CHAPTER TEN,
may we meet again

SLEEP WAS SOMETHING that never came for the survivors. The night and morning was spent cleaning the masses of bodies that belonged to both the dead and once living.

Blood stained her skin and sweat fell from her brow, Samantha and Shane Walsh helped just like everyone else. Resentment was tickling her skin, her eyes peering at her brother ever so often. She had asked him to train the campers, had asked him to give them some simple self defense, but because of his irresponsibility not only was Amy dead - so was half of the camp.

Blame was a dangerous thing. It can come in the forms of sadness, anger, violence.

Nathan was nowhere to be seen, and Samantha couldn't blame him. He wasn't very good at handling death, more pacifically, those who were close to him. When he lost his father, the man he looked up to, it had been one gigantic devastating mess. It completely changed him as a human being.

Sighing, she dumped the walker's deformed body into the pile and her eyes caught sight of an arrow protruding from the corpse that had attacked her the night before. She looked over her shoulder and saw Daryl driving his axe into the corpse of a camper, making sure they wouldn't come back. Samantha wiped the sweat from her brow and headed towards the walker, yanking the arrow out of its skull.

She stepped over bodies and cleared her throat. "Daryl?" The sight of the axe connecting with the camper's head and his brain matter being exposed made her shudder with disgust. The hunter craned his neck to look up at her, his hard eyes making her swallow thickly.

"Here, I thought you might've wanted this back." The sight of his arrow in her hands made him look back at her, before taking it into his own.

"What do you want?" The force of his words came out harsh.

Samantha pushed back a jab at his rudeness. "Did you see Nate by any chance?"

Daryl rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb. "Military man? Yea, went stompin' into the woods. 'aven't seen him since." She let her eyes drift to the woodsy area. Why would he go in there? Isn't that where the walkers came from?

When she looked back at Daryl, she noticed he was staring intently at her. Samantha came to realize his eyes weren't pale like Merle's, but deep and blue.

"You got a gun?" He asked, snapping her out of her mind. She nodded.

Then just like that he went back to moving the corpses. Samantha looked to the woods again. Shane had taken her camping before, but he never taught her how to track. He could've, and she partially blamed herself for that missed opportunity because she was too busy being a wild teenager. She guessed she had to use common sense. Every detail mattered when it came to tracking.

As soon as Samantha entered the treeline, her hand snapped to her gun. Back then she was never scared of the woods, she was fascinated by it. Yet now with the dead creeping about and especially after last night, it set her whole body into alarm.
Nathan's safety was her motivation against her fears however, so she entered.

The first thing she saw was a small puddle of blood, and with a pounding heart she squinted her eyes and looked upward. The once puddle slowly became a trail that led into the trees. She followed it, ever so often gazing around at at surroundings. She thought the trail would've led on forever if it weren't for the bodies ahead of her.

Samantha recognized the head full of midnight hair. "Nate?" There was movement, and her best friend sat up from his laying position, his stormy eyes locked into hers.

"Sammy?" His voice was hoarse, redness in the white of his eyes as if had been crying. Samantha sighed in relief and rushed over.

"Oh my god, you stupid bastard-" She cut myself off when the smell of rot and death filled her nostrils. Gagging, she looked at the walker's body, which was completely mutilated. Nathan followed her gaze, and with a shrug he brought a cigarette to his lips, taking a long drag.

"Caught the sucker trying to sneak into camp," He chucked bitterly, his eyes darker than usual. "Gave 'em what he deserved." Samantha could see the walls he built up, the mask pinned on his face.

"Nate," She said softly. "Are you alright?"

It had been a stupid question, but it was all she could force out. She didn't know what to say, she was just so worried for her best friend. Nathan was looking at her through a hardened glare, taking a drag from the cigarette. "I'm fantastic."

"Look, I understand about Amy-"

In a flash, he had stood up from the ground and was in her face, self blame and rage spewing from his lips like fire. "You understand just about everything, right? Then you already understand how its my fault she's dead."

"Its not your fault-"

"The hell it isn't!" He yelled. "I left the toilet paper in the woods. She came out of that RV because of me, because of me, she's dead. Because of me, Andrea lost her sister."

"Nate, please-" She tried again, her voice cracking as tears left her eyes.

"I killed her, Sammy! She's dead, she's gone, she's-"

Samantha smacked him across the face so hard it sent him stumbling. He brought his hand up to soothe his red cheek, looking at his best friend in great and utter shock.

"You didn't kill her, a walker did, you hear me?" She said fiercely. "You made a mistake, but you did not kill her. Amy was just in the wrong place, the wrong time,"

Nathan fell on his knees, his lower lip quivering. His hands slowly were brought to his dog tag, and that's when the mask slipped off. He looked broken. Samantha reached for him and he met her half way, hands clutching at her jacket as he begun to sob into her chest unceasingly.

Samantha held to her best friend in silence, a memory flickering in her head that wasn't too long ago - about a boy, so desperate to live a life, lost one so important to him that he didn't want to live that life no more. "I couldn't save him," He whispered, choking on sobs. "They surrounded our men, killing them before cornering us. I wouldn't gotten out if the dead didn't target him first."

Samantha pulled away, a frown pulling at her lips as she stared at him in confusion. "Who?"

"My stupid, baby brother," He said, rubbing his face harshly. "He joined the Army for me, he was there because of me, and I..."

That's when he told Samantha the story of how his brother died, a story that was so similar to Jim's. She might not know how it feels to abandon her loved one, but they both did, and that ghost could definitely haunt you.

Nathan had a small bounce to his step when they got back to the camp, as if letting it all out had slightly lifted the world off his shoulders, but Samantha could still see the war going on behind his eyes. The two parted ways and she went over to help Glenn and Daryl. Glenn was shaking as he looked at the bodies, sweat sliding down his face and his eyes filled with sorrow.

"Glenn, calm down." Samantha murmured, turning to look at him.

"If we came back sooner..." He trailed off, averting his gaze to look at the ground.

"It's not your fault, Glenn, it's neither of ours." She reasoned, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He then looked at her, sadness glued on his expression. "Is it really?"

At his retort Samantha let her gaze drift to Shane, and the anger seethed in her chest. If he only listened.

"What the hell?" Glenn abruptly gasped, looking over at Morales and Daryl as they dragged a body of a camper towards the fire. "The fire is only for walkers!" He insisted, but they continued to ignore him. That's when he blew up, his emotions taking over. "We don't burn them!" He bellowed.

Samantha followed behind him. "We have to bury them, those are our people." She agreed, taking his side.

Daryl glared at her, his eyes making goosebumps rise on her skin. His anger only seemed to build and build, only he finally let it come crashing down, his rebukes being heard all over camp. "Y'all left ma brother fo' dead. You had this comin'!"

His shouts weren't the only ones heard.

"A WALKER BIT JIM!" cried Jacqui.

Her stomach dropped and she hurried over as everyone stopped what they were doing. She made her way through the closing in of the men and noticed the pale body of Jim, the fear and panic radiating off of him like the sun.

"Oh, Jim. Why didn't you tell any of us?" She asked.

Daryl came barreling through. "Show it to us," He snarled. "Show it to us!"

People were turning against him in a second and looking at him as if he were some diseased, feral animal. Fearing for his life, Jim pulled a shovel and held it out in defense. Shane pushed Samantha back and stepped in front of her as T-Dog came from behind and pried Jim's arms behind his back. The shovel fell to the ground.

Daryl stepped towards and lifted Jim's bloodstained shirt, revealing an angry, red bite.

"I'm okay...I'm okay..."

His words were in vain and his hope was lost. They all knew the horrible truth, that he was infected and soon, he would become the very thing that destroyed the camp.

The campers grouped in a circle and kept their distance away from Jim, who sat behind the RV with his face to the ground.

"So, what now?" Nathan asked. "Hell, he's about as safe as..." He never finished, his eyes trailing to Amy with a remorseful gaze.

"I say we put an axe in his head and be done with it." Daryl snapped.

Samantha stood near her brother as he stared at him. "Is that what you'd want?" He asked.

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it."

"As much as I would love to agree with Daryl, but it's not our choice," Samantha took her turn to voice her opinion. "Jim is still alive, he still has his rights. He isn't some wild animal."

"He's as dead as the rest." Daryl spat.

"Look, Sam is right. Where do we draw the line if we kill humans!" Rick spoke up.

"The line is pretty damn clear, no tolerance for walkers." The redneck pushed.

"We can get help," Rick protested. "The CDC is working on a cure."

"Yeah, we heard a lot of things before the world went under." Shane said lowly.

"No time to be negative, can't you have one moment of positivity." Samantha said, annoyance fluttering in her.

He stared at his sister dubiously. "It ain't all sunshine and rainbows, Sammy. This is the real world, live in it."

"I am living in it everyday!"

"Sam-"

"That's enough!" Rick spoke firmly.

Both Samantha and her brother glared at each other stubbornly.

"No, the CDC is actually a good place," Nathan stated. "A bunch of my men and some other military were sent to guard that place. In fact, after shit hit the fan I made it my mission to head over there until," He paused, glancing at Samantha and that's when she knew. "Until I ran into some old friends."

She dropped voicing an opinion after the others began discussing the CDC, as if a cure was their last hope. But if there was such a cure, wouldn't they had it long ago?

Daryl's southern voice pulled her back.

"You go lookin' for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"

Daryl turned on his heel and sprinted towards the infected man with his ax raised. Samantha heart jumped as the others ran after, Rick being faster. He pointed his python to Daryl's head.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Rick shouted, the cock of his gun making Daryl freeze. "We. Don't. Kill. The. Living."

"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl responded dryly.

Samantha moved past her brother, who was blocking Jim, and kneeled down to the infected man.

"Sam."

She turned to Shane's call, meeting his face. His hesitance of her actions and protectiveness was evident on his features, but she sent him an assuring smile and brought her attention back to the sickly looking Jim. "Let's take you inside." She said kindly.

Jim looked at them, and then back at her. He smiled. Then she moved him into the RV, deciding to give him some company.

━━━━━

Death wasn't kind, Nathan knew that.

It snatched when it could, taking people who were far too young, far too good. It didn't pretend to care.

It was an invisible thing that had roamed the earth since the dawn of time. But now death had taken form of a disease.

If the Army had taught Nathan one thing, it was to not walk as a human but as a weapon with legs. He never liked the feeling of being less human, the feeling of being nothing but a void - what was the point of living if you were nothing but a monster?

Yet now after the world went to shit, he wished he was a machine. He was sick of feeling so much.

Nathan wish he could wear another person's skin, throw away the one he had one because all he felt was guilt. It consumed him, reminded him everyday of his sins. He kept telling himself the walkers did it, those monsters killed him, but he knew the truth.

He couldn't saved Jason, he could've done anything besides leaving him, yet he didn't. God made sure of that every night. The nightmares worsened during those times, Jason's screams for his big brother to come back still lingering in his ears. But sometimes the nightmares didn't end when he opened his eyes.

Jason came to him at night, like an apparition, a ghost of his guilt. He would just stand there, watching, existing. Sometimes he would bring others, those he had killed in the name of the military and his country.
They were his demons, coming in many forms. Headaches, memories, hallucinations, nightmares. It made him feel less human, like the Army would've wanted, made him feel less deserving.

Maybe he was just like monsters that killed Amy and his brother.

"You okay, son?" Dale asked, standing next to him.

Nathan shrugged, pulling the cigarette from his lips. "Never been better." He was used to lying, used to telling people the opposite.

There was more to worry about than Nathan Barton.

Dale frowned, as if seeing through Nathan's disguise. He could tell the older man wanted to say something, but decided against it. Instead, he gazed at Andrea and Amy.

"I tried talking to her," Dale sighed. "I almost got to her too, but I lost her."

"She just lost her sister." Nathan mumbled.

The elder nodded. "But Amy's going to turn soon, and I fear what might happen if she does," Dale then looked back at Nate. "I want you to talk to her."

Nathan's mouth slightly fell open. "Why me?"

"You were close with them, if anybody could get to her it would be you and me, but I tried. You're our last chance."

"Dale-"He couldn't face Amy's corpse.

"If you can't do it for me, do it for them. They need you, Nathan," Then he placed a hand on the soldier's shoulder. "You need this."

Nathan frowned, his face falling at the sight of the sisters. Maybe he did need this, he needed some closure, he needed Andrea to have some closure.

Amy would've wanted that.

Sighing, he dropped his cigarette and stepped on it, walking over to the Harrison sisters. Once he got there, he swallowed thickly as he looked at Amy's corpse. Her skin was now a deadly white, her once pretty blonde hair stained with red along with her clothes, the two bites that marked her death on her neck and side. He remembered the last time he saw her, the last time she smiled at him.

He lowered himself next to Andrea, his gaze going between the two. After a moment, he reached forward to place a comforting hand on the blonde but she shrugged him off. "Leave me alone," She whispered, her voice hoarse. "Leave us alone."

Nathan exhaled softly, returning his gaze to look at Amy. She was still beautiful even if she was dead. "I lost my brother when this all started," He said, his lower lip quivering at the mention of Jason. "He - those things cornered him. He would've liked Amy, would've been like family to her."

Andrea finally looked at him, her eyes swollen from all the tears. "She really liked you, y'know," Then she looked back at the fallen sister. "She used to talk about you all the time, about how charming you are, about how pretty your eyes are, how much she liked you."

Nathan smiled faintly. There was so many things he wanted to do with Amy, so many unspoken words. "I wanted to be with her, wanted to be something more then a flirtation."

At first, he used Amy to forget about the tragedy of the world, but then it slowly turned into something more. He wished he could've told her he wanted more, he wanted to be more, he didn't know how but he did.

But they didn't date, she wasn't his ex girlfriend.

But she was an ex-something.

An ex-maybe.

An ex-almost.

"Today was her birthday."

His heart dropped and shattered. How could he forget about that? Amy had spoken to him countless times about her excitement towards this day. How could God let her die the day before her most wanted day?

"I...I remember her telling me how excited she was." Nathan murmured.

Andrea smiled weakly, pulling out a small necklace with a mermaid pendent. "I found it when we were trapped in the city," She explained. "It would've been perfect for her."

"It still is." Nathan reminded her.

Realization dawned on Andrea, and she looked down at Amy. "It still is." She repeated.

Nathan carefully brushed the hair out of Amy's face as Andrea placed the necklace around the girl's neck. "Happy birthday." She whispered.

Nathan then grabbed Andrea's hand as they both stared down at the one they cared about. "May we meet again." He said.

"May we meet again." She agreed.

━━━━━

"I'm going to die, aren't I?"

Samantha turned to look at Jim with furrowed eyebrows. He looked sickly, his skin completely pale and covered with sweat, his lips dry and cracked. If the bite wouldn't take him, it would've been the fever that set in.

"No, Jim," She sighed, rubbing her head. "Rick has a plan, we're going to the CDC-"

"For a cure?" He laughed bitterly. "I know that you don't believe that for a minute, please don't lie to me," Samantha bit her lip, knowing he was speaking the truth. "Lets face it, kid. I'm done," He coughed again.

Sadness overcame her, her eyes tingling with fresh tears.

"Ya know, I always thought I would live out my days. Watch my sons grow up and graduate, explore the world, pop out some grandkids. I didn't think that some dead would rise like some - horror movie and kill me, life is funny."

Fuck you, George Romero Samantha remembered. Then he begin to cough violently, the blood oozing out darker than red.

"Here honey, I got him." Jacqui entered the room and sent me a reassuring smile. Samantha was thankful she did, because she couldn't watch him die anymore.

After exiting the RV, she found Andrea and Nathan near Amy's corpse. Her heart only clenched more - it was as if the whole camp was draped in a cloak of it, and everywhere she turned she couldn't escape the depression that looked. That beautiful girl didn't deserve that, she deserved to be with her sister.

Samantha watched as Andrea suddenly put her ear near Amy's face. She looked closer in confusion, slightly taking a step forward.

Amy was moving.

Nathan was saying something, she couldn't hear but he had his hand over his gun. Amy's muscle spasmed as Andrea put a soothing hand on the dead girl's face. The corpse's eyes finally opened, and what used to be a lively, pretty blue, was now bloodshot and pale. No emotion, no Amy, no human was hidden behind them.

Andrea would only watch calmly. What was she waiting for?

Amy looked at her sister as Andrea exchanged words that I couldn't quite hear, the walker becoming violent and grabbed her sister's hair but Andrea restrained her.

Then Samantha heard it. It was faint, but she still was able to make it out.

"I love you."

A gunshot rung out, Amy dropping dead for the final time.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟnote

i do be putting a lot of the 100 references tho

words ; 3588
edited ; ✔️