A/N: I'm back! Anyways, I'm going away for a week, so I'm not to sure I'll be able to update next time (I'm trying to convince my parents to let me take my laptop with me. Yes that does sound silly but y'know). This chapter is a filler more than anything else. But there's more action next time, I have it all planned out. I want to see some reviews when I come back, even just one makes my day. Most importantly... ENJOY!

Chapter Six

'28 Days Later'

She clutched her side in agony, the blood seeped in between her fingers, leaving a trail behind her as she sprinted for her life. There were too many of them. She wasn't so sure that she'd escape this time. This was all her fault, if she had listened to Lee and Kenny she wouldn't be in this situation at all. She was stupid bitch that just wouldn't do as she was told.

Jaiden had found the opportunity to collect some more supplies for the motor inn, rather than listening to Kenny and Lee's protests she snuck in. A) She was smaller than the two; B) They were rapidly running out of supplies. Marks' goods wouldn't last forever, so they needed to prepare. There was no light except from the few beams of sunlight peeking through the holes of the building. As fast as she could, Jaiden gathered all the supplies before she handed them to Kenny and Lee through the crack she had slipped through.

Then that's when her doom came. The hairs on the back of her neck had raised, the senses had tingled from the danger nearby. Multiple moans had erupted in the dark building and she immediately knew that she was done for. The only weapon she had was Carley's pistol but she was a lousy shot anyway, no matter how hard the adults tried to teach her how to aim. Lee and Kenny had pleaded for her to climb up back through the crack but the Walkers were closing in fast. Jaiden shook her wounded head trying to forget how she came to the predicament.

She felt herself becoming weaker by the second, though she couldn't stop, she just had to escape. She didn't want to be eaten alive; she'd rather shoot herself in the head. It was her chance to finally do what she had craved to do since the Apocalypse started. Her heat beat thudded loudly in her ear drums, her breaths coming out in short pants. She glanced from side to side, seeing the Walkers closing in on her, she picked up the pace, no matter how hard it was.

Her thighs were burning from being exercised so much. The wound in her side was only becoming worse. The tip of her foot came into contact with a tree root and she flew to the ground. A scream left her lips as she landed on her side, the blood soaking the ground. She latched her hands onto her foot to tug it out, only to find it wedged in tight.

You've never gonna get out of this situation.

You were fucking lucky the first time

What makes you think you'll be able to survive again

You're just a piece of shit

A piece of shit nobody likes

Go cry to you daddy… oh wait you don't have one!

She dared not glimpse up at the Walkers for they would leave her in a more panicked state than she already was. As the current tactic wasn't working, Jaiden tried another tactic by kicking the tree root. The smell of rotten flesh reached her nostrils, meaning that they were nearby and ready to pounce on her. Luckily, the tree root began to snap. Jaiden thanked the heavens that this root was only a thin one.

With one final kick full of sheer power, the root snapped, realising her foot. Promptly, she sprung back onto her feet and resumed her previous task. There was a gap ahead, large enough for her to squeeze through. The corner of her lip quirked upwards in a victory smirk, maybe she could win this time instead of failing at everything.

Jaiden had wished for so long to be the best, actually mean something to the world. Perhaps the tables had turned for her. No matter how much she wanted to die, she had people to care for, people to help. Even if she was a useless piece of shit, she had to try, (which is the main reason why she jumped done to collect the supplies). Ahead there was a large forest, much like the one in Stone Mountain. Her lip quirked up, this could be her chance to hide from the Walkers. Abruptly, she halted in her tracks for she had seen something extremely unexpected.

"DON'T SHOOT!" She tightened her grip on her wound, bringing the other filthy hand upwards in a surrender position. Silence reached her ears, no moans, no heavy breathing, just complete and utter silence. There, standing in the gap were people who meant a lot to her. Lee, Clem, Carley, Glenn, Scarlett, Alan, Jimmy, Travis, Evie, Bill, Denna, Jerry, Amy, Renee, Robert, her father and Ben. They were all in a straight line, expressions of fury etched onto their faces, no emotion clear in their eyes. At first she had no idea why they were like this. In the centre, Ben held a shot gun tightly in his hands, aimed specifically at her.

"Walker!" They yelled simultaneously. She glanced back, thinking that they were warning her about a walker behind her. Only, the field she had been running through had disappeared, turning into a mirror instead, her reflection starting back at her.

However, she was unrecognizable. Observing the bizarre version of herself with narrowed eyes, she noted that she was missing one of her green trainers and her jeans had been ripped to shreds; scars on her now grey tinted skin proving that. Jaiden's counterpart was missing an arm as well as a gaping wound in her side. Finally, she raised eyes to gaze at her face, glasses gone. She was met was a horrible realisation. Her normal deep blue eyes had transformed into a murky white colour, much like the eye colour of a…

No…

The eye colour of a Walker. "No," She mumbled, her voice and body trembling. Turning around slowly, Jaiden lifted her hands in her line of vision. Her skin was rotten, peeling off at every angle. "MONSTER!" Ben bellowed. Jaiden's head snapped up at his voice, tears pooling in her eyes. "Stop! Please! Benny it's me! It's me!" She pleaded desperation evident in her tone. Ben's nose crinkled in disgust and he aimed the shotgun at her head.

BANG BANG BANG!

Jaiden gasped for air as she bolted upright in her bed. Someone was hitting the door repeatedly, "Come on, Jay, time to get up," Mark's voice commanded softly. Groaning she fell back onto the slightly sweaty bed. Tiredly, she rubbed her eyes. That was the hundredth nightmare she had, had since the Apocalypse started and it was the same one every time. She found it difficult to sleep, knowing that the nightmare would keep on replaying, like a broken record tape.

On and on and on until she finally gave up. Was her brain trying to tell her that Ben would be the one to kill her? Or was it just the fact she was becoming to paranoid over everything? She wasn't sure anymore. Jaiden was beginning to lose her mind over the end of the world. The voices in her head had become considerably nasty as of late. At least they didn't wake her up now and again. Sometimes they would be screaming at her. Other times there were barely above a whisper.

The bed creaked as she rolled her body to the side in order to collect her only source of sight. Along the way she grabbed the pocket watch she had found on one of their scavenging hunts a couple of days ago. Slipping her black framed spectacles onto her nose and her father's ring onto her thumb, she gazed at the clock. The glass was a tad cracked but the only thing that mattered was that the clock was still ticking. It read half eight, meaning that it was her turn to be on watch today until it was Lilly's shift at twelve.

Lilly had planned a routine of people being on watch. Most of the time, Kenny, Lilly, Lee, Carley, Mark or herself were left to keep an eye on any trouble that may shuffle over to the Motor Inn. She could remember when they had all decided to make the Motor Inn their safe haven. Glenn had gone to Atlanta to see if any of his friends or family was still out there. She had noticed melancholy in Carley's dark brown eyes when they had arrived. From what Lee informed her, he couldn't save Doug in time before he was devoured by Walkers. Although she didn't get to socialise to Doug much, she would miss his dorky, over-technical presence.

The safe haven was short lived when the electricity cut off. In all honesty, she stank; the last time she had any form of self-cleansing was four days ago. The water had stopped working last week, so they had to travel to the lake that was quite the distance, an hour or so away from their safe haven. Lilly only allowed half the group to go one week and the other half to go the other.

Shaking herself loose, forgetting about everything that just passed through her mind, especially the nightmare. There was no point dwelling over it. It was just a horrible dream that wasn't real, just her mind playing tricks on her. She kicked the covers off of her body before hopping out of bed. Almost immediately, she shivered for the air in the motel room was cool; despite the fact that it was August (though it was nearing the end). Clad in only her bra and underwear; she ambled around the room in search of her clothes. Jaiden found then scattered in various places across the floor. Her plaid green checker shirt was hidden under the bed, her jeans near the door and her batman shirt had somehow crawled into the bathroom.

Hurriedly, she threw them on before collecting a hair band to tie her bed hair back. After that she grabbed her baseball bat. Although it had only been a month since all this shit happened, her hair now reached her collarbone, no longer neck length. When she was younger, her hair reached her waist and (as she put it) made her feel like a 'princess'. She always thought she was a strange child. But as the bullying began, they mocked her hair, so she snipped it all off. Alan, of course, had been very pissed off with her, though eventually he overcame his attitude towards it. Instead he teased her, claiming that she looked like a boy.

Jaiden's hand clasped the cool golden door knob in order to open it. A powerful breeze smacked her in the face, odd strands of hair, flying everywhere. Silently, she shut the door behind her, in fear that she would wake those who were still sleeping, mainly the children and Larry. The old man would become even crankier if he was disturbed in anyway.

"Mornin' lazy ass," Kenny greeted as she passed him, a small smirk plastered on his lips. Rolling her eyes, she halted in her tracks and reached for Kenny's hat. In a flash, she swiped it off his head.

"You little fucker…" He cussed, his tone laced in amusement. Before he had the chance to snatch it back, Jaiden had already begun to climb onto the top of the RV. Kenny's orange and white hat was situated on her head, covering her eye slightly for her head was tinier than his. As she slumped into the plastic chair, she noticed him staring at her, hands on hips, eyebrow raised.

"Ya gonna give it back, or do I have to come up there and get it?" He wondered. The corner of her lip tugged upwards, creating a grin. Lee appeared in her vision shaking his head at the two of them.

"Nice to see nothing's changed between you two," he commented. Rolling her eyes, she tugged the hat off of her head, "Good morning to you too, Lee," She threw Kenny's hat back down to him, which he caught with ease.

During the short time, Jaiden had become a lot friendlier with the adults. Mainly, Lee, Kenny, Carley and Katjaa. Lilly only saw her as a wimpy little child who couldn't do much as did Larry, but Lilly did treat her fairly. Honestly, she didn't give a flying fuck about what Larry said. He was a grumpy man who had nothing better to do than argue with everyone. She liked Mark but just hadn't gotten the chance to talk to him that much. Jaiden adored Clementine; she was a sweetheart and could brighten anyone's day.

Sometimes, she would notice if someone was a down or needed support and she did her best to make them better. Last but not least, Duck. He was completely oblivious to the outer world but maybe that is what they all needed. She had to admit, he was annoying sometimes but he could always make her giggle. Jaiden followed Kenny's figure as he travelled into his motel room, no doubt about to wake up his family. He was a lucky man, having his family here with him, rather than knowing that they could be out there dead or worse. Resting her elbows on her knees, she brought a hand underneath her glasses to massage her eyes.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Lee's voice her caused her to jump out of her skin slightly for she had thought he would have gone to work on the wall at the front of the motel.

"Yeah. Well kinda. It's not that important," She didn't want to irritate Lee with her problems, she was nearly seventeen (she guessed, her birthday near the end of August, the twenty-third to be precise). Lee raised one eyebrow, his arms folding together across his chest in a disbelieving manner.

"Are you sure, Jaiden?" She nodded, she knew he meant well. In fact, she was touched by his concern. He didn't have to bother but he did anyway. That's what she like most about Lee; he was willing to help you no matter who you are or what you have done. Another thing was that she didn't mind Lee calling her Jaiden instead of Jay. She has always hated her first name for Jaiden was a boy's name. She made motion to reply when Clementine came skipping over, her lifeless walkie-talkie in hand and her infamous cap on her head. Duck trailed behind her.

One of the walkie-talkies had broken when she had fallen on it back at the motor in and the other one's battery power had been sucked dry, meaning they were of no use. Clem had given Jaiden one of them, claiming that she only need one and that Jaiden could have faux conversations with her family. She had grinned at the little girl, thanking her for her kindness. Sometimes, the three of them would have fake spy mission, either one of them being the villain, the other two spies. The aim of the game to was capture the villain before they dominated the world. To be honest, Jaiden enjoyed playing 'childish' games, it cleared her mind. The voice had quietened down recently, for whatever reason, she didn't care that much. As long as they were gone, she could have peace.

"Morning Clemmy-Clue," Jaiden noted that Clementine's lips pulled into a grin. At first Clementine disliked Jaiden's nickname for her and pouted over it, which resulted Jaiden using the name more often. Eventually, she overcame her frustration. Before anyone had the chance to elaborate on their morning conversation, Duck's eager voice cut through. It's like the kid's high on sugar or something, she thought wryly.

"Jay, Jay, Jay!" He repeated her name several time. In the meanwhile, Lee wondered off, going to talk to Carley and Clementine observed their interaction.

"That is my name Ducky, don't wear it out," She joked, mirth laced in her tone. She heard Clementine giggle quietly, causing a small smile to grace her lips. However, Duck didn't react for he was far too busy bouncing on one foot to the other.

"Can we play superheroes again today, please! You can be batman again because you have the shirt and I'll be Robin and Clementine can be Batgirl again. Or maybe one of us could be the Joker or you can be Alfred. I dunno. Please. Please! Please!" He begged. Jaiden sighed shaking her head at his enthusiasm.

"First of all, calm down, take a few breaths. Second of all, why don't you ask what Clem wants to do?" Jaiden nodded her head towards the other girl who had her arms crossed, a scowl on her face. Duck shook his head, he blinked several time as if he had forgotten Clementine was there. Doing a ninety degree jump, he came to face her.

"So. Do wanna play superheroes?" Duck's hands were behind his back and he stood on the tip of his toes, waiting for her answer.

"We did that yesterday. Can we draw instead?" Clementine glanced up at Jaiden, hope etched across her face. This time it was Duck's turn to scowl and cross his arms; any excitement on his face had washed away, replaced with a sour expression.

"We always draw, Clementine! Anyways it's boring," Jaiden noticed that this pointless argument would rapidly escalate into a massive fight between the two children.

"If you two can't agree on anything, I'll have to decide what we do instead," Jaiden toyed with her father's ring. The children opened their mouths to protest, when Katjaa saved every a lot of trouble.

"Come on you two. Stop hassling Jay, let her carry on with her job," Katjaa shooed the children away but kept a close eye on them as they pranced away. Once they had disappeared, Jaiden piped up. "Thanks Katjaa," A soft warm close lipped smile made way onto the Belgium woman's face.

"No problem, sweetheart. I'll let you continue with your job. Call if you need anything," With one final smile, she ambled over to her husband. Jaiden slumped back into the plastic chair, a grin settled on her face. Maybe it wasn't going to that bad after all.

You do realise that saying that will most likely jinx it

Yet again Jaiden Phillipa Matthews you are a dumbass

I thought we were leaving her alone for a while

Oops. Well, I felt the need to comment

Now look who's the dumbass

Shut your piehole

Calm down guys, do you want her to get pissed off?

I don't give to shits.

'Do you lot mind?'

Sorry Jay-Jay

She huffed at the voices in her head. They've been arguing more than pissing her off though their fights only made her more aggravated. Sighing she let her eyelids flutter closed for a brief second, thinking back to one of her weaker moments at the start of the Apocalypse.

Lilly had asked her to search through one of the abandoned cars, to see if there was anything useful; weapons, clothing, anything that would help with survival. So far she had found a magazine of bullets, a pair of bloodied shoes and some stationary. Jaiden thought that it would be a good idea to give bullets to Carley. She supposed that they would fit her gun. She'd never been near a gun in her life; she had a slight fear over them. With a gun came power, power to make everyone stop what they were doing because you had the advantage. Plus she had heard about the things guns could do, she would take her chances with her baseball bat. Though sooner or later, she'd have to be able to use a gun if her bat became useless. The stationary Jaiden would give to Clem for girls liked drawing and all that jazz. To be honest, Jaiden only knew what little boys like, Jimmy was an example. He loved space, dinosaurs and robots.

Climbing out of the back seat, she soundlessly shut the door behind her. Jaiden hissed when her applied pressure on her ankle. Now that the adrenaline from sprinting to the car and the painkiller were wearing away, it felt as if her ankle was on fire. Hurriedly, she climbed into the front passenger seat, wanting to keep the ankle pain to a minimum. First of all, she checked the glove compartment; there would normally be something in there, maybe the keys? They could find fuel and then use it as a form of transportation if the motor inn didn't become their safe haven.

Her fingertips grazed a cool object with various buttons. Excitement spread through her body, a smile full of hope appearing on her face. Pulling the object away from its hiding spot, her guess was correct. It was phone. However her smile disappeared as quickly as it came. There was only enough life for one call. She would have to choose who to call very carefully. The call might be wasted though as no one would pick up. Nate wouldn't give a damn about her emotions; Scarlett was most likely a rotting corpse shuffling around lifelessly in the street. Her heartstrings tugged as the last image she had of her sister flashed through her mind. It was sick, all of it. The monsters didn't care if a woman was eight months pregnant with a girl. They didn't care at all.

She couldn't call Alan, he was probably fighting this war, plus she doubted that he would have his phone on him. Instead, Jaiden decided that she would call the number she knew off by heart. Ben. With shaky fingers, she typed in his number before pressing the green button and pressing it to her ear. She hoped that he was safe, the same for his family. She remembered how he was travelling to playoffs, who knew were Robert, Renee and Amy were?

She didn't knew how she would react he wasn't alive but she knew that it would be the best. Ben kept her going; he reminded her that it was worth being alive. She should have told him how she felt when she left for Macon. She didn't give two shits if it sounded mushy or like one of those cheesy romantic movies. She didn't care if she saw him the next day or the day after, she knew that was moment to tell him and she didn't capture it in time.

The phone just kept dealing, never ending beeps coming through the receiver.

"C'mon Benny. C'mon pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up," by now tears were making tracks down her pale, filthy face, fogging her glasses along the way and her breaths came out in shaky breaths. Then she heard it.

His voice

Though it wasn't the words she was searching for.

"Hey this is Ben here. You probably already knew that. I'm busy doing stuff and… thangs," He sighed as someone giggled in the background, "Anyways, leave a message and I'll call you back," For a moment Jaiden did nothing.

All of the weight of the past three days came crashing down on her, Ben's voicemail being the scissors that cut off the thin rope that the weight was hanging off. The phone fell from her grasp, her glasses slipping off her nose too, landing by her feet. She wept for all those she had lost, she wept over everything. As she sobbed her heart out, Lee and Kenny observed her with sorrowful eyes.

"You can't blame her," Lee commented. Kenny's lips thinned, his arms enfolded across his chest.

"I know with all this fucking shit we've all seen, I'm surprised the kids haven't broken down," Kenny bobbed his head sullenly.

"What do ya think got her so riled up?" Kenny wondered, giving his friend a sideways glance. The man beside his shrugged, his eyebrows furrowing together,

"Who knows what she's seen. Could be worse than what's happened to us." Lee guessed.

"From what I've noticed, she's a little sensitive," Lee continued, his utterance causing the redneck to frown, his lips going to an even straighter line. "Sooner or later, she's gonna have to suck it up," Lee sighed over the man's reaction, "Let's just go easy on her, Ken," With that Lee ambled over to Clementine. Shaking his head, Kenny went over to his family, plastering a faux smile as he did.

A little while later, Jaiden was playing soccer with the kids. At first they had protested but they let it go when they realised she wasn't going to change what their activity. According to Duck, he was the master of soccer and everyone at school was envious of his skills. She had just laughed as did his parents for they were observing the game carefully, just in case anything got out of hand. Currently, Duck was in goal and Clementine attempted to tackle Jaiden. Although the teen was never very good at soccer (for she fell on her ass every time), she could get past an eight year old girl but Clementine was quite excellent at it. Noticing that there was a gap small enough for the ball to go through, Jaiden grabbed the chance by kicking the ball with all her might…

Only for the ball to fly over the wall, bouncing into the forest as well as rustling some trees along the way.

"Oh shit," She cursed as the two Caul's eyes filled with fury, the fire clear in their eyes as they turned to Jaiden, who blanched. "Swear," Clementine stated offhandedly.

"Do you realise what you've done you stupid bitch!" Larry's words stung and his booming voice making her flinch, dread consuming her. "I-I'm sorry!" She stuttered, wrapped her arms around her middle self-consciously. "

You don't get to be fucking sorry! You could attract Walkers and they could be coming here right now!" Larry began with his rant, as he became more infuriated by the second, everyone came over.

"Dad-"

"No, Lilly. This bitch has fucked up too many times and she doesn't give two shits. I say she should go and get the ball," He stalked over to her, the fire in his eyes blazing at fall force Jaiden swallowed, squeezing her shut just waiting for Larry to grab her roughly and throw her out. But a breeze fell in front of her signalling that someone had stepped in front of her. Opening one eye, she realised that the figure was Lee and a hand clasped her shoulder. Glancing behind her, she found Carley nodding at her sternly, though her eyebrows were raised in a compassionate manner.

"Walk away, Larry," Lee warned, his voice low and fury bubbled beneath his tone, his fists clenched. Although, she couldn't see Lee expressed, she knew that it was pissed. Larry's eyes narrowed as he scanned the adults that were positioned near Jaiden. Shortly afterwards, his livid gaze locked onto her fearful one. His gaze sent a message, a message that she didn't like at all. Later. Shivers crept up her spine and her fingernails dug into her clammy palm. With one final glance at everyone, Larry stomped away into his motel room. She let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. Any fear was replaced with relief. Relief that he hadn't done anything. There was silence among the group as everyone soaked in what happened. Feeling that this moment would become awkward very quickly; Jaiden cleared her throat, causing everyone to turn their attention towards her.

"I'm- uh- gonna go get that ball, then," She scuffled backwards to retrieve her bat which lay on the sofa. Lee and Kenny made motion to protest when Lilly piped up. "Just be quick and we can all forget that this happened. I'm sorry about my dad by the way, Jay," Picking up her trusty bat, she shook her head.

"It's my fault, don't worry about it," Lilly bobbed her head in return before resuming with her previous task. Fiddling with her square spectacles, she made her way across the parking lot to the wall. Along the way, someone's hand clasped her arm, halting her movement. She nearly stumbled over but managed to keep her footing.

"Are you sure you don't want anyone to come with you?" Lee wondered, his eyes filled with worry. She gave him a reassuring smile, despite the fact that the voices were screaming at her not to go alone.

"It's my problem, Lee. Besides, the ball can't have gotten that far," Seeing as he wasn't convinced, she tried again.

"Don't worry about me, Lee. I'm a big girl," His lips thinned but he let go of her arm, then patted her shoulder before wondering off to Carley. Taking a deep breath, she reached the wall and jumped over it (more like stumbling over it). "Be safe," Clementine commanded, lightly. Turning on her heel to face the little girl, she swung her bat over her shoulder and raised two fingers to her head before realising them in a mock salute fashion. "Yes ma'am," Clementine giggled. Spinning back to the forest, she soundlessly entered the forest.

Her eyes and ears were on high alert; she knew that the sound of the ball may have attracted a Walker. Her footsteps crushed several fallen leaves. There were some birds chirping in the distance, the sky was lifeless today, signalling that rain would fall later. She sniffed the air, normally she would smell a rotting odour but now she smelt nothing but clean, fresh air. Her lungs ached for more, finally feeling relief of such a wonderful scent. Even though being out in the woods felt like home again, she had a task to complete. She tightened her grip on the baseball bat, not backing down at all. She just kept going forward, hoping that the ball would be nearby.

You dumbass. why did you have to go and play soccer? You know that you're shit at it!

Jaiden smacked the side of head; she didn't have time for the voice's shit at the moment. In her mind, they grumbled from the action. Rolling her eyes, she continued her journey. The wind ruffled through her hair, blocking her vision for a moment. As soon as it cleared up, she spotted the ball a few metres away. She was about to stalked over there and bolted out of the forest, when she froze in place. Behind her, bushes rustled and she could sense eyes on her. Though it didn't feel like Walker's eyes. In fact they felt human. Jaiden decided not to call out 'Who's there', like stupid people did in movies. No she couldn't risk the noise.

Instead, she collected the ball and bolted out of the forest, glad that she didn't run into the person or any walkers. In the corner of her eye, she noticed shadows of people. Knowing that they were most likely walkers, she sprinted even faster. Her breaths came out in short gasp, still not used to running everywhere. Internally she cursed herself for not collecting any wood. She would use that wood and create stakes. It may sound like a stupid idea but they could do a lot of harm. After all, she was an inventor, it's what she does. Finally, she emerged from the woods, the motor inn appearing in her view. She stopped running for there was no need to anymore.

"Jay?" Kenny called, yet she didn't reply. Rather, she just hopped over the wall and dropped her belongings before collapsing on the concrete. Fatigue consumed her as she lay there. She was far too tuckered out to do anything. Someone kicked her side gently. Opening one eye, she was met with Kenny's figure looming over her.

"What got ya so spooked?" He wondered, picking up the ball in the meanwhile. "Nothing," She stated lamely. Kenny shrugged then strolled over to his son. She still couldn't shake the feeling of the eyes away. There was someone out there and quite frankly she didn't want to know who.