Bad Moon Rising
Lucy chewed on her lip as she sat in her girlfriend's apartment. In what felt like the blink of an eye the world had gone to shit though really maybe it wasn't the blink of an eye. The news lately had been showing the increase of people getting sick in different places but today, today seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back and everything outside was chaos, pure and utter chaos.
"I think we need to go somewhere with shelter," a voice spoke and Lucy turned her head to see Seth standing from the couch where he had been sitting beside his girlfriend AJ. Seth and AJ were neighbors of Renee that Renee had let come in here after their friend who had been staying with them had went crazy after suffering from a bite by one of those things on the streets.
"But that means going outside," Renee sighed as she came to sit down beside Lucy. "Outside is chaos. Maybe we should just stay here until the government gets everything under control."
Seth scoffed at Renee's words, "You really think the government can control all that?" he asked knowing what he had seen of what was going on outside was too much. "If that happens it could take months and eventually we are going to run out of food. We need somewhere with food and other stuff to survive like weapons."
"He has a point," Lucy agreed as she turned to look at Renee. Reaching over she ran her hand through Renee's blonde hair, "We can't stay in your apartment for months babe."
"And I need to get this checked out," AJ said as she pointed to the bite on her wrist that her friend Phil had given her after he had went crazy, though AJ swore he had literally died before going crazy but Seth assured her she had been wrong about that and he had only lost consciousness for awhile.
Renee looked down before heaving a sigh, "Fine," she relented knowing she was outnumbered. "We'll go somewhere for shelter," she nodded as she looked up and smiled at Lucy. "But Seth you really need to take AJ to the hospital," she said knowing the bite on her wrist was looking worse all the time. "I know a place Lucy and I can go and we will write directions down for you and AJ to find us after her bite is checked out."
Lucy felt relieved when Renee finally relented to go somewhere else and as she continued to speak Lucy looked at Seth curiously wondering if the man would do what Renee said when she told him to take AJ to the hospital. Lucy wasn't so sure he would but then again she had never really trusted people with two different hair colors and Seth fit that bill with one side of his hair blonde and the other brunette.
Hearing him agree though Lucy just smiled as well and she stayed seated as she watched them both get ready to leave. It was only when Renee went to go write down directions for them to meet up later that Lucy felt anxious and almost like maybe no one should go outside but she knew that was crazy. They had to leave this apartment building. There was no way it would hold up and be of good use to the couples if this thing went on for months.
After AJ and Seth finally left Lucy still sat in her place feeling nervous but when Renee joined her and grabbed her hand Lucy turned to look at the blonde and the moment their eyes locked Lucy knew she'd be okay because she had Renee with and the moment Renee Young had waltzed into her life was the moment things had gotten better and easier for her.
"You ready?" Renee asked as she squeezed Lucy's hand. "We should pack up some stuff and get going."
Lucy nodded her head, "I'm ready as long as you are with me," she smiled before squeezing Renee's hand back as well and she stood to help her girlfriend pack a few of their items.
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That night Lucy frowned as she sat in one of the many tents at the shelter at the local Georgia high school. It was crowded here and chaos as well but mostly everyone seemed to be doing okay. There were armed guards and people from FEMA and they seemed to be keeping the sick people at bay for the time being but every time she heard gunshots Lucy couldn't help but jump and Renee would sling her arm over Lucy's shoulders but right now Renee wasn't here. Renee was off visiting with Seth who had arrived at least an hour ago.
From what Lucy had been able to understand from the distraught guy AJ had died while in the hospital waiting room which had been crowded with other people just like her and according to Seth eventually AJ had came back and tried to attack him much like their friend Phil had done to AJ.
Lucy was perplexed at how that could be but she wasn't questioning that right now. What was the use when it seemed like there was no fix to this. She had hoped things weren't so bad but they did truly seem to be and the more she saw and the more she heard she wanted to go back to Renee's apartment and just forget everything else existed. They could tune out everything and just live in blissful peace.
Hearing a loud scream from outside Lucy sat up straighter as her heart began to beat faster in her chest and she moved out of the tent quickly when she heard more screams followed by the first. It was when she got outside that she saw the scene in front of her and she almost felt as if time had frozen for a bit. Those things, the dead people had gotten past the guards a few of them being feasted on and now they were inching towards the people here at this shelter.
Hearing screams and now gun shots Lucy stayed frozen in place her mind trying to zone things out as people started running in all different directions, some running towards the things coming at them and in the end that seemed to cost them their life, some running away from them and others who happened to be in the crosshairs of the guns and getting shot in the process.
"Lucy!" a voice yelled and Lucy turned to see Renee coming towards her though before she could make it Lucy watched helplessly as one of those things came up behind Renee and bit her right in the neck and the woman she loved, the woman she had hoped to spend her life with fell to the ground as the thing that bit her soon fell on top of her and started to eat her as if she was some meal that it needed to survive.
As much as Lucy wanted to run towards Renee though she didn't. Instead she turned and she ran in the opposite direction and she just kept running not caring that she had somehow left Seth behind in that mess or that she had ran without even grabbing her stuff. All she needed was around her neck in the form of the locket that had been a present from Renee.
By the time the sky was blue and it seemed morning had come Lucy finally stopped running as she collapsed onto the ground in the middle of the woods. Looking up at the sky as she fell to the ground it was then that Lucy broke down in tears and soon drifted off to thoughts of Renee and hopefully death taking her away. Maybe if she was lucky one of those dead people would find her and eat her as she laid here on the ground and slept.
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Waking hours later Lucy opened her eyes and looked around. She knew she wasn't in the woods anymore that was apparent from the bed she had woken up in and she made a confused face as she slowly pulled the covers back and slipped out of this bed. How had she ended up here she wasn't sure but as the door to the bedroom opened she jumped out of fear as she came face to face with a blonde woman who looked almost like a gypsy.
"I see you're awake," Viv smiled as she looked at the redhead. "I was afraid you'd be out for hours."
"Where am I?" Lucy asked ignoring the blondes words and not even thinking of asking the woman who she was.
"You're at my grandmother's farm house," Viv answered as she eyed the redhead. "I found you in the woods and I'm guessing you came from that damn school not too far away. I have been watching it all night mainly because I figured something would happen and I left to come back here to fix myself dinner and on my way back is when I ran into you on the ground."
At the mention of the school Lucy frowned as she felt a lump forming in her throat again. That had been the place where she lost Renee. "I..I was at the school," she nodded her head. She was uncomfortable with the way the blonde woman kept looking at her. "It was overrun by those things...the dead people."
Viv nodded at the woman's words. She could tell from the woman's reaction that she had lost someone at the school, "You lost someone you loved?"
"My girlfriend," Lucy answered as she forced a smile and tried swallowing down the lump in her throat but was unsuccessful in that. "Who are you and why did you bring me here?"
Viv frowned slightly at the redheads words, "I'm sorry," she apologized for her loss. "And my name's Viv and before you ask no it's not short for anything," she smiled as she walked closer to the girl whom she had brought here. "I brought here because I couldn't let you die out there and not to mention that is how I expect to find people in this. I'll find them when their group abandons them or they are lost and then I'll take them under my wings and show them how to survive."
"H..how to survive?" Lucy asked her voice trembling slightly.
"You know how to shoot a gun?" Viv asked curiously watching the woman shake her head no. "How about hunt?" she asked seeing another no. "Use knives as weapons?" again at another no Viv just smiled, "That is where I come in with what I know. I teach you to survive."
Lucy just went silent knowing that made sense but she wasn't sure why Viv thought she needed to do all of that, "But why do all of that?"
Laughing at the woman's confusion Viv shook her head, "Do you see this thing ending anytime soon?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow. "Because I don't and the only way to kill those things is by hitting their brain. The hunting is because that's the best way to find food honey."
"Oh," Lucy muttered as she looked down. She wasn't sure she could get used to this but maybe..maybe if she tried she could.
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Seth groaned as he laid on the hotel bed his group was staying in. It had been a tedious day but they had finally taken the hotel and now they were resting for the night before going out to find supplies and other stuff they needed tomorrow. While they had done something big Seth was just waiting for the bottom to drop because that seemed to be all that ever happened anymore.
It had been almost ten months since all this stuff started and so far things always seemed to get worse even when things would seem to be looking up and it had all started when he lost AJ at that damn hospital and then hours later he had watched Renee die in front of him and somehow he had made it out of that school parking lot safely only to be by himself for three months.
He had been doing good for those three months as well or so he thought but maybe he hadn't. It seemed those three months by himself had just been one slow blur that always ended the same way and that was with him going to bed alone while he thought of AJ. Seth knew it was pathetic but AJ had been his soul mate, the woman he had planned to spend forever with before all this happened he had to adapt to life without her, he had to adapt to life in this messed up world. A life he still wasn't sure he wanted.
Hearing a knock on the door Seth stood from the bed and went to answer it. When he did he raised an eyebrow as he came face to face with Dean, the man whom some considered a leader and also the man who had saved him from near death and brought him into this group seven months ago.
"Couldn't sleep," Dean sighed as he walked past Seth and went into the man's room. "Figured you'd still be awake unlike everyone else."
"How did you know I would still be up?" Seth asked shutting the door behind Dean once the man was in the room.
Dean just laughed as he sat down on the bed in the room, "Seth you've been with us for seven months now. You don't sleep well and I've noticed. I notice most of what the group members do. I know Nikki and Brie both like Roman but he won't get attached to either because he lost his wife. Nikki and Brie haven't really lost anyone yet and Lana..Lana lost her children but she's hanging in there and is happy."
"At least someone has to be happy," Seth muttered as he went to sit down beside Dean.
"Guess so," Dean nodded as he looked at the man who still somehow found a way to day his hair two different colors. "Who did you lose? I know you had to lose someone."
Seth nodded at Dean's words, "My girlfriend AJ," he answered as he said her name out loud for the first time since her death. It felt weird coming out now after so long. "She was bitten during the first day and died at the hospital. I watched a nurse put her down."
Frowning at Seth's words Dean reached over and patted his back, "I lost someone too..well to be honest I don't know if she is alive or dead and that part kills me inside. It kills me so much that her face just keeps haunting me now and that's why I never sleep."
"Who was she?" Seth asked knowing he really didn't know much about Dean. He had always been closer to Roman even if Dean had saved his life.
At Seth's question Dean looked down, "My sister Jacey. The last time I saw her she was leaving to go on a date with her boyfriend Miller."
Seth wanted to offer condolences or some encouraging words to Dean but he didn't because really what could you say to someone who wasn't even sure if their loved one was for sure dead? Instead he just sighed and spoke the first words to his brain, "Why did you save me?"
"Huh?" Dean asked perplexed at why Seth was asking that question. Wasn't it obvious?
"Why did you save me?" Seth asked again as he shrugged. "You could have left me for dead."
Dean just shook his head, "Because we still save people," he muttered. "We aren't that far gone yet."
"When do we get that far gone?" Seth mused as he watched Dean finally look at him again. "When do we finally stop saving people?"
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Seth shook his head as he looked at Dean, ten months had passed since their group had taken the hotel and in those ten months things had changed. The group had gotten a bit bigger though they had also still lost people like Roman and Nikki. Seth had to admit Roman's death had been hard on him and Nikki's death had devastated Brie but both seemed to be doing better now.
Heck the group was thriving and that was why Dean had stepped down as leader and decided to hand the reigns over to Bray who had been with them for eight months. Dean had said he just wanted to head somewhere else, leave Georgia and see if he could find others. There had to be others and he had wanted a change of pace. Something that Seth too had wanted and so he had decided to head out with Dean.
They had left the hotel an hour ago and now they were walking near some farm, "You keep moving this slow and we won't even leave Georgia by tomorrow," Seth teased his traveling companion as he got a little bit ahead of him.
"Yeah, yeah I would be faster if I wasn't the one carrying all our shit," Dean huffed as he walked behind Seth. "Just shut your mouth and keep walking as well as keeping a look out for the biters."
"Yes sir," Seth muttered as he walked even faster and farther away from Dean. As he did though he noticed something on the ground and as he got closer to it he slowed down almost stunned at the sight. There on the ground beside what looked to be an open grave was a girl covered in dirt.
"What in the hell?" he muttered as he ran the rest of the distance to where she was and he bent down. He could see a visible gunshot wound on her forehead and he assumed she was dead but why would someone dig up a dead person?
Reaching to pick her up and maybe try to put her back in the grave Seth made a face as he felt her body. She was warm and the last he checked a dead person, especially one that had been buried shouldn't be that warm. Moving a hand down to check for a pulse he made another face and just stared at her.
How had she survived a gun shot to the head, "Dean!" he yelled out as he turned his head to see his friend off in the distance still. He knew the man would probably rim him a new one for yelling and maybe attracting biters to them but damn it he needed Dean to see this and he needed to know what to do with this girl, this living girl who had survived a gunshot wound to her head, a girl who it now seemed may have gotten herself out of her grave before collapsing again.
Dean who had heard Seth yell for him just gave the man a look as he saw him bent down in front of something and he sighed, "Are you trying to attract every damn biter in hearing distance?" he asked harshly as he got closer.
"No," Seth answered as he looked at the man briefly before looking down at the girl. "But you need to see this." he said as he sighed. "I thought she was dead, she has a gunshot to the head and she had to have been buried in that open grave beside her because she is covered in dirt," he said still not sure if he believed this himself. "But when I went to put her back she was warm and she has a faint pulse."
Stopping in his tracks at Seth's words Dean looked down at the girl and he thought he was seeing a ghost as he looked at her. "You're just delusional," he spoke knowing there was no way anyone could survive a shot to the head. "Now come on so we can finish going on our way."
"I'm not being delusional," Seth spoke as he shook his head, "And I'm not going to just leave her laying here to die for sure," he said as he finally picked her up. "I'm taking her back to the hotel and maybe Lana can help her," he muttered as he brushed past Dean and walked back in the direction they came. It was just an hour away and maybe he could make it if he didn't run into biters. He just knew he couldn't let her die. He had to take her to Lana the woman who had some form of medical knowledge before all of this because she had been a nurse.
"Why are you saving her?" Dean called out after Seth's retreating figure. He was wary on going back and wary on that chick even being alive and maybe a part of him was chilled to see the bullet hole in her forehead because of the fact that she reminded him of an old ghost who still haunted him. She reminded him of Jacey.
Seth paused briefly at Dean's words, "Someone once told me we still saved people. That we weren't that far gone yet," he answered using Dean's own words against him.
At Seth's answer Dean just shook his head and eventually followed after Seth, "I swear if you are wrong about her being alive I am going to kick your ass."
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Dean closed his eyes as he sat in the room with the girl that Seth had saved. He wasn't sure if it had been days or hours since they had saved her but all he knew was that since then and since bringing her to the hotel neither he or Seth had left her side for long, both taking turns while the other slept.
Lana had examined her and had agreed that she was alive and that from the looks of the entry wound as well as the exit that it seemed it had entered and exited cleanly which meant there was hope the girl would be okay except for some possible brain damage. Now it was just a wait and see on if she woke up or when she'd wake up.
Hearing an intake of a breath as well as a gasp Dean opened his eyes quickly as he raised his gun before looking at the girl in the bed, afraid that she had came back as a walker. Though instead of seeing that he just saw someone who looked scared and helpless giving him a confused look.
"D..don't," The girl whispered as she looked at the man holding a gun on her. Her words were hard to get out and she wasn't even sure where she was much less who he was but all she knew was she didn't want to get shot.
Lowering his gun as the girl spoke Dean looked at her and he sighed. Her speech was off slightly and he figured that was either from being out for so long or being shot or maybe a combination of both, "I won't hurt you," he told her as he locked eyes with her and gave her a smile. It was then that he knew his words were true and he was almost thankful that Seth had saved her. Mainly because her being awake gave him hope that maybe Jacey was still out there because she looked so much like Jacey.
When the man told her he wouldn't hurt her the girl nodded slowly but made a face because it hurt and as she reached a hand up to her head she felt confused when she felt bandages, "What happened?" she asked her words still being hard to get out as she had to think them over before even speaking. "Where am I?"
"We were hoping you could tell us what happened," Dean smiled as he walked a bit closer to the girl in the bed. "We found you lying on the ground all covered in dirt and a gunshot wound to your head. We brought you back here to this hotel room so our friend could fix you up."
"We?" the girl asked feeling confused though the moment she looked into the strange man's blue eyes she almost felt calm as if they reminded her of something or maybe someone though she couldn't place who. Everything was a blur and all she could see in her mind was faces and places but no names. All she could see was a hospital and things went blank. She was a blank canvas.
Dean nodded at her question, "My friend Seth and I," he said seeing her confusion written on her face. "I'm Dean and Seth well he is asleep in the next room. I should probably go tell him you're up," he said as he started to get up.
Seeing the man start to get up the girl reached for his hand, "No," she said stopping him. When he looked at her she again felt calm and almost safe even. She didn't want him to leave her not when she didn't feel safe here, not when everything made no sense. "Don't leave me."
Hearing the girl tell him not to leave Dean just gave her a smile but nodded. Seth could find out when he woke up that the girl they saved was awake. "Do you remember who you are?" he asked as he eyed her. "I know you didn't know what happened but do you know who you are?"
When the man asked her who she was, if she remembered who she was, the girl closed her eyes and the moment she did she heard a bubbly voice in her head, a bubbly voice that belonged to a blonde girl whose name she couldn't remember nor could she remember how she knew the girl but the girl was calling her by a name that just seemed to click and so she found herself repeating that name to the man who had said his name was Dean. The man who had blue eyes that made her feel safe because they seemed familiar in some way, because maybe they reminded her of home somehow, wherever that was for her and she suspected wherever that was, it was a person. A person with blue eyes was her home.
Lucy chewed on her lip as she sat in her girlfriend's apartment. In what felt like the blink of an eye the world had gone to shit though really maybe it wasn't the blink of an eye. The news lately had been showing the increase of people getting sick in different places but today, today seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back and everything outside was chaos, pure and utter chaos.
"I think we need to go somewhere with shelter," a voice spoke and Lucy turned her head to see Seth standing from the couch where he had been sitting beside his girlfriend AJ. Seth and AJ were neighbors of Renee that Renee had let come in here after their friend who had been staying with them had went crazy after suffering from a bite by one of those things on the streets.
"But that means going outside," Renee sighed as she came to sit down beside Lucy. "Outside is chaos. Maybe we should just stay here until the government gets everything under control."
Seth scoffed at Renee's words, "You really think the government can control all that?" he asked knowing what he had seen of what was going on outside was too much. "If that happens it could take months and eventually we are going to run out of food. We need somewhere with food and other stuff to survive like weapons."
"He has a point," Lucy agreed as she turned to look at Renee. Reaching over she ran her hand through Renee's blonde hair, "We can't stay in your apartment for months babe."
"And I need to get this checked out," AJ said as she pointed to the bite on her wrist that her friend Phil had given her after he had went crazy, though AJ swore he had literally died before going crazy but Seth assured her she had been wrong about that and he had only lost consciousness for awhile.
Renee looked down before heaving a sigh, "Fine," she relented knowing she was outnumbered. "We'll go somewhere for shelter," she nodded as she looked up and smiled at Lucy. "But Seth you really need to take AJ to the hospital," she said knowing the bite on her wrist was looking worse all the time. "I know a place Lucy and I can go and we will write directions down for you and AJ to find us after her bite is checked out."
Lucy felt relieved when Renee finally relented to go somewhere else and as she continued to speak Lucy looked at Seth curiously wondering if the man would do what Renee said when she told him to take AJ to the hospital. Lucy wasn't so sure he would but then again she had never really trusted people with two different hair colors and Seth fit that bill with one side of his hair blonde and the other brunette.
Hearing him agree though Lucy just smiled as well and she stayed seated as she watched them both get ready to leave. It was only when Renee went to go write down directions for them to meet up later that Lucy felt anxious and almost like maybe no one should go outside but she knew that was crazy. They had to leave this apartment building. There was no way it would hold up and be of good use to the couples if this thing went on for months.
After AJ and Seth finally left Lucy still sat in her place feeling nervous but when Renee joined her and grabbed her hand Lucy turned to look at the blonde and the moment their eyes locked Lucy knew she'd be okay because she had Renee with and the moment Renee Young had waltzed into her life was the moment things had gotten better and easier for her.
"You ready?" Renee asked as she squeezed Lucy's hand. "We should pack up some stuff and get going."
Lucy nodded her head, "I'm ready as long as you are with me," she smiled before squeezing Renee's hand back as well and she stood to help her girlfriend pack a few of their items.
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That night Lucy frowned as she sat in one of the many tents at the shelter at the local Georgia high school. It was crowded here and chaos as well but mostly everyone seemed to be doing okay. There were armed guards and people from FEMA and they seemed to be keeping the sick people at bay for the time being but every time she heard gunshots Lucy couldn't help but jump and Renee would sling her arm over Lucy's shoulders but right now Renee wasn't here. Renee was off visiting with Seth who had arrived at least an hour ago.
From what Lucy had been able to understand from the distraught guy AJ had died while in the hospital waiting room which had been crowded with other people just like her and according to Seth eventually AJ had came back and tried to attack him much like their friend Phil had done to AJ.
Lucy was perplexed at how that could be but she wasn't questioning that right now. What was the use when it seemed like there was no fix to this. She had hoped things weren't so bad but they did truly seem to be and the more she saw and the more she heard she wanted to go back to Renee's apartment and just forget everything else existed. They could tune out everything and just live in blissful peace.
Hearing a loud scream from outside Lucy sat up straighter as her heart began to beat faster in her chest and she moved out of the tent quickly when she heard more screams followed by the first. It was when she got outside that she saw the scene in front of her and she almost felt as if time had frozen for a bit. Those things, the dead people had gotten past the guards a few of them being feasted on and now they were inching towards the people here at this shelter.
Hearing screams and now gun shots Lucy stayed frozen in place her mind trying to zone things out as people started running in all different directions, some running towards the things coming at them and in the end that seemed to cost them their life, some running away from them and others who happened to be in the crosshairs of the guns and getting shot in the process.
"Lucy!" a voice yelled and Lucy turned to see Renee coming towards her though before she could make it Lucy watched helplessly as one of those things came up behind Renee and bit her right in the neck and the woman she loved, the woman she had hoped to spend her life with fell to the ground as the thing that bit her soon fell on top of her and started to eat her as if she was some meal that it needed to survive.
As much as Lucy wanted to run towards Renee though she didn't. Instead she turned and she ran in the opposite direction and she just kept running not caring that she had somehow left Seth behind in that mess or that she had ran without even grabbing her stuff. All she needed was around her neck in the form of the locket that had been a present from Renee.
By the time the sky was blue and it seemed morning had come Lucy finally stopped running as she collapsed onto the ground in the middle of the woods. Looking up at the sky as she fell to the ground it was then that Lucy broke down in tears and soon drifted off to thoughts of Renee and hopefully death taking her away. Maybe if she was lucky one of those dead people would find her and eat her as she laid here on the ground and slept.
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Waking hours later Lucy opened her eyes and looked around. She knew she wasn't in the woods anymore that was apparent from the bed she had woken up in and she made a confused face as she slowly pulled the covers back and slipped out of this bed. How had she ended up here she wasn't sure but as the door to the bedroom opened she jumped out of fear as she came face to face with a blonde woman who looked almost like a gypsy.
"I see you're awake," Viv smiled as she looked at the redhead. "I was afraid you'd be out for hours."
"Where am I?" Lucy asked ignoring the blondes words and not even thinking of asking the woman who she was.
"You're at my grandmother's farm house," Viv answered as she eyed the redhead. "I found you in the woods and I'm guessing you came from that damn school not too far away. I have been watching it all night mainly because I figured something would happen and I left to come back here to fix myself dinner and on my way back is when I ran into you on the ground."
At the mention of the school Lucy frowned as she felt a lump forming in her throat again. That had been the place where she lost Renee. "I..I was at the school," she nodded her head. She was uncomfortable with the way the blonde woman kept looking at her. "It was overrun by those things...the dead people."
Viv nodded at the woman's words. She could tell from the woman's reaction that she had lost someone at the school, "You lost someone you loved?"
"My girlfriend," Lucy answered as she forced a smile and tried swallowing down the lump in her throat but was unsuccessful in that. "Who are you and why did you bring me here?"
Viv frowned slightly at the redheads words, "I'm sorry," she apologized for her loss. "And my name's Viv and before you ask no it's not short for anything," she smiled as she walked closer to the girl whom she had brought here. "I brought here because I couldn't let you die out there and not to mention that is how I expect to find people in this. I'll find them when their group abandons them or they are lost and then I'll take them under my wings and show them how to survive."
"H..how to survive?" Lucy asked her voice trembling slightly.
"You know how to shoot a gun?" Viv asked curiously watching the woman shake her head no. "How about hunt?" she asked seeing another no. "Use knives as weapons?" again at another no Viv just smiled, "That is where I come in with what I know. I teach you to survive."
Lucy just went silent knowing that made sense but she wasn't sure why Viv thought she needed to do all of that, "But why do all of that?"
Laughing at the woman's confusion Viv shook her head, "Do you see this thing ending anytime soon?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow. "Because I don't and the only way to kill those things is by hitting their brain. The hunting is because that's the best way to find food honey."
"Oh," Lucy muttered as she looked down. She wasn't sure she could get used to this but maybe..maybe if she tried she could.
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Seth groaned as he laid on the hotel bed his group was staying in. It had been a tedious day but they had finally taken the hotel and now they were resting for the night before going out to find supplies and other stuff they needed tomorrow. While they had done something big Seth was just waiting for the bottom to drop because that seemed to be all that ever happened anymore.
It had been almost ten months since all this stuff started and so far things always seemed to get worse even when things would seem to be looking up and it had all started when he lost AJ at that damn hospital and then hours later he had watched Renee die in front of him and somehow he had made it out of that school parking lot safely only to be by himself for three months.
He had been doing good for those three months as well or so he thought but maybe he hadn't. It seemed those three months by himself had just been one slow blur that always ended the same way and that was with him going to bed alone while he thought of AJ. Seth knew it was pathetic but AJ had been his soul mate, the woman he had planned to spend forever with before all this happened he had to adapt to life without her, he had to adapt to life in this messed up world. A life he still wasn't sure he wanted.
Hearing a knock on the door Seth stood from the bed and went to answer it. When he did he raised an eyebrow as he came face to face with Dean, the man whom some considered a leader and also the man who had saved him from near death and brought him into this group seven months ago.
"Couldn't sleep," Dean sighed as he walked past Seth and went into the man's room. "Figured you'd still be awake unlike everyone else."
"How did you know I would still be up?" Seth asked shutting the door behind Dean once the man was in the room.
Dean just laughed as he sat down on the bed in the room, "Seth you've been with us for seven months now. You don't sleep well and I've noticed. I notice most of what the group members do. I know Nikki and Brie both like Roman but he won't get attached to either because he lost his wife. Nikki and Brie haven't really lost anyone yet and Lana..Lana lost her children but she's hanging in there and is happy."
"At least someone has to be happy," Seth muttered as he went to sit down beside Dean.
"Guess so," Dean nodded as he looked at the man who still somehow found a way to day his hair two different colors. "Who did you lose? I know you had to lose someone."
Seth nodded at Dean's words, "My girlfriend AJ," he answered as he said her name out loud for the first time since her death. It felt weird coming out now after so long. "She was bitten during the first day and died at the hospital. I watched a nurse put her down."
Frowning at Seth's words Dean reached over and patted his back, "I lost someone too..well to be honest I don't know if she is alive or dead and that part kills me inside. It kills me so much that her face just keeps haunting me now and that's why I never sleep."
"Who was she?" Seth asked knowing he really didn't know much about Dean. He had always been closer to Roman even if Dean had saved his life.
At Seth's question Dean looked down, "My sister Jacey. The last time I saw her she was leaving to go on a date with her boyfriend Miller."
Seth wanted to offer condolences or some encouraging words to Dean but he didn't because really what could you say to someone who wasn't even sure if their loved one was for sure dead? Instead he just sighed and spoke the first words to his brain, "Why did you save me?"
"Huh?" Dean asked perplexed at why Seth was asking that question. Wasn't it obvious?
"Why did you save me?" Seth asked again as he shrugged. "You could have left me for dead."
Dean just shook his head, "Because we still save people," he muttered. "We aren't that far gone yet."
"When do we get that far gone?" Seth mused as he watched Dean finally look at him again. "When do we finally stop saving people?"
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Seth shook his head as he looked at Dean, ten months had passed since their group had taken the hotel and in those ten months things had changed. The group had gotten a bit bigger though they had also still lost people like Roman and Nikki. Seth had to admit Roman's death had been hard on him and Nikki's death had devastated Brie but both seemed to be doing better now.
Heck the group was thriving and that was why Dean had stepped down as leader and decided to hand the reigns over to Bray who had been with them for eight months. Dean had said he just wanted to head somewhere else, leave Georgia and see if he could find others. There had to be others and he had wanted a change of pace. Something that Seth too had wanted and so he had decided to head out with Dean.
They had left the hotel an hour ago and now they were walking near some farm, "You keep moving this slow and we won't even leave Georgia by tomorrow," Seth teased his traveling companion as he got a little bit ahead of him.
"Yeah, yeah I would be faster if I wasn't the one carrying all our shit," Dean huffed as he walked behind Seth. "Just shut your mouth and keep walking as well as keeping a look out for the biters."
"Yes sir," Seth muttered as he walked even faster and farther away from Dean. As he did though he noticed something on the ground and as he got closer to it he slowed down almost stunned at the sight. There on the ground beside what looked to be an open grave was a girl covered in dirt.
"What in the hell?" he muttered as he ran the rest of the distance to where she was and he bent down. He could see a visible gunshot wound on her forehead and he assumed she was dead but why would someone dig up a dead person?
Reaching to pick her up and maybe try to put her back in the grave Seth made a face as he felt her body. She was warm and the last he checked a dead person, especially one that had been buried shouldn't be that warm. Moving a hand down to check for a pulse he made another face and just stared at her.
How had she survived a gun shot to the head, "Dean!" he yelled out as he turned his head to see his friend off in the distance still. He knew the man would probably rim him a new one for yelling and maybe attracting biters to them but damn it he needed Dean to see this and he needed to know what to do with this girl, this living girl who had survived a gunshot wound to her head, a girl who it now seemed may have gotten herself out of her grave before collapsing again.
Dean who had heard Seth yell for him just gave the man a look as he saw him bent down in front of something and he sighed, "Are you trying to attract every damn biter in hearing distance?" he asked harshly as he got closer.
"No," Seth answered as he looked at the man briefly before looking down at the girl. "But you need to see this." he said as he sighed. "I thought she was dead, she has a gunshot to the head and she had to have been buried in that open grave beside her because she is covered in dirt," he said still not sure if he believed this himself. "But when I went to put her back she was warm and she has a faint pulse."
Stopping in his tracks at Seth's words Dean looked down at the girl and he thought he was seeing a ghost as he looked at her. "You're just delusional," he spoke knowing there was no way anyone could survive a shot to the head. "Now come on so we can finish going on our way."
"I'm not being delusional," Seth spoke as he shook his head, "And I'm not going to just leave her laying here to die for sure," he said as he finally picked her up. "I'm taking her back to the hotel and maybe Lana can help her," he muttered as he brushed past Dean and walked back in the direction they came. It was just an hour away and maybe he could make it if he didn't run into biters. He just knew he couldn't let her die. He had to take her to Lana the woman who had some form of medical knowledge before all of this because she had been a nurse.
"Why are you saving her?" Dean called out after Seth's retreating figure. He was wary on going back and wary on that chick even being alive and maybe a part of him was chilled to see the bullet hole in her forehead because of the fact that she reminded him of an old ghost who still haunted him. She reminded him of Jacey.
Seth paused briefly at Dean's words, "Someone once told me we still saved people. That we weren't that far gone yet," he answered using Dean's own words against him.
At Seth's answer Dean just shook his head and eventually followed after Seth, "I swear if you are wrong about her being alive I am going to kick your ass."
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Dean closed his eyes as he sat in the room with the girl that Seth had saved. He wasn't sure if it had been days or hours since they had saved her but all he knew was that since then and since bringing her to the hotel neither he or Seth had left her side for long, both taking turns while the other slept.
Lana had examined her and had agreed that she was alive and that from the looks of the entry wound as well as the exit that it seemed it had entered and exited cleanly which meant there was hope the girl would be okay except for some possible brain damage. Now it was just a wait and see on if she woke up or when she'd wake up.
Hearing an intake of a breath as well as a gasp Dean opened his eyes quickly as he raised his gun before looking at the girl in the bed, afraid that she had came back as a walker. Though instead of seeing that he just saw someone who looked scared and helpless giving him a confused look.
"D..don't," The girl whispered as she looked at the man holding a gun on her. Her words were hard to get out and she wasn't even sure where she was much less who he was but all she knew was she didn't want to get shot.
Lowering his gun as the girl spoke Dean looked at her and he sighed. Her speech was off slightly and he figured that was either from being out for so long or being shot or maybe a combination of both, "I won't hurt you," he told her as he locked eyes with her and gave her a smile. It was then that he knew his words were true and he was almost thankful that Seth had saved her. Mainly because her being awake gave him hope that maybe Jacey was still out there because she looked so much like Jacey.
When the man told her he wouldn't hurt her the girl nodded slowly but made a face because it hurt and as she reached a hand up to her head she felt confused when she felt bandages, "What happened?" she asked her words still being hard to get out as she had to think them over before even speaking. "Where am I?"
"We were hoping you could tell us what happened," Dean smiled as he walked a bit closer to the girl in the bed. "We found you lying on the ground all covered in dirt and a gunshot wound to your head. We brought you back here to this hotel room so our friend could fix you up."
"We?" the girl asked feeling confused though the moment she looked into the strange man's blue eyes she almost felt calm as if they reminded her of something or maybe someone though she couldn't place who. Everything was a blur and all she could see in her mind was faces and places but no names. All she could see was a hospital and things went blank. She was a blank canvas.
Dean nodded at her question, "My friend Seth and I," he said seeing her confusion written on her face. "I'm Dean and Seth well he is asleep in the next room. I should probably go tell him you're up," he said as he started to get up.
Seeing the man start to get up the girl reached for his hand, "No," she said stopping him. When he looked at her she again felt calm and almost safe even. She didn't want him to leave her not when she didn't feel safe here, not when everything made no sense. "Don't leave me."
Hearing the girl tell him not to leave Dean just gave her a smile but nodded. Seth could find out when he woke up that the girl they saved was awake. "Do you remember who you are?" he asked as he eyed her. "I know you didn't know what happened but do you know who you are?"
When the man asked her who she was, if she remembered who she was, the girl closed her eyes and the moment she did she heard a bubbly voice in her head, a bubbly voice that belonged to a blonde girl whose name she couldn't remember nor could she remember how she knew the girl but the girl was calling her by a name that just seemed to click and so she found herself repeating that name to the man who had said his name was Dean. The man who had blue eyes that made her feel safe because they seemed familiar in some way, because maybe they reminded her of home somehow, wherever that was for her and she suspected wherever that was, it was a person. A person with blue eyes was her home.