𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓
𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐁𝐘
︶꒦꒷★꒷꒦︶

It had been a little over 6 months since the farm.

Everyone was exhausted, Lori was heavily pregnant, they were all hungry. Everyone was struggling. The constant moving was difficult for them all, but especially Lori. Not having a constant roof over her head and being reliant on outdoor fires and the occasional beat down old house.

Lucky for them, on this warm summer day, they had found an abandoned house. Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Carl and Roman were scoping the house, while the others stayed outside by the cars. "How ya' doin', mama?" Claire smiled at Lori, placing a gentle hand on the womans back. Lori sent a weak smile, "It's gettin' close. I'm nervous."

Before Claire could respond, Rick had whistled at them from the front doors. Claire inhaled deeply, throwing her backpack over her shoulders, grabbing Roman's duffle bag as well and wrapping it across her chest, before bending over and grabbing her blanket and following the others into the house. She winced at the smell as she entered the threshold, the smell of death and rotting flesh filling her senses as she stared around at it. The paint was chipping and there was dirt and flys everywhere, but it looked okay for a few nights.

"Eh," Claire muttered, sending Roman a greeting smile as she tore his duffel bag off and handed it to him, "It's got good bones." Roman rolled his eyes with a small smile as she passed him into the living room, where everyone was sitting down and resting their legs. Claire groaned as she removed her backpack, plopping down in the open spot next to Kira.

With a deep sigh of relief, she grabbed the ponytail off her wrist and tied her hair up and away from her sweaty neck. Her hair had gotten much longer over the months, now reaching more than halfway down her back. Which made this scorching summer just that much more unbearable, meaning she kept her hair up in a low bun most of the time.

A grunt escaped Roman as he leaned against the wall next to Claire, the girls face falling as Carl sat down on the floor and placed two cans of dog food in front of him. Claire grimaced, stomach rumbling in disgust at the mere thought. Yeah, she'd rather starve. And with how often she had given her portions of food to Lori, going a night or two without food sounded better than dog food.

Carl started opening the cans with a can opener, but Rick grabbed the now open can. He stared down at it before throwing it at the wall. Claire had grown a bit frightened of Rick, if she was honest. He had gotten a little stand off-ish and was slightly aggressive at times. She understood why, with everything going on, but she thought it better to keep her distance for now.

The room was silent, the only sounds being Daryl ripping the feathers out of the dead owl he had caught.

Claire stared down at her dirty nails, picking at the cuticles silently. They had moved through the forest over the months, extensive searching for Eli as well as a home to settle down in for longer than a night. But they hadn't found him; not even a trace of him. She had gone out with Daryl a few times, seeing as he's an incredible hunter and tracker, but they had come back empty handed without Eli every time. She wondered if he was alive, if he had found shelter, or a kind group to take him in. She wondered if he had died, of starvation, illness, natural causes. Or if he was gone, small frame roaming the Earth in search of his next meal, walking in herds, each mindless walker next to him aimlessly wandering the highways.

Her eyes drifted over to her backpack, where his stuffed animal was tied with rope to her zipper. She slept with that damn thing every night, tired eyes opening every morning in hopes that her baby brother would be laying next to her.

"Psst." T-Dog motioned to everyone, Claire's head quietly falling back in frustration when she saw the walkers outside. Quickly, they each threw their bags back over their shoulders and rushed out the backdoor as quietly as possible.

They had to ditch the van about 3 months ago, but had luckily found two other vehicles to hold all of them. Marcus, Claire, Roman and Beth filed into Roman's blue truck, the others jumping into their own respective vehicles before taking off onto the road without a sound, minus the loud roar of Daryl's motorcycle.

"Well, that was nice. For about 5 minutes." Claire sighed, leaning her head back against the head rest. "Chin up, Smith. We've got that owl to look forward to." Roman smiled at the girl, but she rolled her eyes.

"Yay."

★

Roman placed the car in park, each of the teens hopping out of the car to approach the others. Claire was by Kira's side quickly, the two girls mumbling to themselves about the drive, Beth and Marcus walking off to check on Lori, while Roman stepped to the front with Rick, Maggie and Hershel to plan the next route.

"We got no place left to go." Rick spoke, Claire leaving Kira's side to stand next to Maggie, the blondes eyes scattering over the marked up map. "When this herd meets up with this one," Maggie gestures to the spots on the map they had encountered walkers at, "Well be cut off. We'll never make it south."

T-Dog and Daryl stepped beside Claire as Glenn joined them, placing a hand on the hood of the car. "What would you say? That was about 150 head?" Daryl voice cut through, Roman placing his hands on his hips and squinting to look at him, "That was last week. Could be double that by now."

Claire pointed a finger at the river on the map, "Could the river have delayed them enough?" Hershel nodded his head, looking over at the girl to acknowledge her, "If we move fast we might have a shot to tear right through there."

T-Dog leaned forward, "But if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." Maggie inhaled deeply, "So, we're blocked." Rick gently leaned between Claire and Maggie to gesture to a highway on the map, "Only thing to do is double back at 27 and swing towards Greenville."

"Yeah—we picked through that already. It's like we spent the winter going in circles." T-Dog huffed, Claire peeling her eyes from the map to look over at Roman, the tall man already looking at her anxious expression. She smiled weakly at him, turning her attention back to the map.

"I know. I know." Ricks voice was soft and assuring, "At Newnan, we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet. We can't keep going house to house. red to find someplace to hole up for a few weeks."

The group had basically assigned Rick as their unspoken leader, Daryl and Roman being his closest confidants; his right hand men. But despite the three men leading them, the group never made decisions without each of them agreeing on a plan on action.

T-Dog nodded, pulling his bag over his shoulder, "It cool if we get to the creek before we head out? Won't take long. We gotta fill up on water, we can boil it later." Rick nodded, "Knock yourself out."

Claire looked up at Rick with a small smile, "I'm gonna go too. See if the creek water is clean enough to wash up a little." Rick nodded, placing a gentle hand on the back of her head, "Okay, don't go alone."

Claire nodded at him, sending a look at Kira, who stood near Romans car. The girl nodded, pulling Claire's backpack out of the car as well as her own from the floor, heading towards her, "Be safe."

Claire looked up at Roman and nodded, "Always am." Kira was at Claire's side quickly, passing the blonde her bag. "Roman, you're with Rick and I. Let's go hunt."

The man nodded at Daryl, grabbing his rifle from its position against the car, looking back at Kira and Claire giggling to each other, walking towards the creek.

Claire tilted her head at the creek, the slowly flowing water almost clear enough to see the rocks deep underneath. They weren't close to T-Dog, Maggie or Glenn, the two girls closed off in their own space of the creek. Claire nodded, "Yeah, I need a wash."

Kira chuckled, tossing her backpack to the ground beside Claire's as the blonde stripped herself of the dirty t-shirt, jeans and boots. Kira swallowed thickly, blush rising to her cheeks as Claire remained in her underwear and bra, dropping her clothes on top of her backpack and stepping towards the water.

"Shit that's cold!" Claire shriek snapped Kira out of her trance, clearing her throat and quickly removing her own clothes to wash the dirt, grime and blood off her skin. Claire laughed, the cold water nipping at her skin like a thousand needles. Despite the temperature, the water felt incredible on her dirty skin. Claire sucked in a breath, stepping further into the water with a loud shiver, followed by a breath of relief as she dunked herself fully under the water.

Kira smiled, stepping into the water with a hiss and dunking herself under quickly. When she emerged, Claire was already above water and rubbing her skin clean. "Lori's gonna have to give birth on the road—it's unavoidable." Kira mumbled, Claire biting her lip anxiously as the water around her clouded with the dirt coming off her skin.

Kira ran a hand through her short hair, watching closely as Claire averted her gaze from her arm to Kira's face, "Hershel's old and Lori's pregnant. The two of them need stability, same for Carl. Rick knows this. We'll find something—we have to." Kira nodded, settling into the awkward silence as Claire tipped her head back to rinse her hair.

Kira pulled her lips to the side, placing her hand near the top of the water and flicking her wrist, sending a splash of water at Claire. The blonde gasped, neck snapping forward with an open mouth, "Rude!" Claire giggled, splashing Kira back.

The two girls stood to their full heights, water level with her waist and Kira towering over Claire as they splashed the water at each other. They laughed, Claire gasping as the water seemed colder now that she was half out of the water.

"Guys!"

The two girls paused, Kira turning towards Roman, who stood at the edge of the creek. Claires smile dropped quickly, the girl dropping into the water to cover her bra-clad chest from the man. Her cheeks bloomed pink, reaching her hands up to cover her chest under the water in embarrassment. Roman cleared his throat, placing his hands on his hips and looking everywhere but Claire as his own cheeks grew warm.

"What, Abramson?" Kira rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips, body exposed for the man. "Uh, we found—" His eyes grazed over Claire, clearing his throat and turning his back towards the exposed girls, "We found somewhere we might be able to lay low."

"We'll be right up." Kira nodded, Claire's wide eyes watching Romans back as he walked up towards the road. "Homeboy could not handle a girls locker room." Kira laughed, turning her head towards Claire, who was still sitting in the water with her chest covered. "Oh, get up." Kira rolled her eyes with a smile, reaching out her hand to lift Claire from the water. "He's just a guy."

Claire nodded, clearing her throat and pressing her cold hands to her burning cheeks as they exited the creek. "Yeah—just a guy." Claire mumbled, yanking her jeans back over her still wet legs. Kira paused, shirt on her arms but not over her head yet, "Don't tell me—"

Claire looked over at her friend with a confused look, Kira yanking her long sleeve over her head dramatically. "Don't tell me, Smith." Claire raised a brow, pulling her own shirt over her head, "Tell you what?"

"You like him."

Claire's breathe caught in her throat, the girl coughing to clear the nervousness in her throat, slipping her feet into her shoes, "What? No, I—I do not like Roman. I just don't want to be seen in a bra! This thing's too big for me anyway, it looks frumpy." Kira laughed, slipping her feet into her own boots and squeezing the water from her hair, "Your bra does not look frumpy, your bra looks fine."

Claire huffed, squeezing the water out of her hair before throwing her backpack over her shoulders, "It's frumpy."

★

Claire held her machete out to the tree line, glancing back as Rick used the wire cutters to cut a hole in the prison gate. Rick ushered the group in, Lori and Carl first, followed by the others as Claire rushed over, "Quickly." Rick mumbled, Roman jumping through the hole last and Glenn and Daryl quickly threading wire through the gate to close it back together.

Claire squinted up at the prison, lifting her hand up over her eyes to shield them from the sun, "This place is a shit show." She mumbled under her breath, watching the walkers roaming the courtyard quickly make their way over to the group.

The second gate provided them with protection but did little to change Claire's mind about the place. There were too many walkers to save the building. Claire looked back as Glenn and Darly finished threading the fence back up, following after the group as they ran towards one of the watch towers.

Daryl opened the gate once they got there, each of them coming to a slow in front of the entrance to the courtyard.

"It's perfect." Rick nodded, Claire and Kira sending each other worried looks as the walkers on the outside of the gate flooded towards them, "If we can shut that gate—prevent more from filling the yard—we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight."

"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel piped up, Glenn quickly stepping up, "I'll do it. You guys cover me."

Kira and Maggie shook their heads, Maggie being the first to speak, "No. It's a suicide run." Kira nodded in agreement with her brothers girlfriend, "There's better ways to do this."

"I'm the fastest."

"No—" Rick turned towards the group, "You, Maggie, Beth, T-Dog and Kira draw as many as you can over there-" Rick pointed to another end of the fencing, "Pop 'em through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot, take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste." Carol nodded, gathering her things and following after Daryl.

"Hershel," Rick turned to the older man, "You, Marcus and Carl take this tower." The three nodded, taking off towards the closest tower, "Claire and Roman," The two perked their heads up towards the man, "Over there, attract as many as you can, get them through the fence. I'll run for the gate."

Claire nodded, gripping her machete tightly as her and Roman rushed to the opposite side of the fence. They came to a slow, dragging their weapons across the fence and shouting for the walkers closest to them. Claire swallowed thickly as they quickly approached, Roman yanking the knife from his pocket and stabbing it into a walkers head.

Claire did the same, plunging her weapons into walkers, allowing them to drop to the ground as she did another one. Her eyes watched anxiously as Rick ran through the courtyard, shooting walkers as they got too close. Claire shouted for the walkers again, plunging the blade into it's eye.

Claire gasped as its head popped, sending blood onto her hand and cheek. "Ew." Claire groaned, continuing her stabbing as Rick closed the gate.

When the man was successfully inside the watch tower, Claire released the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Light it up!" Daryl shouted from the watch tower, Claire pulling her gun from her pocket as Roman lifted his rifle. The two began shooting the stray walkers in the courtyard, the population of dead quickly dropping as the gunshots echoed around the trees.

When the gunshots ceased and the walkers had been killed, Claire dropped her gun and heaved in exhaustion. She looked up at Roman, the man glancing down at her at the same time. Claire pulled her lips to the side, placing her gun back in the lining of her jeans and swinging the machete around her hand, "Right."

She walked past him to get to the others, Roman rushing over to keep up with her, "Sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to—I didn't know you guys would be naked. I didn't mean to intrude or make you uncomfortable." Claire's lips tugged at the corners, the blonde looking up at the tall man as they walked side by side, "I wasn't naked."

"Well-" He tilted his head, "You weren't clothed, either." Claire chuckled, shaking her head as they rounded the corner where the courtyard gate was, "It's okay." Lori stood by the gate, Claire pulling her backpack from the ground quickly as she approached the pregnant woman, "Doing okay?"

Lori smiled, placing a hand on the back of Claire's head as she passed through the gate, "Doing great."

Carol was laughing in the field, Claire smiling warmly at the woman as she basked in the safety of the large field.

"This place could be good." Kira appeared beside Claire, the blonde looking from her friend and back at Roman, who was helping Lori through the gate and closing it behind him, "Yeah, or it could get us killed."