The Walking Deth - Part I

An Unexpected Journey - Chapter VIII

Déjà vu

*Warning* Contains sexual content

I didn't think he was going to go for the idea at first. The way he was standing back there staring at me, tapping his fingers on one hand against the grip of his bow, and stroking the hair on his chin with the other. He looked past me in to the trees like he was going to tell me to keep on tracking, but then he started stalking towards me like a man on a mission his crossbow down by his side skimming across the fallen leaves.

He reached a hand around me and grabbed hold of my ribs, just below my breast and pulled me hard back against his firm chest. I could feel him growing hard in his jeans and pressing into my backside. He dropped his bow to the side so it nested among the leaves, and moved his other hand over my waist to my front and then up under my tee and firmly palmed my abdomen.

"Yer a dirty lil' girl wan'in' to do it out 'ere, in the wild, like animals." He breathed into my ear. The tingle caused by his warm breath against my neck made my back arch and push my shoulders back against him.

"Yes, Mr Dixon." I agreed.

His hand was now moving from my ribs upward over my bra so he could cup my breast firmly, spreading his fingers out and around my covered nipple.

"If I'm gonna give ya what ya want, ya gotta behave yerself, Miss Greene."

His other hand was skimming around the band of my jeans his fingers prying downwards, past the binds of my belt and pressing between the denim and my tingling skin.

"How do you want me to do that?"

His lips were brushing against my neck gently as he spoke, and I arched my neck to the side encouraging him to kiss me there.

"Ya need t' keep yerself real quiet, we don't want no unwanted attention out 'ere."

He dragged his hand from my breast downwards to my belt and loosening it so that he could push in to my jeans and get better access to between my legs.

"You want me to stay...oh!"

I gasped as he skimmed his fingers against the top of me over the soft and nerve filled tissue where my legs began to part.

"Yeah. Real quiet, think you can manage?"

He moved a finger downward sliding it in between my lips, and gently circling around my opening. I felt my legs start to buckle below me, and he gripped me tight, so I couldn't slump, holding me against him with his strong, muscled arms.

"Oh!" I gasped again.

"Shhhh." He urged.

He bit lightly on my ear and I chewed down on my lower lip, trying to stifle a moan.

"I don't know." I gasped, answering his earlier question.

"We'll do a bit of practice first."

He forced his hand deeper into my jeans, pushing a finger roughly inside me, and stroking the front of me with his thumb.

"Oh, ohhh." I moaned a little quieter.

"If you can't keep quiet I'll have to stop."

"No don't stop." I said urgently.

I gripped my hands onto the tree, my nails digging into the cracks in the bark. I was determined to do as he told me, but it was going to be one of the hardest things he had ever asked me to do.

"Then shhh." He ordered.

He bit my ear again, and ran his tongue over my lobe. And I bit my own tongue trying to stifle another moan.

While his hand worked its magic he used his other hand to pop the button on my jeans, and slide the zip down allowing him to get his hand deeper.

A moan almost escaped again, but I put my face against my hand that was gripping onto the tree and bit down on my knuckles.

"Good girl."

He slipped his finger out only to replace it immediately with two and I let out a sharp groan as I felt my body stretch to accommodate. His thumb continued to massage over my front, while he moved his fingers inside me shallow and deep and shallow again, pressing towards my naval from the inside, maneuvering and manipulating and driving me into another world.

My face was throbbing with heat, and my knuckles were stinging from the firm bite I was giving them. I felt my body start convulsing, the nerve ends firing off into the palm of his hand, over and over again. I was moaning now, trying my hardest to keep control of the volume, but mostly failing. The sound didn't seem to bother him this time, as he just kept on rubbing and massaging and moving his fingers around inside me, and making me moan even more.

When the first wave of orgasms were over, he dragged his hand out and back over my hip leaving a wet trail behind that felt cool in the open air.

"Now do you want me in you?" He breathed into my ear again.

"uhuh." I uttered.

" 'member, keep quiet."

I nodded my head in agreement, even though I knew I couldn't do it.

He used both hands to pull my jeans down over my hips, and down to below my knees.

I heard the clink of his belt and the zip of his fly and then a shuffle of clothing before he grabbed me around the waist again, placing his fingers over my abdomen pointing towards my naval, and pulling me firmly towards him. He placed his other hand on my back and tilted my hips forward to allow him better access.

I let out another moan as I felt him push inside my wet and throbbing opening.

"Fuck you feel so good." He groaned, as the full length of him slid in to me.

I tried to respond but all that came out was another moan.

He was moving behind me now driving his hips upwards, pulling himself in and out of me, pounding his hips against my bare backside with a wet sounding slap.

I had my eyes closed and was moaning into my hands clenched together against the tree, trying my hardest to control myself.

He started to slow a little and I wondered if he had finished already, then I felt him moving off to the side, bending down as if to reach something. I opened my eyes and stared at the bark, wondering what he was up to.

Then I heard a familiar clunk, whistle thud, and I knew Daryl had shot a bolt.

I turned my head sharply to see what he had shot at.

It had been a walker, all ragged looking, dressed in tatters, rotten and bloody - shredded skin and muscle dangling off its lost and pleading face. It collapsed to its knees on the ground, and fell face first in to the leaves.

Daryl dropped his bow by his side and continued to thrust into me.

I was seriously grossed out, all desire suddenly fleeing my body. I tore myself away from him, pulling up my pants awkwardly then I turned to look at him with my face screwed up in disgust.

"What?" He said staring at me with an open mouth, his pants still around his thighs, and his shaft still erect and glistening wet.

"That's disgusting!"

"What? that?" He asked pointing at the body of the rotten, stinking corpse only a few yards from where we were standing.

"That you just kept goin' like it was nothin'." I shrilled.

He reached down and started pulling up his pants tucking himself into his jeans and doing up his fly, and belt.

"It was nothin'. It's a walker there's nothin' there." He pointed at his own head, and looped his finger around in the air.

"But you just shot at it, in the middle of – what we were doin' and then just went on about your business."

"I don't care about some dumbass walker, I kill them every fuckin' day. I kill several every fuckin' day. I've killed more walkers than I've had hot meals."

"And you can just kill them like that, watch the arrow go through their skull, watch all the blood and pus ooze out of them and then just go on screwin' me?"

"I don't even think about it, I just do it. My mind was on nothin' but you then, it was just a reaction."

"How can you do that? How can you just go from killin' to lovin'?"

"Well I have a lot more experience with one than I do with the other." He said gruffly, throwing his hands in to the air.

"Oh yeah? And which one gives you the most thrill, Daryl?" I said with a cold glare.

Daryl started shaking his head.

"Don't be like that. You know its nothin' like that."

"You know somethin' must be seriously wrong with you to still be turned on after doing that." I pointed my finger out at the dead walker.

"I'm sorry that I know how to tell the difference between the livin' and the dead." He spat back angrily.

"It's not about that." I retorted

"I'm sorry I ain't good 'nuff for you." He threw up his hand angrily and started prowling back and forth, his face contorted in anger. "Sorry that I ain't some pretty boy. Sorry I never went to no college or had no respectable job. Sorry I never joined no mothafuckin' church choir!"

I knew that he was referring to Anton now, and I knew he had been listening to our conversation that night. I wondered how long he had been comparing himself to Anton, and how much he was realising he wasn't like him.

He was fuming now, his face turning bright red, his muscles rippling in rage.

"Jeez Daryl, you don't need none of those things to have a bit of humanity." I tried to reason with him, but there was no soothing the savage beast.

"I ain't no Prince Charmin, and you're a damn fool if you ever thought I was." He pointed angrily in to my face.

"I don't expect no prince charmin', I just want you to act like a normal human being." I pleaded.

"So you want me to be somethin' I ain't then?"

"I just want you to put a little more effort in, you know, try to make it work for us." I moved my fingers back and forth between us.

He made a wide sweep of the woods with his arm.

"Look 'round Beth, we're sneakin' off into the bushes tryna hide from yer sister. It ain't workin'.'"

I folded my arms protectively over my chest.

"So what you sayin'? You wanna cool it?"

Daryl gave a deep nod.

"Probably best that we do."

"What we have isn't goin' nowhere? It's not worth nothin'?"

"We knew it was never goin' nowhere" He replied, a little calmer now. His tone and facial expression made my insides twist with a sense of loss.

"We knew? Or you knew ? What was I? Just somethin' to keep you busy? Somethin' to pass the time." I was getting angrier, the calmer he was getting.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Well how stupid am I thinking some dumbass, degenerate, redneck was capable of anythin' other than huntin' and killin'." I spat back at him angrily.

I wish I could pluck those words out of the air and shove them back in my mouth.

His body was rigid with tension, face red with fury. I tried to soften my voice a little, to help calm his savage intensity.

"Did you ever feel anythin' for me?" I probed gently.

His lips were pressed together, nose flaring, eyes shooting daggers.

"I only fucked you 'cause I was drunk, an' every time after cause you was guiltin' me." He retorted.

His words hit me deep in the gut and knocked all the wind clean out of me. I sucked in a deep breath of cool air, in an attempt to regain my composure.

I knew it was a lie, I knew he was just trying to hurt me with words, the same way I had hurt him. But the feeling of rage building inside of me was in need of urgent and explosive release.

His flinch as a pulled my elbow back made me all too aware that he was completely capable of stopping me, but I wound my hand back and slapped him hard over his face, and he didn't even try.

I knew I had hurt him by the way my hand was stinging and throbbing all at once, and by the redness that was rushing to the surface of his skin. When he turned his face back toward me, there was a light spatter of blood on his lip.

His shoulders suddenly heaved, and I had thought he was going to hit me back, but the look in his eye told me I was safe. It was a haunting, soul destroying look of loss.

"Sorry." He said sincerely.

He had said he was sorry, but it was me who was sorry. I was supposed to be teaching him how to love and I had gone and hit him, just like his no good dad. But despite his miserable eyes that sent guilt throughout my body, I was still hurt by his words. So instead of embracing him as would have been the smart thing to do, I turned around and stormed off back to camp, cradling my swelling hand.

When I emerged from the trees the others all turned to look at me. I stopped and pushed my hand behind my back so no one could see the redness.

"Where's Daryl?" Asked Maggie curiously.

"He sent me back." I lied "Said I was making too much noise and scarin' everythin' away."

Maggie nodded her head in acceptance, but I could tell she didn't believe me.

"Damn I was hoping you was bringin' somethin' back, I'm starvin'." Bob said while he rubbed his stomach.

"You'll just have to have nuts for now." I suggested wondering if any Pecans were left.

I walked over to my bag and sat down in the dirt and stared at my knees. I tried my best to look like nothing was bothering me, but I knew I was pouting. Bob and Sasha seemed oblivious, flirting with each other. But both Maggie and Anton stared at me with questioning eyes.

We waited there for hours for Daryl to come back - all of the day. Maggie and Sasha started setting up a fire again as dusk came upon us. I continued to sit in the dirt staring at the rocks of the rail line, and focused all my energy on not crying, or yelling, or running off to find out where the hell he was.

We all moved around the fire when it was ready and tried to share stories to distract us from our apprehension over Daryl. Whenever the wind moved through the leaves we would all snap our heads around hoping it was Daryl returning, but it was never him.

Maggie had been eying me suspiciously all day, and she finally spoke up.

"Did you guys have an argument?"

"No." I snapped back a little too quickly.

"Why isn't he back yet?"

"I dunno." I replied, but I had a pretty good idea.

I had hurt him bad. I had sad really horrible things to him, and I had hit him. I had undone all the work all of us had done with him, trying to make him feel loved and welcome and one of us, in just a single moment.

"Do you think somethin' could have happened?" Asked Bob.

"No." I replied forcefully.

"No, not Daryl." Agreed Maggie. "He's the best hunter and fighter I've ever known. Must have decided to follow somethin' special."

She looked to me.

"Are you sure nothin' happened with you two out there?" She asked me again.

"No." I replied drawing my knees in tighter and trying to ignore the throbbing in my hand.

"You sure he didn't try anythin'? Do anythin' to scare you."

"Nooo!" I asserted angrily. I pushed myself to my feet turned away from everyone's confused gaze and started climbing up the embankment away from the train line.

"Where you goin'?" Maggie cried out after me.

"To have a piss!" I shrilled back.

I walked through the trees, far enough to be away from everyone's eyes and ears, but close enough to still see the light of the fire in the distance. I didn't have a torch or a flashlight and I didn't want to get lost out there in the dark.

I fell to my knees and started sobbing into the ground, wishing I could go back in time and change what had happened, take back the horrible things I said, or at least accept his apology. But it was too late now. Daryl was gone and maybe not coming back.

A twig snapping made me lift my head, to see a dark shadow moving through the trees. It was only Anton.

I rubbed my tears away with the sleeve of my sweater and stood up before him.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm alright." I lied.

He moved closer to me.

"You guys had a fight hey?"

I nodded my head, scared that if I spoke I would start sobbing again.

"Is he coming back?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Do you want him to come back?"

I nodded.

"Of course I do." I murmured.

"Do you think he wants to come back?"

I shrugged again.

"Probably not. I said some pretty nasty things."

Anton moved in beside me and rested his arm on my shoulder.

"If he cares about you, a few nasty words won't keep him away." He advised.

"I dunno, they were pretty nasty." I insisted.

"Well I know men. And we don't let things like angry words from a woman's mouth get to us."

"Well it must have gotten to him, 'cause he ain't here."

"He ain't here, 'cause he don't want to be here." Anton assured me.

I tried to stifle a sob, knowing what he said was true.

Anton gently pulled me in to his chest and began stroking my hair.

"Guys like that, they don't make good partners." He continued. "They're the kind that like one woman a night, not one woman for life."

I didn't think that was Daryl. I had never seen him show any interest in anyone the whole time I had known him, but maybe before, when he had more choice, he could have been like that.

Anton pulled away from me and looked down on my face. He put his hand to my cheek and wiped away a tear with his thumb.

"You and him are from different worlds. He's withdrawn – you're chatty. You're up- he's down. You're light - he's dark."

Anton placed his fingers under my chin and turned my face up to look at his.

"What you need is a man, who can really be with you. Be happy with you, laugh with you...sing with you." He gave a chuckle.

I could see where he was going with this and I wanted to turn away from him, but something held me riveted to the spot.

His dark eyes were gazing down on me, the whites gleaming in the moonlight. He licked his broad lips.

"You should be with someone like me."

I wanted to say no, I wanted to push him away, but then he was there - pushing his lips against mine. They were everything that Daryl's weren't. Wide, soft and smooth, where Daryl's were drawn, dry and rough. But I didn't like Anton's lips. I didn't like them one bit. I just wanted Daryl's lips against my mine and his arms to hold me.

I pushed Anton away gently, and he looked down on me with curiosity in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Anton, but I love Daryl." My heart skipped a beat as the word 'love' slipped out my mouth.

"Love?" He queried.

I nodded.

"Think so."

I heard a shifting of leaves behind me and turned towards the sound. There was a dark figure off in the distance moving through the brush, I couldn't make out exactly who or what it was, until it made its way out of the brush and the moonlight caught dirty white angel wings on black.

"He's not coming back." I finally admitted more to myself than to the others.

Daylight had come and we were still sitting around the blackened fire pit. The remains of squirrel bones among the ashes. I had found five squirrels threaded through the neck on to a stick on the embankment of the rails near where I had walked off. Daryl had obviously left them there after he had spotted Anton kissing me.

The others all knew Daryl had left them, they knew neither myself or Anton were capable of catching five squirrels in such a short time in the day, never mind at night. But they never queried it.

"We can't really wait around for him anymore - we need to get to Terminus. I need to see if any of the others are there. To see if Glenn's there." Maggie explained as she stood up and started packing up her things. The others followed suit, hauling their bags on to their backs.

"I know you really want to see Glenn, but we can't just leave Daryl behind." I argued.

"He knows where we're headin'. If he wants to find us he will."

If he wanted to. That's what I was afraid of.

"And I know that none of us want to think it, none of us would ever have believed it of Daryl, but maybe it is possible that…" She trailed off.

"That what?"

"He was out on his own, in the dark. He could have been taken down."

I shook my head not wanting to believe it, not that I ever could anyway. I still firmly believed Daryl would be the last one standing. If Daryl was gone, he was gone by choice.

"I know you don't want to think it Bethie, none of us do, but why else would he just leave us like that?"

Because I was horrible to him, because I hit him, and then I let another guy kiss me and he saw it.

"If you guys aren't gonna help me look for him, then I'll go on my own." I declared, reaching down to grab my bag, and checking that the knife I had gotten from Len's group was still in there.

"You can't go on your own Beth." Maggie insisted, stepping closer to me so she could physically restrain me if needed.

"Watch me." I challenged.

Maggie reached out and grabbed my wrist.

"Please Beth, you know you can't wander around out there on your own, and we can't waste time back tracking."

"You don't have to." I insisted again and pulled away from her grip.

"Damn you Beth!" She called after me. "I'm not chasin' you down!" she called louder as I walked away.

"I can take care of myself!" I called back over my shoulder.

I heard her growl and then I heard rocks crunching as four sets of feet walked away down the train line.

I went into the woods at the point he had left the squirrels. I hadn't had all that much practice with tracking a man, but I figured it would be similar to tracking a walker. I could already spot the prints left from his boots through the leaves. It looked as if he had kicked the ground a few times. If he kept that up, it should be no trouble following him.

The thought of being alone was somewhat scary, but I had spent enough time with Daryl to know basic survival skills. I had my knife, and I also knew that lone travellers attracted less attention from the walkers, and I would be able to handle one or two on my own, any more I could run from.

At this point in time, there was no thought that scared me more than the thought of never seeing Daryl again.

"You think it's smart running off on your own like that?"

The initial sound of the voice made me jump, but the familiarity of it was comforting. I turned around to see Anton standing behind me, arms crossed and head shaking in false disapproval.

"What were you gonna do out here when a herd of walkers came at you?"

"Run." I replied curtly.

"I told your sister I would come after you."

He had certainly earned Maggie's respect if she had entrusted him with that task.

"I'm not coming with you Anton." I said firmly. Crossing my arms over my body and planting my feet firmly on the ground in protest.

"I know. I'm coming with you." He walked towards me and past me leading the way forward into the trees.

I wasn't too sure on having Anton there at first, given what Daryl had seen, but I was glad of the company and he always did a good job of cheering me up. I would just have to find Daryl and explain to him that it didn't mean anything, and that I wanted to be with him. And Anton would be there to back me up.

Daryl's trail was surprisingly easy to follow. He had kicked into the ground half a dozen times, and kicked at trees leaving his big muddy boot prints on the bark. Daryl had even managed to leave behind a trail of walker bodies. Rounded holes left in their heads from bolts, and others with deep slits where he had used his knife. Some of them were covered in fresh blood and gore and I wondered if Daryl had done that or if they had already been that way. I later guessed Daryl had done it when I started noticing a fair amount of gore mixed in with his footprint.

Anton kept on telling me his life story. He told me about his time in college and then in the Navy. He told me about how he had been discharged for medical reasons, because he didn't cope too well with his dad's death. I thought that he had told Daryl that he had finished his training and that was why he went home. But Maybe I got it wrong.

Then he told me about how when he got back to his momma's house she had been barricaded in with his brother and sister in law and his little niece. He told me about how they had all got sick and turned and how hard it had been to put his little niece down. I thought he had told Daryl that he never made it back to his momma's house. But maybe that was a painful memory he didn't want to share with us at the time.

Then he told me about coming across the groups of raiders that tried to take his property and how he had to kill them all. I knew for a fact he had told Daryl that he had never killed a person before Len's man. But maybe he thought if Daryl knew the truth he wouldn't let him come with us.

Then he told me about the mother and child he came across while searching through homes with Len's group...

"When we found that lady, Claire, livin' out in that house alone with her lil' boy. I thought we might be able to look after them, keep them protected. But Joe dropped a claim on her, and then Dan dropped a claim on the kid. I had to stand back while the guys dragged them home and did all kinds of awful shit to them."

"Claire?" I asked wondering how well he had known this lady he was talking about.

"Yeah, the woman back at the warehouse." He replied.

I started to slow my steps, as his words spiralled through my head.

"She told you her name?"

"Yeah, I tried to make friends with her. Her and the boy – what was his name? Archie? Arthur?"

I had stopped walking now and I could feel my jaw hanging low, my mouth wide open.

"He didn't last too long. The little'uns never do." He stopped walking and turned back to me, with a wicked grin growing on his face. He slapped his hand on his forehead in an exaggerated manner, as if he had forgotten something.

"I wasn't supposed to know about all that was I?"

Run Beth!

I was frozen to the spot, couldn't talk, couldn't breathe. He knew her! He knew the lady on the table and he did nothing to help her, maybe he even helped do that to her. And on that other table there had been a little boy, and he knew about him too.

He was now slowly prowling back towards me, his hand resting on the knife at his side.

"She was a screamer - just like you." He slipped the knife out and began rubbing it along his thumb.

"Don't think she liked it as much as you did with your man though."

Jeez Beth what's wrong with you? Move!

"But your man ain't here now is he?"

He snapped his hand out and down towards my wrists and my senses finally kicked in. I pushed his hand down and out of the way with a force that caused him to turn his shoulder to me. I drew back and slapped him hard with the same hand I had used to slap Daryl, but this time it was twice as hard and it left my hand completely numb and possibly broken.

Anton went sprawling to the ground and I dashed off to follow the trail Daryl had left behind. We were too far out for me to run back to Maggie now and I just hoped and prayed that Daryl was still around.

I could hear the leaves moving behind me and the thumping of feet. Anton was a lot quicker than me and his steps were getting closer. I began weaving in and out of the trees hoping to throw him off and make it more difficult for him to grab hold of me. I had completely lost Daryl's trail now and was just running in any old direction - for dear life.

My ankle was throbbing from all the running and sharp twists and turns, and it finally gave way beneath me, throwing me to the ground. Anton was immediately on me, grabbing me by the boots and dragging me in towards him.

I struggled to reach into my backpack trying desperately to get to my knife, but he ripped it off my back and threw it into the bushes.

"Daryl!" I screamed.

"He ain't here, remember?" Anton snarled.

He grabbed hold of my thighs and flipped me over and pinned me to the ground, his knees on my shins and his hands on my wrists.

"You're a monster." I screamed into his face. "A sick fucking monster!"

"That's what they all say." He was speaking calmly and quietly, like me struggling beneath him didn't faze him at all.

He pulled my wrist together and held them together in one hand. My hand still pulsated with pain.

"You got me a good one Missy, think it's gonna leave a mark."

He began rubbing his face where I had hit him.

He moved his hand towards my face and I squinted my eyes preparing for impact, but he gently stroked along my cheek instead of hitting me as I expected.

"I like leaving marks too." He informed me.

Holding my head down, he leant down and bit me on the top of my breasts underneath my collarbone. It was a hard stinging bite, through my shirt, but I was sure it drew blood. My heart skipped a beat when I realised it was him who did the bites on that girl.

I began screaming for Daryl again - For anyone.

Anton was now fumbling around with my belt with his free hand. I wriggled around trying to move my hips, shins and wrists - but he had me firmly pinned.

"You know it's a pity. I thought we could have had something real nice - Living over at Terminus, with your hot ass sister. And that Sasha – Damn she was fine."

He had my buckle undone now and was pulling my jeans down over my hips.

"They might feel sorry for me - after I show up there. I'll tell 'em how I couldn't find you. How you were lost out here- most likely eaten by walkers."

I started looking around at the woods surrounding me looking for something that might help me -a rock, or a stick. If I could just get one hand free, and grab hold of something, I could hit him hard enough to get him off me.

With his hands gripping firmly around my wrists, I wasn't going to get my hands free, but I did spot something familiar.

I had walked through the woods with Daryl long enough to know those tracks, and they looked to be very recent.

"Daryl." I screamed again, hoping I could be heard.

"Nobody gonna come for you but walkers missy." He sneered.

Anton had pulled my pants down to my thighs. I could feel the cold dirt and leaves pressed up against my behind.

I glanced over to the movement behind Anton.

I could see them now stepping out from the bush- The filthy clothes and boots smeared with gore.

Anton was trying to flip me over now on to stomach, and I braced myself getting ready to flee as soon as the time was right.

The walker threw himself at Anton and went straight for the neck. Anton pulled his hand up releasing my wrists and pushed the walker away, using his forearm, just before it could bite. I felt heavy now with both Anton and the walker on top of me, but with Anton preoccupied with the walker I could wriggle and roll free.

More were appearing now shuffling out from the bushes, attracted to Anton's grunts and groans as he held of the walker. He reached into his holster and pulled out his gun and shot the walker in the head, spraying rotten brain out in to the air behind him.

I pulled myself to my feet, watching as three more walkers fell on top of Anton. He was pushing them back with his feet and hands. Their teeth were gnashing into the open air hungrily. I turned and ran, pulling up my pants along the way.

As I dashed through the wood, dodging bushes and low hanging branches, I heard a gunshot, then another. Two gunshots for three walkers - Had the last one got him? I wasn't going to stop to find out so I just kept running until I noticed the trees thinning up ahead. I dashed though the last of the trees and found myself out on an open road.

I had got so turned around in the woods that I didn't know which way to go. So I just picked any way and started running. I listened out for Anton's cries that could still be heard in the distance. I could also hear another sound, a hollow sound almost like waves crashing on a shore. It was a familiar sound, but one you didn't hear too often these days.

I turned to see where it was coming from, and got a strange feeling of déjà vu.

Coming along the road, driving towards me was a car. There was something about it that I recognised. It wasn't the same one as the last I had seen. That one had burnt down in the warehouse. But there was something familiar about it. I stared into the glass trying to see either the driver or passenger, but all I could see was shadows. Then I looked further into the car to the rear window.

There was a silhouette of a white cross.

AN: That was the last bit of smut for about five chapters (and it didn't even finish well) but please stick around because it is coming back!