I apologise greatly for not posting any new chapters for a couple of months :( I've been really busy and I haven't really had the time or motivation to write but I've finally got my motivation back :') Hopefully I'll post the next one within the next month and thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read it ^^ I will probably go back through this chapter and tweak it as I've been doing with my other ones but I hope you enjoy it as it is ~Skye
It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from her as Lee's brother wrapped his arms around her. The sudden appearance of her brother caused her to give up on holding back her emotions and she sobbed like a child into his shoulder while the other two people stood back and watched the siblings' reunion.
"I knew you weren't dead," she muttered as she hugged him tightly.
"And I knew I was gonna find you sooner or later, you're too stubborn to die," Shaun smiled in relief that his twin was alive and safe from any immediate danger. He broke apart from her and turned her head to the side to see how bad the newly made wound was, Lee rubbed her tear stained cheeks dry as he examined the wound. "Hey, Anna, you think you can patch her up?" He asked the tall, brown haired woman who knelt beside Lee before rummaging through her bag.
"What do you take me for? Of course, I can," she smiled as she took out a bottle of clear liquid and some bandage dressings.
"So, you gonna introduce us to your sister anytime soon?" the fair-haired man asked Shaun.
"Jake, Anna… This is Lee, my brilliant little sister," he grinned as he introduced them all.
"We're twins, you idiot," Lee winced as Anna disinfected the deep cut on the side of her head with a small bottle of alcohol.
"I was born first, though, makes me the older brother," Shaun laughed. Lee couldn't help but smile at her brother, it was as if the recent events hadn't even happened. His appearance had barely changed since the last time she saw him apart from the ginger stubble growing on his chin and the tired look in his eyes. She stayed quiet as Anna placed a clean bandage over the wound and cleaned up the blood that had stained her pale face. It was only in those quiet moments that she remembered the others, she needed to find them. She needed to find Daryl.
"We have to go!" Lee exclaimed, standing up. Her head still felt heavy and she became nauseous from being concussed. How could she forget about them, her friends and the man she'd grown so close to, she had to get back to him. Her body wouldn't allow her to move forward and she swayed slightly, both Anna and Shaun held her still and lowered her back onto the ground before she fell.
"You shouldn't move yet," Anna told her, sternly.
"But I have to get to the highway," she looked at Shaun with watery eyes, "I was with a group of people and we got split… I told them I'd meet back up with them."
"Anna's right, you shouldn't move," Shaun said, "we'll go up there as soon as you're feeling better."
Lee looked away and wiped the tears from her eyes, wondering if Daryl and the others would wait for her. Shaun could see the saddened look in Lee's eyes and placed a hand on his hip, "this isn't because of some guy that you want to go there so quickly is it?" he asked her.
Lee continued to stare at the ground, refusing to answer her brother's question. "Damn it, Lee. You should know better with all this shit going on," Shaun sighed and knelt down in front of her with his back facing her.
"What are you doing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Get on," he ordered, "or do you not want to see this guy again?"
Lee complied with her brother's order and he stood up with her clinging onto his back. Her head still felt heavy but it wasn't as bad as when she stood up herself, "thank you," she said quietly as she propped her chin on his shoulder.
"Hey I'm only doing this to shout at him for leaving you alone," he said grumpily, though Lee was still glad about his decision to help her.
The four of them wandered through the woods towards the highway with Lee's directions. She learned that Anna had been studying to become a doctor before the outbreak, she was polite when she spoke but insistent that they take regular breaks for Lee's benefit whilst ignoring Lee's persistence to carry on. Jake, on the other hand, was quiet, lingering away from them to watch out for any walkers that strayed near to them. Shaun explained that Jake was usually more talkative and social but he lost his own girlfriend to the walkers four days ago.
"I missed you…" Lee muttered as they started to move again after their second break. She was able to walk herself so she stayed close to her brother to make sure the others couldn't hear their conversation.
"I missed you too," Shaun replied, turning his head slightly.
"I mean before all this happened, you just left me behind," She went on to say, "why didn't you come back?"
"I'm sorry, I just had to get out of that town. Everywhere I went, it reminded me of mom and dad," Shaun explained, "it wasn't fair on you, if I had stayed then… maybe things would have turned out a bit better."
"I always thought of them, you weren't the only one who lost them," Lee raised her voice slightly but remained calm, "it just felt like you were abandoning me… I know this is the last thing we should talk about right now but we do have to talk about it."
"I know we do, I was an idiot for leaving you. I stayed to make sure you were okay and I thought that you'd be okay with Ellen and Chris… Speaking of, what happened to them? And James?" Lee could hear the guilt in his voice and felt tears stinging her eyes after he mentioned their relatives.
"They're gone, I don't want to talk about it," she said bluntly. Gruesome images managed to run through her mind of her aunt and uncle being attacked by the undead in front of her and her cousin's eyes. She started to trail behind, feeling her stomach churn from the horrific memories flooding into her mind.
A noise up ahead, where Jake was, brought Lee back to the present. She looked up to see Jake slashing his machete-like weapon at a walker's throat, the wound inflicted appeared to be fatal as the walker collapsed to the ground. Jake kicked the lifeless corpse and spat on it, Lee could see how much he hated them for taking away the woman he loved.
"Any more?" Shaun asked.
"Can't see any," Jake answered, checking if the walker had anything they needed.
After catching up, Lee gazed at the walker and felt relieved that she didn't recognise the body. It was her biggest fear that this could be the fate of some of her friends.
"Are you okay?" Anna asked her, noticed the uneasy look on Lee's face.
"Yeah," Lee nodded stiffly before walking away from the body.
More time passed and Lee was beginning to feel her body ache from the long hours of walking, she could sense her brother staring at her from time to time. Mostly, it was to make sure she was okay but he was also trying to figure out what was different about her. He knew she must've had a hard time surviving, but it was almost like a part of her was missing, like how she was right after their parents had died.
"I should've come back when I saw the news reports," he said, breaking the silence between them. "I don't know what happened to you but you know you can talk to me about anything, I know there's something bothering you."
"I'm tired, can we talk about this another time?" She replied tiredly.
Shaun scratched his head a little before nodding, "yeah, I guess. I'll be here when you wanna talk about it."
Lee smiled weakly at him for not being persistent, she wanted to tell him everything that had happened in the past weeks but at that moment, she couldn't bear to think back on troubled times. She had finally gotten her brother back; she wasn't alone anymore.
"The road's up ahead," Jake told the rest of them after scouting out ahead, "but there's loads of them bastards all over the place."
"Walkers?" Lee wrapped her fingers around the handle of her hunting knife and sped off towards the highway.
"Hey, Lee!" Shaun shouted, running after her, "wait up!"
Lee ignored her brother's pleas for her to stop, she had to find out if Daryl and the others were there. She reached the side of the road and her eyes searched for a familiar face, but the only faces she saw were those of the unfamiliar undead. Her heart felt as if it were about to jump out of her chest as the lifeless faces started to turn in her direction and the dead slumbered hungrily towards her. She gripped her knife in her hands tightly and raised it but was pulled back before she had the chance to attack.
"Damn it, Lee," Shaun scolded her, "you're in no shape to fight, you're exhausted."
He then proceeded to take his own knife out and head towards the closest walker, digging the blade into its skull. Lee stared as the others joined in, disposing of the walkers while she stood back trying to will herself to help but all she kept thinking about were the others, wondering where they were and if they were even still alive.
"Are you okay?" Shaun asked after all of the walkers were dead. Lee looked up at him and stared at the blood on his face.
"Did you get hurt?" she asked, checking him over.
"I'm fine, it's not my blood," he smiled reassuringly, "now answer me, are you okay?"
No, she wasn't okay, she felt like an idiot for dragging them into a dangerous situation and worse, she didn't even know where her friends were. "I don't know," she muttered, biting her lip to stop herself from crying again. She felt her brother's hand on her head along with some comforting words, but it made her feel no better.
"I'm sorry, I don't know how you feel right now but you got me back. We've got each other now and I'm never gonna leave you again, I promise you," Shaun hugged her tightly and waited until her cries stopped.
"Please don't leave me, I don't want to lose anyone else… I can't," Lee looked up at his smiling face.
"Do I have to say it again, I promise you," he ruffled her hair, making her smile one-sidedly, "let's go find somewhere safe to rest, it's getting dark."
"So, are you gonna tell me anything yet?" Shaun asked Lee, breaking the eerie silence of the forest, as they sat around the small fire. Jake was patrolling around the area, making sure it was safe and Anna was in her tent getting some sleep giving Lee and Shaun some time to talk alone.
"I don't know, it's just… Every time I think that things are getting better, that I've found someone to get me through this whole mess… They either end up dead or missing," Lee fidgeted as she told him how she was feeling.
"Well you know there's no getting rid of me now," Shaun smirked, trying to keep her in a positive mood.
"I'm being serious, if I lose you then I can't do this anymore…" Lee said, looking at him with red, puffy eyes from the hours of silently crying.
"You won't lose me, I'm going to make sure you're safe and we will get through this," he said with a more serious tone to his usual laid back voice. "For now, you should get some sleep," Shaun smiled, noticing the tired look on Lee's face. She nodded slowly and retreated into the small tent that Shaun had put up, she never thought she'd be able to sleep but the moment she lay down, the exhaustion took over and she drifted off into a deep sleep.