(Veil's POV)
We crept silently among the dead in a weapon store. We kept to the shadows in fear of being heard. Ashley was the first one to reach the gun section. I was fearful for him, but I knew that he would be fine.
Lux flipped through the air and landed skillfully on the counter. She tossed loads of guns to Ashley, who handed them back to Jay, who either stuffed them in her bag or tossed them over her shoulder for me. I put them in my bag carefully. Next came the ammunition.
Box after box of shells was handed back. It was a never ending cycle. Grab, shove, repeat. This went on for a couple minutes until we had finished. Lux had retreated back to where Jay and I stood. 'Where's Ashley?' I mouthed to her. She shrugged.
I nervously took a step toward where I had seen him last. Then, came the yell. It echoed in my ears. Something had happened to Ashley.
I darted forward without thinking. I pulled out my spearhead ended staff and began to make my way to where the yell came from.
There Ashley was, lying in a pool of his own blood as walkers tore at his flesh. He was screaming his head off, kicking and thrashing, trying to get the hungry bodies off of him.
I jabbed forward with my staff and took out zombie after zombie until they were in a heap on the floor.
I choked out a broken sob and fell to my knees by his body. Ashley was still breathing shallowly. His eyes darted around wildly. I grasped his hand in mine and let the sobs rip through me.
Lux and Jay rounded the corner and skidded to a stop behind me. I barely registered their presence. Lux pulled me away from Ashley with a sharp tug. I cried out and started screaming profanities at her.
"LET GO OF ME YOU BITCH! HE'S DYING, HE'S DYING! AT LEAST LET ME HOLD HIM, GOD DAMNIT GET OFF ME, FUCK YOU, FUck you," my voice slowly dwindled from a scream to mumbling. I was numb, completely numb. I could only stare as Jay hoisted Ashley over her shoulder and ran after Lux and me.
The bright light of the outside world stung my red eyes. Lux kept dragging me, aware that I was not going to be able to run. I heard the groans before I registered that we were being followed. Because of me.
I ripped my arm from Lux's grip and made my feet go one in front of the other at a steady pace. Even this simple running almost was too much for my confused brain. Jay still had Ashley on her shoulder, even as we neared the compound. I knew it was too late to save him, and I knew that I would lose him. What was confusing me is why she even bothered to take him with us.
Lux and Jay were screaming, trying to make their voices heard over the wall and the crashing of the river. I vaguely heard them call for someone to open the gate. I kept running, just flat out running, not caring if I was caught by the walkers or not.
We made it to the gate. I knew that none of us were in the shape to climb it or jump the wall. So instead, we resorted to pounding against the gate like walkers had done so many times. Mykie and Andy were sprinting toward us. Telling us to hold on.
My eyes focused enough to see Michael standing in the courtyard, clutching Rosie to the side. His eyes teared up when he saw his father slung over Jay's shoulder. Tears spilled down his cheeks in flowing streams. Rosie was tugging on the hem of his shirt, asking him what was wrong. He didn't answer, just stared at me, crying.
Rosie eventually got the hint that he was not going to answer her questions. She looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw what Michael had been looking at. What she did next, I did not expect.
Rosie threw her arms around Michael, blocking his vision. She deliberately blocked his vision so he wouldn't stare at his dead father.
Lux shoved me through the open gate roughly, telling me that this was not the time to zone out. I heard the gate crash closed as Mykie and Andy struggled to get it closed before the walkers broke through.
I walked toward my son as Andy took Ashley from Jay. The way he was holding Ashley reminded me of when Ashley had jumped into Andy's arms as we were walking down the freeway. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks in hot, salty streams.
I don't remember getting into the main building. All I remember is Quinn and Mykie staring down at Ashley with sullen faces. Mykie shook her head at Andy, who balled his fists in his hair.
Ashley was dead.
After I came to that revelation, nothing could stop the ragged sobs that tore through my body. Michael came up to me with his teary eyes and sat in my lap. I held him as we cried.
I remembered shouting at Andy, who suggested we burn his body before he wakes back up. "What the hell?! We're going to bury him like we would anyone else! It doesn't matter if he was bitten! We'll wait until he wakes up again, someone will finish him off, and then we have a proper funeral!" Andy did not seem convinced by my outburst.
"It's what you would do if Mykie died, it's what Mykie would do if you died, so don't try to take that away from me," I said in a dangerously shaky voice. My anger had made my words clear and loud, but now that it was mostly gone, I was left to my own devices.
"Veil is right, we'll bury him like we would anyone else." Mykie shot Andy a look after her statement. Rosie hugged Michael and I tightly, and whispered comforting words in our ears.
I guess Andy finally came to the realization that Ashley was dead, for he silently cried as we all waited for him to wake up again. Jay had a hard look on her face as she stood behind CC as he wept.
As the boys sat next to him, his eyes opened with a burning white light. Andy grabbed his knife through his tears, and let it sink itself into Ashley's skull. He stared down at his hands in disbelief at what he had done. He dropped the knife and pushed himself away from his body.
I abruptly stood up, accidentally causing Michael to fall off of my lap. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and held onto Rosie.
I stumbled through the compound until I found a shovel. I gripped it tight before walking out into the night. I trudged through the courtyard, looking for a good place.
Finally, after searching for a big clear patch, I found one off to the side of the gate that we had just come through. I determinedly stabbed the ground with the shovel before pulling up grass and dirt alike.
I kept going, ignoring the burning ache in my back and arms. I had to do this, I had to do this alone. I shouted at Lux and Mykie to go away when they offered to help. I even threatened to hit Jay over the head with my shovel.
I stabbed the ground over and over in a steady rhythm, much like the one of Ashley's heartbeat. The rhythm I would hear as I fell asleep, and woke up. My memories of him burned my eyelids when I closed my eyes.
The time in the woods, kisses exchanged, his sweet words he would always murmur to me. Everything. It was all so painful, I almost crumpled to the ground.
No, I had to be strong.
I straightened myself more and kept on digging, even after I knew I had dug enough. I was just digging to dig. It was something to do that left me to grieve alone. That was, until Michael came outside to join me.
I let him take the shovel from me. I looked down at my boy. "Son when I grow old, will you build me a house of gold? And when your father turns to stone, will you take care of me?" I asked him with my wavering voice. Michael looked up at me with a small smile.
"Was that a reference to a song?" he asked me knowingly.
"Heh, I guess it was," I said as I ruffled his dark hair. Michael led me up to the main building. Everyone was sitting down, waiting for my return.
They had wrapped his body up in a white sheet. Blood from his wounds had bled through the sheet and stained it an unmistakable red.
Michael gripped my hand with his, giving me a small squeeze of reassurance. CC, Jinxx, Jake and Andy hoisted him up into the air. Mykie handed me a tall lit candle. We all walked behind them with the candles. I watched, grief stricken as they lowered his body into the hole I had dug into the ground.
Andy dropped his weapons down into the hole. "Would you like to say something, Veil?" he asked me softly. I nodded and stepped closer to the hole.
"Ashley, god I don't even know how to explain the pain I'm, that we're all in. You made a stupid mistake, and it cost you your life. You always found a way to make the most innocent things sexual, and I love you for that. You had a pervy mind, and I do too, that's one of the things that attracted me to you. You would laugh at my gross jokes, and I would do the same for yours. I know that you would want me to get over you, to move on," I looked up at the stars. "But I don't know if I can. It's not really my choice though, is it? I have to keep going, because we have a son that needs a mom. So I will go on, not matter how hard it is, and no matter how painful it might be, because, I simply have to." By the time I was done, tears had started to fall down my cheeks once again. Michael tugged me away from the hole so we could watch them bury him.
The boys dumped shovel full after shovel full of dirt into the hole, until it was completely full. Then we all stuck the end of our candles into the newly packed dirt. We turned and walked away from the grave. I looked at it over my shoulder and found a smile had crept onto my face.
I would get my revenge sooner or later.
A/N I'M SO SORRY YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY HATE ME MORE THAN I HATE MYSELF FOR THIS. JUST HANG ON, DON'T RAGE QUIT, KEEP READING. I DON'T THINK I CAN MAKE IT ANY WORSE HAHAHA