The street below is filled with the dead as I fly above the building of Atlanta, searching for something, someone. But all I see are the dead. Everyone is dead. So many innocent lives lost. Landing on top of a low building I look at the faces of the dead that stare back up at me, reaching towards me as if they can reach. Getting a closer look, the faces become more recognisable. Rick, Carl, Carol, Sophia, Merle, Daryl, Glenn, Scott, Stiles, Mom, Liam, Lydia, Allison, Mason, everybody I know, knew they all stare at me with dead eyes as they snap their jaws at me. My head becomes light and I begin to saw until I finally tumble of the edge of the building into their grabbing hands. At this point the dream usually ends but not this time. As I land into their open arms, their hands grab onto my flesh tearing the skin from my bones. Jaws lock on to my arms and legs gnawing my skin as they feed. My friends they are my ending. But as the light finally goes out and all of the pain subsides, it begins all over again. My eyes flash open and I am alone in the middle of Atlanta standing to my feet, I straighten up and look around me, my bloody, naked body freezes over.
I'm surrounded by the corpses of my friends, my family, my group, my pack. They're all watching me their dead eyes staring at me as I am a meal. Scott is the first on to step forward, the only way I recognise him is the tattoo, the two stripes wrapped around his bicep, my eyes never leave his as he stumbles forward, a hungry moan escapes his lips as he closes in, his once chocolate coloured that would flash that vibrant Alpha red, have been replaced with the cold hard white. And it begins all over again, the grabbing, the tearing, the feeding. Over and over and over, I never die.
"Thhhhhhum" I gasp out as I shoot up out of Liam's arms we left the C.D.C 2 days ago but we're still in Atlanta, restocking whatever we can find and searching for extra gas. Looking out of the window I notice the sun rising.
"Babe?" Liam whispers, pulling his hand along my stomach back to him.
"I'm okay, go back to sleep" I kiss his forehead and get up as he slumps back down, out like a light.
Silently chuckling I stretch my hands about my head and look around at everyone sleeping, all accept Rick who is now where in sight, training my hearing, I follow the sound of his voice up to the roof of the office building we are holding up in
"I guess I'm losing hope that you can hear me. But there's always that chance, isn't there? That slim chance. It's all about slim chances now. I tried to do everything right, keep people safe. I tried, Morgan. I tried. Our group's smaller now. We lost another, day before last. It was her choice. I won't say I blame her, she lost faith." I listen until I silently push open the roof door and watch as he stays crouched down talking into his walkie talkie "I can't, I won't. I met someone, a young girl who can do extraordinary things. She and her friends, they know stuff... they're stronger than us all...they can help" Rick continues as I silently move barefoot towards him until I am right next to him.
I smile shyly at him as he gets up and continues talking to 'Morgan' "The CDC was a dead end. We met a man there, a scientist. He told us something. He told us... It doesn't matter." Rick hesitates, not wanting to speak of it, and neither do I, Liam and I haven't even spoken about it, not to anyone, not even Allison. "What matters is we're moving on. Atlanta's done. We're gonna try for Fort Benning. We're facing a long hard journey, maybe even harder than I can imagine. But it can't be harder than our journey's been so far. Can it? 125 miles... That's what lies ahead. And I'm trying hard not to lose faith. I can't. If I do, the others... my family, my wife... my son. There's just a few of us now. So we've got to stick together, fight for each other, be willing to lay down our lives for each other if it comes to that... It's the only chance we've got. Be careful out there, Morgan. I hope you and Duane are okay. Stay off the road. Keep moving. Keep your eyes open. I don't know, just... just be safe. Maybe we'll see you in Fort Benning someday... Rick, signing off." He finally finishes and we just stare out at the rising sun beyond Atlanta.
"We shouldn't be going to Benning, we're not going to find anything there, just disappointment" Rick admits to me in the silence.
"I know, but the others are hopeful. Maybe we'll find somewhere before Benning. Somewhere great and safe, secure"
"Do you really think we'll ever be safe... in a world like this?"
"Have you ever heard the term "Regression to the mean?" I ask, folding my arms over my chest and turning to him slightly to see his confusing "A brilliant man once told me about it, basically what it means is that things will always even out... thing's can't always be good or bad, there has to be a middle. All we have to do is find it" I explain and turn my head to the door as it opens behind us and Glenn pops his head through.
"We're ready" he informs us before disappearing again. Sighing Rick and I follow after the Korean into the room where everyone is now wake and packed. Gathering our stuff, we head out side and to the cars. We've had to split the cars down to four now, getting rid of Daryl's truck, but keeping Merle's bike and getting rid of the church van and Shane's jeep. Now all that is left is the RV holding Dale, Shane, Glenn, T, Andrea and Amy. Driving in Carol's Cherokee is Rick, Lori, Carol, Carl and Sophia and lastly my Camry holding, myself, Liam, Allison and Daryl who is to swap with Merle whenever he gets tired. Which just happens to be right now.
Merle is in the back seat along with Liam, both curled up on their own sides snoring lightly as I sit in the passenger seat, reading to Allison as she drives "Mr. Darcy is not to be laughed at!" Cries Elizabeth "That is an uncommon advantage, and uncommon I hope it will continue, for it would be a great loss to me to have many such acquaintance. dearly love a laugh."
"Miss Bingley," said he, "has given me credit for more than can be. The wisest and the best of men, nay, the wisest and best of their actions, may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke."
"Certainly," replied Elizabeth – "there are such people, but I hope I am not one of them. I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can. -- But these, I suppose, are precisely what you are without."
"Perhaps that is not possible for any one. But it has been the study of my life to avoid those weaknesses which often expose a strong understanding to ridicule."
"Such as vanity and pride"
''Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But -- where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.''
Elizabeth turned away to hide a smile.
"Your examination of Mr. Darcy is over, I presume," said Miss Bingley; -- "and pray what is the result?"
"I am perfectly convinced by it that Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it himself without disguise."
"Why'd you stop?" Allison asks with a glance to me.
"My eyes are beginning to hurt" I mumble as I rub my palms into my eyes.
"Maybe you should sleep you've been having nightmare's again haven't you?"
"They never stop" I correct her as I close the book and throw it on the dash board and curl up into my seat. So I am facing her but also have the two in the back in my slight view.
"How are you feeling Grace?"
"Pissed, enraged, robbed, scared, alone...Basically what everyone else is feeling" I reply as we slow down "What's going on?" I ask confused, rolling down the window, I stick my body half out of the car and look ahead, cars are dotted everywhere giving us little way through the road. Looking back to Rick's car I shrug my shoulders at him and turn back to the RV when I hear Dale's voice over the roar of Merle's Motorbike that is being driving by his brother.
"See a way through?" There is no reply, the only noise, the continuing rumble of the bike.
"Were moving" Allison informs me as I slide back inside, leaving the window down.
"What's happenin'?" Merle mumbles from the back as he straightens up, kicking and waking Liam up in the process.
"Ghost town traffic jam" I mumble in reply as Allison follows after the RV. We are barely in the jam when the RV lets out a bang and smoke comes out over the top. As Allison just pulls over, I jump out of the car and head over to the RV door as I opens and the group walk out with Dale in the lead.
"I said it, didn't I say it a thousand times. Dead in the water."
"Problem Dale?" Shane asks as he walks around like he owns the place.
"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of... okay that was dumb" he cuts himself off as he watches Daryl start to rifle through a open car trunk.
"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane begins
"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl disagrees.
"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start" T offers
"Maybe some water?" Carol suggests.
"Or food?"
"This is a grave yard... I don't know how I feel about this" Lori interjects silencing and stopping everyone from continuing
"Screw it" I mumble, gaining everyone's attention and make my way over to a car, pulling out random things.
"All right, all right, here we go. Come on, y'all. Just look around, gather what you can. With that the stares leave my back as everyone begins searching. Dumping clothes on the ground as I search through them, my eyes shifting over the group around me as I judge the sizes.
"Grace" Ricks voice calls behind me and I turn to him as I drop a t-shirt that will fit Sophia.
"yeah?" I question as I turn and look at him.
"Give Dale and extra pair of eyes will you?" He asks as he walks up next to me, his eyes holding that secret of mine.
"Sure" I agree and make my way to the old vehicle and climb on top of it. "Rick sent me" I mumble as the old man gives me a questioning gaze.
"Here take these" He says and picks up Allison's Binoculars. It's a few minutes before laughter sound through the silence, Dale and I look over to a water supply truck where Shane is standing under an open jug that is spilling onto him. With a chuckling scoff, I turn back to the direction we came as Dale calls my name.
I looking in the direction his is staring in, I shine my eyes for a better view and spot the walker stumbling through. Movement to my left has me snapping my head to rick on the ground who is pointing his rifle.
"Oh jeez" Dale mumbles as I hear Ricks gun cock. Twisting away I, look over the upturned vehicle where the walker is passing to see a lot more.
"Rick, get them under the cars" I hiss as more and more stumble into my view. Turning to the direction of Liam who is with Allison and Amy. His head snaps to me, feeling my panic. "Hide" I whisper for only him to here. His confusion doesn't last long as he hears the groaning from the dead advancing.
"Grace, get down" Dale hisses behind me and I turn to see him lying on the roof behind me. Obeying I drop down and watch over the rest of the group who have begun to hide under cars. Shifting my eyes over the cars, as Walkers begin to pass, my eyes lock onto Liam who is hiding under a truck bed close to the side of the road. Beneath us in the RV, I listen to the heartbeat begin to beat rapidly as a moan fills the air.
Subtly sliding back further into the middle next to Dale, I kick his side lightly as I look at him gaining his attention. Pointing down at the hatch he nods his head half understanding as I slither back to the front of the RV to watch the dead pass. A cry and a growl emit from inside of the RV causing a few heads to turn in our direction and begin stumbling along.
"Shit" I groan as a few walkers come over to the open RV door at might right, turning my head sideways, I lift my hand near my face as curl it into a fist where light begins to shine, opening my hand light shines, in the form of what looks like tiny stars or dust, mesmerised I forget my reason for doing it until another cry sounds from inside and my head snaps to the dead. The light in my hand forms into several little solid balls of energy before shooting out to the advancing dead, each of them dropping like flies as the light pierces their skulls. Other walkers glance at them but continue on having seen nor heard anything compelling.
Smirking at my success, I turn my attention back to the remaining of the horde, the worst of it now passed, only the few remaining stumble by, looking over the grave yard of cars, I spot Sophia climbing out from under the car, not noticing the stragglers that spot her. From my spot on top of the RV, I begin to get up, swinging my body to the side so my legs are hanging off the edge, only of a hand to grab onto my ankle and pull me off of the vehicle and crashing to the cold hard ground, my head slamming harshly. I dizzily struggle against the pair of hands until a set of teeth clamp onto my side and I bite my lip to silence my cry of my supernatural part that would surly redirect the horde back to us. Rolling my head to the side as flesh is once again ripped from my body and my eyes lock onto Glenn's wide ones from under the vehicle next to Shane who's attention is elsewhere.
The weight of the walker is soon lifted off me and dropped away, its cold hands replaced by warm hard ones, that drag me to as the familiar burning cold invades body, like holding a cube of ice until it melts, but the frozen feeling never ceasing.
"Shit, come on princess, stay awake" I'm guessing Merle mumbles as he is the only on to call me 'Princess'.
"Grace, can you hear me?" Allison's familiar voice follows as I begin to black out.
"Glenn, he saw, you have to explain... they can't know, not yet..." I mutter out as someone turns off the sun.
*****
"She's waking up" Someone's voice echoes as something cold and wet is pressed against my head.
"What happened?" I question as I try to sit up only for a ice cold burn to hit my right side.
"You got bit, son of a bitch, ripped a chunk out of ya side" Merle drawls as he comes more into focus along with Amy and Allison.
"Where's Liam?" I asks confused, not seeing my mate anywhere "Where is he?" I demand looking around
"He ran afta' the kid, was gonna help her until I saw ya get dragged down, ya hit ya head pretty hard"
"Sophia? Is she okay?" I ask, caring more about the little girl than myself.
"We don't know, Rick ran after her as we all brought you in here, Liam left after Rick came back without Sophia. Saying he could track her" Amy explains
"Daryl lead Rick, Shane and Glenn back to where Rick left her, givin' the kid time and the mom hope" 'the mom' I'm assuming is Carol.
"He's strong, but he'll be able to feel this, and you let him go alone?" I hiss as I sit up and look at my surroundings, I'm in an old van, the only light coming from the torches in three's hands.
"He didn't give us a choice, only that you would tell him to go even if you were dying"
"I feel like I'm dying, why do I feel like I'm dying? How bad is it?" I ask in a panic.
"Worse than before, you've lost a lot of blood and there is a hole in your side" Allison informs me as she lift up my blood stained shirt and shows me my torso, my flat stomach wrapped completely in gauze. "The heavy bleeding has stopped but I want to keep it wrapped, draw less suspicion..."
"Why can't you just tell the others the truth?" Amy questions
"You've seen how Deputy Dipshit is, he's too much of a hot head, the first sign of danger and he'll throw Princess and lover boy straight at it, no questions asked and don't tell me your sister won't follow him... makin' googly eyes at him like he's a damn Hershey's bar"
"He's right, tell them all together and they'll scream monster, let them find out on their own, let them learn" Allison offers as she fixes my bloodied and torn shirt "Are you okay to move?"
"I'm fine" I lie "We should get out there before the others get suspicious"
"First, you need to change your shirt" she says as Amy hands me a grey shirt and I smile at it. The three leave me inside the van as I strip out of three blood soaked purple tank and into my favourite 'You had me at tacos' top. Wincing with movement, I step out of the back of the van and look at the three.
"Are you sure he's gonna be okay?" I ask Allison.
"I'm sure, he has his gun, radio, knife and back pack" She informs me shifting slightly and I narrow my eyes at her.
"What else?"
"He took some extra stuff for when he finds Sophia, Rick said he left her in a creek, she's got to be freezing, gloves, a hat, thermal jack..."
"He took ya bat" Merle cuts her off as she babbles
"And your ring..." Amy adds and I snap my head to my left hand where the silver and gold promise ring once sat.
"Son of a bitch" I huff and strut away to where the others are moving cars, Shane and Glenn now returned. The latter's eyes watching me widely as I make my way over, listening to Carol and Shane's conversation.
"We're not going anywhere until my daughter gets back" Carol objects
"That goes without saying, we will find her, Carol, I promise you that" I announce as I walk over
"Rick and Daryl will be back soon" Allison finishes, however she doesn't mention whether Sophia will be with them or not.
"Can't be soon enough for me. I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed us by, or whatever you'd call it."
"Yeah, what was that? All of them marching along like that" Glenn asks
"A herd. That sounds about right"
"I think it's horde actually, A herd is a group of hoofed animals. A horde seems less cute and cuddly"
"That sounds about right" Shane nods to me "We've seen it, the night camp got attacked. Some wandering pack" I wince at the word 'pack' "Only a few"... "Okay people" Shane clears his throat with a cough "We've still got a lot to do... let's stay on it, let's go, come on" Shane orders and people move to follow him until it is only Dale and I left standing in our places.
"Are you okay?" Dale asks coming up to me as I watch Carol stand at the side of the road staring at the woods.
"I'm fine, why?" I question as I turn to him.
"I was on top of the RV too, Grace. I saw you get pulled off when you went after Sophia"
"A straggler got me and pulled me down, I hit my head of the ground, luckily Merle was close and saw the scene before I got bit"
"But the blood..." he questions and turns to look at the ground the dead walker lies, it's body covering most of my blood stain as someone dragged it on top to hide it, my guess Merle.
"I only grazed my side off the ground Dale, I'm fine" I assure him as my eyes shifting over the several other dead walkers that I had took out with my powers.
"I wonder how they got taken out" he questions seen where my attention is at.
"Probably Daryl or Allison, those wounds look like they were made from arrows" I offer, trying to veer him away from any thoughts, its slightly obvious that they weren't from an arrow as the holes are slightly burnt.
"Maybe we should move them out of the way, they're slightly blocking the RV" Dale suggests. Taking him up on his offer, I grab the top half's of the bodies as he grabs the feet and we throw them down the edge of the bank heading into the woods, out of sight. 10 minutes later all of the bodies have been disposed of, including the once that bit me, the bloodstain now covered by an old musty blankets that was already stained with blood beyond salvage. Now finished, look over the group around me and see a certain little boy a little too far out.
"Hey Ali, I'm gonna go stick with Carl" I mumble to the girl now next to me "I don't think Lori has noticed how far away he is"
"Does she ever?" Amy question from Allison's other side and I smirk at her.
"Here take your back pack, bag anything useful" she says handing me over my back pack that is still full of its original contents.
"Got it boss" I agree taking the back from her and throwing it on one should, attempting to his the grimace of pain that the others catch, I fake smile with assurance but the two girls in front of me roll their eyes simultaneously.
"And take you walkie" Allison demands handing me over the small orange and black device, reminding me that Liam has his... maybe I can contact him to see what is taking so long. Taking the object with no hesitation, I begin to make my ways through the sea cars over to where the little boy's heart beat is coming from.
"Liam?" I ask as I bring the walkie talkie up to my mouth "Liam, you there?" gaining no answer I sigh and close my eyes. Pressing the button once more I open my eyes and say "Please, please tell me you've found her... I love you" I whimper and drop my hand down as I glance into the woods, the worst part of it, is that I can't feel him. I can't feel the connection to him like usual, clumsily clipping the radio to my belt... maybe he's too far out for the signal to reach him.
I continue on my journey to find can and finally see him when I round a car, I spot his standing next to a black dirty car. "Hey kid, what you doing?" I ask walking up to him silently, giving him a fright making me chuckle which pulls my side, but I hide the pain easily this time.
"There's something in there" He points to the door and I look over to where an shrivelled up corpse is sitting in the driver's seat.
"That's called a dead body, Carl. Come on, let's go"
"No, in his hand. There's something there" he argues and I sigh. Walking over to him, I stay at the other side of the door and point at him to open the door as I take my knife from my belt. As he opens the door, the body doesn't move or make any sound, not taking the chance of any more accidents, I sink my knife in the bodies head and pull it out of the car, dropping it between us, the black bag in its hands along with it.
"Why did you do that? He was dead anyways" Carl question, shifting on the spot as I crouch down and pry the pack out of the guys hands.
"Double tap, kid. Don't take chances, that's when you get bit" I explain as I drop the pack on the floor and open it to find multiple types of knives. "Well, I'll be damned. Way to go kid" I smile as I stand up with the pack and ruffle his hair which he smiles at as he pats it back in place, moving away from me. "How about we see what else we can find?" I offer and we move away to search more cars. As we are searching through an old red ford Carl turns to me with a question.
"Where's Liam?" he asks looking around from our position you can slightly see the others back next to the RV
"He's on watch in case any more walkers are heading our way" I lie easily.
"Do you think Sophia is okay?" He asks in a mumble.
"I'm sure she's safe, we'll find her soon and you two can grow old together with many grandkids and great-grand kids an..."
"Ewww" He scrunches up his nose at my teasing making me laugh.
"Hey! She is a beautiful girl. Someday you're gonna fall in love with her, I know it" I continue to tease as I pull out clothes measuring them, some will fit Glenn and some T-Dog. I shove the items into a bag Carl found and throw it over my shoulder. "Come on we should get back" I huff and hand him the wrapped bag of weapon he found. "Why don't you go and give these to Shane?" I ask dropping them into his arms, he immediately takes off with a big smile and I follow after him in a slower pace.
"Shane!" Carl exclaims as we he nears, I'm about three cars behind him.
"Carl! What happened?" Lori questions coming into view.
"Mom, we found something cool" Carl replies and I smile at his excitement "Shane, check it out" Carl continues as he drops the bag on the floor and opens it next to a car Shane is working on, revealing the weapons. Coming closer, I lean against the minivan across from the three and watch, dropping the bags on me to my feet. "Its an arsenal"
"That's cool bud" Shane replies, not even paying attention to the 12 year old. "Go give 'em to Dale"
"Check this one out. Whoa it's a hatchet" Carl says pulling the weapon out and admiring it.
"Be careful. Don't play with those" Lori commands her son who ignores her.
"They're really sharp"
"What did I just say?" Lori questions her son walking closer.
"Can I keep one?" Carl asks ignoring her again, I silently chuckle as the little rebel.
"Are you crazy?" Lori asks as she takes the hatches and puts it back in the pack.
"No way... Grace!" He exclaims noticing I am still here "Grace how old where you when you learned how to use a knife or gun?" He asks and the two adults turn to me wanting to know the answer for themselves.
"About 14 kiddo, however... we didn't live in a world like this two years ago" I reply looking to Lori who gives me a pained look.
"Shane. Shane, tell her to let me keep one" Carl begs the ex-cop.
"Hey, man, go give them all to Dale now. Go" Shane demands. Emotionlessly, Carl takes the now wrapped weapons from his mother and walks away. "You lived in California" Shane says turning to me once Carl is out of hearing "Why'd you need to know how to shoot"
"Beacon Hills has a high mortality rate... you either knew how to defend yourself you dropped like a fly... especially on a full moon. That's when all the freaks came out" I smirk as I pick up the bags and walk away from the two, following after Carl and Ignoring their new conversation.
"What'd you find?" Allison asks as I walk up to her and drop the bags to the ground, others coming over.
"Crappy food... trail mix and cereal bars, a couple of cans of soda, another small first aid kit, sawing kit, reusable bottles, blankets for winter and some clothes that will fit people..." Everyone looks at me with wide eyes as they see I've thought more about our health in the upcoming months rather than just food like everyone else.
"This is good" Glenn mumbles as he pulls out clothes from the bag between him and T-Dog.
"That's in the third bag?" Amy asks as I hold it close to me.
"Stuff that will fit Carl... and Sophia" I mumble but my words are heard especially by Carol who has walked over to us. Her eyes shine as she looks into the bag I hand her, seeing it indeed does contain kids clothes.
"Thank you" She sniffs, seeing that I have not given up hope.
"No jeans?" Allison questions, knowing my love for the clothing item.
"We should stay on clothes that we are able to move more freely in, joggers, shorts, pants. Clothes like Legging or sports where are best. Camouflage, green and browns are good as well they'll help us blend in"
"Who taught you all this?" Allison asks confused.
"Your dad" I smile sadly to her. Argent taught me a lot after Allison Died.
"You've put shorts in here" Amy announce as she pull several pairs of dark coloured shorts out.
"It still Georgia and I'm not crazy" I roll my eyes to her.
"Do you think we should dump out our old clothes?" T asks around.
"No, keep them, stuff worn beyond use can be used as rags, or emergency bandages" Allison.
"Jesus... you two have this whole thing figured out all on your own don't you?" Andrea questions with a bitchy tone that makes us all glare at her, including her own sister.
"This is the apocalypse Andrea, we don't have time for dumping anything out without reason" Amy hisses and begins to move away
"Oh and keep your hands off the Star Wars and AC/DC stuff"
"Why?" Carol asks confused.
"She's dibs them haven't you" Allison chuckles as I begin to walk away to the RV.
"Yep" I answer popping the 'p' without turning around, stepping into the vehicle with Dale behind me, I pull the back pack off of my shoulder and pop it on the bench, pulling it open and taking out the crappy food, sugary drinks and first aid kit and dropping them onto the counter.
"This is great, T-Dog could really use it" Dale mumbles as he takes the kit.
"What happened to T?" I ask confused as I look out of the windshield of the RV to the others where I can see the man with a bloodstained cloth wrapped around his forearm.
"Sliced his arm open on a piece of broken car... unfortunately none of us have the amount of medical knowledge we need to help him" Dale explains
"Bring him in here, I've had to wrap enough of my brothers and Liam's wounds to know what I'm doing" I reply as I push the stuff away and drop what's not needed and pull the first aid kit to the table, sitting on one side as Dale goes to retrieve T-Dog.
"Hey! Dale said you could patch me up" T says coming in a few minutes later and throwing himself in the seat across from me.
"You'll most likely come out with a few more nasty scars but the one thing I can do is help keep that thing closed to help prevent infection and further blood loss" I explain as I lie down a clean cloth for him to put his arm on. "We don't have any anaesthetic so this is going to hurt" I warn him as I begin cleaning the unwrapped wound we spend the next 30 minutes stitching up his arm, the sun is beginning to set outside as I finish wrapping his arm, neither Rick and Daryl or Liam and Sophia have returned yet, making me all the more anxious.
Now that T dog has been patched up, I release him from my care and clean up the mess of now dirty medical supplies and wrappers carrying them outside, I dump them on the ground as everyone continues putting supplies down to be put in the RV.
"Wow, you did a good job Grace" Dale praises me as he examines my work on T's arm.
"Thank you" I reply as Andrea walks over to us leaving Carol to stare out to the woods alone.
"Where's my gun?" The oldest blonde in the group asks "You have no right to take it"
"You don't need that just right now, do you?"
"My father gave it to me, it's mine" Andrea argues as I subtly sneak way and walk to the distressed mother.
"I can hold onto it for you" Dale offers
"Or you can give it back to me" Andrea argues, not giving up. People have began to gather around listening to the two's conversation, from the side I hear an exhausted Amy sigh out in frustration towards her sisters attitude. Ever since the CDC the sisters have been cold towards one another.
"Everything cool?" Shane asks coming up between the two and interrupting their conversation.
"No, I want my gun back" Andrea snaps.
"I don't think it's a good idea right now" Dale argues and to be honest I'm siding with him
"Why not?" Shane asks quietly but we can all still here.
"I'm not comfortable with it" Dale admits to which Andrea scoffs at and looks around at us, as her eyes land on me they harden and drop to my belt.
"The truth is, less guns we have floating around in camp the better" Shane responds
"You turning over your weapon?"
"No" Shane chuckles "but I'm trained in its use. That's what the rest of y'all need is proper training... but until that time I think it's best if dale keeps them all accounted for"
"Does Grace gets hers? she's 16 years old, a kid" Andrea sneers and she looks to me
"I don't have any lose wires in my brain" I smirk over to her as everyone turns to me. "That and I don't rely on the loudest weapons in camp to save my lift every time a leaf rustles"
"And she's had training by my dad, who is a well respected firearm's dealer to law enforcement" Allison pipes up with her tone smug and prideful.
"But if it cools your highness..." I cut off as I unclip my gun from me belt and walk over to Dale "You can take it... I've never really liked them anyways" I finish as I hand it over to him with a small wink.
"Oh God, they're back" Glenn breathes out and I turn to see that Rick and Daryl have returned although without Liam and Sophia.
"You didn't find her?" Carol struggles to say as the two near
"Her trail when cold, we'll pick it up again at first light" Rick assures her be the mother continues to panic.
"You can't just leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods" Carl cries to the two.
"Out in the dark's no good, we'd be just be trippin' over ourselves. More people get lost" Daryl replies gently, that's the most words I've probably heard him say in a hole day when he's not drunk or angry.
"But she's 12. She can't be out in there on her own... you didn't find anything?" Carol asks becoming more hysterical.
"I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there..."
"and we tracked her for a while." Daryl adds stepping forward
"We have to make this an organized effort... Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this" Rick explains.
"Is that blood?" Carol gasps as she look over Daryl's bloodstained clothes
"We took down a walker and found a few others scattered around" Rick informs us
"Walkers? Oh my God"
"There was no sign any of them were ever anywhere near Sophia"
"How can you know that?" Andrea questions
"We cut the son of a bitch's open, made sure"
"Oh God. How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?" Carol asks sitting on the guard rail with Lori
"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance"
"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol"
"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own. She's just a child. She's just a child" closing my eyes tight, I let out a deep breath as the mother begins to cry
"It was my only option. The only choice I could make" Rick explains as he crouches in front of the woman.
"I'm sure nobody doubts that" Shane pipes up and I can tell deep down inside he does doubt it.
"My little girl got left in the woods" Carol continues to cry, from in front of her. Rick turns to look at me his eyes pained at the problem.
"She's not alone" Rick says gently as he drops his head to the ground.
"What you talking about man?" Shane asks as we all turn to look back to Rick.
Rick stands up and walks to Daryl, who pulls a long metal pole out from his belt behind his back, handing it over to Rick the officer turns around for us all to see the familiar object. My bat.
"We found this lodged in one of the dead walkers stomach" Rick says coming up to me and handing me my birthday gift from Stiles.
"Liam..." I growl out slightly pissed that he left it behind.
"I thought you said Liam was on watch" Dale says turning to Merle and Allison who both shrug their shoulders.
"If he found her she's safe. Liam's strong and fast"
"It gets cold at night" Andrea hisses to the two.
"He took some extra supplies" Amy reassure her sister who looks at her incredulously
"You knew about this?" Andrea glares at her little sister.
"I know a lot of things you don't" Amy scoff and turns away, walking to my car.
"This isn't Liam's first time in the woods at night, he'll find her" I try to assure to woman and follow after Amy, my bat leaning on my shoulder as I ignore the pain in my side. I still haven't told anyone about the loss of my connection to Liam, honestly it scares me. I don't know if he is really alive and I'm lying to the people around me. but I have to have hope.
The next morning
The connection is still missing and Liam and Sophia still haven't returned, so now Rick and the others have decides to go out there and find them ourselves because obviously a teenage werewolf and a little a girl are no match for the woods in the middle of an apocalypse. All I wish is to know is that Liam and Sophia are safe and unharmed, are connection would usually allows me to know how he is feeling, but now, I just feel empty, maybe the bond is broken but my mind has other ideas, I lay awake last night, thinking over the possibility that the bite from the walker has affected my abilities more that last time due to it being much more worse. Perhaps He's can still feel me but is ignoring the bond and his heart and following his head for which he must have a good reason to do so. I just hope he got to Sophia before anything bad happened to her because if she is harmed or worse, I think that the moment we find out her in any other way than alive, we all will begin to lose hope.
"Everybody takes a weapon" Rick announce after rolling out the pack that Carl and I found yesterday.
"These aren't the kind of weapons we need" Andrea argues... again, sooner or later, I'm gonna pop a fireball up her ass. "What about the guns?" she continues as she glares at her little sister who takes a knife out for the pack silently than hands it over to Lori, who is sorting out her belt
"We've been over that" Shane reminds her as he leans on the RV next to T-Dog "Daryl, Merle, Rick and I are carrying, can't have people popping of rounds every time a tree rustles" Shane reply's, sort of using some of my words from yesterday.
"It's not the tree's I'm worried about"
"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, herd happens to be passing by, see then it's game over for all of us... so you need to get over it" Shane argues back, finally silencing the eldest blonde.
"The idea is to take the creak up about five miles and come back down the other side, Grace is gonna keep an eye out for any signs Liam might have left for us. Though chances are they're gonna be beside the creak... it's their only landmark"
"That's if they're together" Andrea sneers.
"Have a little faith bitch" I sneer back at her
"Grace!" Lori snaps at me, as if she's my mother. I turn to her and give her a cold hard stare, that she visibly veers at with slightly wide eyes. It's hard to be away from Liam right now, I have no clue where he is and he's not alone out there. A rough hand grabs onto my arm and pulls me back from my position and away from the group slightly.
"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space..." Ricks voice is cut of by the hand letting go of my arm and hitting upside of my head.
"Hey princess, you listenin' to what I'm sayin'?" Merles rough voice asks
"No" I answer truthfully as I glare between the bitch blonde and the self appointed camp queen.
"Yeah well you might want to quit the glarin' and control ya emotions before ya light their asses with ya eyes"
"I'm not sure I can do that" I reply my voice deep and emotionless.
"Quit glarin' or light their asses with one look?" He asks with a chuckle at the end"
"Both" I reply as I turn to him finally.
"Yeah, well ya gonna have to before I dump ya in a creek once we get there" He chuckles as he hands me my back pack which I slip onto my back as Allison comes over with my now cleaned from any walker guts bat.
"Here, all clean and ready to be dirty again"
"I'm gonna use it on Liam's head" I joke as I take the bat and rest it over my shoulders and walk over to the front of the RV, where everyone else is waiting.
"Keep an eye on Carl while we're gone" Rick asks as we near.
"I'm going with you" The young boy interrupts with determination "You need people, right? To cover as much ground as possible" Oooh the boy is good. Rick must realise it to as he looks to his wife.
"Your call. I can't always be the bad guy" Lori counters, I may not like the woman a lot of the time, but I understand she's had it pretty hard, from thinking her husband was dead, to sleeping with his best friend, then finding her husband to now having to raise a child in an apocalypse where one wrong move could mean a death sentence in the most brutal way.
"Well, he has all of you to look after him" Dale offers after looking around at all of us. "I'd say he's in good hands.
"Ugh... Okay. Okay. But always within our sight, no exceptions" Rick caves finally.
Carl lets out a small cheer and turns around looking over us all until his eyes connect with mine and his face is taken over with a beaming smile.
"Did you hear that Grace? I get to come with you!" he exclaims as he runs to me and wraps his arms around my waist.
"That's awesome buddy, let's go and get you ready" I say as I hug him back with one arm, giving him a tight squeeze. I hear Merle mumble something to Daryl, Amy and Allison but I don't catch what his actual words are that make even the youngest Redneck crack a smile. Releasing Carl, I pull him over to the side and kneel down in front of him and lay my bat next to us before I pull his shoe laces apart then start redoing them.
"What are you doing?" the young boy asks quizzically as I double not the lace and tuck the excess into the sides of his shoes.
"Making sure you're laces are tight enough so your shoes don't fall off" I explain as I work on the other.
"Why are you tucking them into his shoes though?" Glenn's voice comes from the side and I turn my head to see him standing with Dale and T who are also watching me.
"In case there is a moment where we have to run, I don't what them getting caught on a fallen branch or anything that might cause him to fall. I do the same thing with mine, so does Allison" I inform him gesturing to my shoes as I stand up. The Korean looks to Carl's Shoes then to my own and then lastly Allison, whose are in the exact same condition. Standing up, I genteelly push the boy towards his mother who is patiently waiting for me to finish
"That's smart" T praises he goes to say more but Andrea storms up to Dale. Rolling my eyes, I back up to my previous spot next to Allison and Amy
"Andrea, I'm begging you. Don't put me in this position." Dale say, before she can speak, already knowing what it is about.
"I'm not going out there without my gun. I'll even say please." Oh god this woman is like a broken record.
"I'm doing this for you."
"No, Dale, you're doing it for you. You need to stop. What do you thinks' gonna happen? I'm gonna stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger the moment you hand it to me?"... uh Yes. Women's crazier than Matt Daehler when he controlled Kanima Jackson.
"I know you're angry at me. That much is clear. But if I hadn't done what I did, you'd be dead now."
"Jenner gave us an option. I chose to stay." She interrupts him. No respect of the elder folk.
"You chose suicide." Dale argues.
"So what's that to you? You barely know me."
"I know you thinking Amy was bit devastated you."
"Keep her out of this. This is not about Amy. This is about us. And if I decided that I had nothing left to live for, who the hell are you to tell me otherwise? To force my hand like that?" It's like this woman thinks her sister is a hallucination.
"I saved your life" Dale argues
"No, Dale. I saved yours. You forced that on me... I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building. What did you expect? What, I'd have some kind of epiphany? Some life-affirming catharsis?"
"Catharsis?" I whisper as I lean closer to Andrea, confused by the word.
"Realising she was wrong to want to die and being relieved that she is still alive" Allison whispers back to me. You learn something new everyday... even at the end of the world.
"Maybe just a little gratitude." Dale offers weakly
"Gratitude? I wanted to die my way, not torn apart by drooling freaks. That was my choice." Do walker drool? "You took that away from me, Dale."
"But..." Dale stammers, only to be cut off by Andrea again.
"But you know better? All I wanted was to get out of this endless horrific nightmare we live every day. I wasn't hurting anyone else"... Besides your STILL LIVING SISTER! "You took my choice away, Dale. And you expect gratitude?"
"I don't know what to say." Dale says honestly
"I'm not your little girl. I'm not your wife. And I am sure as hell not your problem. That's all there is to say." Wow bitch can silence a room.
"It's like she thinks I'm actually dead" Amy murmurs loud enough for everyone to hear. Some give her pained looks, others smile sadly to her, however none of those looks come from Merle all he does is opens his big mouth and speaks.
"Fuck'a, bitch isn't worth it if all she's gonna do is bitch and moan." Merle huffs as he adjust his bag on his shoulder and follows after everyone else, Allison flowing after him as I am left with Amy, T-Dog and Dale.
"Stay safe" I demand as I nod to the three and follow after Glenn, catching up to walk beside him. From the corner of my eye, I see Glenn glance at me warily as we follow the others "Aren't you going to say anything?"
"About you getting bit, but seem to be fine practically a whole day later"
"What did Merle and Allison say?" I ask as we follow behind everyone else, staying a few feet behind Shane and Carl, who is showing the deputy a knife.
"Just that you where fine and that you weren't in any danger... Allison also threatened to cut parts of my body off" Glenn shivers as he finishes
"And have you? Have you told anyone?" I ask the Korean who stays quiet but gains a guilty look. "Glenn... who did you tell?" I ask slightly panicked as I look over everyone in front of us.
"Just Rick... but he told me to keep quiet, said that he understood what was happening and to keep it to myself"
"Look, I'll explain later okay, after we find Sophia and Liam" I reply as I glance around, looking for any sign of my mate... nothing. We continue the rest of the walk silently until we finally come up to a tent. Coming round to stand just behind Rick, Daryl and Merle.
"They could be in there" Shane offers from behind me.
"Could be a whole bunch of things in there" Daryl mumbles and moves forward along with Rick and Shane. We all stay back and watch the Daryl move around the camp quietly. When he gestures back that he doesn't know, Rick turns to us signalling for Carol. We all follow after her, Allison and Merle turning to me as we lag behind.
"You hear anything?" She asks as she notices my head slightly tilted and my confused expression.
"I can't... Allison, I can't hear anything" I whisper as I continue to try and listen for any heart beats without any success.
"What she talking about?" Merle mumbles as we turn to Carol who begins to call out.
"Sophia? Sweetie, are you in there?" Carol calls as the rest of us stay silent "Sophia, it's mommy. Sophia. We're all here, baby. It's mommy" She continues but it is completely silent. From his spot next to her, Rick glances over to me with a questioning look, knowing my abilities, abilities that seem to be failing me right now. Shaking my head, I close my eyes to try and stop the tears from spilling over.
At the loud crunching of twigs and leaves, I reopen my eyes and watch as Rick makes his way next to Daryl at the opening of the tent. The latter Slowly zipping it open and pulling the sheet back before stepping in with a choking cough that is soon echoed by Rick and Shane.
"Daryl?" Carol calls, unsure if it is her daughter's body that is making the foul stench "Daryl?" She continues to call when no answer comes, turning my head to the side I look at Merle who is watching the tent opening with an intense glare. In the past few days, since I brought him back from Atlanta, Merle hasn't really been all the... Well Merle really. He doesn't insult everyone that passes him.
A few seconds later, the sheet is thrown back and Daryl Climbs out of the tent, he doesn't seem withdrawn or disappointed, so I'm guessing it is a good thing.
"It ain't her" he announces and I don't know whether to be happy or disappointed myself.
"What's in there?" Andrea asks from the back.
"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?" Daryl asks no one in particular. There is a few seconds of silence until the familiar sound of church bells ringing in the distance echoes through the woods and we are all rushing off in the direction. The noise is getting louder, but as we get closer, it becomes harder to distinguish which why the church is.
"What direction?" Shane asks unable to tell himself.
"I think that way, I'm pretty sure" Rick replies pointing straight ahead.
"Damn, it's hard to tell out here"
"If we heard them, maybe Sophia did too" Carol offers
"Someone's ringing those bells, Liam maybe?" Glenn asks, glancing over to me.
The others turn to look at me in silent question. Hoping it could be possible. But I'm not entirely sure.
"I don't think so, Liam wouldn't do something so reckless" Allison speaks for me.
"How is ringing bells reckless?" Andrea snaps to her, slightly getting in the huntresses face.
"He has his radio with him, he would contact us with it, instead of setting off bells that could draw in every walker for miles" Allison fires back
" Maybe he lost is radio" Glenn offers as we continue forward.
"The batteries could have died" Lori suggests
"Or you guys could just be out'a range" Merle huffs as he jogs next to me.
"Even so, Liam still wouldn't set off Church bells" I push, knowing I'm right.
"What'd he do?" Shane asks as he runs at the front with Daryl and Rick
He'd roar. I think to myself, not giving the deputy an answer as we get closer to the sound. Though out our run, the bells cut off but we keep running in the same direction, until we finally come up to the end of the trees and find ourselves in a small church ground.
"That can't be it. Got no steeple, no bells" Shane comments as we stare over the church in front of us. "Rick" Shane tries to get the man's attention as he begins to walk away, all of us soon following. We run across the small cemetery to the front doors of the church where Rick and Daryl push open the doors. We all stand at the entrance and watch as three figures sitting in the pews turn to face us. Two men and a woman or at least they used to be. Swapping their guns for silent weapons, Rick, Daryl and Shane advance against the three walkers with either a knife or an axe, aiming directly for the skull
"Sophia!" Rick yells out as he opens the side door that only leads outside.
"Yo, J.C., you taking requests?" I hear Daryl ask as I walk back outside alone, away from every one. Standing in the warm Georgia sun, I scan my eyes over my surroundings as I walk around.
DING-DING, DING-DING
The loud noise in my ear has me jumping and turning to look at the side of a church where a speaker is mounted on the side. The ringing of the bells singing obnoxiously, practically calling our failure. Looking down the wall, I follow the wire to a electrical box and open it as the others come around the corner, panting and stopping when they see me. Glaring at the wires, I stick my hand in the box and pull them all out, ignoring the small electric shock that passes through me.
"A timer. It's on a timer" Daryl's voice pants from behind me and I turn to the others
"I'm gonna go back in for a bit" Carol informs us before walking off, everyone else but Merle, Allison and Andrea, who walks to the church wall and collapses down to the ground.
Allison and Merle follow me as I walk off to the small cemetery and hop on top of one of the head stones, dangling my feet over the front and I watch them as they watch me.
"What?" I ask confused, gaining a glare from them both.
"You know what" Allison snaps as folds her arms over her chest.
"What's going on?" Rick's voice calls as he walks over, Glenn at his side.
"Princess's lost her juice" Merle huffs with a small chuckle.
"Merle, this isn't funny... I can't... I can't hear, I can't see, my side is killing me. My fire seems to be depleted and worst of all, my back is beginning to burn again... I'm broken" I rant as the tears weld up.
"Grace, Gracie listen to me, listen. You're not broke, remember when Scott thought that Derek dying was his fault he thought that we would all be better off without him in our lives. Scott was hurt and he wouldn't allow himself to heal... why wouldn't he let himself heal because he thought that no matter what he did, people still got hurt and they kept dying"
"If I had have been paying attention, if I had of seen the walker. Liam and Sophia wouldn't be out here right now" I sob as she walks up to me and pulls me to her
"We've had this conversation Grace... You can't save everyone. But what you can do is fight for another day... find that connection with Liam and lead us to them. Gracie, you can't lose hope"
"We shouldn't have came here, we shouldn't have come"
"You mean to the church?" Rick asks, I completely forgot that those three where there.
"I mean Georgia. I'm not Scott, Allison. I'm not strong or brave or a leader. I keep saying that Scott and the others are alive, that they have to be. But I don't know. I can't know. Liam is the only true connection I have to my brother, he knows if Scott is alive. I don't have that, I'm not a werewolf. I didn't gain my power because of greatness or because I cared about the wellbeing of others. I was born this way. It was handed to me"
"You're right..." Allison begins "You're not a werewolf. And yes, you did come into your power by birth. But Grace, you have grown up way to fast, you fight monsters on a daily bases. Hell you sacrificed yourself to bring me back to life. So grace you do think about the wellbeing of others. So right now. Don't think about yourself or Liam. Think about Carol and Sophia. That woman, is sitting in their praying to someone that I doubt will give her answers to where he little girl is, when there is someone here that truly can lead us to her. You weren't born to be a werewolf Grace... so do the right thing, believe in yourself"
"I don't think I can" I reply dully and push off of the head stone, walking away heading straight for the church where everyone is gathered inside, praying silently. Storming inside, I ignore the looks from the others and head straight to the front. "What the hell gives you the right?" I question as I look up to the man nailed to the cross. "People have prayed countless times to you, to give them hope, forgiveness and guidance" I sneer as I begin to pace back and forth "Is this you? Is this what you do? Punish innocent people, judge the young and destroy the small amount of peace we once had with darkness. In the beginning I used to believe this was my fault, that the big bad powers where punishing us for allowing a chain of darkness in the world... Nogitsune, Oni, Darach, La Bête." I mock, ending with a fake French accent "But it wasn't us, because if you exist than it saw all on you. What gives you the right to judge us, when all we give you is our faith that you will help us and show us the way? You're nothing but a fraud. It's not us who sin, it's you" I snap, ending my rant and turn to the front pew where Carol and Lori are sitting watching, both with broken expressions. I guess I interrupted a pray. Storming out of the building again pushing past everyone at the back, all who watch stunned at my words. (I have nothing against the big guy)
Ignoring the throbbing pain in both my back and side, I run down the stairs, sprint across the grass and drop to the ground, falling onto my back, hissing at the contact but ignoring it as I stare up at the bird-less sky.
"Everybody mad?" I ask as the scuffing boots against the ground near me
"Nar, think what ya sad got them thinkin'. Ain't no one gonna blame ya for losin' ya cool to a statue" Merle mumbles.
"If he would just, give me a sign, that he was their, all would be better"
"The big man?"
"Liam. he must have figured out that his radio isn't working. But that's not the only way to signal to me where he is"
"What else can he do? Bark like a bitch?" Merle asks making me chuckle.
"Close. When a wolf is in danger or lost, the howl to signal its position to the rest of the pack"
"Then why hasn't he?"
"I don't know" I respond as Shane walk past us to Rick who appeared not long ago.
"Got to move here, man. These people are spent. There's only so many hours of daylight left. We still got a long way back."
" I can't stop yet." Rick argues in front of us
"We still got a lot of ground to cover, whole other side of the Creek Bed. So we search that on the way back."
"They would have heard those church bells. They could be nearby." I'm thankful that Rick believes in Liam as much as I do
"She could be a lot of things." Shane offers, his voice seems more amused than worried for the small child
"I can't go back. Her being out here is my fault." Rick replies as Merle and I stand and walk to the others
"That's great." Shane says with a chuckle "Now they got you doubting yourself, huh?"
"What about you? You doubt me?" Rick asks his best friend and you can tell by the lack of a clear answer that he is right.
"Hey, we can assign all kinds of blame."
"This means something, finding her." He's right
"Oh man."
"It would be the miracle we need. We can't give up."
"Mmm. Ahem. Y'all gonna follow the Creek Bed back, okay? Daryl, Merle. You guys are in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."
"You're splitting us up. You sure?" Merle asks from next to his brother
"Yeah, we'll catch up to you."
"I want to stay too. I'm her friend." Carl butts in only to be followed by silence
"Just be careful, okay?" Lori finally speaks up
"I will." The little boy assures his mother
"When did you start growing up?" Lori asks jokingly
"I'll be along soon enough. Here, take this. Remember how to use it?" Rick stops his wife handing over his gun to her.
"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed."
"Here, got a spare." Daryl interrupt, moving forward and holding the gun out to Lori "Take it." Who thankfully does much to Andrea's annoyance, that just makes me smile and follow everyone else back into the woods, swinging my bat against the leaves and twigs, much to the other blondes annoyance
" So this is it? This the whole plan?" Carol asks as she sits on a fallen tree
"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups." Daryl answers as he lean against a tree
"Carrying knives and pointy sticks. I see you have a gun." Andrea comments, wow... just wow.
"Why, you want it? Here, take it." Lori huff and throws the Gun, but not to Andrea to me. I catch is smoothly with one hand and smirk at the brunette, tucking it into the back of my pants as she continues to speak "I'm sick of the looks you're giving me. All of you." She says and sits down on the tree to, looking up at Carol "Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through. And I would do anything to stop it. But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him. When Sophia ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second. And Liam, he went after Sophia and still hasn't came back either. I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way they did or made the hard decisions that they had to make or that anybody could have done it any differently. Anybody? Y'all look to Rick and then you blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you." Woman has a way with words.
"We should keep moving." Andrea says gently, finally losing the attitude
Wecontinue on for a few minutes silently but freeze as A loud bang echoes throughoutthe woods. None of use wanting it to have to do with any of our people. Theloud bang is soon followed by something familiar, something that gives me hopeagain and has my eyes glowing the Phoenix fire and the connection with my matesnapping back into place, telling me that he is alright and unharmed, althougha little scared. Because as I walk with the others back to the highway, theroar of a werewolf shakes through the trees, echoing through the air.