"Friendship is unnecessary to survival. Like philosophy. Like art. It has no survival value. Rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." - C.S. Lewis


Chapter 6: New Friends

Riley's hand instantly shot out for her gun, but before she could even get close, a woman bent down next to her, shoving her aside and placing her balled fists on Carl's stomach. Teeth chattering, she moved slightly out of the way, blinking rapidly as the woman began to try and push the water out of his lungs. A glance to her right revealed a small group of others. Three to be exact. Two men and another woman.

At this point, she didn't have any choice but to trust these strangers. This woman seemed to know what she was doing and if it saved Carl's life, she wasn't going to complain.

Her attention remained focused on Carl, eyes burning into his head as she waited for some sort of response. Every second was agonizingly long and she was beginning to think it was too late when he suddenly started coughing and a rush of water volcanoed out of his lips. Riley let out a shaky breath and then a short, relieved laugh tumbled out of her mouth.

Carl's eyes widened and he sat up quickly, glancing over at the woman next to him and scooting backwards as he took deep breaths. "Riley...?"

Now that he was alive and not dying, she got the chance to get a better look at these people. The woman that helped save Carl had long brown hair cascading down her back in waves and crystal blue eyes. She looked to be about thirty, maybe younger, it was hard to tell. The other woman that was in their group had messy blonde hair that went down to her shoulders and eerie silver-blue eyes. One of the men actually looked fairly young and couldn't be much older than twenty-five. He had extremely messy brown hair, chocolate eyes, and dimples on each of his pale cheeks. The final man had to be older, but he was still rather handsome with dirty blond hair that was nearly shoulder-length, a stubbly beard, and light blue eyes. Each of them had weapons consisting of various guns and knives.

Now what were they supposed to do? They had helped them and saved Carl's live, but there was always the issue of trust.

"You two by yourself?" The man with the dirty blond hair stepped forward, his brow creased in concern.

Riley exchanged a glance with Carl and then looked back up at this man, slowly nodding her head.

"No group or anything?" the brown-haired woman cut in, slinging a rifle over her shoulder and looking down at the two.

They were so tall from this angle and she slowly got to her feet, muscles taut and stressed as she clenched her fists. None of them appeared to be all that hostile, but that didn't mean anything. Carl got to his feet as well, sticking close enough for their shoulders to brush as they studied this group.

"Not anymore," he muttered.

Riley bit the inside of her cheek, mulling over her next choice of words carefully. "We appreciate the help, but we better get going," she said stiffly, latching onto the back of Carl's sopping wet shirt and pulling him back a few steps.

The brown-haired woman who seemed to be in charge quickly stepped toward them and held up a hand. "Wait. We have a bigger group. Supplies. Food. Other people your age. You can come with us. I know it's hard to trust a bunch of strangers, but you can keep your weapons. We won't take them from you, if it makes you feel any better."

Carl and Riley swapped glances and he grabbed a hold of her shoulders, pulling her aside. "We should go. And I know what you're going to say so just don't talk until I'm done... We can stay there until we find my dad, okay? They're going to let us keep our weapons... And I think if they were going to loot us by now that they would've. She saved me, Riley. Why would they do that if they were going to kill us and be done with it?"

She avoided his piercing blue gaze, breathing in and out slowly as she thought over what he said. If they were letting them keep their weapons, did that mean they underestimated them? It was a possibility and most definitely likely because of their age and size. That was something they could use to their advantage if anything went bad. The woman said that they had a bigger group, which could also be a problem if something happened. It was a matter of weighing each choice. They had food. They had supplies. It was possible for them to know something about Carl's dad...

Catching his gaze, she let out a gentle sigh, nodding her head. "Okay. But we shouldn't say anything about your dad. We can listen into their conversations and get information that way."

A small smile formed on his face and he let go of her shoulders, bending down to scoop up his gun and his hat from the ground. She retrieved hers as well, stuffing it into the waistband of her jeans and following him back over to the strangers.

"We'll come," he told them, adjusting the hat on his head.

The woman nodded, smiling a little. "I'm glad you decided to. I'm Lindsay and these are some of my group." She pointed to the blond guy. "David." Then to the younger brown-haired man. "Henry." And finally to the blonde woman. "Samantha."

They all looked to the two of them expectantly.

"Uh...Carl."

"Riley."

Lindsay's smile grew a little wider. "Well Carl and Riley, we should get moving. It'll be a little walk back to camp and I'm sure you two want some rest after that tumble in the river..."

She gestured for them to follow and Riley hesitated a moment before pushing her legs forward. She and Carl stayed side-by-side as they joined the group and started through the woods.

"How long have you been by yourselves?" David asked, looking back at the two and slowing his pace a little.

She glanced over at Carl for a brief moment, but he seemed to understand what she was trying to tell him: be vague.

"Dunno. A little while. Hard to tell," he said with a shrug.

"And your parents?" David pressed, a frown stretching across his lips.

Riley cleared her throat and Carl remained silent. David seemed to get the message, even though it wasn't the complete truth.

"I'm...sorry that must have been rough...," he muttered, looking down at the ground and then picking up his pace. That conversation was over...

An awkward silence clung to the air and they walked like that for a little while before she picked up on what Henry was murmuring to Samantha up ahead. They were trying hard to be quiet, it seemed, but Henry wasn't doing a very good job.

"What will Jacob say about them?" he murmured, sounding on-edge and nervous.

Samantha motioned for him to be a little more quiet, glancing back at her and Carl. Riley averted her gaze because she didn't want to be caught eavesdropping. The goal was for the two of them to be discreet so hopefully they wouldn't see them as a threat. If they could use their ages and sizes to their advantage, then they could take them by surprise if something went wrong.

"I don't know. They seem a bit different than the other kids... They were wary of us. Makes me think they've been through a lot. We should keep an eye on them. Jacob's a good judge of character so I'm sure he'll be able to tell. We'll just wait," Samantha whispered.

Riley's nose flared and she bit her lip, tuning the rest of their "whispering" out and focusing on their surroundings. It would be good to see where they were and keep tabs on landmarks. Nothing immediately popped out at her, though. The only thing they were encased in were trees. A typical forest.

Letting out a gentle sigh, she looked over to Sheriff's Deputy beside her to see how he was holding up. He was keeping up and he seemed to be breathing alright, but it was hard to tell. She focused her attention on his chest as it gently rose and fell, but because of his movement she wasn't able to really tell. His features remained relaxed as they walked, but she could see that it was only masking his caution. It was funny how she had only known Carl for a few days and yet she learned how he functioned. She was learning to predict his reactions and how he reacted when in the face of danger.

As she was studying his face, he turned and their eyes connected. She held his gaze for a moment before looking away and glancing up to Lindsay when she suddenly stopped.

"Roamers up ahead. Just a small group. Two of us should be able to take care of them," she said, glancing back at each of them, obviously asking who would be willing to volunteer.

Riley took this opportunity to see how everyone would react. Henry seemed to shrink away at the sight of the dead prowling in the trees. It was easy to tell he wasn't particularly used to killing them or he was at least nervous about it. David immediately volunteered himself with a friendly smile and slipped a machete from his belt. She found it very strange that he seemed so...content and cool. He was friendly and kind and not at all hardened by this world and it intrigued her. She had once been like that...but whether she liked it or not, this world had changed her. She still had to figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing...

Lindsay and David went up ahead to kill the eaters while everyone else hung back. She couldn't see the two too much through the brush so she turned her attention back to Samantha and Henry. The latter cringed at the sound of the dead being stabbed through the head while the former remained cool and collected. Henry had some serious fear issues with these things.

Feeling a hot gaze on the side of her face, she glanced to her left to see Carl looking at her with a bit of a smirk on his lips. He'd noticed too. She smirked back at him and then looked up to see David and Lindsay returning.

"Come on. Camp's just up through here," she said, motioning for them to follow.

They picked up a walk again, passing through the graveyard of walkers they'd just made. She stepped over the bodies, keeping her gaze focused on them in case any of them turned out to not be dead after all. None of them moved. At least these people knew what they were doing...

Their trek soon came to a halt when they reached the camp. And unfortunately, it didn't look as safe as she was hoping. The only wall that seemed to protect them was a web of barbed wire that extended out from each tree, various sizes of scrap wood, and chicken wire. A few tarps covered up the walls here and there, but it wasn't too hard to see inside and she paused to glance through one of the gaps in the fence.

A few tents caught her eye and she saw a few children playing cards by a campfire. Her eyes jumped back over to Lindsay as they stopped at the gate of the fence and were admitted inside. The walls didn't make her feel safe at all and sleeping here was going to be tough. The sooner they moved on, the better.

"Well this is camp. I know the fences are a bit underwhelming, but we're working on improving them. We started to carve a few logs to put on the perimeter to catch any of the roamers that get too close. There's always someone on guard so if any of them come along, we take care of them before they become a problem," she explained, looking back at the two of them.

Riley kept her expression blank as she glanced around the area to get a better look. There were more kids playing with each other. Two teenagers poked their heads out of one of the tents while several of the adults turned to look. All the stares brought her back to the old world. It was like being the new kids in school.

"Everyone, if you could listen up!" Lindsay started, catching the attention of those who weren't turning to stare. "This is Riley and Carl. We helped them out back in the woods and they agreed to come along here. If anyone's got extra space in their tent, I'm sure they'd appreciate not sleeping in the dirt."

A short silence settled across the camp for a moment and she bit her lip. They were going to be sharing a tent with some of these people? The thought stirred up anxiety in her stomach and she curled her fists around the end of her dirty blue t-shirt.

"They can bunk with us."

Her gaze swiveled over to the two teenagers she initially saw when they entered. Both of the boys looked very similar to each other. They both had blond hair and icy blue eyes, but one of them had more dirty blond hair and the other had more brownish blond. Just by looking at them, they seemed a bit older than she and Carl. Maybe around seventeen if she was guessing correctly.

"David?" Lindsay's eyes swiveled over him as she raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yeah it's fine. As long as the boys behave," David said, giving the two boys a firm glare.

"Alright it's settled then. Riley and Carl, this is Chris and Blake. David's older sons. Why don't you boys show them where they'll be sleeping?" Lindsay said, slinging her rifle over her shoulder and gesturing for them to go.

Riley pursed her lips and nodded slowly, glancing over at the wandering eyes of Blake and Chris.

"Are we going or...?" Carl started, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah follow us," Blake said, sweeping his fingers through his brown-blond locks and shoving Chris forward.

Riley followed after them toward a smaller-sized white tent that resided next to a medium-sized blue tent. They stopped at the entrance and she got a peek inside to see that it was pretty messy. Clothes littered the floor along with various books, a few footballs, and shoes.

"This is our tent. Sorry it's a bit messy. We used to bunk with our parents until it started getting too crowded. We have another brother and a sister," Blake said, glancing back at them. "Once we clean it up, there can be room for a couple sleeping places for you. How old are you?"

"Fifteen," Carl said.

"And you?"

Riley blinked and glanced between Blake and Chris. "Same."

"Sweet. I'm sixteen. And Chris is seventeen. You're not related are you?"

She looked over at Carl as he shook his head and to offer an explanation, she said, "we were in the same group."

"So you two are boyfriend and girlfriend then?" Chris piped up, hooking an index finger on one of the belt loops of his jeans.

She nearly choked on her own spit. "What, no!"

Did it look like they were? They were standing pretty close... So close that their shoulders brushed. But she hadn't shot him any looks or said anything that indicated that they were.

"Oh. Well that's...a relief," Chris muttered, a small smirk tugging the corners of his lips as he winked at her.

Riley blinked, a little bit taken aback by how blunt he was being. Normally, she was the blunt one. She wasn't used to someone being blunt to her. However, before her brain could come up with a snarky remark, Carl's hand wrapped very tightly around her wrist and he stepped in front of her, blocking her from view.

"If you could clean up a part of the tent for us, that would be appreciated," he said coldly, resisting her attempts to break free from his grip. And then, she was being forcefully tugged away from the tent.

"Shit, Carl!" she exclaimed, yanking her arm from his grip and looking at her red wrist before rubbing it lightly.

"That guy is a jerk," he muttered, glancing back toward the tent.

"Yeah, he's a Class-A shithead, but you didn't have to squeeze my wrist off, seriously...," she hissed.

"Sorry... Look maybe we should see if there's another tent available..."

"It's fine, Carl."

"But what if-"

"I can handle myself," she said firmly. "Besides, someone needs to put that asshole in his place..."

He let out a long, irritated sigh. "You're so frustrating."

"Whatever," she muttered, shooting him a glare as she combed a knot out of her hair with her fingers.

A commotion at the gate caught her attention and she glanced over, spotting a small group entering the camp. One of the men in particular, a man with short dark brown hair and tattoos all over his arms, was speaking loudly to Lindsay.

"I told you I didn't want her going out on that run! But you pushed her and she didn't want to disappoint you. And now she's gone! She would have lived if those people had let us in! She would have lived if you didn't make her go!" the man shouted before lunging at Lindsay in a blind rage.

David and a few other men quickly stepped in and grabbed onto his arms to keep him from tackling Lindsay, but she didn't even flinch or look like she was afraid of him.

"Jacob, I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen, but I knew she would be safe with you and she wanted to start helping out on runs. Please just calm down and we can talk this out," Lindsay said softly, her face twisting to sympathy as she watched him slump slightly in the grip of the men that held him back. She moved closer to him. "I'm so sorry, Jacob. I know you loved her."

Jacob's eyes slowly met hers and a sneer appeared on his lips. "If you cared, you wouldn't have let her go," he spat.

Lindsay shook her head and took a step away, frowning as Jacob was released and fell on all fours into the dirt. He got to his feet, glancing in her and Carl's direction. He did a double-take and his eyes locked with hers. His gaze was so incredibly piercing that she couldn't help but feel small and intimidated. A shiver crawled up her spine. There was something in his eyes intense enough to make her feel singled out.

"Who are they?" he growled.


A/N: So a little introduction to the new group. Don't worry, Riley and Carl will find their way back to the group eventually...or will they? ;) So basically, Chris is a flirt and Jacob has some anger issues. But why did he give her such an intense look? Was it just anger and sorrow from losing someone he cared about or is there another reason? Haha sorry I'm teasing you guys I'll stop ;P Anyway, I want to thank you guys sooo much for reading and reviewing! I'm really glad you guys are liking the story so far and the support means a ton! So thanks again and I hope you enjoyed! :)