sophia finished her story and put her chin on her knees, gazing at Natalie through tired brown eyes.
"So, how long have you been out here?" Natalie asked, not sure if she wanted to know.
"Two days…but now you're here and everything will be fine." Her hopeful tone made Natalie quirk an eyebrow.
"And why do you say that?"
"Well…because you helped Carl and I get out of that place with all the walkers when you didn't have to. I know my momma would say I'm safer with an adult around, and I think so too." Natalie eyed the little girl. She wasn't sure how to respond to the girl's confidence in her but was saved from saying anything when she doubled over in a fit of coughs. Her shoulders shook as she felt the rattle in her chest that had gotten progressively worse. She coughed until tears came to her eyes and she felt the sweat break out on her forehead. When it subsided she looked up to see Sophia with a startled expression.
"What," Natalie asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Do I have something on my face?"
Sophia's face scrunched up and she got to her feet. "You're sick! Did…did you get bit?"
Natalie shook her head, leaning her head back against the cabinets. "No, just still have a scratch and I've been outside all week."
Sophia came forward tentatively and put her hand to Natalie's forehead. "My momma does this for me all the time. You're so warm. You must have a fever."
Despite herself, Natalie smiled. "Well, Dr. Sophia, I guess that means I need to get my rest. Actually, that's how I found this house, I was looking for a place to rest. Guess that makes us both lucky."
They sat in silence for a few moments, the enormity of their good fortune at finding each other starting to sink in. Natalie broke the silence, half-smiling in Sophia's direction.
"So let me get this straight," she said, leaning back against the kitchen counters to gaze at the little girl. "You're telling me you have been out here, in the woods on your own, for two days? And how are you still alive?"
Her voice carried a hint of admiration and Sophia's cheeks turned bright red. She fiddled with her fingers and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I just stayed quiet and out of sight. I tried to remember how you got us away from the walkers. You know how you were brave and said we had to hold ourselves together. I didn't cry once the last two days…until I saw you."
"Well, I'm here now. When I get my strength back, I'll get you back to your group. I'm sure they're worried sick about you by now." At this Sophia smiled.
The conversations turned to the members of Sophia's group. She described each of them in detail. Natalie learned about Carol, Sophia's mother, and how she was the best mother there ever could be and Sophia missed her terribly. When Natalie asked about Sophia's dad, Sophia immediately clammed up and Natalie had a feeling this was a topic that should be avoided for now.
Sophia described how T-Dog and Glenn had met in Atlanta while T-Dog was helping get some old people out of the city, and how Glenn knew how to get things they needed anywhere.
She talked about how Mr. Grimes had found his wife Mrs. Grimes and son Carl, and how he had gone through a lot to get back to them. According to Sophia, Carl was her best friend and she couldn't wait to see him again.
Natalie learned about Mr. Walsh, the police officer that was Mr. Grimes's best friend and how he had helped Mrs. Grimes and Carl get to safety when the military took Atlanta.
Sophia told her of Mr. Dixon and how he scared her when he heard his brother had been left behind in Atlanta and he had attacked Mr. Grimes, but he was the best hunter and got a lot of food for the group.
Lastly, she heard about Mr. Dale and Miss Andrea, and how Miss Andrea had lost her sister in a walker attack and Mr. Dale got her to leave the CDC when it blew up.
"You were at the CDC?" Natalie asked in disbelief. "When? Did you find anything out there?"
"We went there right after the walkers attacked our first camp, and before we showed up at that neighborhood where we first met you." Sophia said. "Dr. Jenner told us he found out some stuff but I didn't really understand what he was talking about. He locked us in the room with him and told us the CDC was going to blow up. Mr. Grimes had to talk him into letting us out and we had to get away before the building blew up. Miss Jacqui and Dr. Jenner didn't make it out. My momma said they both lost hope."
Natalie was leaning forward now, enthralled at the girl's story. This group had been to hell and back and they were still fighting for survival. They sounded strong, much stronger than the last group she had started out with. Natalie felt a surge of anger at hearing that they almost hadn't made it out of the CDC due to some man's psychotic death wish. She knew some people weren't meant for this world, but at least he could have gone down fighting instead of taking the easy way out. "He was a coward," she thought.
"Where are you from Natalie? You have an accent like the queen of England." Natalie was half-startled by Sophia's question. She wasn't interested in telling the young girl about herself.
"Well…I grew up in England but we moved to North Carolina when I started high school. I've lived there ever since." She said, hoping that would be enough to appease the girl.
"Oh! North Carolina, I've been there before. Do your parents still live there?" Sophia asked, leaning forward eagerly. Natalie suspected the girl wouldn't back off as easily as she had hoped.
"No, they moved to Charleston to retire. They live…they lived there until all of this happened." She said carefully, not wanting to divulge any more details. She didn't want to talk about Mark or Cory and the less the little girl knew, the less she could go back and tell her group.
"Why don't you tell me about this last week then? Did you see a lot of Georgia?" She asked, attempting to change the subject. Sophia smiled and started talking about some of the small towns they had driven through, taking the bait as Natalie had hoped.
They sat on the floor of the kitchen of the old house for a while, simply talking about their adventures from the past week. Sophia had scrounged up a few old cans of food that she had found in the kitchen cupboard. She showed Natalie the makeshift bed she had set up in the kitchen closet. Apparently the clatter of metal Natalie had heard was Sophia dropping a tin can she had been eating out of when she heard Natalie's footsteps on the second floor. Natalie could barely remember the last time she had simply sat and spent an evening with another person, a live person at that. She also couldn't remember the last time she had simply enjoyed an evening with another human being. She was almost reluctant to end the conversation when she saw Sophia start yawning.
Natalie was having a hard time keeping her own eyes open, but she didn't want to fall asleep, not with the little girl asleep near her. She also knew she didn't have the strength to go out and find them another shelter.
"Ok Sophia. It's probably time you get to bed. I'll stay up and keep watch." Natalie moved to get up and Sophia shook her head.
"No, Natalie you have to sleep too. You're sick and my momma always says I have to sleep when I feel bad." Sophia said stubbornly, putting her hands on her hips.
"Ok, well what do you have in mind then? Because I sure as hell am not going to have us both sleeping unprotected and you are not keeping watch." Natalie crossed her arms and held Sophia's gaze. She could be just as stubborn as the little girl.
"Well…there are beds upstairs. We could go up there and sleep and just put something heavy in front of the door."
Natalie just sighed. "I don't know Sophia…"
"Come on, it'll be fine. I'll help you up the stairs." Sophia moved and put her hand out, waiting for Natalie to take hold. Natalie wanted to argue but she was so exhausted from the last week of constantly being on the run and the stress of being sick and wounded she didn't bother. She reached her hand out and with Sophia's assistance, hoisted herself to her feet. She walked slowly out of the kitchen and started up the stairs, the little girl behind her. Natalie had to stop and pause every few steps to catch her breath. She had started feeling worse as the evening wore on and thought Sophia probably had a point about needing to rest.
Natalie and Sophia made it to the second floor and went into what was probably once the master bedroom. They closed the door behind them looked around the room. Natalie looked around and noted the heavy duty oak furniture in the room.
"Here, we can put this against the door." She said, and walked to the side of the heavy oak dresser.
Together, she and Sophia pushed and shoved the dresser so it was in front of the bedroom door. Natalie rattled the door for a few seconds. Satisfied that nothing could push its way through, she moved to the windows and made sure the curtains were tightly shut. Sophia had found sheets and blankets in the closet, which would serve to keep them warm since the nights were getting colder. Natalie helped Sophia make the bed and started to make her own bed on the floor.
"What are you doing Natalie? There's room enough for you up here." Sophia protested. Natalie only shook her head.
"I can't get you sick. I'm fine sleeping on the floor here. Besides, this way I'm closer to the door should something happen." She eased herself down onto the floor and Sophia made herself at home in the bed. Natalie lay there, staring at the ceiling, when Sophia's voice drifted down to her.
"Natalie?"
"Yes Sophia?"
There was a pause, than Sophia spoke, very softly. "I'm glad you found me."
Natalie swallowed, staring at the ceiling. "Me too Sophia; me too."
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Natalie blinked as the sun shone through the crack in the curtains. She looked around the room, realizing she had slept the night through without waking up once. That was a change from how things were before. She started to sit up and it was then the wave of nausea hit her. She lay back and could feel the fever all over her body, her aching muscles screaming for relief. She was sweating profusely and there were tiny lights in the corner of her eyes. Not wanting to faint, she decided she needed to get up slowly. Carefully, she used her hands to slowly push herself up into a sitting position and propped herself against the wall. Natalie looked over to the bed and saw Sophia was still asleep, wrapped up in the big bedspread they had pulled from the closet. Natalie's side thought that Sophia looked like a human burrito was interrupted when a flash of pain ripped through her wounded side, making her almost lose her breath.
When the pain subsided Natalie lifted up her shirt, inspecting her wound. Although the area was stitched she had had to do so in very non-sterile conditions, and she could see the infection was getting worse. The redness and inflammation were spreading, and when she pinched at the side of the wound she could see crusty pus oozing out of the ends. When she heard Sophia stirring she quickly put her shirt back down, not wanting the little girl to see the extent of her injuries.
"Morning." Sophia said sleepily, sitting up in the bed with brown hair sticking out every which way. She ran her hands through her hair to get it under control.
"Morning," Natalie said, watching the young girl. She was just about to suggest they try to move the dresser when she heard a creak of floorboards in the hallway. Both she and Sophia froze. Natalie strained her ears, hoping she had been hearing things. There were a few moments of silence and she was beginning to hope she was mistaken when she heard it again—the unmistakable sound of the floorboards creaking in a slow rhythm, as if someone was walking very slowly in the hallway. As she listened, it sounded like the steps were getting closer.
Natalie flashed a glance at Sophia and put her finger to her lips, indicating silence was needed. They tensed and sat quietly. The footsteps moved back and forth in the hallway, slowly and systematically, as if whoever was out there was pacing in front of their room. Natalie saw Sophia put a hand over her mouth to stifle her whimpers, her large eyes filled with fear. Natalie didn't dare move for fear she would alert whoever was in the house to their presence.
After a few moments the footsteps paused, and then started getting faint as whoever was in the house made their way down the stairs. Natalie strained to hear, and only let her breath out when she heard the front door of the house slam shut. Waiting a few more moments and not hearing anything, Natalie grabbed the side of the bed and pulled herself up so she was standing. A wave of dizziness hit her and she had to sit down on the bed.
"Are you ok?" Sophia whispered urgently, crawling across the bed to her side.
Natalie nodded, taking slow deep breaths until the dizziness had subsided. "I'm fine, just still not feeling great."
Sophia put her hand to Natalie's forehead and frowned. "You're still really warm. We need to get you food, can you walk? I can help you down the stirs if you need me too…"
Natalie nodded. "I'm fine. I don't need help getting down the stairs, going up was more of the issue last night. Sounds like whoever was here left and I haven't heard anything since the door closed."
Sophia nodded in agreement. "Ok. I just need your help to move the dresser."
Together, they moved the dresser across the floor. Natalie pulled out her knife and slowly opened the door to the hallway, looking in both directions to see if whoever had been here had decided to stay. When she didn't see any signs of movement she walked into the hallway, leaving Sophia in the bedroom with her shotgun. Natalie didn't want the girl to come with her, simply because if anything did happen she wanted the girl to be able to make a hasty escape.
Walking slowly and carefully down the stairs, she kept her eyes open for any signs of whoever had come in the house . She crept through the rooms on the first floor, not seeing any signs of life…or the dead for that matter. When she was convinced there was no one in the house, she put her knife back in the sheath and relaxed. Natalie started to turn to go into the kitchen but instead found herself face to face with the end of an arrow.
"Don't move," the man holding the crossbow said, glaring at her. Natalie did as she was told, holding her hands up slowly. She glanced behind the man and saw the front door to the house was open. The fucker had been hiding on the front porch. Natalie brought her gaze back to the man in front of her.
"What do you want?" She asked, trying to put tremor in her voice. "I don't have anything, please don't hurt me." She tried to raise her voice so Sophia could hear. She knew if she could warn her that the girl would stay quiet and hidden if she thought there was trouble.
"Calm down dammit," the man growled his voice a little louder now. "Not gonna hurt ya if ya don't do anythin' stupid."
"What…what do you want then?" Natalie asked, her voice still slightly shaking.
"Why were ya hidin' upstairs? I know ya heard me." The man continued pointing the cross bow at her.
Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "Can't be too careful nowadays. I try to avoid people…alive or dead."
The man nodded, showing he understood. "How long ya been here?"
"Just a day. Stumbled on this house last night. Figured I could have a real place to sleep besides a tree." Natalie leaned against the wall, trying to act nonchalant.
"You the only one here?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm the only one here." She said, and the man's scowl only intensified.
"Ya better not lie ta me." He leveled the crossbow at her head to emphasize his point.
"Why would you think that?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"There're tin cans in there, freshly opened. And there's a little bed in the closet. From the looks of it ya can't eat that much and yer not big enough ta fit in a kitchen pantry." His eyes moved over her, and Natalie felt like he was sizing her up. "I'll ask ya again…there anyone here with ya?"
"And I'll tell you again. There isn't anyone else here." She had barely finished her sentence before she suddenly lunged toward him, pushing the crossbow up. The weapon went off and the arrow bounced harmlessly off the ceiling. Natalie tried to grab for the knife that was attached at the man's hip, all the while screaming at the top of her lungs. "Get out of here! Go!"
In her weakened state she was no match for the man and he quickly had her pinned beneath him, his hands wrapped around her throat. He was squeezing the breath out of her and she was far too weak to fight him off. She could feel the edges of her vision darkening when she heard the sounds of small feet rushing down the stairs.
"NO!" She heard Sophia scream. It was the last thing she heard before everything went dark.
