Hello, all! I must apologize for the crazy wait, but I am here! First things first...THAT FINALE, GUYS! I NEED TO SCREAM! THE WALKING DEAD WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME!
Now, on that note, I have been breathing, sleeping, thinking, and eating Walking Dead for weeks now and I've realized that it's been a while since I've updated this story for you lovely, lovely people. So, here I am.
Also, I have a proposition for you guys. I was just thinking about this last night as I was rereading all of my chapters on here and had a thought. I was thinking of splitting this story up and making it almost like a prologue to the real Walking Dead fanfiction. A lot happens in Jenni's beginning before she collides with the Walking Dead storyline, so I thought about cutting this one short and ending it just before Jenni and her crew actually join the Walking Dead story. That way, Jenni's backstory is available, but you don't have to read multiple chapters without the Walking Dead cast before we get into the good stuff because, trust me, once we get to the Walking Dead story, it will be better. I've just been pushing myself to get this beginning story out so I can get to the good stuff.
So, let me know what you think, if you don't mind. Do you like it? Hate it? Feeling kinda neutral about it? Please, feel free to state your opinion! :D
Okay, I'll shut up and get to the story. I've been rather chatty this time around.
"No! That's not how you play it!"
"Well, your rules are stupid!"
"Your face is stupid!"
"Jenni!"
Jenni growled under her breath as she heard the heated argument between Caleb and Jamie. They had been playing a game of Blackjack for about an hour now and had been fighting about the right way to play it for just as long. Billy went with Jason to hunt, so that left the three of them alone.
"Caleb, stop with the name calling. Why don't you two play something else if you can't play together?" Jenni suggested with a cool tone, fists against her hips.
The two shared a glance then looked back at Jenni. "I'm gonna go read." Jamie muttered snatching the deck of cards off the ground and jumping up from the dead grass.
Caleb huffed and pouted, crossing his arms against his chest. "Nobody wants to play with me...Girls are stupid."
Jenni resisted the urge to chuckle and walked over to sit down beside him. "You don't think I'm stupid, do you, baby boy?"
Caleb immediately crawled onto his mother's lap and rested his head against her chest, listening to the faint thump thump of her heart beat. "No...you're the smartest girl in a million, kajillion worlds, Mama." He mumbled wrapping his arms around her neck.
Jenni hummed contentedly and hugged the tiny boy against her chest. "You don't normally call names, baby boy. What's bothering you?"
Caleb was quiet as he thought it over. He turned in his mother's arms to where his ear rested directly against her chest and played with his fingers, something he was prone to do when something was really bothering him. "Why can't we have Emmy with us, Mama? I miss her really, really bad."
Her breath hitched in her throat at the mention of her missing daughter. She asked the same question to herself every night just before she would silently cry herself to sleep. She had no earthly idea where her precious child was, but she just hoped wherever she was, she was safe. "I know, baby. I miss her, too." She simply said, tears welling in her eyes.
Caleb noticed the change in her voice and looked up at her and pouted. Slightly dirty, little fingers carefully pressed against her closed eyes and wiped away the tears that slipped away from her. "Don't cry, Mama. I didn't mean to make you sad. You're too tough to cry like that, 'member?"
Jenni smiled and brushed away the rest of her tears. "What would I ever do without you, baby?"
"Cry a lot, duh."
The two shared a laugh and held each other in the silence of the summer afternoon. The Georgia summer was living up to its reputation and making them miserable as they struggled to stay alive. Every little task seemed to be more tasking in the miserable heat. Right now, it was just perfect as the wind blew through the trees and gave them a sense of relief for a brief moment.
Jamie sat in front of the tent, a large book laid across her lap, and the wind blew her short blonde hair in different directions, but she didn't fight with it. They had both learned to just let nature have its way with their hair. It never stayed the way they wanted it to anymore and, besides, a "good hair day" was the last thing they had to worry about.
"Mama, can you sing that song about a place made of candy?" Caleb interrupted her thoughts, playing with and spinning her wedding band around her finger.
"What?"
"Please, Mama? It's my favorite. I really wanna hear about candy, too."
Jenni shook her head with a laugh. "What if I don't remember it all? I forgot how it starts."
"Don't matter. Just sing what you remember. I'll sing with you if you mess up." Caleb assured, adding a little pout with his best beggar's eyes.
"On the good ship Lollipop, it's a sweet trip to a candy shop." Jenni started quietly, gesturing for Caleb to sing along with her. It was one of the first songs the boy ever learned to sing and he still knew it by heart. She wasn't going to embarrass herself in front of Jamie alone.
"Where bom-boms play on the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay." He sang along, mispronouncing some of the words.
"Lemonade stands everywhere, crackerjack bands fill the air. And there you are, happy landing on a chocolate bar."
Caleb hopped off Jenni's lap and stood in front of, a dimpled, toothy grin stretch across his round face. "See the sugar bowl, do the tootsie roll with the big bad devil's food cake." He sang through giggles as he danced to the song, which was just him twisting and spinning in place.
"If ya eat too much, oh oh, you'll wake up with a tummy ache." He finished his part by dramatically rubbing his belly, wrinkling and pulling up his shirt in the process. The singing duo had caught Jamie's attention now and she watched the two from the corner of her eye, unable to hide the grin on her face.
"On the good ship Lollipop, it's a night trip into bed you hop," at that part Caleb plopped down onto Jenni's to which she responded with a loud grunt and smile. "And dream away on the good ship Lollipop."
Caleb pretended to fall asleep and snore on her chest and Jenni just rolled her eyes. Caleb wasn't satisfied with his performance though because he was wide awake again seconds later. "Again, again! I wanna sing it again!"
"We agreed on one song. I thought those were the terms." Jenni teased crossing her arms against her chest with a forced, serious expression.
Caleb's shoulders slumped. "Please? I'll give you...Jamie's cards!"
"Hey!"
"Sacrifices have to be made sometimes, Jamie."
Jamie muttered something under her breath and focused on her book again, taking herself out of the equation.
"No, you can't offer somebody else's stuff. I need to get up and do something. It'll be dark soon." Jenni said while picking herself up off the ground and dusting the grass and dirt from her jeans then looked back down at her young son. "Besides, I don't negotiate with terrorists."
Caleb playfully glared up at his mother at the comment. Then, shouting out his best war cry, he charged towards his mother and threw himself against her, latching onto her waist and legs.
The two played together for a moment as Jenni threw him over her shoulder and spun him around, the younger partner giggling and laughing wildly. Jenni carefully moved him in her arms and swung him towards the tree.
"We'll see how tough you really are when your butt's stuck in the tree!" Jenni jokingly threatened as she did a sweeping motion, "preparing" to throw him into the trees above them.
Their moment of fun was short-lived when they heard the oh-so familiar growl of a nearby Corpse. Jenni gathered the boy in her arms and hid behind the tree she was pretending to throw him into. Jamie tossed her book aside, completely disregarding the fact that she was going to lose her place and whipped her gun out from the waistband of her jeans, aiming it with deadly precision.
One Corpse trudged his way towards them, ruining their peaceful time together. Caleb buried his face in his mother's shoulder, trying to muffle the sound of his terrified cries. Jenni looked over at Jamie and motioned for her to lower her gun. Firing off a bullet wouldn't help them in this situation. They needed to take this one out up close. But how?
She didn't want to leave Caleb alone for fear of him freaking out once she left his side. She definitely wasn't going to let Jamie do it. Her fingertips brushed over the handle of her knife at her hip, trying to piece together a plan. How was she going to end this Corpse without causing Caleb to panic?
She peeked over the tree and pulled out her knife, fixing to put Caleb down on his own two feet when someone jumped out from behind one of the trees, rushed the Corpse, and the Corpse came crumbling down at their feet.
Jason was drenched with sweat and both of their clothes were stained with blood. Jenni put Caleb down and rushed over to the duo, terrified of their appearance.
Jenni ran to Billy first, brushing back his thick, dark hair and started checking his arms and neck. "Did anything bite you? Scratch you?" She panicked, searching every patch of skin visible.
Billy grinned and pulled away from her. "Yeah, I'm okay, Jen. I took down a Corpse! All by myself!"
With that, Jenni redirected her focus up to her husband. Jason wiped the mixture of sweat, dirt, and blood from his face with a rag Jamie gave him before looking back at her. "What?"
Jenni walked over and stood in front of Jason, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You let him kill one of those things?" She whispered. Her voice laced with both fear and anger.
Jason noticed this, but ignored it and answered calmly. "He has to learn. We all do. It's how we survive. I was right by his side and the Corpse was stuck on the ground with a broken leg. The little guy's brave. We can't baby these kids. Not if we want them to live."
Her breath caught in her throat at what her husband was telling her. Deep down, she knew he was right, but she didn't want to believe it. They were children! They shouldn't have to be forced to grow up and kill. It was just...wrong. That's why they were there. That's why parents and guardians have been around for centuries -to protect the children in their care.
Jenni pulled away from her, ready to argue, but once she saw the stern look in his eye she knew it was pointless. He had already made up his mind. The decision was final, whether she liked it or not.
Before she could say anything, Billy took the backpack off his shoulders and proudly showed them what was inside. "We got two rabbits! Jason let me get the bigger one. He said I was a good shot, just like Jamie!"
The others gathered around the backpack with awe at the treat they were going to have. It had been a while since they actually had meat. For weeks they had been living off canned goods and vending machine specialties. This was probably their first real meal in almost a month.
Jenni let the three rejoice in their victory as she went to prepare a fire for the rabbits, thinking about how much she hated Billy learning to kill both Corpses and animals.
~0~
Night had approached quickly and blinded them in the darkness. The children had filled their bellies with the delicious rabbit meat and mixed vegetables and were now fast asleep in the tent. Jenni and Jason sat outside the tent watching over the sleeping children. Their light snores, animal calls, and the chirping of different insects were all that could be heard as Jenni stared into the little fire that they had left.
Jason had given her his thin blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, hugging her against his side. "You should get some sleep with the kids. I'll be fine on my own."
Jenni halfheartedly grinned slipped her hand into one of his, the one that wasn't holding a weapon. "I'm okay. Besides, it'll be impossible to get any sleep with those kids. Billy's a cuddler, Jamie has a bit of a snoring problem, and Caleb would sooner lay directly on top of you than his own sleeping bag."
The two shared a laugh and silence returned for a few moments. Jason played with her wedding band and looked over at his matching one. Flames reflected off the gold band and he looked back over Jenni. "Jenni...there's been something I've been meaning to ask you in the past couple of days we left town."
Jenni lifted her head from his shoulder and caught his gaze. "What is it?"
"Well, I guess it's actually something that we had talked about before all of this. Something I want to try."
Jenni was nervous now. She had a feeling that she knew what he was talking about, but a part of her hoped that she was wrong. Strangely enough, another part of her wanted him to spit it out so they could finally agree on something that was normal. Easy.
"And that is..."
Jason sighed and ran a hand through his curly, blonde hair. He seemed truly nervous as he started to fidget in his spot. "Remember us talking about trying for another kid?"
Jenni's heart beat rapidly in her chest, but she tried to remain calm. Besides, she'd be risking their safety if she started an argument with him here and now. "Yeah...are you sure that's a good idea."
"To be honest, no. I've been thinking about it ever since we came back here. I've been making pros and cons lists for days, but I can never seem to settle on one side. They even out most of the time."
Jenni looped her arm through his and laid her head against his shoulder. "Would we really want to bring a baby into this? Would that be considered cruel?"
"I've been thinking that, too. I used to think that this would all just blow over in a couple of weeks, but I'm starting to think it's not going to be that easy. Having a baby in this world would be hard, but a part of me thinks it would be worth it. We could defy the odds, you know? Even if we don't make it...if the baby wouldn't, at least we'd have a few moments of happiness. I don't want to lose our humanity and all the emotions that go with it, even the bad ones. Even if we experience the worst kind of heartbreak, it's better than feeling nothing at all. I can't think of anything worse than feeling numb." Jason stared into the fire with a grave expression, tightening his grin on his gun.
Jenni stared into the fire with him, thinking over everything that was already said. The thought of having a baby in this world was ludicrous, but it seemed right. They were a family now. They were all banded together to help each other survive. She wouldn't be alone in this. Even if she lost her baby, she'd be happy for a few months of the bliss of normality. Before, she was so against the thought of being pregnant again. She didn't want to go through the weight gain and discomfort, nor did she want to even think about wearing maternity clothes again! Now, that seemed so simple in comparison to what they were facing every day now.
They seemed to be doing okay in this new world, too. It had been almost a month and they were still alive. Sure, they had their close calls at the very beginning, but they had already learned so much. Soon enough, they'd find a real shelter to call home. It was just out there waiting for them to stumble across it. They were making it and seemed to be happy with doing just that.
"So, what do you think?" Jason asked quietly, almost a whisper, as he brushed back a wild strand of hair from her face.
She smiled against his touch. She had missed him so much when they were separated. She used to dream of getting the chance to feel his touch again, feel the life inside him, and see his beautiful dimpled smile when he was happy. And that was all she wanted now. She wanted to make him happy. It was what she wanted for her little family. She wanted them all to be happy and safe. She'd do anything to make him happy again...
"I want it. I want to try." Jenni eventually breathed out, the heaviness of the words leaving her breathless.
Jason smiled his dimpled smile -the same smile he passed onto their son. A matching smile stretched across her face and she was overwhelmed with a wave of emotions that she hadn't felt in quite a long time. It was different, but nice. Oh, so nice.
Jenni quickly filled the gap between them and pressed her lips against his, kissing him slow and full of passion. A fire burned in her belly that she hadn't realized had been churning for quite some time now. She felt weightless as she let the blanket fall off her shoulders and Jason laid her gently down on it.
Much to Jason's dislike, Jenni broke the kiss for a short moment and looked over at the tent. "Will we..."
Jason lifted up his foot and kicked the side of the tent and waited. Nothing disturbed the sound of sleep and Jenni slapped his arm with a grin. "You coulda scared them!"
"In all honesty, I really don't care right now." He whispered lustfully and Jenni couldn't help but laugh softly at his response.
As the fire crackled and the children slept, they shared a feeling that hadn't been felt in a while. Completion.
Emaley awoke in her tree, her entire body sore from the experience, and looked around the area. It was quiet. Something must've attracted the Geeks attention and, whatever it was, she was grateful for it. She got to live another day.
She remembered what had happened that led her here and she felt tears prick her eyes. No, she was done crying. She refused to cry any longer. She just had to survive. Surely, someone would find her soon. She just had to stay alive until then.
With that, Emaley climbed down her tree and moaned in pain from her sore muscles and stiff joints. She had to find a better way to sleep in those trees if that was the lifestyle she was going to choose. She attempted to finger brush her hair, but gave up after crying out in pain when her fingers got caught in the rats and tangles. She was just going to have to live with messy hair.
Emaley looked at her gun as she walked, remembering all that Mandy had taught her. She just prayed she would never have to use it.
Emaley walked for the longest, marking her tracks by scratching initials into tree trunks that passed by her. She carved the initials of all those that she remembered from the camp. Her memorial. She would follow this trail every day to remind her of what happened and what she was supposed to do. Stay alive, no matter what.
She refused to write down the initials of her family members. They weren't dead...they couldn't be. She would find them, of that she was sure of. She wasn't sure when or how, but she just knew would. She had to.
Her walk was cut short when she came across an old hunting cabin. She hid behind the trunk of a tree and thought about what she should do. What if someone was living inside? What if they were like the people that attacked her camp? What if someone from the camp was hiding inside? What if it had stuff that she could use, stuff that she needed to stay alive.
The crinkling of leaves snapped her out of her current trance and she gripped her gun, taking a deep breath before she spun around and aimed at her attacker. When she peeked out from the side of the tree, she was surprised to see that there was nobody in front of her. Rather, it was something.
Sniffing around the area and rubbing its side against one of the trees was a fluffy black cat. She hadn't seen a house pet animal in such a long time and flashes of the poor, playful golden retriever being torn apart by one of the Geeks played across her memory. She was surprised that such a little animal could have survived for this long, but then again, maybe the same could be said about her.
"Hey, there, kitty." She greeted the animal, slowly creeping from behind her tree. She put her gun away and tried to seem as friendly as possible.
The cat stood there, staring her down, as she slowly approached her. Emaley was scared it was going to run away, but she was surprised when the cat never moved even when she got closer and closer to it. Maybe trust was easier to come by with animals.
"Are you all alone now? Me too. I...I think we should stick together. Help each other out." She spoke again, now in front of the cat.
The animal watched her with a keen eye, never once looking away or moving so much as a muscle. If it decided to bolt at the last second, Emaley was sure it would scare the life out of her.
"There, see, we're not so scary now, are we?" She suggested with a laugh, squatting down in front of it and reaching out to pet it. Wrong move.
Just as she was fixing to make contact with the feline's fluffy coat, it swiped its paws and slashed its claws down her arm. Emaley cried out in pain and the cat was gone at the speed of light.
So, she sat there on the ground, checking her new wound with tears in her eyes. It drew blood, but it wasn't deep enough to do any real damage to her. She just needed to get it cleaned up. It was time to investigate the cabin.
To her luck, the cabin was completely empty. She wasn't sure if the previous owner died, moved, or was just gone, but she didn't waste any time taking just what she needed to survive for a couple of days. She took a bag that was laying around, possibly an old book bag, and filled it to the brim with food, some clothes that she could possibly wear -though they would end up being incredibly baggy- and some peroxide and band aids from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.
When she had finished her mission, she stepped cautiously outside, holding her gun at her side, and scanned the area. She was still alone and the cat was nowhere in sight. She was, truthfully, disappointed that it didn't trust her, but she wasn't going to stop.
She really believed what she said to the animal. They were both alone now. People going through the same thing should always help each other. She would come back to check on the animal, possibly leaving little portions of food, and she was determined that she was going to befriend the animal.
She knew it seemed crazy to risk both her life and her supplies on a cat, but she didn't care. She just didn't want to be alone through this.
So, there's another chapter for you guys! I know it seems a little slow, but I really have been looking forward to doing this chapter because it was play a role in these characters as the story continues to develop. Gah, I'm so excited to start the good part, but I'll try not to rush too much.
Anywho, let me know what you think of both the chapter and the proposition I stated above! I'll probably change some of the settings of this story, but not much. There's not going to be any drastic changes, so don't worry.
Okay, I should probably go. I should've been in bed and asleep by now. Have good night/day all you lovely people!
(P.S. Sorry if there's a lot of errors and typos this time around. I didn't write this on my normal document system, so it was definitely different and a little complicated to figure out...Okay, I'm done this time, I swear.)