"What do you think happened?" Seth asked me as he fixated his gaze on me instead of the revolting sight of a pile of rat bones. "I honestly don't know but the creepers must have gotten a hold of them. I'm just wondering why they're grouped together and so close to the wall" I truthfully stated. "Sam should take a look at this"

"You're probably right"

"I'll go find him"

Seth gave me a quick nod and I ran off towards the North. Sam always patrolled there. "Sam!" I called as I got closer. I knew he'd be able to hear me with his heightened senses.

"Bella, hey!" A feminine voice called from behind and I pivoted around to be face to face with Emily, his fiancé. Her dark brown hair was up in a messy bun with some bangs hanging out covering up some of her scarring.

"Hi!" I smiled as we shared a quick hug. That's when I noticed something pressing up against my stomach. When we pulled away I looked down at Emily and noticed a bump on her stomach. Emily had always been average, not too skinny but not overweight.

She noticed my gaze. "I'm…pregnant" She stated in a solemn tone. Had this not been the apocalypse I'm sure she'd be ecstatic, I know she'd be a great mother but right now the world wasn't fit for a child. I wasn't sure how to respond.

"Oh" was all I could manage.

"Yeah…Sam and I had always wanted kids…Guess this is both a blessing and a curse"

"How far along are you?"

"Maybe seven by now. I know it should be bigger but with the lack of food and everything I don't know if it'll make it…I don't know if I want it to make it"

"Oh Em" I pulled her into another embrace. "It'll be alright" I told her as I attempted to make her feel better. We had gotten quite close when I hung out at the Reservation a lot. She helped me keep my mind occupied and away from Edward after he left. I couldn't stand to see her hurt.

"Thanks Bells" She replied as she gave me the tiniest of smiles. "So what brings you to the north side, were you looking for someone?" She questioned as she tried to divert the subject.

"Uh, yeah. Have you seen Sam?"

"Yeah, he's right up there in his wolf form." Emily told me as she motioned up to the top of the tire mountain.

"Thanks" I stated and I was off again as I waved a quick goodbye.

"Sam!" I yelled as I got right in front of the wall and faced the large black wolf. He barked and turned into my direction. "There's something I have to show you" With that he jumped of the wall and landing gracefully not even a foot beside me. If any human had attempted that jump it would be like suicide but he made it look like a walk in the park. "Could you change back?" I asked and he gave a huff and a quick head jerk motioning 'yes'. He ran off into the first house, whose door was unlocked and wide open. Probably the one he and Emily shared.

A few minutes later he returned in human form and wearing a pair of sweats. "Where's the fire?" He asked in a joking tone but I recognized the seriousness behind the question. He knew something was wrong.

"Seth found something on the East side. We thought you should check it out"

"Alright, lead the way"

I began running back to where Seth was situated with Sam in tow. I climbed back up the massive ladder and stood above the wall. Sam was quickly at my side. "Took you long enough" Seth muttered under his breath. I gave him a playful whack on the arm and he gave me a grin.

"Seth, what's wrong?" Sam asked in his authoritative voice.

"I found something really weird. It's a bunch of rodent carcasses the creepers must have fed off of." Seth responded, all joking aside.

"What's so strange about that?" Sam questioned mildly annoyed as if I dragged him all the way over here for nothing.

"It's strange because there's at least 20 and they're in a pile" I chimed in.

Sam then looked down and saw what I was talking about. "The hell?" He muttered.

"Exactly" Seth stated.

"Those things couldn't have brought them here. Someone must have." Sam mused.

"Why would someone do that?" I was confused.

"You don't think someone's…feeding them do you…?" Seth questioned in an almost meek voice. As if he was hoping what he just said wouldn't be true.

"That's exactly what I think" Sam responded.

"Who would do such a thing?" I asked in an alarmed tone. Why would someone willingly feed these things?

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out" Sam stated determinedly.

"Can you get a scent?" I questioned the two wolves. They both shook their heads 'no'.

"We can't get proper scent on anything Bella. The smell of death is too prominent. At times like this I wish I wasn't part-wolf. Honestly, everything reeks" Seth stated as he pinched his nose and fanned the air away in an attempt to prove his point. It was rather comical really, if I wasn't still temporarily numb.

"Bella, can you do me a favor?" Sam asked me.

"Sure, anything" I automatically responded.

"Go over to the Cullen place and tell the doctor what happened. Maybe he has some insight on this. Perhaps they can track down whoever's doing this"

Anything but that. "Uh…"

"Please? Seth and I are still on patrol. We shouldn't be leaving our stands for too long"

"Fine" I grumbled as I caved.

"Thanks Bells" Seth beamed as he ruffled my hair. I grumbled something unintelligible under my breath as I stomped off. Sam and Seth seemed to find it somewhat comical and hid their laughter with coughs.

Real believable, I thought sarcastically.

xxx

"Bella?! Oh my gosh!" Someone called from in the distance. I spun myself around towards the voice and gasped.

"Angela?!" There stood my old best friend caked in dirt and blood stains, sweatpants and a tattered baggy t-shirt. Her dark hair was matted and oily and her glasses no longer were placed upon the bridge of her nose. A camouflage bag was slung over her right shoulder and a huge smile lit up her face. She rushed over to me, closing in the distance, throwing her arms around my neck in a somewhat hug.

"Geez Ange, what happened to you?"

She only shrugged and looked down. Clearly she wasn't in the mood to talk about it. "When did you get here?" I questioned, using a different approach.

"Just now. I swear I felt like I was the only human left until I stumbled upon this place"

"Yeah same" Just me and Renee…

xxx

Here we go, you can do it Bella. No backing down now. I nervously raised my hand to the door and lightly tapped. In a matter of seconds the door swung open to reveal the one person I was dreading to see… Edward Cullen. His coal eyes bored into mine. Brown meeting black. Directly below them I noticed purplish bruises that seemed to have gotten even darker, like he desperately needed a good night's rest. Her furrowed his brows in confusion, "Bella, what are you doing here?" His voice was still laced in velvet yet the slightest decibel off, like he had some sort of scratchy throat.

I averted my gaze and mumbled, "I'm uh… here to see Carlisle"

Okay, I'd like to sincerely apologize on my part for the EXTREMELY long wait. I've been very busy and there's been a lot of complications in my life. In truthfulness this chapter was ready the day after I posted the last one but I was just really unhappy with it and I still am, I tried fixing bits and pieces of it but it just didn't work out... I really appreciate you guys sticking to the story and patiently waiting for its update, it means so, so much. I'm so lucky to have fans like you! Also, for those of you who are Walking Dead fans and have noticed similarities in some of the plots I've used I am officially going to be breaking away from it now so the ideas will be completely original. Anyways, REVIEW! :)