Thanks to all my followers and reviewers :) In chapter twelve I wrote that the girls were located in Casper, Wyoming but I'm changing it to Glenrock, Wyoming because Casper is a city not a town and I want the girls to be in a more isolated area.
Candice woke early that morning. She got up and got to work on cooking breakfast. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she went over to the window. She pushed back the blankets she and Georgette had put over the window and was shocked to see it was a complete white-out. It was heavily snowing and there would be no leaving the cabin today. She started a fire up and took out the raw meat to cook. She saw her sister start to stir on the couch.
"It's a blizzard out there," said Candice.
"Mmmm," groaned Georgette, rolling over onto her stomach.
"We should really find a shovel so we can dig the snow out easier," said Candice. Georgette didn't reply but went back to what she was doing. She could feel Georgette watching her.
I had another dream last night," she said. Candice wanted to go on pretending she wasn't interested but she said
"About?"
"Our mom,"
"Stop calling her that," said Candice, "She might not be our mom." Candice didn't want to hear about it. She was afraid. Afraid of everything she didn't know, of anything out of their quaint past life with Angela, of the parents she didn't know and didn't remember. She saw Georgette roll her eyes.
"I know it's our mother Candice," she said.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because its clear, all the evidence points to her being our mother." Candice kept her mouth shut. "Last night I got a better look at that guy she's always with in my dreams, and he was wearing this jacket." She held up her leather jacket with the wings on the back. "He could be our dad." Candice was done listening.
"Why won't you give it a rest?" she snapped, "All I ever hear you talk about these days is our parents or going to Georgia! Can't you just be satisfied with what we have here?! We'll die out there! Don't be such an airhead, stop being so ridiculous!" Candice knew she had rattled her sister's cage.
"You just wanna stay here in the woods like a bunch of hermits? You think everything will go on perfectly? Well you're a delusional coward!" She was starting to yell, "Get your blonde head out of the sand and stop being so stupid!" Candice felt her blood starting to boil.
"You think I'm delusional!? You're the one whose having these silly dreams every night. You really think our parents are alive?" Candice forced out a laugh. "You're the stupid one."
"You've always been soft," said Georgette. "Angela sheltered you, she thought you were delicate and weak. Without me you'd be dead, at the bottom of that lake cold and dead. I've kept you alive all these years." Candice felt like she'd been hit hard in the chest. She held bac angry tears.
"You fucking bitch," she snarled. Georgette smiled and said
"Well the truth hurts don't it?" Candice could no longer hold back how hurt she was. She let silent tears fall down her face. She got up and started to get into her snow gear.
"Where the fuck are you going?" asked Georgette.
"Away from you," she said coldly, "I can survive without you." Candice took one last look at her sister, grabbed her gun and left.
She pulled her hood further down onto her face, blocking out the snow from further pelting her skin. She was making slow progress as she put one foot in front of the other. The wind pushed against her body, sending snow faster into her face. She would show her. She wasn't weak. Her sister's words replayed in her head as she walked on. You've always been soft, Angela sheltered you. Was it true? Did Angela see more potential in Georgette than her? If she had she never showed it, she had always seemed to love them equally. She had been the one to take care of Georgette when she couldn't walk, she was the one who went hunting everyday, how dare she say those things to her.
She continued to trudge on. The snow was definitely picking up. As she leaned forward head first into the drive of the wind and snow, a heavy amount of snow piled up on her back. No matter how much she shoke it off it seemed to pile up again within minutes. She was getting incredibly tired and as angry as she was at her sister she came to realize what a stupid decision she had made. She ran into something headfirst. It knocked her off her balance and she went backwards into the snow. She thought it was a tree until she looked up to see a wooden wall. Confused she slowly stood back up again. She kept both her hands on the wall and walked along it, there had to be a door somewhere. She finally turned a corner and found what she was looking for. She pulled on the knob. It was open, thank god. She kicked the snow away and pulled it open. It was dark inside, she couldn't be sure of what the place was. She turned on her flashlight and jumped when she saw a walker lunging towards her. She knocked it over with her gun and then quickly shot it in the head. She and Georgette usually tried to avoid shooting walkers as much as possible as it would draw others to them but the winter air was so thick the sound wouldn't carry. It was a small one room building and there were no more walkers inside. She flashed her light around the room and saw a sign that said Town Information Center. The one window at the front of the room was caked with snow on the outside so there was little light coming through. At the front of the room under the sign was a desk. There were several tables in the room, all with books and pamphlets on them. She picked up one of the pamphlets it read Glenrock, Wyoming. Also on the front was a picture of a happy family, standing in front of the town's sign. A mom, a dad, and a little boy. She put the pamphlet down and went in behind the desk and sat down. It was cold inside so she kept her gear on and leaned against the desk, quickly falling asleep.
Candice opened her eyes. She was standing outside what looked like a jail cell. She looked through the bars. It was dark and she could just make out the figures of three people, all men from what she could see. One was hunched over on his knees on the ground, the other two stood over him, holding what looked like a whip and a baseball bat.
"Just lemme see my wife," came the voice of the man in the middle. It was low and pained.
"Not until you tell us where the other half of your group went." said one of the men.
"I don't know nuthin', I wasn't involved in those kinda decisions." said the middle man.
"We know you did, we watched you and your people for a month." the man on the right raised the bat he was holding and brought it down on the man's back. Candice let out a horrified cry as the man fell on over onto his hands.
"I swear I don' know anythin', just take me to my wife." The man with the bat hit him again, sending him onto the floor.
"If you don't tell us we'll kill both of your daughters." The man sounded significantly weaker after the last blow.
"How d'you know my daughters?"
"We told you we've been watching you and your people, we know exactly who they are. They came in with another woman, not your wife. We know who they are. We'll use the older one as walker bait and throw the baby over a bridge if you don't tell us."
"No please-" he gasped.
"Then tell us!" The beaten man started to cough profusely. She could hear something splatter on the ground. It was blood. She saw the men pick the man up by his back and swing him around throwing him in her direction. He hit the bars face first. She finally got a good look at him. He was scruffy, he looked to be in his 40's and he had brown hair. He was beaten pretty bad, his nose was clearly broken and bleeding badly, and he had a fresh black eye. He fell onto the floor. She got a good look at his bare back. It was cut up and mutilated from the whip and there were deep bruises from the bat. The two men came to the door of the cell and kicked him over so he was lying on his back.
"You're a fucking useless piece of shit!" They said, spitting on him. They opened the door and shut it. "Oh and by the way, your wife is dead, we burned her body along with the rest of your people." She heard the man let out a sob as the other two men left him there. He continued to lay on the ground, he was curled up on a ball on his side, his face in his hands. It was quiet, except for the man's sobs. Then she heard him whisper.
"Georgette and Candice, oh god," he let out another sob, "Please let my girls live."
Georgette sat on the couch, still feeling bitter and resentful. It had been two hours since the fight. Her stubbornness was keeping her from admitting to herself that she was scared for her sister. If she wanted to go out into the woods and try to survive on her own let her. It wasn't up to Georgette to hold her back. But as time went by she found herself softening a bit, which turned into worry which then became cold fear. Oh god what had she done? Candice wouldn't be able to survive in a blizzard. She quickly began to pull her boots and jacket on, she could be lying out there fast first in the snow freezing to death.
When Georgette opened the door she was relieved to see the snow had slowed a bit. She looked for foot imprints but she knew there wouldn't be any. They had been covered up minutes after Candice had stepped out of them. She knew the general direction she had gone in and walked that way. She had been stupid to tell Candice those things, Angela had never thought of her as the weaker child but she had babied her. Maybe because she'd been just an infant when Angela got them? She'd never know.
Candice woke up on the floor. Her eyes were now wide open to everything. Their father, it had been him. He had beaten within an inch of his life. Was he still alive? Georgette had been right about it all. They couldn't ignore their past, they had to return to Georgia. She got up and went over to the door. She peeked outside to see that it was just lightly snowing now. She could make her way back to the cabin. Before she could leave she had one thing to do. She went back over to the pamphlets and flipped through them. When she found a map of Wyoming she tucked it in her pocket and headed outside.
She made her way back around the side of the building, and looked out into the forest. She tried not to panic. Everything looked the same, how the hell was she supposed to find her way back? The only thing she could do was start walking.
Georgette marked each tree she passed. If Candice was out there somewhere she could be hurt and she would need to get her back to the cabin as quickly as possible. Maybe if she shot off her gun Candice would hear it and yell out or come find her. There was no risk, any walkers that had been outside had been packed down under at least two feet of snow. She shot three times and then listened for any answering gunshots. Nothing. Feeling disappointed she continued on.
Candice couldn't hold down the panic anymore. She was completely lost. She moved as quickly as she could through the woods, hoping and praying that she'd see the wooden cabin woods among the trees. She soon grew tired and sat down at the base of a tree to rest. It was then that she heard it. The distant sound of three gunshots. She held her breath, listening for more. Maybe it was Georgette looking for her? Or maybe it was someone else out hunting? Either way she had to find shelter somewhere.
"HELLO!" she called out. Her voice echoed off the trees and she listened for more gunshots. It was quiet. Desperate to be heard she let out a high pitched scream, hoping that it would carry better then her call.
Georgette stopped in her tracks when she heard a blood curdling wail off in the distance. What the hell was that? Was it a person or a fisher cat? She'd heard their calls before. Sounded like a woman screaming or a baby crying. It had always given her chills. She let out two more gunshots. There was the scream again. It was definitely a person.
Candice took off in the direction of the gunshots. She could feel snow getting into her boots as she ran but she didn't care. She heard another gunshot. She was getting closer. Every few minutes a new shot would sound and it would be closer. She felt her heart leap in her chest when she saw her sister standing in the middle of the woods.
"Gigi!" she called out. She saw her sister's face light up in relief and happiness. They pulled each other into a tight hug. She could hear her sister crying.
"I thought you were gone! I'm so sorry about everything I said, none of it was true! You're not soft or weak, you're the best sister anyone could ever ask for. You cut off my toes for me," she laughed. Candice smiled and said
"I'm sorry too, I just didn't understand anything you were trying to tell me." She took a deep breath, sucking in the cold winter air. "But now I do, I understand everything." Georgette looked shocked and confused. "When spring comes, we'll go to Georgia and we'll find out who are parents were."