Finding a church made of new, modern brick and the size of a two bedroom house in an enclosed forest was an understatement to how lucky Malachy and Katherine McKinney had gotten over the past two months. They had a group of eight, not including them, and they were all killed in an overcrowd that surrounding the church because of the smell that came from a few foxes and wild dogs that were trapped and died inside. The Sargent and the military Doctor had taken them all out with their twelve years and twenty years of experience before holding the church with all of the bags, clothes and food that belonged to the ranges of age that was in their group.
The church was two miles in the centre of the forest, right away from open road and they had created a steep moat around it, blocking the doors, which were filled up with gasoline, for when the time came. They got in and out by a tunnel that was made a few years before, it lead up to a creek, a non-polluted river and a clear road where they could get to the closest town, which wasnDay two hundred and ninety seven sis, God bless uncle Dermot,s thick Irish accent entered up from a small shaft, into what was the priestt want to bring in the walkers again. They were never clean either, but they boiled water to attempt to get a hot bath in the metal tins they found in the wine cellar in the tunnel. For an apocalypse, they did look good, Katherine couldnFor the gun supply or for me?s earthly voice, popping out from behind the door, her deep toffee hair falling off her shoulder with her half-moon glasses perched on her nose, probably getting stuck into the small libraryt, Katherine would have never gotten her brother back.
MalachySo I was thinking, beef? Theret look sick,You Katherine chuckled, her redheaded brother following her into the next room where the benches had been broken up, made together for beds or firewood. Her pale green eyes flickered over at the statue of JC, and up at the line of five, small bells that had been set up on a wooden plate, each one attached to strong wire that alerted them if someone, or a walker had breached into the mile radius around the church, parting off some of the creek and their cars.
Malachy questioned with a grin, bright blue eyes glinting, setting down the guns that he had one him, apart from his trusted handgun he had first received in the army and into a drawer where piles of others were, thanks to the rest of their group.
She told him, crossing her arms over the black and red flowered tank top that fitted tight around her petite body, heavy chest and covered her numerous Latin tattoos around the bottom of her shoulder blades, but the ugly scar that wrapped all the way around her right arm was visible.
He chucked her three packets of Marlboro Red and her keys to her their fatherYou didn Katherine gasped at her baby being mistreated by her bother as she stuck the pockets in her shredded jeans.
t think we were going anywhere for a while,There Malachy narrowed his eyes with the dramatic voice, grabbing his guns and loading up again, and Katherine grabbed her worn out leather jacket, material cut around the sleeves. She shrugged it on and putting the handguns in her thigh holster, tight around her shredded denim jeans and put the hunting knife in the side of her low heel ankle boot.
t take too much, if it Katherine warned him, grabbing her sniper, clutching it in her fingerless gloves and they headed back into the room with the shaft, making sure to shut the hatch behind them as they headed down.
t want those sons of bitches eating my dinner before I get the chance to cook it,Come on,Hold up,t close to being a walker, wearing a dirtied SheriffA kid?Keep calm and kill zombiesHes not alone,Plan of attack?Gotcha,Sorry, but this isn She smiled cheekily, taking the knife from her boot and driving it into a walkers in her pants.
By the time they were finished, brain matter covered their cleaned clothes, Malachy cursing under his breath knowing that heYou through here on your own kid,s anger made his accent thicker, harder to understand to the boyYou Katherine told him in a threatening voice, her Irish not as thick as her brotherI-I
s your group? You do have a group don Malachy questioned and the boy nodded hesitantly. ll take you to your group, explain what happened and then wet you ever think about walking through here again if you know what
t scare the kid,I
s go,Are those your badges?Were you in the army?We were-You donre telling him about us? We keep to ourselves, only thing they need to know is our name,We He pointed up to a purple spray painted X on a tree, acknowledging that they were now in a danger zone.
s a little up the road, please don
The younger sister informed him, looking at her watch to see it was coming on to five ot getting it now. t get back until late, we She explained to her brother and he grumbled underneath his breath.
m really sorry,It He told them just as they were about to raise their weapons, Katherine somehow recognised the tall, dark muscled man and a younger Korean guy, but she wasnDid you?t have the time nor care. She scowled at Carl angrily as Katherine took his gun out of his pants and handed it back over to the kid with a warning expression.
re lucky we were close, and you didn Malachy told them and the woman patted her son on the back, struggling to get up because of her belly and approached them.
t go further than the purple paint; yous go,s shoulder and they turned around without another word, heading back inside the forest.
s beef stew! Eh, what Malachy grinned away, showing off meat stricken teeth as they sat in the main room of the church on dusted old couches that they had found in an antique shop a few weeks back, trying to make the place their own. Night had fallen down over Georgia; a few candles had been lit around the Jesus Christ statue, not enough to attract walkers through the windows but just enough to light up the room.
s hardly Aunt Pol who made it,t keep the whole thing.
He snatched a note from the table where their cooking instruments were, cupboards of food and bottles of water, and dangled it in his sisters face, and she slapped his hand away with a laugh. It was their aunt PolI got the car and you Katherine argued back childishly, letting Malachy laugh quietly and she winced, holding her stomach and her brother looked at her, worried, placing the bowl on the fixed wooden floor and moved over to her. m fine-It He lifted up her favourite vest, pushing her jacket out the way to see the tightly wound bandage, blood had already seeped through. Malachy looked up with a crumbled smile, guilt washing over him for what he had to do.
t,Ill be right back,It should be healed by now, it Malachy told her as she looked at the thick line underneath her stomach, and the three bullet holes that sat below and just above it. It looked like a child had stitched it together with wool, but Katherine had no choice but to guide him through the whole procedure by directions on a piece of paper while under.
re the same blood type,AB-, rarest blood type in the Old Country,t see it; she laughed at how proud he sounded. Malachy questioned as she shoved a few antibiotics down her throat and made sure her bandage was on firmly. Katherine couldnd be alright.
s group shelter, they had a pregnant woman,The reason we are constantly changing that bandage is because we offered a group shelter Katherine-March,You almost died, and the wound isn
t lie down and let you do everything Mal, I was good today, it Katherine informed him, taking out a cigarette and lighting it from one of the candles before grabbing her dinner and blowing out the dish full of candles that sat under a tripod.
t trust so easily Katherine,I He told her, looking down at his grandfatherclock now. Malachy walked away from her, climbing the ladder beside the statue and up on a metal catwalk where the top windows are, his sniper clutched in his hand tightly.
It was early morning when the siblings had begun their routine, working out and sparring before they even thought about breakfast. They made sure that each of them was ready for the day, bags packed and only anything that they really needed was lying on the table in case they had to break for it.
Malachy hung off the catwalk, doing chin ups with his wife beater loosely tucked in, dog tags hanging from his neck as he sweated out. Katherine on the other hand was skipping with a robe, something that didnt staining the floorboards.
They had really done a good job with the place, especially with only three rooms and a bathroom, the bathroom being a toilet, sink, cabinet and a shower that had been made out of a chemistry experiment, giving them hot water from a garden hose and sprinkler top. It was a good job they had more than enough water.
The main room was their living room of sorts, including a book shelf with many Irish books she had brought with her, including cooking recipes and their kitchen and food storage was included. Malachy had even made a table to go in between the couches so they didnd only be able to take the bedding.
Malachy dropped from the catwalk, his boots landing with a firm thud.
Katherine stopped skipping, breathlessly grabbing her cigarette packet.
t be able to run very much with your lungs rotting,It makes me look cool, I need to look good in an apocalypse,Where is it?Overlook,You ain He told her as he rushed over to the drawer by the stove and grabbed his sniper lying on the counter, and Katherine looked at him in outrage.
Malachy told her, heading from the office and Katherine stopped him, grabbing his arm.
ve only got each other Malachy, McKinneys stick together,If it was a herd, I wouldn She told him with a stern voice once they reached the Overlook in less time than whatever was walking by, and they went straight up into the remodelled and disguised tree house, Malachy setting up his sniper and Katherine setting up her own, looking through the accurate scope trying to see the walkers.
clock,The kid Malachy muttered, and Katherine let out a whistling pigeon call, catching the attention of the men and they looked around to see where it came from. He called over to them, finger on the trigger.
The crossbow guy let out with a southern drawl.
Katherine questioned, her chain smokers voice sounding a little rusty.
The other shouted back, and Malachy nodded to Katherine, and they both exited the Overlook, getting back on the ground with the weapons close, observing the two men that had come into their territory.
Malachy told the two men, holding his sniper close to him and Katherine was staring at the two men, analyzing them and the one with the crossbow stared at her back with defining blue eyes. "You got a death wish or somethin?"
"He's damn right,"
s life. My name is Rick Grimes, this is Daryl Dixon,Rick Grimes?s prominent blue ones.
Malachy told Rick and Daryl, and then looking over to his sisterRick Grimes as in Officer Rick Grimes?It She listed and RickKinda
He grinned away, bringing her in for a hug.
re you doing Atlanta?Erm, what?You know each other? Barbed wire- is that the scar on your arm?I cans you, its your uncle, the others?Oh Kath, I
s alright, thanks to them we have a safe place. We only knew about you being here because we have strong wires set up as a radius,I knew that weren Daryl muttered to himself and Katherine smiled at the two of them joyously.
She asked the two of them politely and Rick let out a small sigh.
re still looking,Bring your people back with us; we Katherine informed them with an excited undertone, the heels of her boots softly crunching into the leafy ground.
Malachy watched as Darylhot waterYes! Follow the trial until you find blue paint, the area around the church is safe; it Katherine explained, grabbing a piece of paper and pen that was conveniently in her pocket and wrote down the directions. s good seeing you again Officer Friendly,You too Miss Impala, we
re heading in the right direction. Smell keeps our humanity hidden,You
s a good man, and he Katherine protested his growl, rolling her eyes. She pushed a finger to his chest as she stormed in front of him, making him stop as they came to a blue tree.
t hold a gun against your shoulder without getting kickback,t have to see the ugly, raging purplish-red scars that were earned from climbing the fence to help get the truck. m surprised you can even work out without pulling a muscle, or you can even stitch straight. I donm protecting you like always, itt let them hurt you, not again,If protecting me is your job, where the hell were you, for seven months when I really needed you? When I was trying to find you while you thought that killing families was the right thing to do? The group and I almost died in Fort Benning just to find you, it was overrun with walkers, and survivors from the military. So if anyone is protecting someone, itt no me if there ain
