City of the Dead
AS DAWN BROKE over the mountains, the Atlanta survivors were packing up their gear. Kenzi was dressed in a black lace, long-sleeved shirt with a pair of dark ripped skinny jeans and her trademark knee high boots, her jet black hair pulled into a halfback ponytail with a purple colored extension braided down the center. With her sword on her hip and a gun in her holster, Kenzi swung her backpack over her shoulder, making her way to Daryl's pickup.
"You with us?" she questioned, tapping her fingers on her backpack strap.
The young redneck buckled down his brother's motorcycle in the bed of his truck, glancing at the younger girl out of the corner of his stormy blue eyes. "Got nothin' else." he muttered.
Kenzi walked up to him and placed her hand over his, "You're wrong." she contradicted. "You've got us." she glanced out to the rest of the survivors. "We all need to stick together, especially going back into that city." She squeezed his hand before strutting around to the passenger side of the truck and set her backpack on the floorboards.
The two joined the rest of the group as they huddled around Shane, who was giving instructions on how they were going to contact eachother within the caravan. "Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on channel forty. Let's keep the chatter down, okay?" he instructed, glancing at every single one of the remaining survivors. "Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"
Morales cleared his throat, "We're, uh-We're we're not going." he announced, making everyone look in their direction.
"We have family in Birmingham." Miranda added. "We want to be with our people."
"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane reminded.
"We'll take the chance." Morales stated. "I got to do what's best for my family."
It was a tearful goodbye. Lori and Carol each hugged Miranda, while Sophia and Carl hugged the kids. Eliza gave her doll to Sophia as a token of lasting friendship. Her and Louis threw themselves into Kenzi's arms, who knelt down to be eye level as she said her goodbyes. By coincidence, Louis was wearing his 'Captain America' t-shirt and Eliza was wearing the sparkling sandals, both were the gifts that Kenzi brought back from her last run into Atlanta. "Stay strong okay." she told the two. "Don't let the fear control you. Face it." they nodded in understanding. "Good, now give auntie Kenzi one more hug."
After kissing both children on the forehead, she hugged Miranda, then finally Morales. "You're a brave girl Kenzi." he complimented. "Don't ever lose that."
"Not a chance." Kenzi agreed, smiling. "Take care man." she stepped back, standing in between Carol and Lori as the rest of the group watched Morales and his family drive away.
"Let's go!" Shane announced. "Let's move out."
Everyone broke away into smaller groups and hopped in their respective vehicles. Shane led the caravan from his Jeep, followed by the Winnebago, driven by Dale, which also had Jim, Jacqui, and Glenn, Rick drove Carol's Cherokee with his family and hers, T-Dog drove a small church van with Andrea in the passenger seat, and Daryl's pickup truck brought up the rear with Kenzi beside him.
Kenzi leaned back in the seat, her elbow propped by the window and her cheek resting on her gloved hand, a pair of RayBans over her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Daryl, who had his right hand on the steering wheel while his left laid by the window.
About an hour or so on the road, the RV started smoking so the caravan came to a halt to asses the situation. Dale and Rick found the root of the problem while Shane, Daryl, T-Dog, and Kenzi stood around them, checking the surroundings while also making sure no walkers were in the area.
"I see something up ahead." Shane announced. "A gas station if we're lucky."
"Y'all." Jacqui panted, running out of the RV. "Jim. It's bad."
"How bad Jacqui?" Kenzi asked, her hair blowing in the wind.
"I don't think he can take anymore." the African-American woman answered.
"Hey, Rick, you want to hold down the fort?" Shane asked. "I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back."
"Yeah, I'll come along too and back you up." T-Dog added.
The two climbed into Shane's Jeep. "Y'all keep your eyes open now. We'll be right back."
Kenzi mock saluted him, "Righto offica." she chuckled. Shane rolled his eyes as the engine revved, peeling pavement as he took off. Rick followed Jacqui into the RV.
After a few minutes, Shane and T-Dog returned with something that could hopefully tie the RV together until they reached the CDC building in the city. Rick and Jacqui exited the RV with solemn expressions, Rick explaining that Jim wanted to be left where they were since the pain was becoming too much.
"It's what he says he wants." Rick sighed.
"And he's lucid?" Carol questioned.
"He seems to be. I would say yes." Rick answered.
Dale sighed. "Back in the camp, when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood." he reiterated. "I would never go along with callously killing a man. I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants, and I think we have an answer."
"We just leave him here? We take off?" Shane threw out. "Man, I'm not sure I could live with that."
"It's not your call." Lori pointed out. "Either one of you."
After a few more seconds of deliberation, Rick and Shane helped Jim out of the RV and leaned him against a large tree. Another tearful goodbye and everyone returned to their vehicles and the caravan continued on.
Kenzi wiped her eyes with her sleeve, sniffling. Daryl slammed the driver's door shut, white-knuckling the steering wheel. He heard Kenzi sniffle beside him and looked at her, "You cryin'?"
"No." Kenzi retorted, looking away to wipe her eyes. "Some dirt blew in my eye." a half chuckle escaped her lips as she collected herself.
Daryl patted the girl's shoulder, making her turn back to look at him. "If this is what he wants, then there ain't notin' we can do." He tried to sound sympathetic, after all, comforting others was not one of Daryl's strong points.
"So what?" Kenzi slapped her knees. "We just leave him? Let him become a walker?" Daryl nodded. "It doesn't feel right." Kenzi sighed.
Daryl reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Kenzi didn't think, she scooted closer and laid her head on his shoulder, tucking her feet behind her. They stayed that way for a good few minutes while Dale repaired the RV and got it moving again. When the caravan started up, Kenzi slid back to her seat, laying her head on the window, RayBans concealing the emotions reflected in her piercing blue eyes.
It was nearing dusk when all the vehicles came to a halt, parking by the curb just outside the CDC. The group huddled together, weapons ready, keeping a lookout for walkers in the area. Dead bodies were scattered all over the property, and it looked deserted. Kenzi stood in the middle of the group, staying near the children. Her shoulders sunk at the sight of their last hope, if it was gone where else could they go?
The buildings windows and doors were closed with steel shutters. Seeing this, everyone was starting to panic. It worsened when Daryl alerted them to a walker coming in their direction. Those with guns cocked them and stood ready to aim.
Daryl fired an arrow from his crossbow and struck the walker dead center in the forehead "You led us into a graveyard!" he yelled, glaring in Rick's direction.
Kenzi held her arm out, grabbing his arm, "He made a call." she reminded in a harsh, low voice.
"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl was fuming by this point.
Kenzi's grip tightened, "It was a fifty-fifty shot. We all knew that."
The groups voices started overlapping as the panic set in when the sun sank below the horizon, everyone knowing that they stood no chance in the city of the dead after dark.
"Fort Benning." Shane reminded, looking to his best friend. "Rick it's still an option."
"On what?" Andrea questioned. "No food, no fuel. That's a hundred miles."
"A hundred twenty-five." Glenn corrected. "I checked the map."
"Forget Fort Benning." Lori snapped. "We need answers tonight, now."
"We'll think of something." Rick assured, being the only one in the group to keep calm.
"Come on, let's go." Shane voted, ushering the group back towards the vehicles. "Let's get out of here. Everybody back to the cars."
Everyone else was turning to leave, but Rick stayed put. He caught sight of the security camera's movement and slammed his fists against the metal shutters, screaming, "If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" The group's voices overlapped as they yelled at Rick, saying that there is nobody there, followed by scared cries from the children. More walkers were appearing. Shane dragged Rick away as he continued to scream, "You're killing us!"
Suddenly the shutters opened, drowning the survivors in light. They all turned to the open doors and carefully entered the buildings main lobby. The sound of two shotguns cocking caught their attention, putting a few of the group on edge. At the sound of the cocking gun, Kenzi raised her shotgun, finger on the trigger. Her eyes locked with one of the two figures at the top of the lobby stairs, and the young girl lowered her weapon, her blue eyes widening, and her lips curling into a smile.
A/N: Well, almost done with season one ya'll. Hope you've enjoyed so far. I'd like to thank WitchLove and DemonGirl123 for the reviews. Now the next chapter will debut another character from Lost Girl.
