Melissa woke up the next morning to find Seth gently shaking her awake. "You're much better at wake-ups than Dean," she mumbled, still half-asleep. Dean had roughly poked her awake again during the night for her turn at watch, much like he had done the night before.
She saw Seth smile before he composed his expression. "Speaking of Dean…"
Melissa sat up, instantly alert. "Yeah?"
"He talked to me a few minutes ago…"
"And?" Melissa could hardly contain herself; Seth seemed to be dragging it out on purpose.
"If you stop interrupting me, maybe I could tell you," Seth chided teasingly.
"Sorry," Melissa mumbled.
"And…" Seth drew the sound out. "He said you could go."
Melissa froze for a moment while the words sank in. As soon as they did, she jumped up and tightly hugged Seth, trying to contain the squeals of utter joy. A few ones slipped out anyways, despite her efforts. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Enthusiastic women should come with a warning label," Seth said with an eye roll, but he hugged her back.
Melissa stepped away, regaining her composure. "Sorry," she said with a small rueful grin.
"It's fine," Seth said, grinning in return. "Though I wouldn't recommend trying it with Dean."
Melissa snorted. "No kidding."
She sat down on the edge of the desk that was in the room. "So should I start putting my stuff with yours so it can all be loaded up at once?" she asked.
"Probably wouldn't hurt. I'll see if Randy can help you out. I need to go talk to Punk about something."
Melissa nodded. "Okay, sounds good." She waited for Seth to leave before pulling one of the boxes out from underneath the desk. She hesitantly lifted it, not sure how much it would weigh.
It was heavier than she had originally thought, and she swayed, terrified that it was going to fall.
Suddenly a pair of hands lifted it away from her. She looked up from the box to find Randy.
"Thanks," she murmured gratefully. "I was probably going to drop that."
"Not a problem," Randy told her before he sat the box down on top of the desk. He picked something up off of the floor, presumably where he'd dropped it so he could help her. He handed it to her, and she realized it was the sleeping bag she had let him use.
"Why isn't that with the rest of your stuff?" Melissa asked curiously.
"It's yours. It belongs with you," Randy explained.
"Well, I meant for you to have it," Melissa said. "I didn't give it to you for you to loan it."
"Well, I thought you might want it back."
"Why? You still need to use it," Melissa said, confusion tingeing her tone.
"How do I put this?" Randy said awkwardly. "I thought you might want it back, well, because I'm leaving."
"Well, so am I…" Melissa started. "Wait, you mean you're leaving by yourself?"
Randy nodded. "I said that I was going to when you found me. Spend as little time with the Shield as I have to, and then I'm out."
"But…" Melissa protested. She didn't want Randy to leave. He was one of the main reasons she had decided to leave. It seemed cliché, but in the little time that she had spent with the five wrestlers, she had grown to care for them. "You can't!" she murmured sadly.
Randy shrugged. "It's always been said, hell, I've said it myself, I don't play well with others." He saw a tear trace its way down Melissa's cheek. "Hey, it's not you. You're much better to be around than the others."
Melissa smiled a bit. "Thanks, I think."
Rand continued. "It's just the way it is. But Melissa…" his tone grew more serious, if that was possible. He took her hands in his. "Hey, look at me." Melissa looked him in the eyes, waiting. "I want you to be careful around Punk. Call it a gut feeling, survival instinct. He's only in it for himself. If it comes down to you or him, he'll pick himself without even hesitating." Melissa felt chills raise goose bumps on her skin at Randy's words. She was surprised that Randy was warning her about Punk, rather than Dean. Except for the odd remark he had made the day before, Punk struck her as fairly friendly and normal. Dean was the one that worried her.
Melissa couldn't protest though. She wanted to part on good terms with Randy, and arguing wouldn't help that cause. She nodded. "I'll be careful."
"Good." Randy let go of her hands, stepping back.
"I still want you to keep the sleeping bag though," Melissa said.
"Thanks Melissa," Randy said. "It means a lot to me."
Punk suddenly stuck his head in the door, and Melissa worried for a moment that he had overheard Randy's words. "I've been sent to ask what's taking so long." His eye roll indicated that he didn't like being the messenger.
"We were just talking," Melissa informed Punk. "We'll be done moving soon. I don't have a lot of stuff."
"Okay," Punk said, seeming satisfied with her answer. He left the office, heading back towards the main area of the church.
Randy picked up the box off of the desk. "Is this the heaviest one?" he asked her.
Melissa nodded. She bent down to get another box out from under the desk, lifting this one up with ease compared to the first one.
They both carried the boxes out and stacked them next to the shrinking stack of the Shield's supplies. It was apparent that they were already loading up the car.
Melissa headed back to the office with Randy silently following. She had him pick up the larger of the two remaining boxes, and he left to go stack it with the rest, leaving Melissa to herself.
She pulled out the last box, gazing down at its contents. Inside were several photo albums, framed pictures, and other mementos from her life. It was all she had left of her family, but she knew she couldn't take it; there just wasn't enough room. She took out one of the photo albums and flipped through it, pausing on one of the more recent family photos. It had only been taken a week before the world fell apart. She had just graduated high school, and to celebrate her mom thought it would be fun to have a family photo taken to remember it by. Melissa smiled as she recalled the fuss her mom had made, and the protests she'd made. She slipped the photo out of the album, carefully folding it before putting it safely in her backpack. She pushed the box back under the desk, barely holding back the tears. She laughed weakly. "This is where the sad music would be playing in the movies," she murmured to herself as she made her way out of the office.
She passed through the main part of the church, and could see through the open door that the others were waiting outside. She paused for a moment in the doorway, glancing around the place that had been her home since the start of the apocalypse. For a moment she allowed a few nostalgic feelings to wash over her, but she turned away, closing the door behind her. It closed with a thud of finality; she knew there was no going back now.
She headed for where the car was parked under the shade of a tree. Randy was talking to the others, and as she approached she saw Randy and Seth exchange one of the "bro hugs" that she'd seen her brother and his friends do so often.
"We'll miss you man," she heard Punk say with what sounded like genuine honesty.
Melissa stopped next to Seth, who looked down at her. "You heard Randy's leaving?" he asked quietly.
Melissa nodded. Randy, apparently finished with his good-byes, turned to leave. Melissa acted on impulse. "Wait!" she called out.
Randy turned around and Melissa caught him in a hug, the tears now streaking down her face. "Bye," she managed to choke out.
Randy gently returned the hug. "Bye Melissa," he murmured. "Hey, cheer up. Maybe we'll see each other again, hmm?"
Melissa nodded, stepping away to rejoin the others. "Stay safe," she mumbled.
"Always," Randy said with a cocky grin. "You stay safe too." With that he turned and headed down the sunlit street, not looking back.
Melissa stood frozen in place, watching until he turned a corner and disappeared from view. She wondered for a moment if it was for good.
She felt someone gently turn her around, and fell into a hug from Seth. "It's time to go," he told her softly.
She followed him to the car, where Punk was already in the driver's seat. She saw Dean hop in the passenger seat, leaving her, Seth, and Roman to sit in the back. Roman was sitting behind Dean, looking like he was starting to fall asleep. Seth slid into the middle seat and Melissa slid into the last seat, closing the car door behind her. She buckled her seatbelt as Punk reversed the car out of the parking lot, putting it in drive when he got onto the street. They started the drive through town, and when they reached the road they were looking for on the outskirts of town, Melissa looked back one last time, silently saying farewell to the last vestiges of her past.