— IT WAS NOW THE EVENING AT the camp, and the group that went to search for Merle in the city, still weren't back as of yet, so the group had cooked up lots of fish and were all gathered around the camp fire, finally feeling a slight pinch of happiness together, waiting for the others return. Zoe sat next to Amy and Andrea as they all shoved mouthfuls of fish into their mouths in delight, missing the taste of meat. Everyone was talking and laughing, as if the world wasn't at an end, and it felt nice to see. She had helped cooked the fish, and she didn't do that bad of a job, for someone that hadn't cooked much before - she was proud of herself. As was Lori, who watched her daughter with a smile the whole time.
Zoe laughed along with the group, not caring about anything else in the world, until she noticed that Nate was sat far away from everyone else, without any food. Amy followed Zoe's eyesight and saw that she was gazing at Nate with sorrowful eyes, so she lent forward and handed her another plate of cooked fish that was sat besides the fire, giving the Grimes girl a knowing look. She had seen the two interact a lot since they set up the camp, and it wouldn't surprise her if they kissed one day; they pretended that they didn't really like each other, but everyone knew they did.. Hell, even Daryl could see it.
The two seemed to always be off in one area, conversing in private, before separating with angered looks, and going back to talking the next day. Every time it happened, it confused the group even more, but they simply watched as their relationship grew. One day, things were going to be different between the two - they could just sense it. Everyone could, except for Zoe and Nate themselves.
Zoe rolled her eyes playfully at Amy's look that she sent her, knowing exactly what Amy was suggesting she did. "Thanks." She told her, before taking it off her and standing up, "I'll be right back." She told her mom, who nodded in understanding, before turning back to Carl once more. Zoe then made her way, slowly, towards Nate, who sat, sharpening a few of his knives, by his tent, in complete silence, not wanting to join the others by the campfire.
She stood over him, looking at him sadly, feeling bad that he had begun to think he had to isolate himself, before deciding to just put the plate of food next to him and leave him to it, knowing that he probably wanted to be alone. She bent down and placed it on the floor besides where he was sat, causing him to glance at it with confusion, before turning back to his knives without another word spoken, wanting to be alone. She sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to say anything to her, and began to walk away, until his voice stopped her.
"Thanks." Nate mumbled, as soon as she turned around.
Zoe furrowed her brows at his words, not hearing them come out of his mouth before, and turned back around to see him looking at her with a thankful expression. She nodded, "You should come and sit with the rest of us." Zoe eventually suggested. "Everyone's joking around and having fun. You'll like it."
Nate looked at his plate of food once more, before turning away from the girl, "Maybe." He told her, going back to his knives. He didn't feel comfortable with the rest of the camp, especially when his two older brothers weren't there.
Zoe saw the look on his face and sighed, she knew what he was thinking - that he didn't belong, but she begged to differ. Looking back to the camp, seeing everyone laughing and getting along; she made a choice, to sit with Nate and give him company, something she did often. He gave her a confusing look as she sat down, not knowing what was going through her mind, "What are you doing?" He asked her, watching as she got comfy besides him.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She retorted, "I'm giving you company." She knew that he felt uncomfortable with the rest of the group, so, maybe, he wouldn't feel that way with her, and he would finally begin to open up.
"I don't need company." He told her.
"Of course you do." Zoe shrugged, "Everyone needs a little company, I just happen to be the best choice in that matter." She joked, causing him to try not to smile at her words. She stretched her legs out and leaned back on her hands so she was in a more comfortable position, as he simply looked down at her in complete confusion.
"But, don't you want to sit with the others?" He asked her. He was wondering why she would want to sit with him instead of her family and friends - the people who loved her, the people who she had actually gotten close with.
Zoe shrugged at him, "There's always another night to sit with them." She told him, watching as he took a bite of fish and savoured the flavour with a delighted facial expression. Zoe chuckled at the sight, "Amy and Andrea came back at lunch with, like, a dozen fish. I've never seen so many in my life." She told him, earning a nod from the younger Dixon.
She saw the slightest smirk on Nate's face, but it disappeared just as quickly. He coughed awkwardly at the silence between the two, "So..." He began, earning Zoe's attention, "Your dad's not dead after all." He stated, remembering how she had confided in him with how upset she was.
Zoe was expecting for him to say more, but when he didn't explain further, she gathered that was it, as he wasn't a big talker, "Yeah, he's not." She confirmed, with a slight smile on her face. "It's weird, him being back." She told him, "I spent two months, thinking he was dead, you know?"
Nate nodded, with another mouthful of fish in his mouth, when she laughed at his face, he smirked slightly, "I'm gonna go and get some water." He told her, with a muffled voice due to the food in his mouth.
She shook her head, still smiling at the sight of Nate, before he stood up and walked away from their small tent area, that had a small lamp on the floor. The area was well lit from the camp fire behind them also, as Morales had built up the rock walls, so they could have the fire higher up. Normally it would attract walkers, but because of this, they could have it as high as they wanted. Zoe looked back at the fire and the people around it, believing that these people were like her family; she saw Amy stand up and give her a wink, before she walked into the RV, causing Zoe to shake her head in amusement at the girl, hating that she was suggesting something other than Zoe simply giving him some friendly company.
Zoe leant back and started to admire the stars in the sky, when suddenly, she heard a loud scream from her best friend, Amy. From this sound, she turned around so fast that she may have gotten whip lash, only to see one of the walkers biting down on the girls arm. "No!" She shouted out, standing up quickly in hopes to make a run for it and help her best friend.
Just as she was about to make a run for Amy to help her out and get the walker off of her, something grabbed her shoulder, causing her to screech and whip around to whack at whatever had grabbed her, as it had scared the life out of her. Once she had looked behind her, she noticed that it was one of the dead, trying to take a bite out of her. Not knowing what else to do, she pushed at the walker, making it stumble back and trip over a log, and when she looked back up, she saw a couple more heading in her direction, as she stood, wide eyed, not knowing what to do.
Thinking that she couldn't do much when it came to self defence, without any weapons or even knowing how to fight properly, she turned and headed back towards the main camp, hoping to find her mom, brother and Shane. "Mom!" She called loudly, looking in every direction, only seeing different walkers and darkness. "Shane!" She called again.
"Zoe!" She heard Shane call back in panic.
"Zo, where are you!" She then heard her mom call, the only problem, she didn't know where they were. She was panicking, hearing the screams around her and the groans of the dead; she had no clue what to do. She didn't know where to go, and every direction she turned in, there were just more of the dead coming towards her.
After a frantic search around the dark camp, she finally found the others by the RV, fighting off the dead, with Shane in the front, shooting his gun at them all. "Shane!" She screamed, as she began to make her way towards him, and fast, not wanting to be out in the open any longer than she had to be.
"Come on Zo!" Shane shouted desperately, as he kept shooting at the walkers to keep them back from the others.
As she was running forwards in attempt to get to the RV, she felt a hand grip her ankle and slam her down to the ground, smacking her head on a rock in the process, causing her to groan out at the pain that spread across her head, making her fee dizzy. She felt the blood dripping down her face as she turned on her back and glanced up at the walker that was now snapping its jaw, trying to take a bite out of her. "Shane!" She screamed even louder, in fear for her life, as she tried to scramble backwards away from the walker, but she wasn't fast enough.
She used one of her feet to smash the walker in the face as she desperately crawled backwards, but it only slowed down slightly, as it carried on advancing towards her for food. Thinking quickly, she grabbed a large stick from besides her and tried whacking the walker around the head with it, only to have it again, not working. This was when the walker tried biting down once more, but luckily for her, she had managed to push the stick up just in time, so the walker was now biting at the wood, instead of the skin on her arm. It was dribbling on her and it's blood from the wounds on its face were now dripping onto her face and chest, causing her to cringe in disgust. "Someone!" She screamed for her life, feeling the stick to crack from the force of the walker biting down like it's life depended on it.
"Zoe!" She heard a male voice call, one that sounded like her dad, but her dad wasn't back yet, so surely it couldn't possibly be him? "Zo!" It called again. Zoe finally recognised it to be her dad; and she felt relieved that he would come and help her out of this mess. He must have heard her when he re-entered the camp.
"Dad!" She cried, tears running down her face at the force she was having to use to keep the walker off of her body. She knew that she couldn't keep the walker off of her for much longer, and that fear doubled when the stick finally broke and the walker came crashing down on her to take a chunk out of her neck.
She closed her eyes and awaited for the painful bite that would turn her into a walker, but she opened them to see that the walker on top of her, had an arrow through the skull, causing her to cry out in happiness, as it plummeted onto her like a tonne of bricks. The walkers body suddenly got pulled off of her as someone handed out their hand in order to lift her up, once she was up, she saw Nate looking over her with concern written all in his facial features. "Are you okay? You bitten or scratched?" He asked her, looking over her neck and chest for any injuries or bites.
Zoe shook her head, unable to find her voice, she was visibly shaking from the event that had just happened, she had never been up close to a walker like that since the start of the outbreak, and it had terrified her. Nate saw this, and was about to bring her in for a quick hug, when she was quickly pulled into a hug from what felt like her father, causing her to wrap her arms around him like her life depended on it.
"I'm right here." Rick mumbled into her hair, as he held her close, worried that he almost lost his only daughter, "You're okay." He told her. Rick looked up at Nate with a thankful facial expression, nodding at the boy who had saved his daughter - he owed him his life. Nate eventually nodded back, before walking away to Daryl, to find out if they had any news on Merle..
"Dad!" She heard her younger brother call, "Zoe!" He called.
"Carl!" Rick shouted, as Carl approached them and was brought into their hug. Rick held onto his children as if it was the last thing he was able to do, not wanting to let go of either of them as they sobbed into his shirt.
He would do anything to keep them safe.