Disarm ⋙ Shane Walsh ⋙ The Walking Dead

Home ⋙ t w e n t y

Katherine was awake before anyone else in the tent. Sleep had been harder and harder for her to come by as of late. She had no clue if it was from the constant threat of a hoard of walkers stumbling upon the camp or if it was because she was mourning her old life. It was probably a mix of the two threats. Fear and grief were her default feelings in the past few months. She missed her old life deeply. She missed her friends, Tyler especially. She felt guilty for not talking to him while her father was in the hospital. She was pissed at Shane for not allowing her to see him, but after yesterday's events, it made a little bit more sense now. She was afraid of what had become of him. Was he dead? Was he a walker? She had no idea, but she prayed that he was out there, fighting to live. She desperately hoped he still had his family to rely on. She would've ended it all at the very start if Lori and Carl hadn't made it. 

What Katherine missed the most was what could've been. She had worked her whole life to be where she was. Her body was wrecked from years and years of tumbling and cheer. She did it all for a better chance of a scholarship. It paid off. She was supposed to go to Penn State, but whatever caused this catastrophic event ruined that for her. She was going to go and make new friends, experience new things. She was going to be away from her family for the first time in her life. She craved the distance between herself and her family, but she also feared it. Katherine was almost thankful that she hadn't left her home yet. It was like she had dodged a bullet. 

Kat was upset that she wouldn't be able to live out her passion. She had wanted to be a teacher for as long as she could remember. Some of Lori's favorite photos of her daughter consisted of the young girl 'teaching' a row of her favorite stuffed animals. Teaching Carl, Sophia, and the Morales children was enough for her, but she longed for what could've been. As much as Katherine craved the adventure that she could have had, she desired the stability of a home more than anything. This camp was finally starting to become a home for her since her father showed up, but now this was being ripped from her. Katherine would just have to learn that the word 'home' didn't have to mean a building or a place. Your home could be the people that you surrounded yourself with. 

The girl was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a yawn next to her. It was Carl waking up. His sleep had been lacking too. She couldn't blame him. "Kat? Are you awake?" He was definitely groggy. "Yeah, Bubba." "I love you." Katherine smiled. "I love you too." If this living hell had done anything for her, it made her realize how much she loved her family.

xxx

A few hours after Kat had experienced her miniature crisis it was time to get ready to go. Everything was packed up and everyone was grouped up in the middle of camp. Rick and Shane were standing at the front of the crowd trying to instruct everyone on what was going to happen. There was an obvious tension between Shane and Rick, but they were trying to push it aside for the time being. Shane was currently leading the discussion. "Everybody listen up. Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

There was a moment of quiet where everyone was thinking. Then Morales spoke up. "We're, uh... We're... we're not going." Katherine and everyone else in camp turned to look at him and Miranda. "We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people." Katherine wouldn't be able to argue with that. She wanted nothing more than to be with her family. The displeasure and concern was evident on Shane's face. "You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Morales nodded at his statement, but he held his ground. "We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family." Rick was on the same page as Katherine. "You sure?" "We talked about it. We're sure." Rick nodded. "Okay. Shane." Shane and Rick turned to look at each other, trying to figure out how they could help best. Rick handed Morales a gun and Shane tossed him some ammo. "The box is half full." Miranda and Morales smiled and thanked him. Miranda turned to the rest of the group. "Thank you all, for everything." Lori wrapped Miranda up in a hug. The two had become friends throughout the time spent at this camp. 

The rest of the group began to say goodbye to them. The kids ran up to Sophia and Carl and said goodbye to their friends. They then ran up to Katherine, both hugging her at once. "Thank you for being our teacher, Miss Kat!" Katherine smiled and hugged them back. "Y'all are very welcome. Keep reading." The kids sighed and rolled their eyes. "You'll thank me later! I promise." Miranda laughed and thanked Katherine, pulling her into a hug. Kat teared up, always being ridiculously emotional. 

Morales, Miranda, and the kids all piled into their car, pulling away from the camp. A tense silence fell over the remaining group. They were all waiting for the signal to leave. "Okay everyone, lets go." Shane and Rick stood where they were as everyone scattered to their preferred vehicle. Rick began to usher his family to an old station wagon. Katherine walked past Shane and he grabbed her hand. "We'll talk when we can." Katherine nodded, her face flushing as she thought back to the moment they shared yesterday, the hickies still very visible on Shane's neck. 

The moment was interrupted when Sophia cheered. Katherine squeezed Shane's hand and pulled away, walking towards her family. Carol was on one side of the backseat, Sophia in her lap, Carl was in the middle, and Katherine slipped into the last seat. Lori turned around and smiled at her children as everyone pulled out of camp for the last time. Chatter soon filled the car as Katherine stared out the window, saying a silent goodbye to her former home.