Cain's POV

"I need medical supplies." I said as I looked down at Archer.

He was laying on a couch inside the house we had just cleared, breathing very slowly. Reagan and Adam were both sitting in recliners with their shoulders bandaged where they had been shot. Adam had passed out from blood loss and over exertion and blood loss. We had buried our dead group members outside by the shed. Cindy had put Salwa to sleep in an upstairs bedroom after deciding she'd go up there and stay on watch from a small balcony.

"I need more than I have here at least... I know how to save him... but I need stuff to do so." I said as I felt Archer's pulse.

He's very weak... I need to do this now.

"I'll take a few people out to that pharmacy a little ways down the road." Ezekiel responded as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Ok." I said nervously as I stared at my soon to be patient. "I-I'll start with what I've got."

The man gave me a nod and walked out of the house, taking Shiva with him. Jaylen and Abel followed him out.

I looked down at the extremely pale, shirtless teen in front of me on the couch and took a deep breath.

God I really wish Talia was here... or Adam wasn't unconscious... I don't know if I can do this alone... what if I fuck up and make things worse instead of saving him.

"I can't think like that." I muttered quietly as I grabbed the backpack that had all the medical supplies in it.

I pulled everything out of the bag and glanced between the tweezers on the small table next to me and the two bullet holes in Archer's abdomen. I grabbed bottle of hydrogen peroxide and realized it was almost empty.

I really need more stuff.

"I'll have to work with what I've got for now." I whispered as I shook the bottle a little. "I hope they get back from the pharmacy with more supplies soon."

I grabbed a cloth that we had found in a drawer in the laundry room and poured some of the peroxide on it, then poured the rest over the bullet holes. Archer's body tensed slightly and shook some but he stayed unconscious. I then wiped the tweezers and a needle with the cloth to clean them before I set the cloth down on the table and placed the tools down on top of it.

I need more light.

I ran into the kitchen and started digging around the cupboards and drawers until I found a small flashlight. I clicked it on and a dim, flickery beam of light appeared.

Not much life left in the batteries... I'll need to be quick.

I ran back to the living room and went to the couch. Archer seemed to be getting paler by the minute.

Please don't die on us... please... we've already lost so many people.

I grabbed the tweezers and put the flashlight in my mouth so that I could use both my hands while still getting the extra light I needed. I was shaking from nervousness as I placed one hand on the teen's stomach and spread one of the bullet holes apart and readied the tweezers above the wound. I started to put the tweezers in but stopped and pulled them out again.

My hands are shaking way to much... I'm just gonna hurt him more.

"I-I can't do this... I can't." I said as I tossed the tweezers back on the sterilized cloth and stepped back, still shaking intensely. "He's gonna die and it's gonna be my fault."

"Cain, you can do this, Talia has been teaching you how to do stuff like this for months." Reagan said as she stepped over to me and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Look at me Reagan!" I shouted as I turned around, shaking her hands off my shoulders as I did. "I'm a mess! I'm practically vibrating!" I shouted as I put my hands up in front of her.

She grabbed my wrists and held them together, making the shaking stop slightly.

"Cain, you can do this." She said calmly. "You can and you will."

"I-I can't... I n-need help... I need Talia... o-or Adam... or l-literally anyone e-else who has some kind o-of medical h-history." I said as I stared down at the ground, tears falling from my eyes.

"Well Talia isn't here... Adam can't help... and we don't have anyone else." She muttered as she pulled my face up to look at her. "You're all we've got right now."

I shook my head and looked back at the dying boy on the couch.

"If I do something wrong he's gonna die." I whispered. "I-I will have killed him."

"If you don't do anything at all he's gonna die." She responded. "And you'll be the reason he died."

I glanced back at her and then between Archer and the table where the tools sat on the sterilized cloth.

"Ok." I said as I stepped back over to the table.

I was still intensely shaking as I grabbed the tweezers again.

Come on stop shaking... stop it... wait... I have an idea.

I tossed the tweezers back on the cloth and ran into the kitchen.

"Cain!" Reagan shouted from the other room.

I grabbed the large bottle, that I had seen when I was looking for the flashlight, from the cupboard. I looked at the label and read it quietly.

"Eighty proof... I hope that's strong." I whispered. "This better work the way my cousin said it works." I muttered before taking the top off the bottle of whiskey.

I went back into the living room and Reagan's eyes widened as she saw the bottle.

"You're like twelve... maybe thirteen... you know what that is right?" She asked.

Instead of responding I took a swig of the alcohol. I coughed and shook my head as the liquid went down my throat.

"That tastes fucking awful." I said as I put the lid back on the bottle and went to the couch, taking a deep breath as I put the bottle down on the table.

I grabbed the tweezers and spread one of the wounds open again. My hands were still shaking but not as much as they had been.

Doing surgery on myself was much different than doing surgery on another person... I didn't have a friend's life in my hands... I only had my own.

"You got this kid." Reagan said as she placed her hands on my shoulders. "If you need me to do anything just let me know."

I nodded and began digging around in the first wound for the bullet. After about a minute I found it and grabbed ahold of it tightly with the tweezers. Once I had a good grip on the small metal object I began to pull it from Archer's abdomen. The teen began to squirm so I had to stop.

"I need you to hold him as still as possible!" I said stressfully.

I could feel sweat beading on my forehead as Reagan removed her hands from my shoulders and placed them both on Archer's chest to hold him still. Once Archer stopped squirming I began to pull the bullet out again. I pulled the bullet all the way out and tossed it onto the floor before starting on the next wound. As I inserted the tweezers into the bullet hole the front door opened and Ezekiel, Jaylen, and Abel ran in with a few bags of supplies.

"Here." Abel said as the three of them placed the bags of supplies on the floor next to me.

"Thanks." I muttered as I dug around in the hole for the bullet.

Finally I found the projectile and grabbed it with the tweezers then began pulling it from the wound. Archer was still squirming so Ezekiel took over for the injured teen girl beside me. Reagan went back to her chair and sat, grabbing her injury as she did so. My brother and Jaylen stood to the side staring at Archer.

"There... got it." I said as I sat back and dropped the second bullet.

I reached into one of the bags and found a full bottle of peroxide, which I took out and opened to pour some over the two holes in Archer's abdomen. I also found new needles and a spool of medical thread, some pain killers, fresh bandages, and several handfuls of sterilized cloths.

"Cindy still upstairs?" Ezekiel asked as he looked around the first floor. "I have some diapers and formula for Salwa."

"Yeah, she's upstairs keeping watch." I answered as I unspooled some of the medical thread and grabbed a needle.

The man nodded and grabbed the bag he had carried into the house off the floor and went upstairs. I began stitching the wounds closed, and soon finished. I slowly stood up and looked at the pale teen.

I hope I did everything right... if he dies I'm never gonna forgive myself.

I grabbed the bottle of whiskey again and took a swig before taking it back into the kitchen, coughing as I went. I returned the alcohol to its cabinet and went back to the living room where I found Jaylen and Abel staring at me.

"Did you just drink alcohol?" My brother asked.

"Yep." I answered. "I don't recommend."

I went over to Archer's side and gathered all the remaining medical supplies together and went over to Adam and Reagan.

"Help him first." Reagan said as she gestured at the quickly paling man beside her. "He needs the help more than I do."

I nodded and pulled Adam's sleeve up away from his bandaged injury since I hadn't had enough peroxide to clean his or Reagan's wounds and help Archer until now. I removed the bloody bandage and looked at the through-and-through hole in Adam's shoulder. Blood began flowing down his arm again after I removed the cloth. I poured some peroxide over the wound and carefully scrubbed away some of the blood before pouring more of the liquid on the wound. He flinched slightly and his eyes flickered open. I gave him a smile as I grabbed a new needle and unspooled some thread to start to stitch him up. He looked over at his shoulder and blinked several times before looking back at me.

"Well shit." He said quietly. "I was hit bad."

"Yeah, but you'll be ok. I just gotta stitch you up and you'll be fine." I responded as I began stitching. "You'll have a pretty nasty scar though."

"That's fine... I'm used to scars." He replied as he glanced down at the left side of his abdomen. "While I was in Afghanistan there was an explosion... a piece of shrapnel hit me in the side... I was almost killed, but one of my fellow navy hospital corpsmen saved my life." He explained as he lifted his shirt some and revealed a long, jagged scar on his side. "If not for the fact that I got medically discharged for this I would've been in Afghanistan when the dead started rising."

"Where were you when the dead started rising?" Abel asked as he and Jaylen walked over to us.

"Jacksonville... in Florida." The man answered as I finished stitching the front wound and moved to the back. "That's where my family lives."

Did he say lives?

"Um... lives?" Jaylen asked suspiciously.

"Lived... I meant lived... I'm just not used to saying it's where they lived." He answered quietly as he looked down at the ground.

"Oh... I'm sorry." Jaylen said as he frowned.

"It's ok... you didn't know." Adam said as he placed a hand on my friend's shoulder. "I had a wife... two sons... one of them was born after the world fell apart. We were with a group that had formed a few miles outside the city... they ended up not being very good people... they tried to kill me... took my wife and sons into the main city... haven't seen any of them since."

The three of us just stared at him for a minute before I finished stitching the wound shut. Once the stitching was done I wrapped a new bandage around his arm and moved to Reagan. We all stayed in a somber silence as I worked on cleaning, stitching, and rebandaging Reagan's arm. Ezekiel and Cindy came down the stairs, the woman carrying Salwa while feeding her from a bottle.

"We need to get a watch schedule in place." Cindy said as she sat down in a chair that Ezekiel brought in from the dining room. "Start to fortify this place some, even if we don't stay here long. While I was on watch I was checking out the surrounding area and found some weak points that we can easily fix up. But until things are fixed up we are anything but safe here."

I nodded in agreement and packed up all the medical supplies that were left.

"Let's get to work everyone." Ezekiel said as he went towards the door. "Cain, I need you to stay with our wounded friends. Cindy, I need your help out here so leave Salwa here with him. Abel and Jaylen come with me and Cindy to get fortifications in place." The man ordered as he grabbed the door handle and turned back towards the rest of us.

Cindy nodded and gave me the baby girl and and the half empty bottle. Abel and Jaylen walked over to Ezekiel and the three of them headed out while Cindy made me look up at her.

"You ever done this before?" She asked as she gestured at the baby and the bottle.

"No." I answered as I looked at Salwa. "What do I do?"

"Just put the bottle in her mouth, like this." She said as she took Salwa and the bottle from me again then cradled the girl in her arm and held the bottle up with one end in the baby's mouth. "Every now and then she'll stop drinking, when that happens you need to burp her like this." She said as she removed the bottle from Salwa's mouth and held the girl upright with the baby's chin on her shoulder, then the woman gently patted the girl's back until the baby burped. "See, not too hard."

I nodded and took the baby and the bottle back then did as she had demonstrated. She gave me a nod and headed out the door with the others.

Jordyn's POV

Miguel closed his brother's eyes and removed his knife from its sheath before moving the point of the blade against the teen's temple. I placed my hand on his shoulder as he closed his eyes then stabbed the blade into his brother's head. Tears fell from the corners of his closed eyes as he withdrew the blade again. He opened his eyes and leaned his head over until it was leaning against his brother's forehead.

"I-I'm so s-s-sorry... Alejandro." He muttered quietly through his tears.

I moved my hand and took Miguel's knife, cleaned it off, then used it to cut a strip of cloth from the base of my shirt. I dropped the knife, picked the cloth up and wrapped it around Miguel's injury. I tied it as tight as I could then stood up and put my hand on his shoulder once again.

"You're not alone... you know that right?" I asked as he stood up slowly while staring down at his dead brother.

"He was all I had... the only family I had left... now he's gone." Miguel muttered quietly.

"I know how it feels to lose the last of your family." I said as I lifted his head up to look at me instead of the his brother's corpse. "I lost my mom before the world fell apart. My dad was never the same after she died... he sorta closed everyone off... wasn't there for my brother and I. Then the world fell apart and we lost more people... friends and family... we joined Frank's group and I lost both my brother and my dad. They were the last family I had... and they died." I explained as he stared at me, tears falling from his eyes as he listened.

"And how'd you deal with it?" He asked.

I shook my head and sighed before responding.

"I didn't really... still haven't if I'm being honest... every time I close my eyes I see them... their faces... I hear their voices." I stated quietly.

I've never told anyone this before... why am I telling him?

"Anyway, I do have a point behind telling you all that." I said as my reasoning behind telling him all this hit me. "I didn't have anyone there for me. But you do have someone here for you, lots of people, me included." I finished.

He nodded and wrapped his arms around me, placing his head on my shoulder as he did so. I could feel his tears slowly soaking my shirt. I wrapped my arms around him and leaned my head over on top of his.

"Hey, we're ready for him." Carl said as he joined the two of us next to Alejandro's corpse.

Miguel and I separated and the crying boy nodded and looked at his brother as Carl knelt down and grabbed Alejandro's legs. Miguel grabbed the shoulders and the two of them carried the corpse over to one of the graves that the group had dug. Hanna was already laying in her grave with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes closed. Carl and Miguel set Alejandro down in the empty grave. Miguel placed his brother's arms over his chest just like had been done to Hanna and then stepped out of the grave.

Eight of us... that's it... that's all that's left... everyone else is dead or missing.

We all helped fill the graves. Covering our fallen friends bodies with dirt. After a short while the graves were filled in leaving two neat rectangles of damp brown dirt in the ground on one side of the small trail we had been on. We all started walking in a somber silence until Carl stopped us.

"I know that there is nothing that can make this better." He said after turning around to face us. "This new world that we're living in... it's harsh, brutal, and unforgiving. There is so much loss... too much loss." He continued as he glanced around at all of us. "Sometimes the punches don't stop coming... not giving people like us a chance to catch our breath."

We all stared at him as he thought for a short time what to say next.

"But we keep fighting... we keep pushing... we keep on keeping on." He said after the words had come to him. "We fight for us... we fight for our friends... we fight for our family... we fight for those we've lost. Our mothers... fathers... brothers... sisters... boyfriends... girlfriends... husbands... wives... sons... daughters... friends... anyone that we cared for that we lost, they're all still with us." He stayed as he glanced at each person in front of him. "We all have different stories... different people we've lost... different places we've been... but there is one thing we all have in common, the fact that we've all lost so much... homes... friends... family. And that is a stronger bond than just about anything. We've all lost, so we all know what it feels like... and we can all help each other when new losses get added to our ever growing lists. No matter how alone you may think you are, you're not, and you never will be because we all have each other." He finished as he wrapped an arm around his boyfriend and pulled him close.

"I think we need one hell of a group hug after that." Akio said as he placed one hand on my shoulder and one hand on Miguel's.

Everyone gave a slight chuckle before we all squashed as close together as we could and had a group hug. Carl and Ethan squashed in the center of the eight of us.

Maybe I'm not nearly as alone and isolated as I thought... and that's a really nice feeling.

"Ok, enough with all this mushy stuff." Carl said with a smile. "We should get going, otherwise it'll be too dark for us to see anything and we'll need to stop for the night... we'll probably need to stop for the night anyway."

We all agreed and headed on our way. Carl and Ethan in the front of the line, they were followed by Enid and Noah, after them it was me and Miguel, and lastly Talia and Akio. Everyone chatted quietly until it started to get dark. Carl stopped us once again and pointed out a crashed, bright yellow van on the side of the path.

"We'll check that out, make sure it's clear, then spend the night in it." He ordered as he drew his handgun and headed for the vehicle.

Carl's POV

I reached the van first and looked in the dirty back windshield. All the seats were down as much as they could be and there was a pile of blankets against one side. I tapped my pistol on the glass several times and saw no movement anywhere in the vehicle.

"Looks clear to me... nothing but a pile of blankets." I said as I turned back to the group. "Let's get in there, lock the doors, maybe we can all sleep decently tonight."

They all nodded in agreement and I opened the back of the van. We all climbed inside and I made my way all the way to the front. Once everyone was inside and the door closed I clicked the lock button on the driver's side door, all the locks clicked into action.

"Ok, now let's see if we can hang these blankets over the windows, block anyone or anything from seeing inside." I ordered as I crawled over to the pile of blankets and handed them out.

Ethan covered the windshield, Jordyn covered the front driver's side window, Akio covered the front passenger's side window, Talia covered the back driver's side window, Noah covered the back passenger's side window, I covered the very back driver's side window, Miguel covered the very back passenger's side window, and Enid covered the back windshield. Once all the windows were covered we all curled up together and one by one fell asleep until it was just me and Ethan awake.

"That was one hell of a speech you gave earlier." He whispered as he looked at me.

"I guess... I just felt like they needed to hear something... I'm not sure that's what they needed to hear, but it's what I had." I responded.

He nodded and pecked my lips in response.

"Well I thought it was excellent." He said. "It sorta put things into perspective... I'd never thought about it that way before."

"Well I'm glad it was helpful." I replied.

We stared at each other for a moment and then he leaned over and gave me a slow kiss.

"I love you Carl, I love you so much." He muttered as his eyes slowly closed and he maneuvered himself so his head was laying on my chest.

"I love you too." I responded as he fell asleep on my chest.

Soon after my boyfriend had fallen asleep I could feel my eyes closing as well. I wrapped my arms around his body and fell asleep.

Nolan's POV

I can't stay here... not anymore... these people are just as bad as everyone else... my kids are dead because of them.

I silently stood up and looked around the truck. Everyone was asleep and their eyes were all closed. I saw the few bags of supplies that we had sitting in the corner and I went over to them. I opened each bag and started putting all the supplies into one bag. Once I had gathered all the supplies together I zipped the now completely full bag up and opened the back of the truck. I swung the bag over my shoulder and jumped out of the truck before closing it once more.

"I'm coming Leah." I said as I turned around and headed in the direction we had come from.

I had been walking for a while when I saw a walker in front and to the right of me. The crunching of the leaves under my feet attracted its attention and it stumbled towards me. When it got closer I saw that it was Najib. I sighed and drew my knife as the zombified man got closer, and once he was close enough I drove my knife into his head, putting him down. His corpse dropped and I yanked my knife from his head before continuing on my way to find my daughter.

"Where are you baby girl... where are you?" I asked as I walked.

A moaning sound came from in front of me, just outside my field of view. I stopped and began looking around for the source of the noise. Soon I saw the walker come out of the woods towards me.

"Oh L-Leah... baby I'm s-so sorry... I w-wanted t-to help y-you... I-I really did... but Carol d-dragged me a-away." I said as I fell to my knees and put my hands on my face.

My zombified daughter continued to come closer to me, moaning and snarling as she did.

I could just let her get me... I've lost my daughter... I've lost my son... I have nothing and no one to keep fighting for.

Suddenly a figure came out of the woods.

"What are you doing dumb ass?!" A young man's voice shouted.

I saw the person unholster a pistol and I jumped up from the ground. He aimed at my daughter's head but I tackled him before he could pull the trigger.

"That's my daughter!" I shouted as he shoved me off of him. "You leave her be!"

"Your daughter is gone!" The man responded angrily. "Wake the fuck up and realize that!"

I stared at him as my daughter stumbled towards us. She was getting closer until her foot got caught under a tree root and she collapsed. The man stood up and glared at me before putting his hand out in front of him and held it there. I grabbed it and he helped me stand up.

"Look... I'm sorry about your daughter... but that isn't her anymore." The man said.

I sighed and looked over at the struggling corpse of my daughter.

He's right... I have to put her down... she's gone.

"You're right... I-I'll put her down." I said as I walked over to my daughter's corpse.

I held her head down and readied my knife to stab through her temple.

"I'm so sorry baby... I-I'm so, s-so sorry." I said before driving the point of the knife through her head, instantly making her stop moving

Suddenly something slammed into the back of my head and I fell over. My vision was blurry and turning black at the edges. I could see the man looking down at me as he tossed a tree branch to the side.

"Sorry dude, but I gotta bring you back." He said, though his voice sounded distant.

I felt him grab my arm and start to drag me through the forest. But before I could figure out where he was taking me I blacked out.

-Time Skip-

"Wake that bastard up." A woman's voice ordered. "I need to talk to him."

Suddenly water splashed over my head and snapped me back to full consciousness. I instantly started looking around the room I was in. The entire room was dimly lit from a flickering lantern, there was a door in the center of the wall that I was looking at, I was tied down to a chair at a circular wooden table. A woman sat directly across from me with another woman next to her, two men stood against the wall with the door, one of them holding a dripping bucket.

"Who the hell are you people?!" I asked as I tried to get myself untied.

"My name is Angela, I believe our groups have been clashing for a while now." The woman across from me stated. "This is Alesia, my second in command." She said as she gestured at the woman next to her. "Those two are Vladimir and Declan. Declan is the one that brought you in, and he got himself a promotion for it."

The man, who looked to be no older than his late teens, that I vaguely recognized from the woods gave me an apologetic look before looking down at the ground.

"Where the fuck am I?" I asked.

"You are exactly where you need to be right now." Angela answered as she placed her hands on the table in front of her. "I wanna talk business."

"What do you mean?" I asked suspiciously.

"Well, I really don't want to kill or hurt you... but I will if I need to... if you don't answer my questions honestly like I've been answering yours honestly." The woman answered.

"What do you want from me?" I asked.

"I want you to answer a few questions, that's it." She answered.

"Ok... what do you wanna know?" I asked.

"How many of your people made it off that farm alive?"

"Honestly, I don't know for sure... the only certainties I have is that before your guy knocked me out I had been with four others." I answered. "But I took all the supplies and left... they wouldn't let me save my daughter after your people shot her... I couldn't stay with them after that."

"My people shot your daughter? Really? Because I told them to keep the kids alive, and you don't look old enough to have a daughter any older than fifteen... sixteen maybe." She stated as she looked back at Vladimir.

"There was one kid killed in my ambush... not his daughter though, couldn't have been." The man responded.

Angela then looked over at Alesia who was staring at the table.

"Did your group kill his daughter?" Angela asked.

"I... yes ma'am... but I took care of it, killed the one that killed her." Alesia answered.

Angela sighed and shook her head in disappointment before looking back at me.

"I'm sorry for your loss... I know what it's like to lose a child... I lost my son." She said as she looked at me. "Anyway, where are those four people you were with?" She asked.

"I'm not gonna tell you. Just because I'm not with them anymore doesn't mean I want them to die." I answered.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Nolan." I answered.

"Well, Nolan... those people are the ones who killed your daughter right?" She asked. "I mean, yeah, my person pulled the trigger, but your people... they left her to die. They're the ones who killed her."

"I... no... I'm not telling you where they are." I said.

This lady is getting to me... trying to mess with my mind... trying to get what she wants.

"You know I'm right Nolan... why does it matter to you what happens to the people that killed your daughter?" She said as she stared at me and began twiddling her thumbs. "You said it yourself... you're not with them anymore... you can join us, we'll help you get justice for your daughter."

"Stop messing with my head." I said angrily.

"I'm not messing with your head... it's the truth and you know it... we can help you... but you have to help us first." She said as she reached over the table and placed her hands on my arms.

I stared at her for a minute then sighed.

What do I have to lose... I've already lost everything.

"If you take me back to where Declan found me I can get you to them." I stated as I stared at the floor. "I just have one request."

"What is it?" Angela asked.

"After you get them... just kill me... I don't wanna live in a world where neither of my kids are around anymore." I said sadly as I looked up at her.

"Ok, Nolan... I promise." She said as she gave me a smile. "After we get those people we'll kill you."

Ok guys, that's all for this chapter. I'm so sorry it took me so long to get it out, there's been a ton of shit going on recently.

Question Time!

1. Do you think Archer is gonna live?

2. Were you expecting Cain to drink alcohol?

3. Any thoughts on Adam's past since you learned a little more of it?

4. Any thoughts on Jordyn's and Miguels's chat?

5. Any thoughts on Carl's speech?

6. How'd you feel about Nolan leaving and taking the supplies?

7. Any thoughts on Angela playing mind games with Nolan?

8. How do you feel about Nolan's request?

Ok that's it for now guys, like I've said a couple times I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out.

THANKS FOR READING!