Madness (Completed)

Back On The Road

*4 Months Later*

I still lean on Mark as we walk, my leg has been sore today. Maddie walks behind me, she seems in a particular perky mood today. Strange. Wade and Bob have been taking turns helping Jack to walk, which is sweet of them.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Emmet asks glancing at everyone here.
"Finding a long term base would be nice." Wade comments, still helping Jack along the road.
"Yeah, but we haven't found one in a long time. They aren't the most common thing unless we find a bug town, and those are dangerous." I explain, basically telling Wade things he already knows.
"That doesn't mean that we shouldn't look." Wade says.
"I-I, just don't want to, okay? You know what happened at the last towns we've been to." I say, remembering every occasion perfectly. After all, I was kidnapped to one and them I was shot at another. Not exactly the best experiences for me.
"Yeah... But not all towns are like that, they can't be." Jack pipes up into the conversation, trying to reassure me.
"But we don't truly know." I say, my fear taking the best if me at the moment.
"Violet... It's worth a try." Mark whispers to me in a comforting way as he gives my hand a light squeeze. I sigh, knowing he's right and I should realize that.
"I know, I just... You already know." I answer. Mark nods to me in response and we continue walking.
"Let's just look, okay?" Mark questions me before he makes a final decision.
"Okay." I agree, finally.
"We'll look, but if we don't find one, we just stick to the small towns like we have been." Mark announces to the group like the leader he is inside and in the hearts if everyone here. A few people in the group nod and a a few others give aporving responses.

We finally find a town that looks like it is mostly surrounded by wilderness. Meaning, it's probably a pretty small town. Fine, we can look around, I know it's what the others want.
"Are we splitting up to search or are we searching together, or what should our plan be?" Emmet asks, glancing at everyone in the group, except me. I guess the opinion of an injured, pregnant woman isn't the most important one.
"Groups?" Jack suggests.
"Sure, they should be a group of 4 and one of 3." Bob explains, I see he counts a few things out in his fingers as he says so.
"I'll go in the group of 4, I won't be too useful so they can basically be even groups of 3." I explain, my honesty sometimes seems harsh, but it's true. How useful can I really be when I limp every step I take and throw up every few hours?
"I'll go in whichever group she's in." Mark says defensively, as if him being with me could make me feel better about my state. And, to be honest, it kinda does. Mark is just comforting without trying to be, and I do enjoy him wanting to be with me all the time. Bob nods in agreement, I bet he already knew Mark was going to volunteer what he did.
"Right, I can take lead one if the groups if you want." Maddie says, changing the topic away from me, which I am greatful for.
"Okay, I'll be other captain." Bob says, his eyes darting around the different members of the group. We all split into groups, I end up being in a group with Maddie, Emmet, and, of course, Mark by my side. We walk down a cold sidewalk with buildings all around us. We pass by most of them, they look to be looted already by other survivers. Mark helps me along, considering that I can't walk well on my own and he has been for the passed few months. I'm not sure why, but everyone else seems to heal so much father than me. I guess it makes sense though, after all, I'm supporting two lives. I've lost most if my energy and I've lost loads of weight since I've been pregnant. I suppose that having a bullet wound mixed into the equation doesn't help, but I can handle it. I've handled worse in my life. Maddie looks inside the window of a building that appears to be some type of mall. There are different stores inside with clothes hanging and food rotting inside different containers.
"Should we search this one?" Maddie asks, her eyes instantly planting themselves on me. I think Maddie is the only one who takes my opinion seriously around here anymore.
"Sure, at least we can get better clothes and there could be useful supplies in a mall this big." I explain, my eyes wandering all over the contents inside the window and around the building.
"True, be careful people, I don't want anyone dying in my watch." Maddie jokes in a sarcastic tone that I know almost too well. Mark leads me inside the doors and down a hallway full of doors into different stores. There is blood splatter on the floor with dead Eaters everywhere. I see broken glass and shelves on the floor next to me, ad if these items were thrown down only moments ago.
"Well, this place went to Hell pretty quick." Mark comments, I see his eyes darting around the area with him scanning all of the items near us. I guess his gaurd never goes down no matter where he goes.
"That was everywhere, the entire town basically blew up in flames when we left." I remind Mark, the images from the beginning still haunting my memories.
"I know, I just don't see aftermath all that often..." Mark responds. We continue walking through the empty halls, looking around for any signs for items to scavenge.
"Weird..." I say, completely ignoring Marks comment in my mind. I mean, I heard it and I understood it, but my mind didn't take note of it as much as what I see.
"What?" Mark asks in confusion. I point to the sight to my left. There is a man who looks to have an Eater wrapped on a rope he is holding. The Eater has a gunshot through the head and the gun right next to it, laying on the ground. The man also has a bullet through his head, it looks to have come from the same gun. That's when I notice something I didn't before. They both wear matching bracelets, the man and the Eater. The Eater is a woman and lays her dead skull on the mans lap. In guessing they were lovers or maybe close siblings.
"It's more sad than weird, I guess he couldn't live without whoever she may be." Mark explains, his fingers grazing over mine in a loving and protective manner.
"He shouldn't have done it though." I say, more to myself than to Mark at this point.
"Why? So he can live in a life without the one person he couldn't live without?" Mark questions.
"Because she wouldn't want that for him. Just because your life ends doesn't mean that your most loved ones life should end too. It's a wasted life and she wouldn't have wanted him to do that." I explain.
"He would have been sad in his life, would she have wanted that for him?" Mark asks, shock in his voice.
"At least he would be alive..." I drift off from my thought, continuing it in my mind. If I were to die, I would hate myself if Mark killed himself too. It would be the worst thing that could happen. I would want him to be strong and not waste his life on a temporary problem like my death... I'm sure he could get over me and move on with his life. I mean, sure it would take time, but he shouldn't end the chance before it begins. You never know how your life will turn out, so how can you end it before you know what will happen next? I just... Don't understand how people can do that to themselves.
"I guess. But what happened, happened. We can't change it now. We should move on." Mark says, helping me to walk forward, away from this scene.

Important A/N
Hey guys, so I wanted to say a few things before I end the chapter. First, I know that self harm is a big problem and should not be joked about. If that last part if the chapter offended you in any way that was not my intention and I'm sorry. Secondly, if you are thinking or need help with self harm PLEASE reach out. My messages are always open and if you want to talk to someone I am always here. I want all of you to know that and please, if you don't reach out to me, reach out to someone if you need help. Self harm is a serious issue and you need to have someone help you and I am always willing to help. Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm hopefully going to update this tomorrow, but please be patient. Thanks again and I'll see all you guys in the next chapter, bu-bye! I love you all! -ThatIsUnfortunate/Lanty