CHAPTER EIGHT
A DEEP MELANCHOLY FEELING fell upon the camp the following morning. Grief and fear were the only two things that could describe how they felt — and that was only on the surface.
There was an indescribable stench looming in the air that had Athena nearly gagging multiple times, so she covered her nose with her jacket in attempt to disguise the scent. The amount of bodies that were scattered around the campsite was heart wrenching. Faces of people that she had once had conversations with were now lifeless.
But what hurt her the most? The sight of Andrea hovered over Amy's dead body. She had been sat beside her younger sister for hours, her eyes glued to Amy in case she made any movement. They had tried multiple times to help Andrea but in return she pulled a gun on Rick. But, the truth was, they were all scared for the moment Amy would turn into one of those monstrous thing.
Athena sighed sadly before fixing her attention back to Glenn, Daryl and Morales — the three separating and disposing of the dead bodies. As she watched the two men pick up a walker, she instantly noticed that it was the one she had killed last night. It was the first time she had killed a walker and she didn't know how to feel about it. It's blood splattered against her skin as crimson soaked her hands — looking down she could still see the dried blood stain.
She wiped her hands on her jeans before tying her hair back and continuing to help with the bodies. They had a system, a system where walker were to be burned and their people were to be buried. Burning them left a vile stench in the atmosphere but it was the most efficient way to dispose of them. However, Athena's job was to stab the people they had lost in the head — to make sure they wouldn't turn into one of the walking dead.
"Hey, whoa, what are you guys doing? This is for geeks." Glenn questioned as he watched Daryl and Morales pick up one of their own and drag them towards the burning pile. "Our people go over there!"
"What the difference? They're all infected." Daryl shrugged, clearly not having any sympathy for anyone in the group other than himself.
"Our people go in that pile over there!" Glenn snapped, causing the two men to stop in their tracks. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there." The two men took in his words before redirecting themselves towards the RV where the rest of their people were laid.
Athena had to admit she proud of Glenn, she liked how he stood his ground and allowed his voice to be heard. Unlike all the other times when complied to people's orders without question.
"Ya'll left my brother for dead!" Daryl yelled angrily as he dropped the body on the floor and began to storm off. "You had this coming!"
Glenn sighed, taking off his hat and wiping away his sweat. Athena shook her head at Daryl before walking over to Glenn and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You did good. You should be happy you stood your ground."
He replaced his hat on his head and smiled a little. "I don't know where it can from. All I do know is that if it were under different circumstances then Daryl might of shot me with that crossbow."
Athena rolled her eyes "Don't be scared of Daryl. He's just angry because of what happened to Merle and there's nothing we can do now to change that."
Glenn nodded in understanding, appreciating her words of comfort that she offered. Athena was aware that emotions were high, which was why Daryl lost it, but she needed to stay positive. Suffering a large amount of loss in one night was enough to send people over the edge and if she could shed any light on an already bleak situation, they she sure as hell was going to do it. Even if it was as simple as offering a hand to someone.
"A walker bit him! A walker bit, Jim!" Jaqui yelled, drawing everyone's immediate attention to Jim. It couldn't be true. People began to crowd around him and that's when Jim started to panic.
Athena and Glenn dropped their shovels and made their way over to the crowd where multiple people ordered him to show them the bite. Jim's face faltered, an expression crossing his face that matched the one he had the previous day whilst digging the graves — delusion. Jim picked up a shovel in defence as he attempted to hold back the rest of them.
T-Dog snuck up behind Jim and grabbed him, holding his arms behind his back as Daryl swooped in and lifted Jim's shirt — and it was true. Jim had been bitten just above his abdomen and there was no way he could be saved. Athena squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep inhale, not only had they lost Amy, but they were going to lose Jim two.
The strength to stay positive was slowly starting to weaken.
━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━
A little while later, after the turmoil had once again spread through camp, Athena and the others had found themselves upon the hill where Jim had dug the holes. Coincidently, Jim digging the holes actually made the mourning process a lot easier — it meant they could lay their people to rest.
Athena stood aside, watching as Andrea struggled to lower Amy's body into the ground. The now deceased girl was wrapped in a white sheet and with the assistance of Dale, Andrea could finally mourn her sister knowing she was going to have a funeral. But, the brunette couldn't help but wander, as she watched the scene go down, if funerals would slowly become a luxury in the new world.
Once Amy was finally laid in the ground, Andrea hopped out of the grave and wiped away her tears as she rejoined the group. The blonde stood beside Athena, sobs escaping her lips ever so often as they started to cover Amy's body with dirt. Athena didn't know how to feel, seeing so much in so many faces all at once was overwhelming — it reminded her of a very dark time in her life.
Athena put an arm around Andrea, consoling her as well as she could. She wasn't particularly the best at comforting emotional people, but she wanted to help as much as she could. In all honesty, she wasn't quite sure if the action was to help Andrea or herself — the memories being too much.
They stayed there for a while, each person bowing their heads in honour of the fallen as they mourned. It was a sad moment for all of them, for some it was the first they had lost someone to the new world, but for others it was just reminder. After the funeral, the group regathered and began to make their way down the hill and back to camp — where Jim was slowly and agonisingly transitioning.
Andrea, still clinging to Athena as they walked, finally spoke in a quiet tone. "It's all my fault. I should have saved her."
"You didn't know that she was going to get bit, none of us did. You can't blame yourself for something unpredictable happening." Athena was trying her hardest to comfort her, Andrea was a mess and she didn't know what to say to make her feel better.
"If I hadn't have been caught up in the moment, I would have spotted that walker from a mile off."
Athena stopped in her tracks, making the blonde stop and face her. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love to this world, it's hard because you know they're gone and the only way they're coming back is if they come back as one of them monsters. But, what I've learnt is that people are a blessing. If you surround yourself with good people then that gap they left behind slowly starts to fill again."
"How?" Andrea choked out.
"It takes time, don't get me wrong, but regret is your biggest enemy. You shouldn't feel guilty about letting your guard down last night, laughter and brief moments of happiness are what keeps us going."
Andrea nodded, a small smile appearing on her lips as she thought over what Athena had said. "Yeah, I'll try. Thank you. Amy was the only thing I had left of my family, it's gonna take some time."
"I get that, take all the time you need."
Andrea offered her a bigger smile before continuing to walk ahead to camp with a sense of ease from Athena's words. As they walked, Athena couldn't help but feel hypocritical. Everything she had told Andrea to do in order to cope with the death of her sister was the complete opposite compared to what Athena truly did after she lost a loved one. When the brunette suffered a loss, she completely shut down and it took her a while to regain the strength — hence the reason why she stayed out in the woods most of the time.
Athena wasn't particularly one for socialising, being more of the lone wolf type and only depended on herself. But what brought her back? The people in her current group. They showed her kindness and made her feel wanted which was something she wasn't familiar with. Of course she still had days where she simply wanted to be left alone with nothing but her thoughts but they were becoming less frequent.
Once they arrived back in camp, Andrea and Athena went their separate ways as well as the rest of the group. Athena was now stood in her smoking spot, under a tree that was out of the way of main camp — yet it wasn't too far so she could hear the conversation. A little time had passed and she needed a cigarette to relax herself after the traumatic day they had had. As she puffed on the stick of nicotine she listened intently to Rick and Shane, who were explaining that they had no choice but to move on, to the rest of the group.
The woman had heard murmurs around camp about them going to the CDC before, but it seemed as though it was the truth. "I've uh-I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now look there are no guarantees. Either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts." Shane looked directly at Rick and Athena would be a fool to say she didn't see the upmost respect Shane had for Rick — she could see it in his eyes. The brunette believed in Shane's words and up till now he hadn't been wrong, and if he trusted Rick then Athena would trust his judgement. "I say the most important thing is that we need to stay together. So, for those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning."
No one knew what lied ahead, quite frankly it struck fear into the people core. But, they had to at least try — even if they didn't all make it out alive.