I awoke from the pile of leaves that I slept in for the night. After sitting up, I yawned and stretched out my sore limbs. I had a nasty beating yesterday from falling out of the semi to getting shot in the head by a bandit. Yet, here I was, still having to walk through all of that. It was early in the morning from the gentle light of the sun and morning dew. I had to get back to the group.

I grabbed my backpack and my shotgun. The two tiny revolvers were tucked into my front pockets. They only had seven rounds split in between them though. I only had five rounds on the shotgun. For breakfast, I ate some dried fruit that was in the bandit's backpack that I killed. There was also a couple of cans of Chunky soup and a bottle filled with water. I should be back at the highway within a couple of hours or so. I just hoped that I didn't get lost. It shouldn't be too hard since I basically walked in a straight line when I ran away.

It was a cool morning while I hiked through the trees. The sun hadn't completely risen, so I didn't have to worry about it blazing down my back. I took a drink of water, then quickly conserving the rest for my hours long hike back. As the day went on, I continued to march through the vast forest and green. My only company were the squirrels and the song birds. It was so nice to be in touch with nature. I was glad that the apocalypse for the most part didn't take away nature.

I then heard a bunch of shouting only yards away. I instantly held my shotgun close to me and went into a crouch. I climbed up a small, grassy slope so I could see the view of what was happening. There were a group of men surrounding two little girls. My eyes widened with horror when I realized who the girls were.

They were Sky and Sophia.

What the fuck were they doing so far out here in the forest? Where was Rick and the others? Okay, what happened with the truck was an accident. But, I was for sure going to yell at Lori for not watching the kids. She deserved it for treating me like shit after the incident.

"Please, just let us go!" Sophia begged.

One of the men slapped her hard across the face before taking her stuffed rabbit and throwing it to the ground. They dragged the two girls towards a tree near me. I hid behind the large bushes as I watched them tie up Sky and Sophia with a rope. "Hey, can we have a bit of fun with them?" one of the men gleefully asked.

"I don't want to fuck a couple of kids, I want a woman."

"Sorry, can't exactly ask for a Victoria's Secret model nowadays."

I was hoping that when the men were distracted that I could cut Sophia and Sky's ropes, but they clearly had other plans. I couldn't do this quietly, but I knew I had to be quick since they outnumbered me. When one of the men approached Sky and Sophia. That was when I jumped up, blasting him in the stomach with the shotgun. He was flung backwards into the ground with a loud yell. The other three men turned around, but by that time, I had quickly blown them to bits too.

Chi-chick, BANG! chi-chick, BANG! chi-chick, Bang!

And then they were all lying on the ground dead. I emerged from the green fauna in front of the two girls. Sophia and Sky were stunned by my appearance, but happy, to see me. "Anza!" she exclaimed. "We thought you were dead!"

I began sawing through the rope. "Again?" I asked.

After cutting through one of the ropes, I yanked it off of Sophia and Sky. The rope would definitely be handy for the group. I quickly gathered the rope into a small circle before throwing it in my backpack. "What happened to you guys?" I inquired. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

Before Sophia could answer, there was a loud animalistic sound from behind me. We turned to see about three walkers enter the clearing. More of them were probably going to come. The shotgun noises brought them here.

"On second thought, run!" I exclaimed as three of us dashing into the forest. The three walkers stumbled behind us. They weren't nearly as fast, but they were relentless in their pursuit. I had to take care of them before more arrived. I grabbed Sophia, yanking her to behind a large tree trunk. Sky quickly was at her side. I pulled out my hunting knife. "Please, don't leave us behind like Rick did." Sophia begged, tugging at my green coat.

"I'm not." I answered.

Rick left them behind? Fuck did that mean? I didn't have time to ponder more about it as the walkers drew closer. I quickly went up behind one and slammed my knife through the back of its skull. The other two walkers took notice and gravitated towards me. I easily dispatched them too. Luckily, I only got a few blood splatters on the nice green coat Patricia gave me. I had given myself a sponge bath of sorts when walking back from the Greene farm. There was so much blood on my hands. My face, my arms, my legs, my body. From those I had killed and my own wounds.

"Come on, let's go before more of them come." I stated.

The two of them followed me through the woods. As we ran, I noticed more walkers appearing. They were yards away but I knew it wouldn't be like that for long. Sky coughed once, tripping and falling into the dirt. A walker growled once as it ran for her. I stabbed it in the mouth before grabbing Sky and pulling her to her feet. Sky was too weak and in too much pain to run. That gunshot would she got from the CDC still needed healing.

"Guys! Up here!" called out the voice of Sophia. I noticed her climbing a huge moss covered tree. This was probably the largest tree I had ever seen. Some of the branches were the size of a normal tree trunk. "Good thinking, Soph!" I complimented her.

Luckily, the bottom part of the tree trunk was sticking outwards, so you could literally just walk up the side of it. After that part was gone, I had to help Sky climb up the tree. I would grab her good arm and pull her to the same branch I was standing on. After climbing about thirty or forty feet, I noticed Sophia sitting in a large gap opening in the middle of the tree. Part of the trunk split off into other branches, making a nice little platform. I helped Sky onto the opening space, before sitting besides them. I was panting hard. I still wasn't entirely recovered from yesterday. I looked down below to see about a dozen walkers making it past the tree. We were too high up and camouflaged for them to see us.

"You've been out here for two days?" I gaped.

Sophia ate hungrily out of the Chunky soup can that I had given her. She didn't have a fork, so Sophia basically had to drink out of it. For Sky, she wanted the pack of beef jerky I had. The two girls shared the bottle of water I had. "Yeah, it was right after you left, a huge herd of walkers came through the highway. There had to be a thousand of them." described Sophia. "We all hid under the cars, but a couple walkers found us anyway. We ran into the forest and Rick came to help us. He told us to stay hidden in the river while he dealt with them, since he couldn't use his gun because it would draw more walkers. But, as soon as he left, a couple of walkers found us and we had to run away."

She said this all at once, then taking a bite out of the piece of beef in the thick brown broth from the can. I absorbed all of this in. I shook my head, disappointed in myself for not being there. "I'm sorry I left. I was really upset after the accident with the truck and Lori getting mad at me." I apologized, shamefully. "I should've been there for you."

Sophia looked up at me, shaking her short red hair. "It's not your fault, it was an accident. Just like with the semi. Me and Carl told Lori this. She was gonna apologize to you but you ran off." Sophia explained. "Besides, it's probably a good thing you ran off. I mean, you found us, right? You always appear to save us all whenever there's trouble."

She giggled after saying that. I wasn't as overjoyed or amused by it as Sophia was. I didn't know if things would've been different had I stayed, but there was nothing I could do about it. None of it mattered. Sophia and Sky were now safe. I rubbed Sky on the shoulder. "You fell off the truck, were you okay?"

Sky nodded once as nibbled on a piece of marinated beef jerky. Both of them quickly chugged the water I had. The poor girls were tired, hungry, and dehydrated from having to spend two nights out in the woods by themselves. So, I gave them all of my food. One night on an empty stomach wouldn't harm me.

"What happened to your head?" Sophia asked, poking it. My face immediately cringed and she quickly withdrew her hand. "I ran into some trouble too, I'm just fucking Wonder Woman, aren't I? All I do I save helpless little girls all lost and all alone in the forest." I sighed.

Sophia laughed once, before peering over the edge of the tree. "Do you think we can leave?"

I laid back against the tree trunk. "No, there's still a bunch of walkers down there. We can leave once their gone." I answered, making myself comfortable. I had a feeling we were going to be up here all night. After about four hours, the walkers were still passing by. How many damn walkers could there be? By the time they were gone, it was already near dark and was starting to get cold.

"They're gone, let's go!" Sophia whispered to me.

I pointed to my neighbor Sky, who was fast asleep. "We'll stay up here for the night, we're all exhausted and we'll be safe up here." I answered in a low voice. "We can leave when it's light out."

"I don't want to sleep in a tree."

"Better than getting eaten by a walker."

Sophia was won over by that albeit reluctantly. Though that excuse would win every argument. I held my shotgun close to me for protection. It didn't take long for me to close my eyes and drift off into a sleep. Sophia huddled next to me. I could feel her shivering and shaking from the cold. Well, Sophia was wearing a short sleeved purple shirt and light brown capris. I sighed once, getting up and taking off my nice green designer coat that Patricia gave me.

"Here," I said. "Take it."

Sophia graciously accepted the coat and quickly put it on. "Thank you." she answered, quietly. The coat was large, at least for Sophia, reaching past her knees. Sophia pulled her bare legs inside the warm coat, curling up into a ball beside me. She stopped shivering and lay still, trying to get some sleep. I at least had a long sleeved shirt and thick jean pants. Thank the Greenes because I was wearing shorts and an A-shirt yesterday when I got attacked. I would've been absolutely freezing otherwise, although I would've endured if it came to that.

While it was still cold for me, it was bearable. It wouldn't bother me even if it tried. All three of us were cuddled close by too. Sophia and Sky were at least somewhat warm for the cold night and that was all that mattered to me. That was why I could sleep that night.

It was the morning light blaring in my face that woke me up. The whistles of the birds continued to ring throughout the forest. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the light. I turned to each side of me. Sky and Sophia were sleeping soundly against my chest. They had warm jackets and a warm body, so they were fine throughout the night. I nudged Sky and Sophia in an attempt to awake them. I was instantly awake and ready to kill. I silently sat up and peered over the edge of the tree. I didn't see of hear any walkers down below. They must have all moved on. Now was the perfect time to leave.

"Rise and shine, ladies." I announced in a loud voice. They stirred once. "Another beautiful day with the birds singing! Now, let's get the fuck outta here before we crash into any more bandits and walkers!"

The girls groggily woke themselves up and forced themselves out of the tree. Sophia jumped from branch to branch down the huge mossy tree. For Sky, that was a different story. Her arm was still injured and in a sling. I held her loosely on my back as I carefully stepped down through the tree. I wasn't in top condition either with all the cuts, scraps, bruises, and the gash on my head that I got. Sophia waited patiently at the bottom. It took me about five minutes to climb down that huge sequoia. Sky slid off my back and onto the ground. The only thing that kept me going was my will. Now, I wanted to live.

I tossed Sophia my backpack as I checked how many rounds left I had in the shotgun. Only two. The handguns still had seven between them. Hopefully, we didn't walk into any walkers or bandits. After a long time of arguing with myself, I decided to do it. I pulled out the two tiny revolvers and held them out to Sophia and Sky. "You're going to give us a gun?" Sophia asked, intimidated by such a request.

Sky immediately took it. "Yes," I answered. "We don't know what lies ahead, you need to be able to protect yourself if any shithead tries to jump you. But, only use it if your life depends on it. Firing a shot will probably attract walkers and bandits, so don't make me regret it."

Sophia nodded once. "Okay, I promise to be careful."

I know it was a lot to put on a child, but this was the real world now. It didn't take much training to shoot a gun anyway. Sophia held onto the gun, before taking off her coat and wrapping it around her waist. The sun was rising and bearing down on our backs. It was almost summer time and the heat was killing me. After walking through the woods for maybe two hours or so, I found a small creek. I decided to fill up my water bottle for the rest of our journey. We were all thirsty. I knew it probably wasn't the cleanest water and we could get sick, but we had to take that chance. There was no choice.

There was a loud gunshot. I was so startled that I dropped my water bottle, the contents emptying onto the dirt. I instantly ran up the small hill of trees. "Sophia! Sky!" I hollered, reaching the top. I looked down to see Sophia on the ground with a now dead walker at her feet. She was holding the revolver, which was pointed at the dead walker. "Are you okay?!" I exclaimed, rushing down te leaf ridden slope.

Sophia retracted her legs inside her coat. "I'm alright. I shot him before he could bite me."

I sighed with relief. "Guess it was a good thing I gave you that gun." I smiled.

I helped Sophia to her feet. She looked at me with a blank expression. "Yeah...I guess..." she muttered, not seeming too pleased with herself. "C'mon, be proud of yourself!" I encouraged her. "You did good."

I gave her back the revolver. Before we left, I recollected some water from the small stream. I saw my own reflection as I did so. My darkest brown hair was messy, frizzy, with dried blood in it. My lightest brown skin which was usually clear and clean was covered in dirt. The only thing that remain unchanged were my hazel green eyes. But, I couldn't look away once without getting attacked. I just wanted the hell out of this forest. It reeked especially of death and danger.