My apologies that it is late but here you go. Remember REVIEW AND ENJOY

Chapter Seven

'What Remains Behind'

A man no older than thirty lowered his binoculars, his eyes narrowed to slits. Wrapping the binocular straps around his neck, he began to climb out of the tree. Along the way, a splinter dug its way into his skin.

"You little piece of shit," He cursed. Instead of climbing the rest of the way, he jumped down, landing with ease. He was a giant of a man; his eyes made him appear to be more menacing. Dirt caked his skin, a little blood mingling with it. His once white shirt had transformed into a scrap piece of fabric that barley covered his top half. He didn't have any sort of feet protection on, leaving him only in his bare feet and his hair appeared as if he had been dragged through a bush and back. He looked like a caveman. Ear splitting groans erupted from the monsters before him. They were his 'pets' so to speak. He called one Red and the other Freckles.

To him they had the distinct appearance of those he once knew. Red's hair had either been moulted off or tugged out of its scalp and it had a large gaping wound across her middle. The man turned his gaze on junior, sorrow filled him. The tiny monster was only a child. A furious fire spread across his body, the sorrow acting as fuel, only making the fire worse. Today was the today.

He was going to teach that bitch a lesson for leaving them behind. He would make sure that she'd never leave him. Thus the only way in doing that was to kill her, which meant she'd turn into a monster. Then finally, he could have the complete doll set. Smirking cruelly, he grabbed his pet's leeches. He knew their routine; he'd been observing them for weeks now. His target and another guy would be collecting wood and such in an hour. His smirk grew as he thought about the time he spooked her in the forest. Her reaction sent him in a fit of laughter.

It's only a matter of time…

"28…29…30… Ready or not here I come!" Jaiden announced, removing her hands from her glasses as she did so. To her right, Katjaa chuckled softly for she was observing the game carefully.

Ever since the incident with the ball, all those weeks ago, Lilly had made a rule that any form of game played by the children (Lilly still counted her as a child, even if she was seventeen now). Normally, Katjaa, Carley, Kenny or Lee kept a close eye on them, the others claiming that they had more important things to be doing. She just figured that they didn't want to be on 'babysitter duty'. To be honest who would want to keep an eye on children? (Yes she included herself in that category, she'd become used to being labelled as a child, despite the fact she hated it with a burning passion).

Nonetheless, she enjoyed her time with the kids; they made her feel in some ways useful and not just a whiny hormonal bitch. No, she had to stop thinking about herself. Jaiden felt herself changing, adapting to this new life. On the wall facing opposite her bed, she had marked the days that they had all survived for. Currently the tally stated fifty-three, meaning that they were nearing two months. Overall, they were going tough, never backing down. In the Motor Inn she found sanctuary, a place they could stay in for a long time. But the eyes never left.

Her life was hanging by a thread the moment she entered that damned forest. The one thing she knew for definite was that the owner of these shadowy, malicious eyes was coming to get her. And it was going to end dreadfully. Being the dumbass she was, she didn't tell anyone (anyone primarily being Lee). She was being stupid and she knew it. Lee wouldn't dismiss her like most people did but the fear of that prevented her from doing so. Jaiden thought that the eyes were just her imagination; her mind wasn't exactly the most stable one in the universe. Not will all the voices constantly shrieking in her head, she wasn't sure how she kept going. She just wanted to silence them, be done with them. She was drained. Day by day, the eyes came back with more fire. The gaze was so scorching, she felt as if it was cooking her into a pleasant piece of meat. That thought caused her mouth to begin watering. She craved meat more than anything in the world.

Clenching her teeth together, she came back to reality. Her ears perked up at the sound of giggling. It resounded from her right, which was the RV. Rolling her eyes softly, she began to amble around the RV. Jaiden knew that they had seen her arriving because they were sprinting towards the back of the motel room. They wouldn't go too far, well Duck might attempt to only for Clementine to stop him otherwise. She picked up her pace, just in case they had. In the corner of her eye, she noticed the two pressed against the wall as much as possible, undoubtedly believing that they would camouflage into the wall. Fixing her glasses to make them as straight as they could go, she decided to play along. After all, it was all fun and games.

"I wonder where Duck and Clementine are…" She spun on her heel, her face transforming into one of 'confusion'. To seal the package, she brought a hand to her chin then began stroking her pretend beard. The children's giggles intensified, which caused a full blown grin to explode onto her face. In a flash, she pounced on the kids, lifting Clementine up as she was the closest.

"NO!" She wailed. Immediately, Jaiden brought Clem back to her feet before seizing the girl's hat and darting away with it.

"Hey!" Clementine exclaimed irate coated her tone. Jaiden only cackled like a mad woman, skipping towards her room.

"Get the villain!" Duck cried, pointing her direction. Most of the adults chuckled at the three of them, Larry just huffing at them grouchily. Whipping the door open, she dived onto her bed, bouncing back from impact. Shortly afterwards, she was tackled to the floor, the hat falling from her grip. Landing on her back, a foot rested lightly on her stomach. Glancing up, she noticed the two glaring at her. "Do you, Jay Matthews, surrender?" She gave a faux terrified expression, gulping to add effect.

"I-I do," She stuttered. Duck nodded as Clementine placed her hat firmly back on her head. "Everything okay in here?" Mark popped his head around the door frame, his eyebrow quirked up at the scene before him.

"Listen here Mark. Don't get on the bad side of these two. They can be very dangerous," She winked at him, secretly asking him to play along. "I'll keep that in mind," He dashed out of the room, a trail of mirth following in his wake.

Duck removed his foot from her stomach, leaving a muddy footprint behind. "Sorry," He apologized for the stain on her only shirt.

"Don't be silly, Junior," She waved him off with a flick of her hand. Whilst climbing back onto her feet, she brushed her front. She placed her left hand on Duck's head, the other one Clem's head before giving them pats.

"Off you go guys. Go see if anyone wants some help," Gently, she steered them out of her room, closing the door behind her. Jaiden let out a large sigh, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. By now, she should be used to children wearing her out but it seemed the stress from the apocalypse was crushing her, as if she was hauling an invisible, massive weight around. Opening her closest, she grabbed a torn jacket she had found lying around. The days were rapidly growing frostier. The warm summer of August had disappeared, being replaced with the gusty days of September. After she slipped the jacket on, she grasped her baseball bat. She and Lee were collecting wood for they only had one or two logs left.

"You ready to go?" Lee wondered as she emerged from her room. He leant on the RV, the sun shining on his face. "Yup," She popped the p. He moved away from the RV to begin ambling over to the gate (which was two large trash cans). Mark and Larry had completed the building of the wall last week, meaning that they had protection from the Walkers.

"How long will you two be gone?" Lilly questioned from the top of the RV, a rifle on her lap. The two halted in their path, simultaneously spinning on their heels to gaze up at her. Jaiden brought a hand to the edge of her glasses to shield her eyes from the blinding sun. "An hour. If not don't come looking for us, we probably ran into some walkers, so we'd have to come the Lee motioned for Jaiden to follow him to the gate. Not wanting to waste any more time, she did as she was told.

I'm a little confused

Why?

Did you not hear that?

Doing as she's told. Puh-lease.

Well she has done for a while now…

Doesn't mean nuthin'

This is Jaiden we are talking about…

And…

She's the chick that never listened to her brother or her sister.

Remember that time they told her not to be in the same room as her parents?

Yes… and this is relevant how?

Well she ended up locked in her fucking basement and her father was dead upstairs.

She growled in frustration. Why did their conversation lead to that subject? Every damn time. What was frightening Jaiden the most was they were beginning to acknowledge each other. This could lead to a greater force of voices bashing against her fragile mind. She imagined that her mind was a piece of glass, the voices being the small pebbles. Every day, the pebbles would be thrown at the glass. Not even caring about the many cracks that littered it. By now the glass had turned an opaque colour because of how many pebbles that had been tossed. At first the glass was invincible, the pebbles only creating tiny dent but as she grew older and more aware of the purpose of the voices. They had been with her since birth, though they lay low, unseen by her mind's defences. She couldn't remember when they started yelling at her but she guessed they broke free when the 'accident' happened. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Lee raise an eyebrow.

"What's the noise for?" At first she was a tad perplexed, and then it dawned on her. The growl in her chest must have travelled up her throat to make it audible. A faint blush tainted her cheeks. Jaiden wasn't used to blushing anymore.

"Er… Nothing…" She uttered, sending a nervous smile his way. Lee shook his head whilst chuckling. Out of nowhere, Clementine appeared opposite them, her hand tightly wrapped around her walkie-talkie.

"Be careful!" She ordered, glaring at the two sternly. "We will, Clemmy-Clue," The girl grinned at her nickname.

Lee lowered himself to her level, placing the axe on the ground. He opened his arms, gesturing her to hug him, which she did without hesitation. Jaiden glanced away to give the two their time. Clementine was the daughter that Lee never had; they were allowed their little family moments. "Can we play another game when you get back, Jay?" Clementine seized Jaiden's attention away from one of the dying trees.

"Yeah that sounds good, Clem. Why don't you and Duck think about a super cool game to play whilst I'm gone? Make it a good one," She bopped Clementine's nose gently, causing another giggle to escape her lips. The laughter coming from the girl made Jaiden's lip quirk up, joy spreading through her.

They waved Clementine goodbye and as they were about to disappear into the forest, yet another voice halted them. "Take my gun just in case," Carley threw the gun before either of them had any idea what was going on. Luckily, Jaiden caught it, though she did so rather clumsily. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she brushed imaginary dirt off her clothes; embarrassment overriding her emotion. Lee sniggered over her actions, to which she pushed him lightly on the shoulder. "Let's get going before anyone else stops us," He suggested. Nodding, she followed him into the forest, tucking the gun into her jeans as she did so.

The deeper they went into the forest, the more Jaiden felt twitchy and afraid. To her the eyes seemed much closer than they had before. They were so near that she could literally feel the heat radiating onto her skin, making her feel boiling hot. Lee must have noticed her apprehension for he was gazing at her oddly.

"Everything okay Jaiden?" He questioned. Toying with her glasses, she bobbed her head. "Yeah. The woods just give me the creeps sometimes," She could tell that he doubted her answer.

"How are you getting on with Clem?" Jaiden switched the subject for she didn't want Lee to keep questioning her.

"Things are good. She's like the daughter I've always wanted. It's a shame that I met her under these circumstances," He explained. She hummed in agreement, "I know what you mean,"

"What about you?" She glanced over at Lee, eyebrows furrowing. Seeing her puzzlement, he elaborated, "How are you getting on with the kids?" Jaiden shrugged, swinging her bat in a circular motion by her side, a habit she had picked up on.

She found that she had numerous habits; some of which she didn't even realise she had until Ben informed her about it. The ones she knew of were that she toyed with either her father's ring or her spectacles whenever she felt anxious or humiliated, another being she sang the first three lines of Bee's Gees Staying Alive whenever she felt elated. According to Ben, she cleaned whenever she was upset; even if there was nothing to clean she would find something any way.

"I guess I'm doing okay. Y'know Duck reminds me a lot of my nephew Jimmy. He was oblivious to the outer world and kinda didn't stop talking. One second he would be talking about dinosaurs the next it would be aliens. He's so much like my sister it freaks me out," A small grin appeared onto her face. Jaiden rarely talked out her family; she found it difficult for the images of Jimmy's rotting corpse and the echoes of Scarlett's cries popped into mind. So the fact that was talking about them stunned Lee.

"Was he a troublemaker?" Lee wondered, mirth scattering his tone. "Thinking about it, he really was. This one time, it was Scarlett's baby shower a few months back and, uh, Jimmy wasn't happy about the fact he was having a sibling," Jaiden was about to continue when they saw a lot of Walkers in the clearing.

The clearing where the wood was. Quickly, she hid behind a tree, pressing herself to it as close as she could. Clutching the bat close to her chest, her gaze travelled around, in search of Lee. She spotted him to her far right; he too was pressed up against the tree. They caught each other's gazes and held it there for the time being

'How many of them are there?' She mouthed. Lee held up a finger, silently telling her to wait. She viewed him as he quickly transported his head out of the cover, into the unsafe area, his brown eyes roaming the Walkers. She heard them snarl over something, then Lee rested his head on the bark, taking deep breaths as he did so. Her eyebrows upturned, Lee may act fearless (which was very noble) but who in their right mind wasn't afraid of those monsters.

'Nine', he reported. Inwardly, she cursed. They could never take those many out. Sure they had three weapons; the gun would be a massive risk and would only attract more of them. What would they do now? They couldn't really go back, they would only follow them as the walkers in the clearing had stopped whatever they were doing, meaning that they could smell the two of them, 'We have to split up!' Lee's words sent panic through her. Vigorously, she shook her head. 'No!' Briefly, she squeezed her eyes shut, a plan formulating in her head.

You can't do that!

It's suicidal!

We wanna live too y'know!

GO ON THEN DO IT YA CRAZY BITCH!

SEE IF WE CARE!

Rather stupidly, she stepped out her cover.

She attempted to whistle but no sound came out, only air. "HEY!" She hollered. That certainly did the trick.

"Jaiden what are you doing?" Lee's voice was low, a splash of puzzlement too. "You need the wood for the motor inn and they're not moving anytime soon," She informed him out of the corner of her mouth.

"Jaiden!" She ignored him as the Walkers were stretching their rotten limbs towards her, advancing quicker than she had hoped. She couldn't use the gun, no, that would only attract more. She began to take steps back, wanting to keep a reasonable distance from the Walkers.

"Come at me you sons of bitches!" She taunted, ushering them over with her hands. "JAIDEN!" Lee called, loud enough for her to hear of the snarls of the Walkers.

"Get the wood and meet me back at the motel!" She ordered. Instead of listening to Lee's answer, she picked up her pace to a run. With her baseball bat at her side, she felt protected enough but the Walker's growls set her on edge. This was a stupid plan and she knew it. Nonetheless, she kept sprinting, stopping every so often to regain her breath and letting the Walkers catch up. The forest seemed to go on forever. To her all the trees appeared the same. The same orangey-golden leaves attached to their branches or scattered across the muddy ground. It had rained last night, a clear sign of September weather. By now her thighs were burning and screaming at her to stop, take a break. Her mouth was dry, desperately needing to be hydrated. Though, she couldn't stop now. The Walkers wouldn't give up, so she decided to take action. Halting in her tracks, she spun around; readying her bat as she did so, prepared to take them down.

Only for someone to tug her out of the way.

She squealed in surprise, glasses slipping from her nose, her baseball bat falling out of her grasp, not expecting it at all. The 'saviour' clamped a clean yet stinking cloth over her mouth. Realising what this was, she stopped breathing not wanting to sniff it in. Her vision made it difficult for her to make out the person, though her hearing was absolutely fine. "Hello Velma," They whispered menacingly in her ear. Then she knew exactly who that was, only one person called her that. She struggled against the person's strong grip, not wanting the chloroform to knock her out. The captor hushed her. Eventually, her eyes fluttered shut and she sagged against the person; total darkness overcoming her.

We're so screwed…

Lee watched as Jaiden jumped out into the open, her limbs flying all over the place. His eyebrows scrunched together, was she mad or something? "Jaiden what are you doing?" He wondered, fearing for her as the Walkers came close. He should pull her out of the way, yet she seemed perfectly fine with her plan. He couldn't interfere, he knew her well enough to know she didn't like it when people did.

"You need the wood for the motor inn and they're not moving anytime soon," So this was her plan. It was only wood! They could find it elsewhere. Internally, he growled. The outcome of this would be she would end up dead or worse, a Walker.

"Jaiden!" He hollered. His hands were clammy as he held the axe tightly. The two of them wouldn't be able to take them both out. If she wanted to take the risk, he let her. She reminded them countless of times that she wasn't a child and was very capable of doing things herself. He of all people knew that. The Walkers were swarming her now; he could only see that top of her ashen blonde head. After all, she was quite tiny, just an inch or two taller than Carley (and that was something in itself).

"JAIDEN!" He yelled over the Walkers. ""Get the wood and meet me back at the motel!" He could barely make out her words for the Walkers were creating was very deafening; he'd never heard anything like it (excluding the drugstore situation).

"Just come back!" He ordered, though she didn't reply. A wave of fear overcame him. Did they get to her already? No. They couldn't have, he would have heard her cries for help. Shaking his head, he decided to follow her order. Hopefully, she would be back before he arrived at the Motor Inn. Though he had a feeling of doubt set in his gut.

Nonetheless, he sprinted back to the haven as fast as he could. His injury had healed perfectly and he felt like his old thirty-seven year old self again. However, his leg gave sometimes gave him problems. In all fairness, the wound was deep, he'd never felt anything like it. Except the time when his brother accidentally shoved him out of their tree house when he was fourteen, Bill was only nine. He had gone to hospital with an extremely terrible head wound, a fractured elbow and a broken leg. It seemed that dashing back to the motor inn was a lot quicker than ambling.

"Lee?" Lilly lowered her gun when she saw him emerge from the woods. His face must have been panicked because everyone's faces were apprehensive. "What's the problem?"

"It's Jaiden," He informed them.

"What the fuck about her?" Kenny cussed, coming to open the gate for him, Lee thanking the redneck on the way in.

"There were Walkers by the clearing where the wood logs were and she started screaming to draw them away. Then I lost her," He explained. Everyone remained silent as they soaked in the information he presented. Lee waited with berated breaths for everyone's reaction. What he did know that the Caul's wouldn't be pleased at all.

"Then what do you fucking expect us to do about it?" Larry's usual grumpy voice came. Lee stifled the urge to make a comeback. Quite frankly he didn't have time for the old man's shit today. Not after what happened moments ago.

"Listen, she said that she'd meet me back here. I say we wait a few minutes if not we go looking for her," Lilly didn't seem to agree with Lee's plan for her lip thinned and her perfect eyebrows knotted together deeply.

"We can't do that, Lee. Waiting is okay but going to find her, that's a risk we can't take. That was her decision to be reckless, we can't afford to," She clarified, folding her arms across her chest in a defensive manner. Lee made motion answer only for his hot-tempered friend to piped up.

"Who the fuck is we in this? You're not the only one here. I say we go find that girl if she doesn't come back. It's only fair!" Kenny's tone one of rage, stating that he wasn't to be messed with.

Unexpectedly, a soft warm hand slipped into his free calloused one. Glancing down, it was only Clementine. The young girl had become very special to him. She had wormed her way into his heart rapidly and he swore that he would do whatever it took protect her from the cruel, harsh world. After meeting Clementine, Lee wished that he could have had children with his wife, Sam. However, the two of them always had countless arguments, even at the start of their marriage. It became so terrible that she ended up cheating on him, which led to death; destruction being left behind.

"Who cares," Larry's grump voice wormed its way into the conversation.

"I suggest you keep out of the conversation," Carley glared at the old man.

"Shut the fuck up bitch," The argument was becoming out of hand rapidly and if someone didn't do something, it would spiral out of control.

"Hey, c'mon Larry. You can't speak like that to a lady," Mark too had wandered over to see what the fuss was about. "Clem," Lee knelt down to the little girl's height, so they were eye-to-eye.

"Why don't you and Duck go find something to do while we sort this out? Okay?" He proposed, not wanting her to be anywhere near Larry. The moment the man punched him in the face, he knew he was trouble.

Lee beat himself up about murdering the state senator every day; he didn't need another person helping with the blows. At the time utter rage had speared through him. That was his wife, not the senators. He loved his wife more than anything in the world and seeing them together blew his lid off. It broke his heart that their relationship had led to that. So many thoughts were running through his mind when happened, he hadn't even realised that the senator was dead, blood staining the freshly cleaned carpet.

Until he heard his wife's screams. The fear on her beautiful features had caused him physical pain and the fact that he had caused such fear made him feel dead inside. Taking a breath, he washed in dark thoughts away. Right now there was a situation that needed him. Clementine bobbed her head. She latched onto him briefly before dashing over to Duck. Standing straight again, he re-entered the conversation he had started.

"-fault. She's the one that decided to be a crazy bitch and lure the Walker away. All for what? Some fucking wood!" Larry argued, his face becoming flushed. Lee could tell that if the man didn't calm down soon, he's have a heart attack. The last time he was luck that he didn't.

"Well it seems to me that she was trying to help," Mark snapped, which was a first. Everyone was becoming sick and tired of the old man's behaviour towards others; it was mostly Lee, Jaiden and Carley that were severed the most venom.

"Well she didn't do a very fucking job. I bet you my lucky coins that she's dead," Fury bubbled deep within Lee, he's heard enough.

"We are going to find her no matter what you say! We need to keep each other safe and arguing isn't going to solve anything. Imagine if this was you out there. Wouldn't you want someone to help you?" Lee's small speech certainly did the trick as everyone kept their mouths shut and their lips drew into thin lines. For the time being, everyone mulled over what he had uttered in silence.

After a few seconds Katjaa broke the silence, "If Jay doesn't back in ten minutes, I could stay here with the children whilst you go look for her," Kenny made motion to argue with her suggestion but Lilly dived in before that could happen.

"We don't need everyone to go out there for one person. It's be better if only two people went, we can't lose any more people," Lilly looked firmly at Lee as she spoke, meaning that he would be one of the two people.

"I'm going with Lee," Kenny stated, his tone leaving no room for arguments, though his eyes skimmed the group to see if someone would. Eventually, everyone moved away, most likely returning to their previous tasks. Larry didn't seem pleased with the situation at hand. Lee couldn't care less; the man will forever and always be a grump, not matter how hard he tried to get along with him. He figured that Larry had been like this before the world ended, his heart problems giving clear signs of it.

"Hey, Ken, I appreciate you doing this," Lee thanked the man besides him. Kenny brushed him off with a shrug, "Don't sweat it. I know for a fact that if this was Duck or Katjaa, you would be there in a heartbeat. I'll always have your back," A small smile made its way onto Lee's lips. Kenny was a good man and he would like to keep him as a close friend throughout this.

"The same goes for me,"

So who do you think is this 'kidnapper' so to speak?