CHAPTER TWO ━━━ DAYS GONE BYE,
Season One : Episode One of The Walking Dead

The mirror reflected her appearance, beads of sweat decorating her tanned skin like paint on a canvas. Blood of her brother stained her skin, cool water from the bathroom sink running over her hands and rushing the red substance down the drain. Meeting her own face, she noticed the lack of sleep that etched her skin. Bags rested underneath her eyes, a prudent red rimming the waterline. Freckles danced against her cheeks like stars in the night sky, brown strands of hair framing her jaw as she twisted the knobs on the sink and ceased the waters movement. Adeline reached for a hand towel that hung high beside the mirror, drying her skin off in a few quick oats before unlocking the door and slipping out of the tiled room.

Entering the dimmed kitchen, the girl noticed the shadows that stood proudly against the walls. Morgan sat at the table, his son close beside him with a bowl in his hands. The soft creak of the bathroom door caused him to glance up, meeting her eyes. "He's up." He informed in a curt manner, his stare shifting to the bedroom next to her. Nodding at his words, she twisted on her heels and reluctantly entered the room. She knew her brother, and she was sure that instead of being greeted with the warm welcome like it would have been if the world didn't fall apart, she would instead be greeted with a swarm of questions. And she understood why.

Once Adeline stepped into the bedroom, her eyes landed upon the curled up figure of Rick Grimes. He faced the other direction, his stare locked in with the boarded window which undoubtedly caused confusion to sprout throughout his mind. Lifting her hand, she curled her fingers into a fist and lightly knocked against the wood of the doorframe. "Miss me?" Her voice slipped out of her mouth, a small smile lacing her features as Rick turned his body and landed upon his sisters frame.

Immediately his eyes grew wide, a futile attempt of springing out of the bed causing him to wince in pain and fall back down into the pillows. Adeline stopped him from trying again, rushing to his side and wrapping him into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't there," She admitted with a guilty conscience. Adeline felt horrible, horrible for putting her brother in the place he found himself to be. He woke up in the midst of an apocalypse, and she wasn't there to help him through it. He had to see the dead bodies littering the hospitals courtyard, the ones in the hallways that she tried to clean up but every time she did - thick lines of fear wrapped her in its sinister grasp.

With a weak hold, his arms wrapped around her. "He killed that man. On the street, he killed him. I-I don't get what's happening, Addie." Ricks voice trembled against the fabric of her shirt, the warmth of her hold disappearing as she pulled away and looked at her brother. "Where's Lori and Carl? Shane?" He questioned, reminding her of his family and her husband. "They weren't there. I went to the house and I looked but-"

"Hey, just relax. Otherwise we're not getting anywhere, alright?" She cut him off, her voice soft and caring like it always was. Although she was the younger sibling, Adeline had always been the protective one. "Now you know how horrible I am at explaining things, so just... come on. I'll let Morgan." She instructed, standing up from the bed and grabbing the thin cover that coated it.

Carefully, she helped her brother to his feet and wrapped the cover around him before leading him into the kitchen. His eyes glanced around the room, body trembling as Morgan and Dwayne eyed the siblings. Rick took his own path, wandering into the living room which had a mattress against the wooden floors. Adeline followed closely behind, along with Morgan who entered the room under the opposite archway. "This place... Fred and Cindy Drake's?" Rick inquires.

"Never met 'em." Morgan was quick to reply, standing under the archway. Crates of food, water, and medical supplies littered the floors. Adeline recognized the ones she took part in immediately, her signature smiley face drawn against the cans and water cases.

Her brother broke the silence, "I've been here. This is their place. Don't you remember, Addie?" He questioned, his eyes trailing back to the girl who nodded slowly in agreement. She knew he wouldn't approve of someone being in his friends house, let alone his neighbor. But - he had yet to learn the reasons as to why.

"It was empty when we got here." Morgan informed, watching with careful eyes as Rick approached the windows that were covered with thick blankets. Just as he went to peek through the fabric, Adeline took a sharp step forward - "Don't. They'll see the light." She stopped her brother, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion at her words of warning.

"There's more of them out there than usual." The dark skinned man that stood a few feet away from her spoke up, "I never should've fired that gun today." He added, walking back into the kitchen. The Grimes siblings followed him, Adeline reaching the room before her brother. "Sound draws them. Now they're all over the street. Stupid - using a gun. But it all happened so fast, I didn't think."

At his words, Adeline nodded and leaned against the wall. "I've tried to tell you to get rid of that thing. Put it up or something, it never helped either of us. Even on opposite sides of town, it drawls them in." She put in her two cents, her brothers eyes glued to her.

"He shot that man today." Rick began, his words piled with confusion. Out of all people, he believed his sister would understand the most. Was she killing them too?

"It weren't no man." Dwayne cut him off.

Morgan furrowed his eyebrows and turned to his son, "What the hell was that out of your mouth just now?"

The boy gulped at his fathers snappy tone, "It wasn't a man." he corrected quietly.

"You shot a man in the street out front - a man." Rick asserted, his face twisting with frustration and anger. Morgan only glanced between him and the mans sister, "Friend, you need glasses. It was a walker. Jesus, I thought you said this guy was smart?" He asked, looking to Adeline. "Come on, sit down before you fall down." He instructed, grabbing a metal pot and scooping food onto Ricks plate. "Here,"

Adelines plate followed shortly after, Morgan nodding for her to sit down as well which she reluctantly did so. It was like she had forgotten how to speak, the words to explain her brothers situation to the man on the tip of her tongue as Rick started to dig into the food on his place. Dwayne quickly stopped him, "Daddy." he spoke to his father, glancing at Adeline who sat down next to him. "Blessing." He reminded him of the religious gesture.

The kid reached for Adelines hand, holding it tightly as he held onto his fathers with his left. Grabbing Ricks, he followed suit and put his palm into Morgan's open one. After the world went to shit, Adeline wasn't sure exactly what she believed in anymore. But, she wasn't going to be disrespectful to the man she had been saved by. It was her third day alone, not including her brothers unconscious body, and it was her first time venturing outside of the hospital knowing it was dangerous. She had no clue how to survive or even how to kill the stalkers, and when one attacked her - she thought for sure the scream that left her lips was the last sound she'd ever make. Until Morgan took a risk, he took a risk and saved her. Maybe it was the convincing words of his now deceased wife to save her, but nevertheless she was thankful.

"Lord, we thank thee for this food, thy blessings. And we ask you to watch over us in these crazy days. Amen."

Mumbling the small word, barely audible, she opened her eyes and pulled her hands back to her lap. Adeline wanted to eat the food before her, but her appetite was currently lost deep in the night sky. It started to get harder for her to eat lately, every time she lifted a spoon or fork to her mouth the thoughts of someone out there doesn't get this entered her mind and stopped her. Adeline felt guilty for having enough luck to eat, to be alive. But what ate her up the most was the vacant hole in her heart - the one created by the catastrophe of being separated from her husband. She didn't know if he was alive, she didn't know if she made it to where he was supposed to go. But the only thread of hope she could hang onto was that she had her brother, and he was with her.

"Does he even know what's going on?" Morgan's voice ripped through her thoughts, his eyes glued to the girl who twisted her spoon around in the food. Adeline tilted her head up, "No. No, he doesn't." She muttered, sparing a glance to her brother. "I couldn't do it."

Rick looked between the two before retreating his eyes back to the man. "I woke up today in the hospital, came home and that's all I know." His voice wavered over a whisper.

"But you know about the dead people, right?" Morgan questioned, rubbing a hand against the hairs prickling out of his unshaved face.

"Yeah, I saw a lot of that - out on the loading dock, piled in trucks." He listed, which only caused his sister to close her eyes and rest her head in her hands. He was clueless, and it was her fault.

Shaking his head, Morgan eyed Rick, "No, not the ones they put down. The ones they didn't - the walkers. Like the one I shot today. Because he'd have ripped into you, tried to eat you, taken some flesh at least." He informed, only to make Adelines brother look at her in disbelief. Was it true? "Well, I guess if this is the first you're hearing it.. I know how it must sound."

"They're out there right now? In the street?" Rick pondered, his eyes flickering back to the covered window.

Taking a deep breath, Adeline looked to her brother. "They're always there. No matter how hard you try to escape them, they're there. Sometimes they get more active after dark, I thought maybe it was the cool air. Maybe it was from that gunshot today, or maybe it was from me dropping a picture frame. It doesn't matter because it's the slightest sound that grabs their attention. If they hear you, they come for you." The words slipped out of her mouth, every emotion that weighed on her shoulders floating off and lacing onto the men.

Hearing the words leave his sisters mouth caused realization to slam into him. How long had he been out? And how long did she have to survive on her own? It was those small thoughts that made him feel guilty for not waking up sooner, for not being there for the people he loves. For the shortest second, he blamed himself.

"But as long as we stay quiet, we'll be fine." Morgan added onto her words, "They'll probably wander off by morning. It's like she said, it's the slightest sound that gets them. But listen, one thing I do know - don't you get bit. I saw your bandage and that's what we were afraid of. Bites kill you. The fever burns you out. But then after a while... you come back."

"Seen it happen." Dwayne spoke up, his voice wavering over a broken tremble. Adeline watched as his father squeezed his arm assuringly, the girl knowing the exact reason to his held in cries. His mother had passed away a few days after Morgan saved her life, she got bit. And that was her downfall.