𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 || 𝘉𝘓𝘖𝘖𝘋 𝘊𝘖𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘌𝘋 𝘚𝘕𝘖𝘞
°✾°
═════════════
[ ɪꜰ ɪ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏꜱᴇ ʏᴏᴜ
ɪ'ᴅ ꜱᴜʀᴇʟʏ ʟᴏꜱᴇ ᴍʏꜱᴇʟꜰ
ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴅᴇᴀʀ
ɪ'ᴠᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ʙʏ ᴍʏꜱᴇʟꜰ ]

    THE CRACKLING OF the flame in front of Roland was all that could be heard within the small garage he had been bunkered down in for the past hour. Rubbing his hands together as he did his best to generate a comforting warmth. Occasionally glancing up at the door when a different sound could be heard within the snowstorm raging on outside. It made Roland realize how true Hershel's words were about the winter being lean. Everything that was helping Roland before was now against him and only making things a lot harder each day.

It'd been hard for him to travel on foot since the constant snowfall and the unlikeliness of him finding a vehicle that could be working in this type of weather and season. So, he had to either travel at night or during the day. The weather was taking a large toll on him as he always had to find somewhere to rest inside. It could be a house, garage, or even a vehicle if nothing else was available around him. Hunting had begun to be trouble since if it was snowing more often, Roland was going to have trouble tracking. And even then, being inside the dark forest, his focus was all over the place. Definitely not the right thing for hunting, so he was stuck to searching houses for canned food. Just going off a dream and nothing else. But even then, he could barely sleep because of all of the daunting thoughts that occurred in his mind.

Most nights he spent sitting there or laying there, staring blankly at whatever caught his eyes. Wondering if his family and Beth were okay and where they could possibly be. They couldn't be moving as much since the weather and the likeliness of other people also camped wherever. So, Roland was confident that if he just kept moving then he would find them eventually. But even then, he was just walking with no exact destination since he had no map to direct him to any towns.

But even with this weather, no directions, and no direct destination, Roland had run into his fair share of people. Usually either resulting in Roland running and hiding, or him killing them with second thoughts coming later. He didn't care about what he did on the road since he was only focused on finding his group. It didn't matter if they were dead or alive, he just needed to know before he could keep going on.

As Roland held his hand out towards the flame, his eyes glossed down at the watch around his wrist. Specks of dried blood scattered across the case of the item with a tiny scratch in the centre of the glass. It'd been only today Roland ran into two men, both heavily armed with assault rifles. When they found him, they didn't waste a second trying to kill him and shot out the building he had found cover in.

And as he had done with many people threatening his life, he put an end to them with stabs to the throat. But one of them had gotten the jump on Roland and in the wrestle, he got the scratch. The blood had been on there a while ago since Roland hadn't had the energy to try and clean it. Stress had been at the forefront of his mind and it was rare for him to ever feel calm while he was resting.

Yelling could be heard outside causing Roland to look at the door quickly. Grabbing his pistol and standing up before moving to the garage door and peeked through the icy glass. The snow obscuring what was happening, but seeing a limping figure and in the distance of the snowstorm, he could see multiple figures jogging after the person.

A frown was etched onto his features as he stared at the figure limping towards the house he was settled in. "What the hell?" He muttered before taking a step back when he saw the figure's features be shown to see a little girl. She didn't look too old but around the age of thirteen or fourteen. More questions appeared in his head, but he couldn't sit there since the door to the house opened.

He quickly moved to the fire and grabbed his gloves that were placed by his bag. Slipping the pieces of clothing on before shrugging his bag on and moving to the door that entered the house from the garage. Carefully opening it to not alert the girl of his presence, the snowstorm and yells from the people outside hid his presence quite well as he moved out of the garage and down the hallway leading into the kitchen.

Roland kept his gun raised as he peeked inside the kitchen, not seeing the girl. But quickly moving past the room and to the front of the house and seeing the tracks of snow. Slowly melting into puddles of water, but his eyes caught the sight of the girl sitting by the window with her head peeking up just barely to see the outside.

From what he could see, her left arm was injured since the little droplets of blood from her fingers hit the hardwood floor. She was panting with a shiver racking through her body as snowflakes littered her hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her bangs messily pressed against her forehead and pale skin. Overall, she looked like she was in rough condition and close to passing out any moment if she pushed herself any harder.

There was a decision Roland could make here and he didn't know what to do. He could run and make sure he gets out safely. Not worry about the people hunting this girl and save himself. Or he could not be selfish and save this girl and get them to safety. For someone who was betrayed by his uncle figure that he didn't know was still alive or not, Roland was conflicted.

No doubt he'd gained trust issues and preferred going solo until he found his group, but he felt like he had an obligation. Like this was the fork in the road and he had to make the right decision or else he would be destined for nothing but pain for the rest of his life. He was probably reading into it a bit, but he couldn't help it. This was an important decision that would either decide if he lived or died.

Clenching his jaw, Roland internally sighed before he quietly moved behind the girl. Staring outside the window and hearing a man yell, "Spread out! Find her! Adam, check this house!" He yelled before Roland could make out three figures breaking off from each other and moving to different houses. Adam was moving towards the house Roland and this girl was situated in.

So, slowly and cautiously, Roland grabbed the girl and placed one hand over her mouth. "Shhh!" He ordered quietly as he tried to calm the girl struggling against him to break free. "I ain't here to hurt you." He assured before the sound of the front door clicked open. The snowstorm entering the house with loud whisps of wind and the figure of the man's body appearing on the floor in the dark house.

Roland quickly pulled the girl behind one of the couches to keep them hidden. His body frozen in his spot as he felt the heavy breaths from the girl's nose onto his hand. Both closing their eyes with the sound of boots thumping against the ground could be heard. Praying that this man didn't find where they were and shoot them right there and then. The girl's back was pressed against Roland's chest with her hands frozen to his forearm. She could feel how steady his heartbeat was and slightly frightened her how calm he was.

As the boots retreated in the direction of the kitchen, Roland opened his eyes and let the girl go. "When I remove my hand, I need you to stay quiet. Got it?" A nod was returned in response and Roland slowly lifted his hand from her lips. Letting her sit up fully and turned to him as she clearly had panic all over her features.

Glancing back in the direction he heard the man walk towards, Roland looked back at the girl and said in a whisper, "We need to get out of here." He told her and she nodded in agreement. "Do you have a gun?" He asked and the girl shook her head. "Only a knife." Roland huffed as he ran a hand through his slightly shaggy strands of hair. "Alright, stay here." He ordered quietly, and when she was about to protest, he cut her off. "Just listen if you want to survive." That was enough for the girl to nod before Roland moved in the direction of the kitchen.

Moving to the edge of the counter to see Adam opening cabinets, probably looking for any food. Roland knew there was nothing in there since it was one of the first things he checked when he arrived in the small town he had found himself held up in. Food was becoming hard to come by, the same as water, but he had been doing good enough to keep moving forward. Sure, he had lost quite a bit of weight, but he was still able to keep going with what he was finding.

Looking around him, Roland found a shard of glass and grabbed it. Peeking over the counter again and tossing the glass at the wall to the left of the man. Catching his attention as he slowly closed the cabinet and lifted his gun. Moving towards where Roland tossed the glass and unknown of his presence.

Roland moved out from behind the counter in a crouch and moved towards the man. Ready to attack until Adam turned around and saw him. Reacting quickly, Roland charged at the man with a yell and ran him into the wall. Ignoring the slight pain in his shoulder from the impact he had on Adam's stomach and stood up. Knocking the gun free from his grasp before being punched in the face and knocked down to the ground.

Quickly grabbing his knife from the strap on his bag, he stabbed the man in the stomach. A cry of pain coming from Adam as blood exited from his stomach and painted Roland's hand. Doing it again then stabbing the man in the throat to fully stop his attack. Roland pushed Adam off of him and stood up. Watching the man thrash around in pain as he held his throat for a brief. Choking on his own blood as his eyes flickered to everything for a period of time before stopping. The blood slowly seeping out from the stab wound in his throat as the strength in his body disappeared and went limp. His hand sliding from his bloody throat and hitting the floor with a quiet thud.

Standing to his feet, Roland touched his jaw covered in a stubble and sighed. "It's clear." He called out to the girl who emerged from around the corner and walked over. Her eyes finding Adam's body as she gasped. "Oh, man." She whispered. "I knew him." She added and Roland nodded with a hum. "We've got to get moving." He muttered as he crouched down and began patting the man's pockets. Finding some pullets in his pockets and taking them for himself.

"What's your name?" Roland questioned in a monotone as he wiped the blood off his knife and onto his pants. "Emily James." She greeted, still slightly in shock of the man being dead. "Roland Grimes." He greeted in response before shoving his gun into the back of his pants before moving past the girl.

"Why are you doing this?" Emily questioned and Roland stopped as he sighed. His hand resting on the doorknob that led into the backyard and would help them get away without being seen. Completely tired and just wanting to get somewhere safe so he could try and sleep since his peace was rudely interrupted.

Looking back at Emily, Roland could see the apprehensiveness of following after him. The clear look of curiosity and wonder as to why he even decided on stepping in. And if Roland was being honest, he didn't even know why. He wasn't planning on saving a kid since he already had problems of his own.

But maybe that was the reason as to why he did save her, she was just a kid. Whatever reason she was in this situation for, she was just a kid trying to survive and him now being an adult, he had the obligation to try and save people as well as take. At the moment, he had no good reason for it.

Roland sighed, "C'mon. We've got to get clear of this area." He avoided the question and motioned her to follow before opening the door. Lifting the hood of his jacket before stepping out into the storm. Glancing behind him and seeing Emily now following closely behind him as they moved through the snow. Not realizing what they were now in and what type of pain they'd go through because of both their actions.