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CHAPTER TWO,
a place to call home.
━━━━
Hope wasn’t something that the group felt all that often. Everything that gave them clarity and security was almost always ripped away from them. They always had each other, and that was what kept them all going. Nicole thought about this as her bat met the head of a female walker with a crunch.
Rick used wire cutters to cut through the prison fence as fast as he could. Nicole was getting antsy as he did so. She wasn’t scared of the lamebrains that wanted nothing more than to turn her inside out, but when they started to surround her and her family, she gets nervous. Right as she was about to call out to Rick to hurry up, Daryl called out to her saying it was done.
Wasting no time, Nicole ushered everyone but Rick inside before herself. She swiftly slipped through the slit in the fence; Rick was hot on her trail. Daryl and Glenn - mostly Glenn - stitched up the hole in the fence; that was the only thing protecting them from the monsters. As they did this, Nicole scanned the faces of the walkers that started to swarm the other fence. Now, there was only a thin chain-link fence separating the living and the dead.
The group eventually started jogging down the fenceline; Nicole held her bat ready out of habit. Nicole trailed close behind Daryl, trying to maintain his speed. Nicole could feel the slight pinch in her ankle as her foot met the ground with each step. Nadia noticed the slight twinge of pain on her face as she ran beside her. She’d have to ask about that later. Sweat dripped down Nicole’s back as the Georgia heat simmered down onto her thin burgundy muscle t-shirt that she hadn’t changed in weeks.
Nicole scanned the faces of the dozens of walkers that pressed themselves against the chain link; all they wanted to do was to sink their teeth deep inside of their cores.
Eventually, they paused close to one of the guard towers, and Nicole stared out into the yard. So many lives were gone and taken over by a killer parasite. She didn’t feel sorry for them - especially these - but she couldn’t help but wonder if any of the men were falsely accused. Did they all deserve to be there?
Nicole huffed lightly as she caught her breath; Nadia stood close to her with a watchful eye. Nadia wasn’t going to let Nicole push herself more than she normally did. See, Nadia always kept a watchful eye on Nicole. The blonde had this aura of moral innocence, and Nadia was afraid that one wrong thing could take that away from her.
Nicole perked up as Rick’s voice broke out into the air. “If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard,” Rick spoke firmly as he pointed toward the open fence. “We can pick off these walkers. We’ll take the field by tonight.”
