AN:"The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope." ~Daryl Dixon

The Walking Deth - Part III

Where We Belong - Chapter II

Trail of Tears

"It's a child."

Beth dropped to her knees on the floor beside Mix and stared at the gap under the door. I could see it too, tiny little fingers not much bigger than lil' ass kickers. Then I heard another voice that was Harder and grainier than the first, but still sounded young.

"It's a stranger."

I could just make out a small blue eyed face through all the dirt and dust in the door's narrow window pane. As soon as our eyes connected the face disappeared and I could hear faint squeals from behind the door.

I pushed Beth's shoulder and she scooted off to the side so I could pull out the two brooms that were crossed through the door handles, barricading the door. I swung both the doors open to a two level high gym that was flooded with light, streaming in from high windows that ran around the top level of the room. The gym looked like a tornado ravaged town, filled with dozens of cot beds and curtain screens, plastic tubs, crates, suitcases, medical equipment, spotlights and other bits and pieces, all scattered about chaotically. It was also filled with the god awful smell of rot and decay. I walked into the room carefully wondering where the kids we had seen had gone and where the smell of death was coming from.

Mix bounded over to a line of beds that were piled up against a wall like a makeshift fort made with sheets and blankets. Mix was sniffing and pawing at the sheets and I could make out the form of at least three lumpy bodies under the cloth.

"You can come out, we're not gonna hurt you." Beth urged.

The only response was a harsh shushing. Beth stepped towards me and put a hand on top of my hand that had an arrow nocked and ready to fly. I didn't even realise I had raised the bow, it was a natural instinct. I lowered the bow and eased on the string, and hoped that it was only living kids we were dealing with.

"This is Daryl, and my name's Beth." Beth continued to ease her way forward towards the bed fort.

Mix had decided he had enough of playing hide and seek and he grabbed one of the sheets in his jaws and started pulling back on it.

"No doggy, no." Came a soft bell like voice.

"Shut up, Marie." Whispered the same grainy voice I had heard before.

Then a scruffy looking brown haired, blue eyed kid popped out from under the sheet. He was younger than Carl, probably about ten years old, but he was so skinny it was hard to say for sure. He was holding a small knife in one hand, and pulling on the sheet Mix was tugging on with the other. The kid's skinny twig arms gave way and Mix tore off the sheet to reveal another two children, filthy, thin and terrified.

"Looks like its Timmy, Tommy and Sarah-May down in that well." I commented turning to a shocked looking Beth.

Beth gasped and put her hand to her mouth, then she fell to her knees and stared below the bed that the children had been hiding on top of. I stooped down to see what she was looking at and found another three children, pale, dirty and trembling in fear.

Then like ants from a pissed on hill, kids started coming out from all over the place.

"Shit." I hissed under my breath. I couldn't think of any other smart ass remark.

The kids all huddled around the kid with the knife, glaring at Beth and I through wary eyes, shaded by dark sockets.

Beth's trembling hand reached around my wrist and gripped on to it firmly for support. "Where are your parents, kids?" She called out to them.

The boy holding the knife was the one to reply.

"They're all dead."

The children didn't want to move from their place by the bed until Beth held out a can of sweetened creamed rice that I had been looking forward to eating myself. They all looked to the blue eyed boy waiting for his approval.

The boy examined the can with wide eyes and his lips smacked together with anticipation. He looked over Beth and I cautiously and then slowly lowered his blade. The boy nodded to the children and they crawled out towards Beth. She started opening the can and they squawked for it like chicks to a mother bird. Beth dropped her bag and pulled out another can of food and opened that one too, and offered both the cans to the kids. The oldest boy snatched it off her and they all pawed at the contents greedily, coughing and choking and spluttering as they scooped the food with their dirty fingers and pushed it into their mouths.

One of the children hadn't moved from her spot under the bed. She was wrapped up tight in a blanket and she stared up at me through sunken eye sockets.

I walked over to the bed, knelt in front of her and took out my bottle of water and held it to her lips. She sipped from it weakly and then coughed it back up into the bottle and all over my hands. I looked at her translucent white skin that hung loosely from her body and I could tell the kid was days, if not hours, away from death.

Beth was now spoon feeding the kids one at a time as they pulled at her clothing like street beggars.

"Get some to the girl too." I pointed to the weak looking girl under the bed.

Beth pushed her way through the gaggle of children and over to the girl with an open can of food. The other kids stayed behind fighting over what she had left.

Watching the starved kids fight over the food was all too much for me. I backed away from them and started pacing around the room trying to figure out where the smell of death was coming from. The gym had several exits. There were large double doors that led outside that were locked up tight. Another single door was to a store room that was filled with balls, and nets and rackets. And two doors that led into change rooms. I went into the boy's change room and went straight for the bathrooms to check the water supply. I turned the hot water tap and it came out freezing, but after a while it started getting warmer. I turned it off and wondered where it came from and if the kids knew to boil it before drinking it, or if they even had a way to boil it. I checked through the change rooms and opened up any unlocked lockers to find nothing much of use but clothing and towels. I smiled to myself at the sight of the tiled area with a row of showers, and hoped I would get at least one before we had to leave. The toilets smelt pretty awful, but that wasn't where the dead smell was coming from, so I went back in to the gym to find it.

As I approached the furthest corner of the gym the stench got stronger, and I knew what I had been looking for was wrapped up in a small bundle of sheets that had been left there. The bundle would only have been around twice the size of lil ass kicker and my guts went tight imagining what was underneath. I stopped a few yards away from it and covered my mouth trying to stop myself from chucking, and thinking what the hell I was going to do with it.

"That's my brother." The voice startled me and I swung around to see the boy with the blue eyes was standing behind me pointing at the bundle.

"He died after the adults went, I couldn't get him to eat…he just cried all the time."

I coughed and tried to maintain some self-control.

"The adults?...Were there other adults here? Other than you're parents?"

The boy looked up at me with his big blue eyes and nodded.

I stared back at the kid, wondering what kind of fucked up monsters had left them behind, and if they would have been better off with them or without them. I reached towards the kids shoulder in an effort to comfort him, but he ducked away from me and stepped back.

The kid had every right to be wary of me. It seems like adults hadn't really proven themselves to be too reliable.

"Where did they go, kid?"

"They went with the army people. They were going into the big city. The capital. There was supposed to be a safe place there."

"Why the fuck did they leave you?" I asked myself more than the kid.

The kid shrugged. "Said they couldn't take too many people. Could only take those that could do jobs. Our moms and dads had all died. They couldn't do any jobs so…" The kid trailed off and started pouting sadly.

"That's…messed up." I muttered.

"Yeah it's fucked."

I raised an eyebrow at his response.

"Your momma let you talk like that?"

"My momma's dead. If she weren't dead, I wouldn't need to talk like that." The kid folded his arms and glared angrily down on the bundle of sheets.

"We should bury him, you know?"

The kid nodded.

"What was his name?"

"James, we called him Jamie."

"And what's your name kid?"

"I'm Austin."

"Austin, you know if there's a shed or somethin' 'round 'ere, somewhere you might find a shovel?"

Austin nodded and turned back towards the door that led to the main corridor of the school.

I swung my Airborne onto my shoulder, took a deep breath, and then scooped up the bundle. I tried to keep my back to Beth as I followed Austin out of the door. The last thing I wanted was for her to spot it and realise what it was. She didn't need that after all the shit she had been through.

Don't blame yourself.

I was halfway through the doorway when she called out to me.

"What you got there?"

I didn't answer. There was no way to put it gently, so I just stopped and looked at her over my shoulder. She studied my face glanced at the sheet that was tucked under my arm and then turned quickly back to the gaggle of children that were cluttered around her. I could tell by the look on her face that she knew what I had in my arms.

I followed the boy down another corridor and then into a room that was filled with circular tables and plastic chairs, that looked to be the school's cafeteria. The kid tried the handle on the door that led to a courtyard outside, but it didn't budge, so we made our way back out the front of the school. The boy stopped once he was outside and took in a deep breath and smiled up at the clouds as if it was the first time they had met.

He led me around the side of the building and towards a sheet metal shed. The door was open and was creaking and grinding as it swayed in the wind. I kicked it open with my boot and was confronted with a flurry of feathers and beaks and squawks and clucks, as a dozen chickens came flying out into my face. The chickens raced of down the side of the building and out of sight.

Inside the shed was a rack of various gardening tools, a few trolleys, a work bench, a ride on mower and a shit load of eggs. I put the bundle under my arm and took a shovel down from a hook on the wall. I eyed over what the shed had to offer. The thing that stood out most was a ring of keys that were hanging off a nail on the wall. I assumed they were the groundskeeper's keys, and I assumed there would be a master key that would unlock all the doors in the school.

"We have a spot to bury them." The kid said, looking over the shovel in my hand. He walked off towards the back of the school and to the far corner of the iron and brick fence. There was a line of graves against the fence line, all with painted crosses dug into the ground at their heads.

"Is your mom and dad 'ere?" I asked

"Just my mom, my dad never made it back."

"Point 'er out. I'll put 'im nearby."

The kid nodded and pointed to one of the graves that had 'Lucy' written on the cross.

I put the bundle down and started to dig up the dirt next to the grave. Austin sat down beside me and crossed his arms over his bent knees and watched me work with empty eyes.

"I had to do it you know." He nodded towards his little brother. "When he turned in to one of those…things."

I thought about how hard it had been for me to kill my own brother, and he was an asshole, not an innocent child. This kid would have to be tough as nails to come out of that without being screwed up..

"How long where you all here?" I asked him.

"We came here a few weeks after people started getting sick. The army people told us to pack up our stuff and meet here, so we did."

"Was it some kinda evacuation centre?"

Austin nodded. "I think so. This school was too expensive for me to go to, I went to the one on the other side of town, but I know they used a lot of computers and fancy stuff at this school. My mom said its motto was 'Prepare for the future', and I guess they did."

Austin pointed up to the roof of the school. It was covered in solar panels and a dozen or so of what looked like weather veins with a propeller attached.

"They made their own energy here. They collected rain water and it has its own deep well. We were supposed to be able to stay here for a long time, but…"

He trailed off and looked back to the grass sadly. I looked around at the grounds of the school. In the centre of the buildings, in the courtyard that was by the cafeteria, there looked to be a vegetable garden that was overgrown and inhabited by a few dozen chickens. Over by the section of fence that opened onto a field track were two cows chewing on the overgrown grass.

"Looks like you guys had it made here…I don't know why they even left." I wiped away the sweat that was beginning to form on my brow from the exertion of digging.

Austin shrugged his shoulder.

"Must've been somethin' pretty good in the city." I added.

Austin glared up at me angrily.

"I wouldn't fucking know would I?"

I stopped digging and looked at him.

"How old are you kid?"

"I'm eleven." He spat out angrily "No…twelve…now."

Twelve year old with an attitude, reminded me of someone I once knew.

"You don't gotta be so angry kid, I'm just talkin' to ya."

"I'm not angry…I'm hard! You think I took care of everyone by myself without being hard?"

That kid I once knew would have responded the same way, but for different reasons.

I pressed my lips together, understanding how Austin felt, and went back to digging while he pouted and held back tears.

When the hole was big enough I placed the bundle of sheets inside and pushed the dirt back on to it with the shovel. Austin got to his feet and pushed over the last bit of dirt with his hands and then rubbed at his eyes, leaving smears of dirt mixed in with the tears on his cheeks. I stood behind him for a few moments while he glared at all the graves and then followed him when he stood up and stormed back towards the school.

"How long were you kids on your own for?" I asked while I trudged through the wet grass behind him.

Austin shrugged his shoulders.

"They left sometime in the fall."

That was at least three months ago. I wondered how long they had gone without food for. There had been a shitload of empty cans in the gymnasium, but it barely looked like enough to feed them all for even a month. Austin must have gone through hell trying to keep them all alive. I knew what it was like to be on your own as a kid, I wouldn't wish that kind of feeling on anyone.

I reached out and grabbed the kid's small, bony shoulder and spun him around to face me. I stooped down so I could look him in the eyes.

"You're not gonna be on your own no more."

When I had made it back to the gym, Beth was sitting on the floor looking like a school teacher with a circle of children around her. She looked up at me sadly when I approached her and then studied my arms like I was missing something.

"Is it done?" She asked.

I nodded my head, knowing for sure that she had seen what I was holding.

Beth frowned and looked back to the children.

"You know those showers work." I hoped that would bring a smile to her face.

She did smile, but it was only for a second. She stood up and collected her bag and walked towards me.

"I'm gonna take one now, haven't washed since…" Her throat bobbed as she swallowed and I thought she was going to cry, but she blinked back the tears and smiled at me. "The motel."

Don't blame yourself.

I nodded in agreement.

"Can you watch the kids?" She asked

"They don't need watchin' they've been takin' care of themselves for months."

"I know but… just...watch 'em…okay."

I knew she was trying to tell me to leave her alone, so I agreed.

While Beth took a shower, I wound open some of the windows to let some fresh air in and then headed out to explore the school with the groundskeepers keys in my hand.

The bottom floor of the school was mainly classrooms for the elementary and middle school students judging by the small tables and chairs, and artwork and posters on the walls. There were a few other rooms you would see in most schools like an art room, workshop, home skills room and a music room that I knew Beth would love. The library spanned two levels and had nearly as many computers as it did books.

The second level looked to be used by the older students. It included a faculty lounge joined on to faculty offices. There was a science lab up there that would have had Merle creaming his pants, and a media room stocked with computers, video recorders and cameras that made my fingers itch with memories of my past.

The third level was just a huge plant room filled with machinery that seemed to be connected to the turbines and panels that were on the roof. There was also a generator up there but it was completely dry.

When I was satisfied that I had checked out the whole school and there were no dead to be found. I went back to the gym. The kids were lying on the floor playing with their toys and reading books, but Beth wasn't around.

"Where's Beth?" I asked them.

"She's still in the shower. She's gonna use up all our water." Replied one of the older girls.

I must have been looking through the school for a couple of hours, maybe more. There was no way she was still washing herself. I walked over to the change room door, pushed it open and entered.

I listened out for the sound of running water, but there was nothing but silence.

"Beth?" I called towards the shower room and listened for a reply, but all I heard was the echo of my voice.

I stepped through the door and closed it behind me. I walked through the change room and towards the shower area scanning the whole room for Beth, but she was nowhere to be seen.

I peered over the low wall that separated the shower stalls and the locker area to see Beth was sitting in the corner of the shower stall with her face pressed into her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. She was naked, dripping wet and in a puddle of water.

"Fuck Beth, You're gonna make yerself sick, sittin' there like that."

I grabbed a couple of towels that were hanging on a row of hooks by the nearby locker. I gave them a shake and then brought them over to Beth, wrapping one around her shoulders and draping the other over her bare legs. She looked up at me with dull eyes that were swollen and red from crying and she smiled at me weakly.

Don't blame yourself.

I sighed and then dropped myself down beside her, recoiling from the cold water that seeped through my jeans.

"The floors wet." She mumbled.

"I don't care." I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and put my other hand on her knee and started rubbing the towels against her trying to dry her off.

"You still thinkin 'bout what happened to you?"

Beth shook her head gently.

"No, I'm thinking about that little one you just buried. And those little ones out there who were almost starved to death, and Chloe, I don't even know if she will make it"

I figured Chloe was the sickly looking one that had been wrapped in the blankets under the bed. I didn't think she was going to make it either.

Beth sniffled a little and gave her nose a rub. "Can you imagine if Rick died? We would never leave Carl or Judith."

"No. Never." I agreed.

"I don't know if this world can be brought back from what it is now. Adults abandoning kids. People killing innocent, harmless people. People eating people, people…raping people."

I squeezed my eyes shut as her last few words hit me right in the guts. I drew in a breath and held it, trying to keep my cool.

Don't blame yourself.

"Seems like there's so little good left in this world." Beth continued.

"The worlds more fucked than a two dollar hooker at Fulton's." Sometimes smart ass remarks were the only way to express what you were feeling.

Beth's eyes glared up at me under her furrowed brows.

"Daryl, you can't talk like that with all these kids around."

Well fuck, I certainly wasn't used to censoring the shit that came out of my mouth, and the kids couldn't hear it, but I guess I would have to start making an effort.

"More…messed up…than a shithouse…in a tornado?"

She shook her head and sighed with a hint of a smile playing at her lips. "Better."

"A poophouse in a tornado?"

She threw her forehead back to her knees and her shoulders started shaking. I wondered if she was cold, or if I had upset her, but then I heard the sound of soft laughter.

"Poophouse?" She repeated turning her head and looking at me, her eyes bright and playful.

"Yep and if you don't get your ass off this cold wet floor, you'll be in the poophouse."

Once Beth was dressed and back out with the kids I told her about the music room I had found.

Her blue eyes lit up like sunshine on backyard swimming pool and she wanted to check it out straight away. A few curious and eagre looking kids tagged along after her. When she was out of sight I took out my last cigarette, placed it between my lips and flicked at my lighter.

"Don't you dare smoke that in here with all these kids." Beth snapped at me from the doorway of the gym.

I grumbled to myself and then headed towards the double doors that led outside. I used the master key to unlock them and flung them both open to an area of grass with a swing set and climbing equipment surrounded by weeds that climbed up the supporting posts.

I sat down on the step to the gym and lit the cigarette and took a long, well-earned drag.

A couple of the kids crept up beside me and watched me with eyes as wide as saucers. I turned my head and blew the smoke away from them.

"What?"

The kids looked over at the play equipment and then back at me.

"Can we go play Mister…"

"Daryl."

"Mr Daryl?"

I guess Mr Daryl didn't make me sound quite as old as Mr Dixon so I let it slide.

"What're you askin' me for? Do what you want."

The two children cautiously stepped past me and another three followed them edging their way carefully around me as if I was a wild bear. The children initially ambled around the play equipment looking as if they were too weak to play, or as if they had forgotten how to. After a few moments of frowning and pouting and turning their heads, they began to climb over it smiling, then laughing and then squealing in delight.

"Just keep it down kids, don't want to call no attention."

So much for letting them do what they want.

"And don't get too close to that there fence. That razor wire'll cut y'all to bity bits."

One of the boys dug up a handful of mud and tried wiping it on a girl's sweater.

"Eww." She wailed.

"And play nice... Be careful its wet…Don't climb that high…Don't throw that shit…Don't lick that."

I threw my arms into the air.

"Ah fuck it!"

I sucked on my cigarette til it was nothing but filter, stomped it into the ground, and went looking for Beth.

We had a fairly satisfying dinner of eggs, carrots and cabbages that night, which Beth had cooked up in the kitchen by the cafeteria. The kids devoured it like it was candy and looked to Beth like she was some kind of goddess for cooking it up for us all. Both Beth and I tried to get Chloe to have something to eat, but all she did was chew on a bit of cabbage until it was green sludge and then spit it out. I figured it was a start, and we would have to try her on something more tomorrow.

The kids convinced Beth to read them a bedtime story, by the light of the small lamp they had plugged into the wall. According to the kids they could use small amounts of power, but anything big would need the generator. I would have to go searching for more gas to get that thing running and see what we could do with it.

The book they brought to her was 'Where the wild things are.' And I remembered it as being one of the books my mom read to me when I was a kid. In fact I think it was the only book she read to me. I found myself hanging on to every word that Beth spoke in her soft and soothing voice, and thinking how lucky the kids were to have someone like her to take care of them.

When she was done she tucked all the kids into their beds and said goodnight to them all individually getting them to remind her of their names as she passed. I couldn't remember half the names and figured it would come in time. For now 'kid' would have to do.

When she was done a few voices called out "Goodnight Mr Daryl."

I found myself blushing for some stupid reason.

"G'nite." I grumbled.

Chloe was still lying on the floor wrapped in her blankets where she had been listening to Beth tell the story. I went over and picked her up and carried her to an empty bed. Mix jumped up on the bed beside her and licked her cheek and she managed a weak smile on her pale lips. I gave Mix a pat on the head. He always seemed to know where he was most needed.

Beth dragged two mattresses off some spare cots and laid them on the floor next to each other, in front of the kid's beds. She dumped a bundle of blankets down on top of the mattresses then removed her boots, dropped herself down and tucked herself in.

"G'nite." I called over to her and headed towards the door to the main corridor.

"What're you doin?" She asked.

I stopped and turned back to her.

"Someone's gotta keep watch."

"I think we're okay, these kids were here for months without anyone disturbin' them, and you know Mix will tell us if anythin' is up."

I glanced over to Mix sitting on Chloe's bed. He had lifted his head up at the mention of his name and was now watching me intently. What she was saying was the truth, and I was fucking exhausted after the shitty night sleep I had last night. I didn't need any more convincing. Just the look of the mattress was making my eyes dry, my head pound and my body ache in eagerness. I stumbled over to Beth and collapsed at her side, not even bothering to lift the blankets. Sleep started to take hold before my head had even hit the mattress.

Beth's cries woke me up for the second time in as many days. She was writhing around under the blankets and throwing her head from side to side. I studied her face and the trail of tears left on her cheeks that were bathed in the moonlight, and knew what she was dreaming of. I had tried to wake her from her dreams last night, but she had just started shrieking and throwing herself around violently. I had found that the best thing to do was to hold her until she was still again. So I wrapped my arm around her and held her trembling body tight against my own.

"No, Carol." She whimpered into the pillow.

Don't blame yourself.

"It's me, Beth." I whispered into her ear.

"Anton?" Her chest started heaving as she took in panicky laborious breaths.

Don't blame yourself.

"It's Daryl."

Her heavy breathing started to slow.

"Daryl?" She whispered.

"Yeah it's me. You're okay. You're safe"

"I love you." She whimpered, as a single tear slipped from under her closed eyelid and rolled down her cheek to the mattress below.

I wiped away the tear that was rolling along my own cheek with the sleeve of my shirt.

"I love you too, girl."

Her lips turned into a peaceful smile and then she was silent again.

I sniffed and wiped at my face and then caught two bright eyes peering at me from on top of one of the beds.

"Somethin' bad happen to her?" Austin whispered.

I cleared my throat trying to shake away any sign I had been crying.

"Yeah."

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people. That's what my mom always said."

I nodded towards Beth. "Yeah, those are her words too."

Austin studied me for a few moments.

"Are you her daddy?"

I glared up at him and tried to remind myself that he was just a kid.

"No, I ain't."

Austin looked back towards Beth with a frown on his face.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

If he wasn't just a kid I would have told him to mind his own business, but he was, so…

"Yup."

Austin screwed up his face.

"She kinda looks like a kid."

I glared at him angrily.

"Just shut the fuck up and go to sleep." I growled.

Austin chuckled softly and then rolled over pulling the blanket up over his head.

Fucking smart ass little shit.

I smiled to myself thinking how it was the first time I had heard him laugh, it was worth it even if it was at my expense. I let my head drop back down to the mattress beside Beth's and tried counting sheep to keep my mind off the shit that had happened to her.

Beth only woke two more times that night, which was three less than the night before, but I still felt like shit.

Beth had tried to make a breakfast of eggs, but she had cracked one open to find a half grown chick inside and binned the whole lot. It was good news as it meant there was a rooster around somewhere, and I wouldn't have minded the eggs myself, but it would have grossed the kids out. So we ended up having a canned breakfast.

"I'm gonna have to go out an' hunt." I told her as I rummaged through the last of our cans in my back pack. "I'm guessin' were gonna be here for a few days, until we kind find a way to get these kids outta here."

Beth pouted thoughtfully and nodded her head. "We'll need to wait for Chloe to get stronger too."

I collected my airborne and ran my fingers over the arrows. They had seen better days. I would have to check out the workshop later and see about making more.

Beth studied the bow in my hands. "We could get one of them chickens. There's plenty out there." She suggested.

"Nah, save 'em for later. I need to see what's gamin' 'round these parts anyways."

Beth frowned at me.

"Okay, just be careful out there. Unknown territory and all."

"Don't you worry 'bout me. There's nothin' out in them woods I can't handle."

Beth kissed me on the cheek and sent me off on my way. I felt like daddy going to work and leaving the wife and kids at home. The thought was more pleasant than I had expected.

I went out the back gate that opened on to the track field. I crossed the field and walked out into the woods and examined my surroundings. It looked very much like the woods back in Georgia, but it didn't seem quite so dense, and it was wetter and muddier than it usually was at this time back home.

I could see a few signs that there had been rabbit and squirrel though these parts recently, but I ignored their tracks and delved in deeper hoping to find something more substantial. I had heard there were deer and elk in these parts, and even wild turkey. I had never caught one of those before.

I had been wandering in the bush for about twenty minutes before I came across some familiar tracks. There were several long ditches dragged through the leaves and dirt and I knew a small group of walkers had been through here. It looked as if they had been heading away from the school, and I decided I would just let it be for now.

I found some dropplings not far from the walker tracks, and then some marks in the bark of a nearby tree where antlers had been rubbed. I tracked the deer for a few minutes until I came across a sight I didn't think I would see outside of Georgia, and I had hoped I would never see again.

There was a small spruce tree directly in front of me with an overgrown vine scrambling up its trunk. It was covered in white flowers. Cherokee roses.

I stopped dead in my tracks and glared at the flowers.

Don't blame yourself?

Fuck that! I had kept it to myself for too fucking long!

I dropped my bow to the ground and stormed over to the tree. I wrapped my hands around the bristly stems and started tearing away at the roses, ripping them to pieces and trampling them on the ground. I didn't stop until every rose was nothing but leaves and petals at my feet. I stood over them covered in sweat and drawing in heavy breaths.

I still felt like shit. I felt like I just needed to hit something. I felt like I needed to beat something to death. So I went back to the walker tracks thinking they would be softer on the knuckles than a tree.

I found three walkers idling through the woodland a few minutes later. I dumped my backpack and my airborne to the ground, and rolled up my sleeves. This was going to get messy.

I don't know how long I had been out in the woods for, but I returned just after dusk, and came back to a worried looking Beth standing at the back gate.

She threw her arms around me when I was close enough.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Huntin'." I replied casually.

Beth stepped back and looked me over and I opened my hands to show that I had nothing to show for it.

"What the hell happened to you?"

I looked down at my hands and at my clothes. I was covered in blood and gore. There wasn't a clean space on me anywhere. I couldn't even remember exactly what had happened. I blacked out some time after killing the fifth walker with my bare hands.

"It's not mine." Was all I could offer.

Beth took a step back from me and folded her arms over her chest. I could see now that her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying all day.

"What's wrong?" Something in my gut told me this wasn't about Anton or Carol.

Beth sniffled, and wiped her nose.

"It's Chloe."

My face fell as I anticipated what she was going to say next.

"She's dead."

AN: I'm not going to include trigger warnings from now on as I don't want to spoil what happens. But you should know by now I don't really hold back on the nasty stuff.

A guest asked if I had any formal training in writing. No I haven't. Read on if you want to hear a boring life story...

I was terrible at English in highschool. I couldn't understand why if I spoke the language I had to learn about it. Oh how stupid and naive I was! I didn't even pass English in highschool. The only reason I got into university was because I did so well on all my other subjects that my English teacher was convinced to fudge my results and I ended up with a 49/100 (just enough to get in). I studied to become a Primary school teacher, among many other things. I could really only teach English up to grade 5, after that I had no idea what I was doing! I've found that reading and writing fan fiction has really helped with my English skills. I welcome constructive critisism so that I can improve even more :)