Wildfire.

CHAPTER FIVE , ANIMOTOPHOBIA

a/n : this chapter is a long one fyi

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The morning was quiet, besides the sounds of shovels digging into the dirt and people in smaller groups; discussing what the next move should be.

Reese had been shoveling and moving bodies around for a couple of hours. Despite her saying how much she wasn't a part of this group, she still took her time doing her part.

Some survivors were grateful for her help. While others just stared at her like she was doing something wrong...

Or she had already done something wrong.

Reese lifts the pickaxe again and brings it down on the dead's head. She rips the pickaxe from its skull and huffs.

"Hey, Reese."

The teenager turned her head to the side and saw the group of adults motioning her to join them. Reese sucked in a deep breath before rolling her eyes. She knew that there was going to be a conversation sooner or later with herself and the "leaders" of this group. But she didn't think it'd be right now. Even Reese understood that this wasn't appropriate timing.

Reese drops her pickaxe and walks over to the group. She pulls the black bandana from around her mouth and squints the sun out of her eyes. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah, we have a little bit of an issue here." Shane voices, his hands on his hips.

Reese nods her head with her brows furrowed. "Yeah, yeah. I agree." She scratched the side of her neck. "Amy's dead and you guys haven't pulled Andrea off of her."

The group of adults tense from her voice that wasn't afraid to be heard. Lori shifted her eyes over to Andrea, who still had her hand in Amy's.

"That's...not what we were talking about, sweetie." Lori looks back at Reese. The woman's tone was soft.

Reese folds her arms and her entertained smirk drops. "I know." She sighs. "This is about the gun, right?"

The adults all exchange a look.

"Yeah. You told us you had nothing but those knives." Rick says.

"Then last night you pull one out and fire it like you know how to use it—"

"I do know how to use it." Reese squints her eyes.

That makes Shane laugh. Reese raises her brows, "Look, I might not be some country hick cop," She cocks her head to the side, obviously throwing a shot at the Georgians. It forced Shane to clench his jaw. The teen raises her brows out of entertainment. She just realized that pissing adults off was so much more satisfying than fucking with Logan.

"but I know how to defend myself." She holds her arms out. "I kept that gun—my gun because I knew I would need it."

"You didn't have to lie about it," Lori says. "If we can't even trust you to tell us the truth...how can we trust you at all?"

Reese looks at the three adults. "Did you trust Merle?" She looks at each of them. "I'll answer that for you. The answer is "no". You didn't. You didn't trust him and yet he was able to be a part of this group still." She inhales a breath, reluctant to voice this next part. "I can't believe I'm making this comparison, but...you don't have to trust me for me to be here."

Reese lets out a dry chuckle, "Hell. I'd be worried if you did trust me."

"You're not giving us much reassurance, Reese." Rick's voice was more gentle than Shane's, but there was still a firmness to it.

Reese blinks, "Okay?" She scoffs. "Look, I'm not trying to stay with this group long anyway. I just need to figure out what my next move is and where I wanna go. Then my gun and I will be out of your lives." She then folds her arms, almost challenging Shane. "Am I dismissed, pig number 2 or do you want to continue this conversation after that traumatizing fish fry last night? Great idea by the way—"

"All right, that's enough." Shane cuts her off. "Normally when people first join a group, they don't make their opinions so heard—"

"I'm not most people, pig—"

"I think we can table this conversation for later," Lori speaks, both her hands up between the teen and the man.

"There's nothing else to talk about." Reese huffs. "I'm keeping my gun—"

"Not if you want to stay here."

Reese whips her head around to Rick and she squints her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"It's only as a precaution," Lori reassures.

"I saved your son's ass last night, and this is how you repay me?" Reese points at Shane. "You should be kissing the ground I walk on right now."

Shane looks to the side and lets out a laugh. A laugh that dismissed Reese and her abilities. Reese's jaw clenches and she feels her frustration begin to rise. "You know what?" She pulls her gun from her waistband. The three adults are all tense. Reese holds the gun out to Lori, but she keeps her eyes glued on Shane. "Take it, before I use it on someone living."

The teenager turns on her heel and pulls the bandana over her mouth again. She quickly grabs the pickaxe from the ground and slams it into another head, imagining it being someone in particular.

...

Logan flinches every time Reese brings the axe into the corpse's head. Reese pulls the pickaxe out and lets out a sharp breath. She noticed out of the corner of her eye, the girl was fidgeting. So, she looked back at her. Logan immediately tensed from the girl's dark-eyed gaze. Reese doesn't utter a word, she just looked the Grimes girl. Logan folds her arms and tries her best to return that same intimidating gaze. Normally, Logan is all for a good glare-down. But after last night, she couldn't stop thinking about how not only did she almost die but her family did too. Reese could see it in Logan's shaky emerald green eyes. Logan was scared and she felt unsafe.

Reese lets out a small breath through her nose and her shoulders sag. She had to admit, she felt a little bad not seeing the usual cold angry look across Logan's face. Reese drops the pickaxe on the ground and digs into her pocket. She grabs her pocket knife and holds it out to the brunette. Logan keeps her eyes on the knife, "What?"

"Take it." Reese shrugs a shoulder.

Logan shakes her head, "My mom and dad just took your gun. You sure you don't need that?"

Reese lets out a breath—Still pissed about what happened earlier. "Believe me, I'll get my gun back."

Logan slightly tilts her chin up in interest. She didn't know how Reese would do it, but Logan knew it would be interesting to watch it happen. Logan then shifts her eyes back to the knife, she inhales a breath, and looks to the side. Reese lets out a huff, "Look, I know you're scared--"

"Fuck you, I'm not scared." Logan quickly snaps.

Anyone would be caught off guard or even frightened by the intense and fiery gaze Logan normally gave. But not Reese. If anything, Reese could radiate the same energy as the Grimes girl.

"Oh, come on, Lo Lo." Reese waves the knife back and forth. "If you want people to take you seriously, then you're gonna have to show them."

Logan's jaw tightens. Reese then shrugs shoulder, "Can't be serious without a weapon."

The brunette exhales softly before grabbing the knife. Logan hated that Reese was actually making sense. "You do know that even though you had a weapon, no one took you seriously, right?"

Reese scoffs, "Yeah, what's up with that?" she tilts her head to the side. "Fucking adults, man..."

Logan lets out a small breath of agreeance. "Tell me about it. Especially those three." she motions her head to Rick, Lori, and Shane. "Had them around me my whole life...doesn't get any easier."

Reese picks the pickaxe up again, "Well, that's what I'm not going to miss when I leave."

Logan raises her brows, "You're leaving?"

"Yeah."

Logan shifts, "Soon?"

Reese stops and turns to Logan. The 15-year-old shrugs a shoulder, "You know I still don't like you, right?"

"Yeah, I kinda got that." Reese holds the pickaxe out to the girl. Logan blinks, "What am I supposed to do with that?"

Reese deadpans. Logan's back straightens and looks back at the pickaxe. There was no way Reese wanted her to...

Logan slowly reaches for the pickaxe, her hand beginning to shake. Her fingers slightly brush against Reese's and she grabs the neck of the pickaxe. Reese motions her head over to another corpse, "This one."

Logan looks down at the body, the smell of death filling her nose. She lifts the pickaxe and brings it down to the corpse's head. The hard crack from the skull makes her stomach turn. Despite the sickening sounds and the blood splattering across her Converse and jeans, she felt lighter. Like, she released her anger and suppressed emotions into that action. Logan inhales a breath and brings the pickaxe down into the corpse, this time in its chest. Reese raises her brows as Logan continues to hit the body over and over again.

Logan lets out a small cry when she drops the pickaxe and turns to Reese. The 16-year-old frowns, "You've got a little..." she moves her hand around her face. Logan wipes the splattered blood from across her face. Reese then sends her a thumbs-up. Logan notices the camp is a lot quieter than normal, she looks around and everyone is looking at her.

Logan's body tenses and her face flushes with embarrassment. Once again, she was looked at like she had a problem. Logan wipes her sweaty palms on her jeans and turns away from the group. She walks away, brushing past Reese. Logan just needed to be alone, without everyone judging her. Logan enters her tent and collapses to her knees, letting out the breath she had been holding. As much as that gave her some form of relief, Logan didn't want to be desensitized to this stuff. Maybe she wasn't ready to grow up just yet.

"Logan?"

The brunette's entire body lurches and turns her head. Carl was sitting in the corner of the tent, his knees pulled towards his chest. "Carl..." she lets out a soft breath. Carl looks down at her shirt, noticing the blood splattered across it. "Are you okay?"

Logan looks down at her bloodied shirt. "Yeah, I was just helping them out, out there." she crawls over to her brother and sits beside him. "Are you okay?"

Carl looks at the ground, his eyes burning from the tears he'd shed in the past few hours. "They were everywhere...the monsters." his voice was weak.

Logan's chest tightens and she nods her head. "Yeah, they were, bud."

Carl looks at his big sister. "I'm glad Dad got here in time."

A smile forms on Logan's lips. "Me too."

Carl lays his head on his sister's shoulder. She smiles softly and leans her head against Carl's.

☆

Shane made it known to his son, he wanted him to help move the bodies. But, Elliot chose to watch after Carl and Sophia instead. He wasn't like his father. He wasn't super eager to show his violent side. He didn't even know if he had a violent side. But, one thing Elliot did know is that his father was disappointed in him. Elliot has tried to be this strong masculine type, but it wasn't him. It made his skin crawl pretending to be something he wasn't.

He was happy not being the one everyone turned to, to defend the camp. Elliot was fine with not killing walkers. He just wanted to be a kid for fuck's sake.

Shane saw Elliot talking to Sophia and Carl from afar. His eyes shift from Elliot and looks at Reese, who is easily helping the others with dragging the bodies. Shane couldn't stop this deep anger from forming in his chest. Recently, Reese has been questioning him. She was an impressive survivor. Shane couldn't believe a teenage girl was able to survive this entire time by herself. And Reese obviously had a certain power over Elliot.

A power that Shane didn't like.

"Eli!"

Elliot jumps from the sudden voice raise of his father. He looks at the kids, "I'll be right back, okay? Don't start the game without me." he points at the kids sternly. Then he softly smiles and jogs toward his dad.

"Hey, what's up?"

Shane stands there for a moment, trying to find the right words. He places his hands on his waist and hangs his head low. Elliot pulls his brows together and tilts his head.

"Here's the thing, kiddo." Shane places a hand on his son's shoulder. "Recently, I've noticed that you haven't been pulling your weight."

Elliot blinks, "I do my chores." he chuckles. "What other weight do I--"

"You're not pulling your weight as a man."

Elliot feels his stomach drop. "Oh." he looks to the ground.

These conversations have been something the father and son had shared for a while. Before the world fell, Shane would always talk to Eli about his masculinity and how it wasn't easily portrayed for everyone to spot. Elliot would always cry after those talks. It felt like he wasn't fulfilling his job as a good son. But, when the world had come to an end; those talks stopped. Shane and Elliot had other things to worry about.

So, having this conversation come up again; especially in a moment like this. It was nerve-wracking.

"Look, son, Jacqui and Reese. They're helping Daryl, Jimmy, and T-Dog over there." Shane says. "And earlier, I saw Logan doing the same."

Elliot puts more weight on his left leg than on his right. "They seem like they've got it handled." he lets out a dry chuckle. "I would just get in the way."

"Eli, that's just an excuse."

"It's an excuse that makes sense." Elliot quips.

Shane sighs and looks to the side. "All right, here..." he reaches in the back of his waistband and pulls out a black handgun. Elliot pulls his brows together. It was the same black handgun Reese used last night.

"Wait, that's Reese's." Elliot points out. "You took her gun from her?"

"No kid should have a gun. Especially her."

"What does that mean, especially her?" Elliot squints his eyes, noticing his father's tone.

Shane rolls his neck, "Reese, is not a good person."

Elliot rolls his head to the side with a huff. "Dad, c'mon."

"I'm serious, Eli." Shane says. "And I've noticed you've been talking to her and staring at her--"

"You're saying that like I'm a weirdo or something." Elliot scrunches his nose.

"I'm saying it as a father who is worried that his son has a crush on the wrong girl."

Elliot's face was deep red at this point. Shane holds the gun out to Elliot. The 16-year-old boy raises his brows. "Dad, I can't take the gun."

"Yes, you can." Shane nods his head. "And you're going to. That's an order."

"An order?" Elliot chuckles. He then notices his father's serious expression. Elliot deadpans, "Dad, this is nuts."

"Everyone should learn how to use a gun." Shane says. "I've been coddling you for too long. You need to learn."

"I'm 16!"

"And Logan is 15." Shane's voice was stern. It caused Elliot to slam his mouth shut.

"She's 15 and she wants to learn about this stuff already. She wants to be prepared." Shane scoffs. "And you can't even hold a gun?"

A shame cloud forms over Elliot's head. Shane sighs, "Look, I won't be here forever."

Elliot's eyes burn. He didn't want to hear this. The boy couldn't even imagine losing his father, he saw what it did to Logan and Carl. It shook him to his core. Elliot didn't want to be alone.

"While you're learning. I will be with you every step of the way, all right?" Shane grips Elliot's shoulder and searches his eyes. "I promise."

Elliot keeps his glassy eyes on Shane's and nods his head. He grabs the cold gun and he swallows the lump in his throat. It was heavier than he realized. Shane cracks a small smile.

"Then show me!"

Elliot turns his head to see Jacqui and Jimmy standing in front of each other. Jimmy says something to Jacqui, that only she could hear before the woman speaks aloud.

"A walker got him--a walker bit Jim."

Shane instantly steps in front of his son with his gun in hand. It made Elliot's stomach turn thinking about his father's first instinct being to squeeze his gun tighter. Especially with someone who they've gotten to know as friends.

On the other side of the camp, Reese's eyes never left Jimmy. She was a few feet away from him, standing right beside Glenn.

"Show it to us!" Daryl points at Jimmy's shirt.

Jimmy's breathing quickens and his panic rises. Out of instinct, he grabs the shovel off the ground and points it at the group.

"Jimmy put the shovel down."

T-Dog was closest to Jimmy. So he was able to grab Jimmy's arms and pull him back.

Daryl lifts Jimmy's shirt, revealing the bite mark. A devastating silence fills the camp except for Jimmy repeating the words,

"I'm okay."

☆

Reese keeps her brows furrowed when she sees Jimmy sitting against the R.V. Alive. She walks over to the group of adults, interrupting their conversation. "Hey," she points at the man sitting near the R.V. "why the hell is he still alive?"

Daryl points at the teenager. "At least someone's making sense 'round here."

Shane looks to the side and sighs softly. "Listen, Reese—"

"He's been bit. There's nothing we can do for him." Reese states.

"Jim's our friend." Logan sighs.

Reese softly scoffs, "I'm sorry, Logan. But from what I've seen, you aren't friends with anyone except your brother—"

"Fuck you, Reese." Logan lunges toward the girl. Rick grabs his daughter's arm and lightly pulls her back.

"Enough, you two." Lori softly speaks.

"Your voice is not a part of this discussion." Shane brushed Reese off.

Reese holds her hands up and dramatically gasps. "Am I not a trusted member of this team?" She entertains the conversation.

"No. You're not."

Reese then smirks and raises her brows. "Okay, fair."

Daryl says something about killing Jimmy and then Amy.

"And u don't normally like to side with Rednecks, but I guess we're all going a little crazy recently. But Daryl's right. You kill Jimmy now and finish the job with Amy—"

"We're not doing it." Shane's tone was firm.

Reese slams her jaw shut and looks at each of the adults like they have completely lost their minds. She then lets out a scoff. "Un-fucking real, man." Reese walks away from the group.

"Logan."

The brunette turns to her dad. "Yeah?"

"Can you look after Carl for a little bit?"

Logan raises her brows, "You're shooing me off, seriously?"

"It's not that, sweetheart," Lori speaks. "There's just some hard topics we need to discuss that we don't want you to overhear."

Logan looks into her mom's glassy eyes and her chest tightens. Lately, Lori and Logan have been getting along. And Logan really has been enjoying it, it was almost like old times. It made Logan warm. And the girl didn't want to ruin that. "Yeah, I'll go hang out with Carl." She presses her lips into a small smile and walks away from the group.

Logan has walked back to the small group with Sophia, Carl, and Elliot in the grass. Elliot looks at the brunette and notices her troubled expression. Carl and Sophia were busy playing, so Elliot took the time to check in on her.

"You okay?"

Logan looks at Elliot and a small breath leaves her lips. "Jimmy..." her voice was soft. "They were talking about...killing him."

Elliot's eyes widen. He knows that Jimmy was bit, but choosing to kill him was awful.

"Daryl, Reese, Dale—even Dale." Logan softly scoffs. "Jimmy is our friend and to not be able to do anything for him...I hate it."

Elliot keeps his brows pulled together, registering the words. "Reese...she wanted to kill Jimmy?"

Logan blinks, "I mean, yeah, but I was just shocked about Dale agreeing with those two." She shakes her head. The brunette looks over at Elliot, noticing that he is taking this information hard. Logan raises her brows, "Do you like her?"

Elliot's face begins to flush and he snaps his eyes back over to Logan. "No—no. I barely even know her."

"Okay, then you have a crush on her—"

"I don't."

Logan then raises her brows, "Oh, you sooo do!" She nudges Elliot's arm hard enough to push him to the side. He softly grunts, "Can you please keep your voice down?"

Logan looks around and spots Reese dragging a body away from camp. She then frowns, "I don't think she'll hear you. And no one cares enough actually to tell her that you like her—"

"Crush. There's a difference between liking someone and having a crush on someone."

Logan then smirks, "So, you admit that you have a crush on her."

Elliot's face was beet red at this point. Logan softly giggles, "Hey, I get it. She's pretty. I think she's a bitch, but she is pretty."

Elliot shakes his head, "That's not funny." He picks at the grass.

Logan frowns, "Not funny--haha, but it was still pretty funny."

Before the teens could continue to joke, Daryl's voice rises which catches the whole group's attention.

"You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do." Daryl tightens his grip around the pickaxe. He pivots his foot and stalks toward Jimmy. "Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" he raises the pickaxe. Logan's eyes widen and she quickly shoots out of her seat. Elliot instantly reaches for her hand out of fear.

As the two teens watched along in fear, the newfound survivor was praying for that pickaxe to hit Jimmy's skull. Then her worries for her life would be gone, just for a moment.

But as quick as Daryl raised the pickaxe was as quick as Rick pulled his python out of its holster. He pressed the gun against the base of Daryl's skull, causing the redneck to freeze with the tool still raised above his head.

"We don't kill the living."

Daryl turns to Rick. He flits his eyes to the barrel of the gun then back at Rick. "That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head."

Shane then steps in front of Jimmy. 'We may disagree on some things, but not on this. You put it down."

Daryl then looks at Shane, not moving.

"Go on."

Daryl lets out a harsh huff and drops the pickaxe to the ground and walks away. Rick quickly grabs Jimmy and ushers him away from the group. Reese's eyes follow Jimmy as he's led into the RV.

☆

Andrea could hardly feel her legs from how long she had been sitting on the gravel. The numbness of her legs began to travel through her whole body. Even her mind. She could feel her sister's hand. It was ice cold. Andrea would continue to cry about it, but all her tears were gone.

The sound of gravel crunching under feet causes her to be pulled from her heavy thoughts. Even so, she still kept her eyes on her baby sister's cold face.

Elliot sits on the other side of Amy's body with tears already in his eyes. "I just...I came to say goodbye."

Andrea stays silent but she pushes her lips into a small line out of gratitude. The boy sits with his legs crossed, his eyes never leaving Amy's face.

"You were always nice to me." Elliot speaks, his voice soft. The brunette boy lifts his head and looks at Andrea. "She offered to teach me how to fish."

Andrea lifts her head and looks at the boy. Elliot sniffles, "I wanted to help the group more. And Amy was kind enough to offer."

Andrea's eyes soften and she looks back down at her sister. Elliot lifts his head once again when he hears footsteps approaching. Dale walks stands beside Andrea and gives Elliot a small smile. Elliot returns the same smile of kindness.

"I just came to pay my respects." Dale sits beside Andrea and takes his hat off.

A silence settles around them. Elliot draws a circle into the gravel. Dale glances at Andrea, "Did I ever mention how I lost my wife?"

Elliot's finger stop fidgeting with the gravel. He doesn't look at the two, but he does listen.

Andrea takes a moment to answer. "Cancer, wasn't it?"

Dale nods his head, "Yeah. I dragged her to every doctor, every test, and after all the surgeries, and all the chemos...she was ready."

"She accepted it, you know? But I never could." Dale continues. "And I spent the last few years so angry. I felt so cheated. Since she passed. You girls were the first people...that I cared anything for."

Andrea finally pulls her eyes away from Amy and looks at Dale with a small smile. Andrea digs in her pocket and pulls out a wrapped gift. Elliot pulls his brows together, but judging from the way Dale's expression dropped—he knew.

"This is her birthday?"

Elliot's mouth opens and a small breath escapes his lips.

"Her birthday was always like—like a week long affair." Andrea says. "But I somehow always missed it. I was away at college or too busy for kid's parties."

Elliot could feel a lump form in his throat once again.

"She'd call all excited. I always said that I'd make it home and I really always meant to, but I never makes it past that phone call."

"I know things are hard enough for you without adding guilt into the mix, huh?" Dale softly speaks.

Andrea unwraps the gift without another word and she clips the necklace around Amy's neck. Elliot looks up at Dale and the man's eyes read that it was time to give Andrea space. The boy follows Dale's lead by standing up and walking away from the grieving sister.

...

Reese couldn't stop staring at the R.V. and she just couldn't help herself after everyone left to bury and burn the bodies. She pinches her lower lip with her brows pulled together. This group was too blinded by their friendship with Jimmy to do what had to be done. But her mind was always filled with the worst case scenario. Then she deals with that worst case scenario before it comes to life. That's how she's survived for so long.

Shoot first.

Reese pulls her knife from her boot and stalks toward the R.V. She walks up the steps and pushes the door open. Inside the R.V. It was far hotter than out. And Reese could see that from Jimmy's drenched skin. Or maybe that was rhetorical infection taking its toll. Reese's grip around the knife tightens. Her boots creak against the R.V. floor with every step she took. As she got closer to the bed, she raised her knife. Before she could plunge her knife into Jimmy's brain, his eyelids slightly raised and his eyes met hers.

"Hey."

Reese's movements halt from the soft voice. Jimmy softly smiles, "What are you doing here, Georgie?"

Reese pulls her brows together, "What?" Her voice was firm but there was a slight shakiness to it. Why am I shaking?

"You're supposed to be getting ready for bed, aren't ya?" Jimmy chuckles. "That's what your mom wanted."

Reese's stomach tightens and so does her throat. Jimmy closes his eyes and Reese softly curses from her hesitation. Jimmy opens his eyes again and Reese quickly lowers the knife. "Reese?"

She slightly opens her mouth, "Uh—Hey, Jimmy."

Jimmy opens and closes his mouth. "Would you...could you hand me some water, please?"

Reese swallows, "Sure, sure..." she turns around and grabs the water flask. She pops the cap off and walks over to Jimmy. Reese gently lifts his head up and slowly gives him some water. After the water, Reese sets his head back on the pillow. Jimmy lets out a breath, "Thank you." A weak smile was on his lips.

Reese tenses. And without another word, she sets the water down and quickly exits the R.V. She inhales a shaky breath and exhales a sharp one. Reese has never hesitated before. So, why the hell did she now?

And for some odd reason, anytime Reese tried to come up with a plausible reason for hesitating she would see Elliot in her head.

☆

The whole group had ended up around the campfire, waiting for Rick, Shane, and Dale to come back from hunting. The group had no plan on where to head next. All they knew was that Rick and Shane had different ideas about where they were wanting to head to.

Logan was sitting close to Carl, her arm was wrapped around his shoulders and he was laying his head against her arm. Elliot was sitting on the other side of Logan with Sophia on his other side. The brunette boy would glance over at Reese every now and then, wondering if she was okay. He didn't see her when they buried Amy, so he figured she stayed behind. Elliot understood that especially since she barely knew them.

But once the group got back from burying the bodies, he noticed Reese was out of it like she had just witnessed something awful.

Reese couldn't tell anyone about what was bothering her (she wouldn't share anything about herself anyway). If she did then that means she would have to mention her attempt to kill Jimmy while everyone was burying their friends. And the girl was already on thin ice from her gun that she didn't tell anyone about. So, Reese decided to do what she had always done. Deal with her shit herself.

The three men emerge from the forest. Shane sets his gun aside, "I've been, uh--I've been thinking about Rick's plan."

Logan shifts her gaze to Shane and her jaw tightens. Just being around him pissed her off.

"Now, look there are no--there are no guarantees either way." Shane continues. "I'll be the first one to admit that."

"I've known this man a long time," Shane admits. "I trust his instincts."

Logan squints her eyes at him and she suppresses the urge to scoff at those words.

"I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together," Shane advises. "So, those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning."

"Okay?"

Before anyone could say anything, Reese took this time to push her body off the tree and walk away from the group. Elliot watched the brunette hurry away from the group and his back straightened. He quickly stood and followed after the girl. Before he could catch up to her, Reese entered her tent and shut the flap behind her.

Now, Elliot was standing in front of the tent entrance while fidgeting with his fingers. "Uh, Reese?"

"Yeah?"

Elliot let out a soft breath, "Is everything okay?"

The flap to the tent is pulled back. At first, Elliot was relieved to see that she was okay. Then his eyes shifted to the bag in her hand. "You're leaving."

Reese gave Elliot a curt nod. "Yeah. I'm leaving." she walked back into her tent and continued to stuff it with her materials. Elliot then stepped into the tent and sat on the floor with his legs crossed. "Why? I thought you liked it here."

Reese softly scoffed, "Your daddy took my gun after I saved your life." she turned to him. "I don't care that you guys don't trust me. But I don't like my things being taken from me."

"There's nothing for me here anyway." Reese huffed. "I don't mesh with everyone else. I can't keep being on my toes around people I don't trust myself."

"We're not gonna hurt you, Reese. You're safe here--"

"Only for a moment." Reese cut him off. "But you guys are wanting to go to this CDC place and it's bullshit." she zipped her bag. "You should all stay on the move at all times. Cut your losses before it's too late."

"Like what you're doing?"

Reese shifted to him, "Exactly."

"You have nowhere to go," Elliot stated.

"I've never had anywhere to go." Reese simply replied.

Elliot watched as Reese walked past him and out of the tent. Before she could fully make it out, Elliot grabbed her wrist. Reese tensed and snapped her eyes over to him. Elliot opened and closed his mouth. The girl obviously didn't like the physical contact at the moment. And from the cold expression across her face, it seemed like she was going to punch him if he didn't say anything worthwhile. "W-We need you, Reese." he speaks truthfully. "Some people here, you're right—they don't like you. But they know that you can survive."

Reese's eyes stayed Elliot, her face was unreadable and it caused Elliot to grow nervous. He wasn't ready to see her go.

"I need you here, Reese." Elliot's tone was a lot softer than before and his face was hot with pink dust across his face. Reese's arm tensed under his grip. She glanced away from Elliot as her own heart began to quicken in speed. Reese looked back at Elliot, "Give me my gun back."

Elliot blinked, "Uh, what?"

"I saw your dad give you my gun after he took it from me." Reese stated. "You give it back to me and I'll stay."

Elliot kept still. All she wanted was her gun? The boy had to admit, he felt a little disappointed that she hadn't reciprocated how he felt. But then again, she hardly knew him. Elliot was just glad he didn't scare her off.

He released Reese's wrist and grabbed the gun from the back of his waistband. Reese watched with a tense form as Elliot held the gun out to her. The brunette grabs the gun with a haste, a certain comfort coming back to her. Reese pulled the magazine out and inspected the ammo. A breath of relief escaped from her. Reese tucked the gun into her waistband and pulled her shirt over it. "All right, I'll stay."

Elliot exhaled with relief. Reese doesn't waste another second. She walked out of the tent with her face hot and a warmth was still felt on her wrist. Right where Elliot had touched her.

...

Elliot couldn't believe this right now. He saw Morales and his family getting ready to leave, but he couldn't help but feel his heart in his throat the entire time they were packing their things up. He was able to convince Reese to stay, but it felt as though that costed Morales and his family.

"Hey."

Elliot pulls himself from his thoughts and looks at the brunette. Logan presses her lips into a small smile. The boy looks back at Morales and Logan follows his eyes. She inhales a soft breath. "They're gonna be okay, you know that right?"

Elliot exhales, "I know, but..." he trails off his sentence and shifts his gaze to the ground. Logan looks at Elliot, "What?"

Elliot stays silent and a small breath escapes Logan's lips. It never took the boy a lot of convincing to share his feelings. So, this was odd to her. Logan opens her mouth to press Elliot more, but Shane speaks.

"Eli, come on!"

The brunette boy looks over at his father. Elliot gives his father a nod and looks at Logan. "I'll tell you later, all right?" he gives her a small squeeze on the shoulder before hopping into the jeep with his dad.

Logan keeps her eyes on Elliot momentarily before exhaling a sharp breath. She then walks over to the car her dad was standing in front of. Rick catches notice of her troubled expression. "Everything all right?"

Logan bites the inside of her cheek, "I don't know." she answers honestly. "I think some things up with Elliot."

Rick looks over at Shane and Elliot and Shane is talking to his son. But it didn't look like the best conversation. Rick lets out a breath through his nose. "All right, we should get going." he touches the top of Logan's head and she gets into the car.

"Hey, Reese."

The teenager pulls her brows together at the boy. "What do you want, Pizza boy?"

Glenn awkwardly chuckles, "Good one. Th-that's a good one..." he looks to the side. "You can ride in the RV with Dale and I."

Reese's jaw clenches. She shifts her eyes to the RV and her mind returns to earlier. Why didn't she kill Jimmy? A crease forms between her brow and she looks over at Elliot. Then her eyes shifted to Shane who was clearly making Elliot feel bad about something. Reese lets out a scoff. I don't care.

Reese looks at Glenn, "Fine. Whatever." she brushes past him and climbs into the RV. Dale was already in the driver's seat, so he greeted Reese as soon as she climbed on. "Welcome aboard."

Reese gives him a pained smile. "Right. Great to be here."

☆

Jimmy's screams continued to get more agonizing during the ride to CDC. Jacqui had been cooling Jimmy off with a damp rag, but that could only go so far to ease the pain of a bitten man. Reese keeps her eyes on her shiv, trying to block Jimmy's screams from her mind. But as she continued to hear him scream, she couldn't help but think about how she hesitated to kill him. She had a change of heart. It made her sick.

Reese stands up and walks over to Dale and Glenn. "What's the plan with this guy?"

Glenn jumps at the sudden appearance of the girl. He exhales a sharp breath, "What?"

Reese scoffs, "We keep Jimbo alive. We bring him with us to CDC. And maybe--just maybe there's someone there to help us. But they're not gonna help him--"

"Reese."

"He's too far gone." Reese seethes.

"Well, what do you want us to do?" Dale asks.

"For all I care--you could leave him on the side of the road."

Glenn and Dale glance at each other. "Look, You might not understand, but Jimmy's our friend and we don't kill our friends." he looks at the teen. "No matter what."

Reese keeps her brown cold eyes on Glenn. She lets out a breath of disbelief, "You say that now..."

The RV begins to slow, which causes Reese and Glenn to look over at Dale.

"Dale?" Glenn speaks.

Dale softly grumbles, "Hold on..." he pulls off to the side. Dale stands up and Reese takes a step back--allowing him to walk out of the RV. Glenn looks back at the girl, noticing her anxiousness. Glenn then pulls his brows together. Maybe Reese pushing so hard to leave Jimmy behind was because of something deeper. Maybe she was just afraid of feeling all together. "Hey, if you're worried about Jimmy--"

"I'm not worried about Jimmy." Reese snaps at the man. "I'm worried about myself." she raises her brows. "Oh, what? You thought I was starting to care about this group? I hardly know you guys."\

Glenn immediately puts his hands up. "All right, I'm sorry for my assumption."

Reese inhales a breath and she calms herself down. "Yeah, you should be." she folds her arms and stalks out of the RV. Glenn tilts his head to the RV ceiling and softly whispers. "I was just trying to be nice."

Reese's boots come into contact with the scorching blacktop and she holds her hand up to block the sun out of her eyes.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose," Dale states. "I said I needed one from the cube van."

Rick pulls his eyes away from the engine of the RV. "Can you jury-rig it?"

"That's all it's been so far," Dale says. "It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape."

"I see something up ahead." Shane pulls his binoculars away from his face. "A gas station if we're lucky."

Jacqui quickly stumbles off the RV. "Y'all Jim--it's bad. I don't think he can take anymore."

A silence settles around the few that were standing off the side of the road. Reese's eyes shift to Elliot, but his eyes were already on hers. It caused her heart to jump. She pulled her eyes away from his and retreats back to the inside of the RV.

"Hey, Rick, you wanna hold down the fort?" Shane suggests. "Eli and I'll drive ahead. See what we can bring back?"

Elliot quickly turns to his father. "What...you want me to go with you?"

Shane looks at his son and gives him a soft nod. "Yeah. you good with that?"

Elliot tenses for a moment but he soon relaxes. "Yes, sir."

"Yeah, I'll come along too. And I'll back y'all up." T-Dog adds.

Elliot nods his head, "Cool, cool, cool..."

This was the first time he'd ever had a chance to go on a run of any kind. Elliot's always chosen to stay back on things like these. but recently he's noticed his father question more and more about what kind of man Elliot wants to be. And Elliot had to figure that out himself. Maybe tagging along with T-Dog and his father will help him figure that out.

Reese heard the creaking steps of the RV. She turned her head to the entry and Rick was cautiously walking up the steps. Reese leans back in her seat. Rick walks past her and makes his way deeper into the RV. He pulls back the drapes and sees Jimmy on the bed, hardly conscious. "We'll be back on the road soon."

"Oh, no." Jimmy shudders at the thought. "Christ. My bones--my bones are like glass. Every little bump--god. This ride's killing me."

Jimmy looks out the window and tilts his head toward the trees. "Leave me here. I'm done. Just leave me."

"I want to be with my family."

Rick takes a small step toward Jimmy and crouches beside the bed. "They're all dead. I don't think you know what you're asking," he states. "The fever--you've been delirious more often than not."

Jimmy looks back at Rick. "I know. Don't you think I know?" he slightly sits himself up. "I'm clear now. In five minutes I may not be."

"Rick, I know what I'm asking," Jimmy reassures the man. "I want this. Leave me here."

Jimmy could see how this was weighing on Rick. "Now that's on me, okay? My decision. Not your failure."

Rick takes a moment to let that soak in. He gives Jimmy a small nod, "Okay, Jim..." he stands up and walks back to the front of the RV.

Aware of the entire conversation, Reese slightly leans forward to make her presence known. "Rick--"

"I don't want to hear it." Rick softly speaks. Even though his tone was soft, there was a slight firmness to it. "Any snarky comment you have--save it."

The teenager closes her mouth and looks to the side. "Fine..." she pushes her words of kindness down her throat.

☆

The car had come to a stop behind the RV. As soon as Lori saw everyone getting out of their vehicles, she turned to her kids in the backseat. "All right you two, listen up."

Logan pulls her eyes away from the window and looks at her mom.

"Once we get out here, make sure you never leave each other's side." Lori softly speaks. "It doesn't matter how far ahead me or your dad walk ahead. You stay together, all right?"

Logan swallows and nods her head. Both siblings then speak at the same time. "Yes, ma'am."

After having to leave Jimmy behind, Logan didn't want to make anything more difficult than they had to be. She just wanted to be there for her mom and make everything easier for her.

Lori gives her kids a soft smile. "Carl, I want you to grab hold of your sister's hand--"

"Ew, no way!"

"Oh, so what? You're too big to hold your sister's hand?" Lori raises her brows. Logan cocks her head to the side, waiting for Carl's answer. Carl looks between his mother and sister. "Yeah! Way too big!"

"Well, not today, worm." Logan pokes his side. "Today imma swaddle you like a baby--"

"No, you're not!" Carl swats her hand away. Logan laughs and Lori couldn't help but laugh at the sibling's bickering. Rick lightly tapped on the window, signaling that it was time to go. Out of instinct and fear, Carl immediately grabs hold of Logan's hand. Logan gives her little brother's hand a small squeeze before they all step out of the car.

As soon as Logan took in a small breath of air, she was met with immediate regret. She slapped her hand over her nose from the rancid smell of rotting corpses. And her ears were filled with the sound of flies buzzing around them.

The only thing insight were rotting corpses that were splayed across the ground leading up to the CDC building. Shane and Rick ushered the group towards the building while softly urging them to keep quiet. The entire time Logan had the top of her shirt over her mouth and her hand around Carl's.

Reese has seen her fair share of dead bodies. And she never got used to the smell. Just from the reaction the group had, she could tell that this was some of their first times seeing a dead body. Her first time was pretty traumatic too.

Elliot had decided to stand close to his father. The putrid rotting smell drowning his nostrils had forced tears to blur his vision. No matter how much he wipes the tears away, they would keep returning.

The group had finally made it to the front door, despite all the bodies they had to walk over. It made Elliot sick knowing he had to just brush past these bodies like they meant nothing.

Rick and Shane get to the door first. Rick looks around for any button or door handle. "Nothing?" He looks over at Shane.

Shane tries to lift the door but it wouldn't budge. He pounds a fist against the door.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog voices.

Reese softly scoffs, "Of course there's not..." she shakes her head.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick questions.

"Maybe there was someone in there and they died." Reese voices.

"Walkers!"

Logan whips her head around in time to see Daryl's arrow hit the walker in the brain. Carl cries into Logan's side. She touches the back of his head and steps closer to the door. Reese's jaw clenches, "God dammit..." she pulls her shive from her boot and slams it into the walking corpses' skull.

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl barks.

"He made a call." Dale replies.

Reese jerks her shiv from the corpse and huffs. "It was the wrong damn call!" She stands up and walks over to the group.

"That's enough, do you hear me? The both of you!" Shane snaps at Reese and Daryl.

Reese scoffs, "It's a dead fucking end and we're near the city, Shane!" She snaps back. "We're dead cause of a judgement call from the guy who has been in this camp the same amount of time as me—the girl you can hardly trust."

Shane brushes past the girl and walks over to Rick. "Listen to me, all right? No blame." He assures his friend.

Lori's breathing quickens. "Reese is right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark."

"Fort Benning, Rick—still an option." Shane voices.

"On what?" Andrea questions. "No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles."

"125. I checked the map." Glenn voices.

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now."

"We'll think of something." Rick tries his best to reassure the panicking group.

Reese scoffs, "Fuck this..." she turns away from the group. Elliot swallows and quickly follows after the girl with a few people following along.

"The camera—it moved!"

Reese stops with Elliot beside her.

"You imagined it." Dale states.

"It moved."

Shane shakes his head, "Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay?" He states. "It's just winding down. Now, come on." He grabs Rick's arm, but Rick shrugs his friend off.

"Man, just listen to me." Shane speaks once again. "Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick!"

Rick pounds his hand against the door again. Logan jumps from the sudden noise and she looks behind her, hoping no more walkers were approaching.

"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori cries.

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me." Rick shouts at the camera he saw move. "Please, we're desperate."

Logan turns to her mother. "Mom, you have to go get him, please." Her voice shakes.

Lori lightly touches the side of Logan's face, already thinking the same thing. She hurries to the front where Rick was shouting at the camera and softly speaks to him.

"Everybody get back to the cars now!" Shane shouts.

"Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left."

"Dad, if we're leaving we have to go now." Elliot says. "There are more coming."

Shane turns to see walkers headed towards them. There wasn't a large hoard, but there were still enough to cause them trouble. "Shit..." his jaw sets and he stalks back over to Lori and Rick. He gets in between the two and pulls Rick away from the door.

Rick continues to beg and at the camera as Shane drags him away from the building.

"You're killing us! You're killing us!"

But before anyone could fully step away from the building, a hiss comes from the door and it slowly opens. A bright white light bleeds through the door, bright enough that nobody could see into the building.

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

I know I'm not writing Logan as much as I'm writing Reese rn. But don't worry because season 2 is going to have ALL of these characters not only interacting but they're going to be involved in the plot.

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