++++++ I do not own the Walking Dead or any affiliated characters apart from my OC. All rights belong to Kirkman and AMC ++++++

Forty-Seven

Matthew and I were the last of the group to make it back to the prison courtyard. We could see everyone as they were unpacking. Jade and Sophie were playing with their dogs, Carol was helping Beth and Maggie unpack the car, Daryl and Ebony were talking to each other in an intense whisper argument…

"Help me, PJ," Matthew whispered. He shifted Michael's body over his shoulder and put him on the ground in front of us both.

We knelt down beside him and immediately I went for his dog tags. I yanked the chain off his neck and removed the two tags, handing one to Matthew and sticking one in my pocket. "So your twin is always with you," I whispered.

"I don't want to bury him," Matthew replied, curling his fist around the tag. "This stupid family always buries us…I wanna burn him and give his ashes to Alicia when we find her."

"Who was she?" I asked. I must confess, I didn't know too much about the relationships of my brothers because I was never interested.

"His fiancé," Matthew answered. "He'd been dating her for a while, was a really good dad to her kids and everything. Loved her to bits, asked her to marry him New Year eve before last. You were deployed." He pulled a photo out of Michael's pocket and handed it to me. There was a blond woman holding her two daughters and all were smiling. "That's Alicia and her daughters, Mika and Lizzie…they were at the farm in Lakeland when all this went down."

I pocketed the photo and patted Matthew on the shoulder. "I have something I need to do," I told him.

"Ebony?" he asked. When Matthew saw the look on my face he spoke again. "I heard you tell Rick that she was pregnant so you were gonna leave and look for the stuff she's gonna need. Where you gonna go?" he asked me.

I ran a hand through my brother's hair. "Florida," I answered truthfully. "Rick thinks I'm going to Atlanta but I think I owe this to Mike."

"We owe it to Mike," Matthew corrected me.

I shook my head and sighed outwardly. Lying on the ground was my brother, the brother who taught me how to ride a bike and how to play hookie at school…the brother who protected both me and Matthew from John when he was angry…our big brother and he was dead. It wasn't right. I know it's part of the life we live in now but this still isn't fair.

"You better go before Rick changes his mind," Matthew whispered. "Take the mutt…" he suggested, pointing to Spirit who sat on the side of his butt with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, "…he could use the experience."

"You'll take care of them for me?" I asked him.

Matthew nodded. "There's food and supplies in the Tucson. I'll open the gate."

I stood up. "We'll get John," I promised him. "He'll pay for all of this…tell Rick I love him and that I will be back." Matthew screwed his face up. "And Ebony…I told her I would sought it…she won't understand but just don't let her get worked up."

"You're a mother hen," Matthew joked. "Always worrying about other people before yourself…makes you a good leader, PJ. I'd follow you over Rick any day."

I frowned. "Rick's a natural leader," I replied. "Just promise me that you'll look after everything until I get back."

"Anything for you, baby sis," he whispered.

I hugged him tightly and breathed in my brother scent-if this was going to be the last time I ever saw him-I didn't wanna forget anything.

"Good hunting," Matthew smiled.

"Good hunting," I replied. I stood up and whistled Spirit over to me. He trotted over without a care in the world. I picked the mutt up and carried him over to the waiting Tucson. Dumping Spirit in the passenger seat, I slammed the door on the driver's side and turned the car on. Matthew opened the gate for us and I floored it on the gas, taking off down the path before anyone could stop me. I doubted that anyone would get why I was doing what I was going but I wouldn't stand by and watch my friend die from something women have been doing for thousands of years. Giving birth didn't mean your life had to end and I'd be damned if Ebony's was going to end.

Her value in this world was worth more than mine. If humanity was going to pull through this we need a stable home and numbers. It was a harsh reality but numbers are everything considering there are more dead than alive these days.

Spirit barked at me.

"You wanna know where we're going?" I chuckled. "Well, Spirit…we're going home."

The two of us spent a few days scavenging through Atlanta. Most of the stuff we needed was ruined or over run by walkers but I did manage to scrounge up a couple bottles of cough medicine, some really old whisky and some clothes for the road. In a small deli, I found several slabs of bottled water but only took two for the road, hoping that I'd be able to pick the rest up on the way back. When it came to food-well let's just say that cat really does taste like chicken.

I spent my days searching through the city, running from walkers and my nights praying to whatever power was in charge, would come up with a way to help me. On day four of my separation from the prison, Spirit and I were stealing gas from an abandoned car when I heard someone shouting at me. I looked up from the ground and saw a filthy young man running up the road, behind him a small hoard of walkers. I whistled at Spirit and he ran back to the Tucson, jumping into the open door whilst I threw the gas in behind him. I was tossing whether or not to just leave him when I saw that he was actually only a teenager-seventeen or eighteen at the latest and he looked so thin-like he hadn't eaten in weeks. His skin was caked in filth and I had no idea what colour his hair really was, the close her got, the more I could see how tall he was. He would tower over me.

"GET IN!" I shouted at him. I started the car when the boy jumped in the passenger seat before I drove off down the street. "What's your name kid?" I asked him.

"Lucas," he replied in a raspy voice. "Lucas Vance."

"Where you from Lucas?" I asked him.

"Up the road a ways," he replied. The accent…it was somewhere in Boston. "You?"

"Corporal PJ Lucas," I answered, offering him my hand to shake it. "Call me PJ. Where you heading?"

"Anywhere but there," he laughed.

I chuckled. "Well-stick around Lucas…I could use you."

"Use me as in use me as bait whilst you run away from the grabbers?" he frowned.

I laughed and shook my head. "No-as in I could use someone to watch my back. You want a job Lucas? The pay sucks but the rewards justify themselves."

"Where do I sign up?" the kid grinned.

I dug out some of the left over dried cat and tossed it to him. "Don't ask," I warned him.

"Has to be better than squirrel, right?" Lucas frowned.

"Like cats?" I asked him.

Lucas nodded. "I used to have one."

"Well don't ask," I warned him, keeping my eyes on the road. Maybe God answered prayers after all.