• The Beginning Of The End

• Chapter II •

- Okay, let's go. – I open the door from the hospital and get outside. The view is even worse than inside. I gasp loudly when I see hundreds of dead bodies lying around the hospital. There's also a wreck of a helicopter. The remains of it – burning away. Rick is showing me the way to his house and I follow him slowly. Every step is a challenge for me, my chest is burning inside. The pain is unbealivable and honestly I'm not sure if I will even get there. But I'm not giving up, the thought of reuniting with my daughter is keeping me strong. So far the streets of the city are empty, suspiciously empty. I don't like this feeling, I don't like it at all. I truly hope that this house is nearby, otherwise we might have a problem. We are both hurt and we don't have anything to protect ourselves. We're literally asking to get killed.

I wince in pain and I hold on to Rick's arm afraid that I will fall again. – Shit... - I whisper under my nose. – I'm sorry, it just really fucking hurts. – I point a finger at my chest and take a deep breath.

- Come on, it's not far away. I will hold you the rest of the way. We can make it. – I nod my head and I keep going, holding onto Rick's arm. It's definetely easier this way, at least I won't fall on my ass like I did before. I'm afraid, I was so eager to go and look for my family, but the truth is I don't think I can make it. I'm in a really bad state right now and if I won't let my body heal I won't be able to do shit. But at the same time I'm aware that I can't stop. I don't even know how many days have passed. Finding my daughter and Luke feels pretty impossible right now. I don't even have any clues where they might have gone. Sure, I'm assuming that he took Sophie to his brother. But what if he didn't? What if they left town, because it was too overrun? I know that his priority would be to keep Sophie safe. He would never risk her life and staying in this city felt pretty risky a few days back. The only certain thing right now is that Anne needs me. And that I know where she is. I doubt that my brother got my message, even if he did, he was probably too far away to get to the city on time. She's probably alone in the cabin, scared, waiting for me. And I'm not fucking there. Why is this all so fucking frustrating? Why can't I be in two places at the same time? Why do I even have to choose between two parts of my family? I need all of them. But it feels like I will lose one way or another.

Rick pulls me out of my thoughts when he says we're at our destination. I sigh with relief, I really need to sit down and rest a little bit. We slowly enter the house, he starts to call out woman's name (I asume his wife's), but the house is dead silent. He runs upstairs and I sit down on the couch waiting for him. I could really use some food and water, it will help me to gain some strength. I'm not sure when was the last time that I had something to eat. The hunger is so annoying, but the pain coming from my chest is definetely worse. I hear a loud scream coming from upstairs, scream of agony. I know that it's Rick and it gives me chills all over my body. I want to run upstairs to check what happened, but it feels like obstacle impossible to overcome at the moment. So I just wait here for him to get down. After five minutes I see him slowly walking down the stairs. He is devastated, I can see it on his face. I understand him so much, I'm in the same kind of pain right now. It's weird, but I feel the sudden urge to hug him, to somehow make him feel better. But he doesn't know me, he doesn't need my compassion.

- They're not here... - He whispers with his head down. I don't know what got into me. I stand up and reach for his hands, looking straight into his eyes.

- Hey! Look at me. – He looks at me not fully realizing what I'm doing right now. I don't know myself. Somehow I feel deeply for this man and I want to help him. – We're gonna find your family. They are out there and they're gonna be fine. – I assure him and let go of his hands when I realize what I just said. „We"? What we? There's no we. I can't go on and help him find his family when I'm on a search of mine. I turn around with shame painted on my face. – I'm sorry, I didn't fully mean that.. I mean, I can't really help you find them... I have my own family to look for and time is an essence. I hope that you understand. – I can see that I disappointed him, but at the same time he understands me. We're both in the same situation and I can't put his family above mine. I don't even know them. We're just gonna have to go our seperate ways I guess.