SEASON TWO: CHAPTER FOUR:

FIRST ENTRY: (WRITTEN 1/16/15 9:19 PM)

"You let her go?" Lucky shouted as they threw the lines on Jenny to cast off. "After all this time you just let her go! I knew I should have talked to her."

"What would you have me do, Lucky?" Brandon answered. "Grabbed her and tied her up? Forced her to go with us? That coyote would have been all over me and I'm not so sure that Mutt wouldn't have joined. She doesn't trust us yet and we need to give her more time. I directed her to the town of Mamou so we at least know where she will be. There has been very little walker activity there and it was the safest place I could think of."

"Well, let's head for there now and help her to locate a place," Lucky said as they walked into the pilot's bridge.

"I think we should give her a week. We'll go back to the mill and report to the others. Give it a couple of days and then come back," Brandon said. He turned Jenny from the pier and started back up river. He looked over his shoulder at Lucky and continued telling him of the conversation," I didn't tell her about your relationship with her. I think that would have spooked her even further. She feels hostility from you and I don't think I convinced her we were not part of some group that banished her. She has suspicions that you are somehow responsible."

Lucky looked down at the floor. "In a way she is right. Rodriquez was seeking revenge on me and used Roxanne to do that. With her having this memory loss he has won even if just temporarily but at least she's alive," he looked up again. "But next time…next time I'm talking to her."

Brandon continued to look across the bow at the river, "Just be careful of what you say. Don't push the fact that you had a relationship with her. I think that would be too much information right now. You need to earn her trust again. We all do."

Roxanne was enjoying the bayou again among the Bald Cypress trees and all its beauty. She felt calm and relaxed for the first time in days and looked down at her two companions with a smile on her face. A raft of water hyacinths floated by and she knew that the flower had become a hazard to the bayou by taking oxygen from the fish. She passed a few dilapidated cabins but decided that she would push on since she got a late start.

The waterway was becoming deeper now and her pole could no longer touch bottom. She could see it widening up ahead so she directed the piroque closer to the bank to use the pole in shallow water and to also push against the bank. She could see a flicker of rooftops through the foliage and salt cedar started to line the banks. She had to be careful not to get her pole tangled in the invasive shrub.

She rounded a bend and the two animals stood up when the Bait & Tackle shop came into view. This is where Brandon said that they had docked Jenny and followed the sidewalk on foot. She could see that a narrow road came to a dead-end at the dock, but she wasn't interested in the town. She wanted to see what houses had private docks bordering the banks. She did not want to be housed off a main road through a town, however small it may be. She directed her piroque to the right following the canal that by-passed the town looking for a home with a long driveway to separate it from the main street. Or for a home that was the last on a dead-end private street.

Up ahead she could see a border of Macartney Rose bushes which was used as a living fence before barbed wire came alone. The only sounds were the birds chirping and the dip of her pole as she turned the piroque for a better look. Her animals showed signs of getting restless when they saw the dock. She stopped 6' from the dock and studied the house, looking for signs of movement either dead or alive. It had a screened porch with a Dutch gable roof and a Magnolia tree on the north side. The sidewalk leading to the dock was clear of bushes but she was sure that the tall grass would be harboring snakes and was glad that the porch was screened. The windows were still intact and she could see a dirt driveway at the front of the house leading through Louisiana Oak trees to a paved road beyond that.

She smiled. It was perfect, one of the last houses that would be searched if a group of scavengers came through. The rose bushes would hide the fact that she had a piroque tied up and she could easily escape the house unseen to get to her boat. She pushed the boat to the pier and the animals immediately jumped off to do their business.

SEASON TWO – FOURTH CHAPTER

2ND ENTRY:

"She's alive?" Toby was sure that he had heard wrong. He turned and sat down looking up at Smokey who had a stunned look on his face. "How is that possible?" Smokey barely whispered.

"I told you she was tough!" Caleb smiled.

Toby tried to look around them, "But where is she? Is she still on Jenny? Is she hurt? She didn't stay at the plantation did she? Surely you explained that the place is a thorough-fare for the walking now. It's not like when she was there."

Morgan sat down on one of the benches that they had set outside the factory where they could watch Jenny. Toby, Smokey, Larry and Gretchen had walked out to meet them as they docked Jenny and had gathered on the benches in the shade of the building. "She's not the same," Morgan said with a sigh and looked up at them. "She neither remembers us or anything else. Not the plantation, not Jenny nor that we have known one another, traveled and fought together. She's trying to piece it together but she is very suspicious of people right now."

Everyone looked at one another in confusion, "The poor woman," Gretchen said.

Roxanne opened the screen door and was surprised that it did not squeak. She saw a doorstop and placed it to hold the door open for a quick escape if necessary. She glanced at the animals but both were sniffing opposite ends of the porch and weren't paying attention to her. She clicked her tongue at them and when they looked up she nodded at the door. They came over and stood enough distance away from the door that they could get a running jump and attack, if necessary. Roxanne knocked at the door and waited. She stepped to the window but did not see movement. She took her staff and knocked again while watching through the window. She tried the door handle but it was locked. Next she tried each of the windows on the porch, but both were latched. She took her knife to the door and was able to pry it open then quickly stepped back to raise her staff.

She walked into an eat-in kitchen which looked out over the water. She glanced out to see that the dock was hidden by the rose bushes and that her piroque could not be seen. She walked through an arch from the kitchen into the living room which looked out to the dirt driveway and another porch, this one not screened in. To her left was a staircase and when she rounded the bottom of the stair she caught her breath. There, sitting on the top step watching her was a long-haired black cat with orange eyes.

Cowboy came to Roxanne's side and growled up at the cat, but it only blinked its eyes and remained looking down on them. "Hello," Roxanne said gently. "Are you alone? Is someone caring for you?" After a pause she added, "Are you infected?" As if in answer the cat rubbed his mouth against the bannister and calmly walked off ignoring any danger.

Roxanne looked down at her companions, "Be good you two. If the cat is that comfortable then there aren't any walkers here. I don't want you to spook it. Mutt, I want you to keep watch on the driveway while Cowboy and I go upstairs." The stairs creaked as she ascended each step and she touched her sheath to reassure herself that the knife was there. She could see cat prints in the dust but no human footprints and felt that the place was abandoned and had not been broken into.

There were 2 bedrooms with their doors open at the top of the stairs. In the 2nd one she could see how the cat was living. One of the windows had been left open about 6" and piled on the floor were the remaining carcass of birds, mice and even some snakes. On the crumpled bed was a collar so threadbare that it had broken while the cat slept but she could still read the name on it. She looked out the window and saw that a branch of the Magnolia tree butted up against the window and that the cat was sitting on it watching her. Roxanne tested the window but could not raise it further so she knelt down and said, "We're not taking over Max, but we would like to join you. Permission granted?" Max got up and walked away to the trunk of the tree and disappeared within its foliage.

Roxanne stood up, "Well, perhaps he'll come around. I want you to show him some respect Cowboy. After all, this was his home first and we're just visiting." She looked around and knew that she wouldn't be staying in that bedroom. The window had been open for so long that the floor was starting to rot by the window, the curtains were shredded and the bedding felt damp. She went to the closet and saw clothing for an elderly lady along with the proper shoes for church. None of it could be worn in the bayou and some of it was becoming moldy.

The 1st bedroom was dry and after tossing the bedding it appeared that mice had not gotten to it. She smiled to herself, "well of course, not with Max around." She opened the closet and saw that this room was for a younger woman, one who enjoyed gardening and walking for there was a nice selection of boots and sneakers. The jeans were too small but there were some big shirts that she could throw over a t-shirt that would fit her.

She heard a squeak and turned to see Max sitting in the doorway with a mouse in his mouth. He put the rodent on the floor and covered it with his paw to hold it there and looked up at Roxanne. "Why thank you Max. What a wonderful welcome! I think that I'm going to like it here."

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

3RD ENTRY: (written 1/18/2005 11:43pm)

On the 3rd day Roxanne decided to check the neighboring area and possibly the town. She wanted to see how close she was by road to the Bait & Tackle Shop. Brandon had asked her to leave notes there so they would know that she was all right and he would do the same. The house had been stocked and she could only assume that the 2 women had gone out and had been attacked by walkers, not able to get back. There were suitcases in the closet, the house wasn't in disarray as if they had left suddenly or in a panic and they would not have left such a supply behind. Running out for an errand, locking the doors behind you and leaving a window cracked open for Max was the more logical theory.

After bringing in her own supply from the piroque she took the opportunity to put the holster on that Brandon gave her. She still did not remember it but it fit perfectly and felt comfortable against her hip. She tied the leather straps around her thigh and decided she could also wear it under the shifts that she wore over her jeans. She would need to pull one side of the skirt up and if she should spot other humans it may be to her advantage to drop the skirt to hide the gun. But today she did not want to be hindered by a shift so she put on a shirt with her jeans, grabbed her duffle bag and went up the dirt driveway feeling like Tom Sawyer.

Max started to strut after them with his tail high in the air as if he were going on an adventure but Roxanne admonished him. "Shouldn't you stay and guard the house, Max?" He only glanced up at her and attempted to walk past her when she scooped him up. "I don't want you to get hurt in any ruckus. I think you should stay here," she looked into his face at those orange eyes and felt a chill. She quickly put him back down and realized that she had goose-bumps on her arms although the day was warm. She watched as Max walked ahead and realized that she was holding her breath. "All right," she said to her companions and let out a breath. "Perhaps Max is right. After all, he knows this town, this place better than any of us. He may alert us to places that we should avoid."

They began to follow the cat up the road but Roxanne couldn't keep her mind on her surroundings. She kept thinking of Shoes and how the woman had been convinced that Roxanne could communicate with animals. It had frightened her when she had those goose bumps over a silly cat. Was she like this before? Was she banished because her group thought her to be a witch? Or was this just some nonsense that Shoes had put into her head?

They reached the paved road and Roxanne forced herself to stand hidden from view while she studied the landscape. This place and the residence that she had taken up had given her a false sense of security and she was afraid of becoming complacent. The area did not look like part of the road that went to the dock and she assumed that it must intersect further down to her left. The surrounding land was undeveloped without any houses and from what she had seen from the Bait & Tackle shop that road had been lined with homes. Max had turned left and was walking down the middle of the road with his tail up. When she felt it was safe Roxanne and the canine's followed but she did not like this part of the road. If a car should come along she only had the tall grass to hide into and not enough time to check for snakes. Shoes had taught her how to make a dressing for snake bite out of Tree leaf Noisy and gave her instructions to blow smoke into the wound then put the limb in saturated earth for several hours, but she did not want to put it to the test.

After 20 more minutes she could see houses up ahead and another road intersecting. Max cut through a yard on the left toward the side of a house but Roxanne moved behind a tree on the opposite side of the road and carefully studied each house before advancing. Max must have gone under a window because she saw a walker appear in the house and begin to bang on the glass. If Max had been doing this on a regular basis it was a wonder that the walker hadn't broken the glass by now. It told her that the walkers were becoming weaker, or that particular one had been locked in for a long time.

She decided not to follow Max and to go to the intersection. There were 2 houses on each side of the road but she would check those on her way back if time allowed.

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

4TH ENTRY: (Written 1/23/2015 11:12 PM)

Roxanne knew that she should be approaching town from the back yards, but there was something eerie about this place. She wanted to be out in the open where she could see everything and would have warning if something approached so she walked down the middle of the street. Everything was so quiet, all the houses still in good condition except for the overgrown yards and bushes. The wooden sidewalk was in disarray and buckling in places with weeds growing in-between the planks. The windows were still intact in the houses but she started to notice a "C" painted on some of them and remembered that Morgan had said that those homes had been cleared by him.

She could see the Bait & Tackle Shop up ahead and knew that this was not the major part of town. She hadn't seen any other stores on this street and it was poorly paved as most dead-ends are. She felt sure that there was more to this place than met the eye but those other streets could be explored later. She must be outside of the town's limits where residents shopped for supplies and it could be the reason why this section was so quiet. The danger would be in town. Still…she stopped before entering the sidewalk portion leading to the Tackle Shop and slowly turned around in a circle surveying all that was behind her. She felt as if eyes were on her but then Max emerged from some bushes on her right. Cowboy trotted over to Max and sniffed his head and neck, then snorted as if she were displeased and came back to Roxanne.

Roxanne looked up once more at the street behind her and carefully surveyed both sides of the street. Not seeing movement she then turned and continued to the Tackle Shop. Morgan did a good job of cleaning the place out and she did not see anything useful to her until she went behind the counter. She had learned from Lou at the Trading Post that most isolated store owners in the Bayou had hidden panels built into their counter. It didn't take her long to feel that the inside wall on the right had a false front with a small knob. With some effort she was able to remove it and used her pocket light to see inside the darkness. There were 2 boxes of bullets, a stash of $2000 and a velvet box which she opened to find a gorgeous diamond ring.

She stood up and with the sunlight hitting the ring it captivated her. She had never seen such beauty and couldn't resist the temptation of putting it on her finger. The money and ring were useless in a ZA but she enjoyed looking at the ring so she took it off, put it back in the velvet case and put everything in her pack. The money could always be used to start a fire on those wet days and perhaps she would need the ring to convince intruders that she was not alone. Both Shoes and Lou had taught her that nothing was to be left behind and could be bartered with or used for another purpose.

Outside she found a loose brick and pulled the note out of her pocket to leave for Morgan putting both of them on the counter where he could see it. Then she went to find the house where Brandon said that tomatoes were growing in the backyard.

After gathering the tomatoes she decided not to search any of the houses in town since it was a long walk back. She would stop at those first 4 isolated houses where she had seen the walker at the window and it would be the half-way point of her journey. Those homes were the closest to her own residence of choice and she wanted to clear those out first and terminate the walker inside.

As she stepped on the porch of the first house on the corner she thought she could hear something banging around inside. She quietly stepped back off the porch and went around to the side of the house to look in a window. At first glance she thought she had seen incorrectly and turned her back against the house to look at her canines. Mutt was at her side but Cowboy was sniffing the tall grass bordering the yard. She turned again to look into the window at what appeared to be the back of a boy perhaps 5' tall washing pots and pans at the sink.

She did not hear voices or a conversation with a parent but surely a child was not traveling alone. A parent could have gone out for supplies or was sleeping upstairs. She was not fearful of either, feeling that a parent would want to protect a child but probably would not be a danger to her once they realized that she was not here to steal from or harm them. But she did not want to scare them. She decided that some of the old ways were still the best and went around front to knock on the door.

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

5TH ENTRY: (written 1/24/2015 11:01PM)

Roxanne used her staff to rap on the door 3 times, "Hello?" She stood back from the door in case they tried to rush her but she only heard silence. She realized that hearing another human voice was probably a shock to whoever was inside and gave them time. "I'm your neighbor from up the street. Don't mean any harm." She heard footsteps approach the door. "I have a dog with me but he won't hurt you either. Perhaps we can talk on the porch."

She stepped down off the porch when she heard the lock turn in the door and lowered her staff. She saw the curtain move as someone quickly peeked out and then hid again. "It's all right, I won't hurt you. I'm friendly." The door opened and Roxanne stepped back again, "Oh!"

"And what makes you think that I won't hurt you?" a man's voice said. It had been a man, not a child that Roxanne had seen at the sink, a short man of 30 or more years with a small mustache and a patch of beard in the center of his chin. "And just how many walkers have you taken down, might I ask? Just because I'm short it doesn't mean that you can talk to me like a child!" he waved his knife at her. He had the blackest eyes she had ever seen but she did not feel evil from him.

"I'm sorry," she answered. "I only saw your back from the window."

"Peeping Tom, hey?" he lowered the knife. "Well I'm used to that. Ladies always want to get a look at me. Fighting them off all the time I am." They both stood there looking each other up and down. "Well, you said you wanted to talk but the porch isn't the place to do it," he stepped back and opened the door wider. "You better come in."

"My dog comes with me."

The man looked down at Mutt. "Understood." He looked around, "Doesn't appear that you were followed by walkers," then he noticed Cowboy in the brush. "Jesus, is that a coyote? Get in, quick."

"She's a friend," Roxanne said and clicked her tongue to attract Cowboy's attention. "She'll sit on the porch and keep watch. She'll let us know if danger approaches."

The man hesitated and gave Roxanne a long look, "I'm not so sure I should let you in after all," his hand went to the holster on his hip until Mutt growled. "Where the hell did you come from and who are you?"

"My name is Roxanne, the dog is Mutt and the coyote is Cowboy. We come from the Bayou and you are the first person that we have met."

He looked back up at Roxanne, "Things getting tough in the Bayou?"

"No, in fact food is plentiful if you know what to pick and where to fish or hunt."

"They why did you leave?"

"To see how the rest of the world was surviving. To get news, to learn the fate of things."

He relaxed his hand and stepped back into the doorway, "You better come in. I just boiled some water for lemonade." He gave Mutt a wide path as the dog came in first, followed by Roxanne and he thought that she must not be a good fighter since she had her back to him. Then he noticed her limp, "Are you bitten?"

Roxanne turned and showed confusion, "No….Oh, you mean the limp. I had an accident. I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

"Get caught trying to steal alligator eggs from the mom?"

Roxanne smiled, "They don't hatch until August. You haven't told me your name."

He walked to the kitchen and opened the obsolete refrigerator to retrieve two mason jars of water and a small bottle of lemon juice. "My mother was a complete romantic and named me Lance after Sir Lancelot but that is not to be repeated to anyone, especially since I have never ridden a horse or welded a sword." He put a few drops of lemon in each jar and handed her one. "Are you telling me that you have been in the Bayou all this time?"

"For a long as I can remember," was her answer.

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

6TH ENTRY: (written 1/26/15 12:12AM)

"And what have you found out about our fair land?" Lance asked.

"That is what I want to know from you. From where do you hail?" Roxanne asked.

Lance almost choked on his lemonade, "Are you making fun of me? I tell you about Sir Lancelot and you ask 'from where do you hail'? I can see that we will not be friends."

Roxanne reached across the table and put her hand over his, "I am not making fun of you, Sir. I am sorry if my speech is confusing to you but I have not socialized with others for a very long time. You must forgive me and my ways. I realize that I may seem strange to people."

Lance looked down at her hand on his and saw that they were hard-working hands but he had never felt such a soft touch. When he saw the scars peeking out from the shirt he quickly pulled his hand back. "Is this the first time that you have been out of the Bayou?"

She remembered what Brandon had said about her, "No, I was out 6 months ago. What part of the States are you from?"

"South Texas, Brownsville. I was trying to get north because everyone said that the walkers would be affected by the cold but it was useless. Herds kept getting us turned around, vehicles kept breaking down, ammo was spent and little by little our group started to diminish until it was just me left. From time to time I would find someone still fortified in their home and they would let me stay for a while but I felt that I should keep moving. Those people had not seen the herds and I guess I was searching for something more secure than a house. To be honest," he paused and looked out the window, "I don't know where I'm going or of any place where it would be safe."

"There is a paper mill further up the Miss in which a group of people are trying to make a home," Roxanne volunteered. "It's surrounded by a fence and borders the river. They have a boat that they take out for fishing and on supply runs. Would that meet your needs of a safe place?"

"How did you hear of it?" Lance was suspicious.

She smiled, "We are not totally isolated in the Bayou. We do get word from travelers and traders, but I had only heard about the east. I know of the herds that you speak of but those stories were of herds traveling west and being stopped by the Mississippi. Unfortunately it appears that once they reached the river that they turned south into Louisiana. If the walkers on the west side of the Miss have done the same then you and I are in their path."

Lance shook his head, "This place is quiet. I haven't planned on what I would do if it were overrun or planned an escape route yet but it feels good not to be running. I'm staying to rest and gather supplies before I hit the road again." He paused. "I suppose that you will be going back to the Bayou."

"Yes, but not soon. Like you I have found a place that I enjoy and want to stay for a while. What have you explored? I have only been to the dock and have not seen any stores other than the Tackle Shop. There must be another part of the town, the commercial or market place that I haven't found yet."

"There's a school on the outskirts that I wanted to get into hoping that the cafeteria had sugar, salt even ketchup to make tomato soup. But…" he paused and seemed to become uncomfortable. "They can't think right? The walkers? We all know that. They just walk looking for food, wanting to be fed and a noise will change their direction unless they get their sights on prey. Well the school," he shifted in his seat, "or at least this school…it's different. I've been watching it and the dead children have come back. Maybe it's the last thing that they remember, I don't know but something has drawn them back. They walk past it, go one block then turn around and come back again. They don't wander off like the other walkers and I even tempted them by making noise to draw them away. But they never go past that one block."

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

7TH ENTRY:

"I think a school cafeteria is an excellent idea for staples," Roxanne said. "Perhaps we can go together."

Lance shook his head, "I can't go back there. It's just too sad. I've had to do a lot of killing to stay alive but I don't think I would be good at killing a child walker. I would be too emotional that some virus, some mistake in chemical warfare took their lives. Besides, there's too many of them but I'll give you the directions if you want to check it out."

Roxanne looked over at Mutt and an idea started to form. "You said that they are not affected by noise, but they still need to eat, to feed. Perhaps Mutt can draw them away from one side of the school that is vulnerable and we can gain access. If your theory is true then they will stop chasing him once he runs past that first block and he will be safe." She smiled. "Even if they should continue to pursue him Mutt can outrun them and he will not be in any danger."

Roxanne rose from the table, "I'll talk to him and Cowboy tonight to make sure that they understand and we can go together tomorrow to check the place out. Thank you for the lemonade," she said as she walked into the living room.

"Roxanne," Lance called after her. "Let me give you a word of advice in handling this new world. Don't ever turn your back on someone you have just met, as you did to me when you first walked in. I could easily have killed you."

Roxanne smiled and opened the door, "Oh, I knew you were not evil but I was not careless. You were being watched when my back was turned." Lance thought she meant that there was another person in her party and felt duped but then he glanced to the porch where the coyote was sitting. Now there was a new addition sitting on the porch railing in the form of a long-haired black cat with orange eyes. Both of them were staring at him in a way that made him back up.

"Come Mutt," Roxanne called to break the spell. "I'll pick you up in the morning Lance. It was nice talking to someone again. I think that we will make good partners in a fight." She shut the door behind her and for a few moments Lance stood frozen in place. He went to the window and watched to see that she was continuing to follow the road out of town. He started to doubt his sanity thinking that she wasn't real and that he had imagined her, that he was finally losing his grip on reality. He wanted to watch until he could not see her any longer to make sure that she didn't just disappear or fade away like ghost. He had heard of ghosts in the swamps, both good and bad. When he lost sight of her as she rounded a bend he quickly went to the door and locked it.

He let his breath out and looked around the room putting his hand to his heart. "Shit, I'll never be able to sleep here tonight. She's ruined it for me. She invaded the place, tainted and marked it." He realized that he had to sit down. "Get a grip Lance. She's just a crazy loon talking to animals that's all, someone who broke under pressure. She's not dangerous, she's not a spirit and you are not losing it." But as night began to fall he packed up a duffle-bag and decided to sleep in one of the houses closer to the wharf.

As Roxanne walked back to her home she knew that she had either lied, left out the truth or misled Lance on much of the information that she had given about herself. She saw no reason why she should tell him of the other group that she had met or about her memory loss. She knew nothing about herself other than when she woke up in Shoes cabin. The stories told to her by Morgan and Brandon could be lies to mold her into what they wanted her to become, or what they wanted her to believe about herself. She did not feel any animosity from Morgan, Brandon or Caleb but she was very suspicious of the one called Lucky. As long as they were together in a group she would distrust them all until proven otherwise.

Suddenly she stopped in her tracks when she realized that she had given her name to Lance as "Roxanne" and not as "Cami." She heard Mutt whimper and tried to focus on his face as she fought off the dizziness. She reached out to regain her balance but found it was easier to crumble to her knees in the dirt. Mutt began to lick her face, "It's all right Mutt," she whispered as she took his head and leaned into him. The sun was blinding and she could feel that she had gone into a sweat. There was the beginning of her first headache and she could tell that she was going to be sick. With shaking hands she quickly opened her duffle-bag and poured water over her face, then drank. Her heart slowed and she looked up to see the three animals sitting before her. "I'm sorry. I have been neglectful." She pulled out 2 bowls and poured water into them. "It is Roxanne, isn't it Mutt? That part of what they said is true. My name is Roxanne."

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

8TH ENTRY:(Written 1/27/2015 9:21PM)

Roxanne was up before dawn to catch fish, cook and feed the animals plus her. She found a container and put a cooked fish in it to give to Lance for his breakfast. She checked her weapons, duffle-bag and then sat in one of the kitchen chairs. "Cowboy, come here dear. I want to talk to you." The coyote sat in front of her as Mutt and Max walked away but stayed within hearing distance. Roxanne scratched Cowboy's ears as she spoke, "I want you to know that I will not always take you with me and I do not want you to be hurt by this. You have been my protector, my teacher many times and you are very valuable to me. But, we must think of Shoes. If anything should happen to me only you know how to get back to her. She must know if I have failed, so sometimes I will leave you behind and take only Mutt. If I should not return from a supply run do not wait longer than 2 days then go to Shoes. Do you understand?"

Cowboy turned her head and put her teeth on Roxanne's wrist but did not apply pressure. "Yes, I know that you are upset by this but I promise that it won't be often. If I were alone I would want you with me but I will be with Lance and want you to wait at his house." Cowboy released Roxanne's arm and looked up at her. "Another thing. I know that this is not your territory and there may come a time that you miss the Bayou and want to go back to what is familiar to you. If that time should come I want you to tell me. I do not want to see you unhappy and you may become weary of my travels. Will you promise me that?" Cowboy began to sniff Roxanne's face and she took that as an understanding. She realized that the coyote did not lick her face as Mutt did, each having their own way of communicating with her.

Roxanne got up, "OK everyone. Let's go and get Lance up and see what he was talking about."

At dawn Lance left the home he had selected for the night to be back at his own place before Roxanne got there. He had not slept well, if at all, having heard too many noises during the night. He had not been this nervous about sleeping in a new place for a long time, having gotten used to it on a nightly basis. He left the houses behind and was wondering how long he would wait to see if Roxanne showed up. He could barely see the road up ahead where he would make a right when he suddenly realized that Mutt was walking on his left and the coyote was walking with him on his right. His heart went to his throat but he kept his pace and wondered if the animals were escorting him to his death. The sun finally topped the trees and he could see Roxanne sitting on his porch. He desperately tried to think of a reason to give her as to why he wasn't in his own home.

Roxanne stood up, "Good Morning Lance. I brought you breakfast. I hope you aren't allergic to fish," she handed him the container. "It's still warm." Lance started to open the door and go in but she interrupted him, "There's more light out here to eat by. The house is still dark. I hope it didn't frighten you that Mutt and Cowboy wanted to greet you and provide safe passage. Those two are incorrigible and want to be involved in everything. It also shows that they trust you."

Lance shook his head and sat down to take the lid off the container. "Actually, it was rather nice to have them there" he lied. "I've only seen a few pets in my travels and none of them trust people anymore. I couldn't get anywhere near the ones I saw. How did you come by yours?"

"I met Cowboy in the Bayou," she hesitated not knowing how to introduce her friendship with Mutt. "I lost Mutt for a while. We are getting to know one another again. Max was at the house that I sought shelter in and I believe that he will stay there once I move on. I don't believe that he is dedicated to anyone and he is self-reliant." She reached out to pet the cat but Max moved away. Now that the sun was up his orange eyes did not glow as much and Roxanne felt more at ease. She had dreamt last night that Shoes had taken the form of a cat to be near her and she had not been able to shake it off.

Roxanne and Lance were on their bellies on a rooftop 2 blocks from the school. She was looking through a pair of field glasses that she had found at the house. Apparently the younger woman who once lived in the house was also a bird watcher. "I don't know, Lance. Did you notice that the front doors are chained? We don't know if they were chained to keep walkers out and people are living in there, or if the doors are chained because the building is full of walkers."

"I've been watching the building for a long time," Lance said. "I've never seen anyone come to the windows, human or walker."

Roxanne looked down at the street, "Regardless, we won't be going in the front with that crowd down there and then break through those chains. I don't have the equipment to break through those. Have you checked the back?"

"There is one set of doors around back and those I could see are chained, but there's less walker traffic. I thought I could break a window and disappear inside before they spotted me. As long as they don't see me go in they shouldn't follow."

Roxanne got up, "Show me how to get around back."

Lance looked up at her, "but doesn't it bother you? All those children?"

Roxanne's eyes became very dark as she stared back, "No" was all she said and walked away.

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

9TH ENTRY: (Written 1/28/2015 6:07 PM)

"I don't know Lance. That's a lot of ground to cover without being seen," Roxanne observed. They were standing with Mutt at a break in the fence surrounding the playground and a ball diamond at the back of the school.

Lance looked down at Roxanne's leg, "Are you worried about your limp?"

She nodded her head without looking at him, "Going in will be no problem with empty packs, but coming out we could be loaded down and slower."

"You see those 2 trailers outside the school?" Lance pointed out. "I made it to those once but before I could get to a window 2 walkers came around the corner and I had to make a run for it."

"Those two?" she nodded at 2 walkers moving between the two trailers. "I've been watching them. They never change their pattern; never go out into the yard. It's just round and round the trailers. Look above the trailers and you'll see a window on the second story that is partially open. From here it looks as if it is directly above the trailers. It would be safer if we got on the roof of the trailer and went in through that window."

"But that would take time, climbing up on the trailer roof and who's to say that there is any foothold to allow us to do that?" Lance questioned. "Most trailers are built with a smooth exterior."

Roxanne smiled, "See that tree outside the fence on the adjoining property? Keep your eye on that tree." Lance was about to ask her what he was supposed to see when he spotted a dark form moving in and out of the foliage of the tree. A few birds squawked and flew off signaling that there was danger near when Max calmly dropped from a limb to the trailer roof. He walked over to the end of the trailer and with calculated accuracy he jumped to the windowsill and went inside. Roxanne started to chuckle.

"Did you teach him that?" Lance was startled. Roxanne shook her head, "No, but he has the same set-up back at our house, however I didn't think that he had traveled this far from his territory. Come on. If he went in then it should be safe."

They gathered their things and began to walk outside the fence line, "We're not cats", Lance said. "No telling how high the first limb will be on the tree or if we can reach it, nor if that limb Max walked out on will hold us." Two walkers in the yard heard their voices and came over to the other side of the fence and began to follow them. Their growling became louder and they started to shake the fence more viciously. "They're going to be under that limb waiting for us to fall."

It was a mature tree and the girth was wide so Roxanne had no doubt that its limbs would hold them if they went one at a time, but Lance was right that none of the lowest limbs were within their reach. The walkers had followed them and extended their arms through the fence trying to reach them, growling and drooling at the same time. Roxanne turned her back on them to look at the house behind, "Come on. Let's look for a ladder to put against the trunk so we can reach the limbs."

But Lance did not move, "I can't stand seeing them like this" causing Roxanne to look back again. She could see that Lance was immobilized by the sight of the children so she took her staff up in both hands and put the steel tip on one link of the fence. She waited until the girl moved into position and then used all her strength to quickly thrust the staff into the eye socket. It penetrated the skull and emerged out the back of its head. It was a messy sight when Roxanne pulled the staff back again, causing the girl's body to smash against the fence. Lance jumped back as the staff pulled some of the brains with it. Roxanne then plunged the staff between the links into the mouth of the next walker. The staff penetrated through its neck and as she pulled the staff back it caused the neck to break and the head to fall over on its shoulder.

Lance turned and vomited while Roxanne cleaned her staff on the grass. "Let's look for that ladder," she repeated and walked off with Mutt trotting along beside her. Lance was angry at himself for being so sensitive to the scene and verbally lashed out, "Ladder? Why don't you just sprinkle some of your fairy dust and fly over the tree!" But Roxanne kept walking and disappeared behind a garage. Lance opened his duffle bag to find a bottle of water to rinse his mouth out and to get a drink. Shortly thereafter he heard a rattle and looked up to see Roxanne peek her head around the corner, "You want to help me with this please?"

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

10TH ENTRY: (Written 1/29/2015 11:18 PM)

"You go first," Roxanne indicated to Lance after they put the ladder in a steady position against the tree. "If you should feel that the limb won't hold you then come back. I won't push you to do something that you are uncomfortable with. I'll be right behind you." She looked down at Mutt, "Stay away from the fence Mutt. Some of them could be hidden behind bushes and will reach through to grab you." Mutt walked over to the garage and sat down in the shade but he looked disappointed that Roxanne didn't understand his knowledge of walkers.

Roxanne swung her staff over the fence inside the school grounds in case she was forced to leave the school by the ground floor and needed a weapon. She also needed her hands free because the sheathed knife and holstered gun were the best weapons to use for this adventure. She looked up to see that Lance was already stepping out on a limb so she put her backpack on and climbed the ladder to join him.

It was easier for her than for Lance since there was another tree limb above her head that she was able to reach and hold onto while walking the limb below. But Lance was unable to reach the limb overhead and had to crawl out on hands and knees. "I'll stay back while you go ahead," Roxanne said. "The limb looks like it gets thinner at the point over the trailer. You may need to drop and shimmy a few feet. Would you be able to do that?" she asked.

"What my hands can wrap around and what your hands can wrap around are 2 different things," Lance said as he crawled ahead. Roxanne took her injured hand from the overhead limb and looked at the damaged fingers. "I doubt that," she answered. Eventually Lance straddled the limb and pulled himself forward using his hands until he was able to drop to the trailer roof. At that point the limbs had begun to bend downward toward the roof from his weight.

Roxanne walked the limb until it started to bend beneath her. "You're heavier than me," Lance warned. "You're not going to make it. Even if you drop down and shimmy over the limb will continue to bend and drop you into the yard."

Roxanne studied the trailer and the limb, "Maybe not. If it'll hold me until I can get close enough to put out a foot on the window of the trailer I can still climb up using the limb for support." She took a few more steps and the limb began to bend at a dangerous level. "It's going to break!" Lance said. "I'm telling you that you better stop trying to walk it and drop down to shimmy across." He looked down, "And you better do it fast since we are starting to draw a crowd."

Roxanne let out a sigh and let go of the limb above her. She teetered for a moment then stepped off the branch and grabbed it with both hands. The walkers below went into a frenzy when they saw a possible meal dangling above them. Mutt came to the fence and began to bark in an attempt to draw the walkers away. "No Mutt!" Roxanne yelled. "Quiet!" She concentrated on putting one hand over the other and on how close her legs were to the walkers as the limb continued to slowly bend. She didn't think that it was going to hold her much longer so she started swinging her legs toward the trailer window. On her third attempt her foot made contact and she was able to keep her legs out of reach of the walkers.

Lance came over and reached out for her, "Shimmy over just a little further then grab my hand!" But Roxanne shook her head, "I'll just pull you off the roof." She looked over and saw a ventilation pipe sticking out of the roof of the trailer. "Take off your backpack," she said. "Throw one strap over that pipe and wrap the other strap around your leg. I have both feet on the top of the window frame and I'm going to throw myself forward over the roof. Just grab me to make sure I don't slide back off again because I don't have anything to grab onto." It was really just the toes of each shoe that was on the window frame and she didn't know if they would slip once her full weight was balanced on it. On the count of 3 she let go of the limb. Putting all her weight on the window frame she threw her upper body across the roof and Lance immediately threw his body across hers to hold her there.

Roxanne was already out of breath and having Lance crush her to the metal did not help "Lance, get off me! I can't breathe!" She could feel the frame of the window starting to come away from its encasing and it was the only foothold that she had on the trailer. She was able to reach the strap on his leg and it was the first time that she felt safe on the roof. She wanted to rest and gather some strength before pulling herself up but the frame was starting to squeal as it was torn from its encasing. Luckily the roof was smooth and she was able to pull her hips and legs over the side of the trailer onto the roof.

"Guess you're not so smart after all," Lance said as he handed her a bottle of water. "You realize that we can't get back over the fence from here."

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

11TH ENTRY: (written 1/30/2015 8:36 pm)

Lance looked over the side of the trailer, "We've attracted a crowd." The walkers had gathered below and were excited over the possibility of fresh food. They reached as high as they could, some were banging on the side of the trailer but they weren't strong enough to move the structure. Their moans became louder and made Lance nervous.

Roxanne gave him his water bottle back and got up to go to the window of the school. There was a 2 foot gap between the trailer and school but she was able to swing her leg out and get a foothold on the windowsill. She reached over and with a bit of tugging and pulling was able to open the window wide enough to allow them to get in. She stepped back to the trailer and gathered her backpack which she threw through the window ahead of her. "I'll go first," she looked back at Lance. "Do you want me to find a board or metal shelf to put across the window to the trailer so you can cross over?"

Lance glared at her, "I'm not that short! I can make it." He watched Roxanne step on the windowsill, then lean down to grab the upper panel and pull herself into the room.

The room was dim and Roxanne quickly unsheathed her knife to be ready for the unexpected. She stepped away from the window as to not block Lance when he came over. In the far corner she could see a pile of bird and mouse caucus and knew that Max had made himself a regular visitor here. She listened but could only hear silence. If people or walkers were here they were not on this floor for they would have heard her and Lance outside. This room was vacant of any furniture and she wondered if the school had shut down before the virus breakout. She cautiously went to the door and looked down each end of the hallway as she heard Lance come in behind her. "I suggest that we don't check these rooms and go directly downstairs to the cafeteria. I suspect that the 2nd floor consists of all classrooms and the most we would find is perhaps a first-aid kit. If they had a gym we may find some bats."

She moved into the hall and went to her left toward a stairwell at the end of the hall. There was a thick layer of dust on the floor but nothing had been disturbed and they were creating the first footsteps in the dirt. The stairwell brought them to the front of the school and Roxanne could see faint shadows crossing the dirty windows which indicated that not all of the walkers had gone to the back schoolyard where they had been. She turned and whispered to Lance, "They don't know that we're in here so let's try to stay quiet during our search."

It wasn't a large school and both the cafeteria and gym were on the main floor. When they found the cafeteria Lance went to the windows and looked out back to the trailers. "It appears that they are dispersing and wandering off again." They filled their sacks with powdered milk, sugar packets, salt and Lance found the ketchup that he wanted. Roxanne found some garbage bags and filled half of each with canned goods of peaches, fruit cocktail and spaghetti. A storage room had toilet paper, soap, peroxide, mosquito and insect bite ointments. She just kept filling up bags.

"We can't carry all this stuff," Lance said. "Why do you keep filling up more bags?"

"All we need is to get it off the property and over the fence to the next property," Roxanne answered. "We can come back for more bags each day."

They went into a teachers lounge to find coffee and tea. Someone had left a sweater and there was a lighter in the pocket. Bottles of water and packets of Kool-Aid were found in a credenza along with a variety of sodas. She took some cooling racks that could be used over an open fire to boil a pan of water when she was back on the road again. "We already have too many bags," Lance said whipping his brow.

"Come on," Roxanne said. "Let's go back to the second floor and open a window that overlooks the fence. I purposely did not fill the bags to the brink so I could throw them over the fence. There's a line of bushes that I hope to toss the water and sodas into so they won't break. We'll make a couple of trips and not do it all at once so the walkers can settle down again."

"Yes, but how are we going to get out?"

"This is an old building and I didn't see any fire escapes on either side," Roxanne said. "I'm sure they had plans in case of a fire and children were trapped on the 2nd floor. There must be a portable fire ladder somewhere, probably collapsible to store it away. When we are ready to go I plan on creating a distraction on the opposite side of the school and we'll use the ladder to climb down then run to the fence and climb over. I haven't thought of what to do as a distraction yet but let's toss some of this stuff out the window and finish exploring."

The walkers were attracted to the noise of the bags as they hit the ground on the opposite side of the fence. Roxanne saw Mutt looking up at her and she signaled for him to be quiet and to stay away from the fence. She thought of Cowboy back at Lance's house and hoped that she wasn't getting worried about her. There was a nurse's office next to the window and that's where they found the fire ladder along with additional medical supplies.

In the Gym they found bats and each took one as a weapon but it was the volleyballs and badminton set that gave Roxanne an idea. They made several trips to the 2nd floor windows facing the opposite side of the building and while Roxanne threw the volleyballs out the window, Lance hit the birdies with the racquet. When they ran out of those they began with the softballs. It didn't draw all the walkers to that side of the school, but enough that they felt they could make it down the ladder and the few yards to the fence.

Roxanne went first and stood at the bottom of the ladder to guard Lance as he came down. It sickened Lance that her choice of weapon against the small walkers was the bat. Luckily only two walkers came around the corner of the school while Lance descended the ladder. Another two attacked while he was climbing the fence. Lance tried to concentrate on his foothold during both climbs so he wouldn't remember the sounds of their heads being smashed in.

SEASON TWO – CHAPTER FOUR

12TH ENTRY: (Written 2/1/2015 12:34am)

Roxanne could tell that Lance was disturbed by the school incident by his silence on the way back to his house. In addition to their backpacks being full each of them were carrying a bag in each hand. It was difficult to keep the bags from rattling and they were on their guard for the next 2 blocks. They stored the remaining bags out of sight in the garage where they had found the ladder and would retrieve them over the next week. Mutt helped them over the next few blocks when they saw a walker ahead and they would stop to remain quiet. Mutt would run to attract the walker's attention and draw it down another alley away from them. Once they passed the alley Mutt would meet up with them again. "I still need to find a pet shop or food store for dog food and some bones for you and Cowboy, Mutt. The two of you have been most helpful to me." She smiled wondering what adventures she and Mutt had in the past that she could no longer remember.e He He

Cowboy was much more reserved in her demeanor than Mutt would have been when she saw Roxanne. She came off the porch to the road but waited for Roxanne to come to her. Roxanne dropped her bags and knelt down to scratch Cowboy behind the ears. "Everything okay while we were gone?" The coyote sniffed her face and decided that Roxanne was not hurt then she began to sniff the bags. "Nothing for you I'm afraid although I did find some cans of sardines. I would think that you are tired of fish by now."

They went into the house to empty the bags and divide things up. Lance still had not spoken. "Is there anything in particular that you want Lance, other than the ketchup?"

He shook his head, "No, I don't think that we found just one of anything that would require a choice. Everything can be divided equally, including the ketchup. I don't think that I want to go back tomorrow though. Let's give it a day or two."

Roxanne stood looking at him and softly asked, "Did you lose a child in the ZA, Lance?" He quickly looked up at her and shook his head, "No, it's nothing like that. I just hate seeing what has happened in the world….and what we need to do to survive. I know that I'm not the same person and some of the human race has become monsters to survive, killing other humans because they are hungry or want what they have. I hope I never become that desperate but you would think that after all this time that I would have become used to pilfering and raiding a place."

"Do you think that I have become a monster?"

He looked away and began storing canned goods in the cupboards. "I don't know what you are, Roxanne. Don't know you that well yet." He turned and leaned against the counter. "But I can see that you are haunted, that you've seen things that have deeply affected you, perhaps hardened you. I haven't asked about the scar on your cheek but that's not from any accident. I guess we have all had bad experiences, but sometimes I wonder if my eyes have become as dark as yours." Roxanne didn't say anything as she was rather shocked by his analysis of her. He became nervous that he had said too much, "If you don't mind Roxanne, I'm rather tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

"Yes, of course," Roxanne started to turn away. "By the way, did you see Max once we were in the school?" He walked her to the door, "No, now that you mention it and we were all through that place." She opened the door, "Never mind" as she saw that Max was sitting on the porch bannister looking at her. "Come on gang. I have a lot to carry and will be slow."

As she walked the road out of town she thought of what Lance had said. "Am I a monster to you Cowboy?" The coyote turned her head to glance back at Roxanne but kept walking. "Mutt, how about you?" The dog nuzzled her hand as he walked along beside her. "I won't ask you Max since I don't believe you answer to anyone."

Brandon had been hard put to keep Lucky at the paper mill for more than a week after the trip back from the plantation. Lucky's excuse was that Roxanne would have been gone for 8 days by the time they arrived in the town of Mamou where she was to relocate. Brandon asked Gretchen and Larry to join them this time, "It may help seeing another woman" referring to Roxanne's memory loss. "Perhaps she will confide in you and tell you things that she doesn't trust to tell a man."

Gretchen shook her head, "We weren't close like she was to you and Lucky but if you think that it will help we'll go with you."

Brandon looked over to the fence where a few walkers were gathering, "It's Lucky I'm worried about. I think he will push her too hard, wanting answers that she can't provide. It would be better coming from you to tell him to back off, rather than from me. I don't want to lose her to the Bayou again and I already feel that he chased her away last time by being so blunt. It must be frightening to her not knowing who she is and calling herself 'Cami.' I'd also like to meet the people who took her in and thank them but suggesting that she take me into the Bayou is not something that I'll approach at this point. I just can't have Lucky messing this up by his impatience."

END OF CHAPTER FOUR

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