We're still standing

Living on

*Unknown highway bridge*

I just wanted to say thank you to all who have been reading my fanfic and I hope you enjoy, please if you can leave a comment and tell me what you think of it so far.

Gunfire filled the air, Bodies littered the area, both fresh and Rotten a yellow fiery light engulfed the area. 2 walkers feasted on a freshly claimed meal, tearing into the corpse as, a survivor ran towards them, they looked up ready to claim another meal before a bullet periced each of their skulls, causing them to drop dead.

The survivor Lily, called her troops behind.

"Push forward"

Her and her squad fires at the burning bridge, a few shots hitting the group in the bridge.

She heard a bullet hit something near her, She looked beside her to see another soldier falling to their knees and dropping dead, one of their eyes now filled with metal. Walkers began dropping to the ground as the simply minded undead beasts fell to their second death, in attempt to get whatever fresh meat still remained.

An explosion rang out, the nearby bridge began collapsing, the humans in the bridge screaming in terror as the walkers simply tried grabbing on to their next meal, burning bodies, twisted depris, metal scrapnel hit the ground hard.

The plan had worked. She thought to herself, she smiled as she could see at what had to be at least a few hundred bodies, on the ground, many of them human.

Richmond's main army now layed in front of them, in literally peices.The war had been going bad for them but now victory was endured. She commanded the squad to push forward and to wipe out and survivors.

"Kill them all" she offered as the soldiers behind her advanced. After a while the gunfire succeeded. The giant flames began to wear down. And groans of the undead had be silenced.

The war had just been turned around.

**Ericson Courtyard**

"And boom, that's victory for me!" Gabe excitedly gloated as he laid his cards on the table.

"That's a stupid rule. It defeats the whole elegant process of cards in the first place," Louis said in his dramatic tone.

Clem couldn't help but find the two card-playing enthusiasts' bickering amusing.

She looked over and saw some of the other kids talking to Javi, probably interested in the idea that he was a baseball star before the apocalypse.

"So, you were like a professional player?" Omar asked curiously.

"Yeah, pretty much," Javi responded.

"That's so cool," Willy added.

"Can you teach us?"

"Maybe sometime," Javi responded.

Clem smiled, though she partially wondered about his sanity, considering he was now living with a bunch of kids.

To the other side, she could see Aasim trying to flirt with Ruby, or at least that's what it looked like.

"And boom, I win again!" Gabe cheered as he laid his cards down.

Louis rolled his eyes. "How about we play a real game, like war?"

"That game is just luck," Clementine chuckled as the two argued. She felt the soft impact of a ball hitting her from behind.

She turned around to see AJ innocently smiling.

"This yours?" she asked smugly as she picked the ball back up and threw it back.

AJ simply giggled as he caught the ball.

"It's ready!" Omar called out.Reaviling the Stew was ready

Everyone's attention shifted as the smell of food wafted through the air. The group started to gather around the makeshift dining area where Omar had prepared dinner.

Clem grabbed a bowl and sat next to AJ, who was already digging in enthusiastically. Louis and Gabe, temporarily putting aside their card game rivalry, joined them with their own bowls.

Javi sat down with the younger kids, continuing to entertain them with stories from his baseball days. Even Aasim and Ruby, who had been in their own world, joined the group, their light-hearted conversation adding to the warm atmosphere.

"So, Clem," Louis started between bites, "what do you think about Gabe's so-called 'victory'?"

Clem smirked. "I think you both take card games way too seriously."

"Hey, it's all about strategy!" Gabe protested with a grin.

"Strategy, luck—it's all part of the game," Clem said, shrugging.

Sure! Here's a conversation between Javi, Clem, Louis, and Gabe during dinner, excluding baseball:

---

As the group gathered for dinner, the warmth of the fire and the smell of Omar's cooking created a cozy atmosphere. They settled around a makeshift table, bowls of stew in hand.

"Alright, Omar, you outdid yourself this time," Louis said, taking a big spoonful. "I might actually survive this apocalypse with your cooking."

Omar grinned, "I'll take that as a compliment."

Javi looked around at the group. "So, how's everyone holding up?"

Clem nodded. "We're managing. It's been a rough couple of weeks, but we continued on"

Javi had a sympathic look

"I did hear stories of those assholes kidnapping people, but It's shocking to have actually heard it happen"

"Yeah" Clem responded.

As the group continued talking, James watched from afar, as he usually just ate alone. It felt awkward that even now being in a group, he still mostly stayed alone.

Though he knew he wasn't the only isolated one here, as he eyes landed towards the redheaded girl, who had also spent most of her time alone or with her little brother.

He had heard what happened to her sister, but he never questioned much of it, to him that was their business.

He thought to himself, he did like this group, they were kind to him, as he ate he heard the sound of a dog, he looked over to see the dog Rosie, The dog had strangely taken a liking to him, and he would be lying if he said the feeling wasn't mutual.

The dog nuzzled against him and she smiled, gently petting the dogs head.

It had been years since he'd seen a dog, but he enjoyed it's presence.

He felt the sound of a ball bouncing off his head, he looked up to see the younger kids starring at him

"Sorry James" AJ said sincerely

"It's ok" she let out a brief smile before tossing the ball back towards him.

He watched the younger boys play with the ball, a sense of happiness waved over him, for once, he was glad to not be alone.