Left Behind


SUN POURED IN THROUGH Kenzi's tent, stirring the young girl awake. She sat up and stretched, dressed in nothing but a white and blue checkered flannel that was three sizes too big for her petite frame. Grabbing her brush from her bag, she brushed out the tangles in her hair, the straight black locks falling down her shoulders. Kenzi slid on a pair of light colored skinny jeans with small holes in the knees and took off her oversized flannel, replacing it with a black tank top and tied her magenta long-sleeved flannel around her waist. She laced up her black combat boots and buckled her scabbard, sheathing her katana and a few smaller knives in her waistband sheaths.

"Morning Kenzi." Dale greeted from atop the RV. He waved and gave the girl a warm smile.

Kenzi smiled back and shielded her eyes from the sun, "Morning Grandpappy Dale." she replied, adding a twinge of a southern drawl. She strolled through camp and went to the laundry station to help Carol.

"Morning Mackenzie." Carol greeted softly, ironing Rick's clothes.

Kenzi smiled at the older woman and started folding the clothes. "Is Daryl back yet?" she asked. Carol shook her head. The younger woman sighed, setting the folded clothes aside. "It's been about two days since he went out on that hunt, he should be back soon."

"I'm sure he's fine." Carol assured.

"Oh, no doubt about that." Kenzi agreed. "It's just, once he finds out about Merle, he's gonna flip his shit." She looked down at the worn yellow checkered flannel she folded, knowing it belonged to the same man that saved her life those months before. "It won't be a pretty sight."

"Good morning." Rick greeted the two women.

They smiled in return. Kenzi went back to folding, glancing out at the woods every few seconds to see if she could spot Daryl through the trees. Glenn walked up to her, shaking his head, "Look at 'em." he scoffed, getting Kenzi's attention. She followed his line of sight and saw Dale, Morales, and Jim working on the Challenger. "Vultures." Glenn crossed his arms over his chest.

Kenzi chuckled and nudged him, "Sorry buddy, but the Winnebago needs all the juice she can get." she reminded, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe you'll get to steal another one someday." Rick encouraged, cracking a grin. He patted each of their shoulders before walking off to visit with his wife.

Kenzi giggled, taking the folded laundry and walked around to the various tents, returning them to the survivors they belonged to. When she held a pair of jeans and the flannel she knew belonged to Daryl Dixon, she walked to his tent and set them down on the inside, next to the half open sleeping bag and brown combat boots.

A child's scream made her bolt out of the tent. She followed Rick, Lori, and Shane, as they ran past the treeline, gripping the hilt of her katana. Sophia and Carl ran to them, Lori kneeling down and catching her son, checking him for bites or scratches. Kenzi pushed Sophia to her mother, jumping over the strung-up tin cans, following Shane and Rick down the trail with Glenn right behind her.

What they saw made them skid to a halt. A walker was crouched down by a dead deer, knawing on it's neck. Kenzi took notice of three crossbow bolts in the deer's hind end. She took a step back as Dale, Jim, and Morales caught up with them, the men forming a circle, trapping the walker. They each hit the walker with their weapons, knocking it to the ground and Dale landed the finishing blow with his ax, decapitating the reanimated corpse.

"It's the first one we've had up here." Kenzi noted, swallowing the lump in her throat. "They never come this far up the mountain."

"Well, they're running out of food in the city." Jim theorized.

Kenzi pulled the three bolts from the deer, holding them tightly. The sound of crunching leaves made everyone spin on their heels. A few seconds later, Daryl emerged from the woods, making everyone relax.

"Son of a bitch." Daryl cursed when he saw the walker corpse and the deer. "That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this-" he started kicking the headless corpse. "filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

"Calm down, son." Dale spoke up. "That's not helping."

"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl lashed out, glaring in Dale's direction. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to on golden pond?"

"Good morning to you too sunshine." Kenzi cut in, cracking a small smile. Daryl's icy glare moved to her, and she held up the three bolts in surrender.

Daryl practically snatched them from her hand, "I've been tracking this deer for miles." he told the group. "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." he knelt down next to the carcass. "What do you think? Think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"I would not risk that." Shane shook his head, holding his shotgun behind his head, resting it on his shoulders.

"That's a damn shame." Daryl sighed, standing up. "I got some squirrel, about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

The severed walker's head showed signs of movement, it's eyes opening up and it's jaw snapping. "Oh god." Morales gasped, turning away.

"Come on, people, what the hell?" Daryl loaded a bolt into his crossbow and shot the walker head right through the eye, it's movements ceasing. He walked over and yanked the bolt from the socket. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" he brushed past Kenzi and Rick on his way back towards camp.

Kenzi sighed, placing her hands on her hips, glancing at Rick, "Meet Daryl Dixon." she introduced. "Merle's younger brother." She nodded her head and followed Daryl back to camp.

"Merle! Get your ugly ass out here!" Daryl called out for his brother. "I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." he set his crossbow down by the fire pit.

"Daryl." Kenzi called, jogging up to him. "Slow up a bit, I gotta talk to you." She reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"'Bout what?" he asked, looking down at the Russian girl.

"About Merle." she answered, slipping her hands into her pockets, her thumbs resting on the outside of her belt loops. Daryl looked down into Kenzi's eyes, "There was a problem in Atlanta." she said flatly, pursing her lips together, shifting her weight between her feet.

"He dead?" Daryl questioned. Kenzi shrugged her shoulders. "He either is or he ain't!" he took a few steps closer to Kenzi, rage filling his eyes.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick cut in, walking up to the two.

"Who are you?" Daryl turned his glare in Rick's direction.

"Rick Grimes." Rick introduced.

"Rick Grimes." Daryl repeated mockingly, approaching the sheriff. "You got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all." Rick informed. "So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl ran his hand over his face, "Hold on, let me process this." he swallowed the rising emotions. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof, and you left him there?!" he yelled. Enraged, Daryl threw the dead squirrels at Rick who ducked as Shane threw him backwards, landing at Kenzi's feet. Daryl rolled on his back and pulled a knife from his belt, getting back to his feet. Shane got behind the younger Dixon and held him in a chokehold while Rick disarmed him.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl yelled, gripping Shane's forearm around his neck.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane argued, keeping his hold on Daryl strong.

Daryl struggled against Shane's grip, "Choke holding's illegal." he grunted.

"Yeah, you can file a complaint." Shane brushed off. "Come on, man, we'll keep this up all day."

Rick knelt down in front of Daryl, meeting his eyes. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?"

Shane released Daryl, only for the redneck to flip him the bird. Rick was still at Daryl's eye level, speaking calmly as he explained the situation. "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." That earned a snort from Daryl, and a slight eye-roll from Kenzi.

"It's not Rick's fault." T-Dog spoke up. "I had the key, I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl questioned, looking in T's direction.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog added, looking away from the icy glare in his direction.

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." Daryl scoffed, getting to his feet.

"Well, maybe this will. I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him. With a padlock." T explained. "It's gotta count for something."

Daryl turned his back to everyone, keeping the emotions buried deep inside. "Hell with all y'all!" he yelled. "Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him."

Everyone glanced at one another, wondering if it was really the best option to go back. "He'll show you." Lori spoke up after a few minutes of silence. She was leaning against the RV, her eyes on her husband. "Isn't that right?"

Rick nodded. "I'm going back." he declared.


Daryl sat by the fire pit, cleaning off his arrows. Kenzi walked up to him, her combat boots crunching small pebbles. She plopped down next to him, resting her arms on her knees. "I'm sorry." she said softly, her hair now in a high ponytail which was draped over her shoulder. Daryl shrugged her off, not even glancing in her direction.

"Could you throw me a bone here, man?" Shane shoved his hands in his pockets, not exactly comprehending Rick's mind set. "Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey!" Daryl snapped. "Choose your words more carefully."

"No, I did." Shane rebuked. "Douchebag's what I meant."

Kenzi groaned and rubbed her temples, "Not helping Shane." she shot a glare in his direction, only to be blown off.

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asked Rick.

Sighing, Rick glanced in Glenn's direction. "Oh, come on." Glenn whined.

"You know the way." Rick pointed out. "You've been there before in and out, no problem. You said so yourself." seeing the discomfort in Glenn's eyes. "It's not fair of me to ask I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." he glanced at Lori.

"That's just great." Shane sighed. "Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?"

"Four." Kenzi corrected, standing up, brushing her jeans off.

"Five." T-Dog added.

Daryl scoffed, "My day just gets better and better, don't it?" he muttered, shaking his head.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog retorted.

"Why you?" Daryl asked, not looking in T's direction.

The bulky male shook his head, "You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's five then." Dale finalized.

Shane kept a lid on the anger "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick." he said through gritted teeth. "Come on, you saw that walker. It was here, it was in camp. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here, to protect camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick noted.

Kenzi shrugged her shoulders and nodded in agreement. "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left." Rick went on. "I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane questioned.

"Seven hundred rounds, assorted." Rick answered.

Lori licked her lips, "You went through hell to find us." she pointed out, meeting her husband's eyes. "You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl added in a low voice.

"To hell with the guns." Lori scoffed. "Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." she stood up, "Tell me. Make me understand."

Rick pulled her off to the side to discuss things further in a little bit of privacy. Kenzi returned to her tent to grab her gun and a spare magazine, rejoining the others as they got ready to move.

Sophia ran up to Kenzi, wrapping her arms around her waist. "Kenzi, do you really have to go?" she asked, her eyes pleading. "You just got back."

Kenzi smiled and knelt down so she was eye level with the younger girl, taking her hands in her own, which now donned black fingerless gloves with silver studs on the knuckles. "I know, but going back is the right thing to do." Her blue eyes sparkled under the high Georgia sun. "I know Merle's not the nicest guy in camp," Sophia nodded in agreement, "but we need everyone we got. To protect camp from the walkers, you understand."

Sophia nodded in understanding, wrapping her arms around Kenzi's neck. "Please come back Kenzi." she begged.

Kenzi hugged the little girl tightly, rubbing her back. "I will, promise." she kissed her cheek and stood up, walking towards the van with Sophia holding her hand.

"Kenzi!" Carl called, running up and taking Kenzi's other hand. "I wanted to see you off."

The older girl smiled and ruffled his hair, "Thanks buddy." she kissed the top of his head. "We'll be back before ya know it." she promised, facing both of the kids. "Now give auntie Kenz a hug." Sophia and Carl threw their arms around her, their heads resting just above her hips. Kenzi smiled and rubbed their backs.

Daryl laid his boot to the horn of the cube van, yelling at everyone to get a move on. Kenzi sighed and the two kids a quick kiss on the forehead before jogging to the van, jumping into the back. She slid on her magenta flannel and buttoned it up, leaving the top two unbuttoned. Glenn was in the driver's seat and Rick was taking the passenger seat, leaving Kenzi in the back with Daryl and T-Dog.


The van was silent the whole drive to Atlanta. Glenn drove along the railroad and parked the van just outside the city. Kenzi had one gloved hand rested on her sword's hilt, her eyes constantly scanning the area. She and Glenn led the others to the entrance in the fence they used when they slipped into the city on runs.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked once everyone was past the fence.

"Merle!" Daryl answered sharply. "We ain't even having this conversation."

"We are." Rick replied sternly. He looked to Glenn and Kenzi, "You both know the geography. It's your call."

"Merle's closest." Kenzi noted, glancing to Glenn who nodded in agreement. "The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." he agreed.

The made their way back to the department store, everyone keeping their eyes peeled for walkers. The road that was just filled with reanimated corpses was empty, giving them a clear path inside. A single female walker roamed the inside. Daryl, with his crossbow loaded, took the front. "Damn." he muttered, standing just a few feet in front of the walker, "You are one ugly skank." Once the walker had Daryl in her sights, she let out a growl, and was quickly dispatched via an arrow to the skull.

Kenzi cracked a small smile, motioning to the stairwell leading to the roof. Her and Daryl led the pack up the stairs, reaching the top easily. Using the borrowed bolt cutters from Dale, T broke the padlock and Kenzi kicked down the door.

"Merle!" Daryl called, running out onto the roof. "Merle!" Everyone followed after, Kenzi jumping onto the wide pipe, holding her katana horizontal in front of her. There wasn't anyone else up there except the group. The only signs that showed Merle was ever there were the handcuffs, which were now dripping with blood, and a severed hand a few inches beside them.