Chapter 10.

Echo stood in a crouched position avoiding her window at all costs. She gripped her blade tightly as if her life depended on it. At the moment, she watched as more walkers strode, slowly, towards the barn, that was up in flames. Even though Echo never believed in religion, she hoped someone was watching above. And somehow she would make it out of here alive. She carefully listened to the growls throughout her room. There were too many in the fields and too many in the house. Echo licked her chapped lips and started to make an escape plan. But how? She knew she was stranded on top of a roof, while more started to pile into the yard.

The stench of death met her nose, like a toxic cloud. Her nose scrunched up, and she felt her stomach twist. Most would believe that she was used to the stench, but she wasn't. She was a Sniper, she would stick to her Crowsnest and watch her team's back. But it was an exception when they sent her as backup into the city. 

Getting out of here with one blade was an odd chance of survival. But she was willing to make it work. After all, she stubbornly chose to stay back and fight the dead, buying them time to escape.
Maybe she should of went with her brother and shouldn't have lashed out at him. Her eyes searched for a way she could safely get down and make a run for it.

There were too many in the front yard, but what about the sides? She started to crawl to the left side of the house, by shuffling in a very odd way, almost like a crab crawl. She didn't care how awkward it looked, it worked.

Three walkers roamed around the side of the home, near the dirtbike Myles fixed earlier.

The growls continued to get louder, she snapped her attention to the front of the home. She leaned forward and caught sight of multiple walkers reaching towards the roof. Thankfully, the walkers on the side of the house didn't catch her scent of her. 

"Never knew I would get a fan club until now." Echo joked. She tried to substitute fear with humour, even though escaping the farm was a serious situation.

She was already dead if she chose to stay and wait it out.

Echo observed the walkers and their movements at the side of the home. Like a pack, the three walkers made their way to the front of the home. There was her chance to get to that dirtbike. She took that chance and climbed silently down the roof. 

Echo gripped the edges of the rain gutter, her legs dangled within the air. Her heart continued to lash out against her chest. Her feet met the ground below her. A thud sound was made, from her weight meeting the ground.

Echo eagerly hopped onto the dirtbike, she held the handle with one hand, balancing herself. She placed her foot on top of the kick-start and pressed her weight on it. Four times, a loud crackling sound was made.

"Come on, come on." She whispered.

She began to listen closely to the growls of the dead getting louder and louder. She looked behind her, noticing the noise drew the attention of a couple of walkers behind the house.

She lifted her leg and stomped on the kick-start. A loud rumble came from the engine of the bike. She accelerated the gas. The walkers started to pile away from the front of the house and towards the noise.

She smiled as the speed scared the crap out of her. She wasn't used to the speed, only having limited experience when she was younger with the bike.

The bike leaped into action, smoothly she passed the walkers on the driveway. Her heart's rhythm continued to accelerate and slowly started to calm its pace. The breeze combed its hands through her short hair, she wanted to scream in happiness that she got out alive!

She saw a figure at the end of the driveway, where it led out of dodge for her.

Daryl sat on his bike and watched the barn collapse into a fusion of flames. She furrowed her brows and began to slow down the gas, practically killing the brakes with force.

"Plans fell through, huh?" Daryl started.

"It wasn't exactly how I wanted it to go. Left my shit behind, perhaps it's for the best." Echo admitted, feeling a bit of regret about leaving her bag of positions behind.

"Damn it, don't you take things seriously?" he was fulminate about her choices that evening.

"I do take things seriously-"

Daryl took off, leaving her in the middle of her sentence. Echo's jaw locked, and she became agitated at the fact that he just left. She followed him, hoping that he would lead the way to her family, along with the rest of the group.

Echo kept cursing swears in her mind out of spite due to her anger. Saying she didn't take situations seriously hit a nerve. Her whole life was serious. She believed he had no right to say that. Besides he doesn't know her well enough to make those conclusions.

But yet again, she felt a wave of depression. She couldn't believe the man she tried to make friends with, turned around and showed her this side of him. But maybe this was how he was cold. She only wanted to understand him. He chose to be alone and no one was drawn to accompany him besides her.

She questioned herself whether this was her doing, whether it was smart to draw more in by covering for the group. It was risky and she nearly lost her life.

Maybe he was right, she didn't plan things out well, and things could of went south.

All she knew was how to kill, and separating that part of her life to normal life was difficult.
But to call the new world normal was quite deceiving. It was far from normal.

She began to think whether this whole group thing was a curse or a blessing. After seeing the herd move in from where Rick and his group left the vehicles, to the herd destroying the farm. Echo realized maybe if she didn't allow them to stay, the herd would have never followed the noise back to the farm.

It was clear to her that the dead were moving out from the city, wandering like a herd. She kept hope that the CDC would come up with a solution to control the dead. But if Atlanta hasn't already fallen then there was still hope.

Concluding that this was it, she refused to believe that this was it. She saw dim lights ahead and a couple of rows of vehicles parked on the side of the roads. 

Gravel scraped beneath the tires as she slowed down. She saw Hannah holding Breanne tightly in a hug. Echo's heart sunk to the pit of her stomach. Hannah stroked Breanne's hair, trying to get her to calm down. A copper stain covered Breanne's arm. Echo didn't hesitate to run to Breanne. Sheer panicked her, and Echo's heart viciously ascended. Hannah stood next to the passenger side of the Mustang, holding Breanne tightly.

Was she bit? Echo's chest tightened, and she began to run over to her niece. The group stared at Echo as she materialized. They looked at her as if she was a ghost.

"Oh my gosh is she alright?" Echo questioned Hannah, her eyes widened, and her heart was in her throat. 

Hannah didn't say a word.

Hannah swallowed thickly before speaking, she hesitated for a moment. And then she spoke, "She's alright, we...we thought you were dead..." Hannah admitted. Breanne turned away from her mother and embraced Echo in a hug. It was as if she was afraid that if she let go of Echo, soon she would disappear.

"I thought you were g-gone. I thought they got you and you turned into one of those monsters." Breanne choked on her emotions. Echo's throat tightened, it felt as if someone was pressing an unbearable pressure on her throat.

She fought to hold her emotions back. Echo caressed her back, choosing not to say anything just yet.

"I'm here, I'm here now." Echo whispered.

She knelt to Breanne's height and examined her arm. Breanne wiped her tear-stained cheeks.

"Are you bitten? Are you bitten?" She repeated in a panic.

"No, she wasn't bitten, but close. Your brother prevented it." Rick 

"That was the stupidest move I've ever seen someone do," T-dog admitted, mumbling it under his breath. But purposely it seemed as if he wanted everyone to hear it.

"What?" Echo speechlessly questioned.

"Look, we appreciate you helped us all escape. But damn, girl. Your life was on the line! You should've followed all of us out the back of the house-"

"T-dog may be right, but if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have escaped even by the odds. You saw how many were by the vehicles. If we didn't have that kind of cover, we would have lost more lives than we anticipated." Hershel stopped T-dog from continuing. 

"But as a group, we made it out," Lori commented, making her decision that she was on T-dog's side.

Even when Echo felt as if she was cornered, she began to feel relieved that someone was in her corner. She didn't know the old man, but it seemed as if he understood the situation better.

"Like Andrea..." Glenn mumbled, keeping his focus on the ground. Maggie looked at Glenn with remorse.

Echo knew that was someone that they must have lost.

"What happened to her?" Echo questioned Glenn.

A heavy sigh escaped his throat, "Let's just say she didn't make it."

"We were in the same situation as tonight. We lost people at Hershel's farm, we lost good people. The walkers must have followed from Hershel's farm. After there were mentions of gunshots heard today." Rick exchanged a look separately with Carl.

With a frustrated sigh from Carl, "She told you didn't she?" Carl pointed at Echo.

Echo opened her mouth to object, knowing she didn't say a word to Lori and Rick at the time. But Maggie at the time was the one that spoke about the incident.

"That's not important. It's important that we know where you kids are before running off." Lori replied to Carl. 

Carl shook his head, in a very obedient way.

"Mom, we heard a scream. A woman's scream, if we would've got you it might have been too late..." Carl began to mumble at the end of his sentence, realizing they never searched the area for the scream they heard.

"Gun privileges have been taken away until you learn how to use it properly," Lori concluded with frustration building up inside of her from the talkback.

Myles closed the lid of the mustang with a gentle slam, before joining his sister after he began to hear an argument unfold. His heart stopped when he saw his sister standing with his family. A weight disappeared off his shoulders. 

A relieved sigh escaped his lungs, "Back from the dead I suppose." he mumbled.

"How am I suppose to defend myself if you take it away?" Carl argued with Lori.

"This isn't up for discussions, please give me your gun." Lori held out her hand to Carl, motioning him to give it to her. 

Carl stepped back, "I don't have it." with honesty, Carl admitted.

"Give the kid a chance. Echo can teach him the basic safety of a firearm, from when it gets jammed, to cleaning it." Myles suggested, nudging Echo, lightly.

"I appreciate the suggestion, Myles. But I can handle it from here." Lori assured Myles. Rick kept silent after Lori hinted at Rick to step in at any time. But he didn't say a word. It seemed as if he kept something from her, or the fact something upset him.

His eyes were cold and emotionless. Echo knew that look better than many. She knew he was going through a cycle, between regret and no regret. Most soldiers consisted that look after the first time they killed someone on the enemy's side.

But where the dead still Human? Probably not. Echo's mind travelled to the back of her belt, where a small gun was concealed by her shirt. She kept quiet, refusing to give Lori Carl's gun, after everything that happened earlier.

"Come on, cough it up." Lori tried again after Carl ignored his mother.

"I don't have it. Does it look like I have it?" Carl pulled up his shirt by a bit and spun, showing his mother he didn't have it. He pulled the inner parts of his pockets out, proving that he did not possess the weapon she searched for.

A sharp breeze began to fall out from the North, and goosebumps scattered across her skin. She rubbed her arms even when her thin flannel provided very little protection from the cold.

Winter was coming early, and the chances of them surviving the winter were going to be a challenge. But she hoped that winter would slow down the dead, freezing their limbs and flesh, so that they would slow down. 

She worried more for Hannah at that moment or even worse Lori. Both women were pregnant, and the odd theory floated around in her mind. What if they were all infected, including herself? And what happens if Hannah or Lori's baby is infected. The thought of raising a child in this world was the last thing on Echo's mind. But because there was no power left or Hospitals, how would they be able to properly give Hannah or Lori the things they needed? What if it came down to the point where they couldn't have the kid naturally, but by a C-section?

The chances of living through that were slim, without the proper supplies. Echo attempted not to scare the living crap out of herself by thinking of the worst. If the baby was infected, if it- she decided not to go down that road.

She listened closely to the wind, she heard no growls, but she felt something small and cold collide with her hand. Her focus traced to the sky above her, and small particles of snow began to fall. Beautiful and unique each piece was, why couldn't the world be like that now?