A/N:

And we're back! Sorry I've been gone so long, but y'all know how it is with the holidays. I'm excited to be getting back into this story, and I hope you're all excited to see it, too.

But since it was so long ago...

Last time on A Scared New World:

Most of our brave crew set out to find supplies in town, while Pepper, May, and Peter recovered in the house they found to stay in. While they were out, the group faced danger, but got out with the food that they desperately needed. Then a chance encounter with some new faces alerted them to the danger that was headed their way...

Haha maybe reread the chapter. I had to XD.

Enjoy!

"Uh… who - Tony, who are these people?" Pepper asked as the group of them tramped through the door. Her hands were on her hips. "What's going on?"

Tony rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. "Well, we kind of picked up some hitchhikers. Also… we might need to get the hell out of here."

Steve stepped forwards, hand outstretched. "Hi. Steve Rodgers," he said. "And that's Bucky."

Pepper looked over at Tony. He just shrugged.

"Hi," she said slowly, reaching out to shake. "Pepper Potts."

Nat, Clint, and Rhodey were already bustling through the house, picking up their supplies and shoving them away.

"Peter!" Nat called out, looking around for him. "May!"

"They're upstairs," Pepper supplied. Nat nodded and ran off to get them. "What - can someone explain what the hell is going on?"

Tony walked up to her. "It doesn't look good out there, Pep. There's a whole herd of walkers coming into town. We've got to get out in front of it, or we're gonna be overwhelmed."

Pepper frowned, confused. "Can't we just… wait it out?" she asked.

"No can do, ma'am," Steve replied, arms crossed in front of himself. "This herd is huge. It's not worth the risk."

Pepper looked back over at Steve and Bucky. "And how did you two…"

"We ran into them in town," Clint said from across the room. "If it wasn't for them we would have wandered right into that herd."

Pepper nodded slowly, obviously still processing. "Right."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I'm into it either," Tony said to her. "New people and all. But - factor of circumstance, I guess."

"There seems to be a lot of that going around," Pepper replied dryly.

"You know we can hear you," Steve pointed out.

Tony gave them a saccharine smile. "Oh, I know. We don't mind."

"God, I'm tired of this," Pepper said bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest. "The constant moving. And I know there's no use complaining, but that doesn't change how I feel."

"I know, Pep," Tony said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "We'll find the right place eventually."

She looked at him, her gaze sharp and sad. "You don't know that."

He sighed. "No. I don't."

Pepper rubbed a hand quickly against her eye. "Sorry. I just - sorry. I'm tired."

"Don't apologize," Tony told her. "Remember? Because of all the dumb shit I've done you get like a million freebies."

Pepper rolled her eyes and smiled. "Fine, I take it back."

"I do wish I'd taken that shower, now though," Tony said wistfully. "Who knows when we'll be able to get another one."

"Yeah, my nose wishes you'd done it, too," Pepper said.

"Are y'all gonna help us pack up, or what?" Rhodey said, annoyed. He had just walked back into the room from the kitchen and his arms were full.

"Not like there's much to pack, really," Tony retorted. "Everything we just got is already in bags."

There were footsteps on the stairs, and Tony turned to see Nat coming back down, followed by Peter and May.

"I guess we're flying the coop, then?" May said, looking resigned.

"Unfortunately," Pepper replied. "You got everything that's yours?"

May quirked a smile and put a hand on Peter's head. "Yup."

Peter rolled his eyes and shrugged her off, bemused. "So who are you?" he asked of the two men lingering by the door.

They looked up. "Uh, I'm Steve."

"Bucky."

Peter nodded, considering them. "Cool. I'm Peter."

"Nice to meet you, kid," Steve said.

Tony turned to Clint as Peter and the others continued chatting.

"So, we don't have transportation," he said. "Did you notice any cars on the street?"

"I saw a couple," Clint said, "But they looked pretty torn up. It's always possible there's one in someone's garage, though."

"We should go and look. We're not gonna make it very far without wheels."

Clint nodded. "That's for sure. Let's go now. I'll go tell Nat where we're going."

"You two talking about a car?"

"Jesus," Tony jumped and looked over his shoulder to see Bucky. God, they should put a bell on this guy. "Oh. What, do you guys have a car you're not telling us about?"

"No," Bucky said, "I just wouldn't bother with a car. The roads are gonna be clogged with walkers by now. The only way out of here is through the woods."

"Seriously?" Tony said incredulously. "There are no good roads out of this place?"

"The herd is huge. There's no way."

"I guess there really was only that one road into town," Clint reasoned.

Tony let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright. I guess we really better get moving, then."

Clint turned to face the room. "Anybody not ready to go?" he called out loudly.

A room of faces stared back at him.

Clint looked back at Tony. "Alright then," he said. "Let's move."

They had been moving for a few hours when they took their first break.

They had entered the woods behind the house they were staying in, and had kept on from there. Clint wanted to keep moving, since it felt like they were in a race against time to make it away from the herd. But for May's sake, they needed to stop. She was still recovering, after all.

It didn't look like May was resting, though. Instead, she was rustling through one of the bags, pulling out gauze and tape from their medical supplies.

May stepped up to Peter and put her hand on his forehead, picking away at the dirty bandage there. Peter winced as she peeled it away. It still looked bloody, but better than it had before.

May cleaned the site with some water, and replaced the bandage with fresh gauze.

Peter squeezed her hand after she'd finished. "Thanks, May," he said to her.

She smiled and nodded back at him, and it was only then that she took a seat and drank some water for herself.

Clint turned sharply when he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he saw that it was Nat, he gave a little smile.

"Jumpy, are we?" she said teasingly.

"Don't scare me like that," he told her. "One of these days I'll end up shooting you with an arrow."

"Oh, I doubt it," Nat said easily. "You'd never be fast enough for that."

Clint rolled his eyes. "I'm not the only jumpy one, anyway. Remember when you punched me in the face after I tried to surprise you for your birthday?"

"Hey, I warned you not to surprise me. That was your own fault."

"I thought you were exaggerating!" he chuckled. "I guess I learned my lesson."

Nat nodded, then glanced at the woods around them. "Where are we headed, exactly? I saw you talking to Steve earlier."

"Just North-West, for now," Clint said. "There's a big swath of forest out here, but we're headed for a town on the other side of it that should be out of the way of this herd. Hopefully, anyway."

Nat shuddered. "It's creepy how they group up like that. It's like a swarm."

Clint sympathized. "Every time I think I've gotten used to them, they find some new way to just…" he struggled for the words.

"I know," Nat said. "You… want some water? I'll grab you some."

He shook his head. "No, I'm good. You get a drink, though."

Nat nodded and walked off to grab a bottle from someone.

Clint looked around the group, and his focus landed on Rhodey and Bucky, who were talking together a few feet to his right.

"You were in the military?" Rhodey was saying. "What branch?"

"Me and Steve were both in the Army," Bucky replied. "107th infantry. You?"

"Air Force. I served in Afghanistan."

"We were in Germany for a while. Then deployed to Iraq." Bucky shook his head. "Good to have another friendly face around here."

"Yeah, for real," Rhodey said.

They continued talking, and Clint's focus shifted to Pepper and Tony, who were standing together across from him. Their heads were close together, and as Clint watched Tony gave his wife a quick kiss.

Clint looked back at May, who was sitting with Steve now. The two seemed to be talking animatedly about cooking. Peter was watching the two of them, a smile on his face.

That's when there was a rustle in the bushes behind May, and a walker popped out, its teeth flashing in the light and the smell of death rolling off of it.

It grabbed onto May with one hand, and she let out a cry of fear.

Clint reached for his bow, but Steve was faster. He pushed the creature away from May and tackled it to the ground, his knee landing on its chest.

Then he pulled out his knife and stabbed the thing in its ear.

Steve looked down at the now dead walker, breathing heavily, before yanking the knife out again, wiping it off, and putting it back on his belt.

As soon as he stood, Steve had an arm full of May.

"Oh, my god. Thank you!" May said, shaking a little.

Peter was on his feet too, his eyes wide. He let out a shaky breath.

Steve returned May's hug for a moment before stepping back and catching Clint's eye. "I think we need to keep going," he said.

"Yeah, I believe you there," May said. "Let's get out of here."

The group was making slow and steady pace, but the sun was getting lower in the sky, and Tony knew that soon they'd have to figure out where they were going to spend the night.

Tony was walking in the back, looking out for any walkers that might be following them. He saw that Peter was just a few steps ahead of him, so he hitched his bag higher on his shoulder and sped up a little to match pace.

The kid was looking down at the ground, and his face looked troubled.

"You good, Peter?" Tony asked him.

Peter looked up at him, a flash of confusion crossing his face before it cleared and he shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine, I guess. Just… worried about May."

They looked forward to where May was walking with Nat. Her steps were slower than the others', but sure.

"She's looking better, I think," Tony said encouragingly. "She'll be okay."

Peter sighed. "Yeah. I wish we could just stay somewhere for once, though. Somewhere safe. Where she could rest up and really get better."

"Me too. We all do. And I think - I think we'll find it."

"I don't know," Peter said, shaking his head. "It kind of feels like everywhere is like this now. It's all messed up."

"Well, if it doesn't exist we'll make it ourselves," Tony promised.

Peter gave him a little smile. "Sounds good," he replied.

Tony patted him on the shoulder once and then said, "So tell me what you're into, Pete. You got hobbies?"

"You mean, besides trying to survive the apocalypse?" Peter said wryly. "Do other people have time for more than that?"

Tony rolled his eyes, amused. "Yeah, I don't think that one's unique to you. And you don't have to talk about now. What did you like to do before all of this happened?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't know. I, uh… collected old computers and stuff. You know - out of the… trash. Made them work again."

"Ah, a little engineer," Tony said approvingly.

Peter smiled sheepishly. "I guess. It's a little nerdy too, I know, but I also love LEGOs. Me and my friend Ned would build them all the time." His face clouded again. "I hope he's okay."

Tony tried to swerve away from the sad portion of that reply. "LEGOs, huh? You ever go to Legoland?"

Peter scoffed. "No. I've never been out of the city until all of this. We barely left Queens."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, we didn't really have the money to go anywhere. May and - and Ben were always busy."

Tony let out a breath. Man, but it was hard to have a light hearted conversation nowadays. He tried to change the conversation again. "You, uh - got a favorite place to eat in Queens?"

Peter nodded. "Yup. Delmar's," he said proudly. "It's this little bodega a few blocks from us. They got the best sandwiches there. I used to stop there all the time after school."

"It's always the little places, isn't it? That have the best stuff."

"Yeah," Peter agreed. "I wonder if you can even get a sandwich anywhere, now."

Tony shrugged. "I don't know, kid. I hope so."

"I just… wait, what - why did everyone stop?" Peter said suddenly, frowning.

"Huh?" Tony looked up to see what she was talking about.

It was true, the group had stopped ahead of them in a line.

Tony stepped up next to Clint. "What's going - oh," he broke off as he saw exactly what the problem was.

There was a river running right through their path. And a pretty big one at that. It must have been at least 200 feet across, and the water was flowing swift. Along the edges there were little rapids, and the middle looked dark and deep.

"This does not look like anything we want to cross," Tony said, catching Pepper's eye. She looked just as concerned as he felt. "I mean - Do we even need to cross it?"

"Unfortunately," Clint replied.

"Can we maybe… walk downstream?" Pepper said. "Maybe there's a better place to cross."

"We can split up and check it out," Steve suggested. "How about I go with Peter downstream, and Bucky go with Rhodey upstream."

"I don't know," Tony said hesitantly, glancing at Peter.

Steve tapped his wrist. "Bucky and I both have watches. I see you have one, too. We'll walk for 15 minutes and then turn around and head back."

"Sounds smart to me, Tones," Rhodey said. "We'll never know until we check it out."

Tony considered it. "You cool with this, May?" he asked.

May, who had found a log to sit on, nodded her approval. "Just - stick with Steve, Peter," she told her nephew.

"Will do," Peter replied.

Steve gave May a reassuring smile, and the groups compared their watches before splitting off. It wasn't long before they were out of sight in the brush.

Tony turned back to see that Clint was shaking his head as he studied the map in his hands. "This shouldn't be here," he said. "At least, it definitely shouldn't be this big. This doesn't make any sense."

"Where are we on there?" Tony asked, squinting at the paper. "I've never been good at reading these things."

Natasha was standing on Clint's other side. She put a finger down on the map. "Right there," she said. "That blue line is the river." She traced her finger up the paper, following the curve of the river. Then she paused and tapped a certain spot. "You see that, Clint?"

"Oh," Clint said, eyes widening. "A dam. I guess… it could have burst. That would explain things."

"That does not sound good," Tony said.

"Some of these old dams need constant monitoring," Nat said, glancing at Tony. "It makes sense that one would break down. But that means they probably won't have any luck finding a spot where the river is smaller. There's a lot of water flowing here."

"I guess it was still good to check, though," Pepper said.

Nat shrugged. "Yeah, you never know. I hope they come back with something promising."

Tony stood on the bank and looked out across the river. He'd never been afraid of the water; he'd learned to swim at an early age, and he'd lived next to the beach for years. But the water here looked menacing, and strong.

He leaned over and picked up a stick before tossing it out as far as he could into the water. It landed with a small splash on the surface, and was immediately picked up by the current. And from the way it was moving, the water was definitely going fast.

They'd need to be careful here. It would be so disappointing to survive countless walkers but end up drowning at the bottom of a river.

Tony and the others set up a perimeter, watching for walkers, and waited for the two groups to return.

Rhodey and Bucky were the first two back, right at the 30 minute mark. They looked dirty and frustrated, and when Tony looked at them questioningly, they just shook their head.

"Nothing good," Rhodey said. "It just gets worse up there, really. And damn but the bushes were killing me. Look, my arms are all cut up."

"Hopefully Steve will have found something down there. Otherwise we're pretty screwed," Bucky said.

Tony nodded. "Love the optimism there."

Bucky just raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

Another ten minutes passed, though, and Steve and Peter weren't back.

Tony was getting restless, and he could feel the others were too.

"Where are they?" Natasha said, trying to look through the bushes. "They should be back by now."

"Should we go after them?" May asked, looking a little fearful.

"Not yet," said Clint. "It'll be worse to get even more split up. But, if they're not back in the hour, we'll go." He looked over at May. "I'm sure they're fine," he said reassuringly. "Maybe they actually found something good."

"Or maybe they're being attacked by walkers," muttered Bucky as he paced along the bank.

"Again, with the optimism," Tony said. "Amazing."

Then they all turned when they heard noises from the bushes.

"Peter!" Nat said, relieved.

Sure enough, a moment later Peter and Steve both burst out, breathing hard with red faces. They had their weapons out in front of them.

"We need to move," Steve said quickly, firmly. "Now."

"What happened?" Bucky asked, walking up to him. "Walkers?"

Steve nodded, still out of breath. "The herd cought up to us. They're right behind us. We have to go."

"Cross the river?"

Another nod.

May had moved over to where Peter stood and put a hand on his cheek. They spoke softly, Peter obviously reassuring her.

"Okay, let's do this, people," Clint said to the group. "This is what's gonna happen. We stand in a line, and walk sideways. I'll be at the front. May, you go to the back. The rest of you fill in where you want - just keep in mind that the front bears the weight of the current. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Tony's heart was beating wildly in his chest.

"If you get knocked off your feet," Nat said, "Just let whatever bags you have go. It's not worth your life."

"Okay, let's move," Steve said.

There was another noise from the bushes, and a walker stumbled out, its eyes glassy and a moan rising from its mouth.

A moment later there was an arrow between its eyes, and Clint gestured harshly to the water. "Now!" he hissed.

Tony ran to the edge of the river, the others doing the same around him.

As soon as his foot hit the water, he gasped at the cold. It was like an electric shock ran up his leg. But he just gritted his teeth and kept going in. They didn't have a choice.

They walked separately until the water reached their thighs, and at that point Clint called out for them to come together.

Tony fit somewhere in the middle. May and Pepper were at the back, and Clint and Bucky were holding up the front. The others got in wherever they could.

As they lined up, Tony glanced back to shore and saw a few walkers entering the water.

He caught Natasha's eye. She nodded, her teeth chattering against the cold. She saw them, too.

They started walking together. It was slower, but felt more secure. And as long as they made it across before the walkers got to them, it would be worth it that they didn't all get swept away with the current.

Peter was standing right behind him, his hands on Tony's shoulders.

Tony looked back at him and said over the rush of the water, "We're good, kid. Keep going."

Peter nodded, his hands tightening.

Tony looked ahead again and turned the focus back onto his feet. He had to feel around a lot to figure out where the best place to step was on the rocky riverbed.

At this point, Tony could barely feel his legs, they were so numb. The problem was that with each new step he felt a new wave of cold as more of his body was submerged in the water. Plus, he was really starting to feel the current. He hoped that May was okay, and could only imagine how much worse it was for Clint in the front.

At one point the water was up to below his ribs, and the current was pushing hard against and around him. However, they just kept moving on, one step at a time.

It seemed like they had just made it out of the worst part of the current when there was a cry from the front, and then a heavy splash.

"Bucky!" Steve yelled, his hand reaching out.

Tony's eyes were wide as he watched the man come rushing towards them in the water.

He didn't know what to do. His feet were barely holding on to the riverbed as it was. He didn't want to be swept away, too.

But then a hand let go of his shoulder, and Peter reached out for the other man.

Bucky grabbed it desperately, pulling Peter off balance.

"Tony, help!" Peter cried.

Tony reacted on instinct. He twisted and grabbed onto Peter first. Then, when he saw that the kid's grip was slipping, shot a hand out to hold onto Bucky's arm.

Together, he and Peter pulled Bucky to his feet as best as they could and shoved him back into their line.

Bucky breathed heavily, his eyes wide. "Thanks," he gasped.

Somehow they made it across the rest of the river, and all of them stumbled onto the far bank, shivering and soaked. The bag on Tony's back seemed ten times heavier now that it was full of water. He just hoped none of the food had been damaged.

Tony rushed over to Pepper and pulled her close. She was agressively shivering, but held onto him tight. He saw May doing the same to Peter.

"Look," said Natasha, pointing out across the water.

Tony and Pepper turned and after a moment, he saw what she was referring to. It was the walkers. There must have been around ten of them in the river now, making their way towards them.

But as one reached the center of the river, it was knocked off balance and rushed downstream, bobbing in and out of the water. The next one had the same fate.

Tony let out a relieved chuckle. "Damn," he said. "That's amazing."

A few others smiled as well, laughing in amazement and relief at the walkers and at their own survival.

"Holy shit," Rhodey said, shivering and crossing his arms over his chest. "Holy shit! I am never doing that again. Never! You okay, Bucky?"

Bucky was wringing out his long hair. "Yeah," he said. "I'm with you, though. Never again."

There were a few more laughs around the group as they processed what had just happened.

Then Clint spoke up. "Good job, guys. Let's get moving, though. Before we all freeze to death."

"He's right," Steve said. "We need to find somewhere to camp."

So, after they got what water they could from their clothes, the group moved on - cold, but relieved to be alive.

That night, Tony was standing at the edge of their camp, staring off into the dark woods. Behind him, the other members of their little group were gathered around a tiny fire, blocking the light from getting out as they tried to warm themselves and dry their clothes and shoes. Clint had shot and butchered two squirrels as well, and they were cooking over the embers.

Tony could only hope that they were going in the right direction through these woods, and that Steve and Bucky knew what they were doing. It was they who had started this march after all. And despite how friendly they seemed, and how they'd been right about the herd, he couldn't help but still have some reservations about the pair. He hoped he continued to be proven wrong.

There were footsteps behind him. "You okay over here, Tony?"

Speak of the devil.

"Hey there, Uncle Sam," Tony replied, keeping his voice low. He only spared a moment to meet Steve's eyes before he looked back into the trees. "Haven't seen a thing so far. Hopefully it stays that way. People drying off over there?"

Steve nodded. "Today was rough. The fire's a risk, but we need it."

"Agreed. How's the barbecue going?"

Steve shrugged. "Nicely, I think. It's been nice having some meat around. Neither Bucky or I are very good at that."

"Really?" Tony said. "I would have thought you'd be a hunter or something. Aren't most military guys into that?"

Steve chuckled and leaned up against a tree. His face was in shadow. "Not us. We grew up in Brooklyn, actually. Not much hunting to do there. Unless you want to go after the rats."

Tony lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, really? I wouldn't have pegged you for that, to be honest."

"Yup. Brooklyn born and raised," Steve said proudly.

"We're all from the city, then," Tony said. "Well… I guess I don't know where all of these people grew up, but…"

"Where'd you live?"

"Uh… Midtown," Tony replied.

"Wow," Steve said. "Guess you had some money, then."

"Yeah." Tony huffed a laugh. "And look where that got me." He gestured to the woods around them.

Steve nodded. "The world's changed quite a bit, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"I just have to remind myself of what I have," Steve said. "Bucky's family. And… I hope you'll end up that way, too. But to be honest, it's a bit too soon to be sure of that," he added with a low chuckle.

"Don't worry," Tony said. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"You seem like good people, though," Steve continued. "I'll keep watching their backs, if you do the same for mine."

Tony stuck out his hand to shake, and was relieved when Steve did. "Deal," he said.

"Good." Steve nodded. Then he pushed off the tree and walked back to the fire.

Tony let out a sigh before looking back out into the brush. He couldn't wait until it was his turn at the fire. The dark was cold.

And as he shivered against the night, Tony knew that this would be only the first in a long line of tough nights. After all, winter was on its way. And that couldn't mean anything good.

He just hoped they were strong enough to make it through.

A/N: I hope that I'm doing Steve and Bucky justice. Out of everyone in this crew that I've gathered for the apocalypse, I probably know them the least well. So, let me know your thoughts. I appreciate any comments or feedback.

Happy New Year, by the way! And I'll see you soon with more!