Chapter 9
The group approached the gate where the truck should have been. Glenn and T-Dog stood with their jaws to the ground. Rick had his arms crossed with a scowl on his face. Kassie and Daryl looked around the area, confused as to how a box van could go missing.
"Merle stole it, I just know it," Rick said to them. Not another word was exchanged as they began to run up the trail leading into the mountain pass. The sun was setting fast, making each of them push harder to get back to camp. Just as they knew camp was within their sights, screams and gun shots erupted. They loaded their guns and had them ready shot as they entered the camp. Walkers were everywhere, infiltrating the camp. Kassie shot one in the head that was chasing after Andrea. Everything became a blur as people around her kept shooting the dead and mauling them with blunt objects. She saw Daryl unloading arrows into the decaying bodies. Her clip ran out and she loading it, aiming at nothing now. Everyone standing was living; everyone on the ground was dead. Kassie lowered her gun, staring at the horrific scene all around her. Without letting her guard down, she walked over to Daryl.
"I think it's clear now," he said to her. She placed her gun back into its holster. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the dead bodies scattered throughout the camp. She felt Daryl's thumb caress her wrist, noticing her looking around the camp. Kassie finally looked into Daryl's eyes and wrapped her arms around him. He stood shocked for a moment before wrapping his arms around her. Silent tear ran down her face. All she could hear ringing throughout the camp were the cries and sobs of reunited families and those who lost loved ones during the small invasion. A hand brushed through her long hair, untangling knots. After what felt like hours but was actually fifteen minutes, Daryl led Kassie onto the RV. They lay down on the small bed in the back. He kept his arms wrapped around her until she settled into a deep sleep.
Her night was filled with visuals of those around her being bitten and eaten by the monstrous creatures surrounding her. No matter how many time s shot, more of the creatures appeared from the darkness. Just was one grabbed her ankle and began biting into it, she jolted from her slumber. Her caught in her throat as she was hyperventilating. Within seconds, Daryl was sitting up beside her.
"Kassie, calm down. It was a bad dream," he said to her. She felt herself begin to cry out of happiness that Daryl was unharmed beside her. He comforted her until her breathing evened out and her crying stopped. She brushed away the last of her tears and began gathering a change of clothes for the new day. She washed her face in the bathroom and brushed her out to put it into a long braid down her back. Daryl was dressed and ready to go just as the sun was peeking over the tree line.
"Well, we should probably get ready to deal with all of that," she said, pointing out the window. Just as she started walking to the front of the RV, Daryl grabbed her wrist. He smashed his lips onto hers before she could protest. Kassie melted into the kiss, preferring that over cleaning up the death and destruction outside. Kassie pulled him closer to her, wrapping her arms around his neck. He kissed along her jawline then, causing sparks to course through her veins. She ran her fingers through his hair and tugged lightly on it. Before anything went any further, he removed his lips from her neck and stared into her eyes. She smiled at him, receiving a small smirk back from him. This type of affection was something he didn't show to anyone else in the group. She pecked his lips and they walked out of the RV, hand in hand. Rick, Shane, Glenn, and T-Dog were currently moving bodies into separate piles: people from their group and previously walkers. Daryl and Kassie joined them without a word, hauling the nearest body to the pile to be burned. Sounds of knives and other weapons squishing into the skulls of the dead continued for hours. By now, the entire camp was hauling bodies into the different piles. Kassie was unloading bodies from the truck getting ready to burn them. When Shane gave her the OK, she dropped the lighter onto the pile. The bodies went up into flames, sending a stench of rotting and burning decomposed flesh everywhere. She put her hand over her nose and joined Daryl back into his truck. Shane crawled into the back and they drove back to the living area.
"So, what are we going to do about Amy?" Kassie asked Daryl. He kept his eyes on the trail in front of them.
"I say we stab her in the head and bury her before she comes back. No one else thinks that is right. I don't like risking her coming back and attacking us," he said back to her. Kassie shook her head, agreeing with him. Just as they parked and exited the truck, Kassie saw the inevitable. Amy was moving again and Andrea wasn't moving from her side. Then, a gunshot sounded and Amy was lying once again lifelessly on the ground. Andrea's sobs were heard all over camp. Everyone stared at the scene, feeling the heartache Andrea felt from losing other family members and loved ones. Andrea stood and began dragging Amy's body to a grave site with the help of Rick and T-Dog. Kassie went back to her and Daryl's tent, packing their stuff, knowing they would be moving out soon. Just as she got to the tent, a generic ringing sound went off; this was her cell phone in her duffel bag. She dug though the stuff in the bag until she found the small item. Over thirty messages were blowing up her phone. Many of them were from her parent, tracing all the way back to the day when Merle and Daryl had found her.
"Kassie sweetie, what was that noise?" asked Carol as she raced over to the tent. Kassie's eyes were glued to the phone. She read several different messages, many of them telling her to stay put and stay in Atlanta. The messages explained that Indiana was hit just as bad as Georgia and wasn't safe. Her family had begun to head down to her. The last message was from her sister reading "We just managed to pass through the northern border of Kentucky. The military is everywhere. I hope you are getting these messages. I miss you more than ever Kassie. I hope you are alive and I hope you are fighting like the strong girl I know you are. We are all coming for you. Stay in Atlanta and we will find you. Don't give up. I love you, we all love you". The message was sent two days ago. Kassie's entire body was shaking with sobs as she placed the phone in Carol's hands to read. The woman read through the messages then tightly hugged her.
"They are coming and they don't know how bad it is! Do you think they are still alive?" she asked the older woman. She smiled back to Kassie confidently.
"They love you and are determined to see you. I believe they are still alive. We just need to have faith they are going to find us," she said back to her. There was little to no remorse in her tone about losing Ed, her abusive husband. Kassie assumed it was something that hurt her, but secretly made her feel free. They exited the tent in silence, carrying the phone over to show Shane and Rick.
"Fort Benning is over one hundred miles away!" Rick said to Shane. Shane began to open his mouth to retaliate when both men saw Carol and Kassie walking up to him. They saw the red streaks and splotches in Kassie's eyes, forgetting their arguments and curious about what she had to say. She handed them the phone, open to the last text message. As they read it, more people began to surround the group. Andrea rushed over and grabbed the phone without permission, reading through the message. Everyone began reading it, in awe and shocked at what they saw. There were other survivors. There were survivors headed to them.
"What am I supposed to send back to them? Do I tell them to come find us here?" Kassie asked looking at Rick and Shane. They looked at each other with the same intensity as before Kassie had interrupted them.
"Tell them to head towards the CDC," was all Shane said before walking off. Rick smiled and nodded at her, giving her the assurance that this was the right choice. While they were explaining to the rest of the group their plan, she sent her text back to her sister.
Atlanta was overrun and I escaped. I am with a decent sized group outside the city. Tomorrow, we are headed to the CDC. Make your way there and we will be waiting on you. I will see all of you soon. I love all of you with all my heart. Stay as safe as possible.
She clicked the send button and placed the phone back into her pocket. Everybody was scattering around the campground, collecting their stuff to get ready to move out the following morning. Suddenly, a scream erupted through the camp again. Kassie's heart raced, ready to attack more walkers. She had her gun ready to shoot and met up with Daryl ready to stab something. What they saw instead was Jacqui pointing at Jim. She kept yelling that he was bit. The men held him back and lifted his shirt, exposing a fresh bite mark on his rib cage. Everyone shirked backwards, knowing what this meant. Rick approached him, leading him away and into the RV and away from everyone's eyes. Fear rushed through Kassie, knowing there was an infected man living among healthy people. She didn't want to face this new situation, so she went back to the tent. She organized her two duffel bags, pushing clothes and other items into them. Daryl came by after an hour, stomping into the tent.
"They are planning on taking him with us! He's a dead man and they know it. I don't understand why they are thinking this place is gonna have a cure. Wouldn't they have said something by now?" he angrily said as he gathered his belongings. When he sat down on his sleeping bag, Kassie crawled over to him and put her hand in his.
"I am extremely uncomfortable with Jim going with us. What is he infects someone else and it begins to spread. I don't feel like dying because Rick needs to be a savior. Not that I support killing people, but this is different and the world is different," she sighed, leaning into Daryl's side. His initial angered had calmed down. She smiled at him and got a small back from him, more than anyone else saw. He leaned in and placed his lips on hers for a few minutes.
"Let's get our stuff ready for tomorrow," he said to her. They gathered the rest of their things and had them ready to go for early the next morning. Kassie snuggled herself tightly against Daryl's chest, trying to keep away the nightmares of Jim turning halfway through their travel.
