Along with Ares and Odilia, Candice cut up the deer into pieces and started to cook them over the fire. Georgette sat on the other side of the room, still glaring at Athena who was also glaring back. If her sister wanted to act like an unreasonable child she would let her, as long as she kept the peace. The three of them sat around the fire together.

"So you said your house burnt down?" Ares nodded and said

"Completely to the ground. It was our own stupid fault. Left a can of gasoline by the fire we were cooking at. Left for a couple of minutes to go grab some more meat to cook from our freezer and a walker knocked over the can, sent the flames sky-high. Spread to the house before we could stop it."

"Was it your base camp?"

"It was our home, been there since we were born."

"Sorry to hear," said Candice, turning the meat over to be cooked on the other side.

"What about you guys?"

"We're headed down south to Georgia. Came all the way from Wyoming."

"That's a long way away, why are you traveling so far?"

"We're looking for someone," she said, not wanting to reveal too much.

"Must be pretty important."

"It is." She was surprised to hear her sister speak up.

"So Ares and Athena. Fucking weird names." She saw Athena jump to her feet defensively and start to walk towards Georgette who also was on her feet and ready for a fight. Odilia jumped in between them and said

"Come on, try 'n get along." Georgette backed off and slipped her knife back into her pocket. Odilia turned to Athena and said "War and knowledge, that's what your names mean right? After the Greek gods?" Athena looked surprised that Odilia knew what she was talking about. Candice was even surprised. She had never thought Odilia was the type to be book smart, especially in a world like this where it would do you no good.

"It was our mother's idea," said Ares, "When we were born she thought we should have strong names. There's always gonna be war in this world, between groups of people and walkers, but with knowledge you can overcome it and keep yourself and the people you love safe."

"You're twins?" Ares nodded and said

"Fraternal, we're both twenty-one." Candice wanted to ask where their parents were now but decided to keep her mouth shut. Things were going along so smoothly and she didn't want to mess it up by upsetting them.

When the meat was cooked they each took their own piece. Candice wasn't sure what kind of deal they wanted to strike but for now they seemed content with remaining in the house. When they were finished Ares said

"There's two bedrooms, we can each get one and two people can sleep out here." Georgette volunteered to stay up and keep watch in the living room along with Ares who gave his sister the bed to sleep in. Candice made sure she and Odilia picked up all of their things and brought them into the bedroom with them. She didn't trust them completely just yet, and if they were going to try and leave during the night they'd definitely try and grab some of their things. She shut the bedroom door and sat down on the bed next to Odilia.

"Do you think we can trust them?"

"I don't know," said Odilia, "Seems like the guy is pretty open to makin' it work but the girl ain't."

"My sister isn't either."

Georgette sat across from Ares, watching him with narrowed eyes. She could tell she was making him uncomfortable.

"Thought you'd be able to take our stuff at night and leave, but I'm not going to sleep."

"Wasn't planning on that at all."

"Sure you weren't."

"What's your problem," he said, "You're sister and friend trust us so why can't you?"

"Because you tried to take all of our things and tied us up." He took a deep breath and said

"And we were wrong to do that. Your sister was right, we shouldn't fight with each other, we're all just trying to survive out here. No point in fighting, we should combine our strength and work together."

"What are you saying?"

"Athena and I have no where to go. We were born and raised in that house and now everything we worked for is gone." Georgette interrupted and said

"Where are your parents?" He took a deep breath, his eyes filled with sadness.

"Dead." Before she could ask any more questions he said "I'm saying that it's better to travel in large groups. If you let Athena and I join you we can be a big help. I'm great at hunting. Had a spear that got destroyed in the fire but I could hunt with the one you have really well. Athena is really skilled in fighting, she's good at talking her way out of things and she can hunt too." This cry for help was what let Georgette put her guard down. He seemed completely genuine.

"You do know we're going to Georgia right?"

"Ya," he said, "I don't mind, your sister didn't say who you were searching for but if you traveled all the way from Wyoming than they must be pretty important." Georgette didn't see any harm in telling him the truth and said

"We're trying to track down our parents."

"Our parents used to be from there before they fled north."

"What a coincidence." The conversation ended there. Georgette knew he was right. The larger the group the safer it was to travel. But she didn't trust them completely yet, especially the sister.

Georgette did end up falling asleep on the couch. When she woke up and realized what had happened. She was instantly alert. Ares was no longer on the coach and she called out.

"Candice?" Her sister walked into view from the hallway.

"Where's everyone?"

"Odilia and Ares went out to hunt and Athena and I are cleaning some of the weapons."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Thought you should get some sleep." Georgette stumbled off the couch, still half asleep.

"Shouldn't we be getting ready to go?" She wanted to get back on the road whether or not Ares and Athena were joining them.

"That's what we're doing," she said, "Once Ares and Odilia get back with some food we're gonna go." She looked out the window to see the sun high in the center of the sky. It had to be around noon. They were burning daylight. She decided to not follow Candice into the kitchen and see Athena. Instead she went into the bedroom to get their stuff together. When she was done she started to bring them out to the trailer. As she was placing the last one in, she saw Odilia and Ares walking out the woods. Odilia was carrying a string of rabbits on her back.

"Hey," she said, "Successful hunt?"

"Yup," said Odilia, "Gonna cook these up for lunch 'n then we can get back on the road." She continued on into the house while Ares stayed.

"So did you think about what I asked last night?"

"I did," she said "Gotta talk to the others about it." They headed inside and found Odilia skinning and starting to cook some of the rabbits. Athena and Candice were now both sitting on the couch watching. Ares didn't wait to bring up the subject and said

"Is it possible that we could travel with you guys?" He clearly hadn't swung it by his sister because she jumped to her feet and said

"What?! Go with them?! All the way to Georgia, have you gone insane?!" The conversation quickly shifted to being between just he and his sister.

"Think about it, we have nowhere to go, no ammo or weapons to hunt with, it's going to be rough out there, just the two of us."

"We've survived together alone for this long!"

"But we had a home, a garden and a ton of supplies, we're out in the open now with almost nothing to live off of."

"What are we gonna do when we get there?" Athena turned towards her, expecting an answer.

"We're going to look for our parents."

"Do you know if there are communities there?" Georgette shrugged and said

"Not sure, there was when we used to live there." Athena was silent and Candice said

"I don't mind if you guys join us," she looked at Odilia who nodded in agreement. Georgette sighed, seeing as it was pretty much already decided she said

"He's right, the larger the group the safer it is. You're welcome to come along with us if you want." All eyes were on Athena now who still hadn't said anything. She looked over at Ares and said

"Fine, we can go." He smiled and said

"You're not gonna regret it."

They ate and got back on the road. Odilia had been a bit worried about pulling the weight of two more people in the trailer but it turned out fine. Candice sat in the back with Athena and Ares while Georgette sat with Odilia. Athena sat on the other side of the trailer, still guarded and as anti-social as before.

"You'll have to forgive my sister," said Ares, "She's always been the one to take responsibility for things," he smiled and said "She is older than me by a half an hour. She always used to being the boss. Always had to be cautious and on guard." Candice desperately wanted him to open up more so she decided the best way to do so was to tell him more about her life.

"My sister and I aren't even sure if our parents are still alive. We're hoping to find at least one of them when we get there."

"You're lucky that you still have hope," he said, "My mother committed suicide some time after we were born. She kind of lost it. It was mainly postpartum depression that got to her but she'd been sad long before that. My dad told me about how they had been part of a bigger group in Georgia, their whole family was there. When they got separated from them and could never find them again my mother was never the same after."

"Well maybe you could find your family again when we get there."

"Probably not," he said, "They were all separated in an attack."

"We were separated from our parents in an attack, not sure if they lived or not but it wasn't safe to stick around so a nice woman who raised us took us up north to Wyoming."

"At least you had someone," he said, "My father died when we were both ten years old saving me from a walker. Had to fend for ourselves ever since. Good thing he trained us well." Candice saw the deep guil etched into his face.

Ares sat with his knees tucked underneath him as he picked carrots from the garden. He could hear his sister sitting in a lawn chair somewhere behind him singing a song. His father was over there with her, cooking lunch on the fire. The yard was surrounded by wire fencing but the garden sat slightly outside of it that in its own fenced enclosure so no animals would get in. They hadn't seen a walker in weeks and yet his father didn't let him pick from the garden unless he was nearby like he was now.

The bucket was almost full to the top and then he'd be able to bring them to his father. He liked making his father proud. He remembered how happy he'd been when he shot his first dear. He'd taken him and Athena out for their third lesson in hunting and he'd spotted the deer first and beaten Athena to it. She had been mad at him until she caught her own three days later. Now they were both great at hunting. He was picking the last carrot and put it in the bucket when he heard the familiar hissing. He looked up just in time to see a walker fall over the fence and into the garden, coming face to face with him. He screamed and sprung to his feet, quickly followed by the walker who lunged for him. It grabbed him by the shoulders so he was face to face with it again. The stench of rotting flesh made his stomach sick and he felt frozen in fear, rooted to the spot. It took him a few seconds to remember that he had a knife in his belt. He fumbled for it, trying to get it out of its holder. A group of about six more walkers came over the fence, quickly approaching him. In a flash he saw his father hop over the fence stab one of them in the head. He slammed into the walker holding onto him, sending it flying away. He came to life again, quickly scrambling to help his father who was now cornered by them.

"No get out of here!"

"But dad-!" He heard his sister screaming and looked over to see her surrounded by another group of walkers.

"No, go back to your sister, help her!" He left the garden and ran towards Athena. She had managed to already shot one in the head with her handgun as she was not tall enough to stab it in the head, neither was he. He saw one his father's handguns sitting on the picnic table and grabbed it. Making sure it was loaded, he stood back with his sister and began to gun down the approaching walkers. He held onto it tight, feeling the kick every time he pulled the trigger. They moved backwards as the walkers grew closer and he felt dread spike his chest when he tripped and fell onto his back. His jumped to his defense and quickly gunned down the remaining walkers. She held her hand out to him and said

"Come on!" In a daze, he grabbed it and she pulled him up. Their father was stumbling across the yard, covered in blood. They ran towards him, Athena yelling out

"Daddy are you ok?!"

"Let's get inside!" He grabbed them both, pulling them towards the house. "There's more coming in the woods!" He slammed the door after them and ran around, pulling all the shades down. They both followed him around in a state of fear, wondering if the blood covering him was his own or the walkers. He collapsed onto the couch, breathing heavily. Ares saw the large chunk of flesh gone from his side and his shoulder. He broke down into tears, knowing they were bites. Athena was still talking.

"You're gonna be ok daddy, right? You're gonna pull through!" He took both of their hands and with a pained expression, looked at them both.

"I need you two to be brave for each other. I love you both very much and so did your mother." He saw a streams of tears leave his father's eyes. "It's unfair that you two should be left here by yourselves, but you know how to hunt and fend for yourselves. You'll make it, I know you will. You're both strong and smart." His breathing became more labored as he struggled to get words out. "Your mom and I will always be with you and watch over you. Take care of each other." They both climbed up onto the couch and snuggled in under his arms. He held them both with the small amount of strength he had left. They cried into his blood soaked shirt until his arms had gone limp and he was gone. Athena sat up first and said with a sob

"We've gotta put him down before he comes back." Ares was in complete shock and even when his sister tugged at his shirt for him to get up he didn't budge. He remained curled up in his father's body, not wanting to face reality. He felt a wave of guilt. This was his fault. If he'd been more aware of his surroundings then he would've seen or heard the walker coming and they wouldn't be in this situation. His father would still be here. She took out her knife and said

"Do you want to do it?" He shook his head, holding onto his father's arm tighter. He watched his sister climb back onto the couch and sit up near their father's head. He watched her bring the knife up to his temple and hold it there, unable to do it. She let out another sob, letting the knife fall from her hands and leaning back into their father. They knew what they were risking; sitting there in in his arms but neither of them could do it. Not yet.

Ares was half asleep when he felt his father's arm move. He knew what it meant and was awake an in instant. But before he could see his re-animated father Athena had swiftly punched the knife into his forehead, ending him. She broke down again, her face in her hands as she sobbed. Ares got up off the couch. He was dizzy and sick to his stomach. He ran to the bathroom and just made it to the toilet in time to release his stomach contents. When he was sure he was done, he stood back up and slightly pulled back the curtains, the house was surrounded by walkers, a whole herd of them passing by. He quickly ran back out to Athena who was now also looking out the window. In a whisper she said

"Ares they're everywhere!"

"I know," he said, "Stay away from the windows!" They sat back down on the couch. Tearfully he said "What are we gonna do with him?"

"We can bury him once they all pass." They heard the door knob jiggling and he almost let out a yelp of fear, but Athena quickly put her hand over his mouth. They were absolutely still, he was pretty sure he didn't take a breath until it had stopped moving. He let out a silent sigh of relief. Holding onto each other, they remained on the couch for the night, shocked, afraid and having no idea what was to become of them now that they were alone.

Thanks electrickpanda, MaddyMarie1212, DarylDixon'sLover and stateofgrace-xo for commenting :) I posted pictures of Athena and Ares as children on my profile page lol soon I'm going to need a separate webpage for all the space I need for their pictures lol. I like to give readers a visual of what the characters look like.

Thanks for reading,

Wanderlustt