The Walking Dead Season 3

Ties That Bind

A man and woman stood on a hill in rural Virginia, in the early hours of a summer's eve. They had been together for close to six years through this apocalypse. The man's name was Javier Garcia, the woman his sister-in-law, Kate. As they stood and Javier looked through a pair of binoculars he sighed:

"I left my damn water bottle by the fire."

"We'll have to share til we find another. Tell me when it reaches the camp-fire" Kate said with concern.

"Man...I don't think I've seen this many. It's definitely growing. Herd just got there" Javi said as he lowered the binoculars.

Kate checked her watch and replied: "Just under 4 hours. Come on. We should keep moving while the kids are asleep."

"Yeah" Javi replied as the pair quickly got into the van they were driving in and drove off. As they motored along the Virginia backroads the pair spoke, Kate with concern as she checked off notes in a notepad she had:

"Looks like the herd is speeding up a little. I thought it was drifting southwest, but I'm not sure anymore. Every time I think we should just bed down somewhere and wait for it to pass, I can't shake the thought of us getting caught in the middle of it. It just keeps coming... It's slow, but that almost makes it worse. Makes it feel like we're in control."

"It'd definitely be nice to stop. We've been on the move a while now" Javi replied as he drove.

"I don't know. It feels risky."

"Not if we find somewhere secure."

Kate smiled as she closed her book and placed it in the glovebox, adding:

"We'll figure it out..."

"We always do" Javi smiled. The pair sat in a contented silence for a few minutes before Kate rolled down her window and said quietly:

"Hey. I'm gonna sneak a quick smoke."

"I can't believe you found weed" Javi chuckled.

"Are you kidding? People were probably growing this before they realized they needed food."

Kate took a joint out of a small tin in the glovebox and as she lit up and inhaled Javi said quietly not to wake the kids. Kate chuckled at the teens who were asleep behind the pair:

"Relax. Mariana's got headphones on and Gabe is drooling. I think we're in the clear."

Kate took another puff and held it out to Javi, asking if he wanted some. Javi happily accepted and took a puff, coughing as he added:

"We are setting an awesome example."

Kate took the joint back and had another couple of puffs, coughing and saying as she did:

"Don't judge me. When I found out David had kids, I told him I am not changing who I am around them. And when he proposed, I reminded him that I'm not exactly stepmother material. Case in point. He was reassuring, but, yeah, I could tell he was worried about it. I knew he'd try to get me to change. Or at least he'd hoped that being around the kids more would change me, you know? I suppose it did..."

Javier took the joint back and puffed: "If it helps, I think you're doing a fine job."

Kate couldn't help but laugh back: "Yeah, it'd really help your case if you weren't waving a joint around while you said that."

"What? How is this not a ringing endorsement?" Javier smirked.

Kate giggled and puffed:

"I used to talk shit about all those mothers who'd go on about raising their kids being the hardest thing in the world. Gabe's making me start to think they had a point. His mood swings are just... I don't know... some days I just wanna leave him by the side of the road. I'm joking. Jesus. Obviously" she added at the end in response to the shocked look on Javi's face.