I sat at the bottom of the RV on the floor leaning against it while I spun the screwdriver in my hand. I was bored. Really bored. Travis was leaning over the top of the RV and talking to me in an attempt to remove the boredom from the inn.

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'T'," he said to me.

"Tree?"

He clicked his fingers dramatically and pulled a face. "Damn, you're good at this game."

I giggled. "Don't be so sarcastic. Okay, 'S'?"

"Shit!"

"No-"

My voice was cut off when a group of when a large group of people barged through the fence and into our parking lot. I pushed myself up from the floor just as a bandit ran at me. They grabbed my arm and began pulling me away from the RV, so I stabbed them in the shoulder with my weapon. The bandit released me, crying out in pain.

"Screwdriver," I told Travis who was now stood beside me with a look of shock, staring at the bandit in front of me.

More attacked and I had no weapon. The bandit pulled the screwdriver from his shoulder with surprising ease and held it out aimed at Travis and I. "Get in the circle. Now!"

Guns were pointed at our heads- at Duck's and Clementine's, too. My heart raced. The group was herded into a circle like animals as one bandit began screaming at us.

"You don't fucking steal from us!"

I was shoved onto my knees, my hands behind my head and my heart beating at a speed that could have been dangerous.

"We ain't fuckin' around!" Another said, prodding the gun into the back of my head and making me squeak. Travis looked at me with worried eyes, so did Ben and Carley. Kat and Kenny were focused on Duck. Clem was waiting for Lee.

"You made the biggest mistake of your lives!"

"What are you talking about?" Travis snapped at them.

The masked bandit that stood closest to him dug his knee into Travis' back, making my friend cry out in pain, before he hit him hard with the gun and knocked him out.

"Trav!" Ben gasped.

"Enough of this bullshit!" A bandit shouted in a deep voice. "Drew, start putting your boot to these doors!"

Ben looked frightened. My eyes felt a bit watery as I tried to keep them fixed on the fainted Travis, who lay on the floor with a line of blood falling over his face.

"Why are you doing this?" Lee appeared, holding his hands out to show they were empty. "Just leave us the fuck alone."

Lee tried to reason with them, and it seemed like an agreement was going to be made. My heart rate began to slow down until - bang.

I was frozen, not wanting to know who in our group got shot. I risked a look, seeing the bandit lying near me, a hole through his head.

The group stood in a panic, Carley picking up a gun and firing it at some of the bandits, killing them each in one shot. I flew to my feet and called out for help to nobody in particular, trying my best to lift Travis. His eyes fluttered as Ben was at his other side, and we both dragged him to his feet, ignoring the gunshots and fighting around us in a potentially life-threatening situation.

We aimed straight for the RV when someone whistled and a large group of bandits ran from the woods.

Then Ben fell to the floor, bringing half of Travis with him and making me stumble.

"Ben!"

He scrambled away, crawling to cover and leaving me holding on to Travis' arm. He winced.

"What's-" Travis began, confused and in pain from waking up.

"Move!" I yelled, pushing him to where Ben was so he was under cover from the firing line.

I had nowhere to hide. I raced to the vehicle, my journey being a matter of life and death. I was so close to safety, my heart pounding in my chest and my head dizzy with worries.

Another gunshot fired and I collapsed to the floor, excruciating pain shooting up my leg.

"Marcey!" Carley gasped, suddenly near me and dragging me up from the floor. We ran, or limped, to a bin and hid behind it. Lee fired shots at some of the bandits. He signalled for Ben and Travis to move when firing briefly stopped, and they climbed into the RV.

More shots. My leg felt warm and gross but I didn't want to see where I'd been shot.

"Help!" Katjaa's voice begged.

Lee moved and began covering for her, Clementine and Duck.

"You're going to be fine," Carley reassured me, and I realised it was because my breathing had become irregular. I couldn't ignore the pain anymore, feeling something lodged into my leg. In all the panic, I somehow remembered my father telling me once about how to treat a gunshot. I pushed the memories away and clamped my hand down on the wound, biting my lip so hard it cracked and bled.

The next thing was walkers entering the inn, attacking the bandits and giving everyone a chance to make a break for the RV. We took the opportunity and threw ourselves into it. It reversed and then Lilly dived through the door before Kenny slammed onto the accelerator and we zoomed out onto the road away from a place I'd dared to call our home.


I couldn't stop the tears from flowing down my face in the pain.

"What happened?" Travis asked as I sat on the floor of the RV, blood soaking through the left leg of my jeans.

"She got bit!" Lilly yelled. "Stop the RV!"

"One of the bandits shot her, it's not a bite!" Carley defended.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Ben had his face buried in his hands. If I hadn't have been distracted by the burning pain, I'd have been trying to comfort the distressed boy. I'd never heard him swear before then.

Everything went light, and I realised it was because I'd been lifted from the ground. I shut my eyes and let the tears fall, my body seeming to shake with sobs. Lilly was going to throw me out. I'd be left on the roadside to die alone with nobody. I'd lose Lee, Clementine, Travis, Kenny, Carley...

Instead, I was placed on a seat, my leg being elevated. I opened my eyes and saw everyone crowded around me in worry.

"The shot is here, by her knee."

"We need to stop the bleeding," Lee stated.

I felt one leg of my jeans be rolled up slightly, catching on the wound and making me scream slightly.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Travis moaned, followed by the sound of him doing just that.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I heard Ben say.

My eyes fluttered a bit. Damn, my leg really hurt.

"It's okay," I whispered weakly. "It's all okay."

I blacked out.


A gunshot woke me up. My heart raced, my leg hurt, and I was disoriented.

Something slammed into the wall of the RV.

"Drop it," I heard Lee command in a menacing voice.

"Holy fuck," Kenny said.

"Kenny!" Katjaa shouted, startling me when I realised she was in the front of the RV and not outside. "What's happening?"

"Keep Duck away from the windows! Jesus Christ."

I looked over at Clementine, who stood in the doorway unaware that I was awake.

"Clem?" I whispered.

The little girl turned and stared at me. "Marcey!" She rushed over and flung her arms around my neck. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah, me too," I said, smiling. "What's going on?"

Clementine didn't answer, she just stayed hugging me with her face hidden. I could have sworn I heard her give a small sob.

The others climbed back into the RV and saw that I was awake.

"Welcome back," Lee said to me before closing the door.

"Thanks," I smiled and looked at the others. Everybody looked upset. "What? Wait. Where's Carley?"

Clementine let out a small cry again and then let go of me.

Ben had a frown on his face, Travis did too. Lee looked cold and Lilly looked empty.

"Where is she?" I asked, louder and more forceful while panic made my heart race quicker.

"She's dead."

I looked at Lilly.

"She was stealing from us, she made the-"

"Shut up, Lilly!" Lee growled, slamming his fist down on a counter.

"You... What did you do?" I sat up, ignoring the pain I still felt in my leg.

"She shot her," Travis said.

My mouth opened a little bit. I wanted to say so much. Shout so much. The only noise I made was a struggled breath. I lay back down, turning my back to Lilly and everyone else, and closing my eyes.

I whispered almost inaudibly, but I knew she heard. "I hate you."


Carley was in my nightmares that night. Everyone else was too, but she was the main focus.

"Why didn't you help me?" She asked.

"I didn't know she was going to do that," I stuttered.

"If you hadn't have gotten shot then you would have been able to save me. You wouldn't have been asleep!"

"I'm sorry Carley!"

"Sorry doesn't fix it."

A gun fired and she collapsed on the floor in front of me while I repeated apologies. I had to bury her. I leaned down to pick up her body, and then Carley reanimated, taking a huge bite out of my leg. I screamed in pain, but didn't make an effort to push her away. I couldn't move, like a statue, frozen.

"Help!" I yelled. "Please, somebody help me! Make it stop!"

I woke up from the nightmare in the moving vehicle. Light snores could be heard around me. I knew Carley wouldn't be checking if I was okay this time. She was dead, left to rot on a roadside. And I couldn't save her.

I cried silently to myself.