Welcome to chapter 4, don't forget to favorite or leave a review!

"Laur, y'know I can' pick between you two!" Devin yelled, holding Lauren's arms, "Please, don' make me." his voice quiet, full of desperation. "Ya either come wit' me or not." Lauren's face became bitter, "I'm not gonn' wait forever, Dev." she moved her arms away, knocking Devin's arms off of her own.

I was panicking, their arguing was attracting more and more of them, how did they not notice this?! "Ghh–..." I tried to yell at them, but my throat was too dry to budge. I grabbed Devin desperately by his jacket, shaking him. "What?!" Devin turned his head towards me, his gaze lifted to behind me, "Holy shit..." That's when I heard a loud yelp sound from Lauren.

"Get offa me!" she screamed as the walker had her grabbed from the back. She took her knife, stabbing it in the eye, then pulling out. The knife didn't go all the way through, causing the walker to continue and bite down on Lauren's cheek, tearing most of it off. "Get it off, get it off!" she dropped her knife, trying to use her hands in a desperate attempt to push the walker off. How did it get so close?!

"Laur!" Devin ran over, prying the walker off and pushing it onto the ground, stomping its head in. He cupped the non-bitten side of Lauren's face, "Laur, you in there?!" Her face was blank, lifeless even, but Lauren herself was still there. "Laur, please." he pleaded, voice cracking. I didn't want to admit it, but we had to go, the walkers were getting closer.

One tried grabbing me, but I pushed it down, trying to replicate what Devin did. It didn't work, I just wasn't strong enough for it. Devin ran over and gave it a final stomp, finishing the job. I watched as he knocked down other walkers, and I tried to stall some others while he stomped them. I looked over at Lauren and nearly gagged.

The bite was deep, the inside of her mouth was showing, blood gushing out and pouring all over her top half. I ran over to her while Devin finished up stomping the walkers. Her breathing was shallow and heavy, I tried to talk to her, say I'm sorry, but my throat just wasn't ready. I held her hand, taking the knife off the ground while doing so. "Dude, we gotta get th'fuck outta here, I'm gonn' grab 'er and we'll meet up somewhere, 'kay?" Devin suddenly spoke up, breathing heavily from his previous activities.

I nodded, standing up and putting the knife in my pocket. I walked over and gave Devin a small hug, he whispered "Good luck." I started running, as fast as my legs could take me, I didn't know where I was going but I was going to get there.

While running I could hear a faint "Get th'fuck off!", I hope Devin's alright.

I ran for hours, my legs ached to the point of collapsing, I finally got out of the woods and onto the road. It was late noon by now, guessing by where the sun now was. I slowed my pace and started to walk slowly, surprised by how calm I felt. Yet, this feeling wasn't calmness, it was numbness. I was cold and numb, lifeless yet still living.

I found something resembling an old trashcan, and decided to search through it, I was so hungry...rummaging around, I found a book and a pencil. Who would leave this behind? I'll take it with me to write in. I kept rummaging and after a couple minutes I found a can.

It was a can of mini ravioli, not the yummiest but it's still food. I sat next to the trashcan, stabbing the can lid with my knife, popping it off. I started scooping them into my mouth, I was right, they are not the yummiest when cold. This reminded me of Devin, he would eat stuff like this cold, I never understood that. I sighed.

….I hope I meet up with him soon.

– – 18 months later – –

I started walking down the road, throat sore from not having a drink in days, stomach hurting from not eating enough. I was going to die if I didn't find something soon...

While hobbling down the road I spotted a cooler, finally, I could eat. I start hobbling faster, reaching my hand out and opening the cooler.

Nothing.

I kicked the cooler and sat down, grabbing my stomach, begging for this to end. I sat there, slowly falling asleep. I could hear growling behind me as I started to drift off. Something grabbed my shoulder, turning around caused it to fall on me. It was a walker, I struggled, trying my best to keep it off of me. It bit at my vest, trying to devour me. I held it off with my one arm, reaching for my knife with the other, as the walker got closer and closer to my skin I grabbed the knife, stabbing it repeatedly in the head, killing it.

I got back up and continued down the road, with each step my numbness faded. I could feel again, emotions started to flood in. Flashbacks struck me, Rod as a walker, Farah's mangled body, Quinn smashing the wood into Farah's reanimated corpse, Lauren's face, Devin's broken voice. I couldn't take it, it was coming back too fast.

The gurgling, the blood, the eyes rolling back. It was as if it was happening right in front of me. I knelt down, the legs kicking, the back arching, her final breath. I screamed, my throat felt as if it was tearing apart, but I couldn't stop now. I've held this back for years, I couldn't stop. I screamed and screamed, "DEVIN!" I cried, tears flowing, "I'M SORRY!" I clenched my fists, pounding the ground. "FARAH, I'M SO SORRY!" I tried to continue, but my throat finally gave out.

Shaking, I took my diary out of my bag I found a while ago on a walker, I started to write, my handwriting sloppy and hurried.

If you're reading this, My name was James.

I was 22 years old, I think.

I loved life, before this.

I had friends, family.

It's all gone.

I'm gone.

I put the diary back into my bag, and laid there. My screaming must have attracted walkers, I hope it did, I was calling for death. I could hear it, in the forms of growls and moans, it was here to take me away. I could feel them getting closer, I closed my eyes. I could hear something going down the road...a car? Soon there was the sound of gunshots, the walkers around me started to fall, I opened my eyes. Turning my head towards the car, the person pulled up beside me, rolling down their window.

"You bit?" his 'sincere' voice seemed very...forced. I shook my head no, confused on what was going on. "Good, get in the fuckin' car then.", his voice was a bit harsh, it doesn't sound like I have a choice. Then again I would just die out here. I got up and hobbled over to the car slowly, trying not to trip on my own feet. "Hurry the fuck up before I change my mind!" I clasped the handle to the door, opening it and sitting down, slamming the door shut.

The man threw something onto my lap, a bottle of water and an apple. Fruit? That's not canned? Oh my god. I opened the water bottle, pressing it to my lips, guzzling the water down as fast as I could. This felt like heaven, I drank too fast, causing me to cough and gag on it. "Whoa, don't drown yerself now." the man chuckled a bit. I looked over at him, "I-...I'm James." I spoke softly, my throat was still scratchy, but it was better than it has been in months. I started to scarf down the apple, I haven't had fresh fruit in years.

"Name's Troy." Hmm, Troy, not a bad name. I pulled out my diary, making a new entry. Troy, nice guy. Saved me, Brought food. this is really all I knew about him right now. He turned his head towards the book for a second, "What ya writin'?". Well this was weird, do I say I'm writing about him? "Just keepin' track of names." I mumbled awkwardly.

"So, what the fuck were you doing back there?" Good question, what was I doing back there? "I'm not...really sure myself." I answered, scratching my shaggy greasy hair. "You, uh, had a group?" I looked over at him, had. "Um, yeah, it got broken up though."

"Hmmm, can you lift?" I looked over at him, confused. "Lift? Like labor an' stuff? Yeah, I can do some of that. Not the best at it though.". Troy scratched his neck, "Well ya better be fuckin' good, you're probably gonna be doin' lots of labor. Earning your keep an' all."

I couldn't see any buildings or tents for miles, "It doesn't seem like yer camp is close.", Troy awkwardly shifted in his seat, "Yeah, it's a good 45 minutes or more away.". He sniffed the air and looked at me for a second, then back to the road, "Y'know, you smell like fuckin' shit, gotta get ya cleaned up when we get there. Wouldn't want you stinkin' up the place." Oh my god, I can bathe too?! This place sounds great.

Leaning back into the seat, I decided to try to catch some sleep, something I haven't done in a while. I hope this place is as great as it seems.

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