"Fall back!"

The lord commander's voice echoed through the wind, but it was so faint, Caitie could barely tell the direction from which it came. She, Grenn, and Ghost did their best to follow their leader's voice, running as fast as they could down the mountainside to escape the White Walker.

The two humans slashed at the dead with their weapons—trying to slow them down, instead of worrying about outright killing them, but even that was difficult. So many of the wights in their path were freshly deceased, wearing black. Caitie recognized some of the faces. She felt sick as she cut one of her former brothers clean in half—Varel, had been his name—but there was no time to think about it properly if they wanted to live.

As they finally made it to the bottom, Caitie could see the now-much-smaller-ranging party—less than half the size of before. Despite the burning in her legs and chest, neither her nor her companions slowed until they reached it.

Once they came to a halt, Caitie tried to recover her breath. She bent down, panting and sputtering, same as the others.

"You saved my life," Grenn coughed out beside her.

It took a moment for Caitie to regain enough air to reply. When she finally did, she said, "You'd have done the same for me."

In another circumstance, she might have been pleased by the thanks. But how could Caitie care about a silly little crush when a creature not seen for over a thousand years had nearly killed her?

Seven Hells, this couldn't be real—it was completely mad.

"From what I can tell," the lord commander announced, breaking Caitie out of her thoughts, "we've lost two hundred men."

"Fuck."

Caitie snapped her gaze over to the new voice. To her relief, she saw Edd, looking about as bloodied up as she probably did. Her face lit up. "You're okay!"

"Almost wasn't," he replied with his typical dry tone, but Caitie had an inkling he was closer to panic than he appeared. He looked the two of them over. "Good to see you're both alive."

She and Grenn glanced at each other nervously. "We saw—" Grenn started, but Edd cut him off.

"Aye, so did I."

Mormont interrupted them. "We've all seen it: the White Walkers are here," he said in affirmation.

There were murmurs of disbelief at the statement, but no one could deny what they'd seen firsthand.

Caitie was about to turn to Sam and ask what he thought of this new turn of events, but as she looked around at all the survivors, she couldn't find him anywhere.

If Caitie had thought she was terrified before, it was nothing compared to now.

"Where the hell is Sam?" she asked, staring with her eyes narrowed at Grenn and Edd, waiting for them to answer.

Grenn looked down at his feet in shame, but Edd only shrugged. "We left him," he said simply.

Caitie went as motionless as the White Walker she had seen. "You left him," she repeated, her voice devoid of any emotion.

Even though she hadn't raised her voice, Grenn still flinched.

Good, she thought. He deserved to feel like shit.

"The Walkers, they were—" Edd started.

"Do I look like I care about your excuses?"

Caitie's heart was thumping harder than ever. Sam was out there all alone, probably—no, definitely—terrified, and that was if he even lived.

"What the fuck were you two thinking?" she asked. This time, she raised her voice.

Edd had an answer ready. "He's fat and slow—"

"Shut up." Caitie wouldn't allow him to say it, even if it wasn't technically untrue. She rounded on Grenn. "And what's your excuse?"

He, at least, had the decency to look guilty, but it did little to calm her fury. "I…" Grenn began, but he couldn't think of anything else. He closed his mouth and continued to stare down at his feet.

"If he's dead," she warned them, through clenched teeth, "I'll make you wish the White Walkers had finished you off." She must have sounded unhinged, if her friends' faces were any indication.

Caitie couldn't tell if Grenn and Edd looked more horrified or angry, but she found she didn't care.

"Caitie," Mormont cut in, "calm yourself."

She very nearly told the lord commander to shove the order up his ass, but changed her mind, deciding it would only serve to get her killed. Caitie needed to focus on the bigger problem.

She had to find Sam.

As the ranging party—or what was left of it—conversed in low voices while they marched, Caitie held back with Ghost. Bending down to meet the wolf's eyes, she pleaded, "Please, help me find Sam."

Ghost barked and ran off, which Caitie hoped meant he understood her.

The storm raged around them while they trudged their way through the snow. Luckily, the army of the dead was much more scattered away from the Fist, and there were no White Walkers in sight. Caitie was able to see a bit better now, so she kept looking around for Sam. There wasn't any sign of him. Just when she was beginning to become frantic, Caitie heard faint growling noises—Ghost—and sprinted in its direction.

The direwolf had done his job. She came onto the scene just as Ghost was dragging a wight by its leg away from Sam. He lay sprawled on his back, staring in shock and fear. Mormont was behind her in seconds, lighting the wight on fire.

Sam pushed himself up off the ground and stared down at it, shaking. Tears welled in Caitie's eyes at the sight. He was terrified, big tears leaking out of his eyes as Mormont scolded him for not sending out ravens—but he was alive, standing in front of her.

The lord commander turned away from him to address the group, and Caitie took the chance to get a good look at Sam. He was cowering away from the rest of them, still shaking, trying—and failing—not to cry.

"We need to get back to the Wall," Mormont said, beginning a speech. "It's a long march. We know what's out there, but we have to make it back—have to warn them—or before winter's done," he paused for dramatic effect, "everyone you've ever known will be dead."

If Caitie hadn't understood the danger which this battle represented, she certainly did now. The lord commander's speech made her want to curl into a ball and hide like she'd used to as a small child. But Caitie refused to let the fear overtake her—Sam needed her.

Instinctively, she took two long strides and wrapped her arms around him. He stood stiffly for a second, and then he fell into the hug and sniffled into her cloak.

The rest of the group took in the speech. As they started to move forward, Caitie pulled away, though she refused to let go of Sam's hand. She wished they could be alone to speak freely, but there was no time. They all had to leave now—before the army of the dead realized there were survivors.

"Come on," she whispered. "Let's get out of here."

He didn't respond, only shaking violently.

"Sam, it's okay," she said softly, trying to emulate Owen's most soothing voice—the one he used whenever their father had whipped her or Arthur. "I'm here."

He made a quiet sniffling noise, but this time allowed her to lead him away after the rest of the men.

Sam might be alive, Caitie thought, but she was still considering stabbing both Grenn and Edd for the catatonic look on his face.

It took me a while to figure out how to articulate my question, but I think I finally did it. So, I'm very curious where you think this story is headed (beyond, like, what's canon). So, if you're willing, comment or PM me what you think is going to happen. I'd love to know your predictions.