A/N: I'm surprised with how quickly this story is moving along. I'm also surprised that this story is even getting noticed considering that A New Frontier is the big thing, now. Thanks so much to those who are reading the story! And before you ask, no, this chapter is not the end of the story; give it maybe two or three more.

Translations; "goat" - got
"cowp" - knock down
"Ah dinna ken" - I don't know
"Pure givin' me th' boak" - Expression of disgust
"Skinny Malinky Longlegs" - Tall, thin person

Chapter Genre: Action, Angst

Chapter Rating: T

Rating Content: Mild Scenes of Gore, Mild Scenes of Blood, Mild Scenes of Violence, Brief Language

Savannah was extremely... dead. There was no other word for it, it was just dead. There weren't any Chompers, there wasn't any people, there wasn't much of anything. Just lots of roads and streets and houses and trees. Cars were stripped of their tires and engine parts, trash was all over the streets. All the houses were boarded up, the doors were replaced with wooden planks and those wooden planks had some strange symbols on them. She tried figuring out what they were the first time she saw one, but she just gave up on it after Kenny snapped at her to keep up with the rest of the group.

The lack of Chomper activity was putting Marianne on edge.

She had her school jacket off and tied around her waist and she was carrying the crossbow, loaded and ready to fire. She gave the hatchet to Ben in case something happened. Things could go very well, of course, but knowing the world they were in now, that was highly unlikely.

The silence was broken (finally) by Lee. "How's Omid?"

A small look of concern fell on Christa's face. "His leg's pretty bad..."

"I'm fine..."

"You're not fine; you need to rest." She looked back to Lee. "He needs to rest!"

"Kenneth!" Marianne called to the front. "How much farther are th' boats?"

"Should be just a few more blocks up ahead." Was his quiet reply.

This man, she thought, was determined to find a boat. She quietly reflected back on what Chuck had said; finding a boat wasn't new. If that was true, then there was a chance that there wouldn't be any boats left at all.

"Have ye ever considered tha' there may no' be any boats at all, Kenny?" Marianne asked. "Savannah seems pretty quiet; many people have probably already used th' boats tae leave th' city, an'-"

"There's going to be at least one boat!" Kenny snapped at her. "There has to be..."

"It's okay, Maria." Ben whispered to her. "Kenny knows what he's doing."

She made a face at him. Really, Benjamin?

Marianne jumped at the sound of a bell, making her fire her crossbow at the brick wall of a church. "Whoops..." She tittered.

Everyone looked up to the bell tower. "Maybe this city's not so dead after all..." Christa stated.

"Keep moving!" Kenny growled. "No-one's ringing that bell; it's automatic, on a timer."

Lee looked down at his wrist-watch. "What kind of church bell goes off at twenty past the hour?"

Marianne pulled the arrow from the wall of the church and looked around. "Ah dinnae know, nor do Ah care. One thing Ah do care about is movin'!"

Static could be heard coming from the walkie-talkie on Lee's belt and then a deep, almost menacing voice came soon after. "If I were you, I'd get out of the street. Now."

"I thought you said that thing didn't work, Lee." Carley said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes slightly.

Lee pulled the talkie from his belt and pressed the button on the side of it. "Hello, are you there?"

There was only static.

"Hello?"

Everyone waited, then, looking around warily for any signs of activity or life. As the bell died down, Omid asked, "What the hell even was that? Is someone trying to fuck with us?"

"Sounded more like a warning..." Ben commented.

"An' whit would th' bell be telling us, Benjamin?" Marianne snapped at him.

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls..."

Kenny rolled his eyes and turned around. "What're you yammerin' about?"

Everyone then turned to look back at where they had first come from. Their eyes widened.

"It tolls for thee..." Chuck finished.

Another herd of Chompers was headed their way, no doubt attracted to the sound the bell had created, and they were walking pretty fast. Could they smell flesh as well? Or do they just see things and eat them if they're warm enough?

"Everybody, run!" Lee shouted.

Everyone immediately took off down the street, slowly fanning out as they did. Ben made sure to stick close to Marianne. She shot at a Chomper that was directly ahead of them and stopped to pick up the arrow on the way. "Ye better get tha' hatchet ready, Benjamin!"

"It's not a gun, Maria!"

"Ye know full well wha' Ah mean, lad!"

"A little help, here!"

Marianne turned to see that Clementine and Carley had gotten cornered by a group of Chompers. Carley was firing at them with her gun as Clementine hid behind her. How did Clementine get separated from Lee?

She fought against the instinct to run away from the danger and aimed her crossbow, firing an arrow at the Chomper nearest to them. She quickly pulled another from her back pack and loaded it into the crossbow, firing it at another Chomper. How did they get cornered so easily?

As Marianne continued to thin the numbers from around Carley and Clementine, she failed to notice the Chomper walking up behind her.

Ben looked to his side to see that Marianne was gone. Where did she go? He turned around to see her shooting at Walkers that had cornered Carley and Clementine. When did she stop and how did he not notice she wasn't at his side?

One Walker was sneaking directly behind her, its arms outstretched and ready to grab her. How didn't she hear it?

"Maria, behind you!" He shouted.

His warning came far too late. As she turned around, the Walker immediately grabbed her and sunk its teeth into her shoulder, making her shriek with pain and drop her crossbow

The horrible pain Marianne was feeling made her absolutely weak, her knees buckling from under her and making her fall. This is it, she thought. My final moment, my final breath. 'Lord, please let my soul rest...'

Over the sound of the growling Chomper, she heard a gunshot and the feeling of teeth sinking into her flesh was gone. Fueled by adrenaline, Marianne pushed the undead creature from atop her and looked up to see that Carley had shot it. She held out a hand. "Let's go!"

She didn't hesitate in grabbing her hand and standing up. She favoured her right shoulder as they ran away from the danger, ignoring the warm liquid that ran through her fingers.

"Move your asses!" Kenny hollered. "River street's right up ahead!"

"That's not all..." Ben warned him.

Another group of Chompers was just down the street, most likely attracted to the gunfire.

"Oh, give me a fucking break!"

Christa looked around. "Wait, where the hell is Chuck?"

Marianne looked back and saw Chuck fighting off a group of Chompers, right at the corner where Carley and Clementine had been caught. So that's how they escaped...

"He's in trouble!" Omid exclaimed. "We gotta help him!"

"There's no time! We gotta go, now!" Kenny said.

"I'll be fine!" Chuck shouted, swinging his shovel and cutting through the head of a Chomper. "Just go!"

Kenny took off down a road and the rest of the group followed close behind him, not keen on getting separated again.

/ / /

Kenny turned into an open gate and through an open gate. He then ran around the side of the house, where another gate was. Most likely the entrance to the back yard.

He opened the gate to let everyone in. "I'll get the door."

Marianne threw her back pack off of her and collapsed against the high wall and growled, clenching at her still-bleeding shoulder. Omid tripped and fell down beside her as Lee closed the gate behind him.

"Are you okay?" Lee asked.

"Yeah..."

"You've opened up your wound; you're bleeding!" Christa quickly assessed his leg. "Shit, it's going to get infected; we need to get him inside and clean him up!"

Lee looked over to Kenny. "How's that door coming?"

"I'm working on it, okay?!" The older man snapped.

Christa glared and crossed her arm. "Well work faster, would you?" She hissed. "It won't be long before those things outside figure out where we went! You know they can smell blood!"

"Lady, I ain't the one bleeding!" Kenny growled.

Marianne untied the jacket from around her waist and quickly applied the sleeve to her wound. If Chompers could smell blood, then hers combined with Omid's would definitely help the Chompers in finding them a lot quicker. Why was it hurting so much? It didn't hurt this bad when she had first got bitten!

Carley saw the teenager in obvious distress and she knelt down beside her. "Maria, are you okay? Did you..." She lowered her voice. "Did it bite you."

The silence was an answer enough for her.

"You need to say something." Carley told her. "Now."

"An' what; make everyone worry about th' bite an' gettin' inside?"

"It's calm right now, the worst danger is over."

Christa soon saw the two girls whispering at each other and she immediately called them out on it. "What's going on?" She asked them. "What's wrong with your shoulder, Marianne?"

"Only... my maw can call me Marianne!" She hissed.

"What's wrong with your shoulder?" Christa asked again.

Everyone's attention was turned to Marianne, then, who felt almost scared being under their scrutiny. She looked at Carley, who raised her eyebrows. 'Can't hide it, now.'

Marianne removed the jacket sleeve from her shoulder and everyone gasped.

"You got bit?!" Kenny asked.

"Ah was helpin' Carley an' Clementine!" She quickly tried to explain, her brogue growing thicker from the panic. "An' Ah didnae pay attention an' a Chomper goat th' jump oan me an' managed to cowp me, an'-"

"Maria," Carley tutted. "Calm down!"

"Nae, ye stop flappin'!" She exclaimed.

Lee quickly interjected before any rash statements could be made. "Look, we'll deal with it once we get inside. For now, we need to focus on just that; getting inside!"

Carley helped to apply pressure to the bite, making Marianne hiss in pain. "Ahm such a huddy..."

"A... what?"

"An idiot, Carley! Ah should have heard tha' Chomper..."

She wiped at the blood and turned the jacket over to the cleaner side. "Well... your survived one bite, maybe you can survive another."

Marianne shook her head. "Ah dinna ken, Carley. Ah doubt it works tha' way."

As Carley helped clean the bite wound, Marianne looked around the back yard. It was fairly spacious, guarded by a brick wall and spiked fence. There was a shed covered in vines, a fountain that didn't run and a dog house. Beside the dog house there was a grave with a cross. She already knew what was buried under all that dirt.

"Whoever heard of a locked doggie door?" She heard Kenny ask.

"I have." Omid replied. "My neighbour had one just like that. It's radio controlled, the dog wears a collar with a chip in it so the door only opens when the dog gets close."

Kenny shrugged slightly. "Well, shit; every day's a school day."

Ben looked around. "All right, so... where's the dog?"

Marianne pointed with her left arm. "Buried. Over there."

"How would you know?" Kenny snapped.

"Who would bury a human by a dug house, Kenneth?"

"Well, you're already bitten, so how's about you test that theory?"

Well, at least she knew where he stood about her being bitten. Marianne huffed defiantly and stood up. "Alright, then!"

She looked around and saw a shovel, conveniently leaning against the wall of the shed. Good; she wasn't about to dig up the dog with her bare hands. She walked over and grabbed the shovel, shooting Kenny a dirty look before making her way over to the grave.

She hesitated slightly. She never really enjoyed graves. Even just going to a cemetery made her skin itch and shivers run down her spine. It was a sort of respect for the dead; when they're buried, they're laid to rest. Ever since she was little, she always felt that walking over top of graves was already bad enough, and she did not enjoy the idea of digging up a grave, even if it was just an animal's grave.

"Hey, be careful." Omid warned her. "Digging up dead things isn't what it used to be, know what I mean?"

She nodded. "Aye, ah hear ye."

Marianne pushed the shovel into the soft dirt, wincing as a sharp pain shot through her right arm. Lee, Clementine and Ben approached her, almost as if they were interested to see what she was going to unearth.

She scooped up another pile of dirt and a sudden stench filled her nostrils, causing her to gag heavily. "Pure givin' me the' boak, tha' is!" She groaned. Gritting her teeth, she dug up the last of the dirt and stuck the shovel into the soil beside her. It was definitely a dog. Or whatever was left of it.

It looked more like one of the Walkers outside; the eyes were gone and exposed the sockets underneath, the fangs were bared and the body was thin and frail. She could almost see the ribs of the dog. Bits and pieces of rotting flesh held fast to the bones.

Marianne groaned in disgust and knelt down, hesitantly reaching out towards the carcass. She lifted it up by the collar and the flesh could be heard moving against the collar. "Ben, lad, give me th' hatchet."

Before the tool touched her hand, the head of the dog fell off and the collar slipped off of the spine, making everyone groan in disgust. Marianne pushed herself back to avoid touching the head.

"Okay, that is not cool." Ben stated.

Christa could be heard vomiting over by the wall. "Are you okay?" Clementine asked her.

Christa wiped her mouth and forced a smile down at the little girl. "I'm fine, sweety. It's just the smell."

Omid looked clearly concerned. "Are you sure you-"

"I said I'm fine, okay?"

Marianne handed the collar to Lee. "Good luck fittin' in tha' duggy door, Lee."

"I could maybe reach up and grab the lock."

She watched as Lee unlocked the doggy door and, getting on his hands and knees, attempted to reach up to the lock. "Bloody eejit..." She muttered, standing up and wiping herself off. "Oy, let Mister Skinny Malinky Longlegs do it." She said, pointing to Ben. "He can probably-"

Clementine suddenly crawled underneath the door.

"Clem!" Lee called out. "Are you okay? Say something!"

When no response came from within the house, a feeling of dread soon overcame Marianne. "Oh, Lord..."

The knob turned, the door opened and Clementine jumped out. "Ta-da!" She exclaimed.

"Way to go, Clem!" Lee praised her.

"Aye, well done, lass!"

"I did good, right?"

Lee crouched down and smiled at the girl. "Yes, you did. You did good!"

"Could we maybe have this conversation inside?" Omid asked as he stood. "My leg is starting to hurt like hell."

/ / /

The house was empty, but extremely elegant. High walls, archways for doors, beautiful kitchen and living room. And, thankfully, the still had furniture left in the house.

Marianne collapsed into a chair and held onto her shoulder. Ben was immediately concerned; she looked a lot worse than the first time she had been bitten. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. "How're you feeling, Maria?"

"Just... peachy..." She hissed.

As soon as Omid was settled onto the couch in the living room, Christa made her way to the kitchen. "So," Christa started. "When were you going to tell us about the radio?"

"Tell you what?" Kenny asked.

"That it's working! There's someone else on the end of that thing; didn't you think it would be important to share with the rest of us?"

Carley walked away from them, not wanting to get in the middle of an argument. "I'll go and check the house to see if it's safe." She quickly gave Marianne her jacket before going off into another room.

"I was going to tell you." Lee explained. "Kenny and I only found out just yesterday."

Christa placed a hand on her hip, clearly unimpressed. "So the both of you were keeping it from us. Great."

"Who gives a shit about the damn radio?" Kenny shook his head and pointed to Marianne. "We got a damn bite victim in the group again!"

Ben glared at him. "Hey, lay off, man! Maria's been bitten before, she can pull through again."

"And then what? She said she got sick when she was bitten, who's to say she won't get sick again? She could slow us down, drain the little resources we have left!"

"Are ye sayin' Ah should leave, Kenneth?" Marianne asked. "Because Ahm more than willin' tae if yer going tae act like tha'."

"All the better for us, then!" Kenny crossed his arms and glared at the teenager.

Lee quickly interjected. "Nobody is leaving this group; we don't kick people out, and we don't abandon people. We try and help them."

"There's no helping someone who's bitten!" Kenny countered.

"Ah was plannin' oan leavin' anywa-"

"Kenny," Lee lowered his voice, trying not to yell back at the man. "I understand why you're upset about this, but we can't jump to conclusions. She probably won't turn."

"'Probably'. Probably? Since when do we have a 'probably' in that kind of a sentence?! If -when- she does turn, that's each and every one of us in danger! Think about Clementine!"

Marianne raised her hand. "If Ah could maybe just-"

"I am thinking about Clementine, Ken!" Lee gestured to Marianne. "But I'm also thinking about her. If we kick her out, leave her on her own, and she survives the bite but dies from something else, that's her blood on our hands!"

"I'd rather have her blood on my hands than the blood of everyone else in the group." Kenny pushed past Lee and made his way over to the bitten teenager. "She goes, now!"

Ben stood from his chair. "Don't touch her!"

Kenny scoffed. "What're you gonna do, Ben?"

Marianne, now tired with being ignored, gathered as much air into her lungs as possible and shouted at the very top of her lungs. "MAY AH SPEAK?!"

Dead silence filled the house and Marianne looked around, her hazel eyes darting from person to person. She sighed and brushed back her hair. "Thank ye..." Huffing heavily, she sternly addressed Kenny, who had his fists clenched at his sides. "Would it make ye happy if Ah were tae tell ye tha' Ah was already plannin' oan leavin'?"

Kenny's eyes widened in shock and his hands relaxed. "What?"

"This group?" She gestured around her. "Is already fallin' apart. First, ye murder Larry. Then, Lilly cracked an' murdered Travis..." Her voice cracked slightly at the mention of his name and she cleared her throat. "An' then she left. Katjaa an' Duck are... an' then Chuck is most likely havin' his innards eaten out by Chompers." She then gestured to him. "An' yer stir-crazy oan findin' a boat an' yer thinking only fer yerself, no' wanting tae listen tae what others have tae say. It's only a matter o' time before someone else dies, someone else is murdered or left behind. Ah dinnae want tae be around when this group falls, Kenneth."

Kenny glared at her, his anger returned and rekindled. "I'm not thinking for myself; I'm thinking for everyone else here!"

"Yes, ye are! Yer thinkin' about Katjaa an' Duck an' what happened. Ye dinnae want tae face another turning victim. Yer scared, Kenneth!"

"The hell do you know-"

Marianne slammed her fist into the table. "An' yer scaring me!" She sighed and stood from her chair, rubbing at her eyes. "It's like yer a robot, focused oan one thing. Ye want tae find a boat, but did ye ever consider there may no' be anymore? Savannah is dead, Kenneth, an' in more ways than one."

"We are going to find a-"

"An' yet yer still willing tae sacrifice anyone an' anything tae get tae one! Tha' truly scares me, the mere thought tha' ye'd be willing tae abandon someone fer the sake of a plan filled with holes!" She finally looked up to the older man, lifting her chin defiantly. "If ye still fail tae see tha', then my point shall be proven." She then pointed to the door. "An' Ah'll walk straight outta here."

Nobody dared to speak or to even move as the two people stared each other down, one with a blazing fire behind their eyes, the other with a shimmering flame in theirs. Marianne narrowed her eyes slightly and Kenny's lip curled slightly in a snarl.

Carley walked into the living room, ready to announce the safety of the lower and upper floor. She then saw how everyone else was silent, and how Marianne and Kenny were staring each other down. She had assumed that Marianne had only gotten impatient when she shouted, but apparently it wasn't just impatience. So, she slowly backed up and away from the two, sitting down quietly on a chair in the living room.

Kenny swallowed and the curl in his lip disappeared. Marianne smiled.

"Fine." He gritted. "You can stay. But we are finding a damn boat."

Marianne's smile immediately disappeared and was replaced with a frown. She shook her head in disbelief and she blinked rapidly. "Ye still think yer going tae find a boat?"

"I don't think, I know!"

Her lip quivered slightly and she sighed, looking down at the floor. "Very well."

She pulled on her jacket and grabbed the hatchet Ben left on the table, putting it in her back pack. Zipping it up, she huffed and swung it over her good shoulder. "Ah'd wish ye luck, Ken, but yer going tae need a bloody miracle tae find a boat."

Ben suddenly stood up and grabbed her arm. "You're not seriously going to leave, are you?"

Marianne quirked her eyebrows. "We talked about this, Benjamin. Ye already know how Ah felt."

"Then I'm going with you!"

"Yer no' afraid of me turning?"

"You won't turn."

Carley also stood up. "Hold on, you're actually leaving?!"

Marianne rolled her eyes and groaned. "Aye, we established this!"

Lee stepped forward and placed a reassuring (and light) hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to leave, Maria. At all. Kenny is not the leader, here."

"But he seems tae think he is."

Christa then also stepped forward. "Maria, think about what you're doing. There's a whole group of those things out there!"

"Please don't go, Maria..."

Marianne turned around to see a teary-eyed Clementine. "You're my friend! What about when we did leaf rubbings together?"

She sighed quietly and approached the young girl, crouching down to her level. "An' Ah truly had fun with ye, Clementine. But Ah dinnae want tae scare ye or anyone else here."

"But you don't scare me!" She exclaimed. "You didn't turn the first time you got bitten, right? Well, maybe you won't turn again!"

She smiled and gently placed her hands on her shoulders. "Ah would like tae think tha' as well, Clementine. But Ah dinnae think it will work this time. Ahm thinking about yer own safety, sweetheart."

"Just let her go, Clementine." Kenny ordered her. "She wants to leave, so let her leave."

"Kenny, are you fucking serious?!" Carley asked. "You're going to let a teenager walk alone out there?"

"I'm not letting her, she's leaving on her own choice."

"Then I'm going with her."

Marianne immediately stood and shook her head. "Nae, Ah already have Benjamin coming along with me, Ah dinnae need a... what is it called, a 'third wheel'?"

Carley crossed her arms defiantly. "You need someone who can shoot a gun. You can't survive with just a baby hatchet."

She rolled her eyes and spun around on her heel, gesturing with her hand. "Anyone else volunteer as tribute, hm?"

Nobody responded, not even Lee. Omid, who hadn't said a single word, finally spoke. "Was that a Hunger Games reference?"

"Ahm going tae take tha' as a 'nae'." Marianne readjusted the back pack on her shoulder. "If tha's everyone, then Ah best get my rear going."

She walked towards the front door with Ben and Carley following close behind her, briefly giving Kenny a dirty glare. She put a hand on the doorknob and she turned around. "Ah'll be seein' all o' ye sometime. Hopefully, no' too soon. God bless each an' every one o' ye!"

She twisted the doorknob and, with a small huff, walked outside.