Ch. 27

'Not the same Part two'

[Walkers, VA, Late morning]

The snow was whipping across Virginia, dark storm clouds raged overhead as Genevieve, and Summer rode through the storm into the small town of Walkers, there had been reports of armed men moving around.

The duo was tasked with scouting the town and reporting back, grabbing some supplies if they're able.

"This storm won't do us any good!" Summer shouted over the storm.

"We're approaching the town, be careful," Genevieve said as she quickly hopped off of her horse and tied it to a post.

Summer did the same and followed behind the teenager, staying low to the ground.

Gas masks hung from their belts due to rumors of thick dust in the buildings.

The blizzard-like conditions made it very hard for the girls to see more than a few feet in front of them, making the trek dangerous as they crept along the walls of the buildings in hopes of being stealthy to the potential enemy.

The duo eventually made their way into the center of town and saw that lights were on in the main building.

Genevieve nodded as Summer did before the two snuck to just outside the building's threshold.

Looking inside the girls could see men around a table.

"We haven't seen shit out here! It's fucking freezing! We have no Communication with Negan! And we just lost four more guys to this bullshit expedition!" A man roared at the other two sitting at the table.

"Keep it down! You want him to hear you?!" Another man whispered fiercely, hoping the man would calm down.

The man did not calm down, becoming even more angry and animated as he did so.

Summer's stomach lurched when she saw the man's right arm bared the symbol of the Saviours, looking over at her teammate, Summer could tell Genevieve had also made this connection since the teenager watched on in hatred.

Five years ago, at Amanda's death site, just after the group had moved out of view Saviours had moved in and checked out the burning town of Static, where one of the soldiers kicked down the cross that the group had made for Amanda's grave.

Anger burned in Genevieve's eyes at the thought memory of their desecration of her friend's grave.

Summer looked between the group of men and then back to Genevieve who had pulled a homemade grenade from her backpack and was winding up to throw.

"Wait! Do--!" Summer whispered before the grenade was tossed in the room.

A loud pop could be heard as the room was completely engulfed in the thick yellowish smoke, the men inside coughed and groaned and some even screamed as their eyes were burning and their lungs felt like they were on fire.

Slipping her gas mask on, Genevieve rushed in with her knife in hand.

Summer cursed herself internally for not catching this action sooner, putting on her own before entering in a hurry.

Rushing in, Summer didn't know how Genevieve could use this tactic so much, sure the enemies were disoriented but Summer couldn't see how Genevieve wouldn't be as well.

With eyes red and the smoke thinning, a man looked at Summer with tears running down his ferociously angered face as he charged the woman.

Pulling her bow up, Summer nocked an arrow and fired hitting the man in the neck, a spurt of blood flying from the wound as the man grabbed the arrow's shaft, he fell to his knees and gritted his teeth in pain as he tried to pull it out but succumbed to his wounds first as a final sigh left his lungs with a gurgle.

Genevieve had rushed the two at the table who still were counting when she got there, drop-kicking the one who sat in the corner, the man's head hit the wall with a lot of force, causing the chair he sat on to break.

The table the teenager had landed on, had held her weight, the other man sitting down barely had time to get up before Genevieve stood on the table and kicked him in the teeth sending him careening into an old furnace that had been on recently, making the man flop off of it quickly, falling to the floor with blistered hands and screaming in agony, the man never saw the knife as it slammed down in his eye socket, penetrating the brain.

The man rose from the corner picking up his chair and chucking it at Genevieve.

A door somewhere slammed open as three more enemies wearing gas masks came for the duo.

The chair was mostly deflected as Genevieve used her hands and forearms to stave off the blow, her balance faltering a bit as the man moved around the table.

Summer fired an arrow at one of the new three, hitting him her in the gas mask, going through and sticking out of the back of her head, the dead Saviour crumbling to the floor.

Summer took up a hidden location, Sniping another enemy before her backpack came up empty of arrows

Recovering from avoiding the chair, Genevieve looked in time to spin out of the man's tackle immediately facing a man in a gas mask, coming in for a grapple, Genevieve kicked him in the side of his knee and followed with a sidekick to his chest sending him away from her.

Summer broke for the other dead members to retrieve arrows as quickly as possible.

Having kicked one man away, Genevieve turned around and threw her knife at the man, hitting him in the sternum prompting the man to fall back clutching his chest in pain.

The gas-masked enemy grabbed the chair and made his way over to attack the teenager again.

The smoke had dissipated and visibility was back to normal, the air was again breathable.

Diving into a front roll, Genevieve grabbed the knife and pulled it out, and stabbed the man again in the eye before looking behind her and saw the last man swinging the chair at her.

Ducking under the attack, the chair smashed the gas-masked man's dying comrade, shattering the chair on side of his face and pressing the knife further in.

Genevieve, now prone kicked off the wall and rolled back to her feet, raising her hands to fight the larger opponent.

Having gathered her arrows, Summer couldn't make a safe shot on the man, setting her bow on her back, Summer moved in to help with this attacker.

Genevieve dodged a swing from the man and jabbed him in the ribs, earning a muffled yelp under his mask, a moment later the man countered with a strong grip on Genevieve's wrist.

Summer jumped into the man's back and wrapped an arm around him, her Bowie knife in her right hand, bringing it down to kill the man, Summer felt his forearm stop her short.

Struggling with the knife, Genevieve came in with a hard straight punch to the man's abdomen to which he recoiled for a moment but not letting Summer stab him, Genevieve geared up for another attack but received a boot in the chest throwing her to the floor harshly.

With the one person down, the man reached his unoccupied arm around and haphazardly swung at Summer's face eventually swatting the mask down over her eyes, momentarily blinding her and giving himself a chance, the man grabbed Summer's free arm and pulled her so that her head smashed into the back of his, stunning her worse before twisting his torso and throwing her onto the table and off as she rolled.

Seeing the man free, Genevieve saw him reaching for his pistol and knew he could kill them both if he got it.

Rapidly closing the distance, Genevieve grabbed the gun and kicked hard, sending both him and herself falling to the ground in opposite directions, both looked up as the gun hit the floor.

The two enemies scrambled for the one weapon, jostling for the other's death.

As they neared the item of interest, Summer popped her head over the table, her vision hazy from hard fall, Summer staggered back to her feet using the table as leverage, the woman ran into the fray.

Three people fighting for the same weapon, two working together and one alone.

Summer got a hand on the pistol while Genevieve tried to hold the man back, raising the gun, the man grabbed Summer's wrist and used his other hand to backhand her, having her lose grip of the firearm.

Grabbing the pistol despite Genevieve's best efforts, the man grabbed Genevieve by her hair and threw her over his shoulder, Genevieve landed hard, getting the wind knocked out of her.

Summer picked herself up to her knees and looked up in time to see the man point the gun at Genevieve's face.

"GENEVIEVE!" Came the blood-curdling scream from Summer, the man looked up at her, his expression hidden by his mask.

With his focus broken, Genevieve took the chance to sweep the man's legs quickly chaining a weapon disarm to her initial attack, Genevieve seized the gun and tried to point it at the man's face to end this.

"Wait!" The masked man yelled, his voice muffled by the mask as he held the gun barrel away from his head.

Genevieve wasn't the type to flinch at a man's last cry but felt the urge to cease at this one, she couldn't see anything under the gas mask clearly, but the man as if reading her thoughts, pulled his mask up revealing his face to her.

Genevieve's stomach jumped which made her feel sick as she stood up slowly, her whole body trembling at this revelation, the gun fell from her hands, hitting the floor as she stepped away and leaned her back against the wall.

Summer wondered what had happened as she looked at this man's back, with a moment's longer look though she understood Genevieve's reaction as she, herself covered what would be her mouth if it weren't for the gas mask, tears spilled over her tear ducts instantly at the astonishing realization.

The man turned around and confirmed exactly who it was, she hadn't seen him since the first months of the outbreak, Summer took hold of her mask and slid it off her face, crying eyes now for all to see.

The man began to lift himself off the floor and standing to his full height, in utter shock himself.

Summer hadn't realized she had run to the man's open arms until she was already enveloped in them.

He looked the same, his short reddish hair, his eyes were the same blue, the warmth in his embrace was still the same, this was definitely him.

"What's up? Lil sister?" Blake said in a tearful voice as he embraced his sister for the first time in seven years.

Tears streamed down Genevieve's masked face as the man she had bonded with after the death of her parents, has just come back from the dead and not as a walker, but as the man, she had known once.

After a long moment of hugging each other, the siblings broke from one another.

"Genevieve?" Blake called over gently, turning his body to face her with his hands open just in case she were to lash out at him.

Genevieve didn't answer, closing her eyes and wishing for this to all make sense, the teenager turned and left the building with the adult quickly falling in line.

The ride back to the settlement was completely silent, Genevieve was in front, riding her horse harder than the others.

The gates were opened when they saw the familiar figure they knew as Genevieve.

"Open the gates! It's Summer and Genevieve! They got a newcomer!" The guard yelled over the windy mid-day.

Genevieve rode immediately to the stable, bypassing Tina, Ian, Trevor, and Melissa on her way.

Dropping from her Horse's saddle, Genevieve immediately started unbuckling the gear from her horse as Summer rode into the stable herself, allowing Blake off first and then dismounting herself.

"You ok, kiddo?" Summer asked as Genevieve walked not looking at either one of them.

Genevieve refused to answer once again, stepping out of the stables and into the cold winter wind, the teenager trudged through the snow at a high rate, making her way to her house.

Arriving minutes after Genevieve, Tina walks in on the girl she loved, crying on her bed.

"Baby, what's wrong?!" Tina exclaimed, moving to the side of the bed and swinging her leg over.

Genevieve flinched at hearing her name but relaxed quickly when she figured out it was her partner.

"H-he isn't dead!" Genevieve sobbed, her back heaving with every breath.

"Who? Who's not dead?" Tina asked, with fear in her voice, growing more concerned with every passing second.

"I saw him!" Genevieve cried out hysterically, as she tried to catch her breath between sobs. "I saw him fall!" Genevieve wailed with increasing pain in her voice.

"Baby, please tell me, who fell?!" Tina exclaimed in desperation.

"B-Blake! H-he's alive! I- found him!" Genevieve blubbered out as she started to calm down with a sigh.

"Blake, Summer's brother?" Tina asked trying to keep an even tone.

Genevieve nodded as she blew her nose in a handkerchief and then tossed it in a basket across the room.

"Well, that's great isn't it?" Tina inquired, hoping the problem would present itself.

"I've hated myself, for so long, because of his passing," Genevieve breathed out quietly.

"You didn't do anything wrong, you fell, you couldn't help it," Tina reassured the teen. "Maybe you can talk to him about it, huh?" Tina offered as Genevieve wiped her still coat-wearing arm across her face.

"I don't know," Genevieve said in a saddened voice.

"What could go wrong?" Tina asked, shrugging her arms.

Genevieve shook her head as more tears fell from her beet-red face as she worked up the courage to say her words.

"I'm not the same."