Curative

By Kaimaler

Alright, time to get this walker going! So yeah, a lotta shit with Laura going on. We'll see how that develops! :x

"Laura!"

She heard Carol gasp her name, though Laura was too far in her own thoughts to have noticed the woman's approach. She was still sitting with the gun cocked and pressed against her head.

Carol tried to come forward to take the gun away from Laura, but Laura only held her other hand up to stop her. "Don't... I'm losing myself, I'm getting weaker."

"That's not true, you'll be fine!" She cried, Laura could see her eyes turning red. It must be quite a sight to see Laura with the pistol to her own head; no wonder Carol was so frightened. Laura was no trying to kill herself now, she just wanted to give herself the ultimatum. Hurt Carol and Laura will shoot herself. It was only to stop a painful end for Carol though.

Laura stood up, with Carol now awake and able to defend herself, Laura did not feel as compelled by her instincts to hunt her. So she holstered the gun in her belt. "I can't risk hurting you Carol... Keep your weapon at the ready in case I-" She gave the older woman a sad look, it was hard to finish that sentence.

"I don't need it, you wouldn't do that." Carol tried again to try and comfort Laura, but the dark haired woman recoiled from her touch. Carol would not tell Laura, who was staying here and struggling for Carol, but she did feel awfully alone even while Laura stood beside her. "... I don't think I could hurt you, Laura. I care for you, you're one of us."

"I was one of you." Laura corrected, almost emitting a sad growl in her voice. It was regretful and Laura tried to hide how different she had become in the last few weeks. "You have to. If I turn against you, you have to."

Laura took the hatchet Carol carried and pushed it to her chest, forcing Carol to grab it. "Remember, keep it in hand. Just in case." Laura dropped her hands and Carol held onto the hatchet, there was no questions about it. Laura would not let Carol progress with her until she had that hatchet in hand. Laura could bite her and Carol would be fine, but that did not mean Laura could stop herself at that point.

"Come on, we have to leave now." It was light out again, safer to travel. So Laura grabbed the pack from the bedroom and handed it back to Carol.

Moving the nightstand out from in front of the door, she slowly opened it just to be sure nothing had made it in the house overnight. With no sounds from the house, Laura felt it safe enough to continue. Carefully, she made her way downstairs, still just watching the house to ensure there was no risk to either of them. The window was still locked and closed, with nothing else in the house open Laura felt they had made it through the night without any danger.

Aside from Laura herself, of course.

She unlocked the front door and let Carol out. Pushing the door quietly shut, they went back to the road to follow the invisible trail that Laura hoped meant they were heading in the right direction. There was no telling if the group had even gone in this direction. The road was clear though, but there were no dead walkers anywhere to even show survivors came through.

It also meant that, had they gone in this direction, they were still alive. To some degree anyways. They knew the group was out there, just not who survived and who was still alive while they had been traveling. Laura was not looking forward to finding out, if she ever did.

There was this feeling of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Laura knew that she had to stay with Carol until they found the group, at which point Laura would deliver Carol to them safe and sound before she left the group, Carol, and went to make her own way. However, in the even that they never find the group, or they do and something terrible had happened to them, Laura would not be able to stay with Carol forever.

They were on borrowed time. Laura knew the feeling was easing its way into her mind, the crippling fear of actually killing and eating someone. The drive to do it was not overpowering her yet, though it would in time. While it definitely made itself known to both of them, Laura felt this ache in the back of her head that she knew was the instinct to hunt. It was base and animalistic, but it was there.

This meant that eventually, no matter if they discovered where or what happened to the group; Laura would have to leave Carol sometime. Laura already knew that the hunger inside of her was growing rapidly, that her previous life with the group was no longer possible; it was how long she had until the Laura they knew was completely gone and the Voice she heard inside of her engulfed her old personality.

Alone in this world as someone without Laura's walker likeness... Carol would not survive against the infinite walkers without someone to watch her back. That is, if she does not run into other unfriendly survivors.

Laura made up her mind that she would just have to accept that she was stuck protecting Carol until they found someone to help her. After that, Laura would leave and they would both be better for it. Laura would not have to worry about hurting anyone and Carol would be able to sleep at night without having to worry about Laura harming her or walkers sneaking up on her.

It would be better, safer; Laura would do anything to get Carol to whatever point that was in the future.

For now, when Carol goes to sleep, Laura would sit up with a gun to her head in the off chance that she is unable to stop herself. If that day comes, Carol would just have to understand. It was either Carol or Laura at this point and as far as Laura was concerned, Carol was more important.

They had been on the road for a few hours now, Carol was getting sore and Laura knew it. The more distance they could fit into a day the better, it meant they would be closer to their ultimate goal. Occasionally they did have to stop so that Carol could catch her breath, rest her legs, and eat something to keep her energy up. A small, insignificant part of Carol wanted to have Laura's unlimited supply of energy and ability not to have to sleep.

If she did, there was a very real chance that they would have found the others by now. It was unavoidable though, Carol could not change how human she was. Even through all the hiking they did, Carol pushed herself harder everyday so that they would make more progress and Carol could sleep well at night knowing they had a full day.

For now, Laura kept watch while Carol sat on one of the guardrails on the edge of the highway. There were a few cars, but Laura could not leave the point of sight from Carol. It was always too risky wandering far from Carol; Laura was her guard dog really. With her watchful eyes, she provided much needed protection when Carol let her own guard down as it was impossible for the tired woman to keep herself on the defensive at all times.

From where she sat, she stretched her legs, touched her toes, even shook them so that they did not ache too badly for tomorrow. Carol had blisters on her feet, she was prepared to handle that. Without any treatment of course, she was prepared to deal with having to walk with them. Sometimes, though rare, Carol would walk without her shoes on so that she could release pressure off her abused feet.

It would help a little, then they would get cold or have to cross a particularly uncomfortable looking patch of road or trail and she would put them back on. The little things helped them both out.

Laura would be Carol's protection at all times of the day and night. There was a mutual partnership between the two, they began to understand each other. Carol was much more cautious than Laura, mostly because of the 'undead trying to eat the living' thing. Also due to Carol's nature, her personality required her to be almost mouse-like. She was small, strength was not on her side, but her size and speed would turn to her advantage in a bad situation.

They both shared this commonality. Laura was fast, agile, and, from her previous walker-instinctual hunting; she would compare her movements to a snake. She felt it unnatural, almost sickly when she moved. She supposed that the side of her capable of doing these things was not the side she wanted to embrace as of yet. Turning to it was only ever weakening her own grasp on her healthy, human mind.

Laura heard Carol sigh. Turning her head to see the woman just staring out to the trees behind them both. "It's such a nice day out. I wonder why we haven't seen many walkers? Used to see them all the time now... it's almost like they don't exist out here."

"They'll be around, most likely in the trees or in those cars. Walkers are usually where people in the world before this would be hiding or where survivors would've have gone." Laura pointed to a few cars behind them, "For those of the world before, there might be a walker in them. Maybe a person hiding when the outbreak reached this area. The woods for the survivors, it's harder to be spotted in there, but also harder to spot walkers."

Carol gave her an amused look, "You think too hard about these things. I just meant that we've gone three days without seeing a single walker, it's kinda nice. Almost reminds me of the way things used to be... if it weren't for the looted stores and broken down cars we've come across."

"Don't get comfy. I think about these things because it's easier to defend us if I know where they're coming from." Laura leaned against the guardrail, a little ways further from Carol. She was still able to keep an eye out, her senses would pick up if anything or anyone was approaching. Thankfully she could see far at this flat section of the road they were stopped at.

With a scoff, Carol swallowed more of the jerky they rescued from the old pharmacy they had found. Unfortunately, Laura recalled, there was nothing more of any value like medicines or a large stock of food. Only a few pieces of jerky. "You'e always thinking of the bad things, I know the world ended and it's sad. We can't change all that though, might as well enjoy the little moments while we have them." Laura watched as Carol closed her eyes and took a deep breath of air in.

She agreed with Carol. It was too much for Laura to risk Carol by relaxing to smell the roses though; she would do that when Carol was safe with the group or with a new group. Until then, Laura would just enjoy watching Carol be the kind, loving woman she was. That always made Laura happy to see.

They could take a breather, it would not hurt to just rest a moment. Laura could still hurt even if she did not tire out. Her legs were sore, mainly the area that she had broken so long ago. It healed faster than Laura ever expected it to, she had the opposite of the comic book heroes' healing factor she used to love reading so much of. Instead, she took extra time to heal the small and larger wounds.

"It sucks." She groaned internally. If she had to live with a certain issue all her life, she would rather it not be living with injuries for twice as long as normal. It served no purposed, helped no one; if anything it actually hindered her more than it provided insight to her condition. "Which also sucks." Laura huffed.

Crack~!

Laura shot up from her seat, pulling out the gun she carried with her and cocking it. She heard something, she knew it. Carol caught sight of her friend's instant change in demeanor and came up to her. "What is it?" She whispered, hoping not to attract whatever Laura heard.

"Not sure. Stay with me, we need cover." Laura brought Carol to the opposite side of the road from where she heard the noise. It would help hide Laura and Carol in some form of camouflage. She had no idea if it was walker or human, but either way the trees provided much needed defense. If they couldn't see them it would be easier to identify what was on the far side of the road.

If whatever it was chose to come out to follow them.

Laura was careful about it though, she lead Carol deeper into the woods while still keeping sight of the road. She could hear Carol's heart pounding in her chest, she was afraid something bad was about to come out of those bushes. Laura did not blame her; she was just as worried. If it was humans, they were in for some trouble.

"Should've stuck to the woods. Harder to spot." Laura cursed herself, they followed the road because it was easier and helped them find more places to scavenge. It also meant that they were more open to being caught and attacked by other survivors. The unfriendly kind that was always on Laura's mind.

However, as they waited to find out what had made the sound, Laura became increasingly worried that it was not a walker. If it had been, she assumed to have seen some kind of sign by now. It would have followed them, made the telltale hissing and growling. Instead, all they got was silence. Laura's brain ran into overdrive. She had to play out all possible chances to escape from the area without being followed.

It would not be easy, but Laura could not wait around to find out if this was a walker or a person. Anything posed a threat now and they had to make their way out of here.

"Carol, keep down and keep close. We have to leave, now." Laura stressed, keeping hushed tones. Carol nodded and crouched behind Laura. The two kept low to the ground, Laura with her gun out and Carol with the hatchet in her hands.

As they scurried away from the area, Laura could not pick out any sounds or scents in the air. It just so happened that the cold winter wind was blowing behind them, so she did not expect to pick up any smells. She would have to rely on what she could hear or see.

Just as Laura thought they were getting far enough away from the area, she turned to glance behind them while taking cover behind a tree. Carol passed her at this point but waited until Laura started moving again to continue. She squinted her eyes, darting her vision between the trees. For a minute, Laura thought this was the clear and they would run for distance before finding a place to hide and possibly follow another path beside the highway.

That is, until Laura saw someone lean from behind another tree. Her eyes went wide.

They were being followed.

"Carol." She whispered, "Someone is behind us. I don't know who or what they want, but we have to be prepared. Alright?" The horror etched on Carol's face both showed how scared she was, but also how driven she was to survive. Her daughter was out there; she would not give up without a fight.

Laura held out the gun to Carol who had practiced with a gun before, yet was still surprised when Laura handed it to her. "If anything happens, I will make sure with everything I have, that you get out of this. I'll do my best for us both, but you have to make it to Sophia and the others. That's all I know for certain."

Carol accepted the gun and held the grip tightly, she was not the greatest shot but neither was she bad. Laura pulled out the machete she carried and looked back to the direction they were heading in.

"We have to run, we have no other choice. If we're lucky, they're not interested or we outrun them. If not... we'll have to fight. You may have to shoot someone, can you do that?" Laura wanted to make sure Carol knew that she would be ending a human life; it would feel different than stabbing some lame walker in the head.

"I know. I'll do it; We have to." Carol was ready to aim and fire that gun if she had to even though she had never hurt another living person before. She would not die here today or let anyone take advantage of her. She was a stronger woman now than she had ever been, as far as Carol was concerned, no one was going to take that from her if she had any chance to fight back.

"Remember, do this for Sophia. You have to be there for her." Laura stood with her back against the tree, holding up the machete. Quickly, Laura took out extra rounds from her pocket and handed them to Carol who fit them into her jacket just as fast. "If a walker sees you, comes for you. Call me; I will be there. Now give me some cover fire, we're gonna have a fight on our hands."

Carol gulped and tried to aim the gun. She was ready, not the best shot in the world, but she could do this. Laura knew the fear for survival would help Carol. The adrenalin that Carol was already experiencing could sharpen her to give them a better chance to escape from what was following them.

Sure enough, Carol fired the first shot and the heard the person behind them. It was a man, he came out from behind the tree and aimed at them with a rifle.

Laura let Carol fire off another shot, hitting the tree beside the man. This forced him back into cover and Laura took her chance to get closer. She ducked behind another tree when she heard the rifle fire; it was louder and all Laura could see of Carol was her staying behind a tree too. This was getting out of hand fast.

She bolted between the trees, the man with the rifle would be unable to shoot Laura if he could not get a clear shot on her. The woods were dense enough and the trees thick enough to keep the man aiming. Though he fired off a few more shots, none came close to hitting Laura and when he came out, so did Carol.

This one man could not distract himself by shooting at Laura, there was no way he could properly defend himself against Carol who he, luckily, did not know was a bad shot and Laura who was busy weaving through the trees to flank him. As she got closer, it was harder to get a chance to move in. He would catch her too soon and then she completely relied on Carol's shots forcing him back behind the tree.

It was going too smoothly, she was surprised that she was already two trees over from the man while he still struggled to fight both Carol and Laura off.

There was something wrong with this; either this guy was terrible with guns or he was letting them get close. Which would not make much sense either way, if he survived this long he had to be a better shot than what Carol and Laura were seeing.

Right when she was around the last tree, she heard Carol fire again and he went into cover. She waited for her chance, listening to the two exchange shots. One came out, the other ducked and it continued for another minute before she heard the noticeable sound of metal tapping metal. "Bullets. He's reloading, this is my chance!" Laura took a deep breath in and held it.

Holding the hatchet up, Laura jumped from her cover and let out a shrill hiss. The man spun around in a panic, he was trying to force the bullets into the barrel as she came out. He screamed in shock and fell back, trying to shield himself from the inevitable swing of the dull machete Laura carried.

Laura came down on top of the man, her nails digging into his shirt and jacket as she started to bring the machete down on him.

In a split second, Laura's hiss ended and the machete stopped before it even scratched his arm. She froze in the moment, recognition sprung to the front of her mind. She knew this man, but it took her a few seconds to realize she did. The heat of the moment had slowed her response time to this less violent approach.

Carol could see Laura poised over the man, ready to deliver a killing blow. The machete just above her head and her hand tightly held the man as she had her weight pressed on him to keep him down. He was unable to stop that machete, whatever happened, Laura had stopped it herself.

She tried to see through the arms the man held up to guard himself. He was so assured of his death that he did not stop to think about surviving this.

It felt like an hour before Laura saw his face. "Markus?!"

She dropped the machete in her shock, releasing his shirt as she recoiled from him. "I almost killed Markus..." Some part of her did not want to accept that she could have killed a friend.

"Who-?" When he heard his name, he instantly let his guard down. Upon seeing Laura before him, he leaned up on his elbows. "Laura!" He exclaimed, beyond confused. As far as he knew, Laura died of her bites months ago.

At the scene of Laura and the stranger talking, Carol started to approach the two. She disliked being out in the open after a firefight, they were too vulnerable to walkers sneaking up on them. As she came closer, she could hear them talk.

"I thought... you were, uh... y'know." Markus gave Laura a very trying smile; Laura could see he was reconsidering what had happened between her and their group now.

"I was not turning. I told you guys that. You did not believe me." Laura stated matter-of-factly. She may know Markus, but with her rather severe case of walker-likeness she was not about to put her machete away. "I escaped from y'all and found my own way."

Markus sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ahh yeah... We didn't know, we just thought..."

"That I was turning, that I was as good as dead? You should have listened to me. I would have explained everything to you." Laura rose from the ground, giving Carol an assuring nod.

Standing up, Markus looked to the new woman. He held his hand out to her, "Hey there, I'm Markus... Uh, sorry about the whole trying to shoot you thing." He frowned at himself and was glad when Carol accepted his hand.

"Carol. I understand, we thought you were following us to attack us." She was relieved that no one had to die and that this man was actually a new ally to add to their small team.

Laura nodded, "Good point. Why were you following us, Markus?"

"I wasn't following you." He grinned, his nerves finally cooled down. A bit more relaxed, Markus pointed in the direction they were heading in. "I was heading back to my group when I saw you two in between me and the others. I didn't want them to be blindsided by strangers, so I made my way up to you. I have to be honest; I was not expecting you two to open fire."

All that came to Laura's mind was the night that Red and Braddock took her to the lower level of the building and put that cold blade to her head. It was terrifying, Laura was sure she was going to die. At that time she was confused as to what part of her drove her to fight back, but she knew it now and Laura was no longer concerned about what they would try to do to her.

"They're still... alive?" Laura was a bit caught off guard now, she had assumed the worst. While she knew it was possible they survived, it was even more likely that they did not.

Markus had a curious look on his face, "You thought we were dead?"

She gave him a shrug, "I dunno, a lot of people don't make it. We lost people a few months ago too."

Overlooking just the two of them, Markus seemed a bit unsure about his next question. "How many did you have?"

"About fifteen of us, including Carol and myself. We had a farm a long ways from here and a herd just popped up one night." Laura watched Carol carefully, she did not know how Carol felt about that disturbing night. She knows Carol has trouble sleeping, that the memory of that night was still with her.

Laura hated not talking to Carol more, she just feared the plausibility of hurting her more.

"Oh shit." Markus could only see the two of them here, "I'm so sorry, that must've been horrible. It's just the two of you now?" He asked, there was no one else with them on the road as far as he could tell.

"Our group survived. We just got separated." Carol caught on first, knowing that Markus thought that the entire group died when the herd of walkers came. "We're trying to catch up to them, but they left in cars and we're on foot."

Markus let out a deep breath, "Good! I mean, sorry you got separated, but I just thought that you meant they all died. I'm glad you didn't lose everyone." He had a weak smile, then looked towards Laura. "I-... We lost Elizabeth."

They remained silent until Laura looked to Carol. "Elizabeth is his sister, she was a good woman." Laura could see it was still recent enough for Markus' usual joking demeanor to be broken. Laura liked that entire group, they were always good company.

"Ahh, it's alright. After what we did to you..." He swallowed a lump in his throat, "I'm real sorry about all that, especially seeing you now. I just... we all did. We thought you were going to turn and-"

"I found another good group, they are kind, caring people. I'm hoping to find them so I can get Carol back to her daughter." At the mention of herself, Carol smiled sweetly to Laura.

"Is your group nearby?" Carol asked, hoping to find some rest after the long days they have had alone.

"About fifteen minutes in the direction you two were headed. Honestly, if we didn't run into each other... Red might've shot you both before you got close." Markus and his group had a rather solid set up, it was not permanent and they knew it, but it did serve them well. "Braddock picked up one of those sniper rifles off a dead marine. We all got quite the arsenal now after we ran into a graveyard of military supplies. We cleaned out all the walkers and took what we could. The place wasn't secure by any means, but it was nice to have guns and lots of them."

"That's really lucky. We've been surviving off this collection of weapons our group's leader picked up from his own PD. He was a cop before all this and looted the armory for all the guns they had." Laura was not about to tell Markus what little supplies she and Carol carried with them now. She was still on the defensive. They did try to kill her after all.

"Nice, gotta' have some kind protection out here. It's gotten really bad these last few weeks." Markus mused on his own experiences, which neither Carol nor Laura were privy to. "Ahh well, I'm heading back to them now. They probably heard the gunfire and are on watch now; you're welcome to join me."

"You would let us come with you, just like that?" Carol voiced her own suspicions before Laura got a chance to.

"Of course! Laura's a friend and a good person. Helped us when we needed it. Any friend of Laura's is a friend of mine, it'd be nice to have some visitors anyways." With a friendly pat on the back, Markus gestured them to follow him.

Laura stayed at arms length, these people tried to kill her and she was not feeling in the forgiving mood. Granted, she found Rick and Glenn soon after at a critical time. Without being kicked out of this group, she would have never come to find Rick escaping that tank, sat with Dale on late night watches, or managed to find Daryl, the only person she truly got close to.

Still, when she thought of Red, Micheal, and the others all Laura could see was that dark room and Red's knife ready to end her life. It was not a pleasant memory, especially after her tumble down the stairs. They were good people, but Laura had no intention of forgiving and forgetting. She was on the defensive, her own injuries that were finally starting to heal posed as nagging reminders of that night.

This was a stranger side of Laura, she was usually understanding about these issues. "Then again, what was it I was going on about to Shane?" Laura smirked, she did not want to 'understand' anymore. Someone tried to kill her and now she was going to give them the cold shoulder. Perhaps it was childish, but they did try to kill her. She could not see a single person being alright with someone trying to murder them.

A bit of her was angry though, angry they did not listen to her. So much could have been solved if they had given her a moment to speak. Deep inside of Laura, she felt a burning rage over the memory of almost being murdered. This world changed so many, these dangers were bound to happen.

That did not make it any better for Laura.

"Hey, Laura." Markus grabbed her attention for a moment. Laura had been staring stoically off ahead of them as they walked, she was ready for someone to tell her they knew something was on her mind.

Her chest stung, she was missing Rick and Daryl's understanding of her. They could both tell when she was bothered and it hurt to know that they were not here to prod at how easy she was to read. It was running thing between them, Laura laughed at herself when they brought it up too.

"I almost didn't notice, but you sound better now." He pointed to his own throat, "You used to stutter a lot. Did that just go away?"

Laura almost wanted to ignore the remark and only thought better of it when she remembered that Carol was with her. Carol's usual motherly watchfulness would pick up on Laura's displeasure quickly regardless of her choice to respond. Her emotions were never hard to read though the only ones who ever addressed this to Laura was Rick and Daryl.

At this peculiar time in their survival against the undead (living for some), Laura was unsure how really she should react to holding a grudge. What was proper? Could the people in this world forgive almost being murdered? Should they?

"It was due to my history. I was a walker at one point, Markus. It fucked up my voice and a lot of other things." She could even feel the chill in her own voice. "If you had ever bothered to ask, you would have known that."

The guilty look from Markus was enough to make Carol pity him. She recalled Shane treating Laura the same, but she could not understand why Laura was so adamant about being deliberately hurtful. She would have spoken up to defend the man; however, she did not know enough about the relationship between Laura and this unknown group to feel properly equipped to deal with Laura's grudge.

"I know, you're right." He had a solemn look, diverting his eyes from Laura for a moment. When he turned his gaze back on her, he bit his lip and tried to read her like her friends did. Unfortunately, Markus did not know Laura long enough to have developed that knowledge of her. "I know sorry won't make up for it and I really, really am sorry. I just hope you can forgive us one day. I'll help though, make it up to you."

Laura did not turn her head to look at Markus' heartfelt admission to her. Instead, she just gave him the cold shoulder and let the conversation drop.

Markus was not so easily swayed. "So... This is you, huh? I didn't remember you being so... blue?" He cracked a smile, but it was not enough to break how bad he felt at this moment. "And uh, you seem to have... changed some more colors?-" He pointed to his face and neck, "-Are you alright? We had medical supplies at the camp if you need it."

"I'm sure Laura would appreciate it. Some of those are older bruises, but she doesn't heal like us. So she stays sore longer; any way to cool the inflammation might be helpful." Carol took the offer. She was always thinking of some way to help sooth Laura's injuries as they had been long standing and, taking from her own personal experience, very uncomfortable. Bruises intense enough to turn black were always harder to deal with and Carol could relate to it.

"Absolutely. Complete truth here? I don't know how the others will react to seeing you here. It's a pretty big thing to take in, y'know?" He wanted to pat her on the back, hug her like he and his sister used to. She was not so compliant anymore, the obvious distaste to being touched was evident in just how she carried herself. Markus believed that if he tried, he might actually lose a hand.

She was still holding that machete pretty tightly in her hand.

"We can take care of ourselves if it gets bad. All we want is a place to rest for a bit before heading on." The answer meant to Markus that Carol and Laura were not intending on staying long. From Carol's tone, this was not up for discussion. Markus could understand after they explained Carol was looking for the group so that she could reconnect with her daughter.

That was not something Markus would argue. He would help whatever way he could, though with Laura's attitude towards them he doubted he could help very much before Laura just ditched them.

"Yeah, well... How are you now, Laura? You look pretty battered." He was an eternal optimist, even with the world covered in the undead and his sister's recent passing due to the previous. Markus held hope that things would look up eventually and he did think well of Laura, who stuck her neck out for them when they needed it.

Laura merely turned her head to see him out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, I'm doing alright now. You know, after Red pushed me down those flight of stairs seemed to segue into people thinking it was alright to start kicking the shit out of me. So I had that going for me for a while. Now it's mostly just healing from those that I got a problem with."

Markus' breath hitched, "Er, yeah. We heard about that."

Carol's shoulders slumped, Laura was not in the friendliest mood. The were pleased to know that Markus was not someone out to kill them, which resulted in Laura being relieved at the notion of not having to deal with a hostile group out there. This initial feeling of adrenalin allowed them both to momentarily enjoy not being dead or shot. Laura's pleasantness wore off quickly when she remembered this group trying to kill her.

"Oh, we're just up here now." Markus hated how things happened between Laura and his group. It was impossible to change, but he truly wanted to make it up to her. When he thought they had lost almost their entire group, Laura showed up and walked them out.

He felt obligated to help her, not because of any life-debt situation. Because he knew Laura was a good person underneath all the bad blood that was forced between them. She had been sweet, shy, and a gentle person before. This world changed many people, if Laura was putting on a tough face it was forced by how other people treated other survivors in this deadly world.

Leading them towards a small homestead that was completely fenced in by a large iron and brick fence design. No walkers would make it in without the main gate being opened. This old plantation house with a long driveway made Laura feel uncomfortable.

It was too obvious, there were clear vantage points to watch the house from afar. Any unfriendly groups running through this area would check this home and run through anything that stood in their way.

Even though Markus insisted their safety and the military grade weapon defense, Laura did not feel safe. Then again, she did not even feel safe with her own group when the Voice started to worm its way into her conscious.

Markus opened the gate and let them in before sliding it closed behind them. There was only a weak latch that held it shut, no bolts, no chains; it had a good defense against walkers. Nothing against other survivors.

"Come on now, they'll be happy to see you even if they don't understand it." Markus suggested to Laura in attempt to provide some comfort as they approached, but Laura was less than pleased at both him and the idea that she was heading back to them in need of help. "They tried to kill me. Do not forget. Watch yourself, be ready."

Carol kept a close eye on Laura as they headed towards the house. It was a mostly silent trip until they closed in on the house.

To which they were met with a group of heavily armed people poised to shoot out of the windows. Immediately, Laura and Carol both stopped and Laura gestured for Carol to raise her hands with her. Their only gun was secured in Carol's oversized jacket pockets. It was completely hidden and Laura would not surrender it no matter what they demand.

"Who are you?" Laura felt her blood run cold at the recognition of Red's voice. She felt as though this event was incorporeal, as if this moment forced her to disconnect with the actions of those around them.

"Red, it's alright. They're fine." Markus smiled at them. "You guys won't believe this-" He turned to Laura, "But it's Laura. She's alive."

Instantly she saw their faces change, like watching someone flip channels. Their mood had switched dramatically as most of them lowered their weapons and stared at Laura. It was discomforting to be under such scrutiny again, none of them bothered to mask their surprise. Or how their eyes bored into her.

"Impossible!" Daisy spoke breathlessly, almost stumbling down the four porch steps as she came up to Laura. Her rifle was not aimed at her anymore, not when Markus pointed Laura out. "How're you still here?!"

"But... we saw you-!" Braddock, the biggest and softest of the group came up behind Daisy; almost protective and clearly displaying his uncertainty. Laura could choose either to understand their behavior and the reason behind her almost-murder or show them the side of her that she was now nurturing. Against her previous attempts at postponing the progression of Laura's darker, walker side.

Seeing this group, her love and care for them, was replaced by a stronger anger towards them. The part of her that she fought against was freeing itself with Laura's own personality response to the memory of almost being stabbed. Unknowing to Laura, this quickly created a symbiosis between Laura and the Voice.

"I'm fine, I told you that back in Atlanta." She growled, her hands still raised in defense. A large part of her believed they would still shoot her.

Red's eyes flashed with an emotion that Laura had difficulty deciphering as Red rarely ever showed any kind of reaction back in Atlanta, not even to nearly being overrun by walkers. Laura was not breaking eye contact with him in a way to present herself to him, to prove him wrong about her that night.

"Come inside. I think we should talk." His brows furrowed in thought, he was confused and curious as to how she survived being bitten.

This time their group was more willing to listen and come to an apprehension of what happened, but Laura was not.

Kira Tsumi: We will have to see about that! Whether Laura will fight back with the Voice or if something else might happen.

Just a Wonderland: I have to say, first; your reviews are lovely and I really enjoy seeing that people take the time to voice their opinions. Even if you didn't like it, I would still enjoy hearing from you! I adore your reviews!
And thanks, I've been dying to get Carol into a situation with Laura and didn't know what to do. I figured instead of one of the children, Laura would travel with Carol. She has a real reason to go to the group and reunite Carol and Sophia. I really enjoy writing the interaction between them, even though it is minimal for now.
I LOVE comic-Andrea, she was a badass. I feel a little bad that TV-Andrea never reached the full potential of comic-Andrea. While I can understand Andrea's motives, she displayed a naivety that she had never shown in the show before. She was practical, strong, and then all of a sudden, with Woodbury around; Andrea lost all sense completely without a valid reason. Thus, I disliked her. :x
Oh yeah, I would love to do a solely Laura/Daryl adventure separate of the group. I do not know how or when that will happen yet. I do intend to have some more moments between Laura and Daryl before the end of this story. I do not know if I want to take a break before they find the group and create a sequel, or just continue posting chapters on this one... I think I'll just keep going until I have to take a long writing break.
I'm trying to work quickly while keeping any quality I can, these chapters are a bit more difficult to make long lasting though. So they are story progression chapters. ;3