Chapter 19: Brakes..

Some of the group had followed Nate and Ian. They had gotten to Ian's house, where Bow waited for them outside in the pouring rain.

Those who made it to the designated safe area: Rick, Glenn, Sasha, and Carl.

That was when they heard the gunshot. A dead silence followed too closely after. Bow looked at the two younger men who lead the strangers.
"I don't like it." He voiced everyone's concerns. They knew one of their own had to have fallen. There were too many unaccounted for. "Nate, Ian." Bow didn't have to finish before the two already ran back into the pouring rain. The strangers watched from the shelter of the roofs overhang. An uneasiness settled inside of them too.

They both were meet with an uneasy sight. Hope carrying her dead daughter.
"Nate." Hope's voice was small. He could just hardly hear it above the driving rain. "You know your way to the underground?"
"Yeah."
"Would- would you tell CJ... what happened?"
Nate set a hand on Hope's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze before he jogged off into the hazy night.
With the consistent rainfall, it was almost the equivalent to fog. The only difference was it was well past midnight. Ian walked beside her for a while, but caught the sad look she gave him. Hope didn't have to say anything for Ian to know she wanted to walk the last stretch alone. She needed that time to grieve on her own a little more. Ian stopped in front of Hope. He pulled her head forward, and kissed her forehead. What he did next was unexpected to both. He took off his drenched jacket, and draped it around Hope. Ian let out a breath, a small puff of white air, before placing his hand on her cheek and giving a sad smile. Then, he did the hard part of walking away.

Bow watched as a dark figure approached the hardly lit area. His fears of a death of their own were confirmed. Bow was a smart old man, and he could always pick out small details from any person. This figure that approached him now, slowly coming into view of his own front porch light.
"Ian." Bow called out in a deep voice, the strangers watched carefully as the man came into view. Ian didn't even vocally respond, he only gave a grave shake of the head. Then, he jumped onto his porch, and went inside his own house. As Ian went inside, everyone caught notice of the other figure that slowly walked to them. As the person came closer, all who stood out in the cold morning air, noticed the small form she carried. In the small light Bow's eyes slowly focused on Hope. Her loose copper, red brown hair stuck to the sides of her face as the rain let up in the slightest bit. The scar that was over her left eye was almost invisible.
"Dear God." The older man breathed. Then he went up to the mother, still clutching her dead daughter's body. "Hope." He put his arm around her, and they went to Ian's backyard. There was a small Willow tree, where they dug a grave in the soaked earth. Tears mixed with rain ran down Hope's cheeks, but soon they stopped. The group of strangers silently watched, and paid respect to the little dirty blond girl, who was now being set in the ground. As Bow covered the grave, Hope supported herself with one hand against the tree trunk. The angel wing necklace slipped from under her shirt.

Wicker burns. It sure as hell did.

Anger burned within her, as she clenched her fists. The group of strangers mistakenly thought that the mother's trembling was caused by the cold, damp air. But in truth, she shook with rage. A strong hate for the group that thought they could just waltz into this place, where she and her kids had called home, and claim it as theirs. It was unfair. It was infuriating. But most of all, it brought back a part of Hope she never thought she'd see again. With flames in her eyes she stormed away from her daughter's grave. A new mission had made itself known.

Keira let out a sigh, closing the door to the building people of EastHaven called the underground. It was superstition weather it existed or not. Few people knew where it was. The small cabin was surrounded by thick woods. It may not have been the largest stretch of trees, but it was enough to get lost in if you didn't know where you were going. But now, they were safe. She flicked on the lights, before going to the fireplace and starting a fire as it started to pour outside. Keira adjusted the strap of the crossbow that hung on her shoulder and looked at the people in the front room with her. CJ, missing his signature deputy hat, sat on the end of the couch that was closest to the fireplace. A large, muscular man with long dark hair and piercing blue eyes was standing at the other end of the piece of furniture. He had a leather vest over his torn sleeved shirt. Blood collected at his shoulder. A taller man with short brown hair and dark greenish blue eyes stood the closest of the five people to the door. His back was against the corner of the wall. And finally there was the man sitting on a stool near the back of the front room next to the blind covered window. His black hair ran past his shoulders in the back. His mullet making him look a bit more rugged. But something about him made Keira a little more curious about the man.

But it was then she realized she was outnumbered, being the only woman in the room. All three men looked at her, but CJ started back at them.
"Alright." Keira cleared her throat, breaking the silence. "I think we can all agree we've been through enough the last few days. So you plan on being stupid, go ahead and get you ass out now. I'm not taking any more of anyone's bullshit." Two of the men blinked at her. The one with long hair glared, trying to figure the woman out. "No? Then I'll take that as we should be on good terms." Keira walked forward, reaching out to the injured man's shoulder. He flinched away.
"You need to get that treated." Keira stated the obvious, setting the crossbow down and pulling up a kitchen chair. She looked to the man with the mullet. "Can you grab that small tote of medical supplies?" The man she addressed glanced around, but the one by the door was quicker to grab what Keira asked for. "Thank you." She gave him a smile before turning to the one in front of her. "Now sit."
"Where'd ya get the crossbow?" He asked.
"A friend gave it to me for protection, now sit." Keira opened the small clear box, sorting through what she needed.
"Daryl, she's trying to help." The one who handed her the box told. "Just... let her."

Keira looked at the wound before cleaning it. After she stitched the man, "Daryl" up.
"Well 'Daryl' you are lucky I worked at Med before I started watching him and his sister. All done." Keira put back everything, closing the box up once more. "You lost a good amount of blood, you should be taking it easy." She glanced at Daryl. "Alright." She stood her full height putting her hands on her hips. The other man next to her seemed to figure out what she wanted.
"Well, you already know he's Daryl." The man paused. "I'm Aaron and over there is Eugene."
Keira smiled, satisfied to finally get the names out of these strange men. "I'm Keira, and over there is CJ." She looked at Daryl, a thought coming to mind.

'If you ever run into anyone by the name of Daryl, let him have the crossbow.'

Hope had told her that. Keira picked up the weapon, handing it to the hunter.
"CJ's mother handed it to me before she and the rest of the small group went in to get all of you out. Told me once if I ever met anyone by the name of Daryl to give it to him.
So many minutes had gone by since the attack. They all sat, or stood in silence. Keira stole glances over to Eugene from time to time.

Then, the door creaked open, causing almost everyone to jump.
"Nate?" Keira called before he could even close the door behind him. He was soaked, dripping rain water all over the wooden floors by the door. He took his jacket off adjusting himself.
"Keira." His voice was deep. "I need to talk to you."
"Okay." She was hesitant as Nake led her to the back hallway. It was short, and still in the view of the three strangers. They saw as Nate talked to Keira, and she put a hand to her mouth. Nate took Keira in an embrace as she tried not to sob too loudly. She got herself together, but stood near the hallway as Nate made his way over to CJ. She crossed her arms, but kept a hand near her mouth. He gave the young Carl a halfhearted smile.
"Hey there bud." He crouched down, almost to CJ's height. CJ watched as he acted strangely. "Um." Nate scratched his almost invisible stubble. "You know how your sister was held along with some of the other people from their group?" Nate's eyebrows furrowed as he carried on with this almost impossible task.
"Yeah." CJ nodded, standing now in front of Nate.
"Well. She got caught up with some of the bad men. And, She didn't make it." Keira had slowly made herself closer to the two, knowing CJ would need the support.
The young boy's lip wobbled as he stared at the floor. He took deep breaths somehow keeping the tears at bay. Keira lowered herself, sitting on her knees. She pulled CJ to her.
"I-is s-she in a... a better place?" The boy asked, remembering what everyone seemed to say after a death.
"Yes. Yes." Keira pulled back, her hands on his shoulders. "And don't you ever let anyone tell you any different. After CJ nodded, she pulled the boy back to her.

Finally they had gotten the boy to sleep. He was tucked in one of the two back bedrooms. CJ was just so emotionally and physically drained it didn't take long for him to doze off into a dreamless sleep. He took the news much better than they thought.
"How's Hope taking it?" Keira asked silently. They had forgotten about the three strangers.
"She was the one who had to make sure Angel wouldn't come back."
"Oh..." Keira sputtered.
The two long time friends and three strangers sat in silence. The only sound was the crackling of the fire, and the patter of rain as the storm met its end.

She was fuming as she stood in the living room. Hope had grabbed her weapons and a backpack. While grabbing anything she may need, she took the framed picture of her broken little family, along with her son's hat. After having put on a new jacket, she now stared down the one weapon she hadn't picked up in over two years. The curved mahogany wood, resting on the two nails mocked her. It practically spat in her face with the memories of how things had been. Of how much she had changed, and allowed herself to become tame. Mocked her with the fact that she was going to have to pick it up. That she was going to have to let the monster out from the closet. Mocked her with the fact her daughter died in her arms, like so many others had. That she had to make sure the little blond wouldn't come back. The stupid thing reminded her that there was blood on her hands. But the Saviors did too. And they had taken too much already. The wood didn't even have a speck of dust on it. Like it was waiting for her. As if it was just waiting to be picked up; if it could stay nice and shiny, then there would have been even more reason for it to be picked up.
"I'm only doing it for her." Hope spoke, placing the quiver in her bag so she could reach the arrows. Throwing one of the pack's straps over her shoulder, she took the bow from its perch on the wall.

Instantly she felt that old spark ignite. Electricity flowed from her fingertips. Some of her walls thumbed down.
Hawna was dead.
Hope was just a name. In fact, just a middle name. And so was Aahana, but that still tied to this woman.
Hope was a figure these people believed who brought change and new promises. That very same word could mean just as much, just minus the person these people attached it to.

She honestly felt like she could set fire with just a glance.

She's going to get herself killed.
That was probably true in one way or the other. But she, for once, wasn't the one with the death wish.

Sunny had returned. No longer hiding in the dark. Pretending to be someone else is what had gotten a handful of people killed already. One being her own daughter. They were going to pay the price for their mistakes. Just as well as she had. The he only difference would be, Sunny would win in the end. Because a new force had been reawakened, and wasn't one to be reckoned with. Sunny walked back outside, and disappeared into the pitch black as the thunder rolled.

Bow stepped back into his own home, followed closely by the four strangers. They all had wondered where the mother had ran off to, but the moment Bow looked at the two nails, he knew. A large smile took over his lips. He knew what Sunny would do. But he also felt a new sense of rebellion, knowing the girl wouldn't let these people get away with anything they had done very easily. And boy, were they in for a treat.

But most of all, Sunny, had returned.

A/N

I didn't have an original authors note for this chapter when i first uploaded it on wattpad. Guess i forgot, lol. So i'm just gonna skip the questions.

I hope you enjoyed, please remember to vote and comment, tell me what you think! And till the next chapter!