Chapter 38: Still Strong.
"We need to go on another supply run," Wayne was standing up in the bed of one of the trucks, his hands resting on his hips. Lucas was standing next to him, observing the group surrounding the truck.
"The way we carry on going, we won't have any supplies left by the time we get to the farm," Lucas explained. "We're going to ask for volunteers."
Ally raised her hand, and straight after, Austin raised his hand. He was standing on the other side of the semi circle, next to Dez, who then raised his hand. Trish, Sarah, Dean, Roxana, Ronny, Jack, Jaime and Gregory all volunteered, but Dean seemed to be glaring at Sarah in an attempt to get her to stay behind.
"Look at me like that all you want Dean, I'm still going," Dean went to open his mouth, but Sarah cut him off. "I already know that I have to stay right by your side."
Ally smiled as Dean gave into Sarah. Ally kissed Nathan's head, and she rocked him gently in her arms. Frederick walked up next to her and she smiled at the older man.
"You are a natural," Frederick said. "At being a mother."
"Thank you," Ally's smile widened and she gazed down at Nathan.
"Do you want to know what else I know?" Frederick quizzed, and Ally raised a curious eyebrow. "I know that you are trying to be strong, and I know you want to be tough, but that man," He pointed over at Austin, who was deep in conversation with Dez. "Is the only thing you need to be strong. Darlin' I get that he's hurt you numerous of times, but I also recall you leaving him whilst you were heavily pregnant to go on a death mission...I'm not saying your in the wrong, and I'm not saying he's in the wrong, but what I am saying is that, two people who love each other as much as you two do, need each other to survive. I know that Austin hasn't had the best upbringing and he isn't that experienced in successful relationships, but I know that he's trying for you. I know that he's a man and he's going to mess things up, but it takes a strong woman to accept that he's made a mistake and to realize that he's trying to fix that mistake."
Ally bit her bottom lip and her eyes fluttered over to Austin, who was still talking to Dez, but he was trying not to be broken by Jaime's burning gaze from next to him.
"Do you understand sweetheart?" Ally nodded her head. "Good, now let me have a hold of my boy," Ally smiled and handed Nathan to him. "I'll keep him safe whilst you go on the run. Tom can keep him company."
"Thank you Frederick. I'll always love listening to your wise words," Ally admitted and Frederick chuckled.
"I'm always here if you need to talk," With that Frederick wandered off, talking away to Nathan as if he was an old friend.
Ally checked she had her gun and knife in her belt, then nodded to herself when they were there. She looked to see the group of volunteers were heading towards the gate.
Jess, Nevil and Billy ran over and hugged Ally quickly. Derek walked over and picked Billy up, playful messing his hair.
"I'll keep them safe," Derek assured her.
"Thank you," Ally glanced at Jess and Nevil to see they were both looking over at Austin, who was standing right by the gate. "It's okay, you can go and say goodbye to him."
Both of them smiled and ran off towards Austin. Ally watched as Jess jumped into his arms and wrapped her limbs around him, in a death cuddle. Nevil hugged Austin's leg and Austin reached down and ruffled his hair. Jess and Nevil soon returned to them, and Ally said goodbye to them all again.
Ally walked over to the gate, and Wayne nodded at her. She stood next to him and he glanced at her, a worried expression on his face.
"Ally I know you haven't slept, you don't have to come," Wayne whispered so no one could hear.
"It's okay, I'm strong," She whispered more to herself, than she did to Wayne. Lucas looked back at them all and cleared his throat to gain their attention.
"We can't take any of the vehicles, because we need to save the fuel, so make sure to fill your rucksacks till they're full. Get the things you think we'll need, and if you think we need it, we probably do," Everyone nodded and Wayne opened up the gate.
Everyone got a weapon out, and Ally kept her fingers laced around her knife. They walked in a huddle, and Ally realized that most of the men were around the outside, trying to guard the woman.
Ally kept repeating to herself, "I'm strong," She needed to keep assuring herself, as at this moment in time she was fighting her tiredness, it was bound to catch up with her at some point.
Suddenly, Nina's face flashed in front of her eyes and she sighed. Ally had explained to Wayne that Nina had left, and he had passed the message on to the rest of the group, who didn't seem to care that much. Ally couldn't tell Wayne the truth, she couldn't tell him that Jaime had blown Nina's brains out, and how she'd done it in such a cold manner, then disposed of the body. Ally didn't even want to know what Jaime had done with Nina's body.
"You okay after last night?" Jaime asked, stepping up next to her. Ally nodded her head, not wanting to talk about it. "She deserved it."
"I don't want to talk about it," Ally said.
"Okay, suit yourself," Jaime walked ahead and she tried to break out of the circle of men, but Wayne pushed her behind him, and he received a wave of insults from her.
Ally looked at Austin, who was staring straight ahead, his crossbow ready to be fired. She was strong, but there was voice in the back of her head telling Ally that she and Austin were never going to work things out. She hoped that wasn't true.
Ally focused her attention on the task ahead, but Ally had a strange feeling running down the back of her neck. She felt like they were being watched.
...
They were stood in the centre of a small town. It had small local stores, and white house with small white picket fences. It was everything Ally ever dreamed about. The perfect town house, a front yard to plant flowers and the perfect family living inside, but then reality struck her and she sighed.
"Okay, we're going to go off in pairs," Everyone seemed to move over to one person. Ally stood their on her own, then she realized who she was left with...Austin. "Collect what you can," Wayne dictated and everyone walked off, apart from Austin and Ally.
Ally looked down at her feet, and she kept telling herself she was strong. She looked up ahead, and wrapped her small hand around the strap of her rucksack. She glanced at the small, broken store, and she nodded her head. Ally took off, and she heard Austin quietly following her.
Ally pulled her knife from her belt and she slowly pulled open the door, it creaked and cracked, then it eventually fell off it's rusty hinges. The wood splintered, and Ally dumped the door on the ground. She didn't glance at Austin, and to be honest she was to scared too.
Ally couldn't hear any sign of creepers, but she was always alert. She headed straight to the back of the shop, and walked around the back of the counter. She placed her rucksack on the counter top, and opened it up.
Suddenly, a creaking sound broke her from her train of thought, she looked up at the ceiling, and dust fell through the cracks. This place clearly wasn't in good condition, and Ally was scared the whole infrastructure would collapse.
Ally walked over to the shelves and she grabbed some canned food, then placed them in her rucksack. She walked behind the counter again, and crouched down to see if there was anything useful behind it, like a gun or ammo.
But all she found was useless things. She sighed and ran a hand though her hair.
Then, a sickening hand grabbed a hold of her arm. She whipped her head around, and locked her eyes onto the creeper. It opened it's mouth, and went straight towards her arm. Ally screamed loudly, but it was soon cut short when an arrow pierced through the creepers skull.
Ally watched the creeper fall in front of her, then she placed her hands over her heart, feeling in hammer underneath her palm. Austin walked around the counter, and dropped his crossbow on the floor. He kicked the creeper off to the side, then crouched down in front of her. He grabbed her arm, and began to look her over for any scratch or bite marks.
Ally could see the pure fire in his eyes, and she knew that he had been just as scared as she'd been, but he still didn't say a word to her. He looked away from her arm, and into her eyes. A sigh escaped his lips, and Ally was left speechless, it was like she didn't know any words.
She swallowed the lump in the back of her throat, and glanced down at where he was touching her. She felt like his touch was burning into her skin, but he was only touching her gently. Her eyes began to fog with hot tears, and she tried to fight them off. She knew that Austin had, had many dreams about her getting bitten by a creeper, so it must have been worse for him to see, then it was for it to happen to her.
Ally opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. The building creaked around them, and Ally looked up at the ceiling. Austin let go of her arm, and he got to his feet, then picked up his crossbow. Ally watched him leave, and her heart felt heavy in her chest. She struggled to get to her feet, but when she did she had to use the counter to lean on for a bit.
The store continued to creak, and Ally felt like she was on edge. She wanted to leave. She glanced at Austin who was at the other end of the store, putting things into his rucksack. Maybe she should talk to him, maybe she should sort this thing out. But Ally was sick of always being the person to sort things out between them, maybe it should be his turn to try.
Ally continued putting things into her rucksack, then she noticed the door behind her. She slowly walked over to it, and pressed her ear against the wood. She heard nothing on the other side, but that didn't always mean it was safe.
Ally looked back and she saw Austin had put his bag on the counter next to hers. He was looking around, trying to avoid looking at her, and Ally decided that it would be too much of a risk to investigate behind the door.
She walked over and zipped up her rucksack, she sighed, and glanced at him, but he still didn't look at her. She slipped her rucksack onto her back, then turned on her heel. She walked down one of the aisles, but she paused when the creaking started again. Although, it was louder. Ally slowly looked up at the ceiling, and she saw the cracks in the wood. The creaking got louder, and louder, dust poured down around her. She became aware of Austin's fast movements behind her, and he ran into her side, wrapping his body around her protectively, as they tumbled to the floor.
Then the ceiling collapsed.
...
Trish looked at Dez who was looking at some hunting gear. He ran a hand through his hair, then sighed. Trish could see he was exhausted, and that was probably because he hasn't slept in days. She walked over to him, and looked at him.
"You shouldn't have come," Trish said. "You need to rest."
"I may need to rest, but I need to be here," Dez replied and he slipped a torch into his rucksack. "And being here is more important."
"I'm worried about you," She admitted, and looked down at her feet. "I just want you to be happy again, like when we were on the farm."
"I don't believe we're going to be able to go back to normal on the farm."
"Don't say that!" Trish snapped. "It won't kill you to have a little faith."
"I know," He muttered. "But I stopped having faith along time ago."
The door at the end of the store opened, and Jaime and Gregory walked in. Trish sighed, then walked over to them.
Jaime opened her mouth to say something to Trish, but a crashing sound cut her off. They all turned to look at the store across the street. Dust fogged the inside, and they could see the infrastructure was swaying.
"Austin and Ally went in there," Trish said, and Jaime sprinted out of the store and across the street. Everyone had gathered out of the front, and she followed Wayne up to the door. Wayne tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge, as wood and furniture was piled up against it.
"Smash the windows!" Everyone ran up, and Dean smashed the end of his machete knife against the window, and it shattered instantly. Dust flew out of the gap, and they all began to cough.
"Ally!" Sarah shouted. "Austin!"
Figures moved in the cloud of dust, and Austin and Ally soon came stumbling over to the smashed window. Ally's arm was over his shoulder, blood pouring out of her thigh. They were both covered in blood and dust. Austin was struggling to support Ally's weight, as he had a gash down the side of his leg. Everyone reached out and helped them through the smashed window. They both collapsed onto the ground, coughing loudly to remove the dust from their lungs.
Everyone crowded around them, asking them if they were okay, but Ally could only hear an endless ringing sound in her ears. It was like a bomb had gone off by her ear. She looked around at everyone, but they were all fuzzy, because of the cloud of dust. Ally felt someone touch her arm, and she looked over at Austin.
"Are you okay?" His voice sounded like he was under water, and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Then suddenly it all disappeared. The ringing stopped, and everyone's voices returned back to normal.
"I'm fine," Her voice was raspy, and she nodded her head frantically at him. "Your leg!"
"C'mon, creepers," Ally was pulled to her feet by Wayne, and her arm was flung over his shoulders. She glanced to see Dean and Dez were helping Austin, then they all took off to escape the creepers.
Ally kept looking at Austin just to check if he was okay, but everyone was moving so fast to get away, that she kept losing sight of him. Her leg was pulsing, the gash had blood pouring out of it, and her head was pulsing in pain.
They carried on running and running. Then somehow they were back at the hospital, and the gates were being held open for them. Austin and Ally were both rushed inside, then in what seemed like a second, Ally was being placed on one of the hospital beds.
Cal was towering over her, trying to sort out her wound. Ally's head rolled to the side, and she saw Austin on the hospital bed next to hers, and Alice and Frederick were tending to Austin's wounds. She wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but she felt like her body was numb.
Then she felt herself slip into darkness.
...
Jaime listened to the commotion inside, and she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. Trish and Harriet walked over to her, but she continued to scan the fence. She could feel that something wasn't right.
"Are you okay?" Trish asked.
"I want to go and check the area," Jaime explained, and Harriet shook her head.
"It's not safe," Harriet said.
"I don't care, that hasn't stopped me before," Jaime walked over to the gate and they both followed her. "You don't have to come with me."
"We're family," Harriet replied, and Jaime blinked, pausing. "We stick together."
Jaime opened up the gate and they stepped out into the open. Jaime headed straight towards the trees. It made sense. If someone was out there, the ideal place to hide would be in the woods. Jaime looked back at them both, and they flashed her a smile.
They walked into the woods, and Jaime pulled out her gun. Her eyes scanned every inch they passed, looking for any sign of anyone.
"Hey, what's that?" Jaime looked back at Trish to see she was pointing at a tree. They stepped closer, and it was the same carving her and Gregory had seen a few days ago. It was the letter J, encircled.
Then realization crashed over Jaime. She looked over her shoulder, and she realized that this was the spot her and Gregory had come to earlier this morning. She'd been trying to clear her head of Nina, and he had followed her out here to see if she was okay, then she told him what had happened.
That meant they were being watched. It meant they were being tracked.
"Sorry princess," A rough voice grumbled. Jaime spun around, then the side of a bat collided with her head, then she crumbled to the ground.
...
Ally's eyes fluttered open, and she was met by Wayne's concerned gaze. She tried to sit up, but he gently pushed her back down.
"You need to rest," He said, firmly. Ally's hand flew to her head, as it pulsed under her touch.
"Austin," She began panic, and she turned to see he was asleep in the bed next to hers.
"He's fine, he needs rest. Just like you do," Wayne made her lie back down, and she sighed. "There are three kids out there that really want to see the both of you."
"You can send them in," Ally whispered.
"Not now, you're both exhausted, and you're are now both fine, but you need rest," He explained. "Nathan's fine. Mary and Elliot are looking after him, and he's having fun with Tom."
"It's been a really crap day," Ally whimpered, and Wayne pulled her into his embrace, kissing the side of her head.
"I know," He whispered. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Ally replied.
"Nina didn't leave, did she? Jaime killed her, right?" Ally nodded her head. "Okay, you need to rest, and I need to go and find my daughter. I've got to have a serious word with her about what she did to Nina."
Wayne left, and Ally stared up at the white ceiling. She sighed, then turned to look at Austin. He looked so peaceful, and she was glad that he was getting some sleep. She glanced down at the ring on her finger, and she reached out, brushing her finger against it.
She looked back at Austin, then pushed the thin sheet off her body. Pain shot up and down her back, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. Her feet came in contact with the cold floor, and she flinched slightly, wondering where her shoes were. She slowly got off the bed, and made her way over to Austin's bed.
His long hair covered his face, and she reached out and brushed it off his face. She pushed the sheet off his body, and got onto the bed. She lay down, curling her body around his. She placed the sheet over their bodies, and she felt the warmth from his chest against her cheek. She yawned, stretching her body slight, then sunk into him. Austin shifted in his sleep, and his arm wrapped around her, and she was pressed further into his body.
She felt safe.
She felt at home.
But this didn't make her weak.
She was still strong.
AN: Sorry for the delay, I've just had a very busy week. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There's more drama to come next chapter, and Austin and Ally will be sitting down to have a talk.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and to that one reviewer who said they are no longer going to read my story. I'm sorry, but I can't please everyone. So, please review this next chapter guys, as I always say I love hearing from you all, and your reviews keep me writing.
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