.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.

The group had been on the road all night. Stella had attempted to get some sleep but she couldn't seem to get rid of the constant gnawing guilt of leaving her family behind. She couldn't sleep without knowing that they were safe. The girl couldn't help but regret going with Abraham. She knew that the decision was between Levi and her family and she had only agreed to go because her family would still have each other if she left. Levi would've had no one if she decided to stay.

The sun had risen, small rays of sun shining down on them. Stella sat resting her head against Levi's shoulder while trying to match his breathing in a desperate effort to steady her own.

Eugene sat quietly in the back along with Tara who had still tried to cling onto every second of sleep that she could get. Glenn and Maggie sat behind Stella and Levi and Abrahams's daughter Melissa took up a seat by her left, her dirty sneakers on the seat as she leaned her back against the window. The girl's presence would have barely been noticed if it weren't for the flickering sound of her fiddling with her knife and the music that poured from her headphones that were plugged deeply into her ears. Stella glanced over at the tape recorder and felt a pang of jealousy. Abraham himself sat behind the wheel as Rosita played with his hair.

"It's getting a little messy for you," Rosita commented with a grin

"Getting ready for retirement." The man joked. "Relaxing the grooming standards."

Melissa sighed audibly and turned the volume up further, turning her back away from the front of the bus.

Abraham didn't seem to notice. "Thinking about becoming a Plumber, a shepherd or something."

"You ain't herdin' sheep now Abraham. Eyes on the price." Rosita said.

"Damn right. That's my girl." Abraham said. "Maybe I'll let out shave me down all over, dolphin smooth."

Rosita giggled and gave the man a gentle shove. "I'll cut it for you tonight."

Melissa rolled her eyes as her tape recorder wasn't loud enough to drown out the two's flirty conversation.

"Hey, maybe Rosita can give you a trim while she's at it. Party's getting a little long in the back. Or is it your source of power?" Tara spoke to Eugene. Stella smiled and looked back to see Eugene not as amused by the idea.

"I ain't slaying a lion anytime soon," Eugene said, his face emotionless and his mouth a thin line. "I wouldn't be placing any wagers on seeing me dispatch a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass."

Stella raised a brow, sharing a grin with Maggie at the man's words.

"Oh, so you'll just settle on saving the world, right?" Tara smiled.

"Yeah." The man remained a face of stone as he nodded.

Stella shifted her attention from Eugene and back to Levi. The boy smiled at her as he drew circles on the bare skin of her arm.

"You're tense. You okay?" Levi asked.

Stella took a deep breath and sent him a quick smile. "We did the right thing. Leaving and all that. Right?"

Levi smiled at her. He knew that Stella was sacrificing a lot to be there with him. She risked not seeing her family again just to be with him. It made him feel loved and guilty at the same time. "We're clearing a path for them. They'll be with us before you know it."

She nodded. "You're right. Clearing a path. Yeah." The boy could see that she still sat tensed in her seat.

Levi placed his finger on her chin, turning her head toward him. "I love you." He whispered and leaned forward, closing the gap between the two. The boy placed gentle kisses on her lips, his hand calmingly moving over her thigh.

She smiled up at him once they pulled away. "I love you, more."

The sides of Levi's mouth tugged up into a smile, seeing her more relaxed. He pulled her close, allowing her to rest against him.

"How long will it take?" Maggie asked Eugene. "After you get on that terminal and do what you have to do?"

"Depends on a number of factors, including the density of the infected around target sites worldwide," Eugene said.

"Target sites? We talking about missiles?" Glenn spoke up.

"That's classified," Eugene said shortly like he answered most questions about what was going to happen in DC.

"I thought we were over that." Glenn sighed.

"What if we all live?" Eugene asked.

"Secrets will matter then?"

"They might..." Eugene said. "Anyway, the speed with which things normalize depends on a number of factors including worldwide weather patterns, which were modeled without the assumptions that cars, planes, boats, and trains wouldn't be pouring hydrocarbons into the atmosphere this long. Changed the game quite a bit when it comes to air transmissible pathogens." Most members in the car stared at the man, half listening to his ramble while the rest had stopped listening completely.

"Why the hair?" Stella asked and she heard Levi snort out a laugh.

"Because I like it," Eugene answered.

"I like it, too." Stella smiled before turning to Levi, lowering her tone while the rest kept rambling about the mullet. "I think you should grow one." She dragged her hand through the boy's hair.

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "I mean, it's getting pretty long in the back."

"Yeah?" Her hand dragged through the back of his head.

"Think it would look good?"

"Oh, yeah. Totally sexy." She grinned.

"Well, if you say so, then I'm definitely doing it." He humored.

Stella was abruptly shaken out of Levi's hold at a loud bang followed by the bus swerving over the road. Paniced screams erupted inside the bus as the members were tossed around upon the impact. The tires screeched as Abraham desperately tried to get control of the vehicle.

Stella attempted to reach for Levi but everything around her blurred together into one as the members were thrown around inside the bus. Suddenly, they drove over a car making the bus go up into the air for a moment. Stella lifted off the ground, before crashing down along with the bus. She wanted to scream out in pain but couldn't move a muscle. Everything around her went black, as the dark devoured her.

____

Stella opened her eyes, seeing shattered glass everywhere and hearing the pained grunts and groans that filled the air. Her body ached as she attempted to move it. Her breathing heavied when she looked around in shock, seeing Levi's unconscious body next to her.

She forced herself to sit up, the glass cutting through her jeans and bringing stinging tears to her eyes. "Lev, wake up." She shook him. "Levi, come on."

She saw the red substance seep from his leg and panic consumed her. She desperately shook his body without gaining a response. "Glenn!" She cried out.

The man appeared from between two seats in the back of the bus and hurried up to the girl, two worried eyes scanning her. "Are you okay?"

"It's Lev." The man looked down to see the injured boy. His hands traced along his throat, seeking his pulse as Stella did her best to examine his wounded leg. A big shard of glass had impaled him, cutting through deep which caused blood to gush out of it. Glenn nodded toward the Grimes girl telling her that he had found a pulse, allowing a bit of panic to release its grip on her throat.

"The engine is on fire! We gotta get out." Rosita announced.

Stella looked up, seeing walkers by every exit. Abraham pushed Stella aside, rushing to the back of the bus to make sure Eugene was okay. The mullet man stood up, looking slightly groggy but fine.

Stella counted every member she could see, in her head. Eight. One was missing.

"Melissa!" She called out. Abraham instantly stood up straight, looking around panicked for his daughter.

"Mel!" He called out.

"I'm fine." She groaned as she rose from between two seats and Stella breathed out.

"Okay, Abraham and I go first, knock them back. Clear the way for Rosita and Maggie. You hold them off while Stella and Tara help Levi out. Then Eugune and Melissa you stick close to them. Then we all start hitting them, okay?" Glenn laid out the plan.

Glenn and Abraham climbed to the back of the bus, kicking down the two doors in the back. The walkers that had gathered around it fell back allowing Glenn and Abraham to slip out and begin to attack them.

Tara sank down next to Stella, grabbing hold of Levi's arms. "We'll do this together, alright?" Stella nodded and grabbed his legs, avoiding the wound. Maggie and Rosita climbed out of the bus, taking down the closest walkers. Once the path was clear, Tara and Stella lifted Levi and carried him outside while Eugene and Melissa stayed close behind. The two girls placed the boy in the grass, away from the crowded area around the bus. Stella crouched down next to him, sobbing as she attempted to get him awake while Tara stood in front of them, taking down the walkers that approached.

"Levi, please." Stella tried. "Wake up."

The boy's eyes fluttered awake, looking up at her in confusion. The tightness around her throat vanished and she cupped the side of his face. "Oh, thank God."

"What the hell-" He attempted to move but instead his head fell back and he whined out in agony as the pain radiated up his leg.

"Don't move. Your leg is injured." She informed him. The girl connected a quick kiss on his cheek before standing up, her hand wrapping around her bow. "Don't go anywhere." She joked and grabbed an arrow from the quiver on her back.

Quickly aiming her weapon toward three approaching walkers. One arrow into the first, then the second, and after three seconds the three walkers were on the ground. Her arrows kept piercing through the remaining walkers until the only ones standing were the the ones alive. Stella returned her arrows before rushing back to Levi along with Maggie.

"Looks deep." She said. Stella ripped off the sleeve of her shirt and wrapped it around his leg.

"Will this help?"

"It'll do for now. But we need to get him to medical supplies soon." Maggie said. Stella brushed over his hair, her heart clutching at the thought of almost losing him

"Are you hurt?" He asked and she chuckled.

"No, I'm fine." She stood up and brushed off the dirt from her legs. Her pants were torn by the knees from all the glass inside the bus, and blood trickled from the small cuts.

"You are hurt," Levi said, sitting up.

"It's a scrape. Don't worry." She smiled down at him before her eyes latched themselves on a red-haired figure, sitting with her back turned toward the rest of the group and her head hanging low. Stella slowly approached her, placing a gentle hand on her back to announce her presence.

"Hey, Mel." Stella felt bad knowing that she had barely even spoken to the girl before. Melissa kept her distance from most people and hadn't exactly allowed anyone to get too close. However, Stella could imagine it being pretty lonely having a father whose only priority was the man he was going to take to DC. And if he wasn't focused on Eugene, Abraham spent most of his time with Rosita.

"Hey." The girl said without looking up at her.

"Are you hurt?" Stella asked.

"No." She answered shortly and Stella noticed her cradling something in her hands.

"What you got there?"

Melissa sighed and finally met her gaze. "It used to be my tape recorder."

Stella stared at the crashed recorder with small cables and metal pieces sticking out every here and there.

"It broke during the crash."

"That's honestly more of a loss than Levi's injured leg," Stella said and Melissa glared up at her ready to snap back at her sarcasm but Stella's face remained fully serious. "I mean it." She smiled and a grin touched Melissa's lips.

"How is he?" She asked.

"Who cares? He can live without his leg if he has to but this..." Stella sighed with a grin. "What did you have on there?"

"The Smiths. Some ACDC. A a couple of Billy Joel songs." Melissa answered as her gaze fell upon what was left of the tape recorder.

"ACDC I could live without but man. Billy Joel." Stella shook her head before chuckling. "It's alright. Well, find you a new one."

Melissa smiled. It was the first genuine smile she had seen from her since they first met. Then suddenly, tall flames began to devour the bus behind them.

"Badass," Melissa whispered under her breath and Stella hummed in agreement.

"We're not stopping. We're rolling on." Abraham ordered. "Find another vehicle down the road. The mission hasn't changed."

"Levi can barely walk." Stella rose to her feet.

"I can walk just fine," Levi argued.

"No, you can't." She told him before looking back at Abraham.

"She's right. The Chruch is just fifteen miles back there." Eugene spoke up.

"No! We don't stop! We don't go back! We're at war and retreat means we lose!"Abraham snapped at him. "The road fights back, the plan gets jacked. We all know that. Now we will get through this because we have to. Every direction is a question. We don't go back!"

Stella sighed and looked back at Levi. The boy grunted as Maggie helped him to a stance, his leg unable to put pressure on. Stella joined up next to him, draping his arm around her shoulder to assist him as she unwillingly followed Abraham up the road. Levi limped forward, hissing in pain anytime he attempted to use the leg.

"So about that mullet..." Levi grinned.

"Oh, shut up." She chuckled.

_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____
𝟐𝟑𝟓𝟎 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____

𝐀/𝐍
I just know u guys will love Melissa