The last two months had passed quickly. Y/N had fallen easily into the regimented service with the Gamma patrol. His place had been questioned by many outside the squad, given his age, but through his training and diligence he had earned the respect of any who encountered him in Wellington.

Clementine had settled into domestic life joyfully. Despite only being thirteen she had flourished as a surrogate mother to AJ, as Y/N had a surrogate father. She delighted in seeing Y/N and AJ's faces light up when Y/N would return home each evening. Her feelings for him had done nothing but escalate in their new lives of domestic bliss.

During the day Clementine and AJ would go sit with Edith when she was on guard duty, and Edith would come over on her days off. The two had grown incredibly close, Edith taking Clementine under her wing maternally as Mal had paternally with Y/N, though in a much stricter way as his Commanding Officer.

The pair had also grown very close to Shepherd Book, their next door neighbour. He was a kind and genuine man, and he was full of admiration for the two young teens who were raising a baby together despite being babies themselves in his eyes.

—~—

Mal was walking through the large joint military warehouse of Wellington checking off the last bits and pieces of today's mission. Although each brigade had their own mess halls, all equipment was stored jointly in the largest warehouse in town.

The captain approached Wash with a smile as Wash finished his last check offs on the Ocelot, the military vehicle the Gamma patrol used.

It was the only vehicle of its type Wellington had managed to salvage, and as the Gamma patrol was known as the Wreckers, with four members formally serving in the armed forces, they got claims to it. The Wreckers were sent out by Wellington when something potentially lucrative, but potentially dangerous, was discovered. Alpha Patrol and Beta Patrol searched the furthest out, and when a possible old world settlement was discovered the Wreckers were sent in to investigate.

Today's examination though had more nerves up then usual. A town had been spotted by Bravo patrol. An extra large one. An extra large one that looked untouched.

The reason being for the nerves was it was on the borders of Reaver territory. Mal tried to not think about it as he asked his driver:

"We all good on the checks for old Serenity, Wash?"

Wash chuckled at the nickname Mal had given the Ocelot. The car was the only bit of peace the gruff former marine had found in the apocalypse, apart from Edith of course.

"We're good my end, sir. As long as the breaks hold up then-"

"Wh-wa-What? What's wrong with the breaks?" Mal asked angered.

"Uh, Kaylee's checking, could be interesting if they go" Wash answered as he poked a bug that was crawling on the engine.

"Define interesting?" Mal asked somewhat flustered. Wash looked up and chuckled:

"Oh god oh god we're all gonna die?"

Mal was on the warehouse's PA in a moment, much to the mirth of the other teams currently inside the building. Mal's dry wit was well known throughout the armed services.

"This is Captain Mal Reynolds, unless Kaylee pulls her finger out we could hit a tree and then, explode!"

He hung up the PA receiver for the loudspeaker and then walked off towards Kaylee's workshop.

He first encountered Jayne and Y/N exiting the armoury with their weapons. Jayne and Y/N had grown extremely close extremely quickly. They were partnered most days Gamma was on local recon, and nothing grew two men closer than watching each other's backs for ten hours a day, six days a week.

They also unfortunately shared the same... 'rougher edges' to their personalities and both seemed to rub off on the other and make each other worse. Case in point, they both exited the armoury with arms full of guns- Y/N alone had an AR-15, an M60, a pump handle shotgun and a handgun strapped to each leg.

Jayne had a similar stash.

"How many gun's are you two planning on taking?" Mal asked with a chuckle. "You've both only got two arms."

"Well I get excitable as to choice, like to have my options open" Y/N replied calmly.

"I don't plan on any shooting taking place on this job" Mal replied.

"What you plan and what takes place ain't exactly ever been similar" Jayne replied, causing Y/N to chuckle. Mal narrowed his eyes and pointed to Y/N. At Y/N. At Y/N's chest... or more specifically the string of hand grenades that had been strung over Y/N's neck and down his chest.

"No grenades!" Mal said firmly.

"But- awee" Y/N replied as Mal walked off, running into his second in command.

"We gonna crash again?" Zoe asked, Mal replying:

"Ask your husband. Take the knuckleheads there and River and prep the mule just in case."

The mule was an open top eight seater Jeep. It didn't provide anywhere near the protection of the Serenity.

"Yes Captain" Zoe replied, Mal hearing as he walked off:

"Are those grenades?"

"Yeah, Cap don't want them."

"Y/N, we're scoping the place, we're not occupying it."

He continued to walk down the hallway, passing River and Grey Wolf with a nod before yelling as he arrived at the workshop:

"Kaylee what in the sphincter of hell are you playing at?"

"Just working on some reinforcement captain. No need to fret, everything's shiny" Kaylee replied somewhat flustered.

"You told me the Serenity was good for st least another three missions last week!"

"That was six months ago, Captain" Kaylee replied as she toiled and tapped at some mechanical instrument she was reinforcing.

"My baby don't crash. She crashes, you crashed her" Mal replied turning to be face to face with a blank angry staring face of Simon, the doctor.

"You just sneak up like a damn ninja don't you doc" Mal growled. He and Simon did not get along, at all, for one important reason.

"She's not going" Simon said coldly. Mal narrowed his eyes and replied: "no, no. This is not a conversation I'm having."

"She's not going and that's final" the doctor reiterated again.

Mal's nostrils flared as he replied:

"I hear the words 'that's final' come out your mouth when you're talking to me again, they truly will be!"

"It's ok, Simon- they'll be back before you can spit. Not that you... spit" Kaylee interrupted trying to keep the peace, staring at Simon with a doe eyed longing smile.

"River is a grown woman and a voluntary member of these armed services. I suggest, Simon, you do not enter my barracks, throwing your weight around again, or you'll get some thrown back the likes of which you haven't seen!" Mal snarled, a brief glare off before Simon turned and left.

"Happy now?" Kaylee asked her captain angrily.

"For the most part. I didn't make him the arrogant man he is" Mal replied.

"But you could have made him family, like River. Instead of keeping him from seeing I was there- I carried such a torch... going on a year now I ain't had nothing twix my nethers that weren't run on batteries!"

The captain's emotion instantly changed, shock growing on his face as he replied horrified:

"God- I can't know that!"

—~—

An awkward hour passed, the Ocelot got the small patch jobs it needed and the team were away- Wash driving, Kaylee the technical officer and the strike team of Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Y/N, River and Grey Wolf. Clementine and Edith looked down from Edith's small windowed room at the front gate, both concerned for the men they loved as the military truck rolled out from the safety of Wellington.

—~—

The group had been driving for about an hour, following Bravo's directions. The town they had noted looked like it was untouched since the world fell-food, medicine, weapons- it could be a potential goldmine... but if the Reavers had moved in...

The group stopped a mile out, Wash pulling off road as others, minus Kaylee, got out. Jayne and Mal threw over the camouflage cover that came with the Ocelot and the six Wreckers were off and walking towards town.

It took the group about twenty minutes to slowly move the mile they had to. Grey Wolf was at the front, his senses on high alert. River, Mal and Zoe were in the middle while Y/N and Jayne took up the rear.

As they entered the small town, which looked to be made up of a Main Street with a heavily overrun village green, and three streets of houses either side running east/west, the Wreckers split into pairs- Jayne and Y/N took the north side, Wolf and River the south, while Mal and Zoe took all the stores on the Main Street.

Y/N and Jayne headed to their area, machine guns up and pointing around as they headed to the first home. The pair checked the front door which was locked before making their way round to the back.

"You know what I've noticed, J?" Y/N said as they entered the back yard.

"What's that?" Jayne asked as they checked the back door. It was unlocked and Y/N knocked on the glass loudly, replying:

"Why haven't we seen a single walker since we got out the truck?"

As they waited to see if anything would answer their knock, Jayne chuckled:

"That's cos the Reavers eat 'em."

Y/N looked at his taller teammate repulsed and replied:

"You're shittin' me ain't ya?"

Jayne chuckled.

"Nope. You remember what I told you right? They ain't dead, but they ain't alive either. They like some demons outta Shep's book. You remember how to put em down?"

"Bullet to the head, extreme blood loss. They're the only ways. Things are impervious to pain- won't drop unless you kill the brain or the heart stops beating" Y/N replied, his older friend nodding before the two jumped as a walker banged on the glass from the inside of the house.

"Well at least they ain't here" Y/N chuckled as he opened the door, shoved the walker down, and stomped the back of it's head in.

—~—

The boys had been working for well over an hour, going from house to house, checking each room and, having filled the backpacks on their back to the rim, moved what they could that would be useful into the front rooms, unlocking the front door, and spray painting a 1 on the door. This was the message for the next team that would come through to clean out everything the community could use that the house was clear of walkers.

As the pair shifted kitchen utensils and then furniture stacked up in the front room of the house they were in the subject of Reavers had come up again.

"You know I do not get it" Jayne said as he walked backwards carrying one half of a dining room table. "How does a guy go so wrong? Cutting on his own face. Rapin' and murderin'. I mean I'll kill a man in a fair fight. Or if I think he's gonna start a fair fight. Or if he bothers me. Or if there's a woman. Or if I'm getting paid. Especially if I'm getting paid."

Y/N couldn't help but crack up at his older friends commentary, which caused Jayne to laugh back. When the mirth had settled Y/N posited:

"You know, Shepherd Book said he thought they were men who had been out there with walkers too long, but shit- I can't count the amount of time I've walked through herds covered in walker guts. Doesn't mean I've wanted to go native."

"I hear that. I mean these things are like the boogeyman from my mamma's stories. I mean eating people alive- when does that get fun?"

"Beats me man" Y/N chuckled before the two stopped, gunfire breaking out across town and the radios on their belts blaring out with Mal's voice:

"Reavers! Reavers! Reavers!"

—~—

Clementine and Edith had been sat at Edith's lookout post for the last few hours, since the patrol left. They both tried to keep busy with small talk as they looked out at the sparse frozen landscape in front of them, Clementine feeding AJ his bottle before they both jumped at Edith's receiver coming alive, Mal's voice roaring:

"Reavers! Reavers! Reavers!"

—~—

Wash and Kaylee were sat anxiously in the covered military vehicle, it had been quiet for over an hour before they both jumped at distant gunfire and heard their captain scream:

"Reavers! Reavers! Reavers!"

into his radio.

"Fuck!" Wash panicked as he started the Ocelot, Kaylee jumping out to quickly remove the cover.

"Where are you?" Wash yelled into the microphone of his walkie, his wife's panicked voice coming through a moment later:

"We're stuck in the Pharmacy on the Main Street of town, we're making a stand- the Cap, Wolf, River and I. We don't know where the boys are, over."

"Copy that" Jayne could be heard a moment later. "We're stuck on the north side still. Roads thick with these fuckers. Ain't no way we can't get through to ya."

More machine gun fire could be heard, Wash yelling again:

"Kaylee and I are inbound, we'll try and clear you a path and make a run for the truck ok baby!"

"Copy that, then we need to get to the guys" Zoe replied.

"Negative. You won't get through this many, they're likely to cause you to crash or overwhelm you" Y/N could be heard saying into his walkie. At the same time he was looking through the curtains at the streets that had filled out of nowhere with the freakish horrifying things of nightmares.

They were mutilated, wearing multiple layers of human skins, carrying simple sharp utensils such as spears. Y/N was glad Clementine and AJ were nowhere near these things.

"What do you suggest then?" Mal asked with worry in his voice.

"You lot get clear and pull back, directly west in the direction we came from. Jayne and I will fall back on foot to the northeast and-"

"My muscular buttocks we will!" Jayne could be heard shouting in the background.

—~—

"Y/N no no please" Clementine cried out as she and Edith listened helplessly to the receiver they had, unable to answer, unable to help at all.

—~—

Y/N spoke again:

"I know the way back to Wellington. You lot pull back and make a bit of noise doing it then get your asses out of here."

Mal thought quickly as he emptied his mag into a trio of Reaver's faces that were trying to get through the hastily made barricade before he reloaded and quickly got on his radio.

"Affirmative. You two watch your asses."

"We can't leave them captain" River called out in horror as she fired through a small window Reavers were trying to crawl through.

"That's our plan and it's an order. Be ready to move out as soon as Wash gives us the go ahead" Mal snapped. He didn't want to leave his men, but it was the lives of two against the lives of six. It wasn't easy being a leader. Y/N came through one last time:

"Oh, and Captain"

"Yeah?" Mal answered.

"It sure would be nice to have some grenades don't you think?" Y/N chuckled.

Mal laughed as he fired before answering:

"You and Jayne get your asses back to Wellington and next time you can bring anything you goddamn like. Over and out."