A/N: I'm so so so sorry it's taken me this long to get this chapter to you! I've had a lot of drama going on in my life and haven't had the time to post. Hopefully I'll be able to get you all the next chapter in a week or so! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all of this. No infringement intended.

Inspired by The Walking Dead.

"Hey, Bella, come out here for a second." My dad yelled from the back porch of the house. I pushed through the door and raised my eyebrows at them all.

They were all standing around with weapons. There were some knives, a couple screwdrivers, and some other random items that could be used as weapons.

"What are you doing?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips and looking between them all.

"We're getting everybody a couple small weapons for safety. Now pick your choice."

"Why?" I huffed.

My dad rolled his eyes at me, "Bella just pick something."

"Why?" I asked again.

He let out a groan. "Bella, pick a damn weapon."

"I just don't get why!"

"So you don't die," Edward muttered from my dads side. To which my dad immediately agreed. He opened his eyes wide and gestured with his hands to Edward.

I narrowed my eyes at both of them and sent everybody a glare. I huffed again before stomping forward and grabbing two knives up out of the group of them.

"Happy now?" I asked, turning on my heel and heading back inside.

"Very!" My dad shouted as I walked through the doorway.

I rolled my eyes even though he wouldn't see and went to sit at the dinner table. Esme walked out from another room a couple minutes later and came over to sit down next to me.

"What's up?" she asked, noticing the way that I was holding myself. I had just been on edge the past day. I was overwhelmed with Leah's death and everything that had been happening lately.

"Nothing," I told her lamely.

She looked at me skeptically, "You can't lie to me, you know."

I shrugged.

"How about you tell me something that isn't bullshit?"

I held back the urge to roll my eyes at her too. "I just feel useless. Jessica has been helping out a lot with Gracie, which I'm so thankful for, but I just have nothing to do around here. I feel like I should be doing something."

"I understand. I feel the same way too. I'm so used to doing things throughout my day, that just sitting around doing nothing, is so boring."

"Yes! Exactly!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air. She laughed at me before leaned close towards me.

"You've heard the men talk about planning some kind of trip into the town haven't you?" I nodded. "Why don't we plan our own."

…

One of the main things that we needed, other than food, in the long run, was supplies. We needed first aid. Medicines, bandages, anything that could help.

There were the obvious medicines that were easier to obtain, such as Tylenol and ibuprofen. But there were other medicines that we didn't have such easy access to. Ones like heavy duty pain pills and antibiotics. Medicines that we would undoubtedly need at some point.

We needed supplies from hospitals.

Esme and I went out to the front porch, a notepad and a pen. We sat on the top step and made a list. She wrote as I named things off.

Then we started to make a plan. Esme had been listening in to the small details that the men had been discussing. She also mentioned key points that Edward had offered up when they left their house. The plan we made, it was long, it was detailed, it was organized.

"What are you two doing?" Rose asked as she walked out to join us on the porch. She plopped down next to Esme who widened her eyes at me.

I shrugged, "Planning a trip."

"Really?" Her eyes opened wide and she bit her lip. Almost in excitement.

Esme and I both nodded.

"Okay, hit me with it."

After we got done going over every little detail, Rose had a smile a mile wide on her face. She was giddy. Filled with excitement to get out of the house, desire to prove herself to the men who had secluded us from their own plans. We were all ready to fulfill our plans.

...

"Bewwa!" Gracie cried, holding her arms out for me as I walked into the living room. I smiled, scooping her up in my arms and setting her on my hip.

The past couple days she had grown loud. She had always been a chatty child but since the day that everything broke out, she had been in a funk. She had been reflecting her mothers energy after her dad was gone. And when Leah, passed away, Gracie had been quiet then too.

I wasn't sure if she had a single clue as to what was going on, but I prayed that she didn't. A child didn't need to know what was happening, maybe when she was older, but right now, there was no need. I wasn't going to hold in the truth from her, there was no doubt about it. But I wasn't going to remind her daily.

"Hi, Gracie-Poo. What's up?" I asked bouncing her.

She smiled her wide smile at me before clapping her hands. She always did that, clapped.

"Where mommy and dada?" Her little voice was quiet and her big eyes were wide.

This was the question I had been waiting for. The one that I didn't know how to answer. Any other question Id be able to answer. Any other. But this one, this one was the hardest question that I may have to ever face.

How do you tell a toddler that both her parents were now dead?

I looked around the room and saw multiple people's eyes staring at us. They had heard her ask and were waiting to see what I would do. I locked eyes with my dad and he moved to stand but I quickly shook my head. He lowered back all the way down into his chair but held his eyes trained on us.

I turned my face away and briskly walked into the closest bedroom. Gracie was still staring up at me. Just waiting for me to answer her question.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and gently placed her on my lap. I bounced her on my legs and she just watched me.

"You know how there's a place up in the sky? Heaven?" She nodded her head but I wasn't sure if she actually understood. "God is up there, because that is where he lives. He has people who live with him. They go to live with him when it isn't time for them to be here anymore." I paused to sigh and take a deep breath. I needed to clear my head but I needed to explain this to her. I had no idea if it would get across, if she would understand. But I had to try, right? And this seemed like the easiest way to do it. "Well, your mom and dad got hurt, and they had to go live up in heaven with God. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She nodded her little head as tears filled her eyes. "Does that mean that I won't see them again?"

That's when I started to cry. I tried to hold my tears in the whole time I was explaining it to her but at her question I couldn't hold them in any longer.

They spilled over my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I watched as the same happened to Gracie.

"No, baby," I choked out as I rocked her. She cried with me. Sobs that made her small body shake.

The thought of her so upset made me cry even harder. I held her close and she buried her face in my chest.

"I'm so sorry," I told her, my voice clogged with tears. She looked up at me, her eyes filled with anguish.

"I miss them," her voice couldn't hold steady and broke even harder at her words.

This girl hadn't been alive for more than a couple years, yet she understood things much better than others at her age would.

"I do, too, baby. I do, too," I whispered, pressing my lips against her head and rocking her in my arms. I rocked her until she cried herself to sleep. She was all cried out.

Once my tears subsided, I laid her down in the bed, moving pillows around her so she wouldn't roll off the side. I stood up and rubbed my hands over my tired face. I didn't bother trying to make myself look better before walking out of the room. In this time, nobody expected you to look good. There were people dying all around us, we couldn't be concerned with what we looked like. We could on be concerned with staying alive.

My dad walked over and pulled me into a hug as soon as he saw me, "How's she doing?"

I shrugged, "I tried to explain it to her the best that I could, but I don't know if she really understands it. But she said that she did." He kissed the top of my head and dropped his arms from around me.

Esme waved me over to sit next to her on the couch, "Darling, come here." She patted the spot next to her before I plopped down. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and I leaned into her side.

Esme had quickly became like a mother figure to me. She was there for me, and had given me advice about Gracie, more than once. She was fiercely protective, and loyal. She was a strong woman, she didn't take shit from anyone, and wasn't afraid to put somebody in their place.

That's when the men around the room started talking about their trip that they were planning.

"I think two cars would be the best option," Edward muttered, "That was we can stuff one of them with everything, while two people are in it, and then there can be more people in the other car, with a smaller amount of supplies that we gather."

"No," my dad argued, "we should take one car, that way we aren't wasting gas. Think about it, gas it going to become hard to get. Who knows when the next time we'll be able to get some is?"

"Then we won't be able to get as many supplies." His voice was gruff as he argued with my father. Most of the other men around the room were sitting back and watching this fold out.

"Less people will go," my father countered.

Emmett broke in, "We need multiple people. We can't just send two off and hope for the best. Right now, our strength is in numbers. We aren't used to these things yet. We've only had to fight them a few times, that doesn't give us enough preparation."

All the men broke in, continuing to argue between themselves.

Esme and Rose both looked at me, shaking their heads with smiles on their faces.

"Fucking idiots." Esme Cullen.

"I can't wait to see their faces when we come back." And that would be Rose.

I smiled, excited to show them that we can actually do something that they think us unable to do.