Different||The Walking Dead

Them

Three weeks.

Three weeks the group has been on the road with barely any food or water. A while back they tried to go to Noah's old neighborhood but that ended up not working out.

Tyreese died.

He was bitten and they couldn't get to him in time.

Adelaine knows that Evan is struggling. He blames himself for not being there to find Beth but no matter how much she tells him it's not his fault he just dismisses her.

He doesn't talk about how he's feeling with she understands. She knows that he's still grieving and all she can do is hold his hand as comfort. He appreciates it though and all he wants to do is just hold her in his arms. Most nights that's what he does. He'll wrap her in his arms and just never want to let go. He's closed everyone else off except for Maggie and Mia.

The little girl doesn't quite understand what's going on but after Evan explained to her that Aunt Beth is up in the stars with Hershel, she understands that Beth is gone. She misses her too and Adelaine has tried her best to comfort her daughter, Evan, Maggie, and Sasha.

The group was currently walking down a long road after the last vehicle they had ran out of gas. They hadn't eaten much and if they did it was always small portions.

Evan had Mia in his arms because she wouldn't be able to keep up after too long. Adelaine stood beside them slightly dragging her leg.

All the walking hasn't been doing her crippled leg any justice. The pressure she's been putting on it has been causing her severe pain but she didn't have much of a choice. She knows that her leg isn't getting better but it's only because they don't have a place to settle down at. She can't relax it so all she can do is push through the pain.

And the fact that she's been having stomach pains isn't really helping her case. She doesn't know what's up but she thinks it's just from the lack of food.

She felt something touch her hand and looked down to see Evan trying to hold hers. He hooked their pinkies together and she looked up at him but he was still looking straight ahead. She intertwined their fingers and gave his hand a squeeze. She saw a small genuine smile on his lips and stroked his knuckles with her thumb.

"I'm gonna head out." Daryl's voice got her attention. "See what I can find."

"Hey, don't be too long." Rick told him.

"I'll go with you." Katherine said.

"I got it." Daryl told her.

"You gonna stop me?" Katherine taunted and followed him into the woods.

- - -

After walking for a while they decided to finally take care of the walkers that had been following them.

A group of them waited by a part of the road that had small inclines on the sides so they could just push the walkers down into those. The rest of them waited a little ways down the road.

The plan was going good until Sasha walked forward and started killing walkers. That made the rest of them have to jump in and kill the walkers. Adelaine watched Evan carefully to make sure he didn't get hurt. She had Mia standing at her feet holding her hand.

After doing all of that they continued on their way until they decided they all needed a break so they sat on the side of the road and waited for Daryl to get back from another hunt.

"Mama." Adelaine looked down at Mia who had her head on her lap. "My tummy hurts."

She looked up at Evan who dug through his backpack until he found a granola bar. He held it towards her and she looked around at the group. Some of them nodded saying it was okay to give it to Mia.

"Here you go baby." Adelaine unwrapped it and handed it to Mia who moved to sit up on her lap. She had her back to Adelaine's stomach and her legs in between her mothers longer ones.

Adelaine brushed Mia's hair back and placed a kiss to her head before wrapping her arms around her daughter. Evan felt Maggie lean into his side so he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pressed his lips to her head in a brotherly way.

"So all we found was booze?" Tara asked as Abraham pulled out a bottle of liquor.

"Yeah." Rosita replied.

"It's not gonna help." Tara said.

"He knows that."

"It's gonna make it worse."

"Yes, it is."

"He's a grown man." Eugene spoke. "And I truly do not know if things can get worse."

"They can." Rosita told him.

It was silent again until they heard the sound of rustling and growling. But not walkers, dogs. A small pack of dogs came out of the trees making everyone straighten out.

Evan pushed himself in front of Adelaine and Mia and pulled his knife out. The dogs started barking and Mia hid her face in Adelaine's shirt while trying not to let out tiny cries.

Suddenly a few silenced gunshots went off and the dogs whimpered as they were shot dead. Everyone looked over at Sasha who lowered her gun.

Rick grabbed a stick and made a fire. Might as well cook the meat and eat it.

Everyone sat around eating the dog meat. Adelaine tried not to think about it but the minute the meat touched her mouth she turned around and threw up.

Evan was by her side in seconds, rubbing her back and holding her hair up.

"Mama, you okay?" Mia asked while everyone sent the woman looks of concern.

"Yeah." Adelaine wiped her mouth. "Guess dogs and empty stomachs don't mix well." she chuckled humorlessly. She stayed hunched over and Evan tied her hair up.

"You okay babe?" he whispered as everyone went back to eating.

"It's probably from the lack of food." she told him.

"But I always give you some of my food." he said. Adelaine squeezed her eyes shut. She had a feeling she knew what was going on with her but there's no way she could tell Evan.

"I don't know but I'm fine, I promise." she told him. He looked conflicted but sighed and sat back. She wiped her mouth again and sat next to him. Mia came over and sat on Evan's lap with her head on his chest.

Adelaine put hand on her stomach and stared blankly into the fire.

She can't be. Can she?

- - -

It started storming when they got back on the road but thankfully Daryl said that he found a barn.

They had made a fire but most of the group just found a spot and went to sleep.

Mia was laying with Carl and Judith and the boy had his arm draped over both of them. Adelaine was only a few feet away with Evan in her arms. He had his head in the crook of her neck with their legs tangled together and his arms tight around her waist.

She was stroking the back of his head as his breath fanned across her chest. Her eyes were trained on the ceiling and her thoughts were running a million miles an hour. She looked over at Mia who was sleeping peacefully curled into Carl's chest with Judith.

She let her eyes trail across everyone's sleeping figures before she heard someone get up. She looked over and saw Daryl walking towards the barn doors. He must have seen something because he started pushing on the doors. It was then that the sound of snarling came to her ears. Her eyes widened and she unwrapped Evan's arms from around her waist.

At the feeling of Adelaine disappearing Evan woke up immediately. He saw Adelaine and Maggie run over and push the barn doors with Daryl. He went to help them and slowly the rest of the group joined them.

Adelaine winced as she felt pain shoot through her leg but she ignored it and used all of her strength.

The group worked together to hold those doors closed as the storm and walkers pushed against it.

- - -