Feral. (A walking dead love story)

Chapter VI: Look Away

Chapter VI: Look Away

Watching Jake leave was maybe one of the hardest things I had to do in a lifetime, but in times like these life wasn't easy anyway. I requested Rick to give Jake his weapons and supplies for the road, but inside I wasn't sure he would last long enough to use them.

From the attic's window I saw him; he didn't cry, look back or begged to stay, he just nod his head at Rick, took his yellow backpack and followed his path.

The almost sacred silence was broken by the squeaking stairs announcing someone was coming up.

"You should eat," Carol handed me a plate of the pasta I failed to prepare earlier "it'll make you feel better."

I held the plate in my hands, but my stomach churned so bad that the thought of getting anything inside it made me want to puke.

"Maybe later." I unsuccessfully tried to fake a smile.

"You shouldn't blame yourself, sweetheart." She took a strand of hair that felt in my face and placed it behind my ear.

If I closed my eyes I could almost hear my mother in her words; so caring and sweet it was hard to keep the tears from streaming down, however at this point I was so used at hiding my emotions I maintained my straight face.

"I dug his grave sending him out there alone. Everybody knows he's not going to last long by himself."

"He attacked you when he didn't get what he wanted, you did what was best."

"It doesn't feel like something good, it feels like one more in my death count."

"I can't change how you feel, but I can tell you that nobody blames you." She smiled pitifully and went downstairs.

*******

As the weeks passed we confirmed our biggest fear: we would have to get back on the road. Times like these made reality feel like a distant dream, and being oblivious to the date and time just made it worse; whether night or day the worries were incessant and there was never time to rest.

Now that the streets wore empty driving was nearly a pleasure, watching the landscape of Georgia's countryside while speeding up beyond what the law stated in some way made me feel free. However happiness didn't last long nowadays and I felt car much lighter, then it started hiccupping underneath me. Stepping on the accelerator was useless, so I flashed the headlights to warn the others I needed to pull over.

"We'll continue on foot." Rick said.

No maps or compasses were needed to tell that we were every step farther from the city and further into the country, which meant my home was way behind and therefore the good days. After a few hours the sun accused it was noon, and my sore back reminded me I carried my heavy bag for a quite a while now.

"Can we please stop for a little bit?" Lori asked, her baby bump had grown considerably and it was most certainly heavy.

"Yes," Rick said "we should look for water and shelter for the night."

People weren't pleased by his decision, but everybody was too busy to argue, instead we just stopped by the side of the road to decide the next steps.

"Y'all stay here while we go huntin'" Daryl looked over to Rick who nodded in agreement.

As they disappeared in the middle of the forest my curiosity sprung over the sound of a water stream.

"Where are you going? They told us to stay put." Glenn followed me into the woods.

"Shhh" I put my index finger over my mouth "Do you hear it? There's water here somewhere."

I followed the sound, quickly arriving in a muddy path that led to a rivulet of clear water.