Love Is Kind (Sequel to "Love Is Patient")

Chapter 17 - Hold On Tight

Two updates in one day is a real achievement. Enjoy! Also, this picks up where Chapter 13 ended.

~~~~

(Ally's POV)

"Who are you?" the man asked.

Stay quiet. Don't answer.

"Hey! Answer him. Who the hell are you?" the woman angrily asked.

Silence.

"Don't make me shoot you" the man said.

"Would you kill a pregnant woman?" I ask. Both their gazes avert to my stomach and their eyes widen.

They put their guns down and the woman stutters, "W-We didn't know. Shit, we're s-so sorry"

"No hard feelings" I spat, sarcastically.

"Please, we feel awful. We would never intentionally harm someone if we knew they were pregnant" the man said.

"So you would harm them if they weren't pregnant?" I ask angrily.

"N-No. God, this is all coming out wrong. We were just scared because it looked like you were following us" the girl reasoned.

"I was. But I didn't know it was you people"

"Oh" the man said, "Well, again, we're sorry. I'm Cody, by the way. And this is my sister, Natalie"

Natalie did a half-wave and smiled a little. I nodded at both of them.

"Do you have a group?" Cody asked me.

"No. I'm looking for them. We got separated."

"That's a shame. I'm sorry. Do you have any idea where they would be?" Natalie asked.

"Uh, I'm actually heading to Terminus. I have a feeling that they would go there" I said.

"Terminus?" Cody asked, "You're going there too? That's where we're going"

"Do you want to travel together? I mean, it's better to be in a group" Natalie offered.

I just have to keep my guard up, I guess, "Sure"

~~~~

We walk along the tracks in silence, but I am still on high alert.

"How far along are you?" Natalie asked.

"Three months, almost four" I answer.

"Wow. Really? I would've guessed five or six, maybe seven"

I'm not that  big, am I? I look down, and surprisingly, I am pretty big.

"Is the father...alive?" Natalie asked.

"Yes. I'm hoping he'll be at Terminus when we get there"

"How many people are in your group?"

"At the prison, it was thirteen. But, now...I'm not sure" I said, looking down as we walked.

"Prison?"

"That's where we were living before it got attacked. It was working good, we had tons of people"

"Who attacked you?" she asked.

"This man, he called himself The Governor. Came in with his people and killed one of our own. Came busting through our gates with a tank, shot us up." I explained, trying not to get teary-eyed.

"That is awful"  

Walker snarling causes us to stop. Many walkers emerge from the tree line, all burning. Literally, burning. Their skin was crusted black and their clothes were steaming. It looked like they just trudged through a forest fire. 

"We have to move. Now!" Cody ordered. He pushed us into the woods, and we ran through the forest. I could hear the walkers close behind us, causing me to run faster.

One second, I was looking ahead, the next second, my face was falling toward the forest ground. I hold my arms out, making them hit the ground so my stomach doesn't. A sharp pain in my left ankle erupts, causing me to cry out in pain.

Two sets of hands grab each of my arms, pulling me up quickly. They each secure an arm around my back and pull me along. I limp-run with them, struggling to keep up. Once we keep a good pace, it's easier for me to keep in step with them. We get a good distance between us and them, so we slow to a walk.

"We need to get back to the tracks" Cody pants. Natalie and I nod in agreement. We continue forward, rerouting.

After a while, we spot a clearing ahead. We go towards it and Cody cranes his neck, looking at something.

"That looks like a house" he says. We look to where he is, and sure enough, a small house sits in the distance.

"We should go there. We need to rest and bandage Ally up" Natalie suggested. Cody agrees and we continue forward.

My ankle hurts and I know it's swollen. I glance down at it and I see that it's black and blue, I cringe. Once we get closer to the house, Cody stops causing Natalie and I to stop as well. We look at him curiously as he stares intently at the house.

"What is it?" Natalie asked.

"There are people here. They're looking at us through the window" Cody said, still looking at the window. The door bursts open, causing my heart to burst, thinking the worst. But I was so wrong.

Makena stands there, grinning with tears running down her face. My hand shoots up to my mouth as tears start running down my own face. I pull away from Cody and Natalie and limp forward, Makena is already running toward me.

My knees hit the soft grass as she reaches me, tightly wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I hold her tightly in my arms, rocking us back and forth as we cried together.

"Oh my god, Ally! I was so worried about you" she cried.

"I was worried sick  about you, squirt!" I hiccup.

She pulled away from me and smiled, "You can't get rid of me that easily"

I grinned and laughed, pulling her in again, fresh tears rising. I see two figures behind Makena and I look up at them. Merle and Tyreese smile down at us.

I wipe my tears away and pull away, standing up. I go to Merle first and hug him, he hangs onto me tightly. I feel him sigh in relief. He pulls back and puts his hands on my stomach, "How my niece or nephew doin' in there?"

"Just fine. We had a little scare, but we're all good" I smile. He nods and smirks.

I hug Tyreese tightly and see his bandaged arm, "What happened?"

"Cut myself on some sharp metal. It was getting infected, but Makena patched me up" he explained.

I smiled and looked down at her, "Tree sap?"

She smiled broadly and nodded up at me, "Yep"

I laugh and remember we have guests standing there. I walk over to Cody and Natalie.

"Cody, Natalie, this is Makena, Merle, and Tyreese" I point to each of them accordingly, "Guys, this is Cody and Natalie"