Temporary Sanctuary


THE CARAVAN PULLED UP to the side of the nursing home, the engines dying down all at once. Kenzi hopped out of the truck, slinging her backpack over her shoulders and tightened her sword on her hip as her and Daryl joined the others.

"It looks like they're barely holding on as it is." Andrea noted, looking around. "What makes you think they'll take in strangers?"

"With all the guns we gave 'em, they should throw us a party." Daryl cut in. "Good call, for once." he added under his breath, casing a sideways glance towards Rick.

Kenzi rolled her eyes and turned to Lauren, handing her the backpack. "Hold onto that for me?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders.

Lauren nodded, "Sure." she slung the strap on her shoulder, patting Kenzi's arm, walking with Dale and Carol.

Kenzi followed Daryl's footsteps as they went around back, jumping through window-sized holes in the brick. Glenn offered his hand, helping Kenzi get down on the other side. "Yeah, should've worn my combat boots." she chuckled as she landed, cracking a small smile.

"That's never stopped you before." Glenn reminded, staying by his best friend's side.

"True." Kenzi agreed, helping the two kids over the wall. She spotted Carl has he jumped, patting his shoulders in praise. Sophia was a bit more hesitant. "It's alright Sophia, I'll catch ya." she whispered reassuringly.

"Promise?" the little girl asked weakly, clutching her doll tightly.

Kenzi held up her pinky finger, "Promise." she repeated, looping her pinky with Sophia's, giving it a small shake.

A small grin spread across the little girl's face. Sophia took a deep breath and jumped into Kenzi's arms, wrapping hers around the older girl's neck as she was swung around. Even when her feet hit the ground, she still kept hold of Kenzi for a few seconds longer. When she let go, Kenzi ruffled Sophia's hair, the group slowly moving towards the back entrance.

"Something's not right here." Kenzi muttered under her breath as she looked around the area. When she was last there, lookouts were positioned around the perimeter. Now, there was nothing.

"Where're the lookouts?" Glenn questioned, looking over his shoulder at Kenzi.

When the group rounded the corner, they found the answer. Kenzi held her hand up, signaling Lauren and the rest who were behind her to stop. She cast a glance and signaled for Lauren, Carol, Lori, and the kids to stay put. The dark haired girl walked up and stood a few feet between Glenn and T-Dog, pulling her gun from her holster and clicking the safety off. She breathed nice and easy, even as she watched walkers devouring dead Vatos members just a few feet away from her and her friends.

However, it wasn't long before the walkers noticed the group. All of them getting up and heading towards them. Rick quickly looked at everyone, making up his mind, "Screw the noise." He fired a bullet into the head of one walker, and everyone else with guns followed suit, dispatching the rest of the walkers easily before hurrying inside.


Once inside, Rick, Shane, and Daryl started scanning the rooms, checking for anything living or dead. Sophia grabbed onto Kenzi's arm, burying her face in the back of her shirt, letting out a small whimper. "Kenzi, I'm scared."

Kenzi knelt down eye-level, placing her hands on Sophia's shoulders, "Hey, it's okay. We're all scared sweetie." she cupped the little girl's cheek, "But, we can't afford to show it. You've gotta be brave." She kissed Sophia's forehead, before getting to her feet and following Rick as she helped sweep rooms.

When they came across the multipurpose area, they found it was filled with bodies. After sweeping downstairs, they went up. Rick and Shane went down one hallway, Daryl and Kenzi took the other.

An ajar door caught Kenzi's attention and she slowly approached it, hugging the wall with her sword ready to strike. She pushed it open and saw no signs of walkers, but a familiar body was slumped against the back wall. Kenzi bit her lip and stepped back, bumping into Daryl and dropping her sword in the process.

"Watch it." he hissed.

"Sorry." she weakly apologized, her eyes glued to the body. She wiped the stray tear before Daryl could notice it. "It's just, I remember him from-" she sniffled, "-from when I was here last."

Daryl lowered his crossbow and looked inside the room, his stormy blue eyes moving from the body to Kenzi. "Seems like everyone that was here ended up like that."

"His name was Alexei." Kenzi informed, picking up her sword and sheathing it. "He's like me." Daryl looked down at Kenzi, "Russian born in America. His grandparents were both studying over here when they met." a smile crossed her lips, "It was a beautiful story."

Daryl subtly nodded, seeing a hand-made plaque on the door, seeing something hand painted on it, in a language he could assume was Russian. "What's that say?" he asked, nudging Kenzi's arm and motioning to the plaque.

"Oh, um." Kenzi squinted her eyes, "To, naskol'ko khorosho vy zhivete, imeyet znacheniye, a ne to, kak dolgo[1]." she spoke, the words making no sense to Daryl, who just raised an eyebrow. Kenzi chuckled lightly and looked up at him, "How well you live makes a difference, not how long." she translated.

They stood there a few seconds longer, before Daryl cleared his throat, "C'mon, let's regroup." his shoulder brushed against hers as he headed to the staircase.

"Yeah, one minute." Kenzi followed his movement before turning to the deceased elder. She traced a cross in the air over the doorway, "Pokoysya s mirom, Aleksey, gde by vy ni byli.[2]" she muttered, before catching up with Daryl, who waited for her at the top of the stairs.

"Sorry 'bout yer friend." Daryl said in a low voice, sounding a bit uncomfortable at the same time.

Despite knowing that he wasn't the most emotional guy, Kenzi still liked the idea of him trying. She nudged his arm, a small smile on her lips, "Thanks." she slid her hands in her back pockets, "It's just, whoever did that," she shook her head and bit her lip, "a bunch of heartless bastards."

"So, you picked up on it too, huh?" Daryl questioned, glancing at Kenzi out of the corner of his eye.

Kenzi looked up at him, "I'm not blind Daryl." she scoffed. "I can see that Alexei was shot in the head. A walker didn't do that. They're too stupid to use a gun."


Everyone was gathered in the multipurpose area when Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Kenzi joined up with them. "Upstairs is our best bet." Rick told the rest, "We've cleared out a few rooms. We can barricade them if we need to. We'll be alright."

"Are you telling us the truth this time?" Carol asked, "Or are you lying to us like the time before?" her expression was a little less than friendly as she looked to Rick.

"Now, that's not fair." Lori cut in. "And not helpful."

"What the hell happened here, anyway?" Glenn asked, leaning against a table. Kenzi was beside him, sitting on the table with her feet dangling over the edge.

"What does it look like." Andrea said blankly. "They got overrun."

Daryl scoffed at the comment, shaking his head. Andrea took that offensivly and shot him a glare with her arms folded across her chest, "Something you wanna say to me?" she challenged.

"Yeah." Daryl spat. "How 'bout 'observent'."

"Observent." Andrea repeated. "Big word commin' from a guy like you. Three whole syllables."

"Okay, Andrea, that was uncalled for." Kenzi interjected.

"Walkers didn't do this." Daryl explained. "Geeks didn't show up until all this went down." he motioned around the room, "Somebody attacked 'em. Killed everybody here and took whatever they wanted. They're all shot in the head, execution style." by that point, everyone was paying attention and took note of the bullet wounds in the foreheads. "You're worried about walkers? I'd be much more worried about the people that did all this." Daryl swung his crossbow strap over his shoulder, looking in Andrea's direction. "Get a dictonary. Look it up, observent."

Kenzi rolled her eyes and watched as Daryl left the room. She tucked some loose hair behind her ear and jumped down from the table. "I'll go with Lauren and see if we can find anything of use, medical wise." she volunteered, standing next to the female doctor. "Highly doubt it, but, ya never know."

"Good idea Mackenzie." Rick agreed. "Just be careful."

Kenzi nodded and saluted, "Yes sir, sheriff." she gave him a playful wink as her and Lauren walked out.

Lauren couldn't help but smile when she saw that Kenzi hadn't lost any bit of her personality. She wrapped her arm around the younger girl's shoulders, "It's great to see you haven't changed."

"Someone's got to be even a little optimistic around here." Kenzi defended, catching the sight of Daryl tuning his crossbow as he sat alone in the hallway. She looked away before he noticed her and leaned into Lauren's side.


"So, give me the 4-1-1 update on the others. How were they after I left?" Kenzi asked as her and Lauren were scavenging about in the infirmary wing.

"Well, it definitely wasn't the same." Lauren answered, checking a cabinet only to find a few pill bottles, with a few pills in each. "Bo missed you though. She blamed herself for everything that happened."

Kenzi sighed, tapping her nails on the counter, "It had to be done Lauren, it was the only way." she reminded.

"We know Kenzi." Lauren leaned against the cabinet. "But, you mean a lot to us. Losing you tore us all up inside. True, you came back, but then left again. And when you did, you took a little piece of us with you." the doctor managed a smile, her eyes welling with moisture.

Kenzi faced Laueren, smiling back. "I was planning on sending you guys stuff from Spain. Even popping in for a surprise every now and then." she walked over to Lauren and embraced her, "You guys will always be my family, no amount of miles was ever gonna change that." she pulled back, brushing some of Lauren's hair from her face. "You can't get rid of me that easily." Kenzi chuckled.

Lauren caressed the side of the young girl's face, "Bo kept everything you left exactly how you left it. She thought about you every day." she went on. "Even Dyson and Trick admitted they missed you hanging around the Dal. Vex and Tamsin missed you too."

Kenzi's smile widened as she thought of her Fae family. "Of course Vex missed me, we were make-up buddies after all." she chuckled, sniffling. "But, they were all okay?"

"Yeah." Lauren answered. "But, it wasn't the same without you."

That brought tears to Kenzi's eyes. Lauren pulled her into another embrace, rubbing her back. Kenzi wrapped her arms around Lauren and let the tears fall, "I laid awake at night hoping ya'll were okay. Sometimes I found myself wishing I had never left, then we could've taken this thing on together." she pulled back sniffling, wiping her tears away with her sleeve.

"I'm sure they're all okay, wherever they are." Lauren assured. Kenzi nodded in agreement.


After a few more tears, the two walked back to the rest of the group, who were huddled up in a large room. "What did you two find?" Dale asked.

"Just a few pill bottles with barely anything in them, and some basic first aid supplies." Lauren answered, taking an open spot.

"Whoever hit this place didn't leave much." Kenzi shook her head, sitting next to Lauren. She tucked her legs out beside her.

"They also ransacked the kitchen." Shane added, him and Rick joining the rest. "All they left was this." he tossed a large cans of beans to Daryl.

"Looks like it'll be a light meal." T-Dog muttered.

"What else is new?" Andrea pointed out, sitting off on her own.

"Is there any water?" Sophia asked, leaning into her mother's side.

Shane pulled a bottle from his backpack and unscrewed the lid, "It's the only one so just a few sips okay?" he handed the bottle to Carol. "Gotta leave some for everybody."

"What else ya got in there, Shane?" Kenzi raised an eyebrow.

Shane smirked and pulled out bags of salty snacks. "Courtesy of the CDC." he chuckled, "Thought I was gonna be havin midnight snacks in my nice, air-conditioned room. Now, they're dinner." he passed the bags to Glenn, who was dividing the food amongst the group.

Kenzi pulled her backpack out, unzipping it, "Oh Kenz, you didn't." Lauren sighed, shaking her head when Kenzi pulled out a couple bags of animal crackers, tossing them to Carl and Sophia.

"It's like second nature Lauren." Kenzi defended, scratching the back of her head. "Once a thief, always a thief, I guess."

Shane also pulled out a bottle of wine from his backpack. "You gonna share?" Daryl questioned.

"Well, since you kinda saved my life,-" Shane muttered, "I guess I can share it with ya'll."

Everyone shared a laugh while Glenn passed the plates around. Daryl worked on opening the wine bottle. "Just go easy on that." Lori warned, "Let's not forget where we are."

"Yes ma'am." Daryl managed to open the bottle and took the first swig. He passed it to Kenzi, who was next to him, she took it with a smile and raised it eye-level before taking a swig. The bottle continued around the circle.

Kenzi pulled a half-empty bottle of peach flavored vodka from her bag, "Being true to the sterotype." she giggled, unscrewing the lid. "Russian's love their vodka." she raised the bottle, "Privetstviya[3]." Kenzi put the bottle to her lips and took a drink.

T-Dog took his plate out of the room and sat on watch at the top of the stairs. Dale took a plate over to Andrea who didn't seem all that welcoming.

"Who would do something like this?" Glenn questioned, leaning against a shelf. "Just come in here and murder everyone, even all the old people-"

"Glenn." Kenzi cut him off, seeing the scared looks on Carl and Sophia's faces. "We really shouldn't talk about that right now."


Rick, Shane, Glenn, Daryl, left the room and joined Dale and T-Dog by the stairs. Kenzi patted Lauren's shoulder as she got up to follow. "The kids in there are terrified about all this." she muttered, folding her arms over her chest.

"And the women too." Shane added, earning a narrow glare from Kenzi.

"Sorry." Glenn apologized.

"Hey, we're all a little rattled right now." Rick pointed out. "But we need to start thinking clearly. All our lives depend on it."

"Damn right." Shane agreed. "We can't ever let our guard down again. Back at camp, having us a fish-fry with no one on watch. People died that didn't need to."

"So, Fort Benning is the consensus huh?" Kenzi questioned, sitting against the wall with her knees to her chest, in between Daryl and Glenn.

"It's better then here." T-Dog noted, taking a drink from the wine bottle.

"We're wasting fuel using so many vehicles. We need to lose a few." Rick suggested. "We'll siphon gas from all the vehicles we don't take. That should get us free of the city."

"At least that's a start." Dale agreed. "But, the RV should be one vehicle we take."

"That goes without saying, Dale." Kenzi spoke up. "The RV can hold the most people, plus a lot of our supplies is stored on it."

"Let's just get some shut-eye for now." Shane interjected. He looked over at T-Dog, "I'll spare ya in an hour, T."

The rest got to their feet and went back to join the others. Shane pulled Kenzi aside, "So Kenz, how well do you know that doctor?" he asked, rubbing his nose.

"Excuse me?" Kenzi scoffed, offended by the question.

"How well do you know Dr. Lewis?" Shane repeated, slowly.

"Well, considering I have awoken to many mornings with Lauren making breakfast in my kitchen wearing nothing but my sister's kimono." she stated, "Safe to say I know her pretty well. why even ask me that?"

"With what went down here, we can't be too careful." Shane defended. "Keeping our guard up means being wary of others. You never know-"

Kenzi held up her hand, "I'm gonna stop you right there Shane." she cut him off. "Lauren's a doctor. A good doctor." she emphasized. "She saved my life." Seeing Shane's eyes widen, Kenzi nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. I was pale as a ghost, bleeding from the eyes, so close to kicking the bucket. But, good ol' Dr. Lauren found what she needed and saved me." She flipped her hair off her shoulders. "Wanna know anything else?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Nah." Shane cleared his throat, turning to leave, but Kenzi stepped into his path. "What?"

"Just fair warning," Kenzi replied, her tone harsh and threatening. "If I catch you interrogating Lauren or questioning her, I'll castrate you." she narrowed her piercing blue eyes, watching Shane as he left and entered the room where the rest of the group was.

"Damn Kenz, that was intense." Glenn muttered, standing next to his best friend.

"Can't help, the dude just gets under my skin." the young girl defended. "He's been giving me the side-eye ever since I came to camp, all because I did a few checkered things in my past."

"Don't mind him." Glenn advised, patting her shoulder as he walked off.

Kenzi sighed and turned to see Rick standing behind her, "Anythin' I gotta know about?" he asked.

"No." Kenzi answered. "It's just, Shane's never really liked me. I told him I was a thief before and well, I've been getting side-eyes ever since." she shrugged. "No big, not like I really care. It's not like he's a saint himself."

Rick chukled, "Shane's always been a little rough around the edges." he admitted.

Kenzi looked up at him, "You really think Fort Benning is the way to go?" she asked, shifting her weight between her feet.

Rick nodded, "It's the safest bet so far."

"Okay. That's all I needed to know." Kenzi slid her hands in her jean pockets. "I trust you Rick, and I don't trust people that easily." she held her hand out, a smile on her face.

Rick shook the young Russian's hand, "Thank you, Mackenzie." he released her hand and placed his on her shoulder, kissing the top of her head before joining his wife and son for the night.

That just left Daryl and Kenzi alone in the hallway. "You got guts girl, I'll give ya that." he noted, looking down at the younger girl.

"Wow, I think that's the first compliment you've given me." Kenzi chuckled, cracking a smile. She looked up and met his eyes, feeling her cheeks heat up. "Anyway, um, back at the CDC, when it blew-" she cleared her throat, "thanks for, um, shielding me, I guess."

This time, Daryl cleared his throat and shook his head, "Don't mention it." he replied, "Go get some rest, I'll stand watch with T-Dog."

Kenzi nodded, "Okay. Well, good night, Daryl." she gave him a warm smile before heading into the room where the rest of the group was.

Kenzi took the spot next to Lauren, who was already asleep. She smiled and unbuckled her sword and laid it beside her, laying on her back with her hands behind her head. Closing her eyes, she thought about her Fae family, remembering them and all the fun times they shared. Before she knew it, Kenzi had drifted off, dreaming of the time she would be reunited with Bo and everyone else.


A/N: So, this begins Season2! Hope ya'll like it and are looking forward to what's to come. I'd like to thank Ivy801 for the latest review. Don't worry, there will be plenty more mentions of other Lost Girl characters, all in due time. Reviews are always appreciated!

Translations:

[1] "To, naskol'ko khorosho vy zhivete, imeyet znacheniye, a ne to, kak dolgo."= "How well you live makes a difference, not how long."

[2] "Pokoysya s mirom, Aleksey, gde by vy ni byli"= "Rest in peace, Alexei, wherever you are."

[3] "Privetstviya."= "Cheers."