DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Walking Dead.
Hope you guys are enjoying it so far and I want to thank GirlIncognito99 for favoring and DreamsKillReality for following and the other 45 people who read the first chapter. Well here you go chapter two, enjoy.
CHAPTER TWO
It is early in the morning and the chill from the night is still in the air and the soft thud of an arrow hitting its target mixed with the chirping of birds makes the field around Eva peaceful, almost too much so.
Eva glares down at the corpse of a woman as she pulls her arrow out of her skull, this is this first corpse that has come near the house, well besides the two men and her mother that is.
It is a good thing Abigail is an early riser and saw the woman coming out of the woods that surrounds most of the property. She decides right then that they will now be taking shifts to watch the property, because that could have been much worse.
She walks back to the house and stands there in front of the steps and stares up at them each in turn. "It was just one but… I'll make a round, around the fence line after Charlie and I get rid of the body. When I get back we need to have a group meeting, but for now stay inside and make sure all the doors and windows are closed and locked ok." She explains to them and after making sure they all go into the house she and Charlie start on their way to the dead woman.
"We need to start taking shifts watching for these things. You, Cody, Jenna and I can take the night shifts and Abigail, Melanie and Kailee can take the day." She grunts as she and Charlie carry the woman out past the old broken down barn that hasn't been used since before she was born. They set her down near the two men that killed her mother.
"Yeah that sounds like the right thing to do and I have a few things I want to run by you when we have that meeting." He said wiping some sweat off of his forehead as they start their way back to the house.
When they get about half way, she stops and watches him make his way to the house and after he closes the door, she turns and starts making her way around the property to make sure that no more of them corpses are near the house.
Melanie is the one to open the door for her and she hands Eva a water bottle which she thanks her for before chugging it down. After stepping inside she locks the door behind her before walking behind Melanie into the living room to start on that meeting. Eva tries to ignore the obvious blood stains in the hard wood floor as she takes a seat next to Abigail.
"I like that idea, because if we have to leave quickly we won't be able to grab everything." Eva said to Charlie about packing everything in the cars that they are not using because that one woman could have been hundreds of those things.
"Where would we go if we have to leave?" Melanie asked quietly from where she was sitting next to Kailee on the floor by Jenna. Eva looks at Charlie before looking around the room to each of them in turn.
"If Atlanta is as bad as you say it is, there will be a lot of empty houses. Maybe we can find one that's far from neighbors but near a small town, a cabin or farm house maybe." She said looking more at the floor than any of them, not wanting to think about leaving her mother's house.
Although the house isn't too near any neighbors it is too close to Atlanta and with the way Charlie and Jenna described it, they are too close to be safe or comfortable.
They start talking about the dead and that to hit the head and not get bit and after making sure that they all know not to leave the house unless someone knows or is with someone else, mostly Charlie or Eva, who both know what to do and have fought those things before.
"So make sure you guys keep your knife on you at all times and after I find my old paintball guns, me and Charlie will teach you guys how to shoot." Eva said after passing them each a pocket knife of some sort.
"Why paintball guns?" Kailee asks while looking up at her confused as she puts the knife into her pocket. "Oh, well guns are really loud which will draw in those things and we don't want to waste bullets on target practice, when you get real good with the paintball gun we will move you guys on up to actual guns." She tells them and everyone agrees and they all start going around the house and start packing up everything they are not using into the living room so they can move it all to Eva's truck and Jenna's car.
"So I saw some deer tracks when I was walking the property and venison sounds real nice, with having beans and top ramen for almost a week, so I'm going to go out and see what I can find. Have some real meat for a few meals." She said smiling to the others as they finish packing up the truck and car.
After everyone's happy cheers and thank you's, she packs up a bag of some food and water and other supplies so she can survive the night if something were to happen.
"I'll try not to stay out past dark but if not, I'll find a house or if all else a tree for the night. Now lock the door after me and start assigning shifts ok." She said to Charlie who is following after her as she straps her machete to her thigh while making her way to the front door.
"Don't risk your life for a deer. We have enough food for a while. We need you here, alive, ok." He said making sure she looks him in the eyes and after giving him a nod they give each other a small hug before she leaves the house, Charlie locking the door after her. She tightens the bag pack straps and starts her way to where she saw those deer tracks.
She shakes her head and glares over at the rotted corpse that is tearing into the deer that she has been following for over an hour. If she would have left when she first saw the tracks she might have got the deer before this dead freak that is just now realizing that fresh food is right by him.
She huffs and loads up her bow and takes aim at the man, shooting him right in the neck, making him fall onto his back. "Dammit, need more practice." She mutters to herself as she walks over to him.
She yanks the arrow out of his neck and slams it down into his eye. She pulls it out and she crouches down and wipes of the arrow with the part of his shirt that is semi clean. She puts the arrow back into the makeshift quiver that is attached to her left leg and hip, which she is using for the arrows she is going to use for the corpse's so as to not mix them with the arrows that are strapped on her back, which is for game. She doesn't want to contaminate any food with a tainted arrow.
She kicks his leg angrily before turning around and making her way east where she knows a small creek that most of the deer go. She hopes to find one as she wants to bring back some meat for herself and the others to eat.
She has been walking for almost two hours now, the creek was a bust and no squirrels or rabbits either. So now she is starting her way to a diner and gas station that most people didn't know about, they had the best pancakes.
She is hoping that it hasn't been looted yet and if it's not too bad then she will find a car and take everything she can back to the house. She is about half a mile away from the dinner and as she walks closer to the road, she stops suddenly when she hears two cars speeding down the road towards her.
She knows that she has been very lucky with the people she has come to know and welcome into her home. She knows that there are a lot of monsters in the world and she not thinking about the corpses. She can't keep taking the chances and trusting everyone she meets, it's not just herself that she has to protect now.
She turns and runs farther back away from the road and she hides behind one of the many trees. She watches the two cars drive by and she see three men in the first car and what looked like a man and woman fighting in the other.
She shakes her head and starts walking in the same direction as they are driving, praying that they don't find the diner, she is tired and still pissed about the deer and the creek and she wants to bring something back to the others, she always hated feeling useless.
She groans and leans her head back against the tree she is leaning on as she glares at the burned down diner and gas station, with several corpses milling around it. She sighs before starting her way back, sneaking through the trees so those corpses don't notice and follow her.
She plans to check one more place before starting her way back home. She starts jogging when she gets closer to the cabin that belonged to a friend of her grandpa's. He had died a month or two before all this started up so she hopes everything is as she saw it last.
She smiles when she sees how untouched it looks, it's just as she remembers. She pulls out her gun anyway as she starts to near the cabin, not wanting to take any chances. She tries opening the door but it is locked so she moves over to the living room window and peers inside.
From the look of the table by the window no one has been in the cabin for a while now but she knocks on the window anyway. When she sees that nothing is moving inside she starts checking all the windows to see if one is unlocked, not wanting to break a window like she had to do with Justin's.
As she nears the back of the cabin she sees Mr. Terri's old Chevy truck and she can't help but smile, it was the first car she ever drove and she drove right into a ditch too.
She hates that she has to break one of the windows but she knows that Mr. Terri has a basement full of supplies and she and the others need them.
After making sure the truck has fuel and can run she starts lugging up boxes and bags of food, toilet paper and first aid and many other supplies up the stairs and into first floor of the cabin and then she starts loading it all up in the back of the truck.
After she is done packing up everything she covers it all with a tarp and she ties it down. As she tightens one of the ropes she looks over at the broken window and she hates seeing this beautiful cabin like that.
So once she is done with the tarp she starts walking towards his small tool shed hoping to find a hammer and some nails so she can cover up the window.
As Eva nears the shed she only has a second to jump back away from clawing arms. She kicks the man in the chest and watches him fall to the ground, she doesn't even stop to kill him before turning and running back to the truck.
She looks around her as she runs and sees so many of those dead people coming out of the trees and swarming around her. She pulls her gun out and shoots a woman that is near the truck door and she doesn't understand how the woman was walking with a bone sticking out of her left leg.
She jumps over the woman she just shot and opens the passenger side door and she shuts and locks it behind her before she scoots over her bow and bag pack and starts the truck up. She steps on the gas and she starts to drive around the corpses that are trying to catch her.
She sighs in relief as she gets to the road and away from them. She wipes a tear that fell before turning down another street that was way to close. Eva decides to take the back streets home even taking a few streets twice not wanting all those corpses to somehow follow her back home.
As Eva turns down another street she notices a car parked in the middle of the road and she sees that it is one of the cars from before. She doesn't slow down as she nears the car afraid that it might be a trap.
As she starts to drive around the car she looks out of her window and into the car and what she sees has to be the most horrific thing she has seen in her whole life.
She slams on the breaks and she sits there gripping the steering wheel so tight. She leaves the truck running but she puts it in park before she opens her door. She walks slowly towards the car praying she was just hallucinating but she can see as she nears the car that she is not.
She covers her mouth and tries not to scream in sadness and in pure rage as she see a small boy about four and an infant in the back seat of the car. They both look to be dead but she has to make... needs to make sure.
She finds that the back door is unlocked and as she opens the door and a wave of heat rushes out at her and it makes her feel dizzy.
She starts crying when she finds the young boy breathing and she quickly unlocks his car seat straps and she pulls him out and rushes him back to the truck. She places him inside the already air conditioned truck and she closes the door as she runs back to check on the baby.
She rips the boy's car seat out before she climbs into the back to check on the baby. She takes in many shaky breaths as she feels for a pulse. She covers her mouth as to not scream when she can't find one.
She starts to move away from him and she dares to glance at the poor baby, one more time. She stops breathing when she sees his slowly rising and falling chest. It seemed like forever for her to unstrap him from the car seat with her shaky hands but after she does and she stands there and holds him to her and she laughs and kisses his face many times when he starts to whimper. She knows he doesn't feel good but he is alive and that is all that matters.
She starts to walk back to the truck but stops when she sees a piece a paper sitting on the front seat with bold writing saying 'please forgive me'. She shakes her head and walks back to her truck, there is no forgiveness for what they have done.
She holds the baby as she drives away from that place, leaving it far behind. She stops the truck when she is about a mile away from where she found them. She gets the small boy to wake long enough to drink some water, before passing out again, she than gives small sips to the baby who is still sleeping but she knows that both need to be re-hydrated after being in the scorching, oven of a car.
Eva holds the baby close to her and she looks down at the small boy who is sleeping as she continues to drive back home, so happy that both boys are alive, dehydrated and hurting but alive none the less.
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"Ya'll can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girls a ticking time bomb." Daryl snaps at them not believing what he is listening to. "What do you suggest?" Rick asks him and he shakes his head, he thought it was obvious.
"Take the shot. Clean in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." He said still pissed off about Merle and now the small safe haven they have been living in is gone as well.
"No, for gods' sake, leave her be." Lori said wiping her hands on her pants before sitting down. Daryl scoffs before walking back over to the walkers, there is so much work that needs to be done and all she is doing is sitting on her ass, he just shakes his before making his way over to help Morales move a body he is struggling with.
"Wake up, Jimbo. We've got work to do." He said as he passes by the man that is just staring off into space. Daryl sets down the pickaxe and grabs the dead man's other arm and he and Morales start dragging him over to the fire pit.
"What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there." He and Morales stop when the China man starts yelling at them. "What's the difference? They're all infected." He asks him as they start to drag the dead man a little further but stop when the kid yells at them. "Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there."
Daryl could only stare at him as he tried not to cry and act tough, he has to give the boy some respect for that but it don't make him any less angry then before. So he and Morales pick up the dead man and drag him over to the other pile and when they get there he lets go of the man and lets him fall to the ground. "You reap what you sow." Daryl says aloud and Morales looks up at him angrily. "You know what? Shut up, man." He said as he moves away from Daryl.
"Y'all left my brother for dead. You had this coming." He shouts before going back and picking up the pickaxe. He looks around and sees that a few of the dead campers still need a head shot.
"A walker got him. A walker bit Jim." Daryl hears one of the women yelling and he turns and stares at Jim and sees him backing up as everyone starts to gather around him. "I'm ok, I'm ok." Jim keeps says over and over and he walks closer to him.
"Show it to us." He snaps at him and Jim getting paranoid bends down and picks up a shovel and starts to swig it around and everyone backs up a bit and Daryl looks behind him and sees T-dog coming up behind him.
T-dog grabs Jims arms and pins them back and Daryl runs up and lifts his shirts and the big angry bite wound is shown for all to see and he drops Jims shirt and backs away and T-dog lets him go all the while Jim keeps saying 'I'm ok, I'm ok '.
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It is very early in the morning with the sun barely out as Charlie looks over at Eva who is placing the last box in the other truck so they can use her truck for their run that they are about to make.
After shutting the now half empty truck bed hatch, she and Charlie make their way back into the house. While Charlie is saying his good byes to Kailee and Melanie, Eva walks down the hall to her room to check on the boys.
She checks to make sure they are not burning up before leaning down and kissing them each on their foreheads. She stands up and walks over to Abigail who is sitting in her old desk chair, as she is on baby watch until they get back from their run. Eva gives her a hug and tells her thank you before turning and walking out of the room taking one last look at the sleeping boys.
She gives the girls and Cody a hug before leaving the house after Jenna, Charlie soon following after her after he tells them to close and lock the door. Eva climbs behind the wheel with Charlie next to her, she looks back as Jenna closes her door before she starts the truck up and starts driving towards town.
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Charlie looks over at Eva to see her fingers tapping the steering wheel while biting her other hand's fingernails with a look on her face in pure concentration and he shakes his head.
She has been running herself ragged since they met but when she came home with those boys, she stepped it up in to high gear. She hasn't been to sleep in almost two days and twenty minutes naps don't really do anything accept make her feel more exhausted but they need supplies and stuff for the boys.
She didn't really want to leave them this morning but he knows she can do more for them while on a run instead of sitting around and watching them.
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They have been giving the boys water whenever they wake up but Jenna said that Pedialyte would be better to get them re-hydrated. So now she, Jenna and Charlie are out trying to find places where they can get baby stuff, like the Pedialyte and diapers and so much more.
"We are going to need clothes and shoes in different sizes, babies grow so fast, not to mention winter clothes for them." Eva said while looking over the town map trying to remember where all the stores are in town.
"Yeah, we will need winter clothes too for us and we need to stock up on food because that one year, the snow was so high, couldn't even open your door." Charlie said as he keeps looking out the windows making sure no corpses creep up on them.
"Man I don't even want to think about that right now." Eva said rubbing her burning eyes while trying not to yawn, the faster they did this the faster they can get home. "Let's just focus on the boys right now and if all else is somehow good we'll try for all that other stuff, yeah." Eva asked while looking over at Charlie and he nods but doesn't answer her so she leans forward and looks out the window to see what he is staring at.
All she sees is a few cars and a school bus and so much trash all over the street. "What's wrong?" Jenna asks him not understanding either why he is staring so intently for. "Nothing's wrong, I was just thinking that school bus there would be good for us if we have to leave the house an live on the road." Charlie said looking away from the window and over to her. "Just a thought." He said shaking his head.
"No, no that's a good idea. We could put bars on the windows and oh, if we tear out some of the seats we can put some beds in there." Eva said getting excited about the idea because if they fix it up it will be a safe place for everyone to sleep when they are on the road.
"And it will hold a lot of stuff when... if... if we have to leave." Jenna said softly almost trying not to upset Eva, but she knows her house is getting more unsafe each passing day. She and Charlie found two more corpses near her fence line when they made their sweep before they left this morning, they will need to leave soon.
"All that sounds great and all but first things first, we have to make sure it runs, won't do no good to us if it don't." He said looking back towards the bus. "Let's go check that baby store first because I know that bus will be loud when we start it up. I'd rather not draw in too much attention before we can get some of the things on are list." Eva said and after they agree she starts the truck up and starts driving to where the baby store is.
They sit in the truck for a moment before opening the doors and getting out. They both grab an empty back pack or duffle bag and start for the front door of the store. From the looks of it, it hasn't been looted too much nor infested with corpses but none of them want to take the chance so they all have their knifes out and they keep checking around them as they near the door.
Eva gets closer to the window and she cups her hand over her eyes as she peers into the store and she starts checking for any movement while also checking the shelves for what they need.
"Two corpses farther down the road, I don't think they know we are here yet." Charlie whispers to her and she looks away from the window to see and she nods her head before looking back to the window to check one more time before they enter.
Eva slowly pulls the door open making sure it has no bells anywhere to make noise as they come in. The electricity has been out in town for a few weeks now but she doesn't want to take the chance of it somehow still having some power.
She pulls the door open and slowly lifts her leg back and forth and when no bells start ringing she sighs and opens the door farther and she, Jenna and Charlie slip inside, Charlie making sure the whole time those two corpses down the street don't notice them.
They stand there near the door and check over the aisles again, Eva even smelling the air because there is no masking the scent of those things. "Let's check all the aisles first before starting, I don't want to find a hundred of those thing a few aisles over." She whispers to them and they nod their heads and they make their way past all the aisles while keeping the door in view just in case.
They are thankful that the store isn't so large but they keep their knifes at the ready as the selves are taller than them so corpses can be hiding just around the corner.
After checking the whole store and the manager's office they each grab a cart and start at aisle one and they start placing everything they need or may need for the boys in their bags and in the carts. They place the full carts near the door so when they are ready they can take everything to the truck quickly. They are all so happy when the find all the stuff on their list, plus more than they thought of at the time.
They decide to only take half of everything because they are not the only ones to have babies and others will need this stuff too. When the get to the diapers they start grabbing any of them because even though the baby won't fit in the newborns for long, he can still use them, they will just have to figure out how to keep it on him and the woman can use them as pads if they run out if all else fails.
By the time they are done with the last aisle they have over twelve full carts, each ranging from food, clothes, noiseless toys, diapers and wipes, baby medicine to a portable crib, a car seat for the baby and a stroller and other odds and ends.
After checking the store one more time Eva and Charlie open the double doors and place a heavy box in front of them so they won't close and then they each grab a cart and move to the truck that Eva parked near the door with the bed facing them.
Eva opens the hatch and cover and she jumps up and Charlie starts handing her stuff, the bigger boxes first and she starts arranging them so they can get everything they got into the truck.
Jenna comes out while pushing a cart and pulling another and she starts placing bags inside the back seat of the truck leaving a spot open for her but filling it up none the less.
They continue to do this to all the carts only having trouble with two corpses that are attracted to them but Eva and Charlie take care of them quickly with their knifes, not wanting to draw any more attention to themselves more than they already are.
Eva shuts the hatch and cover and she and Jenna run back to the store doors and move the boxes so they can shut the doors, they don't want to make it easier for corpses to get inside so they place the boxes in front of the doors after they close them, it won't stop them from getting inside but they do want to make it more difficult for them.
They climb back in the truck and Eva starts driving back to the school bus that they saw earlier. After Eva and Jenna switch places so Jenna can drive the truck if something were to go wrong, she and Charlie start walking around the bus on either side of it, each checking the tires and making sure no corpses are underneath or around the bus.
Eva quickly walks around the front of the bus and she gives Charlie a nod before she starts walking up the stairs and she starts sweeping the bus seat to seat.
She tries to ignore the blood on several of the seats but she can't help but to think about how scared they must have been. After sweeping the whole bus she quickly walks back and after telling Charlie to start it up, she stands outside to stand guard while he sits down in the driver's seat.
She sweeps the area while Charlie starts turning the bus on but he only gets sputters from the engine. She looks down the road seeing a corpse milling around before jumping in surprise when the bus starts up.
She smiles and gives Jenna a thumps up before getting back on the bus to protect Charlie if the bus were to break down or something. Charlie shuts the bi-fold door behind her and he starts driving as she takes a seat in the front row. She starts looking over the bus thinking about all the possibilities that it can have when they fix it up.
Seeing as how the day has been good so far, they stop at a small store that had three sets of chains blocking their way and boards covering the windows. But since Charlie thought ahead and brought bolt cutters, it doesn't take much for them to get inside. They wipe the store out taking everything that wasn't spoiled, they even grab stuff that they probably won't need.
While Charlie starts the bus up again Eva starts spray painting in a dark green color spelling 'Store empty Sorry' across the window and door before running to the bus. Eva holds onto the bar in front of her while laughing with Charlie as she looks at all the stuff they just got, they will be good on food for a while now, with the store being almost full.
She looks down at her watch to see that it is nearing one o'clock in the afternoon, they have been gone most of the day but they are finally on their way home.
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"There's nobody here." Daryl hears T-Dog saying as he keeps scanning the area for walkers. "Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asks rhetorically. It makes some sense, if no one was in the building, there would be nothing to protect, so the doors would probably be open or broken by now.
"Walkers!" Daryl shouts as he sees several walkers coming around one of the far buildings. "You led us into a graveyard!" He yells angrily while looking back at the group before looking back to the walkers as more start appearing from the attention the group is bringing to themselves.
"He made a call." Dale starts trying to diffuse the anger that is building between them. "It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl yells once more. He begins stalking towards Rick but Shane steps in and puts a hand on his chest, pushing him aside and repeatedly ordering him to shut up.
Daryl shakes his head before going back to watch the groups back as walkers start getting to close for comfort. He tries to ignore the crying of the kids and the moaning and groaning of the walkers as they creep closer.
He needs to concentrate on keeping them and himself safe while the cops figure out what the group is going to do. All he knows is they better make up their damn minds and fast.
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"Rick, this is a dead end." Shane says to him trying to pull him away from the doors and to the group so they can leave. "Where are we gonna go?" Carol asks her voice shaky as she holds Sophia closer to her trying to muffle some of her crying.
"She's right, we can't be this close to the city after dark." Lori said agreeing with her. "Fort Benning, Rick, it's still an option." Shane suggests with some panic showing in his voice, but Rick believes... no he knows that someone is inside and they can help... why they won't help.
"On what? No food, no fuel. That's hundred miles." Andrea sighs as she huddles with the others looking over her shoulder as the walkers grow ever closer. "Hundred twenty-five, I checked the map." Glenn added trying not to shake to much as he clutches the shot gun in his hands.
"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now." Lori said franticly as she pulls a crying Carl closer to her side. Rick could only hear his son crying so much, trying desperately to think of a plan. "We'll think of something." Rick said trying to reassure her and the others but his tone of voice said otherwise.
After a few moments pass, the group eventually agrees silently it is time to go rather than standing in front a building, waiting for someone to save them. They start moving back to cars and just as Rick is about to turn around he sees something out of the corner of his eye.
"The camera. It moved." Rick suddenly yells, grabbing the attention of the group who are already being ushered back to the cars by Shane. "You imagined it." Dale said trying to get him to come with them but he knows what he saw.
"It moved." He disagrees, walking up to the small, built in white camera that is perched above the shutters. "It's an automatic device." Shane whispers harshly to Rick when he gets closer to him. "It gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now c'mon." Shane tells Rick grabbing his arm and starts pulling him away.
The commotion grows as Shane pulls Rick harder away from the door but the former sheriff's deputy escapes his grasp and he runs back to the doors, banging on them. "Look, I know you're in there! I know you can hear us!" Rick shouts into the camera.
Lori lightly pushes Carl into Carol's arms and she runs in front of him in attempt to calm him down and get him back to reality but he continues to yell into the camera becoming more hysterical by the second.
After realizing she is having no effect, Shane steps in once again and this time gets a better grip of Rick. "You're killing us!" Rick yells hysterically to the camera as Shane drags him by the waist to the others towards the cars to get away from this death trap.
"You're killing us!" Rick yells over and over as everyone in the group by now is either shouting or panicking at the level of walkers that are appearing, even more coming out of the woodwork.
When Rick finally realizes that no one is going to save them he turns in Shanes arms and he helps him walk as the crushing weight of the choice he made bringing them here hits him.
As they start making their way back to the cars they hear the whirling sound of machines and they all stop as a bright white light appears behind them and they all turn to see that the doors are open and waiting for them.