This is it! My mid-season finale! I hope it works so please review and let me know what you think. Okay, on we go…

-7-

I was thoroughly enjoying the darkness of sleep when I started to feel myself come out of it, and left the world of dark comfort for a one of flesh-eating monsters and a hard pew. I winced as I rubbed my neck, sitting up and swinging my legs off the pew. My neck was STILL a little stiff from before, and I found that I was alone again. Not even Liesel was around. After blanking for a moment as to how I ended up here, I vaguely recalled that after I had told Carl of home I had decided to get some more sleep, and he had left me to go watch Judith with Michonne. Ugh, I felt rough.

I reckoned I should go and see if I could help somehow, and so went into the back room where I could hear the soft cooing of Judith, and as I poked my head around the door I saw Carl and Michonne playing with her on the floor. Liesel was also there, lying half asleep near Michonne. The sound of the door opening made Carl turn to look at me, and as I stepped in fully he gave me a smile. To be honest I was a little shocked at his friendliness, but I noticed there seemed to be a new sense of camaraderie between us now: a greater sense of understanding. It was that that made me return the smile a little and I knelt on the floor beside him, smiling at Judith as she gazed at me with large blue eyes. The tranquillity was quickly broken, however, as we heard Gabriel's voice.

'Let me in! LET ME IN!'

All our heads snapped towards the door and I wasn't far behind Carl as we jumped to our feet and headed out of the back room.

'Please don't leave me out here! Please!'

My katana, pack and other weapons were lying on the pew I had been resting on, and I hastily threw them on, swinging the sword and pack around my shoulders as I watched Carl head down the aisle to the doors where Gabriel was, calling for our help on the other side.

'Don't leave me out here! Carl! Michonne! Katrina!'

'Wait!'

Michonne's voice rang out as she appeared in the doorway, Liesel pushing past her legs to come to my side.

'I've seen! I know now! Let me live with it! Oh God, please…!'

I followed Carl to the doors as Gabriel continued to scream at us to let him in.

'Help! Let me in!'

A massive wooden board blocked the doors, and as I ran up I saw Carl was trying to pull it off. I quickly joined in, splinters starting to prick my fingers as the adrenaline rushed through me. I tried to direct our efforts.

'Okay, on three. One, two, three!'

We both pulled at the same, and though the board was bending slightly it wasn't going to break off anytime soon. Carl took over as we relaxed our pull.

'Again. One, two, three!'

I pulled again, this time putting a foot on the church doors to try and apply more pressure. We were grunting with the effort, giving all our strength to trying to pry the board off with our bare hands, but it wasn't even making a difference. Just as I was about to pull out my katana and try and slice the board off, Michonne came up behind us with an axe, Judith strapped to her back.

'Get back.'

Carl and I ducked out of the way as she started to hack at the board. Through the pounding of my heart I could hear the sound of roamer growls, and from the consistency, there must have been a lot of them out there with Gabriel.

'Oh God please! Help! Help me!'

Michonne continued to hack at the board, half of it now gone, and as Liesel stood at my side with her hackles up and muzzle curled into a snarl, I relished the sound of my katana being drawn from its sheath. I adjusted my grip while Carl drew his gun and, as Michonne pried the rest of the board off with the axe and Carl went to open the door, I took several deep breaths, getting ready to fight.

The sound of roamers grew louder as the door opened and Gabriel, panic written on his face, launched himself inside as Carl shouted to him.

'Come on!'

He then proceeded to get two headshots on the closest roamers as they started to pile through the doors, the four of us starting to walk backwards away from the herd. As I saw Michonne grab her katana to take them down, I threw myself forward and pushed her behind me, Liesel still waiting patiently for a whistle.

'Get back! Get back!'

No way in hell was I going to allow Michonne to fight off the roamers with Judith on her back. She didn't have time to argue either, as I ploughed ahead and started to slice into their soft skulls and I gave a low rhythmic whistle. Liesel immediately bounded into action, rounding up the strays that were going around the pews and leading them back to the funnel that the aisle created. A dark part of me savoured the feeling of the sword going through their heads as I swung and dodged their hands, the spray of the dead blood sprinkling onto the pews and floor. After all, the roamers had caused the world to end: they'd taken me away from my family.

I was never going to see them again because of these FUCKING things.

Anger fuelled me, and though we kept on backing away from the moaning herd I continued to take down any that were within reach, Liesel responding to each whistle I gave as she tried to duck around the roamers through the pews. I wanted nothing more than to take them all on, but something started to break me out of my hazy bloodlust: my bite was aching. Worry crept into me that the constant movement of swinging my sword had opened the wound again. I would have to stop soon, just in case.

We were almost at the bottom of the aisle, nowhere to go, when Gabriel seemed to realize something.

'The refectory. Follow me!'

I glanced back at the group and turned to take out two roamers that were gaining on me with a grunt of effort. I stayed a few seconds longer, buying the others some time to duck into the back room. I gave another whistle to Liesel, calling her to my side, before kicking one that was at the head of the column into the others before sprinting to the door and haring inside as Gabriel slammed it shut.

I was out of breath and shaking from the adrenaline rush, and watched as fingers started to curl around the door as Gabriel held it shut. Michonne grabbed a chair, placing it under the door handle. Carl had his gun raised at it, and I crouched down by Liesel to see if she was scratched or bitten anywhere. Satisfied that she wasn't, I glanced at the hole in the floor, boards littered about and a machete standing upright, stuck between two. Gabriel pointed at the hole and looked at us.

'It's how I got out. Crawl under, to the back. Just go! Take the little one and go!'

We didn't waste time. Michonne slipped the baby carrier off her back and gave Judith to Carl as she started to cry a little. I ran a hand through my stupidly long hair and frowned in concern. What if there were more outside?

Just as Carl was about to drop down with the baby in his arms, I stepped forward and stopped him.

'No, I'll go, make sure the coast is clear before you take her out there.'

I gestured to Judith with my head and hopped into the hole without another word, dropping onto my stomach and army crawling through the tunnel, under the floorboards of the church. I tried to move as fast as possible while being as quiet as possible, and thought I was actually doing pretty good when I saw something that made me stop dead, holding my breath in nerves. By the opening were eight sets of legs, just standing there, and I cursed in my head as I tried to figure out what to do. I heard something behind me and whipped my head to look around, and saw that Carl was directly behind me, clutching Judith in one arm and looking at me worriedly. Before he could do anything I immediately motioned him to be quiet, then showed him four fingers and pointed at the opening. He nodded slightly and I turned back around, knowing that I had very little time to spare. The roamers in the church would be right behind us, follow us through the tunnel. They were on both sides. What do I DO?!

After seeing they weren't moving off, I decided to make the first move and slipped my pack off silently, flipping over onto my back and placing my hands on the edge of the church walls. I took a breath, making sure I was calm. It was just gymnastics. Let's get this right. Using all my upper body strength I pulled myself out from under the church as fast as possible, managing to slide halfway between the legs of a roamer that had been standing just in front of the opening. I drew my legs up and brought them through, pushing with my feet against its chest to do a back walkover while grabbing my katana. As I stood upright I flicked my katana upwards, sending a spray of black blood up the church walls and cleaving its face in two.

I had no problem dispatching the other three, carving through the last one's head with enough force to send the top of its skull flying while Carl and Michonne crawled through the tunnel, the latter bringing my pack. I grabbed it with a nod of thanks as I swung it around my shoulders again, and gave a smile when I saw Liesel come through. She gave a shake that made her collar jingle and I knelt to pet her, murmuring praises for how good she was back in the church. She enjoyed the attention, pressing her head further into my hand and purring in appreciation. I watched as Gabriel came through last, bloody machete clutched in his hand. Michonne helped him up as he turned to her.

'I can't run anymore.'

Michonne's face was stoic as she answered.

'We're not running.'

I stood, swinging the katana in my hand to loosen up the muscles as I followed her around the church. It seemed the spikes of the church organ had proved useful, and I left Carl to finish off the ones that had been caught on them as I followed Michonne up to the church doors, grabbing one while she grabbed the other. The squeaking of them closing caught the roamers attention, and they started to make their way back down the aisle before the shut doors blocked my view completely. Gabriel came limping up beside us, a board in his hands which he held up to the door with a nail. I sheathed the katana, helping to hold the doors in place as Carl fixed it in with the butt of his gun. The doors started to judder as the first roamers reached them, and I leaned back to apply more strength. My breathing increased from the struggle as I saw the hands of the roamers snaking through the gap between the doors. Michonne took off her belt and fastened it around the doorknobs, an extra defence.

We all backed away from the doors, waiting in case the boards didn't hold and we had to brace them again. Upon seeing it was fine for the time being, we all turned and went towards a fence not far from the church in silence, resting against it and breathing audibly from the sudden shock of the roamer ambush. I hopped up, balancing precariously on the thin ledge of the fence as the panting Liesel came and sat by my feet. I gave a sigh and latched my fingers behind my head. Well, what did we do now?

I was so preoccupied in figuring out what our next move should be that I didn't hear him come up until he was stood right next to me.

'Hey, are you okay?'

I looked at Carl, tilting my head to the side.

'Yeah, I'm fine.'

'Your back's bleeding.'

I blinked for a second, wondering what the hell he was talking about, when it clicked in my head. I twisted my head around to see – yep, you guessed it – a red trail running down my shirt right from where my bite was. God, this wasn't shaping up to be a good day.

'Oh, um…'

I had to think of something fast. This must be the consequence of my bite hurting just before. What did I say?

'…an old wound must have opened or something.'

Technically it was true: the bite WAS an old-ish wound that must have opened up again. I bit the inside of my cheek for a moment before jumping off the fence.

'I should probably go clean it up.'

'I'll come with you, in case any walkers get free.'

Not planning on that, I tried to get him off my back. I still wasn't sure about confiding in him about the bite, and right now we all had enough on our minds.

'You sure? I'll have to take my shirt off.'

A slight blush climbed to his cheeks and I couldn't stop a little smirk from rising at the sight. He glanced away for a moment before looking back at me.

'I'll turn my back. It's not safe being alone anymore.'

I couldn't argue with that. Reluctantly, I nodded my head and headed a little way away, slinging my katana, pack and jacket off. Hooking my fingers under the bottom of my tee, I turned and looked at him expectantly and I hesitantly took it off when he had turned around. I could now see the extent of damage in my back. I checked my tee first.

The back was still wet with the red liquid, and it had reached all the way down causing my face to twist in disgust as it dripped off the bottom. Yep, there was no way I was putting that back on again. I ripped up the moderately clean bits before I threw it away with a sigh, and moved my hair out the way. The blood wasn't really blood, it seemed – it was too watery and ranged from pale pink to dark red. It had dripped onto my shorts as well and I knew that I couldn't wear these anymore either. I gave another sigh that sound more like a growl and yanked my boots off, checking once again to make sure that Carl wasn't so much as peeking before I took the shorts off. Reaching into my pack, I got out the only other change of clothes I had: a pair of black skinny jeans with rips in the knees and a black and dark red baseball tee. It was thin, thankfully, or else I would most likely die of heatstroke before the roamers had a chance to get to me. I pulled on the jeans before mopping up the streams of sticky liquid drying on my back.

'What wound is it?'

I jumped a little at Carl's voice, not expecting it after a while of silence.

'What?'

'Your wound. What is it?'

Uh…

'An old shiv wound.'

'Who did that to you?'

'A thief who wanted my stuff, and wasn't counting on me being there.'

Quiet crept between us again as I pressed the rags to my bite, staunching the leaking after a while. The rags were quickly becoming soaked by it, and I wondered what the hell this stuff was. Was it leaking out infected fluids? Was it just water? A weird type of pus? After thinking about it for a while more, I decided I didn't really want to find out. I threw the last one away and checked to make sure it wasn't going to just start leaking again.

When I deemed it okay to put my shirt back on, everything went to shit.

The snarls of several roamers emerged from the nearby bushes with zero warning. Both Carl and I whirled around to take care of them, but my katana was out of its sheath and through their heads before he could fire a single bullet. As I turned around to face him, I immediately knew I'd made a mistake. His face was plastered with a look of dismay and I cussed at myself in my head: he'd seen the bite.

I crossed my arms over myself and begged.

'Please. Please don't say anything.'

His wide eyes lowered in sadness and coldness crept into his voice, probably trying to distance any attachment he'd made to me from thinking I was about to die.

'I have to tell them.'

As he turned to leave a burst of panic shot through me. No, this wasn't what I'd planned. I hadn't counted on this AT ALL. I sprung across the distance between us and put a hand on his arm to stop him from leaving.

'I won't turn.'

He didn't even look at me, just shook his head again.

'You've been bitten Katrina. You will turn.'

'That's just it…I don't.'

That seemed to catch him by surprise. He turned to look at me with guarded curiosity.

'What do you mean?'

Okay, this was it. Time to tell him about the bite, about everything.

'I've been counting. It's been 13 days. 13 days since I was bitten.'

My voice was fragmented and laced with fright as I haltingly explained. His expression remained carefully neutral, however.

'That's impossible. Everyone turns after about 3 days.'

'It's been 13! I swear! It's been 13, and I'm not even sick.'

He looked at me closely, kind of like how he looked at me that night in the woods, but now he was searching my face for honesty. He must have seen the wild desperation in my eyes, but I hoped that enough sincerity was within them that he could see I wasn't lying. He must have found what he was looking for, as my eyes burned from his and my heart beat erratically in my mouth, because he eventually gave a slight nod.

'I'll have to tell Michonne. They need to know.'

Knowing that talking him out of that one was a lost cause, I gave a sigh and nodded. This was NOT what I had planned, but maybe…just maybe it would be okay. I let my hand drop from his arm and he started walking again but when I recalled something, when I called out to him, what I said made him stop.

'You said…that if they tried to hurt me…you would stop them.'

He slowly turned around to face me again. I padded forward, the hysteria gone and my hope hidden to the best of my ability. He had made me that promise. Would he stand by it?

'Did you mean what you said? Or were you just blowing hot air?'

He paused, and it made my eyebrows rise. That pause was enough to make me doubt him: you don't stay silent like that if you intend to keep your word. Just as I was about to give up on his promise and declare that he was full of shit, he spoke.

'I meant what I said. I'll stick to it.'

That tiny little doubt gnawed at me still, but I nonetheless nodded. It was a risk with a safety net: Rick and the others would be less likely to turn on me if one of their own was standing in front of them. It may have been stupid, but I was technically putting my life into his hands. Or that was the way it seemed.

'Okay.'

I whispered it so quietly I wasn't sure he even heard it. After a moment of silence between us, my eyes widened and a blood red blush started to climb up my neck as I realized: I was stood in front of him in my bra. I coughed slightly and crossed my arms over myself, feeling incredibly self-conscious as he seemed to realize too, a blush matching my own starting to make its way to his cheeks as he quickly diverted his eyes. I quickly put my tee on and tried to gather myself, taking calm deep breaths. It would be alright. It WOULD be alright.

After stuffing my army jacket into my pack, I grabbed it and my sword and we started to make our way back to Michonne and Gabriel, the nerves building in me till I seriously thought we were gonna have to stop so I could throw up. I swallowed thickly and knew I had to keep my cool. The two came into sight as I walked by Carl's side, a heavy tension between us. I tried to close myself off. If I was wrong about everything and was going to die, I was going to die with dignity. It didn't stop me issuing a warning to Carl though, hissing at him from the side of mouth.

'You don't keep your word and I'll drag you to hell with me.'

He didn't give any indication that he had heard me, but I know he must have. When Michonne turned to look at us, her face instantly became alert. She must have seen that something serious had arisen from our grave – if not still slightly pink – faces and went straight to the point.

'What's wrong?'

'Katrina's bitten.'

Carl wasted no time and Michonne and Gabriel looked at me with sadness and horror. I shook my mane out of the way and crossed my arms, a stance I took when waiting for an onslaught.

'It doesn't matter. I won't turn.'

Michonne came over to me, staring at me with such a direct gaze I felt the need to shift under it. However I remained still, giving an illusion of calm despite all my inner panicking with endless 'what if' scenarios running through my head.

'Show me.'

I turned warily, sliding my pack off as I began to lift up the back on my tee to do as she said. I felt another hand help pull it up, and I heard Michonne's almost inaudible sigh as she inspected my bite, and I knew what she must've been thinking. She let the shirt fall and I turned to face her.

'When were you bit?'

'13 days ago.'

'That's not possible.'

'And yet it's the truth.'

Michonne stared at me sternly for a moment. I could see the mental debate going on behind her eyes, and she eventually reached forwards, placing a hand against my forehead. I didn't move.

'You're not running a fever.'

'Which would suggest that…?'

I was going to lead her to the same conclusion I had reached, even if I had to handhold her through it like this. What I didn't count on was Carl answering.

'…that you were bitten only hours ago.'

I turned my gaze to him.

'But…?'

'…we've been with you for the past few days.'

'So…?'

'…so either you're telling the truth or you were bitten when we haven't been around you, if you got out the same way Gabriel did.'

I wasn't expecting that answer. I tilted my head and blinked at him.

'And I couldn't have been bitten then, even if I did leave, because…?'

From the silence, I guess that seemed to stump all of them. They all looked at me in confusion. No takers? Alright then. I turned and lifted my shirt again, guessing how long it would take for them to figure it out.

'Look again, what do you see?'

I could feel Michonne's hand holding up my shirt, and the soft footfalls behind me showed Carl was coming to take a closer look.

'It's not bleeding.'

I raised my brows and conceded.

'Well, there is that. What else?'

I twisted my head behind me and saw that the two were crouched, peering into the wound. Suddenly, Michonne's eyes widened, seeing what I had felt growing over the past days.

'It's…'

'…it's scabbing over inside the wound. So consequently…?'

Michonne answered this time.

'…you must have gotten the bite a while ago, like you said, in order for scabs to start forming.'

'And therefore I am telling the truth.'

She let go of my tee and they both stepped back, eying me with disbelief as I pulled it down and turned around. I gave them a cocky half-smirk and for the first time in a while, my voice was laced with mischievous sarcasm.

'Knew you'd get there eventually.'

All three of them were looking at me now, almost defying to believe it, but Carl was the one who broke the surprised silence.

'You're…'

I raised my head, swallowed thickly and squared my shoulders, now fully accepting the truth I hadn't dared to utter before.

'I'm immune.'

Less than a second later, we all heard the sound of splintering wood and the roamer groans grew louder. I slowly raised my hand up to my katana and I took my time getting a good grip on the hilt. Around me the others started to back away slowly, Carl drawing his gun as he spoke.

'Where do we go?'

I bit my lip as his question echoed around my brain. Where WOULD we go?

'The woods, perhaps? Start making our way to Atlanta…'

The cracking got louder and I saw Michonne look around at the woods, making her decision. Suddenly, the sound of an engine rumbled towards us and a fire truck came roaring in out of nowhere, crashing to a stop directly in front of the doors and full-on destroying the wooden stairs that led up to them. I blinked a few times, frozen in shock. Okay, wasn't expecting THAT one.

Then I saw who was getting out of the truck and my nerves came back in full force. Oh god. What would happen now? Michonne would tell them for sure and I wasn't sure what half these people would do. Abraham, Glenn and Maggie jumped out of the front while Rosita and Tara came around the back, Eugene nowhere to be seen. Had he died? Was that why the others had come back? What was going on? As I surveyed the others I heard a 'hey' from beside me and saw it was Carl, carrying my pack which he offered out to me. I took it with a half-smile.

'Thanks.'

He nodded before going off towards Tara, and I looked away to see Michonne hugging Maggie tightly.

'You okay?'

'Yeah.'

She broke the hug with her to grip arms with Glenn, smiling at the surprise.

'You're back.'

I saw Glenn's serious face and I sighed. That was not good.

'Eugene lied. He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end.'

Michonne's face fell before that stern, cold expression came over her features. I quickly realized that this was what her wall looked like.

'There's no cure.'

'I'm not so sure about that.'

I saw Michonne glance at me from the corner of her eye and I swallowed in the hopes I wouldn't spew my nervous heart across the dust. I crossed my arms across myself, and held my breath. Now these people would know, and I bet as soon as Rick and the others got back they would know too.

I couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not.

Glenn looked at me a moment before he frowned slightly and turned back to Michonne.

'What do you mean?'

Now everyone was paying attention. Michonne quickly explained.

'Katrina was bitten a while ago.'

Everyone there snuck a glance at me, each one I took note of. Even Glenn, whose face closed off carefully before looking again at Michonne.

'But she's not even so much as running a fever, and from what we can see from the bite on her back she's had it for at least a few days.'

Glenn's dark eyes slid over to me and I shifted my weight. He started to stalk toward me, the air deathly still as everyone watched our interaction. I did my best to mirror his features – closed off neutrality. He felt my forehead like Michonne had done, and I made sure I didn't so much as flinch. He then motioned for me to turn with his finger and I did so, knowing what he wanted. I felt the back of my shirt lift around my bite as he inspected it. After a while, my tee dropped and I took that as my cue to turn around. He stared down at me as he finally spoke, his voice dangerously soft.

'This is your one chance, because we've just had our hopes crushed once and we don't need this again. Are you lying to us?'

No, I wasn't. I raised my head in a show of strength and honesty. I wasn't intimidated. I wasn't scared – okay, I was a little – but I was telling the truth. Eventually they would know that, as Bob knew it.

Bob…

'No. I'm not. I wouldn't anyway, even if there was something I needed from you. I made a promise.'

Glenn sighed, still reluctant to put his faith in this after finding out that Eugene lied so soon. He backed up a step and glanced around, turning back to Michonne.

'Where is everybody?'

Michonne's stoic face rose in a smile again, and she turned to Maggie.

'Beth's alive. She's in a hospital in Atlanta. Some people have her but the others went to get her back.'

I let myself feel some happiness for Maggie as she sighed in relief, but a layer of confusion was underneath it. Did Maggie not know her sister was alive? She mustn't have: she shouldn't have left otherwise.

'Do we know which one?'

'Grady Memorial.'

A miniscule smile reached my own face as Maggie ran her hands through her hair and looked like she was about to start crying. All the others had full smiles, even Michonne as she stepped back, as Glenn kissed her head and hugged her when she exclaimed.

'Oh my god…!'

She laughed a little as she returned the hug, and Tara spoke up from beside her.

'Let's blow this joint, go save your sister.'

There were murmurs of agreement, and after making sure I had everything, I climbed into the truck after picking Liesel up since she was light enough that I could. I slid my pack and katana off, since I couldn't sit in here with them on my back, and Liesel curled up beside them as I dropped my pack on the floor and leant the sword against the seat in front. A little bubble of happiness rose in me that Carl sat next to me, and as I felt the truck thunder to life and start to drive away from the church, I allowed myself to think over this strange new chapter in my survival: I had stumbled into a warzone, witnessed the end of it in a massacre, been talked into staying by the boy sitting next to me, and made a promise to a dying man that I would stay and give them hope. Then we holed up in the church and fought off an ambush before the others returned and learned of my bite. Now we were off to Atlanta to save this Beth girl and find the others.

It had been quite a couple of strange days.

I had been reluctant and horrified and desperate to get away at first, but as we drove off to Rick and the others I found that I was…I was grateful. If I hadn't found this group, I would still be wandering around in the wilderness with Liesel with nothing to differentiate every day from the next. Now…now I had a group. They weren't family, not yet…but they could be. Even that hope had me feeling more alive than I had done in I didn't know how long. I felt a rush of gratitude that Bob had made me stay with his last wish, because even if I couldn't see it then I could see it now: while I had to protect and give hope to these people, these people were giving me hope and bringing me back to life while I had been the dead survivor before. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, thanking luck or chance of God or whatever force had led me into their path.

Before I knew it the fire truck stopped and people started to file out. Glancing out of the doors, I saw the tall deserted buildings that made up the streets of Atlanta. Huh. I must have zoned out longer than I thought. Michonne turned to me and Carl before she hopped out.

'Stay here.'

We both nodded at her and silence seemed to envelope us as the sound of the others faded away and I looked over at Judith, happily situated in Carl's lap. I watched as Carl bounced her and allowed her to wrap her tiny fingers around his thumb, her making gentle cooing noises that made me feel better somehow.

'So…'

I looked from Judith to Carl, my face unnaturally open.

'So.'

His gaze flickered between me and Judith, his sheriff's hat casting a strange shadow over his face.

'What do you make of us? I mean, so far?'

That was a good question. What DID I make of these people? Carl's eyes stayed firmly on me as I stared into space, lost in my thoughts.

'Michonne is good, as is Gabriel.'

My look became more mirthful and I met his eyes.

'You're not too bad yourself, either.'

I saw his brow twitch in amusement.

'I kinda knew that already though.'

A small smile started to come across his face. It seemed the feeling was mutual. I continued more seriously though.

'It's the others I'm worried about.'

'I meant what I said.'

'I know.'

My eyes lowered before meeting his again, and the blue of them felt like it was piercing my soul in a good way. I then whispered the most dangerous words you could ever say to someone in an apocalypse.

'I trust you.'

The corner of his mouth turned up in a friendly smile and I returned it. It seemed we were friends now. Not just friendly with each other, but truly friends. However, our moment was broken by the sound of a woman's cry coming from the hospital. A burst of adrenaline thrummed through me before sadness overcame it and I sighed. It seemed that Beth hadn't made it. I heard Carl give a sigh from beside me too, and our eyes met in sorrow, knowing that things were looking down already. We seemed to shuffle closer to each other as we heard the others come back, the heaviness in the air seeping in as the door opened and they started to climb back in. None of us spoke. None of us had to. As we pulled away from the hospital into the new unknown, I pondered over what I had said to Carl. It was true: I DID trust him, probably more than what was good for me and I was glad for it.

My thoughts turned sombrely to another thought though: it didn't matter much, since one of us would most likely be dead soon anyway.

And that's all she wrote Hooray! My first fanfic finished! I have decided to do the mid-season breaks in this too since with college and work and everything I won't have much time for this, let alone any other ones. See you when I see you.