Killer Queen (Multi/poly)

1

Kit wasn't sure how she got here or when as she lay between Shane and carol's graves, dale's on the far side. She hadn't moved or talked, only cried, living in her head full of memories. She didn't listen when the others tried to talk to her and shrugged them off when they tried to move her. She couldn't bring herself to care for her surroundings. Consumed with regret, she wished she had just gone with him when he asked to leave. If she had, maybe he would still be alive.

It was evening when she finally sat up, her head in her hands, staring at his grave. The concept of time and the chill on her skin were nonexistent. She didn't even react as arms wrapped around her, a body encasing itself around her curled frame. The boots set her off. she knew it was rick; her emotions snapped like a worn rubber band, ugly uncontrollable sobs racking her body as his arms tightened around her like a vice. He waited till she was only left with sniffles before he wordlessly pulled her up, taking her back to the house; all their belongings had already moved indoors with winter coming.

He sat her in a chair, her bag and Shane's next to her. He gave Maggie a small thank you as she handed kit a glass of water. The small sips she took stung her dry, sore throat from hours of crying and screaming, her eyes begging to stay shut. She barely acknowledged rick as he informed her that he, Glenn, and Daryl were going to do a perimeter check. She wordlessly nodded before reaching for one of Shane's button-up shirts, slipping it on, then grabbed his black coat, burying her face in the fur lining; it still smelled like him. "here, kit," Lori whispered. Kit lifted her head to look at the woman seeing her tiffany blue gun in her hands. Kit swallowed the thick lump forming as she slowly took it, putting it in the holster; she tried her best not to think of the last time she used it as it would only bring more tears she didn't have.

she looked at Daryl and Glenn as they came back in "rick ain't back yet?" Daryl asked, his eyes doing a once over of kit "no."

"We heard a shot."

"Maybe he found a walker."

"So did we. but the thing is it was fresh and wasn't even bit," Glenn said slowly; kit furrowed her eyebrows.

"he was stabbed," Daryl answered her silent question,

"so he fought back whoever killed him." Patricia guessed as Lori stepped up to Daryl

"would you please get back out there, find rick and find out what on earth is going on?" she pleaded

"you got it," he said, subtly checking Kit before stepping back outside. Kit slipped on Shane's coat as she walked out, stopping behind Glenn and Daryl. In the distance was a vast horde headed straight for the house. Kit sighed with exhaustion as more footsteps approached from behind.

"Patricia kill the lights," Hershel whispered

"I'll get the guns," Andrea said, walking back in

"Maybe they're just passing like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?" Glenn asked

"No. that would have worked if they didn't know we were already here." kit croaked, her throat still worn.

"carl's gone. He was upstairs. I can't find him anymore." Lori came out in a screeching panic.

"Maybe he's hiding," Patricia offered

"he's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy" "we're not," Patricia says, pulling Lori away

kit looked over to Daryl "we find rick. We'll find carl." she sighed, annoyed. She was so done; the past 24 hours had her emotionally spent. The three most important people in her life were MIA, one dead, two missing, and now a horde. She was just done. Andrea ran back out with the guns and kits, bow and quiver, the latter had a few new arrows inside handmade with red feathers. she didn't have time to question it now as she put it on and clicked the safety off on her gun. "its no use," Daryl told them.

"you can go if you want," Hershel said, loading his rifle

"rick and carl are out there. I lost Shane. I'm not losing them too. I just can't, Daryl." Kit said without looking at him.

"kill as many as we can; use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm," Andrea suggests

"you serious?" Daryl asks, looking at them all.

"I'll die here," Hershel stubbornly says, walking off.

"alright. It's as good a night as any," Daryl says, jumping over the railing. Kit went inside, grabbing her bag and her med bag as Lori rushed back into the room "load yourself and the belongings into a car. as soon as I find rick and carl, we are gone." Lori opened her mouth to argue, but kit was already walking out the door. She put her stuff in the back of the green Hyundai Maggie and Glenn would be driving. She ignored the fact it was Shane's. Before walking over to Daryl's bike and getting on, she shot while he drove. He knocked her off when he made a sudden direction change to a now burning barn, her gear digging into her back painfully as she hit the ground. "Shit" she yelled over the gunfire and deafening growls as she got back to her feet.

"got it," jimmy yelled, passing her in the RV, she looked around for Daryl, but he had already sped away, a small glimpse of a taillight as he bobbed and weaved as he shot walkers.

Going with the next choice, although probably not the smartest one, she ran for the barn hoping to find Rick, killing walkers as she ran. However, when she got close, it was apparent he wasn't there, and neither was Carl; she spun, looking around trying to catch a glimpse. A walker grabbed hold of her in her frantic state; her muscles strained as she pushed it far enough to stab its head as it tried to take a chunk out of her neck. Ripping her knife free, she frantically looked around again as the gunfire almost completely stopped. And she did finally find him, as he was pushing Hershel and carl into the old red and white suburban. "Rick!" she screamed, desperately hoping he would hear her over everything. But he didn't, he started the truck and sped away. Grasping the severity of her situation, now being completely alone, she did the only thing she could do. She ran the way her exhausted mind could think of first-backtracking to the highway. Not knowing Daryl was waiting for her just up the road, hoping she would show up after he noticed her gone.

But halfway there at the church marker, her body was ready to collapse at any moment from sheer exhaustion and lack of sleep. Pulling her gun free, not in any shape to try to take a walker hand to hand at the moment, she crept into the church, making sure it was still walker free, before grabbing one of the longer gold candle sticks and using it to bar the handles. Next, she dragged the bodies still in there to the door, which only added to the exhaustion, but she hoped it would mask her smell from her entry. Backing away from the door, she sat down on the furthest pew from the door and slipped off her bow and quiver, laying them on the ground next to her. Next, she zipped up Shane's jacket before laying down, small tears escaping her tired eyes as she silently cried herself to sleep, alone and grieving with a hungry death walking the dark woods.

~Time Skip~

The following day it was around afternoon when she made it back to the highway only to find it empty of life, confirming what she hoped she wouldn't see. In 48hrs, she lost everything, the man she loved, her family, friends, and belongings. All she had left were the clothes on her back and her weapons. She walked over to the blue farm truck the group had abandoned, opened the glove compartment, and pulled out the map she had seen earlier. Laying it out on the seat, she located roughly where she was on the map and then looked at the surrounding areas, most of them on the east side they had already been to. With winter approaching, Kit didn't see the group being dumb enough to backtrack toward king county.

Her fingers traced up the northeast area towards a prison and a small town next to it; it was roughly 70 miles from her current location to the jail, she could roughly estimate. She sighed, folding up the map and shoving it in her jacket. Her tummy growled with hunger as she reached across the bench seat and grabbed a slightly smooshed-up empty water bottle on the ground, knowing she could use it if she found water, boiling said water would take come creativity though. Then she checked the couple of cars she passed as she crossed the highway to get to the woods, grabbing a black backpack and blanket out of one. She knew she could hunt on her journey; she just hoped she found something quick before her insides ate themselves.