She screamed as Red's knife went through the Walker's head. Its hold on her shoe loosened immediately, and she gathered enough strength to kick it away from her; only letting out a small grunt of pain as she turned her body to the side so she could look at her wound. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she focused on the knife sticking out of her side. Every small movement caused a cascade of pain all the way up and back down her body. "Red," she choked out.

He was by her side immediately, running his fingers through her hair in comfort as he prodded the injury softly with his other hand. She clenched her jaw as she laid her head down on her right arm and waited for him to finish.

After a few moments, his fingers stopped and he leaned down to speak in her ear. "I'm going to have to pull it out, Lizzie. It won't be pleasant, but I need you to stay as still as possible." She nodded against her arm and said through clenched teeth, "Do what you have to do, but just do it now."

He leaned away from her, putting his mag light in his mouth and applying more pressure to the top of her head as he grabbed the handle and pulled it out quickly. She sobbed quietly, the pain greater than she had ever remembered feeling; including the burn on her wrist.

His fingers left her head as he grabbed a bottle of peroxide and an ace bandage out of the bag sitting next to him. Then he turned back to her and lifted her shirt up so he could see the wound. It looked clean, but blood was already beginning to pour out. He rolled her to her back and poured the peroxide into her wound. Her fingers clenched around his bicep painfully as she tried not to cry out. He finished disinfecting it, then grabbed a towel out of the other bag and wiped the blood away as best he could. He proceeded to wrap the ace bandage around her waist as tightly as he could so the bleeding would stop, or at least slow down, then he pushed her down to lie on her back so she could rest for a moment.

Tears continued to roll down her face as she looked up at him with pain glazed eyes and pinched features. He held her hand and sat next to her while keeping his ears open for any strange sounds. Her breathing eventually evened out, and Red took the opportunity to check on Dembe. Who was either asleep or passed out, judging by his still form.

Red squeezed Liz's hand, then quietly reassured her he would be back. He stood up, then approached Dembe and checked his pulse. It was strong, but he wouldn't wake up, no matter how many times Red said his name or shook his shoulder. He sat back on his haunches and rubbed a tired hand over his face. Things were worse than before. Liz was injured now, and she wouldn't be able to help him with Dembe. He didn't know if she would be able to walk far herself.

He stood up and surveyed the area they were in. It was a corn field; the stalks were long, so he couldn't see anything over the top of them. He figured there might be a barn or a shed close by, so he stood back up and sat back down next to Liz. She had her eyes closed and a hand over her wound, but her breathing was slow and steady; he wondered if she had fallen asleep.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, her eyes blinked open slowly. He ran his fingers over her cheek softly and said, "I need to find somewhere where we can hole up for the night. You won't be able to go far, and Dembe won't wake up."

She grabbed his thigh and shook her head. "No, we need to stick to together," she rasped out. Her throat raw from screaming and holding in her screams. He covered her hand on his thigh and shook his head. "Lizzie, you know I wouldn't leave unless it was absolutely necessary. We're vulnerable right now. We don't have the kind of protection we need."

She closed her eyes in defeat. He knew she was thinking over his words, trying to come up with a good reason for him to say. She eventually opened them back up and nodded reluctantly. He was proud of her though; there wasn't any fear in her eyes.

He reached behind him and took his gun out of the back of his pants and handed it to her. She took it, but with protest. "Red, you're going to need this worse than I am."

He shook his head and covered both of her hands holding the gun. "No, I'm not going to argue about this any longer. Time is getting short. I have a knife, I'll be fine."

She sighed loudly, then grimaced at the pain that it caused as she reached up and ran her fingers lightly over his scruffy jaw. "Be careful, Red."

He leaned over her and hovered his face inches from hers. "I will. You need to stay alive, Lizzie. You hear me? When I come back you and Dembe better still be alive."

She nodded and traced her fingers over his lips. "You better come back."

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, deepening it momentarily, then pulled back with a soft smile on his face. "I'll always come back if it's in my power, sweetheart. Don't ever doubt that."

Tears began to leak out of the corners of her eyes again as he pressed another kiss to her lips and pulled away reluctantly; he didn't want to do anything but lie next to her and make sure she was OK, but he didn't have a choice.

He checked her bandage once more, then stood up and told her once again to listen for any strange sounds and walked away while he still could. He would have to do hard things in this kind of world, and this was only the beginning. He couldn't let his emotions sway him one way or the other. He needed to keep the people he cared most about safe. That was all that mattered.

OOOOOO

Red walked through the dead and dried up corn stalks slowly. Every odd sound had him turning and searching in the darkness for a Walker or an animal. He was a mess. His only thoughts were of Liz and Dembe and how quickly he could get back to them.

He had walked for at least a good half hour when he reached the end of the cornfield. He stepped over an old, run down fence and stood on dirt road lined with tall trees. Looking both directions, he didn't see anything moving or out of place, so he turned back to face the cornfield and squinted in the darkness for anything resembling a building. All he saw was the tops of the corn stalks. There wasn't anything rising above them.

"Dammit," he whispered as he put his hands on his hips. He didn't want to walk down the road for fear that he would become disoriented and not be able to find his way back to Liz, so he stepped back over the fence and began the walk back. He'd already been away for longer than he liked, and knew she was going to be disappointed by the news. They would have to move further into the cornfield and hope for the best until daylight came. He brought up his watch and pushed the light button. It was only 2:00 AM; it was going to be a long night.

He walked for another fifteen minutes without incident when suddenly a three gunshots rang out. He stopped and listened for more, but there were none; that's when he realized there were only three bullets left in that gun. He took off at a sprint, the corn stalks whipping his face and body, but he barely felt them as adrenaline coursed through his body.

The only thing running over and over in his mind was: faster, faster, faster.

OOOOOO

He skidded to a halt ten minutes later and widened his eyes in horror at the scene in front of him.

There were three dead Walkers on the ground where Liz had been, and three other Walkers making a meal out of Dembe.

Dembe was dead.

He couldn't seem to comprehend that. He gripped the knife in his hand tightly and ran to the Walkers that were chewing on various parts of Dembe's body, stabbing all three in the head over and over until his rage had subsided. Those bastards had just killed his best friend. His confidant. His protector.

Red had failed him.

He knelt next to Dembe's half-eaten body and closed his eyes as tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn't cry now. Not when he still needed to find Liz and get them to safety. Not while there were other Walkers probably making their way over to his position. He cursed loudly and brought the knife up slowly. He needed to put a knife through Dembe's skull so he wouldn't turn into one of those things.

He took a shaky breath and plunged the knife down. The sound of it alone made bile rise up in his throat.

Red pulled the knife out and wiped it on the tattered clothing of a Walker lying next to him, then stood up and picked up some downed corn stalks and laid them over Dembe's body. He wished he could bury him, but time was short, so this would have to do. He whispered the prayer he had recited with Dembe during the Anslo Garrick fiasco, then said, "I'll see you in the next life, my friend."

He furiously wiped a few stray tears that had fallen on his cheeks and turned around. He needed to find Liz and get the hell out of here. He quickly repacked their bags and hoisted them on his shoulders, then stopped to listen once more.

All he heard was the moaning of Walkers and the rustling of corn stalks all around. He felt like he was being closed in on all sides. "Lizzie," he whispered urgently.

No response.

"Elizabeth," he said a little louder. Still nothing.

"Elizabeth Keen, answer me dammit!" He yelled that at the top of his lungs, knowing he was endangering himself further.

"Red." Came a quiet reply in front of him. He walked forward carefully and continued to call her name, while she answered him back. Her voice became louder as he approached her.

When he finally reached her, she was slumped against a wood post with tear filled eyes. "I'm so sorry, Red," she sobbed. "I tried to save him, I really did. There were just too many."

He dropped their bags to the ground and knelt next to her to pull her into a hug, careful of her injured side. "There was nothing you could do. I don't blame you." He whispered that into her ear while caressing her back until her crying ceased, broken occasionally by a hiccup.

Once she had herself under control, she pulled back from him and grimaced. "I think I've lost a lot of blood, Red. I had to stand up and run, I might have made things worse; I feel like I'm going to pass out."

He laid her down carefully on the dirt and pulled her shirt up. The bandage and surrounding skin was covered with blood. "Son of a bitch," he mumbled as he unraveled the bandage and fresh blood began to seep out of the wound again. He looked at her to ask her a question, but her eyes were closed; she was already out.

He slapped her cheek lightly to make sure she wasn't just asleep, but when she didn't wake up, he quickly stood up and walked over to their bags. There was a suture kit in one first aid boxes they had found. He'd given himself stitches quite a few times, he could definitely do a passing job on her.

He brought his supplies and a clean towel over and set them down next to her, then situated everything how he needed them. He poured rubbing alcohol over the needle and thread, then over his hands and kneeled down next to her wound. It looked angry and inflamed in the bright moonlight overhead. He began to work quickly, knowing that they would be discovered soon. It didn't help that thoughts of Dembe kept creeping into his mind; he had to push them back, he needed to concentrate.

He was halfway finished when he heard the inevitable groaning sounds coming from behind him. They were out of time.

AN: *sobs* poor Dembe. :(..It was such a hard decision to kill him, but he was too badly injured. Don't throw anything. *ducks behind computer*. That being said, I'm sorry its taken me so long to update this. I do plan to finish all of my fics, I promise. I would love to hear what you think about this chapter, and the overall story. Have a great day! :)