[Blake] "Previously, on Alive Inside."
Once again, this season is picking up four years after the events of the first season, which spanned from June - August of 2012. this season will pick up in April of 2016.
A quick summary of S1: The Christensen family survived the initial outbreak; after gathering a modest group of friends and strangers, they set off in search of safety, which many would perish instead, after the loss of Blake, the unofficial leader, the ragtag group met back up with a friend in Tennessee, eventually settling near the border of Tennessee and Kentucky.
Ch. 13
'Life lessons part one'
'2016'
[Near Monroe, TN, Morning]
The sun was rising over the trees sending rays out over the small community filled with rundown old trailer houses bunched together.
Summer slept soundly on a bed, her hair down out of her signature ponytail; the sunlight peeked through her window, hitting the young woman in her closed eyes.
Crinkling her nose and rolling over with a slight groan, Summer sat herself upright and swung her legs over.
Getting up, Summer made her way down the hall to a door with old hand-drawn pictures from a child and opened the door slowly to check on the room's inhabitant.
Summer furrowed her brow when she saw no one inside; Summer shut the door and walked quickly to the window; she surmised it was about seven-thirty in the morning.
Now a little worried, Summer jogs quickly to the front door, and before she opens it, she sees a note propped in the door.
Summer took it in her hand and skimmed it, brow furrowed.
"Me and Amanda went out to practice my knife throwing. ~ Genevieve," the note read in moderately skilled handwriting.
Summer breathed a sigh of relief, letting her hand fall to her side, note still in hand; she then stepped into the kitchen and put the coffee on the stovetop before walking back into the hall into her room; she spread the thin sheet across the expanse of her bed then her cover placing her pillow on top and smoothed out the creases before moving on to Genevieve's room.
Summer repeated her bed tidying, then stepped back out to the kitchen and turned off the small burner, and headed to the other side of the counter where her coffee cup was left yesterday.
After a few minutes of cooling, Summer was out on the steps sipping her drink, watching and waving at the people passing by.
After finishing her cup and returning it to its original spot, Summer set off to find the young girl.
Summer walked soft mulch paths until she saw a familiar face. "Hey, Corrine," Summer greeted calmly as the two women came closer together.
"Hi," Corrine greeted simply with a smile.
"Have you seen Genevieve?" Summer asked, looking over Corrine's shoulder for a sign of the child.
"I haven't; I've been inside this morning," Corrine admitted putting her hands in her jean pockets.
Summer sighed before looking back to Corrine. "Ok... thanks, I'll have a look around," Summer said, stepping around Corrine and tossing a wave over her shoulder.
Summer walked through the settlement taking in the morning air; when she heard someone singing profane lyrics souring the mood, Summer made a face of unamusement.
"We got big booty bitches whoo!" A colossal man sang at the top of his lungs, standing on the wall and performing pelvic thrusts over the wall as a jeer to the walkers below, which had gathered due to his racket.
Summer walked up to the base of the wall and looked up. "Ian! Quit spewing profanities for five seconds!" Summer yelled up, causing the man to stop and turn around.
"Eeeyyy, sup, Summer?!" Ian shouted down the wall in a welcoming manner.
"Hey, have you seen Genevieve? Or has Amanda stopped by?" Summer asked from the ground, trying to get her point across.
Ian thought for a second before looking down again. "Amanda was heading back towards your place with A.J.," Ian reported honestly.
Summer nodded to herself, then looked back up. "Alright, well, thanks!" Summer shouted up before turning and heading for her house again.
"We got bi--" Ian started again.
"You're on guard duty!" Summer shouted over the tall man. "And you're being obnoxious!" Summer added as she continued towards her new destination.
"Whoo!" Ian vocalized as Summer continued her journey home.
[Thirty minutes earlier]
"Alright, let go of the knife once you see it in your peripheral," Amanda said quietly over the nine-year-old's shoulder. "Don't tense up; keep it loose," Amanda ordered softly.
Genevieve did her best to obey, raising the knife over her shoulder, poised to throw it.
"And..." Amanda trailed softly.
Genevieve threw the knife hitting inside the second line close to the first.
"Nice!" Amanda said, letting a little excitement show.
Genevieve turned around with a big smile on her face, jubilant at the idea of her success.
"Good job," Amanda said with a proud smile before looking to the sun's position.
"Well, I best get going; your guardian angel will be wondering where you're at," Amanda said, opening her arms for a quick hug which Genevieve swiftly ran into the teenager; Amanda picked her head up and gave Genevieve a quick kiss on the top of her head before she released the young girl and started walking up away from the creek where they practiced.
Genevieve walked alongside Amanda until they got to the middle of town, where a giant tree stood and all the community's children played.
Amanda walked on until she saw a face she recognized. "A.J., C'mon!" Amanda called after the man.
"What for?" A.J. asked, copping an attitude as he snuffed a cigarette out.
"Cus you can't say no to this face," Amanda said, not stopping.
"If this is about the fight me and Summer had, it's already been settled," A.J. grumbled, starting to fall in behind Amanda.
[Summer's house]
Summer arrived shortly after Amanda had and saw who she brought along, just as Ian had said. "Why'd you bring him here?" Summer asked, annoyance dripping from her voice as she shut the door behind her.
Amanda let out a stifled chuckle at her reaction. "Figured he ought a say he's sorry for dumping his drink on you last night," Amanda explained while leaning against the trailer's wall.
"He looks pretty sorry to me," Summer said, noting his black eye.
"Psh, I'm just sorry I wasted the moonshine," A.J. lamented, rubbing his wrist, thinking of the wasted liquor and where it could be now if he hadn't dumped it.
"Hm, sounds about right," Summer said, not amused.
"Drunkard!" Amanda jabbed without looking at the man.
"You said it!" Summer agreed as she and Amanda bumped fists while looking A.J. in the eyes.
Causing the man to chuckle scornfully, stepping towards the door and opening it, A.J. muttered under his breath as he stormed out, slamming the door.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Summer said, gearing up for this conversation. "About what your teaching Genevieve, it's too much for a kid," Summer said matter of factly.
Amanda looked at her, furrowing her eyebrows. "No, it isn't... how could it be?" Amanda argued, chuckling lightly.
"You taught her boxing punch techniques!" Summer exclaimed, astounded that Amanda found this to be okay.
"And Krav maga... And it's just called boxing techniques!" Amanda said under her breath, looking at the dirt beneath her feet.
"Uh huh," Summer hummed, cocking an eyebrow at being corrected. "Wait, what?!" Summer shouted in bewilderment, standing up from her leaning position on the kitchen counter.
"What?! She needs to know how to do this stuff!" Amanda exclaimed; it was too dangerous out in the world for grown men bigger than the both of them; it was far more perilous for a little girl like Genevieve.
"When I agreed that you could teach her stuff, I meant like making a fire or building a lean-to... not how to kill someone with her bare hands!" Summer asserted; Genevieve would be protected; she needed to try and be normal.
Frantic knocking on the door got the girls' attention; rising from her spot on the counter, Summer went to the door and opened it.
Corrine stood in the doorway, panting lightly; she must have been running. "Summer, come quick, Genevieve, hit Jacob!" Corrine said quickly before turning and barrelling down the porch again.
Summer immediately looked at Amanda with an annoyed expression receiving a quirky sheepish grin in return before she started to jog after Corrine, who undoubtedly would lead them to the site.
[Ten minutes earlier]
Two teenagers were laughing and speaking in hushed whispers before one of them picked up a pebble and threw it at a boy who had been lying under the tree next to Genevieve, who was reading a book titled: "A vacation under a volcano."
Jacob got up and went over to the teens; they had been ushering him to come closer with a sick gleam in their eyes.
"What do you want?" Jacob asked timidly, keeping his arms close to his body.
"Get her book away from her!" One of the teens said a devilish smile on his face.
Jacob looked over at the girl, her nose in the book. "Why?" Jacob asked, looking back to the teens in confusion.
"She's friends with Amanda," One of the boys said with a hint of malice in his voice.
"Wanna be cool?" The other teen asked, receiving a hesitant nod. "Get the book and give it to us!" He explained.
Jacob looked over at his friend again, then back again. "How?" Jacob asked timidly.
The teens sigh in unison. "Just keep her distracted." One of them ordered, walking around him and passing Genevieve.
Jacob swallowed hard and walked over to his friend. "Hey, Genevieve..." Jacob said, hesitation laced in his speech.
Genevieve looked up from her book; he noticed how her hair fell perfectly, how her eyes sparkled in the morning sunlight, and her lips nearly glowed with a lovely pinkish hew before Genevieve's book was taken out of her hands.
"Hey!" Genevieve exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and facing the teenagers. "Give it back, Shawn!" Genevieve said calmly, putting her hands on her hips.
With a satisfied sigh, Shawn looked at Jacob and smiled. "Good job, pal!" Shawn said darkly, nodding to Jacob.
"Genevieve, I'm s- sorry," Jacob said in a timid voice once again.
Genevieve turned around and saw the shame on his face; she shook her head at him in disappointment and returned her ire to the boys in front of her.
The look on Jacob's face of utter agony at his friend not so much as saying a word to him.
"Ooh, she gave you the cold shoulder; you gonna let her ignore you like that?" The other teen said, urging Jacob on.
"N-no," Jacob said quietly, the feeling of betrayal taking root.
"You kinda deserve this for hanging out with that freaky girl, Amanda!" Shawn said with disgust in his voice.
"But... she's nice, better than you are!" Genevieve defended her mentor, she was a tomboy, but there was nothing wrong with that.
"Nice, yeah, I heard she killed people before the world changed!" The other teenage boy said, beginning to circle Genevieve.
"What, from who? We've been here for years, and I've never heard that!" Genevieve asked, bewildered at the accusation.
"I've heard her talk shit about you, how you are a waste of time!" one of the boys jeered.
Genevieve tried to keep her eyes on Aiden, the boy circling her. "That's not true!" Genevieve said in a shaky voice, trying to stay calm.
"She's a fucking whore!" Shawn said matter of factly.
"That's a ba- ... isn't true!" Genevieve said, voice quivering, her hands balling into fists and her feet spreading to keep her stance broad.
Jacob decided between his friendship with Genevieve and being cool to these guys; it didn't matter; how could she betray him like that? "Are you gonna cry? Only bitches cry! Still, a little baby, huh!?" Jacob jeered, bombarding Genevieve with another voice, causing her to recoil internally; she had to pay for this now.
"Stop! Y-you're-- why are you doing this?!" Genevieve shrieked, not understanding why they were all laughing at her and jeering; the young girl's breathing began to quicken.
"No wonder someone jumped down a hole to get away from ya 'cus you cry!" Jacob shouted in a taunting fashion.
Genevieve's eyes went wide, and her lip quivered in sorrow and anger; she turned around, put her left hand up near her chin, and twisted her body as she swung a heavy jab, slugging the boy right on the chin.
"What the fuck!?"
"Oh, shit!"
The teenagers exclaimed at this turn of events
Jacob fell, his arms splayed out stiffly, followed by his legs after they were no longer holding him up; he then laid limp face first on the ground.
"Genevieve!" Melissa shouted, running over and kneeling next to the young girl putting a hand on her shoulder; the boys ran away when they saw the former nurse approaching. "What happened?! Why'd you do that?!" Melissa asked immediately, concern dripping from her voice.
Genevieve now had a look of shock and fear upon her face. "I-- he- I!" Genevieve stammered out before Melissa left to aid the boy flipping him on his side.
"What happened?!" Corrine asked, coming out of a nearby house she had been visiting.
"Go get Summer, Genevieve hit Jacob!" Melissa said solemnly as Jacob's mother came running to the scene.
After a moment, Summer was on Corrine's heels running to where the fight took place under the large oak tree.
"How dare you even touch my child!" Jacob's mother screamed at Genevieve, who stood and took it with wet eyes.
"I'm- I'm sorry," Genevieve spoke softly, her words falling on deaf ears.
"If you so much as look at him, I'll have you thrown out of here!" The mother continued on, trying to make eye contact with Genevieve. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" the woman bellowed.
"Hey!" Summer shouted, coming to a stop. "That's enough!" Summer said with authority.
The mother looked up from her rant when she was shouted at. "I'll say whatever I want to her!" The mother said defiantly.
"Not to Genevieve, you won't, not while I'm here," Summer said, standing her ground, speaking in a firm but calm voice.
Summer's eyes met Genevieve's tear-filled ones. "Go home," Summer ordered, returning her eyes to Jacob's mother.
"Oh no, you don't!" Jacob's mother said before grabbing Genevieve's wrist and pulling her back in place.
This action flipped a switch in both Summer and Amanda as the two immediately rushed forward and grabbed Genevieve away from the woman and set her behind them.
Amanda turned to Genevieve. "Do what you were told!" Amanda said, receiving a nod from Genevieve, who ran towards her and Summer's trailer house.
"How dare you let her run off; this needs to be dealt with now!" The mother growled before shouting at the end.
"It will be!" Summer said, standing jaw to jaw with this woman calmly. "Genevieve wouldn't do it without reason, so find out what your son did wrong," Summer said before walking away towards her home.
"The nerve of you and your child! You will hear from me again! I'm taking this to the board!" the woman yelled at Summer's back before walking off, shouting another rant to anyone who would listen.
Once inside, Summer let Amanda in and then closed the door behind them; she then turned to the couch where Genevieve sat, looking at her hands in utter shame.
"What happened out there!?" Summer asked, clearly on the edge of losing her temper.
"I... hit him," Genevieve answered truthfully, her eyes on her hands in guilt.
"You've never hit anyone as long as I've known you, so why now?!" Summer asked, barely keeping her voice at normal volume.
"He- he called Amanda a whore..." Genevieve admitted, continually avoiding Summer's gaze.
Summer's brow furrowed, and she looked over her shoulder at an equally surprised Amanda.
"That's... still not a reason to hit someone," Summer said, kneeling down to Genevieve's eye level, her voice lowering as well.
"And he made fun of Blake, said he jumped into the hole to get away f- from me," Genevieve added sadly as she looked at Summer for the first time during the conversation, tears falling down her cheeks at the mere thought of Blake committing suicide over her being insufferable.
Summer sat back on her heels before standing up and ushering Genevieve to go to her room. "Ok... go read in your room; I'll call you out for food," Summer said, looking misty-eyed; anyone who could use that type of baggage as a weapon wasn't very savory.
After Genevieve left the room, Summer took a deep breath before turning to Amanda. "This is why I didn't want you teaching her this kinda stuff!" Summer exclaimed. "I want her to grow up as normal as possible." Summer said through gritted teeth.
Amanda waited for a second to see if Summer had finished before starting.
"Normal," Amanda started with a humorless chuckle. "What the fuck is normal!?" Amanda asked, her accent starting to flair.
"You know what normal is," Summer said before Amanda piped up again.
"Really?! 'Cus from what I'm seein', the normal you're talking about is gone! Sure, you can find bits n pieces of it in places like this, but this is a whole new world! Where we are the prey, A world where if you ain't a tough enough girl, you get torn apart by a pack of walkers... that is if you ain't raped and murdered first!" Amanda exclaimed, crossing her arms and shaking her head at the thought of Genevieve dying, either way, shuddering at the last bit.
Summer pursed her lips before looking back at Amanda. "Blake entrusted her safety to me, not you; go tell her hitting people is wrong," Summer said as she sat on the couch, feeling exhausted with the day already.
Amanda sighed at the ridiculous request; looking down at her feet, the teenage survivalist put her hands on her hips before nodding. "Fine," the teenager said before turning and walking towards the little girl's room.
Amanda slipped into the room and quietly closed the door before turning to face the little girl who was currently hidden under her blankets.
"How're you feeling, slugger?" Amanda said dryly, trying to test the waters of this conversation.
Genevieve shook her head under the blanket, scrunching herself further into a ball.
"C'mon, Genevieve, gimme details; what happened?" Amanda asked, stepping closer.
Genevieve pulled the covers off her head, and she turned to look at her mentor. "I hit him just one time," Genevieve said, guilt-ridden.
"Wait, just once? This wasn't a drawn-out fight?!" Amanda exclaimed in disbelief.
Genevieve pulled the blanket off and swung her legs off the side so she could better see Amanda.
Summer had sat for a few minutes before deciding to check on the two, making her way back; she could hear Amanda ... excited?
Summer opened the door to catch a small part of the conversation.
"You only socked him once, and he went down! Motherfuckin' boom!" Amanda exclaimed, miming a punch while Genevieve sat smiling at the fact she had Amanda excited; Amanda turned and saw Summer mid-swing and turned back quickly to Genevieve.
Amanda cleared her throat before she spoke. " That was uh... Not good, don't do it again," Amanda said slightly mockingly before slipping past Summer and out the door, barely holding her smile as she passed.
Summer stepped in, noticing Genevieve had no book.
"Um, where'd your book go?" Summer asked awkwardly as she sat on the bed next to Genevieve, who had laid down again.
"Shawn took it," Genevieve said solemnly.
"Oh... well, I'll get it back... tomorrow," Summer said, trying to console the little girl.
"Ok," Genevieve said distantly, looking at the ceiling.
Summer leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees while her hands made almost a praying motion. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that by yourself," Summer said sincerely; the young woman remembered walking past people getting bullied; it always made her feel horrible.
Genevieve looked at Summer's back. "It's ok," The little girl said reassuringly.
Summer stood up and made her way to the door; turning the knob and stepping out of the room, Summer turned back.
"Hey, Genevieve?" Summer called gently.
Genevieve turned to look at Summer.
"Nice punch," Summer said with a slight chuckle, hoping she wouldn't be seen as condoning the action.
Genevieve allowed a small smile before looking back to the ceiling, her frown returning quickly, the bad feeling swelling once more; Genevieve said the only thing that came to mind.
"I wish I hadn't hit him..."