Curative

By Kaimaler

This is it guys! Say goodbye to the farm! BYE FARM, MISS YOU XOXOXO

It was a bad time to be down for Laura. The camp was breaking apart fast and Laura, often a voice of reason, even if small, would've been an asset that Dale could've used now.

As they discussed the execution of Randall.

So much was happening so fast and yet in the bed she remained, as motionless as she had been when Daryl brought her in. He didn't want to stay in that room now, part of him did not want to be the first to know if she'd died. He hated feeling useless and sitting in that room, staring at her body restrained to that bed made him feel weak.

He was unable to stop the damage that had been done to her. He did not know her back when her father experimented on her, or when those men forced themselves on her. There was nothing to be done about the wounds she suffered thus far, but he felt as though he should be there for her now. When Shane nearly killed her when he opened the barn doors, when he attacked Rick and Laura.

When she fell off the horse.

Those bruises and wounds were not his to stop anymore, he could not be around all the time. So far she defended herself, he was sure she would have died by now had she not.

It didn't make him feel much better, but nothing that was happening helped anyone.

Dale was defending Randall's life, claiming respect for human value while the others were discussing how to go about ending the boy's life. It was an argument, the morality of the situation was no clearer than Randall's head right now after Daryl was done with it. Far as he was concerned, Randall got them all in danger, Laura too, which made him extra volatile.

Rick gave Dale a day to make his case to everyone, the only person who was on his side was Andrea. The rest were not swayed. They feared for their lives and their group, this made them too scared to change their minds. Dale was on the losing side and after he talked to the camp, he knew it. While many agreed with the morality of the issue, they could not allow Randall to risk their people.

Daryl didn't want to be part of it. He didn't believe anyone would listen to him about it anyways, Rick still stuck to Shane as his partner in leadership. Daryl just confused most people, they couldn't understand his methods or why he does what he does. Dale knew there was a chance that he could've convinced them, but with the recent scare... Laura's collapse, possible death. The situation when Rick, Shane, and Laura came back. The bar fight with Randall's group.

It had all just been too much too fast. They were more scared now than before. There was no talking to them anymore and when time came around to come to a final decision, the execution came out on top. So many had voted to remain out of the decision making, which only earned them Dale's scorn.

And it was only getting worse. That night, Dale spotted something on while on shift and investigated. Had Laura been awake to learn what that walker had done to Dale, she would be destroyed. There was no way to help him, even if she did bring him back. This was no simple walker bite, Dale was torn apart and it was not pain Laura would inflict on Dale by returning him once he turned.

Dale was dead and the group suffered. He was a part of all of their lives now, he was their moral compass in a world of grey.

The group openly mourned the loss, they did so by clearing the land of all walkers. They patrolled the area, fixed weak spots, and added more defense to the property. All that could be done was being done. The group would not lose another member because they slacked off on watches. The guards were always armed and Hershel even moved them into his home.

Everyone helped to serve each other, to stay safe. Dale's loss was the worst so far, they had experienced walkers tearing apart their camp before. Only, for some reason, Dale's death hurt deeper than most. It was odd, almost as if they believed their survival this far was assured survival for later.

And yet, there was the collection of rocks on top of a grave. Everyone worked harder and stayed tighter together, it was unacceptable to lose more.

For now, Laura remained silent as Dale's grave. Nothing was to be done for her, for Dale, or the Horde that approached their home.

There was no bright light, so that was odd. She noted a strange taste in her mouth, feeling stiff and rigid. She could hear people around her, though her body wouldn't listen to her.

Hershel talked to Patricia... Rigor mortis had set in. There were many terms she recognized, she knew her blue skin would make it hard to identify pallor mortis. Though they seemed to discuss that she no longer had the tinge of blue over her normal, healthy skin and was instead completely resembled the dead.

They tried to discuss livor mortis, but came up empty handed. She had so little flow through her body that there was nothing to pool. The same with algor mortis; her body temperature was always colder than natural. She skipped all the way to rigor and there she seemed to remain.

It came quickly, but Hershel chose to keep it secret until they knew what it meant. Perhaps it was a stage in her cure, they didn't understand enough of her condition to make a call. So they chose to wait, either until she had clear signs or they figure out exactly what was happening to her body.

Patricia agreed to not tell anyone about it so far and from there they only monitored her progression through the signs of death. Laura knew she was still alive, her brain was alive even if her body was dead.

Maybe this is what happens to those experiencing this cure? It works for a short time then the person dies? But she wasn't dead, she couldn't be. She was still aware, awake; she had no control over her body.

Was this death?

Is this what people were so afraid of?

If so, she agreed with them. It was terrifying to think that she could feel herself, to be aware of herself, but unable to tell the others that. She didn't want to die, she never wanted to. Even with her life the way it is, the suffering she's had. She wanted to live, survive, with the group and with Daryl.

She did not know how to fix herself, she was stuck. The feeling was as if she'd been covered in concrete. The stiffness was unbearable, the hunger only grew as every hour passed until all that ailed her mind was food. The Voice was absent, but that did not mean the cravings went with it.

There was a very real, very exhausting struggling going on in her mind. She fought for ownership of herself, though she could not imagine why this was happening. She could be dead, this could be the end of everything.

Until night came, she heard screams, people rushing out of the house. What happened? Why were they screaming?

A few minutes went by, silent, full of dread. Then, finally, a single echoing gunshot. Something bad, from the people who entered the house crying... someone had died. He's gone, he's gone. She heard that, they lost someone this night. Laura didn't know who it was, but she cried for them. For the suffering, the loss, and the dead.

Who died? Who did I lose? She cried even though her body wasn't, it hurt to know someone was lost, but it was torture to not know who it was. Anyone could have died and she had no way of finding out.

When morning came around, she had picked herself back up and was more curious to know what would happen next. Hershel checked on her already and still nothing had changed, rigor mortis was not a lasting stage of death; for some reason she was not moving into the next steps. She remained locked in place.

While the day slowly progressed, Laura felt loss over the man who died and wanted badly to know, in an almost selfish way; was it Daryl? Had she lost him without even knowing it? Was it because she was not there to look out for him, he was so far away from the camp, a walker could have gotten to him before anyone could help.

She would miss anyone who died and felt guilty for worrying about Daryl; how would a walker have killed him so easily, so quickly?

It was unlikely Daryl died at this point, she knew that. Someone to the group was gone though and she wanted to know. Her body was still rigid and she didn't know the strength it would take to fix that, or if she could even do anything about it.

People visited her through the day, Carol was first. She always loved Carol and Sophia, the two came together to see her. Hershel let few people step in for a moment, but forbade contact. Just say their wishes and leave, there was too much risk with Laura in the room. Even though her wrists, feet, body, and neck were tied down tight.

That possibly helped make things worse for her at this point, she needed to test how much force it would take to break free of herself; if she was even able to. The restraints made that next to impossible.

After Carol and Sophia, T'Dog, Glenn, and Andrea all took turns in the room. They visited her, wished her well, pleaded with her to wake up, and hoped she was still with them. They left and later more would stop by. Rick came to see her, he didn't say much of anything though. She knew what he wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Please don't be dead.

It wasn't until much later that Lori, Beth, and Maggie stopped by all together. They left some field flowers in a small vase and all gave their best before leaving.

There was nothing she could do to show she was alive, from what she could tell. Her heart was stopped this time, completely. She was cold, they only had the blanket over part of her, up to her chest. Her neck was secured the tightest as they had to get in close to check on a heart rate every few hours. She could feel her head pressed into the pillow uncomfortably.

It was fine with her, she understood. Something bad happened and now they were unable to tell if she was alive or dead. If she turned in the house, it could be devastating.

Hours went by agonizingly slow. It seemed forever until she heard another voice, Why can I not move!?

Laura jumped, the Voice surged angrily through her. What have you done to me? This will not stop me! Let me go! She felt the strength radiating through the Voice, it was trying to free her. Laura recalled that the Voice was able to use her own hand to scratch iron, perhaps she could use this. I don't care what we do to get out of this, just free me! How did you manage this?

"I didn't, I don't know what happened. I was fine and then all of a sudden I just... blacked out. I can't move, I've been trying." Laura admitted to the Voice, she felt her mind stressing out over the rage seething through the Voice. It was strong now, more capable than before. It's anger was actually hurting her.

We have to be free, tell them to release us! Why would they tie us up like this, like an animal! FREE ME! Laura let out a very short, strangled groan.

She paused, she made a sound. She used her body. It listened to her!

"The only way out of this is to work together, maybe then we'll be strong enough to break free." Laura thought, the Voice was agreeing and while she was excited to get out of this trap, she froze when the Voice was ready to try.

No. Don't you even dare. It's low, venomous tone threatened Laura. She was scared of the Voice, scared of dying... of losing the group and yet... Do not even consider this, Laura. We must be free of this, do not test me now!

"If I get free... you could hurt them. I told Rick, I know you can... I don't want you to; I don't want to hurt my friends. You already hurt my father, he was good to me. You took my family from me, my history. If I'm free than you are free to do worse things. I can't let you." Laura felt herself cracking, this was a turning point now. The Voice couldn't free her body without Laura's help. It was just as trapped as she was.

Do not do this to us, we must be free! If we remain, we will die! I cannot die like this! I hunger!

Laura was choking back her emotion, was this the right choice? Would she even do it? She's only thinking about it for now, could she really go back to putting them all in danger just because she was around?

Could she ever protect them from herself?

At this unique moment, Sophia had entered the room and had seen Laura's struggles to even breathe. She was smart enough to know, this was different; she was in their earlier and nothing happened. She cared for Laura, who had saved her life, and took care of her when she could. Sophia understood Laura as a good person to be around, someone that could keep her safe.

So Sophia got close and listened. "Laura, are you awake? Please don't leave us, I really miss you."

Laura gulped hard, she loved Sophia so much. The little girl's death nearly destroyed the camp and when she came back to them, to Carol, everyone had a new reason to be happy.

"I haven't seen you a lot in a few days, momma says you've been real busy. That Mister Grimes needed your help a lot and that you stayed out near the trees with Mister Dixon and that I couldn't go out that far. Momma said it was dangerous alone and she had chores." Sophia held the little doll that Daryl found for her and she set it lovingly beside Laura.

"Don't go, Laura. I'll be real upset if you go." She kissed Laura's cheek before sniffing away a few tears. "They said you got all tied up in case you turned like I did. You're waking up now right? They're all real scared that boy in the shed is gone now."

"What... Randall?!" Laura tried to budge herself, Sophia's compassion and loss was hard to get through, but Randall was a danger. He could hurt her, hurt the camp. He may know how to get to his group.

They could be in real danger now, Laura. What are you going to do? Sit here and let those men roll through this farm? They can't stop it, they're too few, too weak. The Voice taunted, but would they really be or will they find Randall?

Laura grunted, she still didn't want to die. Not yet, not after everything she had done to survive and help this group. She didn't want the Voice to get out and, at the same time, couldn't bear losing the people she cared about. Was she so much a risk that sacrificing herself was necessary to keep them safe?

She didn't want to die. She wanted them, she wanted to be with them and help them survive. There were many times where she came in handy, if she didn't go with them back in Atlanta, Sophia would be dead. Maybe other people too, she always tried to help where she could.

Laura would've died without them too.

She owed them her life, her suffering was ended because these people cared for her. She would not insult them by letting herself die now when there might be a way out.

And so she fought against her own body and this time the Voice was more than ready to fight with her. They struggled, her head pounded at the power she was forced to use. The Voice's own strength doubled her own, it was stronger than she had imagined and soon, her body began to snap.

Jointed popped, barely moving half an inch, but it was still more than she did on her own. It was difficult, the force behind it.

Laura took a moment to relax, sucking in deep. Sophia saw her trying to move, the sound of cracking joints was odd, bordering on the disturbing. It was similar to bones being cracked and Sophia flinched every time she heard it. Sophia could see Laura's hands trying to clench, her body twisting, her knees bending. She prayed that this was normal.

"Laura...?"

"We have to tell her to untie us, we'll never get out like this." Laura insisted and it was quickly agreed. The tightness of the restraints were holding Laura back from getting up off the bed. Maybe even walking.

With extreme pressure on her lungs and vocals, Laura managed to emit a few sounds. Though she realized they probably sounded more like the groans of a walker than her normal voice.

Form words, try harder! The Voice pushed Laura hard. She was almost worried they'd break her body while trying to do this.

"So-phh." Laura's strangled voice quietly ushered Sophia's name, "...I... -mm hep."

Fuck, that's not comprehensible. Try harder! It yelled in her head. Sophia, I need help! Free me!

The little girl was aware that Laura was trying to speak, her excitement clearly evident as she bounced. "Laura, you're awake!" She leapt onto the bed and hugged Laura, pressing herself to her stiff body.

"-Phia... help me." She ground out, her jaw wouldn't move and her lips were still stiff. "Cut... me... free!"

Sophia leaned up and saw the ties on her, "Okay!" She hopped off the bed and tried to get them off. They were tied twine, she couldn't free her with her hands. She had to cut it and Laura didn't know where anything was.

"Cut... it." She sucked in more air, "... F-nd... knife... scissor."

"Got it!" She began to look through drawers, searching for anything Laura mentioned. "There's nuthin' in here, I'm gonna go to the kitchen!" Sophia left the room and raced down the stairs.

Laura still tested herself, trying to move more parts of her body for articulation. She couldn't open her jaw, but she needed to be able to make coherent sentences. So she practiced forming words and sounds with her lips and moving her face.

It took a few minutes before Sophia came back with a serrated knife from the kitchen. It would do to remove these bonds, then she could properly try to fix this rigor.

"Good... girl. Cut them!" Laura was almost ecstatic when she felt the first twine piece snap and her hand came free. Still mostly rigid, Laura forced it to slowly crack until it came to bend across her chest. Sophia was quick to rush to her feet and cut the ties on them, to which Laura started exercising her control over them.

When the last hand was free, it was already getting dark out. Laura was too busy to notice the sounds of the panicking group down below. She was too busy fighting for her freedom and by the time she was; something had changed for the worse. And by the time Laura realized it, it was too late. Laura was not moving herself at this point, she wanted to rest and take a moment to gather herself.

But her body wasn't listening to her anymore.

"Don't do this." She strangled out, her hands came up to her mouth grasping the jaw and her head before pulling the two apart. The loud crack resonated in Laura's head, causing her to lose herself for a moment.

Sophia stood there, proud of herself, until Laura's hand grabbed her by the throat. The Voice let out a deep, guttural screech that terrified Sophia. She was scared now and Laura was trying to resist. "I'm in control now. Do not fight me on this, we have a target. Don't get this girl involved."

Laura tried to pull herself back and the Voice dropped Sophia on the floor. She was making her way out of the room, struggling to walk into the hallway. "This'll be tricky." She growled as she attempted to tackle the stairs down. One step at a time, her body still threatening to lock up on her. She braced herself on the handrails and the wall, but there wasn't much to be done to help her move any faster.

Something was too wrong about this and Laura could not regain herself. Sophia was scared hiding in the bathroom and Laura could now hear the group outside. The Voice had changed, it took her over and it was not going to be merciful. It could hurt them, Rick would understand; he could see what was happening.

She fought for dominance, which generated a terrible struggle between the two. This fight started to give Laura some more command over her body, but it wasn't enough.

During this, they failed to address the stairs and came stumbling down and bashed into the far wall at the end of the stairs. Laura was quick to recover, even while her body was beginning to loosen up and the Voice had shown to be stronger than her.

"Not, now. I won't let you." Laura stood up, she was on top again. The fall was distraction enough for the Voice to let go for a moment and it was all Laura needed to defend herself.

Right as Laura stood up and took her first breath willingly. The back door swung open and Laura caught a glimpse of Carl running off the back porch. She was almost compelled to find out what the rush was, but ignored it for the moment. It was dark out and just as Laura managed to walk to the front door, it was opened for her.

Staring back at her was Lori and the rest of the group. Lori jumped at the sight of Laura's appearance, even closer to the dead than before.

"Laura?" She squeaked out quietly. Laura didn't have a chance to answer her, she came up and hugged the woman they were all worried about. "Oh thank god you're alright." Lori was latched onto her, only letting her go when everyone else caught on.

"Laura, dammit. We thought you were dead!" T-Dog instantly came up and squeezed Laura tightly to him. "Worried we might have to dig another grave."

"We lost Dale." Andrea answered before Laura could even react. "He saw one of the cows in the field, went to check on it and got jumped by a walker. We weren't able to save him." Laura did not respond, only nodded to Andrea who she knew was close to Dale. Even if there was a few disagreements between them.

All Laura could mostly think about right now was getting out of the house. As soon as they came in, she realized how hungry she really was. It was a wrong kind of hunger, the kind that gave the Voice strength and ushered Laura back into her walker-like state. She had to leave, but inconspicuously. It would be hard, she wanted to say goodbye.

Tell them she was not safe anymore. There was a powerful, deep change in Laura and she could almost rationalize the hunger she felt. It was not something she wanted to follow through with, but the Voice had already made itself known with Sophia. The girl still didn't leave the room upstairs and Laura knew if Carol went looking for Sophia; her time would be up.

For now, she had to abide. She may not want to die, but she would not hurt them if they felt the need to. The Voice would not go easy on them and she was still losing this war.

No one knew anything yet, only that she was down and now she's back up. They were happy and some part of Laura just wanted to enjoy that for the short time she had left. She couldn't stay, she knew that at this point. The Voice was only temporarily pushed back and Laura would be unable to keep it there forever. The worst side of her was beginning to rear and Laura's mind was breaking; she wondered how long it would take until she's completely shattered.

"Come on y'all, let's get sat down and we'll wait for the guys. Can't do much standing out here; without any idea where Randall is we can't be standing outside." Laura already knew Randall was gone, Sophia was kind enough to impart that information to her. Randall wasn't dangerous alone, he was a scrawny guy with a leg injury. Even Carol could beat him.

The group all headed inside and took seats in the living room, everyone was stressed out about Randall getting free. If he found his group there was no telling how bad things could get. The only people not with them right now was Rick, Shane, Glenn, and Daryl. Laura assumed they must be the ones out searching, she figured Daryl would be tracking the boy through the woods as usual.

Lori and Carol sat Laura on the couch between them, both showing almost motherly concern for the woman. She knew this was because of her collapse the night before, even Hershel and Patricia looked surprised when they saw her standing in the doorway.

"Laura, how are you? Daryl came running in the house with you just... You looked..." Lori could not find her words, she did not want to frighten Laura or make the other nervous. "No one thought you were still with us, we were scared we lost you for good."

Laura took a hard gulp, her stomach burning in hunger. The pangs felt like daggers in her stomach. "I'm... alright. I'm a little stiff and sore, but I'm still here." Laura could only imagine what they would say if she explained what was happening to her now. "Here, for now." She thought to herself, the words failed to come from her mouth.

"You had no heart beat, no pulse; you were, medically, dead." Patricia voiced her worry. "I don't know how you can be here now, no one can survive without... well, anything for so long. Hershel and I, we tried to wait and see, but there was never anything to suggest you were still in there."

"I know, I, uh, dunno what happened either. I was... awake though. So I could hear you, but I don't know why I couldn't move. I guess my body just gave up. My brain is still working, which is what the virus does." They remembered what they saw with Jenner. The virus restarted only the base of the brain, nothing else. "I'm still here, so... I guess the cure I got is keeping me here now."

Carol put an arm around Laura and a hand on top of hers. "I'm glad you came back to us, we couldn't stand to lose you and Dale in the same night."

"What's... what went on here? Something's really wrong, but..." Laura glanced around them all, the temptation was just too strong. She couldn't stand the hunger. It was as if she was on that table again with her father testing her, he was a good man; she knew that after all this. He was helping her, he couldn't lose his daughter. There were still too many questions.

"Randall got out. Shane was going in there and he slipped the cuffs. Broke Shane's nose and ran off into the woods." Andrea answered her first, "From what we know, Shane went after him but couldn't find him. He came back and told us what happened. He's out there with Rick searching now; Daryl and Glenn went to check in another direction."

"We can't do nothing but wait here. Hoping for the best." Lori sighed, running a nervous hand through her hair. "If he gets away, we may have to leave the farm. He could find his group and we don't have the numbers or the weapons to fight back."

This time Maggie stepped up. "We can't let that boy threaten our home. We gotta stop him. With the guys out there lookin'... It's dark and I don't know if they're gonna catch that boy in time."

"All we can do is wait, it's too dangerous to be out there at night without weapons. I gotta be here with Hershel and Andrea to make sure he doesn't come back here." T-Dog started, he had a gun in his belt to be sure. Hershel had a rifle in his hand, angled in the crook of his arm. "The others gotta' find him and fast. Who knows how many walkers are out there and that kid won't be happy to be caught."

Quickly the room fell silent and they all waited to hear from anyone outside and prepared to deal with unwelcome guests if need be.

Laura's luck was wearing thin and she knew it. The resistance she faced while being in the room with the others was slowly increasing. They were... different to her now. They had a strong smell, looked separate to her; even their voices were noticeably different and Laura was losing the battle to keep herself away from them.

Sophia had not come down, the girl was heart broken. She loved Laura and right after she helped Laura go, the Voice paid the girl back by horrifying her until she was unable to leave the confines of the bathroom for fear of her life.

Almost an hour passed until someone had finally spoken up. Too many remained too anxious to talk.

Andrea shook her head, "I'm going after them." She stood up, a woman with a mission. Regardless of what people thought her capable of, Andrea was always the one to step up first. At this time, stepping up might be too dangerous.

"Don't. They could be anywhere." Lori replied, obviously exhausted from worry. "And if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you." Lori was not diminishing Andrea's ability, only that had Randall decided to return; they would need all the help they could get. Andrea understood that, but still felt the need to go searching.

Until they heard the screen door opening and the sounds of heavy boots on the old wooden floors. Everyone stood and turned their attention to Daryl and Glenn entering the room, looking around and counting all the faces.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?"

"Laura," Glenn came up, giving Laura another addition to the amount of hugs and well wishes. "Good to see you up." She smiled at him before looking to Daryl who, internally, was relieved to see her up and still disturbed at the situation they were in. He would have to speak to her later, now was not the time.

"No." Lori answered, she wasn't expecting a time frame on their return.

"We heard a shot." Daryl had figured they would have come back sooner than himself and Glenn. Being that they had already found the boy in question.

Lori had no knowledge of this yet, "Maybe they found Randall."

"We found him." Lori was surprised to say the least. "Is he back in the shed?" Patricia asked, still terrified at the prospect of losing their farm. Even more so at the idea of what Randall threatened the group with.

"He's a walker."

The weight of that set into the room for a moment. Randall was dead, a walker. What happened to him at that point though? How was he caught by a walker and why weren't Rick and Shane back if they had not found Randall or his trail? Shane said he'd lead Rick where he was chasing Randall, they would be back by now.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel was mostly concerned about the integrity of the farm now that Dale was gone. They did so much to protect the house and the fields, they had to clear off any walkers they could find.

Glenn looked around for a moment. "Yeah... weird thing is, he wasn't bit."

"His neck was broke." Daryl finished the thought. It was not a pleasant sight at all. There were no other walkers they found around Randall, the boy died with his neck snapped. No walker came to finish him off.

"So he fought back?" Patricia gave Hershel a worried look, no one understood what it meant for Randall to be a walker without a bite.

"Thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks are right on top of each other. Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together." Daryl made plenty enough observations about Randall's death to realize, and prove, that Randall wasn't attacked by a walker and Shane was not telling the truth. It was more of an issue that it wasn't hard to believe that Shane would do this.

"Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane, and find out what on earth is going on." Lori was desperate to know why this had gone so wrong so fast. Everyone knew there was always a problem regarding Rick, Shane, and how they dealt with Randall. This was taking it a step too far.

"You got it." Agreeable, Daryl and Glenn were heading back out of the house. Andrea followed, now knowing that Randall was dead and no longer a danger. They wanted to go back outside to keep an eye out, see if they could catch sight of Rick or Shane. The anticipation to uncover this mess was slowly causing the group to question Shane.

When they saw Daryl raise his crossbow, they knew something was very, very wrong.

Laura was in the house with the others when Glenn came back in and told everyone some troubling news. Quickly, Hershel was outside overlooking the countless walkers that now covered his property. The barn was surrounded by them and they were out in the open.

"Patricia, kill the lights." The woman quickly ran inside to blow out candles and switch off lights in the house. They were lit in a pitch black field, the walkers would pick them up from all around the farmland. They had no defense.

"I'll get the guns."

"Maybe they'll just pass like the herd on the highway, should we just go inside?" Glenn saw that the walkers had not noticed them yet. "Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs that I don't know about. Herd that size will rip the house down." He nodded to the only visible walkers, they kept in mind that there were still more pouring out of the forest.

The guns were being handed out, Laura got a pistol out of the bag. She had rarely ever fired a gun before, but she could make a shot if she needed to help the others. Walkers still would not attack her, as far as she knew; this gun was more as a way to help the group and not herself.

"Maggie?" Glenn was worried about her, she was loading a shotgun. "You grow up country you pick up a thing or two."

"If I got the numbers, it's no use." He was still watching the walkers as they limped across the fields.

Hershel loaded his gun, "You could go if you want."

"You take 'em all on?" Daryl seemed a bit confused at the idea, Hershel was gearing for as much a battle as them. "We have guns, we have cars."

"Kill as many as we can." Andrea fit more rounds into her jacket, "Then we use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm." It could be a sound idea, if the walkers chose to follow them at all. There was a lot out there, more than they were able to see.

"You serious?" Laura looked to see Hershel, he was definitely keen on the idea of fighting for his land.

"This is my farm, I'll die here." He checked his shotgun and started to walk off the porch. Laura could see the distress on Maggie's face, this was going to be a fight to remember. The herd was all around them and they were not going to stop any time soon.

"Alright," Daryl slipped over the railing, "As good a night as any."

Laura made sure her pistol was loaded and that she had plenty of extra rounds with her. She could not let them run off and get killed, if this was to be her last night with them; it would not mean their deaths. For now, she'd fight with them, help in whatever way she could. No matter what happened, she knew she couldn't stay at the end of it all.

She could escape with the herd, just like she did before. They would look for her, maybe think they lost her or that she died somehow. It was better than what she knew was coming. It was easier to defend themselves against a known enemy, if she lost control over herself when they are not prepared. She could do more damage than any herd.

Glenn and Maggie got a car and started to thin out the herd whatever way they could, leading walkers away from the farmhouse. T-Dog got the truck and lead walkers away from the farm while mowing them down. Jimmy went out to get the RV and prepare it to leave. Hershel stood in the yard shooting down whatever walkers got close. Inside, the rest got ready to evacuate the house. By searching for their children.

Carol was quick to find Sophia and Lori was unable to find Carl. Laura felt time slow down for a moment as Sophia and Carol followed Lori down the stairs as she called out for Carl. Sophia hadn't spoken yet, she was terrified and Lori's panic overpowered the shy little girl from telling them why she was hiding in the bathroom.

"What do I do?!" Laura could hear that from outside the house, Lori was screaming and all she could do is stare at the burning barn. It lit up fast, the dry wood burst into flames and was quickly on the verge of collapse.

"I checked the shed and I can't find him anywhere." Lori came out of the house, approaching Laura and the edge of the porch. Carol was close behind while Sophia had remained in the house with Beth and Patricia.

"He's not in the cellar or the attic." Carol was trying to help Lori best she could, but Carl was not in the house. "Why can't he listen for once!"

Lori and Carol stood in front of Laura, she did know what to do to help the women. "Okay, okay. If he followed his daddy, he went that way." Lori started to head out when Carol grabbed her, "No, you'll lead them right to him. We can't stay here!" She tried to convince the troubled woman.

"But that's my boy!"

"We're going to have to trust me. If we find him he's gonna need his mother, we got to go!" Carol started to head back to the house, urging Lori to follow her. "Get the others!"

Laura came up beside Lori, who aimed her pistol at the quickly approaching walkers. "Carl!" She was able to shoot a few down before Carol came back out with the rest of the group behind her. "Lori, Laura!"

She looked back, Laura took over taking down a few walkers making their way to them. "Hershel!" Lori leaned over the rail, "Hershel, it's time to go! Come on, now!" Lori smacked the post, "Hershel!" The older man did not respond, he was shooting down whatever came his way and Lori could not get his attention.

She spun back around and Laura stopped her, "Lori."

"We have to go." Lori insisted before Laura gave her a sad smile, "I'll find Carl. I promise."

The woman stared at Laura, "You have to come with us, we can't leave you here." Lori took another step, trying to take Laura with her.

"It's okay, I'll find Carl. I'll bring him back to you." Laura didn't give Lori the chance to argue and ran the way Lori pointed earlier. If Carl actually found Rick, they would both be in trouble now. Walkers were swarming the barn and the fields, Rick could not escape so many alone. Especially with Carl on him, he had to look out for them both and an army of the undead.

Lori and the others took the last cars out, T-Dog stopped by to get them and was met quickly with too many walkers. They surrounded the vehicle while Andrea raced off to help Carol who was cornered between walkers and a wall. She tried to fight them off and Andrea came in like a saving grace to Carol. She shot down the walkers and bought the woman time to escape.

Laura ran as fast as she could, her limbs still stiff and resistant to her; though that was wearing off quickly. She passed Hershel some time ago, the man was determined not to leave with the others.

She had to find Carl and get him back safely. She could not stay, but she would not let that boy die in a sea of walkers.

By the time she reached the edge of the woods, she saw a few walkers walking the opposite direction of all the fire and gunshots. They were following someone. She went ahead of them and there were many. Trying not to attract attention, she avoided shooting them down. If they were following Rick or Carl, they'd have enough problems by now.

At this point, she could smell the difference between human and undead. Ahead of her and not very far, were two distinct smells that stood out through all else. Even beyond the smell of rotting corpses.

When she saw Rick and Carl, she was relived. They were going slowly through the woods, trying to get passed countless walkers that surrounded them on all sides. He didn't want to fire his gun, the shot only brought more to catch them. She would bring them back, safely.

As she ran up to them, she got a face full of Rick's gun. The barrel aimed right at her head. She panicked and tried to slow down, to show that she wasn't a walker. Instead, she ended up slipping on the dense leaves and falling to the ground in front of them. "Rick, it's me! It's me! Don't shoot!" She raised her hands to stop him.

Rick's breath hitched as he grabbed her. "Laura, but you were... where's is everyone?" He didn't have time to reminisce; he had a job to protect his son. He needed to know where to go from here.

"They're leaving the farm, Glenn and Maggie took a car to draw walkers off, I don't know where everyone went though. Hershel's at the farmhouse. I think he's... ready to go." She tried to urge the meaning to him and he understood quickly.

"We won't let him. We have to get off the farm, now." He looked down to Carl, "Can you get us back, what you said happened with that walker. Just being near you the walker didn't go for Daryl, can you do that for us now?"

Laura thought about the walkers still not attacking her, so she did not see why it would not work. "I think, maybe. They're still not trying to go for me, I may be able to get you two through without them trying for both of you." She could see already the walkers that had not caught onto Rick and Carl were passing them by. It was already working.

"Good, let's go."

She nodded and tried to keep them close. With Rick in lead, if they remained close enough to Laura than the walkers tended not to notice what was going on. They were not credited with intelligence after all.

Rick kept them together, grabbed a hold on Carl most of all. He could not stand the idea of Carl being out here with him, there was too much going on and so little Rick could do to keep them safe. The walkers were relentless and Rick did not have all the ammo in the world. Carl was keeping up with them thankfully, he was not faltering when they told him what to do.

When they exited the woods and could see the farmhouse nearby, it was almost too sweet. Rick knew if they could make it to the house, they would be alright. There were still more cars fueled and ready to go, all they needed was one. Hershel was still up there and Rick was not going to leave him behind.

As they ran up, Rick caught sight of Hershel leaning over his gun as he reloaded. Leaving Carl with Laura, he ran up behind Hershel. A walker neared in on Hershel's back, he was oblivious to it and Rick arrived just in time. He aimed his pistol and fired. The walker fell not but a foot away from Hershel.

The man took a step back and saw Rick behind him.

"Where's Lori, did you see Lori?" Rick was coherent but Hershel was almost in a state of shock. "I don't know what happened, Rick. They just keep coming. It's like a plague, they're everywhere!"

"Lori! Did you see her!" Hershel shook his head, "No!"

Laura came up with Carl, the walkers behind them knew something was going on and began to make their way over. There was no way to thin their numbers, they were coming and it was time for them to go. "We have to go, find mom and the others."

"It's my farm!" Hershel pleaded, his family owned this farm for generations and he could not defend it any longer. "Not anymore!"

Laura brought Carl up with them to the car and got him to get in first. Rick forced Hershel in the back and went around to drive. Laura would assure they made it out, until then, she would help them. She got in the car beside Hershel and Rick was quick to take off, the tires throwing up rock and dirt as they made their escape.

The car rolled down the road as Laura watched the barn burn, Hershel was too shocked by the events to even try to realize what this all meant. The survival of their group was unknown and the farm was lost.

When Laura saw they were making it off the farm, she reached up to tap Rick's shoulder. He glanced behind to see her, "Stop the car, Rick."

He looked at her again, "Why, what is it?" He tried to find something to warrant this stop. Still, he hit the brakes and readied to take on another survivor. Instead, Laura opened the door and stepped out.

"Rick, I... keep them safe, alright?" Laura smiled at him, "Be safe, watch out for them; they'll need you now more than ever." Rick tried to catch up with what she was saying.

He saw the burning barn behind her and shook his head. "This place... it's gone. They've left by now, we have to go. Stay with us, Laura."

"I can't, you know why. It's only gotten worse." She heard the growls of the walkers behind the fence, they would push through eventually no matter how tough the fence line was. "I can't put you guys at risk knowingly. So go, keep them safe. And remember, tell Lori I kept my word."

"No, no, no! Laura! Don't do this! Laura-!" She shut the door and gave them a final wave. Carl was watching her out the window, Hershel couldn't understand what was going on either. She could barely hear Rick's calls through the car, he couldn't get out to bring her back and he knew it. She knew it, it was too dangerous for them all.

The walkers were already closing in on the car and Rick had no choice but to leave her there.

She watched the car take off without her, the group she came to love and care for. The people who took care of her. That was the last of them and she would not try to find them, not while her own mind frayed in two opposite directions. The pulling was destroying her; she refused to let it take them down with her.

Oddly, she felt a powerful pain in her heart. It wasn't beating anymore, her body finally died. The group was gone. Her family was leaving and she could not go with them. It was over for her, running with survivors, working to a greater good. She couldn't do that anymore, she had to stay alone from here on out.

It was too dangerous to be around the living anymore. They deserved to live and she only put that in harms way.

Rick was angry, lost; she would not go with them and he could not make her. He knew what she was scared of, it made sense. Only he wanted to help her overcome it, to be better than whatever it was trying to lure her away from them. In the moment he needed her most, he knew she would not follow him.

In a strange way it was a relief, the Voice, which had not spoken to her in some time since their struggle, was relaxing now. As if with the temptation gone, the Voice had nothing to threaten. She was free now, able to continue her life. In solitude or not, she may help the odd survivor if she ever finds them, but she will never stay.

She felt truly free, if only for a moment.

Suddenly, through the rotting of the undead and the groans; there was a scream that tore through the burning night. Laura knew it was not the sound of a walker. She resisted, it was one of the group, for certain, but she had just left them. Someone was here with her, left behind and not by choice.

"Shit." Laura growled, she could not leave them to die out here. She cared for them, to protect them she had left; now was not the time to go back. She steeled herself to leave, over the last week she felt this creeping walker side of her angling to take over. There was nothing more she could help with.

Save for this one person that they had missed.

Running along the fence, Laura came up to see a woman trying to dodge the walkers behind her. Rick was gone, Lori left with Carol, T-Dog picked them up, and Glenn and Maggie had left some time ago. Who could this possibly be?

Laura ran up behind them and, in order to save them, she jumped the woman from behind. She screamed even louder, but Laura covered her mouth with her hand to stop her and pulled her away from the walkers as best she could.

"Shh! Run with me, they'll ignore you if we can get away from these few." It was Carol, but how she was here baffled Laura. She knows that Lori and Carol left at the same time with T-Dog; what happened to end her up alone and chased by walkers was beyond her. "Come on, you have to do this."

Carol nodded and kept up with Laura, they made it away from the walkers rather quickly and soon came upon others. "Walk with me, act like you belong, do not say a word, not even a little sound. Groan, moan, if you have to. They won't look at you if you're with me."

To her greatest credit, Carol listened and listened well. She immediately transitioned to acting like a walker, a limp, a groan, and she fit right in. Laura held the pistol ready to go just in case. It was impressive that Carol was so prepared for this, Laura almost didn't expect Carol to be able to do it so well. At least to the point that Laura was not concerned about making it out of the herd's path.

There was so much that had gone wrong so fast that Laura was unsure if she could keep grasp of it all. She would have to find a way to get Carol back to the group, somehow.

She had no idea where they were and her first priority was to get Carol out of the herd without being bitten. She hoped Sophia had made it with the others, she could not stand the idea of the little girl being stuck, lost in the hundreds of walkers.

Pulling Carol into the woods, she knew they would be in the clear soon. The walkers were all still heading towards the farm which meant that the forest on this side would quickly be ready for Laura and Carol to make a proper run for it. They had to put some distance between them and the farm before she could let Carol sit down.

It would not be easy, she knew Carol would be exhausted once they got through the last of the walkers.

Laura sighed and looked behind her to see the walkers with their backs to them. "Alright, time to run some. Hope you have good cardio, Carol." She had to push the woman a little further.

"To get out of here, absolutely." Carol held onto Laura for dear life and the two started to run away from the worst of it.

Looking at Carol, Laura couldn't help but wonder.

"How the hell did I end up in this mess?"

FtDLulz: Yeah, it did take a looooong time though. So here's some more. ;3
Good to see you still around. :D