I do not own The Walking Dead.

Previously:

It would have given some relief had Faye cried, but no tears came to her eyes. All she had was the aching feeling in her chest. She shot Patrick. She killed Patrick.

But he was just another body amid the chaos.

Daryl had sent her out the building almost immediately, giving the girl instructions to return to her cell and wait for him. Faye focused on the way her toes scraped against the front of her sneakers when she walked rather than the thought of her friend dropping dead to the floor.

Well, wasn't that fun. We should do it again some time.

They twinged with pain slightly with every step she took, and it occurred to the child that she should probably look out for some new shoes on a hunt with Daryl. They sometimes stopped by a house on their travels. Maybe less green, though. She had a lot of green clothes.

Green is getting old. What about red?

The girl huffed as she pushed open the heavy, metal door to her own cell block, and let the quiet, ever so slightly echoing, sound of her footsteps fill her empty head. There were few people in the cell block, and the soft sound of a conversation came from within. Two people she recognised only by face glanced up at her, their eyes lingering for a moment too long, likely at the splatters of blood on her clothes. There were several more adults loitering around the cells, but Faye paid them no mind and continued to her own room.

As she entered through the door, her attention was slowly drawn to the stains on her hands, the blood lodged into her nails too. The urge to clean the blotches away pulsed through her fingers and she didn't notice as Carl entered her doorway, breathing hard before sighing. "Hey, you're okay."

"I killed Patrick." Faye said bluntly without removing her gaze from her fingers scratching at the blood on her hands.

The boy frowned, stepping into the cell. "No, you didn't." He said slowly. "Dad told me he died 'cause he got sick. That wasn't your fault."

As he moved forward and sat beside her on the bed, Faye lifted her hands for him to see. "I did this. I shot him." The way the guilt overflowed within made her think she was confessing her sins to him, as if he could fix what she'd done. He couldn't. Carl had sins of his own. "This is his blood, I took it from him, I stole it, I- I did this-!"

"Listen to me." Carl grabbed her pulled her hands away from her and held them in his own. Faye had never noticed that his hands were bigger than hers. "You can't blame yourself, there was nothing you could've done to stop him getting sick. Nothing at all. Shooting him wasn't a bad thing, you were protecting yourself and he wouldn't have wanted to be like that." The boy rubbed his fingers lightly over where she had scratched. Faye found it hard to believe him. There could have been a thousand things she could have done to prevent his death, and therefore others, but she just hadn't used her brain.

Stupid.

"Do you understand?" He asked, and she reluctantly nodded. Her voice wouldn't do her justice now. At her action, Carl released her hands and raised them around her shoulders instead, pulling her towards him. The distress passed somewhat, the girl felt empty once more, letting her head fall onto his shoulder as if she had no energy left.

"What happens now?"

He didn't answer for a moment. "Bury the dead. Separate the sick. Do what needs to be done."

"You shouldn't have come here." Faye said simply. "I was near the sick people. I had direct contact with the source." He didn't have a name anymore. He was the cause, the source, the beginning of all this madness. Names only caused more emotion. "I could get you sick."

"Think that's gonna stop me?" Carl replied, chuckling lightly to try and lighten the mood. Its effect wasn't huge.

"It should. What about Judith?"

"I think everybody should stay away from her right now." He said. "I already got close to my Dad, so I don't think what I do matters anymore."

Faye shook her head against his shoulder, and found it only mildly uncomfortable. "It matters if you get sick."

"I just won't get sick then." The boy said nonchalantly. "I'm more worried about you getting ill. You're right, you were there with them. Gotta keep an eye on you."

Lifting her head from his shoulder, Faye ran her fingers through her tangled hair. "Well, if I'm trying not to get sick, I should probably go wash all this-" She gestured to her less than clean attire. "-and change clothes."

He let her go and nodded. "I'll see you later then?"

"Later it is." The girl considered thanking him as he stood to leave, but the awkwardness of the idea tore her away. Not only that, but a thank you meant he had helped, which meant there was something wrong. Nothing would be wrong if she pulled through it. That could be done alone.

"You're hairs all fluffy after a shower." Maggie said, a light grin adorning her face. "Never noticed that."

After the girl had showered and redressed herself, Faye returned to her cell where she was promptly found by Daryl. He, once the hunter had briefly checked she was okay, instructed her to find Maggie and join her walking the fence to kill walkers attracted by the earlier noise with the explanation that it would be some 'stress relief'. It almost amused Faye how the stress of her friend dying would be solved by causing some more.

She pulled an annoyed face. "It's not my best look."

"It'd be easier to deal with if you let us cut it." Maggie replied. In the back of her mind, Faye noted that Daryl had sent her to work with someone not exposed to the illness inhabiting the prison, which seemed like a bad idea. Maybe he knew something she didn't, though. Would she already be showing signs of being infected if she was? Faye didn't spend much time thinking about it.

"That would be admitting defeat." She said. "Too easy."

Maggie smiled, and it made Faye feel like she should too. The woman usually had a positive attitude lately, and it rubbed off on people. "I'll take your word for it."

The two continued along the side of the fence, a slow, but comfortable, conversation going on between stops to kill small clusters of walkers. As they approached the front of the prison, the rack of weapons hanging from the inner fence drawing nearer, it occurred to Faye that she was now in easy sight of Daryl, who was in the middle of the field digging graves with Rick stood beside him. Perhaps that had been his goal in teaming her up with Maggie, to keep his usual watch over her. The thought passed quickly as a sick feeling grew in the pit of her stomach at the images of the dead that would soon be lying in the ground beneath Daryl's feet flickered through her mind.

Pulling her gaze away from the scene before Maggie did, Faye returned to her view of the fence. The huge cluster of walkers piling up against one small area quickly became apparent and Faye cursed under her breath instantly. Before the woman beside her could tell her off for it, she quickly alerted her to the situation. "Maggie, look at that."

Maggie followed where Faye's finger pointed and her eyes widened at the sight. "Hold this." Thrusting her weapon towards Faye who grabbed it before it dropped to the floor, Maggie ran out into the field.

Go, now.

Faye's feet remained still, her body tense and alert at the new danger, waiting for Maggie's return before running to start the killing. It would only bring her a scolding from Daryl later if she didn't.

There could be one less walker by now!

"Rick! Daryl!" Maggie shouted with a motion for them to follow her. The two men in question raised their heads at the sound and quickly sprinted towards them.

Two… Three…

Faye saw others behind Rick and Daryl running to join them, but she was quickly preoccupied with Maggie returning to her. Her crowbar returned, the two girls ran down the fences. Maggie paused to kill a single walker and address the men behind them, and Faye skidded to a stop behind her.

Could've been another two dead just then.

"The noise 's drawn them out and now this part's starting to give!" The woman shouted above the walker's snarls.

Ooh, number six would have made a hard thump on the ground. You missed out.

Faye was the first to arrive at the bulge of walkers clinging to the fence, and she wasted no time in plunging her own crowbar into the eye of the nearest walker with a clenched jaw.

Aw. Now we're all the way back to one again

Making sure not to count her kills, Faye ignored the cringe that came when blood splashed onto her fingers for the second time that day, the sick feeling remaining in her stomach. Her uneasiness was calmed somewhat when Daryl came to a stop beside her and she paused to look at him momentarily. His presence seemed to make any situation easier to handle and with Rick on the other side of her, she wasn't sure she could be much more protected than this. The child's second of time ended and she thrust her weapon into another skull, blood oozing down its nose and she yanked it out again. Any longer and the hunter would have had to stop his attacks on the walkers and check up on her. That was a waste of time.

Faye barely noticed when Maggie fell to the floor, and even less so when they had all stopped to see Sasha's discovery of half-eaten, bloody rats on the floor. The woman shouted something Faye couldn't quite hear, possibly about feeding the walkers, but Daryl's call to a walker climbing high on the fence rang clear.

Quickly, the efforts against the increasing number of dead became fruitless. "It's gunna give!" Rick yelled, repeating himself a few times urgently as they resorted to pushing back against the fence as it curved. The walkers kept pressing on with ease, their faces pressing into the wires, cutting through their cheeks and Faye resisted the urge to gag as an eyeball of the body in front of her came loose from the force. If the girl tuned out the growls, she could have heard the cries from the group fighting for control, every bit of their strength not being enough.

It was Daryl who called them away, their energy wasted on the task. "Everyone back!" He shouted, grabbing Faye by the shoulder as a walker's nails grew too close to her hand. "Come on back now!"

"If that fence keeps bending in like that those walkers are coming over it." Sasha said, sounding as frustrated as they all felt.

There were a few moments of nothing – Faye stood with her stare passing from the lifeless eyes to the bloody eyes to the missing eyes missing eyes as she breathed heavily. The air didn't seem to want to stay in her lungs long enough to gain any relief.

Eventually, Rick started once more. "Daryl, get the truck." The man beside Faye nodded as she looked up at him, sparing her a quick glance before he moved. "I know what to do."

He did. While Rick collected the pigs into a crate, Daryl drove the truck down the field and Maggie and Tyreese moved to be ready by the gate. Faye was left with Glenn and Sasha to reinforce the fence once the walkers had been drawn away.

The squeal of the first pig made Faye jump. Blocking out the shrill cry, the child continued to kill walkers lining the fence and as the screams of the animals increased, the amount of bodies lessened. After most had left, the remaining three members of the group dragged small logs to the fence, Faye with less grace and strength than the two adults. Glenn noticed the girl's struggle to push her log into place, and gave it the final shove it needed to be secured.

Logs in place, the three put down the lingering stragglers and their job was done.

Faye took some steps back and leaned against the inner fence, head facing down to the ground with her eyes squeezed shut as she breathed deeply once more. The overwhelming noise of the growls was gone, but the echoes still bounced around the child's head. Glenn moved over to her. "You okay?" He sounded slightly out of breath himself. At her wordless nod, Faye guessed he assumed she was merely tired after the ordeal. He patted her shoulder firmly. "You did good."

'Good' didn't stop her returning to hide in Carl's arms later that day.

Author's Note:

Wow. It's been a long time. This chapter was awful to write, and I don't like it, but it's an obstacle to pass to get to a better part of the story. I have no words for how sorry I am to keep you waiting this long! Thank you so very much for sticking around while I'm so unorganised!

But, now that's done with, we can move on now and hopefully return to a more regular schedule. We're heading down a road that's going to get worse and worse for Faye. Oh, what a delight!

(Also, update on my scoliosis for those interested! The doctors have decided I won't be having surgery, but 'cause of the amount of pain it has caused me I've had an MRI to see if anything is damaged. I'll find out the results in September.)

Please review, I love to hear your thoughts and advice.

Thanks.

Cobalt Flame.