The Walking Dead: Carrying On

Chapter 1: Strawberries

***BG: It is the world of The Walking Dead, except my sister and I are part of the group. We always stay together because we are all we have left, however, she is a better fighter because I am always scared and too shy to learn how to from the group. ***

My sister, Mary, and I are with the group and have been at the prison for a while now. The group decides to leave those unfit for battle in the prison and talk outside. It is dawn and the group knows the time is approaching for the Governor to cause a scene, so they are talking about battle plans. Mary and I are outside of the circle, a few feet away, listening in when she decides to be part of the plans. Before she joins in, I grab her arm and say "Where are you going? Don't leave me now or ever, you're all I have left and I wont lose you in some battle." Mary smiles and says, "It will never come to that, don't be ridiculous. I just want to hear their plans and then I'll come back." I say, "You promise?" She says, "Yes, now go to sleep."

When I awake I am with Mary inside the prison, in our cell. I try to think if Mary is going to keep her promise of not going to war with the rest of the group, but realize I have duties of my own. I stop my watch alarm as I head out of the cell for the day. I help with reloading the ammo and counting the medicine, and after my chores, decide to watch the animals graze. My favorite thing in the whole world, even before it changed, is being with animals. They are the only creatures I am never shy around. I never realized that I fell asleep by the goats until I am woken by this loud "BOOM!"

My eyes are still trying to adjust, but I can see the big explosion in one of the wings of the prison, and smoke is rising fast. I panic as I think of only one thing, Mary. I rush to the prison and can't find her anywhere, preparing for the worst when I go to our cell and find a note on her bed saying, "Went to hunt, don't worry I'm not alone. I'm going to find your favorite, strawberries, to make up for my absence. Remember, if anything goes down, get the hell out of there and be safe! I'll be back soon. Don't forget, you're not as weak as you or others see you, and if you must fight then fight for family". I run to the safest window with tears streaming down my face. From the window, I can see an army tank and some vehicles just outside the prison, but it is too far away for me to see clearly, so I grab the closest magnification item near me. Through the rifle lens, I can see the man who we have been preparing to battle and I can only whisper his name, "The Governor."

I notice some of our group has been captured by The Governor, and see him about to kill them. I pan a little to the left and see her, Mary, the only family I have left, captured and in her lap is the bag I made for her. It's a medium sized bag that I made after the world turned, I never liked how it turned out with its ugly hole I had accidentally crocheted wrong, but Mary insisted I had done a good job and always used it. Zooming in closer to the bag I can see green and red, which is none other than the strawberries she promised me. I am upset and furious that none of our group members are doing anything, but know it's because they don't want any one of ours the enemies took to be killed. I take the rifle and all the bullets for it in my backpack and rush to the roof of the wing I am in. I need to do something and I need to do it fast.

When I emerge onto the roof I look through the gun and see The Governor holding Michonne's sword about to kill Hershel. I panic and realize I have to shoot him, now. I aim and shoot, but no bullets are in there. "IDIOT!" I think, "YOU MISSED ONE!" I rush to reload the gun as fast as I can and as I place the last bullet in, I hear it. The shouts of our group as The Governor starts hacking Hershel's head off.

I cock the rifle, but I am too late. Hershel is dead. I aim as fast as I can to shoot The Governor before he can hurt any of us, especially my sister, and I get him right between the eyes. Everyone is looking for the snipper who killed him, but can't see me at the top of the building. The Governor's party is shocked by what happened that they decide to retreat. After all, they were just following his orders and never had a reason to fight us. I see them driving off while both parties shoot at each other, but know nothing happened to my sister. I look for her through the lens and don't realize that she is laying on the ground. I zoom in and see red on her chest, I tell myself that it is just the strawberries, but I can't convince my heart which is pounding or my eyes which are already filling with tears. All of a sudden my vision goes dark and I fall to the floor.

I awaken by the sound of my alarm on my watch and after turning it off I check the date and see that I have been asleep for two days. TWO DAYS. I start to panic as I remember what happened before I crashed, but my mind is taken away from my sister as I hear the door handle to the roof trying to turn open. I figure it is one of ours checking for survivors when the door swings open and walkers come rushing out. I look through my bag as quick as I can and find my sisters machete and a seven inch knife. I can't bring myself to use Mary's machete so I grab the knife as the fastest walker approaches me. Remembering the last part of the note my sister left me, "fight for family," I stabbed the walker in the head and quickly went to take care of the other four walkers. They were all slow, only having one arm or missing half of leg, and I am proud of myself for making my first kills since the beginning. I sink to the floor, but before I can take another breath my adrenaline rush allows me to hear a walker about to emerge from the stairs.

I take the gun and without aiming, blow his head off, thinking how good it feels to actually be able to fight. I run to close the door and as I am sluggishly walking back to my backpack, my face feels warm and wet as I realize why my sister liked fighting. Knowing that you are protecting someone from death while also putting someone out of their misery, is a great feeling, one that I am proud of that my sister accomplished since the world changed. And she did it all to protect me.

I look through my backpack, which I remember getting before the walkers started rising. It is my favorite item I carry, it used to be white but has since picked up a multitude of earthy colors, and red spots from blood, but the areas that haven't been changed are what make it my favorite. The front pocket and straps are holographic which is how I would pass the time when the group would make stops. I would take it off and shine it back and forth in the light to see the colors change. Mary knew how much I loved holographic things, and always jokingly told me that the holo would catch the attention of the walkers. I told her that even they couldn't keep their eyes off of the beautiful holo. Although I couldn't stop looking at it, the walkers never payed any attention to it, which I was glad for.

I stopped myself from thinking of the past as I looked through my backpack. I was starving and hoped I wouldn't have to go into the building just yet to find something to eat. I found some fig newton bars and saltine crackers on top of my sisters UCR hoodie. I debated on eating until I found some water but found Mary's canteen in my bag and scarfed the food down, trying to go as slow as I could so I wouldn't choke or get a stomach ache. After taking a few drinks of water I decide to pack up and head down to look for survivors and supplies. As soon as I open the door, preparing to fight more walkers, I hear a gun shot coming from behind me, but on the ground level outside.