Matthew

Scrambling down the wall of the hotel, Matthew barely noticed the stone grazing his hands and knees, although he knew the blood streaking down the walls must be his. He just knew he had to run away to get as far away as possible. Harry was telling Daryl everything and there would be no forgiveness for him. Not the boy who killed his own father. They would never understand what he had done.

Mr Lister had watched him become more and more agitated as he paced the room, listening to Daryl and Harry's conversation.

"Keep calm Matthew. Don't panic yet, they may understand what you did." Matthew shook his head violently.

"No they won't. You don't understand." Matthew stared at the carpet clenching his hands so hard that his nails almost broke the skin. "They're so loyal to each other, they wouldn't have done it. They'd have found a way..." He looked around the room. "I have to go."

"What?" Mr Lister moved forward. "You can't go out there alone. THEY'RE out there. They'll kill you before you've taken five steps. And what about Harry?"

"Harry will be fine," Matthew started to scan the room. "They'll look after him. And if I go out there, and they get me, they might leave everyone alone."

"You know that's not how it works Matthew." Mr Lister made a move towards Matthew. "They will hunt as many people as they can. They will kill them all. You need to be here to tell them what you know." Matthew grabbed a chair. "Don't do it Mathew. Stay with them, they'll keep you safe. Don't go out there alone."

"But I won't be alone." Matthew turned to Mr Lister. "I have you." Turning towards the window, he swung the chair with all his might. The window smashed on impact, easier than he had expected. Not waiting to see if he had been heard, he scrambled through. Looking back into the room, he saw the door begin to open and that Mr Lister had vanished.

Clambering down the wall, he could hear Daryl's cursing. Ignoring it, he kept his focus on finding footholds on the terrace, getting to the ground as soon as possible. Landing on his hands and feet, he looked up, to see Daryl, Rick and T-Dog running to the French windows. Losing all of his senses, he turned and started to bolt towards the trees. But a movement stopped him. A shadowy figure in the trees, moving towards him. Matthew's stomach started to churn. He knew almost instinctively who it was, he didn't have to see their face. He could hear someone shouting behind him, but he didn't know what to do. As the figure moved towards him, he could see it-no him, he knew who this was-lifting a shotgun.

"GET YOUR FUCKIN SELF INSIDE BOY!" Matthew could hear T-Dog's voice almost directly behind him. Suddenly, he felt two hands grab him and whirl him around, at the exact moment that a gunshot fired out.

He heard a scream from inside the hotel and was vaguely aware of T-Dog's shouts as another shot rang past, this time dangerously close to his head. He felt a splattering of blood and saw that T-Dog's face was bleeding, the skin burnt slightly where the bullet had skimmed it. Worse still, Daryl was face down on the floor, and blood was spurting out of his shoulder. Matthew stood stunned as Andrea and Rick rushed outside. Andrea grabbed Matthew and pulled him inside, Rick and T-Dog grabbed Daryl and half pulled, half carried him in. Georgie and Adele were stood on the doors, gun and crossbow in hand. When Georgie saw Daryl, her face paled.

"Get away from the window." Rick was in command again. Closing the doors, he took Georgie's gun and crossbow off her. "Go with Daryl." Georgie barely registered Matthew as she followed T-Dog and Daryl into the restaurant, but Matthew knew she must hate him. They all must hate him now. He sank into a chair and curled up as tight as he could. Within minutes, a hand was rested on his shoulder. He looked up, and registered with some surprise that Andrea was crouched down next to him.

"Hey." She looked tired. "Why did you run away?" Matthew looked at her.

"I thought you hated me." She shock her head.

"I'm sorry for what I said. I should have known better." She looked down at him, stroking his head, seeming to ignore the chaos around her. "You're just a child." She seemed to say this more to herself then to him.

"Andrea." Adele walked over and sat on the arm of the chair. "I'll look after Matt. You take up position by the door with Rick." As Andrea moved away, Adele swung her legs around, so her feet were sat on the chair seat. She moved her face down to Matthews, and watched him. After a moment, Matthew spoke.

"Daryl..." Adele waved her hand.

"Daryl'll be fine. Man, the way he's been going, I'm surprised he hasn't been killed already."

"But, the shot...he wasn't moving..." Adele shock her head.

"Daryl's like a cockroach. He doesn't die. You'll see." Sliding down onto the chair she slide an arm around Matthew and hugged him tightly. "You stupid boy. Why did you run Matthew?"

And, too tired to fight anymore, Matthew told her everything. How he had Harry had run away from the camp. How he had snuck back in hopes of finding his father alive and instead had seen him tied up to a tree, missing his legs. Seen a man, wielding a huge...sword? Knife? He couldn't remember much. Just that he had found the courage-or taken leave of his senses for long enough- to sneak up and steal a gun. To shoot the man in the back of the head. Then he had turned to look at his father just long enough to see that even thought he had no way of being bitten, his eyes had turned a milky white, and his breath was ragged and uneven-more like a growl. So, he had shot the gun a second time. As he had walked back, he had felt himself grow more and more ashamed, felt the guilt pierce his gut deeper and deeper.

"I shouldn't have...but I swear Adele...he'd turned...I know you don't believe me but he had...I didn't murder him I promise." Adele hugged him tighter.

"I know. We found out a long time ago, you don't have to be bitten to turn. You did the right thing. You released him. You didn't do anything wrong Matthew." A noise from the kitchen made them both look up. Georgie was coming out of the restaurant. She moved to the stairs, and grabbed Harry by the hand. Looking around, she saw Matthew. She jerked her head towards the doors.

"You too. Come on." Matthew looked at Adele, who nodded and pushed him towards the door.