They rode for miles on the open road, doing their best to avoid going through areas that used to be heavily populated. They did their best to save ammunition but Georgette knew they needed an alternative way of killing the walkers as they rode. They came into a small village at the end of the day and decided to stay. They settled inside a small house at the edge of town. It was a one floor home but it would have to do. The inside was pretty good condition compared to some of the other houses they had seen. The outside was completely overgrown. Georgette sat on the tattered rug in the living room and began to count out the rest of their bullets. Ten. That's all they had left, then their guns would be useless. She looked up at Candice who was putting together a fire to cook.

"We have to make these last bullets count." She loaded Candice's gun with five and then her own.

"How are we supposed to keep the walkers away," she said, "If we run into a herd there'll be no way for us to keep them off of us." Georgette didn't know what they were going to do. They had their knives but they were kitchen knives, they weren't enough to keep the walkers at bay. There had to be something in this house they could use. She got up and walked into the hallway. The kitchen had been stripped bare. There was nothing left. People before them had taken everything. There weren't even any forks or spoons left the in the drawers. She finished looking through the drawers and moved to the bedroom. They also had already been looted. Sighing in frustration she went back down the hallway. She looked up and felt a renewed sense of determination. There was the attic door on the ceiling. She reached up on her tippy toes and grabbed the hook. She pulled down and the door slowly opened. She almost got hit in the face with the stairs flipping open and she jumped back out of the way. Candice must have heard the stairs hitting the floor because she called out.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going up to the attic." She gripped her knife in one hand and began to climb the stairs. The overwhelming smell of must and years of decay assaulted her senses. She coughed and covered her mouth. When her head came up to the floor she could barely see anything. She pulled herself up and bent down to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling. Every step she took a thick cloud of dust would rise up in her face. It made her feel like she was suffocating. She heard Candice at the bottom of the stairs.

"Need any help?"

"No," she said, "It's disgusting up here." Her eyes started to adjust and she could make out several cardboard boxes stacked up on the other side of the room. She moved towards them, pushing cobwebs and dustbunnies out of her way. She started with the top. They were taped shut so she used her knife. The first box had old dolls inside. She threw it aside and got to the next box. Ten boxes later Georgette was on the verge of having an asthma attack and had gone through several old toys and photos but nothing that could help them. There was one box left which was bigger than the other. She got to work on getting it open. She let of a cry of disappointment when she saw another framed picture at the top. It was of a teenage boy. He was wearing some sort of white suit and standing in fighters pose. He held a sword in his hand. She picked it up and put it aside. She gasped when she saw what was underneath. A long sword, two nun chucks, little swords and a spear. She was so overjoyed she picked up the box and hurried back down the stairs. She saw Candice standing there and said

"Look!" She grabbed the nun chucks and passed her one and then took out the smaller swords and gave her one too.

"What is all this stuff?"

"Weapons," The side of the box read 'Jonathan's karate gear.' Georgette pulled out the long pole and strapped it to her belt. Then she handed Candice the sword.

"You don't want the sword?"

"No you take it," said Georgette, "I can use the spear."

They put all the new weapons in their bags and sat down to eat. Georgette studied the map as she ate.

"You know we might have to get off the main roads once we get to Kansas City. Either go through the woods or find some back roads. Not everyone will be a friendly as the people in Cheyenne." They had only a little bit of ways to go before they left Nebraska. From there they had to go through a tiny bit of Iowa, and then down alongside Kansas into Missouri. Once in Missouri, they'd need a new map to complete the journey. That is if everything went according to plan.

The next morning they got up early and were on the road again. They had agreed not to use their guns at all. Instead they carried the sword and spear with them. They didn't have to wait long to use them. As they got closer to Lincoln, the state's capital, the amount of walkers went up. Georgette was having fun with it. She'd ride forward in a gallop and spear the walkers. Often the heads would rip off of the bodies and she'd have a shish kabob of heads. The city appeared on the skyline. She heard Candice behind her

"Are we gonna try and go around?"

"We probably should." She looked at the map, trying to process all the different routes they could take. "It'll be hard to avoid populated areas but we can go through the suburbs." They got off the highway and onto an exit. She kept the map out in front of her. It only had main roads on it but hopefully she'd be able to stay on track. She kept her eye on the city skyline, making sure they stayed within sight of it. They came into a dense neighborhood. Skeletons and decaying bodies littered the streets. A few walkers lurked around further up.

"So how are we gonna do this," said Candice, "Are we gonna take it slowly or run through and hope we make it out the other side."

"Slowly," said Georgette, "But if I start running follow me." Georgette moved her horse forward. She looked around at the houses. Dozens of families had lived on this one street and within a few days all of their lives had been destroyed. They passed by a group of dogs fighting over a decaying corpse and turned away, not wanting to watch. The walkers up the street had noticed them by now and were stumbling toward them. Georgette grabbed her spear and quickly spiked one in the head, taking a piece of it brain with her as she pulled it out. Once they had killed them all they continued down the street. They came into an area of shops and she saw Candice's eyes light up upon seeing a clothing store, more specifically a costume store. A mannequin stood in the window, dressed in a clown suit. Georgette followed her over. She knew they should stay focused but they might as well have a little fun. It was good to let themselves forget sometimes. Candice looked back at her sister, seeming like she was asking for permission. Georgette laughed and said

"We can go in." Candice dismounted and pulled the door open. Georgette followed her inside, leading the horses in after her. It seemed weird to be bringing them inside places, but they couldn't risk leaving them outside to get eaten. Like the house they had stayed in, everything was covered in a later of dust. Candice didn't seem to care as she jumped forward and grabbed a red feather boa off of a rack.

"Look at this thing," she said, wrapping it around her waist. Georgette laughed and said

"I think it's supposed to go around your neck." Candice shrugged and continued to look around like a kid in a candy shop. Georgette let herself wander around as well. She walked over to the glass counter. Inside there was big sparkly costume jewelry. She knew Candice would like it.

"Hey come look at these."

Candice walked over to her sister and was instantly memorized by the jewelry. She had never seen anything like it. Angela had always gotten them play jewelry when they were little but nothing like this. She grabbed her sword and used the blunt end to try and smash the glass in. Georgette laughed and said

"You're a robber." She pulled some of the necklaces out onto the counter and admired their beauty. She waited for Georgette to move away before pulling out a few smaller ones. she knew Georgette's birthday was coming up. Neither girl knew the exact date of their birthdays, just the seasons they had been born in. Candice had been born in mid-summer when the heat was at its worst. Georgette had been born towards the beginning of spring. Looking at a calendar and learning about weather patterns she estimated she had been born somewhere during either July or August and Georgette April or early May. She pulled out a silver chain with a black pearl on the end. It was pretty but simple; Georgette didn't like things that were too flashy. She looked behind the counter and found some small jewelry boxes and paper wrap. She quickly wrapped it up and put it in her bag. She found Georgette at the back of the store looking at some hats.

"Look at this one." The hat she pulled off the shelf was bizarre. It was multi-colored and had several different tubes sticking out of the top. Candice laughed and said

"Put it on."

"No way, you put it on." She smiled and took it from her sister and strapped it around her head. Georgette held her stomach as she laughed. "You look absolutely ridiculous." Candice looked at herself in one of the mirrors and smiled at her own reflection.

"Maybe it'll keep the walkers away," she said, taking it off.

"Oh I like this one." Georgette pulled a cowboy hat off the shelf. It was made of gray and white snake skin and had a strip of leather wrapped around it. She put it on and looked at herself.

"It looks good," said Candice, looking at what else they had. They had more cowboy hats. She picked up a white one and put it on. She went over next to her sister to look in the mirror. "I like them," she said, adjusting the hat on her head. "We should keep them; it'll make us look more intimidating." Georgette laughed and put her arm around Candice's shoulder.

"You don't think we're intimidating enough already?"

"Oh ya," she said sarcastically, "Two scrawny girls on horseback." Georgette laughed and said

"Well while we're here we might as well do some more shopping." She looked over to the other side of the shop to see a few racks of clothes that looked normal. "My boots are starting to fall apart and it wouldn't hurt to take some clean clothes with us."

Twenty minute later they left the store with a bag of fresh clothes. Thery had decided to keep the hats. More walkers had gathered around, making Georgette feel nervous. They stabbed the few that lurked around the store and then got back on the road again. The further they went down the road the more skeletons and bodies there were. The sound of the bones crunching under the horses hooves sent a shiver up her spine. There would be no turning back now. They didn't have a home to go back to. As they rode the amount of walkers along the road increased. They had a few close calls and things were getting hard to handle. She heard Candice behind her say

"Do you think we should run now?" Walkers were pouring out of the houses and the back yards. Georgette sent her horse forward into a gallop. She took out whatever walkers she could. They tried to swarm around them and he hoped to God that the horse wouldn't get bit. If they did it would all be over.

Beth looked down at herself in the dark water. Her finger dragged along the surface as the boat moved slowly through the swamp. She looked tired, there were bags under her eyes and her skin looked paler than usual.

"You really shouldn't do that you know." She sat up and looked to the front of the boat where her friend Donna sat. She was rowing the small boat. "A gator could come right up and snatch ya." It was true; they lined the shore, just waiting for someone to fall out of their boat. Children weren't allowed out at night. The gators would hide in the brush and wait for them. Living on the bayou had its advantages and disadvantages. She dried her hand off and said

"So where are we going today."

"Out to the main cove," he said, "I've been having luck out there lately." Beth didn't often hunt for alligators, she preferred to do other thing like laundry, gather fruit from the garden or prepare the meals. But they were short-handed today. A tropical storm had come through a few days ago and most of the man-power was being put to use on the fixing the roofs that had been damaged. She could see the opening in the trees up ahead. They had set their lines up on trees that grew out of the water in the middle of the cove.

"So how's Beau doing?"

"He's alright," said Beth, "How are you holding up?"

"It's gettin' easier." Donna had lost her eighteen-year-old daughter Odilia a month back. Like many others, she had mysteriously 'dissappeared.' The girl had been a bit of a trouble maker around town but she had been a valued member of the community.

They rowed out to one of the dead trees where their line hung. It was pretty easy catching gators. All they did was attach a hook to string, put meat on the hook and put it down in the water. Much easier then tracking deer all day.

"Do you wanna stab or be the one to pull 'em up?"

"I'll stab," said Beth, picking up the spear from the bottom of the boat. They had long run out of ammunition for guns. She knew Vincent had a few boxes for emergencies but for the most part they used knives and spears. Donna grabbed onto the string and began to slowly pull at it. It took a few seconds but with one final tug the alligator burst to the surface, emitting a low growl at them. It started to thrash wildly, sending water spraying up onto them. Beth focused in on its head. There was the soft kill spot that she had to aim for. That was the only way to quickly kill a gator. Its skin was too tough to penetrate. She honed in on it and brought the spear down with all the force she could muster. The gator went limp in the water and she pulled the spear out, dropping it back onto the floor of the boat. Donna grabbed onto the tail and Beth got a grip on its head. Together they managed to roll the ten foot beast into the boat. She sat back down, taking a deep breath. She'd gotten a lot stronger in the last sixteen years. Having to fend for herself had been tough at first; she had been used to Daryl doing the dirty work. They covered the alligator with a tarp, not wanting the skin to dry out.

Alligator skin was good for protective clothes. They had tested it out against walkers and they couldn't scratch through it or bite through it easily. Vincent had made it a requirement for anyone going out on runs to wear alligator skins. It had saved many people from getting bitten and Beth wishes they had had alligators as a resource back in Georgia. They made everything out of it; gloves, pants, jackets, shoes and often time's people would wear the heads of the gators to protect their faces and necks. It was like seeing a gator walking on its hind legs. It had freaked her out a bit at first but she'd gotten used to it. The meat was pretty good as well. It tasted just like chicken and with the overpopulation of alligators it was easy to go out and catch a whole bunch of them. They never went hungry. They never let a part of the gator go to waste. Even the teeth they'd cut out and use for the heads of spears and sometimes as jewelry.

They came up on their next line and made quick work of the gator like that last. They had four more to take care of before they headed home.

The houses were thinning out and they only had a bit more to go before they could reach safety. She could hear her horse breathing heavily. Just a little bit longer and they'd be safe. The walkers were behind them now, still coming after them but further away. She wasn't sure how they'd made it through. The horses were covered in walker blood and the stench of the dead covered them. She saw the main highway up ahead and urged her horse to go faster. When they reached the open road they kept going, not looking back. Eventually her horse stopped, refusing to go any further. The walkers were gone and they were safe. She spotted a small pond off the road and brought the horses over to drink and wash the blood off.

"Let's never do that again," said Candice, "We'll go completely around Kansas City. If that small city was bad just think about how that place will be."

"What if there's a group there like in Cheyenne?"

"It's too much of a risk." Georgette knew her sister was right. They'd have to alter their path a bit if they wanted to make it to Georgia alive.

Thanks to DarylDixon'sLover, Cutie6491, MaddyMarie1212, K. Lynn Perks, ELLEGIRL840816, fggt16, promise of love, Eliza G, crimonrose0003, and all the guests for commenting! For the guest that is leaving me insulting spam please stop. I moderate the reviews and delete them anyway so what's the point if they're never going to be posted lol.

I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible Thanks again to everyone reading.