Hi! I'm really sorry for not updating in several days. I had surgery last week and I've been recovering, so excuse me if the next few chapters don't make sense. Thank you.
The pair came out of the woods and went into the house, with the things Carter had asked them to.
"Good.. This'll get her back on her feet in no time. Everything fine out there?"
Bonnie shot Dalvin a quick glance.
"Yeah.. Just a few walkers, nothing we couldn't handle." she picked up her stuff and went down to the campfire the group had outside.
Brendon was sitting outside the porch with Mikaela. They seemed to be getting along, after the incident they had a few days earlier.
"Everything fine?" he asked Dalvin.
"Yeah. Everything's fine. I got him the medicine, we just gotta wait for her to get back on her feet."
Dalvin sat on the ground and leaned against the wall, putting down his rifle and removing the pistol from its holster on his leg.
"You think this farm'll do it for us?" Brendon asked him.
"It could. We've been following Carters rules, we've been helping in whatever way we can. Ain't no way he's kicking us off. It's a fucking hell out there."
Back inside, Clementine was still making conversation with Cass as she was taking the medicine.
"If you want when you feel better I can show you around. It's not much, but you'll know your way around,"
"Yeah.. That'd be nice. Thanks." she softly replied.
Carter was in the other room looking through the window, towards the horizon. If you focused your sight, you could see the skyline of Atlanta.
"What do you think is out there, Lee?" he was sitting on a nearby chair, taking a break.
"Nothing. Just dead, and more dead. There's nothing left there."
"When it all started, I was picking up Claire from school. We all watched, right from where you're sitting, we saw them bomb Atlanta. It didn't work in the end."
"You've made it this far. I give you props. You have a large group and a girl that is still alive. That's not easy."
They shared a moment of silence as Kenny ran through the door, gasping for breath.
"We got walkers, coming through the fence. Cmon!"
They all rushed outside, where Amanda and Calais were already holding off the walkers, making sure they didn't bring down the fence. Some off the posts fell, as they stumbled in.
"Here!" Cass threw them a large spear, which allowed them to kill them without getting too close. After some time, they killed all of them.
"What the hell? We've never gotten them all the way here!" exclaimed Carter, as they started to pick up the bodies.
"It's pretty obvious. They're running out of good in the city, so they're moving out towards the countryside. It's not gonna be pretty," said Mika. She seemed to understand the behavior of the walkers more then anyone else in the group.
"This place'll go down in a flash if a horde comes through. We gotta protect it." said Kenny.
"He's right. If we want to stand a chance against the walkers, we gotta fortify this place. We can start by making the fence stronger." said Lakela.
"I got him!" Dalvin aimed at a man, who was walking towards them from a distance. He had his hands up, so he was surrendering.
"H.. Hey don't shoot! I'm a friend! My name is Jager!"
Dalvin looked at Carter for a answer.
"He went to the same school as Claire, but we rarely interacted."
"What are you doing here?" Asked Brendon.
"I'm just looking for food, man. I've been on every building, house, you name it. They all empty."
"don't yall see it weird that he came right after the walkers? He must've led em to us." Kenny accused him.
"Dude, I didn't do anything. I didn't even see them? I swear!"
"Is there anyone with you? We don't need anymore surprises." Asked Amanda. She kicked his pistol to the side to avoid any attempts.
"N.. No! I'm by myself, I swear!"
Dalvin lowered his aim and holstered his rifle. He gave Jager a quick look then walked towards the nearby tree where Mika was leaning against.
"What do you think we should do with him? All he has to back himself up is his word."
"It's 50/50. Chances are he really is on his own and there's the chance that there's more of them. I don't know," she said, in a soft tone, looking towards Atlanta's skyline.
"Before we met up with you guys, we met people. Some pretty fucked up ones, in the end. I'm trying to say is that you can't trust just anyone. We're a group, and it has to stay that way no matter what."
Those words hit Dalvin hard. He'd lost his family to military and walkers, and the group was the closest thing he'd have to that.
" I'll make sure we all stick together. Believe that."
"We'll give you some supplies and you'll be on your way. I expect you to not come back towards my property, understood?" Carter gave him a box of supplies.
Jager nodded in response as he ran off towards the woods, disappearing from eyesight.
"You really just let him walk away like that?!" asked Kenny, shocked.
Carter gave him a quick look.
"What are we? We ain't animals, we're humans. We have to help each other."
"I hate to interviene on that, but that's not how it is! Maybe it was before, but right now? It's us, dangerous people and the Walkers. Who knows where he ran off." added Lakela. In her opinion, she would have killed Jager right there to avoid any other problems.
"We don't kill humans, unless we have to. This wasn't the case."
"Guys, he's gone, no use in arguing about it now. What we should we doing, is worrying about more walkers coming this way." Brendon seemed to be the quiet type, but he knew when and how to act fast in any given situation.
"Let's start reinforcing the fence. Before it gets dark." Lee hauled in old wooden panels as they nailed them to the fence.
"What do you think happened?" Cass asked Clem as they both observed from the window of the house.
"Walkers got in. Looks like they're fixing the fence.." replied Clem. Her arm was now in a sling, and was healing at a steady rate.
"It'd be faster if we go out and help-"
"Yall ain't goin nowhere. Carter has rules. Kids ain't allowed when the dead ones are out there." said John, who was watching the girls.
"The walkers are dead. It's just them out there." replied Clem.
He just rolled his eyes at them. Clem never told anyone, but she had the killer instinct anyone else had. The one Lee had. She reached for her right pocket and felt her knife. Her hand shaked, but she shrugged it off and went back to the camp area, where the group was.
"Stay close to everyone. Me and Dalvin are going to make some rounds around the farm." Lee told Clem. The last few days were a bit hard, due to the temperature, which was really hot and humid, but they had established a watch system.
"Haven't seen any Walkers in a while." said Lee.
"Is that good or bad?"
"When you think about it, both."
"We got all the open areas, you name it. The farm is pretty defendable, we'll make it work."
"I hop-" Dalvin pulled Lee behind a pair of trees and motioned a few dozen feet ahead of them.
They could see a few men, about 5 of them all with weapons.
"How many are they're? Can we take em tonight?"
"Yeah. Few guys, and some girls too. There's our reward right there. I saw the way in, let's get going." Lee recognized that voice. It belonged to Jager. They walked ahead into the woods.
"Okay, I got a plan. You head back and warn the rest, I'll try to take as many of them out," panted Dalvin.
"Are you sure?!"
"It's now or never Lee. Get a move on, the group needs us." He pulled out a combat knife and slowly approached one of the men, slicing his neck and taking his rifle, as Lee ran back towards the camp.
"You alright Lee? Where's Dalvin?" Calais asked as he saw him approach the camp.
"There's a group of people, not far from here. They're armed, and they're heading this way, get everyone ready."
Calais nodded as he woke the rest of the group up and prepped them for what he assumed was a attack.
Kenny climbed onto the barn with a sniper rifle, giving him a view of the whole field.
"If we do stop them, the bullets are going to attract walkers. Is this really what we want to do?" Asked Mika.
"Either that or we die," Lake tossed her a rifle with a knife wrapped around the front for close combat.
Lee pulled Clem aside from the rest.
"You know what to do right?"
"Stay out of danger and shoot unless I have to?"
"That's right. Stay out of sight until I or someone else comes and gets you. We'll get out of this."
"I have a few rounds, I guarantee that'll hold them off," said Carter, who has a basic shotgun.
"I need to keep my wife safe. If this is some sort of game, it ain't funny." John growled.
"Why would we be fucking around with something like this? Grab that gun, and be ready to shoot!" exclaimed Brendon, as several flashlights could be seen in the distance.
Shots began to be fired towards them, causing them to take cover behind the old tractors and objects around the area.
Bonnie signaled to return fire.
The other group were firing their weapons and howling like wild animals at the same time, as they went down quite easily due to their carelessness.
They exchanged fire for several minutes, where Bonnie was shot in the upper shoulder.
"I got you, hold on!" John saw her go down near a large bush and quickly rushed over towards her.
"Here, it'll stop the bleeding!" he told her over the sound of bullets as he tied his sweater around her wound.
"They're going around the barn! I'll hold them off!" Mike saw several of them run back towards the barn and he followed suit, making sure they weren't flanked.
They just kept coming, and they were running low on ammo to repel them.
"Let me be, it's just the shoulder! Help the rest hold them off!" Bonnie insisted as John stayed by her side.
He nodded in response, but before he could do anything, a bullet pierced his left thigh, causing him to fall on the ground.
"God dammit! Pull em aside!" Kenny provided cover fire as Bonnie pulled him into cover.
The bandits threw molotovs at the barn, causing a large fire, lighting up the whole area.
"This shit is down! We gotta go!" said Brendon, who was trying to pack as much of their things as they could.
"L...Look!" Claire pointed towards the fence, which was now being torn apart by dozens of walkers. The gunfire and fire must have attracted a herd.
"Where's my husband?! What happened?!" exclaimed his wife Rachel, who saw him unconscious on the ground.
"He passed out. He'll be fine! Get your shit, we're getting out!" exclaimed Kenny, who was down to his final rounds on his rifle.
Most of the bandits were dead, now it was just the walkers between them. It was now or never.
"Do you have more vehicles?!" Mika asked Carter, who was in a state of shock at the sight of walkers overrunning his land.
"Answer me!!"
"In the garage. Two pick ups. I was repairing their engines, so I don't know if they start!" exclaimed Carter, over the growls and moans of walkers.
"In the damn house! We'll hold it off!" Brendon and Mike brought heavy furniture to block the windows and doors, to try to buy them some time to come up with a plan.
"We just fucking trapped ourselves, and that barn fire is gonna spread here in the minutes!" exclaimed Kenny, who was looking for another way out.
"Calm down-" suggested Bonnie.
"Calm down?! There's at least a thousand walkers out there, and we're trapped in this damn house! How do you expect me to calm down?!"
"Can someone suggest something then? We can disguise ourselves with their scent again." suggested Clem. Cass, Claire and Carter gave her a look as if they had no idea what she was talking about.
"She's onto something. Let her go on." said Dalvin, who was pushing a large grandfather clock on the door, which wasn't doing much in holding off the walkers.
"We j-" Walkers burst through one of the windows, nearly cornering them.
"Here!" Lee pulled Mika out of a walkers grasp as they shut themselves in a nearby room, while the rest of the group got separated throughout the house.
"Clem?! Stay close to them! We'll get to you!!" yelled Lee, he didn't know if she heard him, but what he certainly did was attract more walkers.
They leaned against the wall opposite the door, which was had a large wardrobe against it.
"Y'know, I never expected to go out like this." panted Mika, looking at the door.
"How did you picture it then?"
"Before we met.. I was with another group in Savannah. We stumbled upon a horde. They all died, except for Derrick, Brian and me. Out of those three, I'm the only one left."
"At the moment they all fell, all that was in my mind was my family, what had happened to them, I relieved my whole life in mere seconds at that moment. But I lived. There's second chances."
"Me and Clem are what's left of our old group. We lost Kenny in Savannah, you remember. I've done all I can in my hands to keep her alive. And I intend on doing so until I can't." he said firmly, as he pulled out his rifle, and gave her his hand.
"Alright, there aren't many options here, so let's think quick!" a shovel and other items began to rip the roof of the room, causing a large hole that lead towards the second floor of the house. The fire was still on the barn, but could spread at any moment.
Calais looked into the room.
" They're in here!" He and and Amanda pulled the pair onto the second floor, which seemed like a large studio, where the group was holding up.
"Where's Kenny?!" they pointed towards the window, where he was sitting on the roof, observing the walkers.
"We can make it to them trucks, we just gotta clock it." he told them.
"Seems like a Longshot from here. They're everywhere!" exclaimed Kate, who looked towards the door of the room, and she could see the footsteps of the walkers.
"Theyre mostly at the burning farm. Light attracts them. We can make a run for it, but we gotta maks sure those trucks work first." suggested Bonnie, who's bullet wound didn't hurt as much.
"We aren't wasting any time! I'm going out!" Calais reached for a spear that was in the room as a souvenir and climbed onto the roof.
"We'll cover you from here. If they work, drive around to draw their attention." suggested Dalvin, who began firing at the walkers on the ground level.
Calais gave the group one last look.
"And what if they don't Start?"
"Then you watch your ass." said Kenny, who was holding the door, which was about to fall down from the pressure from the other side.
He jumped down onto the ground, shooting and narrowly avoiding walkers along the way to the garage. He knocked down the door and found the keys on the dashboard. He stepped on the accelerator for several seconds as the engine came to life.
"Hell yeah..." he reversed out of the garage, running over several of them, as he began to lead them away from the house, as the fire began to spread to the house from the farm.
"Get your ass over here! This doors about to give in!" yelled Dalvin, as the hinges of the door came off.
"Lee, here." Clem reached into her sweaters pocket and pulled out a frag grenade.
"Where did you get this?"
"Doesn't matter man, that can clear a hole for us!!" exclaimed Mike, as the group backed up into the roof as walkers began to swarm the room.
Lee took a deep breath and pulled the pin on the grenade as he threw it down towards the horde, trying to aim in the direction he'd plan they'd run.
The large explosion launched body parts all over the area, spraying blood all over, as a large amount of the horde was clear.
Calais honked several times for them to run, as the group steadily ran towards the pick up, as Cass was grabbed by the arm by a walker.
"Fuck!" Brendon quickly reacted and killed it, as they jumped onto the truck and sped from the farm, leaving the walkers behind.
"Are you okay?! Did it get you?" Asked Carter as he examined her.
No.. But it's grip. It's really strong,"she replied, still panting, trying to catch her breath.
" I'm gonna drive towards the road a few dozen miles from here. Luckily it'll be safe for us there for the moment." said Calais, as he focused on the road ahead.
"I'm sorry about your land. We did what we could." Lee told Carter. He couldn't hell but feel guilty as to what happened moments earlier.
"Hey, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known any of this would happen. Don't let it drag you down like that." Lake told him.
"What matters is that we're all alive. Still. You got your people, and I got mine. We'll see what happens down the road." replied Carter with a blank expression.
Clem looked at Cass who was snuggled up next to Claire. She couldn't help but feel bad for her in a sense. She leaned against Lee's shoulder, as she observed the bright, full moon as she fell asleep.