Chapter 4. Definitely had fun writing this one since this is the first real interaction that Katrina gets with some of the characters when they're NOT in a standoff. Anyway, here we go…

-4-

I must have fallen asleep for some period of time since I was brought back out of my blank stupor of thoughtlessness by someone shaking my arm, accompanied by a soft 'hey'.

I was still in my hunched position on the pew, and I gingerly raised my head with my red locks tumbling about my face to see the priest sat on the pew beside me, but not too close as Liesel was curled into my legs.

'Hey, are you okay?'

Was I okay. I honestly didn't know how to answer that one as everything came rushing back to me so fast that my head was almost knocked back by it. I wasn't okay with the fact that I was now caught up in the middle of a war that I wanted no part of, and I wasn't okay that I would probably facing down a bunch of cannibals in the next 24 hours. I wasn't even okay with the fact that I was bitten since when Bob flickered through my mind a moment the guilt resurfaced and my bite started to itch like crazy, and I couldn't do anything or else I could pull the scabs off and open the wound again.

But I guess it could be worse.

I gave him a tired smile and nod, which seemed to alleviate some nervousness he had. As we sat in silence a moment longer I regarded him carefully, trying to read him sort of like Sherlock Holmes would. He was wearing his priest's collar still. It was his church because of this. He looked cleaner than the others and his suit was not as ragged as the clothes of the other people here. So he was not part of this group, or he had joined so recently that he hadn't travelled with them outside of the church or nearby runs. His eyes were not as tired and he still wasn't majorly skinny like I probably was. Therefore he got enough sleep and enough food, probably because this church was a good base and near a food supply. A flash of Beardman mentioning a food bank entered my mind, though I was having trouble remembering some of the things from earlier tonight, though I remembered my interrogation, Bob and the fight that Beardman had had with the army guy…what was his name again?...Abraham? Abraham.

Giving the priest another once over, I recalled his story of his congregation but it settled next to the fact that this man seemed truly remorseful for what he had done, the pain of it lingering permanently in his eyes as I saw when his met mine for a fleeting moment. I recalled from earlier that the reason he had done it was not out of sadistic need but out of fear and helplessness. Well, he was better than most other people I had met, this group included. Because of that, I managed to give him a ghost of a smile and I extended a hand for him to shake.

'I'm Katrina.'

As I said this, I angrily mentally noted that neither Beardman, nor Sasha, or Maggie or Glenn or ANYONE ELSE had actually bothered to find out my name before they started interrogating me and blaming me for all their problems. God, I was surrounded by arseholes.

The priest smiled at me as he shook my hand gently.

'I'm Gabriel Stokes.'

Before anything else could be said, Liesel stood from her place by my legs and broke the handshake by shoving her head in the way, inaudibly whining as she looked at me with big brown eyes that clearly said 'pet me'. I managed to let out a whisper of laugh at that, forever thankful that I had found her and I had taken her with me. I scratched behind her ear and in return she leant into my touch, creeping forwards till her head was pressed against my chest. I smiled down at her a moment before lifting my gaze to meet Gabriel, who was merely watching our interaction with a small smile.

'Feel free to pet her.'

He looked up from Liesel to me, looking a little nervous. Huh, he must not have experience with animals. I tried to alleviate any fears he may have about me or Liesel. On the whole, I liked him the most out of everyone in this group.

'She won't bite unless I tell her to.'

He blinked a few times before cautiously reaching out a hand to pet her cautiously. He relaxed a little more when Liesel didn't turn around chew his fingers off, and he gained confidence as he continued to stroke her from her neck down her back. He was about to pull his hand away when Liesel turned and licked his fingers, causing him to give a gasp of surprise and of laughter at the ticklish feeling of her tongue.

'She likes you.'

His hand settled in his lap as he smiled again and I continued to scratch her ears.

'She's a wonderful dog.'

I gave an absent smile.

'Yeah, she is.'

I looked up at him again and gave each other slight smiles, a new sort-of camaraderie between us. We sat quietly for a moment longer before I asked him a question that had been burning in my mind for a few minutes.

'So how did you end up with these people?'

Liesel lay by my legs and I crossed my arms over my legs as Gabriel answered.

'I ventured from my church and became surrounded by the dead. I called for help and they came. They saved me.'

I raised my eyebrows disbelievingly and cast a quickly glace at the people further in the church.

'Seriously? These people don't seem like the type to save others.'

The kid had come back out with the baby, who had since stopped crying, and there were several groups of people talking in hushed tones.

'There's more than meets the eye to most. These people may only seem bad, but there is a chance there's good underneath.'

I looked back at him for that remark, and I felt a new respect for him fill me. He had lived just as long as I had in this hellhole apocalypse and yet had, like I had tried to do, kept some sense of civility and courtesy about him that led him to defend these people though from what I had seen they were violent, deranged and losing their humanity, some more quickly than others. But perhaps he was right. I allowed myself to consider for a moment whether I was being a little too judgemental and they just gave REALLY bad first impressions. After all, some crazy cannibals were out for their blood.

Or should I say meat.

'So where are you from?'

I looked at him and smiled again, my eyes drifting over the Atlantic and my voice becoming softer as I spoke of home.

'I'm from England mainly, though my father was Scottish so I spent my summers in Edinburgh.'

'Was it nice there?'

I gave a ghost of a chuckle and raised a cocky brow.

'Compared to here?'

He caught my mirthful tone and smiled a little wider. I looked down at my hands and sighed in remembrance.

'It was like heaven.'

We sat in comfortable silence before my smile and memories faded and I gazed worriedly back at the people. None of them were close enough to hear, thankfully.

'They won't let me leave, will they?'

Gabriel bit his lip and shared my look for a moment. I think he was like me, wondering whether we were imprisoned in the church that they had commandeered from him.

My next question sounded pitiful, but I couldn't stop myself from asking it.

'What will they do to me?'

He shook his head, unable to answer my anxious question. I sighed tensely, and brooded over my fate. Just then several members came out of the back rooms and gathered in a huddle, whispering like conspirators and making me inexorably nervous. I managed to catch several words, enough so I could figure out they were going over a battle plan to take down the cannibals stalking them outside. I didn't even bother to listen in, since right now I didn't really give flying fuck if any of them lived or not, with the exception of Gabriel and the baby that the kid was looking after. Speaking of Gabriel, he was still sat next to me and I could feel the worry coming from him grow more palpable as he heard snippets of the conversation too. What we both really needed right now was a distraction, and so I turned to him again.

'Hey, who are these people? Like, what are their names?'

If I was going to be here for a while, which was the way it was shaping out to be, I might as well know who they were. Gabriel's face cleared of worry enough to leave me satisfied.

'Well the, uh, leader, the man with the beard is Rick and the woman with the dreadlocks is Michonne. Then the Asian man is Glenn and Maggie is his wife, while the other brunette woman is Tara. The army man is Abraham, the woman with him is Rosita and the man with the mullet is Eugene. Bob is the man who…'

He trailed off for a moment as he recalled what had become of Bob and I did too, trying desperately not to think about it. This was meant to be a distraction after all. I steered him back on course.

'Who else is there? Who was the big guy wearing a hat?'

'Oh, that is Tyreese, and his sister is Sasha. And then the two who left were Daryl and Carol.'

I knew most of the names already, but know I knew the others and I was reminded of some that I hadn't fully processed when I was on the verge of passing out. As he said the names I picked out who he meant, so I had names to go with faces. I gave Gabriel a quick smile of thanks which he returned before getting up and going off to do something. I turned to Liesel who was dozing next to me and gently stroked her as I listened in as much as I could. It seemed that while I had been talking with Gabriel I had missed some super serious discussion about what to do. I vaguely heard Abraham as I leant my head on the hard edge of the pew.

'Plan's got stones, I'll give it that…'

I faded out again as they continued to figure out what they should do in favour of figuring out what I should do. I had considered finding a group and surviving together, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind. Hell, would they even want me in their group? They all thought I was a cannibal-sympathiser when I was technically on their side and yes, I was pretty standoffish with these people but it was their own fault. From the first moment they found me they dragged me about, interrogated me and treated me like chattel when I had done absolutely NOTHING wrong and now they were just full-on ignoring me. Well I wasn't their toy, and they would have to get that point real fast. And as I sat simmering in my anger and irritation at them, a thought crossed my mind that made my throat close up and the hand that was petting Liesel still. I was thinking about my choices like I actually had a choice. What if I didn't? What if they wouldn't let me leave? Well then I would run away. No one could make me do something I didn't want to do. I was just too stubborn and as I was sure the group had figured out already, I did not crack under pressure. I would use that to my advantage and take off.

I was brought out of my musings when I realised that the church had gone quiet. Deathly quiet. I frowned for a moment before I head footsteps on the wooden floor stop in front of the pew I was sitting on and I slowly raised my head and eyes to see the leader, Rick, staring down at me. I took a steadying breath in as I got a sense of deja-vu and hoped that we wouldn't end up going at it again like before. I may have done it once, was I was in no mood for a rerun.

I looked back down at Liesel, who was watching Rick unblinkingly and his harsh voice rasped out across the silence.

'You wanna gain our trust? Earn your keep?'

My frown deepened and I looked back up at Rick. He was giving me an opening to join his group? I was pretty sure the man hated my guts! Along with most of the rest of his group! Why?!

I pushed my thoughts of them being bipolar aside as I waited for him to continue.

'Then prove you aren't one of 'em.'

He gestured with his eyes to the door and I bit back a growl of frustration. It seemed that with my many, many, MANY repetitions of telling them I had nothing to do with the cannibals, they hadn't got the message. But I tried not to lash out – that much – as I answered him in an icy tone.

'I thought I made that astoundingly clear.'

'Enough of the backchat!'

His voice grated against my ears as he shouted but instead of making me scared it made me want to roll my eyes. I opened my mouth to retort but then I realised he was the one who held the gun, not me, and I was already skating on thin ice here. So I mentally bit my tongue and closed my mouth, but an annoyed sigh escaped my nose that let him know I really didn't appreciate his tone. He seemed to get this message at least since when he spoke again it had returned to normal.

'Are you with us or not?'

I felt like I was being offered two doors that both led to certain death. I bit my lip as I weighed it over. Should I? Should I not?

I had conditions.

'Will I be allowed to leave if I want to? With my stuff?'

Rick wasn't expecting that answer, and as he hesitated I began to raise my brow. Just as I was on the verge of declaring that he was full of shit he nodded, though I wasn't convinced. You don't hesitate like that if you intend to follow through with your promises.

'Am I allowed to leave now, and get out of the crossfire before this goes down?'

He didn't even hesitate with this one as he shook his head. I sighed. I wasn't allowed to leave. I had no choice.

'Then I'm with you. For now.'

I met his gaze at the last bit. He seemed to freeze a moment as I stared at him intensely. You know, I get the impression that he hadn't really met a girl like me before. I internally smirked in amusement. This should prove fun.

He nodded in acceptance before going off again and I let my ice walls melt a little bit as I was no longer on the defensive. Hell, if it was going to be like this all the time, having to be guarded and closed whenever I spoke to one of them, then I don't want to stay here. I bit back a yawn of exhaustion as my power nap effects subsided and I was considering curling up again for another when I saw something that truly made my blood boil like nothing else. My Tactical was given to one of the brunette women, who I thought was Maggie for a moment before realising it was Tara instead. My katana was offered to the dreadlocks woman Michonne, though to my slight surprise she turned it down and it was instead left on the altar. My butterfly knife was passed around and eventually given to the kid by Rick, whose name I hadn't learnt yet. And then I'm sure steam started to come out of my ears as my mines and bombs were taken out of my pack and were mulled over by the group. Glenn and Abraham picked up some of them and turned them over in their hands, and it incensed me that it seemed these idiots didn't have the first clue as how to handle explosives properly.

'A hint.'

Most of the group looked over at me and I looked at Glenn and Abraham, absolutely livid that they thought they had a right to loot my stuff when I was sat 15 feet from them.

'If you don't know how to handle explosives, then you really shouldn't be touching them.'

'Thanks missy, but I think we know how to use landmines.'

Just as Abraham said that, Glenn turned one of the metal balls, a jump mine, over in his hands and I sharply inhaled in anticipation as his fingers stopped over the trigger that would take off everyone's heads who were standing at the altar. The group seemed to hear my gasp too, and probably saw my wide eyed expression that didn't falter as I stared at Glenn in apprehension. Glenn looked at me before gently putting down the bomb, and only when his fingers moved did I release a sigh of relief. Then it quickly gave way to fury again as I saw my gun peeking out from Tara's waistband and the kid flicking the knife open and closed again. Those were MY weapons. They had NO RIGHT to take them. And they almost blew themselves up, the total fucking morons that they were. My opinion of this group hit an all-time low, and I stood from the pew and walked down the aisle.

'Can I at least have my katana back?'

They all shared looks with each other as I stared them down, but it was Rick who answered.

'You can have it back when you've earned it.'

Any other situation and I would've flown across the room and pummelled him in the face. This man had NO IDEA what earning something was. Earning your keep. Earning your life.

Earning someone's trust.

'Oh no, I've done more than enough to earn it.'

He looked at me again, and I think he got the silent threat that went into those words. If he didn't change his tune he and I would always butt heads, him for being a nasty and inconsiderate arsehole and me for pulling him up on being one. But he didn't rise to the challenge of arguing with me and instead just went off to prepare. I looked back at the others to find they were once again ignoring me and I turned on my heel to sink back down on the pew in a huff. That was it. As soon as this was all over, I was packing up and leaving. Everyone here was a twat, a douchebag or a full-blown fucker. Except for Gabriel, and I had half a mind to take the baby along for good measure.

I sat there for God knows how long, stewing in my anger and resentment until I noticed people shuffling into the office on the left, the room where Bob was resting I think. I watched as people went in; Rosita, who carried a shotgun under her arm, along with mullet man Eugene and big guy Tyreese. I heard footsteps again and I turned to see Rick looking at me authoritatively. I turned to fully face him and watched him with wary eyes.

'Go in there with them.'

I paused for a second before slowly moving to do as he said, albeit my movements were stiff as I was NOT used to being bossed around after all this time. Liesel trotted along obediently at my side as I slipped in and averted my gaze from a dying Bob as the clawings of guilt grabbed at my insides again. I took a seat on the floor near to Gabriel and leant back against the wall, my hands resting on my legs that were laid straight which Liesel had very happily decided to lie across. A flicker of a smile hovered over my lips before I sighed through my nose and thought about an escape plan.

I really was NOT happy. I was tired of being treated like a prisoner, blamed and ignored and stolen from merely for trying to find a safe place to stay. I had had ENOUGH of this. So I was going to leave, and call me crazy but I didn't trust Rick to keep his word. It had to be soon too: I would need to check my bite and try to figure out what to do about the itching. Maybe find some meds or something? And my bite posed another problem if I were to remain here. What would they do to me if they discovered my bite? They wouldn't believe that it had been 11 days and would probably just kill me or worse. No, I was not going down that route.

As other people settled on the floor in the office, I mapped out my relatively simple plan in y head: I would tip out in the middle of the night when everyone was sleeping, or just too tired to care, after grabbing my gear somehow and then Liesel and I could just disappear into the night like we were never at the church at all. The problem would be avoiding waking people up and being caught. Call me crazy, but I didn't think they would react too well to me slinking off into the woods with no intention of coming back. And they would probably just use it as an excuse to finally shoot me after all this time. I bit my lip as I pondered a bit more, and then another thought struck my mind. Should I take Gabriel with me? I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye to see him holding rosary beads and muttering under his breath. It was clear that he was like me: a still halfway-decent person being kept here against his free will. I mean, it didn't take a genius to realise that these people were trespassers in his church. But then a little doubt clawed at my mind. It was HIS church; he wasn't going to leave it all that willingly, especially with these people here. I let out a sigh and quickly massaged to top on my neck with my fingertips. God I was so tired.

But as they shut the door and the kid locked it, my fatigue went away and I sat alert. I tapped my fingers together silently, waiting for the showdown to begin with a heartbeat I could feel vibrating around my chest and echoing in my ears as I took a deep breath. Time seemed to stop for a moment and as I glanced up at the door to the right, my eyes caught on the kid whose name I realised I STILL hadn't learned. And he was looking at me. My face went cold and hard as I drew my walls up around myself, refusing to let anyone in, but I didn't break the eye contact in a challenge, almost daring him to keep looking at me.

To be honest I hadn't really paid much attention to the kid since I was first dragged into the church, and nor he me it would seem, but now he was watching me carefully in the dark, though his face was still tilted towards the baby so one could easily mistake him for not watching me at all. I knew better though. Why was he looking at me? Was he worried I would betray them? I snorted internally. No chance. I wasn't in the mood to get eaten.

We broke eye contact when I looked away and at the door in apprehension, my straining ears picking up the subtle click of shoes on the wooden steps leading to the doors. Then when someone broke the handle off and swung the door open with a creak that sounded almost like a scream in this unearthly silence, I knew that this was it. The kid turned from me and raised his Berretta, positioning himself in front of the door and also in front of the baby while Gabriel grabbed his rosary and started to pray.

Then a man's voice rang out through the dark church.

'Well, I guess you know we're here, and we know you're here. And we're armed so there's really no point in hiding anymore.'

His voice was smooth, but there was a hint of maliciousness layered underneath it. Chocolate laced with arsenic.

'We've been watching you. We know who's here.'

A flash of the shadow outside the church in the night flew across my mind as I sat unmoving.

'There's Bob, unless you put him out his misery already. And Eugene, Rosita, Martin's good friend Tyreese, Carl, Judith. Rick and the rest walked out with a lot of your guns.'

The fact that he knew everyone's names kind of creeped me out a bit. It felt like he was reading off a hit list.

There were creaks from the floorboards as the cannibals came further up the church, getting closer to the door.

'Listen, we don't know where you all are, but this isn't a big place. Let's just stop this now before things get more painful than they need to be.'

No one made a sound. Not even Liesel, who was standing by me like she was carved of black and white stone. We all knew that one slip would mean game over. I managed to sit up even straighter – if that was possible – as the door handle rattled as they tried to get in. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rosita raise a shotgun at the door, but she lowered it slightly as it stopped.

'Look, you're behind one of these two doors and we have more than enough firepower to take down both! I can't imagine that's what y'all want.'

The menacing sound of a shotgun being pumped filled the church and I glowered at the door before looking down at the floor. These twats didn't scare me.

'How about the priest, or the girl with the dog?'

That last comment made my head snap up. Had they been watching me too?

'Both of you, you help us wrap this up and we'll let you walk away from this. After all, we're not here for you.'

There was a twisted part of me deep inside that wanted to shout out that we were in here and let them bust the doors down just so they could get some sweet sense of revenge for the way they've treated me since I arrived here, but the rest of me told me not to. They would most likely kill me too.

'Just open the door and you can go. You can take the baby with you. What do you say?'

Out of the corner of my eye I looked at the priest, and I couldn't tell if he was considering the offer or not. I managed to catch his eye and very gently shook my head, telling him not to just in case. He looked back at the floor and I looked over at the door again, but not before seeing the kid shoot me a side glance. Eesh, if I was going to betray these people I would've done it by now.

Suddenly wails echoed out across the church and I closed my eyes with curses. Shit. The baby had given us away. As the kid went to calm the baby, I heard the sound of feet stopping outside of the locked door, taking positions and the man's voice rang out again.

'It's your last chance right now to tell us you're coming out.'

After a moment of deliberation I got slowly to my feet and went to stand beside the kid who now was aiming at the door again. His gaze kept shifting from the door to me and he froze in shock as I started to silently frisk his back until I found what I was looking for. I pulled my butterfly knife out of his waistband and was so focused on opening it silently that I didn't see his expression - which was probably for the best.

I raised it into an attack stance but before I could do anything more I heard the sound of bodies dropping on the others side of the door, which made me pause and hear my heartbeat in my ears once again. What had just happened?

'Put your guns on the floor.'

It seemed that Rick and the others had returned, effectively pinning the cannibals into the church. And now I figured that this was the plan all along instead of a massive stroke of luck. Well, they may be arseholes but at least SOME of them weren't stupid.

'Rick, we will fire right into that office so you put your gun down…'

I then heard screaming from the man who had been talking. I guess Rick didn't take that too well. I heard his voice rasp out again.

'Put your guns on the floor and kneel.'

I lowered the knife out of my stance and moved closer to the door to hear better, just in case the tables turned again. We'd need all the seconds we could get if it did. I stood by the door and focused just on hearing, an action that made my vision fade out.

'Do what he says! Martin there's no choice here!'

I heard people moving, the cannibals kneeling, when I heard another man's voice.

'Yeah there is.'

'Wanna bet?'

That was Abraham's voice. There was a pregnant pause while the floorboards creaked as people moved around. The kid came over and I recalled with a little embarrassment how I had pretty much just felt him up a minute ago to get my knife back, and I hoped it was dark enough in here so he couldn't see my flushed face. His gun was lowered as he stood next to me, reaching for my hand that held the open knife. Just as I was about to pull away he took the knife off me, shutting it and walking away again and I cringed internally. That obviously didn't get me on his good side.

'No point in begging, right?'

The guy's voice brought me out of my little stupor, and I tried to push it to the back of my mind.

'No.'

'Still, you could've killed us when you came in. There had to be a reason for that.'

'We didn't want to waste the bullets.'

That caught me off guard and I felt the hair on my arms rise in both anticipation and – for the first time – fear.

The guy's voice became shakier.

'We used to help people. We SAVED people. Things changed. They came in…'

He let out a groan in pain from wherever Rick had probably shot him.

'And after that…I know that you've been out there but I can see it: you don't know what it is to be HUNGRY.'

My stomach churned at that, though I must admit a part of me felt such pity for these people. Funnily enough, I believed them. When they said they helped people. And then someone obviously came in and…thinking on that train of thought took me back down my own dark winding road and I blinked to bring myself out of it. Now was NOT the time.

'You don't have to do this. We can walk away, and we will NEVER cross paths again. I promise you.'

'But you'll cross someone's path. You'd do this to anyone, right?'

Gooseflesh spread from my arms up my back and curled around my bite. I had a feeling I was about to witness something I would not forget anytime soon.

'Besides, I already made you a promise.'

And then there were screams as Rick and his group murdered to people on the other side of the door. As for me, I was frozen just beyond, partly wanting to see the carnage and partly wanting to cover my ears to block out the sound of death. Instead I just stayed perfectly still, half transfixed and half horrified. And then Tyreese came past me and unlocked the door, and I peered past him to see Sasha and Rick and Abraham beating the cannibals to death, though some were still alive, making their death drawn out and excruciating. Sasha was repeatedly stabbing a man in the neck while Rick hacked at a guy with a machete. I didn't even bother trying to mask my expression. I was absolutely disturbed by what I was witnessing, and these images weren't going to go away. Ever.

Eventually the massacre stopped and silence once again filled the church, broken only by the sound of heavy breathing. Tyreese went back into the office to Bob's side, but I just couldn't move. And it seemed that no one else could either. They all just stood there in some kind of haze, until my gaze was drawn to Michonne as she knelt down and slowly drew out a katana from the pack of the woman she just brutally killed.

'It could've been us.'

And as I slowly stepped out and gazed at the pooling blood on the wooden floor, part of me really thought that it SHOULD have been. The others didn't acknowledge him, the attempt at justification flying by. Even I had to admit it was a weak one. Gabriel stepped out behind me, viewing the scene with as much horror as I was. Sasha weakly spoke to the air as Rick sheathed his machete.

'Yeah.'

Rick, Sasha and Abraham walked past us without even glancing at us, both Gabriel and I still too shocked at the bloodbath that had just happened. I looked up to see Glenn and Maggie unmoving, looking at the bodies with stoic faces. And I just couldn't stop myself from commenting.

'So, they ate people and you…butcher people. In a church no less. It seems we'll all be shaking hands in Hell then.'

Glenn and Maggie looked at me and blinked, but remained silent. And I realised that the gooseflesh on my arms or back hadn't calmed, though the danger was over. Though at that point I couldn't understand why.

'This is the Lord's house.'

'No. It's just four walls and a roof.'

I looked at Maggie for that last remark, and then it struck me why I was still afraid; before it had been of the cannibals finding us and eating us, but now it was transmuted into fear of the bloodbath. I was afraid of Rick and his group and what they could and WOULD do to me. And then I had the epiphany that these people had started to go past a point of no return and hell, Rick was dipping dangerously over that drop into full-blown psychosis. There was no room for anything else now: I had to get away from here.

Well, the Termites are now dealt with, but what will this mean for Katrina? Will be updating shortly…